More This & That

Well, I attempted to ask Danielle the questions about mothers. I'm not sure she was in the mood. Her first answer was ok: Why did God make mothers? "So they could love us." It went downhill after that. How did God make mothers? "With rice." ha ha ha "No, with mud, dirt." ha ha ha. When I asked her the next question she suggested I talk to Tyler. Oh well. I imagine she would have had a lot to say if I'd been asking her about daddies.

This afternoon Danielle was writing down words that started with "M". She came up with "monkey", and we spelled it for her so she could write it down. She kept asking for more words. Ron, thinking he was being humorous and not really counting on the kids paying attention, said "moron". Danielle didn't catch it, but Tyler cracked up. After dinner Danielle asked again about "m" words and Tyler piped up, "How about moron?" Ron told Tyler he couldn't use the word unless he could spell it. So, he did. Flawlessly.

Tyler indulged Danielle and played school with her earlier today. It was funny to listen to him instruct her ("the lowercase g goes into the basement"), and he was surprisingly patient with her.

And this is totally unrelated: I was cutting apart Tyler's first grade pictures the other day and suddenly remembered my first grade teacher telling me how bad my cutting was. I felt pretty bad about it at the time. I guess I should have worked a little harder, though, I still can't cut straight.

From the Email Archives

I was looking through my "messages to save" folder in my email inbox today and ran across an email my grandpa forwarded to me when Danielle was about 6 months old. I'm sure it's made the email rounds, but I thought it was funny and figured I'd share it since I haven't posted much this week. Maybe I'll ask my kids for their answers tomorrow. Hmmm...I may not want to hear what they have to say.


The following are different answers given byschool-age children to the given questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Think about it, it was the best way to get more people.
3. Mostly to clean the house.
4. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. He made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used biggerparts.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world, and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string I think.

What kind of little girl was your mom?
1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be prettybossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

How did your mom meet your dad?
1. Mom was working in a store and dad was shoplifting.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he getdrunk on beer? Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats alot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

What makes a real woman?
1. It means you have to be really bossy without looking bossy.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dads such a goofball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under thebed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home, and dads just got to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power'cause that's who you gotta ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What's the difference between moms and grandmas?
1. About 30 years.
2. You can always count on grandmothers for candy. Sometimes moms don't even have bread on them!

Describe the world's greatest mom?
1. She would make broccoli taste like ice cream!
2. The greatest mom in the world wouldn't make me kiss my fat aunts!
3. She'd always be smiling and keep her opinions to herself.

Is anything about your mom perfect?
1. Her teeth are perfect, but she bought them from the dentist.
2. Her casserole recipes. But we hate them.
3. Just her children

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind ofplastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd dye-it, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd getrid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.

This & That

Tyler’s teacher picked him & another girl in his class to be part of the student council. They have to attend a weekly meeting, take notes, and give a report back to the class. He feels pretty important, and I’m glad he gets the opportunity.

Ron created an email account for Tyler so he could have fun sending & receiving email while also practicing his reading & writing. Today was his first day using it. This was an email I sent to him:
Hi Tyler.

I hope you had a good day at school. Danielle and I just finished
eating lunch and now we are going outside to play. Wish you were here
to play with us. (Danielle is going to play. I'm going to clean up dog
poop.)

I love you.
Mom

He read it and cracked up. This was the response I received in my email box:

Ha ha ha ha ha ha! poop! ha ha ha ha ha!

I read it and cracked up.

Tyler brought home his school pictures today. Other than needing a haircut (and still needing one), I thought they looked pretty good. His first interim report comes home tomorrow.

Tyler's 7th Birthday

Doesn't 7 seem so old? Yet when I look back, 7 years seems like so little time. I can't believe it's been 7 years since I cleaned up my desk for the evening and went home from work, sat on the couch and listened to President Bush's speech about 9/11, and starting timing the contractions. The hours dragged the next day until Tyler was finally born, and then time sped up. Now here we are, 7 years later. Tyler has grown up into such an amazing kid. He's funny and smart, sensitive and passionate. He's creative and curious and full of energy (except when he's supposed to hussle on the football field). I am so proud of him.

