From caterpillar to butterfly!

Claire got a butterfly garden for Christmas and it has finally been warm enough to order our caterpillars. We got two containers of them and this is the size they were when they arrived.

 Within a matter of only 3 days, they grew to be over double their size!

 And another two days later, this is how large they became!

 Shortly after eating a ton of the food provided in the container, they were ready to make their chrysalis. They made their way to the top of the container and formed the letter J.

 When we woke the next morning, they had made their chrysalis!

 After leaving them undisturbed for two days, we then had to transfer them into the butterfly garden. Before placing them inside, we had to remove all of the webbing around each chrysalis.

 And a few days later, we got our very first butterfly!

 With their wings open, they had a beautiful orange color. They are called painted lady butterflies.

 Every day we had to give them sugar water. Claire loved this job and had a fun time placing fresh flowers with sugar water on the bottom of the garden. They also like orange slices so we gave them some oranges every day too. We were lucky that all 10 butterflies made it.

 After watching them and caring for them for 8 days, we decided tonight was the night to let them free. Claire had so much fun letting them sit on her hand and walk up her arm!

 Then she got to hold out her hands and watch them fly away!

 These two didn't seem to want to fly away just yet so we gave them a flower with sugar water on to hang out on until they are ready. What a awesome process to observe! God sure does some amazing things!

Thank you Jesus!

We had an amazing Easter as a family. We started the morning with a scavenger hunt from the Easter Bunny. He had Claire doing all kinds of exercises and gymnastics moves as she went from clue to clue. Claire finally found her basket in her playroom and seemed to enjoy her gifts. She didn't even complain about not getting any candy! Then we got to attend church and hear a wonderful sermon. After church we went for a 5 mile bike ride and stopped halfway to play at the park. In the afternoon, we played some bean bag toss and then Jeff and Claire were crazy enough to jump in the pool. I was too chicken so took pictures instead! God has blessed us with an amazing family and the gift of His Son! How could we not enjoy this beautiful Easter day when Jesus performed such a miracle of rising from the dead! Thank you Jesus!

Preparing for Easter

This weekend we spent a lot of time talking about Easter and why it is so special. We continue to teach Claire about the amazing Father we serve and pray daily that she is able to comprehend what we are trying to teach. After doing our Resurrection Eggs each morning, we talk about what it must have been like for Jesus to go through what He did for all of us. This girl comes up with some very insightful questions and amazes me so much more every single day! God has really entrusted us with one special child of His to raise and I will be forever grateful!

Coloring Easter eggs is one tradition we have done since Claire was very little. Last year, I tried some ideas off of Pinterest...with not much success! So this year, we decided to keep it simple and got the most basic egg coloring kit out there! We had a great time and got some very cool looking eggs!

 This one was Claire's favorite egg that she colored. She held it in each color for about a minute per color. It became speckled looking and turned out really cool!

 Then we decided to make some Easter cookies to give to the neighbors with an invite to church for Easter. This girl knows how to make some cookies! She had lots of practice with her Snugglebunny, Grandpa Larry, when he was living with us. Every time we make sugar cookies, it is fun to talk about and remember all of the laughs we had in the kitchen baking with Grandpa!

 Ta-da! The finished cookies, frosted and sprinkled and ready to take to the neighbors. Of course, we kept a good amount for ourselves to enjoy too! Feeling very blessed this weekend to have such an amazing family!

Sunday Fun-day!

 Claire got a butterfly garden for Christmas and we ordered the caterpillars a few weeks ago. Ever since we have received them, she has been super excited about caterpillars (a blog will come once they turn into butterflies!). Today we noticed that one of our plants in front of the house had about 20 Monarch caterpillars on it! Claire got to play with a few!

 We decided to change things up today and stopped at Orange Leaf after church for a little dessert before lunch! As you can see, both Claire and her Daddy were pretty happy with this decision!

 Jeff and Claire have spent a good part of the weekend building forts in the living room. Belle, our dog, has become known as the "wildebeest".

There is nothing more fun than playing games with Daddy inside the awesome fort you built together!

Spring break week 2016

I was able to spend Wednesday and Thursday with Claire on her spring break week. We had a blast together! On Wednesday we spent the entire day at the Children's Museum. We got to do just about every single activity they offer and we were also able to watch a magic show. Then today we went to eat at Sweet Tomato because Claire was hungry for a salad for lunch! Then we met one of her best friends, Addisyn, at Cosmic Jump for 2 hours of trampoline jumping. One would think by this time Claire would be tired, but no way! She was ready to head to Chuck E Cheese for some game playing. We spent an hour there before heading home to spend some time with Daddy. I am thankful we were able to spend two days of her vacation week together making memories.

Claire's 1st grade spring picture

How has my baby girl grown up so fast? I cannot believe how fast time has gone. I wish I could just freeze her at 6 years old forever. I am loving the bond we share and the special memories we are making. She is at the age where she still wants to be with me a lot but is pretty independent. She understands reason and is able to make sound decisions. I so badly wish I could stop time for about 20 years!

This girl is so much fun!

Claire had her first grade field trip to the Rodeo last week. They had to wear their Team Black shirt and a handkerchief around their necks. She was very excited to go for an entire school day!

 So sweet!

 On Sunday, Claire went to her good friend's birthday party at Sweet and Sassy. The girls got to have their hair and nails done, got makeup put on and got to wear a fancy dress. Then they got to walk the runway and dance and sing to some of their favorite songs. All this before loading up on sugar with cupcakes and an ice cream sundae bar! I just love these three girls together! So adorable and such great friends for Claire!

 These three may be some trouble as they grow up together! 

 This is how my family hangs out after dinner while I do the dishes! Claire doesn't get much time to play on "her phone" (which is really our old phone with games on it), so she enjoys the special treat once in a while.