Update on our insect rearing...

Since a couple of you were remarking on our ladybug and butterfly habitats, I thought I better post an update! Interestingly, both sets began to emerge last Sunday. We had 6 butterflies (out of 7) form a chrysalis, but only 5 were able to emerge perfectly. The 6th one... I think one of his wings were deformed, or he was unable to emerge (he was on the bottom of the cage) without getting caught in his own meconium (leftover unnecessary "stuff" from the final transformation). The remaining 5 appear to be doing just fine (one pair was observed mating for most of the day, which prompted Miss Mika to innocently ask, "what's mating?" - I could have kicked myself for talking to aloud! I told her I'd tell her later..!).

And the ladybugs are doing just fine as well. All thirteen pupated and everybody successfully emerged as adults. It's getting a little messy in the cage (you can see the leftover pupal cases still plastered to the dome)... we collected some aphids from weedy grass outside, so there are shriveled carcasses and ladybug poop strewn about as well.

We will keep the insects around for S.'s work party folk tomorrow (conversation pieces, if you will) but plan to ceremonially release everybody on Sunday sometime. I am hoping, though, that there may be some eggs laid that we can rear out again...

I think the girls have been enjoying the experience... I know I have!

Go Fly A Kite (at the beach)!

Grandma lives a good 1.5 hours away and travels a lot, so it's hard to schedule a time to come and visit her, especially when Mika's in school. But, now that it's summer vacation, the girls and I headed off to visit Grandma a couple of days ago. The girls were tremendously excited and so was Grandma!


What is she doing, you wonder? Marika appeared to enjoy "sand swimming". She did a half-breast stroke about 20-30 feet across the beach. There's Miss Mika down at the water's edge! Marika was traumatized early on, getting knocked over by a wave and losing her shovel (but not her pail). She screamed hysterically for about 5-7 minutes, especially after being told that the ocean apparently wanted her shovel more than she did and oh, well... some kid in Hawaii was going to end up enjoying it. BUT - lo and behold, a very kind gentleman saw her antics and quietly kept observing the waves - a few minutes later, he trotted up to Marika and returned her shovel, saying that it had washed up down the beach. What a sweet guy!!! It's so wonderful when people express kindness towards somebody else, especially a distraught child.

My college friend Michelle came to visit us and take a nice break away from her studies. I like to think that when she hangs around us, she can hopefully forget about her stressful life and just relax and - enjoy being a kid again. Apparently, she has not lost the knack for flying a kite!

There's Grandma! The girls absolutely adore her - Grandma is a truly awesome grandmother. She gives so much of herself to the girls (her full attention and total love), it makes me happy that they have somebody like her in their lives. They'll miss her while she's visiting the other grandkids...

And here's Grandma flying the Spiderman kite. Beaches are a great place to fly kites - and it was an especially windy day. Grandma got the kite started and then handed it to Marika, who was either very tired or rather lazy and ended up lying on her back on the beach, holding onto the kite.

I leaned over and casually remarked to Michelle, "Gee... I wonder what would happen if she let go...?" And a few minutes later - you guessed it - Marika began screaming hysterically (again), "MOMMY! THE KITE! I LET GO OF THE KITE!"

I was already sprinting down the beach after the kite (good thing I run 3 miles every morning!) - realizing I was probably not going to make it (I can run fast, but I am vertically-challenged), leaping up on the slope with no shoes (who knew ice plants were so soft? and that gophers liked to live by the beach, too?). Luckily for all of us, the kite string handle got stuck on the fence and the kite went down under a parked car (no innocent bystanders were hurt!). Michelle untangled the kite and released the string so I could wind it all back up. Whew! And interestingly enough, I also scored a Top Flite golf ball at the top of the beach slope fence. Why it was there, I have no idea...

In a nutshell - it was a good (and sometimes exciting) day at the beach - good company and good food. Thanks for lunch and the delicious dinner spread, Mom!