Tyler chose not to have a non-family birthday party this year. Instead, we took him to MM and let him ride the go karts this afternoon. He was finally tall enough to drive by himself on the rookie track, and he was THRILLED! He was smiling so big the first time around that I don't know how he managed to see the track! We bought him a 2 hour unlimited pass, so he got to ride as many times as he could within 2 hours. He certainly got his money's worth! Danielle and I played minature golf and won some tickets on the inside games while Tyler enjoyed himself. It was a wonderful afternoon. (Doesn't he look like he's enjoying himself?!!)






Later this afternoon Tyler opened his gifts and had birthday cake. We got him a large Lego set that he's been wanting for quite some time. It has over 900 pieces in it, and he's already half finished with it (without anyone's help, of course).

He changed his mind several times about exactly how he wanted his cake to look. He knew he wanted a racetrack, but he couldn't decide how it should look. Finally on Friday he said it should have a loop on it, so this is what I came up with. Fortuantely he is still easy enough to please (although he admitted it wasn't exactly what he had pictured in his mind).

I think this is one birthday that will stick out in his mind when he's older. We had a really great day. Following are some pictures of Tyler from his previous birthdays. (Wasn't he cute?!)

Also, happy 40th anniversary to Mom & Dad R! What an accomplishment (for Mom, I mean :) ). Happy anniversary to Aunt Joyce & Uncle Mike, too.

Football Game & More Celebrating

It was my turn to watch Tyler play football this week. Ron took Danielle to her soccer game. The football game today was by far the best yet. All the kids had a good day - no one left the field in tears. Tyler did really well. He didn't get anyone's flag, but he was SO close several times today. I couldn't get any pictures because he was too far away, but here are a couple videos. (He's #60.) In the first one, I was just impressed with how serious he was about getting across the line & flushing out the ball carrier. The video quality is degraded when I publish it, though, so you probably can't see the determined look on his face. In the second video, he actually scored a touchdown! Ron said Danielle did really well, too. It stinks not being able to watch both kids play.





After the game, Grandma & Grandpa C & Uncle Ron came over to celebrate Tyler's birthday. He didn't know they were coming and was pleased to have an early celebration with presents and cake. I can't believe he's going to be 7 tomorrow.

A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts

My mother-in-law has coauthored a beautiful new book that is due out in October. (Preorders are already being accepted on Amazon.) Following is an interview detailing her new book.


A SCRAPBOOK OF CHRISTMAS FIRSTS

(Leafwood Publishers, October 2008)

A wonderful new gift book, A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, is available in October for Christmas giving. Today, I’ve invited the six coauthors to share their unique story of how they came together to publish this exciting book full of stories, recipes, tips for simplifying the holidays and so much more (click on bookcover to see the trailer!).

First, let me introduce Cathy Messecar, Leslie Wilson, Brenda Nixon, Trish Berg, Terra Hangen and Karen Robbins. Thank you for being here today, ladies.

Karen: Thank you for the invitation.

You are from three different areas of the country—Texas, California, and Ohio. How did you all meet?

Terra: We all six joined The Writers View, an online group for professional Christian writers. Trish and Brenda met in person in 2004 for lunch, I understand, and on 9/18/04, after reading a post Brenda sent to TWV, I sent an email to Brenda, asking if she would like to join with me and walk alongside each other, as a Barnabas group. Brenda said yes that same day, and suggested Trish too. Very quickly Cathy, Leslie and Karen joined in and our stalwart band of six was formed. Living in California, I was so happy to find 5 Barnabas writers in other states so we could bring together a wealth of different viewpoints and expertise

Brenda: Actually, We haven’t met. We’re all great colleagues and friends via the internet. Four years ago Terra and I formed a dyad to support each other as Christians who write in the secular markets. Along came Trish, Cathy, Karen, and Leslie (not necessarily in that order) and we formed a close knit bond of support, creative energy, and professional accountability.

Karen: I met Trish through an online forum called The Writers View and she invited me to join the group.

Trish: Although we belong to the same Yahoo writing group, we met one by one online. Eventually, the six of us decided that since we all write as Christians for a secular market through magazine articles and newspaper columns, we could support and encourage one another.

Leslie: Though we met virtually through The Writers View, I have been blessed to give and get hugs from Trish (at a MOPS conference), Cathy (in the area on business) and Karen (in town for a writers' conference). I can’t wait to meet Terra and Brenda face-to-face, though I feel as though I already know them!

How did you come up with the idea to do a book together?

