An Update

First off, we are alive and well. Numerous family members have been in contact to confirm our safety amid the flooding and tornadoes. Amazing as it seems, we didn't have any of it. Mind you, it wasn't nice. It was so hot and sticky that we didn't want to venture outside for a dip in the pool. The word tropical comes to mind, but not in a good way. The only breeze we got was when a thunderstorm passed overhead.

One week of school down and so far no catastrophes. Drew is taking middle school in stride. Ellen isn't crazy about her teacher, but only needs to spend the afternoon with her. Megan loves everything about kindergarten. Her teacher was absent on Friday to take her son to college. She left Megan as the substitute's helper. She also reports that she is one of two in her class who can tie shoes. @@ And while they watched a movie about letters, Megan happily played with her shoelaces. Megan is also our first child to be invited to join a club. This is one of those child formed only-my-friends-can-play organizations. I hate these clubs, as someone always ends up in tears, and she has been warned.

We're slowly getting back online with our schedule. Every one's music lessons are a go beginning this week. Orchestra auditions are this week. We have one more week of swimming vacation before tryouts, but the team parent's meeting is tonight.

In breaking news, Timothy made it through the night without banging his head against the door last night! We've tried everything we could think of for 6 months and nothing has worked. After waking us 4 times but needing nothing on Saturday, we finally resorted to violence and the threat kept him quiet. We're really hopeful that this is a permanent change.

In case you were wondering, our second caterpillar emerged as a butterfly. We set them both free to enjoy their last two weeks of life.

Black Swallowtail

Early last week we went outside to water the garden. We found several rather ugly caterpillars eating our carrots. I started to flick them off. Then I had an idea. Let's capture a few and bring them inside and see what happens.

We weren't sure what we had. Thanks to Google, we were pretty sure that it was a black swallowtail. There are different types of black swallowtail but we couldn't narrow it down any more.

For about four days we picked a little carrot green and put it in their house. The next morning we had a chrysalis and a very still caterpillar hanging from the top corner. By the next morning, we had two chrysalises (chrysali?). That was about 5 days ago.

Since then they have been quietly occupying a corner in the kitchen. When Tim and I returned from the library this morning, the corner wasn't quiet anymore. There was the light sound of fluttering. And there was a butterfly. A black swallowtail. We're hoping to get another within the next day or two.

Summer Fun

School Days

They have their supplies (except one box of gallon zipper bags for Megan) and they are ready for a new year. The buses came on time and everyone boarded without incident.

Drew is off to Middle School. Lockers and all. He is pleased with the upgrade from ers. He and his friends coined this phrase last year to describe the cubbies where they stored their coats that looked like lockers but did not have locks. He only knows of 2 other kids on his team. But surely he'll find more acquaintances, as half of the sixth grade is on the North Team. You may notice an upgrade in appearance. He traded his glasses for contacts last week.





Ellen also begins a new school this year. I like the intermediate school that contains our 4th and 5th grade students. She has a teacher who has similar interests to her own. She discovered this morning that the girl across the street is in her class. And she is very pleased with her math and literacy classes.





OK, this one didn't get on the bus yet. But I don't think it will be a problem come Monday when she is permitted to ride it. We hear that her teacher is nice but runs a tight ship. Sounds like a good place for her. Based on her required supplies, she will be in heaven doing art projects all day long. I hear that they do very little writing and she already reads the "popcorn" words. That's code for whole language. She knows of one preschool friend in her class and the neighbor in Ellen's class has a brother in Megan's class.




Then there is Tim. He was sure that he needed his picture taken, too. He'll be attending the Harbor School this year where mom teaches how to use the potty, self-dressing and drinking from a cup without a lid.