Belated Birthday Present - LegoLand

For the girls' birthday this year, we asked them if they would rather have a birthday party or go to Legoland. We were very pleased when they chose the latter (after all, the girls have enough toys!), but one thing after another kept coming up, so we were not able to go until this past weekend. As luck would have it, it drizzled for most of the morning and was rather chilly - but nothing could dampen the spirits of these girls! They had a great time!

Legoland really has the best rides for little kids. Very kid-friendly and non-terrorizing. Marika even went on a rollercoaster (Mika refused) and came bouncing off of it with a huge smile. Mika went on the rides that went round-and-round (ick!) and could go on a water-shooting ride (but Marika was still a couple of inches short and cried while Mika was gone). Buck up, little girl - maybe next year you'll be tall enough! EAT MORE PROTEIN!!!

What I enjoy about Legoland the most, is their sculptures. Their attention to detail and their large-scale projects are truly amazing!

Speaking of amazing, check out their mini-versions of San Francisco (left) and New York City. I especially loved the Pier 39 scene - complete with lego elephant sea lions on their floating raft - and a Lombard Street reproduction in the background!

Yup, I was fascinated with the three-dimensional sculptures. Here are some more examples... isn't it fascinating how accurate these portrait busts are?

It was a good day, or as the girls proclaimed, "the best day ever!" We were there from 10-6 and promptly, within 2 minutes of driving away, both girls fell soundly asleep. :)

First day of summer vacation

Couch potatoes aren't allowed in our house, so on our first day of summer vacation, we walked to the local post office (3 miles round-trip) to ship one of my Ebay packages. The girls never mind doing this, as long as the little one gets a ride (check out her wheels!) and we stop to feed Baby, the neighborhood horse. We've been feeding him for over a year now, so he recognizes the girls and often comes running when he sees them. He knows we bring carrots!

Along the way, we passed by a very busy ant nest. You know me, I can't resist the opportunity to use the macro lens on my camera. And besides - insects are awesome! ;)

We were delighted to get a phone call from our buddy H., who suggested we go hiking at Forest Falls. There's something therapeutic about being up in the mountains - and it's only about a 20-minute drive up there. The girls love to play in the water and thankfully, since B. came along, we felt secure and safe. (Don't forget - if you want to see the pictures in more detail, just click on the collage!)

It was a good day! And as you can see, the girls were worn out!

Last day of school - part 2

So last Thursday was the last day of school for Mika. Her class celebrated with a pizza party outside. Afterwards, they enjoyed their final session of recess.

Mika brought home her first report card (no letter grades until 2nd grade) and was officially promoted to first grade. Time really does fly - above you can see Mika on her first day of kindergarten (left) and the last day (right). She looks a little older with less baby fat on her face, doesn't she?

After we returned home, the girls built a fort and watched one of their favorite movies... and so summer vacation begins!

Last day of school - part 1

"Rainbow Flower" - the last piece of art drawn by Mika, the kindergartener. It's so hard to believe that the last day of kindergarten is finally here! Later this morning, Marika and I will go help out in the classroom. I have no idea why we're needed, the kids are just eating pizza. But, I guess it'll be a great chance to get the "last day" photos...

Last night, I had Mika write a thank you note to her teacher. DaddyDude was supposed to be watching her, but he got distracted by the TV. Granted, I did tell her she could write whatever she wanted - her teacher doesn't mind if they misspell words, so that is rather freeing. However, when I read what Mika wrote, I gasped with surprise and then started laughing. Mika wrote, "I like the work you do for us. I need more work. Have a great summer. Love, Mika".

Looks like Miss Mika is up for studying over the summer! :)

Not to be outdone, Marika submitted her own artwork. I wonder if she is going through a "dark" phase (we do have all sorts of colored crayons, pencils, and markers in the house!). She said this picture is called, "Me and Daddy Rolling a Ball."

The Ladybugs Are Here!

