Loony Moth

A few months ago Paige and Brett found a catterpillar making a cocoon right against our garage door. Of course, when the garage was opened it fell, so we put it in a jar not knowing if it would try again. Surprisingly, it made another cocoon. That jar sat on the counter for weeks and weeks. We almost tossed it out several times. We even opened the jar and poked around at it. We had really forgotten about it and did not expect anything. Then one day, there is this huge, bright green moth in the jar. It is now November and we are not sure how a moth is going to survive the cold weather.

We put it in a bucket in the open garage where he sat for hours...and then was gone! We found it in our gardenia bush. It sat there for days and days even through the snow. We were sure it was dead. After all this time we did a little research and found out it is a Luna Moth. It should stay in the cocoon all winter. I guess being in the warm house confused it! The Moth does not eat and has a life span of one week. After days in the same spot we started to find it in different spots in the bush and even on the side of the house. It is now gone, we can't find it, but it did survive for more than a week and although its short life was spent in the cold wet bush instead of a warm springtime we enjoyed watching it!

Brett quote of the day

While watching "Prince Caspian": at the very beginning when the baby is born and his mother is screaming, Brett said, "That cry is just disturbing!"

Brett quote of the day

"Is the equator a real line or just something that splits the world?"
"It is an imaginary line."
"Oh, so it doesn't really exist?"

Snowfall

We did get a little snowfall last week. The kids were really excited about it. They even let school out at noon. The snow didn't show up until after dark. Brett was really excited to see it falling, because he has seen snow before, but can't remember ever seeing it fall. They were hoping to get to play in it, but the ground was too warm and it melted quickly. Later that evening the boys did go out and play in the slushy stuff on the trampoline. They got wet and cold!

Pet Peeve of the Week

It really bothers me when people use the word "just" as they pray. Like, "I just want to thank You." Mostly I hear this from people who belong to different religions than I do. (the "You" bothers me too).

Snowball Fight!

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Our Student of the Year

We knew that Paige would be eligible to apply for student of the year this year. She has awesome grades, but I worried that she would not want to do it. Happily, she suprised me and was excited to fill out the application and write a life sketch. We were so pleased when she was named a finalist (one of seven out of 36 applicants!) This was on a friday, that day all of the finalist wrote an essay at school. One of the topics was to present an award to a member of your family. Paige chose to award her dad the "Best Builder" award and wrote about all of the things he has made recently. Then came the long weekend of worry and sleepless nights. Monday morning was interviews. She did not want to just give up, because she wouldn't be able to talk to the interviewers, but we weren't sure what could be done about it. Dave gave her a blessing Sunday night and she was able to sleep and was much less worried, I, on the other hand, didn't sleep well at all. First thing Monday morning I called the school and talked to the counselor. She agreed to let Paige write her answers in the interviews. I was so relieved. Paige wanted so badly to do well and my only hope was that it would be a good experience for her. One of her best friends was chosen as Student of the Year. Paige was so happy about how she had done and was so glad she had done it.