Butterflies: They are all in chrysalis now!

Our caterpillars went into chrysalis last night.  They are all hanging from the top of the cup.  They sure did make a huge mess.  Should be interesting to see how long it takes for them to change and emerge as a butterflies?

Butterflies: Bigger and Messy

We observed our future butterflies this evening, the kids noticed that there was a lot of mess in their container... yuck Hailey said.  They seem to be eating alot of their food now and they are obviously growing, longer than an inch now.

Bigger and Messy

Mother's Day Weekend

I know, I am late posting, but that's how it goes with kiddos.  Do I think Casey had a nice mother's day weekend.  It all started off with cleaning the house for her on Saturday, which obviously the heavens above were please with my cleaning as they blessed us with a beautiful rainbow that afternoon. ;)

[caption id="attachment_526" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Happy Heavens Rainbow"][/caption]

Casey and I enjoyed a movie later that evening, Blind side.  We both enjoyed it, check it out next time you are looking for something good.

Sunday, the kids got out their mother's day card they made Casey, it was huge, like 1.5ft x 2 ft.  Funny how the kids area already realizing how different aspect of gifts get more reactions.  We then hurried and got everyone ready and went out for breakfast at the waffle shop on Atherton.  We knew there was going to be a line and we were prepared, snacks, toys, games, etc just to keep them entertained till we got to the table.  It was definitely the least pleasant trip to the waffle shop ever.  I know it was mother's day, but taking like 25mins to get our food seemed a bit ridiculous.

We then went over to my grandmother's house to visit.  We also took some flowers and a vase.  She enjoyed the flowers and got a kick out of watching Hailey and Tyler play.

Later that evening, I cooked Casey her dinner request for gluten-free Mac n Cheese with grilled rosemary balsamic vinegar chicken. And to finish off dinner I made a Cranberry Mint Martini (her new fav).

[caption id="attachment_527" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Cranberry Mint Martini"][/caption]

Happy Mother's Day!

MillBrook Marsh Nature Center Visit

Today I took the kids to the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center in State College. We have never been to the place, so we decided to check it out.  It was a nice day, sunny and not too hot.  The kids loved walking on the board walk, but also enjoyed walking on the grassy paths.

We saw lots of birds, even heard a wood pecker once.  We saw fish in the streams. We also got to observe a really big ant hill.  The kids were very interested in the ant hill, since it was almost 2 feet high.  We met some nice doggies and their owners walking on the trails.

Below are a few photos we took while on our visit to Millbrook.

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Butterflies: Hailey is excited and they are growing

So Hailey asked me to show a photo of her with her gift, the butterfly garden kit.  Here she is excited about her gift and can't wait to see how they grow.

[caption id="attachment_490" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Hailey excited about her butterfly garden kit present"][/caption]

The caterpillars at this point are about 1/2 inch long.  They are also very active, moving around and eating a lot.

[caption id="attachment_491" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Caterpillars: day 2"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_492" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Caterpillars: day 2"][/caption]

Stay tuned for more butterfly updates.

Butterflies: Package Arrived

Today my daughter's birthday present from my sister's family arrived.  It is an Insect Lore Butterfly Garden kit!

[caption id="attachment_486" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Butterfly Garden Kit"][/caption]

So basically as you can see in the image you get a container with butterfly caterpillars in it and a butterfly habitat.  The caterpillars are currently a little over 1cm long.

[caption id="attachment_487" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Caterpillars"][/caption]

Hailey and I are going to try to post photos and descriptions every few days just to show how they are growing.  Should be exciting.

Gluten-Free Stromboli

I finally got some photos taken of a gluten-free stromboli that I made for dinner one evening.  I used the same recipe that I use for my gluten-free pizza.

1. Make the pizza dough following the pizza recipe instructions


2. Spread it out onto a large piece of parchment paper, just like in the my pizza recipe instructions, except make the entire thing flat, no extra dough needed around the edge for a crust.


3. Cover spread out dough with your favorite topping stuffers (veggies, meats, cheeses)


4. Pick up one edge of the parchment paper and fold it over to the other side.


5. Now push the dough together around the edges to create a sealed stromboli.


6. DON"T try to pull the parchment paper away now, wait until it is cooked


7. Place stromboli into the oven to bake (on a pizza stone works best)


8. After 5-8 minutes, its time to flip it, so very carefully flip it over onto its other side


9. After another 10 minutes, its time to take it out and enjoy

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