Our lovely ladybug larvae arrived yesterday... the girls (especially Marika, of course) were terribly excited!

Thirteen precious little larvae arrived safely, with a little pile of food. They'd been growing steadily already, as evidenced by the cast skins found in the transport container. It's a really cute setup, as far as a ladybug habitat could be - very colorful and very easy to make observations. Every day, the girls will have to pipette some water into the habitat, but other than that, it's just a waiting game to see insects develop.

Speaking of development - after 6 days, our painted lady caterpillars are developing very nicely. At least six (out of seven) are doing great, although some are certainly fatter than others. I hope they go through metamorphosis soon... frankly, I'm a little worried about all that poop (and therefore, mold) that is steadily accumulating... it's hard to see with all the debris plus silks that are being produced...

And in other news... here was Marika's fashion statement yesterday...

As the school year winds down (one more day to go!), things are still busy. I spent the morning making candy lollipops for the teacher and teacher's aid. Unlike other parts of the country, this neighborhood appreciates home-made gifts. It was fun to create these sweets, but a little stressful if they didn't turn out perfectly... (I really liked those ladybug lollipops, though!).

It was too cold for the kids to have a "Water Day", so Plan B was to have several stations in the recess yard for the kids to play. I was in charge of the "Potato Sack station" - purely by choice, because I remember how much fun it was to do as a kid. Marika had a blast - she hopped all over the place and even though she never won a race, she had fun! Mika, on the other hand, fell over during the first race, promptly began to bawl, and quit immediately. *sigh*

One more day of school!

Who knew?

What is this, you ask? Well, let me tell you...

A few days ago, we noticed that it was smelling really funky in the girls' bedroom. In fact, it smelled an awful lot like pee. Obviously this is NOT a good smell. We kept washing things in batches and trying to figure out what was lingering... did somebody pee on the wood? On the floor? On a blanket? On a stuffed animal? This was NOT a pleasant task, sniffing around... :(

We were nosing around again last night, after yet another batch of laundry, when I noticed a bunch of oddly shaped things beneath their beds, between the cracks. Being an entomologist, my first freakish thought was that they were just the right size as (*shudder*) cockroaches. And then... I knew what they were. And yes, this is what smelled like urine!

Yup - you guessed it - somebody had been spitting out their Flintstone multivitamins and "hiding" them under the bed. And I knew immediately who the culprit was!

We removed 14 vitamins from under the bed - yes, it took us that long to figure out what was going on - and then went to confront the girls, who were enjoying a leisurely bath. First, I apologized to Mika for thinking she had peed somewhere in the room. Then I asked them who had hidden the vitamins under the bed, even though I knew who did it. Ha ha! The confession came spilling out, from... (drumroll)... Marika!

Apparently, according to the girls, after we switched bottles sizes (same brand), the vitamins didn't taste good. Did I mention that I had found 4 of these vitamins in our closet floor a few days ago? And are you still wondering why it took us so long to figure out what Marika was doing???

After dinner, they are told to go wash their hands. Sometimes they take longer than usual but we didn't think about it, because they love to sing in front of the bathroom mirror or mess around in the study before they return. Never, in a million years, did we think anybody was running upstairs to ditch the vitamin. Although... I did catch Marika sprinting upstairs a few days ago, right after dinner. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "I was just checking on my bed!" Yes, I grew suspicious, but still did not think she was spitting out the vitamins!

*sigh* Because of this debacle, I took one of their vitamins last night. It didn't taste bad, it tasted just as I remember as a child, when my friend gave me one. Yeah, I grew up in a time when parents (at least Asian ones) didn't give their kids Flintstone vitamins.

(Hey, is this why I'm so short?!)

So why do Flintstone vitamins smell like pee after they've had contact with water/saliva? Is it so parents can be alerted to the odor and know that the kids are spitting them out?!

Marika and I are headed off to Target this morning to get "new" vitamins... *sigh*...

Graduation time

Supplies: cardstock (DCWV, Bazzill), patterned paper (DCWV), embellished tags (Joann's), rub-on (Scenic Route), embossing templates (Cuttlebug), rickrack ribbon (Bazzill), punched border (Fiskars - apron lace), diecut shapes and sentiment (Quickutz)

It's almost graduation time for the new class in DaddyDude's department, so it was time to make some simple cards (one thank you card plus 4 congratulatory ones). It finally gave me a chance to break out the exclusive Quickutz doctor die I had recently purchased... and did I already say how much I love my Cuttlebug???

And I REALLY love DaddyDude. He had admin time this morning and took Marika with him. I was so happy to have some "alone" time (of course I love everybody in the house, but to get 3 hours without anybody interrupting my thoughts? PRICELESS!). So I made the cards that DaddyDude needed while finally watching the rest of a taped movie (Reality Bites) on the DVR. Remember the good old days immediately after college? Uh... barely! :)

A quiet weekend...

Here's Mika's latest piece of artwork. I call this, "Girl". She drew another picture with a boy and a girl and told me, "This is when you and Daddy first met!" Isn't that sweet? I wonder where that picture went...

DaddyDude had to work this weekend, so it was a mellow weekend (with sports on Sunday, as usual). On Saturday, I took them to the local library for the monthly Crafts hour. The girls made three different projects, all based on an Aquarium/sea life theme. They made a fan, a jellyfish mobile, and a card. Mika got extra creative and made a paper rendition of "Baby" (the neighborhood horse). I would have included a picture of Marika, but she insisted on writing her entire name on her stuff (so I didn't want to post it online).

On a sad note, we found a dead baby bird on our backyard patio Saturday night. We had a little burial ceremony for him in our planter, complete with a marker (like Sister Bear made for her pet goldfish in The Berenstain Bears Lose A Friend).

What was even worse, was finding another dead baby bird the following day (and Monday morning as well - the last one was twice as big as the others, too). There must have been a nest in that part of the patio, but I've never noticed it. How very sad... I wonder if the parents thought something was wrong with them and pushed them out. They were so very tiny, I can't imagine the baby birds could move on their own very well at all. *sigh*

The girls felt better, giving the birds a nice bed of grass to lay on, and making their graves look nice with rocks. I never thought it necessary to shield our girls from the spector of death, since they'll have to deal with it in a couple of years when it's time for Daisy to pass on (where she'll be taken care of by Grandpa, who is now watching over a dog, 5 guinea pigs, and 2 cats!).

Do I have adorable nieces or what?

As life has gotten busier, it's been much more difficult to drive up north to visit the rest of the family. Luckily, thanks to Skype, we've been able to "visit" with my brother Ken and his family every so often. His girls have been growing up so fast but thankfully - he is a dedicated photographer and sends monthly photos out. Here are a couple that especially captured my heart...

Aren't they absolutely precious??? And yes, they do always wear cute outfits!

And this one just made me laugh out loud... :) What a great shot!

Isn't it wonderful when hard work pays off?

As school winds down, it's time for the final awards assembly. Today, they gave out awards for Jogger's Club. There are different prizes for different tiers (how many laps you ran and how you are, with four laps = 1 mile). The top tier was a medal for those who ran a certain amount (for kindergarteners, it was 12 miles, or 48 laps). Mika ran 73 laps this spring semester - which was also enough to win her the top runner award for kindergarten girls! Not bad, especially considering that she missed a whole week (2 days of running) for vacation! She could have run even more! Her prize was a certificate and a T-shirt that said "TOP RUNNER SPRING 2009".

I was really proud of her, because I was trying to teach Mika that if you work hard for something over a period of time, you can reap the rewards. There were some kids who ran just a little bit each day, trying to make the bare minimum to qualify for a certain tier. Mika ran her little heart out every day, doing the best she could.

If all goes well, in a few years... I think I'll have a great running partner! :) Maybe then, she'll be the one telling ME to hurry up! Hee hee... I'm so proud of you, baby! I knew you could do it! I just knew it!

Later in the day, it was time for the school's annual "family picnic". Grandma came to visit (the girls haven't seen her in several weeks, since she'd been traveling in Japan) and lucky for me, she prepared a whole smorgasbord of yummy food! We had pork cutlets, chicken cutlets, spaghetti, strawberries, home-grown tomatoes, and celery - plus the good company of our friends. After finishing lunch, the girls insisted on having Grandma play ring-around-the-rosy and asking her to swing them in a circle.

Personally - I was amazed that nobody hurled afterwards! ;)

It's a little known fact...

...that on both sides of my family, everybody has the innate ability to fall asleep anywhere. No, we're not narcoleptic or anything, but really - we can sleep anywhere! It was a very useful trait during college, when those 15-minute power naps in the library could help you make it through a long night of studying... looks like Marika is in good shape for those overnighters!

And in other news... we harvested our first cherry tomatoes. We had almost forgotten they were out there - which is why some are a wee bit wrinkled (apparently, there is quite a bit of weeding to do - again). Originally, we had one more tomato, but I accidentally knocked it out of Mika's hands and it bounced into Daisy's cage - where it was immediately pounced on it and devoured! :)

They're here! They're here!

And straight from Florida, we have... (drumroll, please)...

Our painted lady caterpillars arrived today from Florida! We just sent off for them about a week ago and they're already here. Lucky for us, the day was cool and overcast, so there was no chance of them roasting in our mailbox! The caterpillars came in a little plastic cup (with food), in that little cardboard box. Hopefully their postal journey wasn't too traumatic...

I'll have the girls keep a science journal of observations. They may not find it too interesting except at the milestones: chrysalis formation, butterfly emergence, and butterfly release. However, it would be pretty cool if we could get them to lay some eggs and start a new generation!

Stay tuned! Our ladybugs are due any day as well... :)

All good things must come to an end...

Once a week, I go in to Mika's classroom to help out in the afternoon. Usually, the routine is to help the kids paint and afterwards... listen to them read or set them up for computer quizzes.

Today was my last day as the Wednesday mom. Next Wednesday, the kids will be celebrating the end of the year with a huge water party (now THAT will be interesting!). It's been really interesting and fun to watch the kids over the time span of a year. Some kids were more delightful than others, but I can honestly say I've seen each and every one of them grow positively in at least one direction.

I was extremely fortunate that the teacher allowe me to volunteer with Marika. She also enjoyed her time in the classroom and knows each and every one of the kids by name. They were all very kind to her (which surprised me), for which I was very grateful.

The Daily Grind (literally)

If you're familiar with the movie Top Gun, then you know what a wing man is. Marika is my wing man and a good one, too! I trust her to do a lot of things (some of which I wouldn't necessarily trust her big sister to do), such as handle Daisy by herself, take pictures with my camera, strip basil plants to make pesto, or help make my coffee.

For Mother's Day, DaddyDude surprised me with a beautiful French press coffee maker. He also knows I like shiny things, so I was doubly delighted. :)

Marika helps out by watching my 4-minute timer and then pressing the coffee when it's time. I allowed her a tiny taste this morning (it was caffeinated, after all) and she exclaimed, "it's good!" Uh, oh...

I love her desire to help me (it's so sweet!) and especially love to watch her being sooooo extremely careful. She only smiled for me because I asked - other than that, she was intently focusing on her task, carefully switching to the two-handed maneuver near the end.

Thanks, little helper o' mine! I love you! :)

A Cold Stone kind of night...

DaddyDude has been working A LOT over the past year, due to his added responsibilities. I can only imagine he will continue to get busier and busier. Sometimes it feels like I'm a single parent, he's hardly around! He is working hard for our family, I know - but it just makes our time together that much more precious.

Last night, he was supposed to have a business meeting after work (and wouldn't have been due back until 8 pm or later), but for some inexplicable reason, it was cancelled. He was excited to get some extra time with his girls, so we headed off for dinner, where he kindly bribed the girls with Cold Stone ice cream if they agreed to eat fast food Chinese food for my sake (versus Chick-Fil-A to see "the cow", their favorite place). Isn't he a sweetie? The girls aren't stupid so they agreed. Actually, it was kind of funny - during dinner, they excitedly proclaimed, "THIS IS THE BEST CHINESE FOOD EVER!" over and over again. Glad they were happy, that's all I can say! Me, too, because I didn't have to cook. :)

Cold Stone ice cream is always a hit with them. They always enjoy playing around the water fountain. One of these days, Mika is going to fall in, I am sure...

Before going out, I was treated to a puppet show. On the left, you can see the rapt audience. On the right, there's the stage. Pretty elaborate, eh?

The first show was called, "The Little Mermaid". I had to laugh, because Aerial was some Barbie doll (it was a gift, okay?) wearing a fabric scrap tied so that two ends looked like a fish tail. Clever, right? The girls apologized that none of the other characters had costumes. Sebastian the Crab was played by Batman (still in his regalia), Buddy Boy (the tan dog) was Titan (Aerial's father), and the white dog (no idea if he has a name or not) was the Sea Witch.

Silly, yes, but I am grateful that the girls are creative and can engage easily in free, independent play. They were even creative enough to have "music" accompanying their production! The second show, "Thumbelina" (named after one of the bunnies), featured the vocal stylings of Marika. :)

It's good to try new things...

What's the only thing more fun to photograph with a macro lens than flowers? Why, bugs, of course - but the darn things won't sit still! Always nice to have the camera handy while DaddyDude is running errands somewhere...

This past fall, we learned that you could plant the white part of the green onion, and you'd get new green leaves very quickly. Perhaps, too quickly. Half of my garden is now composed of bolting green onions! So, it was time to do something with them. I'd had a craving for green onion cakes for the longest time, but little incentive to make them.

Thank goodness for bolting green onions and the internet! I googled around and found a tasty-sounding recipe: http://sum.ptuo.us/roller/ks/entry/how_to_make_green_onion.

With a slightly spicy dipping sauce (http://www.sunshinerecipes.com/greenonioncakes.shtml), these were divine! Just like a restaurant! Even Mika absolutely loved them, declaring them "scrumptious!"

It's so nice that kids are at the point where they can play together and leave me with enough time to cook something "gourmet". We rarely eat out, because it's so expensive and we are trying to be frugal (and okay, yeah, the girls' table manners don't make me proud yet).

And speaking of the kids, DaddyDude went outside and discovered that the kids had built an "ant track". Who knew it was a real sport? And apparently, with spectators, too! ;)

By the way - for you scrapbookers out there - I finally got off my tush and started listing my remaining store inventory on Ebay - whew! So, you might want to check things out by clicking on the "3MG Scrapbooking" icon on the left. My goal is to have sold everything off by the end of August. I cannot wait to get rid of all the packing materials in the study! ;)

Visiting the Aquarium

On Saturday, we headed off to Long Beach to meet up with my college buddy Michelle at the Aquarium. As some of you may know, Michelle is a studly scuba diver who gets to play in the Aquarium tanks as a volunteer. She's great to have along at the Aquarium, because she is very knowledgeable about the animals and their life histories. And if you know me, you know I like to talk biology whenever I can... :)

And in case you couldn't tell, I took lots of pictures, experimenting with the newly discovered high ISO setting on our camera (just click on the collage to see the pictures in greater detail!).

It's such a beautiful aquarium... and I feel the girls learn so much more than they do at any zoo (but perhaps quite a bit of that is due to Michelle's expertise).

Ah, more practice with the camera! Here's DaddyDude at his Sunday game, batting left-handed. Can you see the ball whizzing towards him on the right? It's a white blur just below the homerun line on the back wall...