Brenda: The book is Cathy’s brainchild. She mentioned the concept of telling stories of events that happened for the first time at Christmas and sharing holiday historical tidbits and recipes and each said, “If you need any help, let me know.” That offer morphed into each of us equally contributing and co-authoring A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts.

Trish: Yep, Cathy came up with the idea and the title, and asked us if we wanted to join her on this project. Of course, we said Yes!

Terra: Cathy mentioned the idea for a Christmas book to the group, and someone (I think it was Leslie) suggested that maybe our group could all write the book together. Cathy agreed to lead the way on the project. The earliest email I have on this is from 9/7/05, which shows that this has been a three year collaboration from idea to publication.

Karen: (Chuckling) Terra is a librarian and keeps our historical records by saving our e-mails.

Leslie: Actually, Terra, I wrote that comment (in a group e-mail) kind of tongue-in-cheek. Cathy, the ultra-sweet person she is, took my joking at face value and here we are. However, I believe God prompted the passion and ideas we all bring to the project and that He will do mighty things as a result of our collaboration!

Why did you decide on a Christmas theme?

Brenda: It was Cathy’s concept to write a book centering on Christmas.

Cathy: For several years, I’d been thinking about Christmas as a threshold to introduce Jesus to folks who aren’t familiar with him, and I love a simpler Christmas with the emphasis on family, friends and doing for others. I knew of some families who had experienced “firsts” at Christmas—reunions, losses, special surprises—and I wanted to collect those stories.

Terra: Cathy’s idea immediately resonated with me because Christmas books are “a way past watchful dragons,” as C. S. Lewis wrote. Many people won’t buy a book about being a Christian, but will buy a holiday and family fun book, thus the “past watchful dragons.” People who want to grow in their faith, and people who have no faith but celebrate Christmas will buy our book and hopefully be led to put the focus back on Christ for the holiday, and for their lives.

Leslie: Though Cathy birthed the idea, the rest of us quickly hopped on board. Not only is Christmas special to me—especially now that I have a family of my own—but also that particular holiday cries out to be simplified, to return to the meaningful aspects of celebration, and to lose some of the hype and commercialism.

Tell me a little about what is in A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts? What is your favorite part?

Cathy: I like that you can read one chapter in about 15 minutes and, with all the different suggestions, it feels like Christmas Eve. Makes you want to set up the nativity! Many of the suggestions for family activities can be adapted for any family get-together.

Karen: There are heartwarming stories about things that happened for the first time at Christmas. For instance, one of my stories is about the first Christmas with our adopted children. And the book is pretty. When I first saw the colorful pages and drawings, I fell in love with the illustrator’s work.

Brenda: I don’t have a favorite part – I love it all!

Terra: I like the way the parts are woven into a seamless whole, like a patchwork quilt, that is stronger and more beautiful than the parts.

Trish: It’s like everything you ever wanted to know about Christmas, all the best tips and recipes, and neat stories all wrapped up in this perfect little package.

Leslie: I love reading the special stories, hints, recipes—whatever—and imagining the precious family time that precipitated each moment. Plus, the book is gorgeous, beautifully printed, truly something to be proud of. And we are.

I’ve heard that the book is really a nice gift book; can you tell me a little about the format?

Cathy: Yes, it’s a hardbound book, full color interior. The layout makes it easy to read. It has a definite scrapbooky look on the interior. Different logos identify sections, such as an oilcloth-look Christmas stocking appears beside the “Stocking Stuffer Tradition” (help for connecting family members), and the “Cookie Canister” recipes are on a recipe card, and the back ground of “A Gift For You” is a gift box with bow. It’s a classy gift that they can be placed on a coffee table or in a guest bedroom during the holiday season.

Brenda: I like to describe it as a Starbuck’s sorta gift book. It’s high quality, crisp, and practical.

With six different personalities and areas of ministry, how did you manage to put this all together and still remain friends?

Karen: We pray a lot for each other and it helps that none of us have an over-inflated ego.

Cathy: There were no squabbles. Surely, we had differing opinions, but we knew that any of us could suggest an idea for this book and that each idea would get fair reviews from others. We actually voted on some aspects—everyone in favor say, “Aye.” If you’ve ever watched women at a Dutch treat luncheon when they divide up a meal ticket, it can be intense as they split the ticket down to the penny. As the project came together, I was in awe of my gracious coauthors, unselfish women who respect each other.
For some decisions, we did a round robin—things like book title and chapter titles and what categories to put into the book. Then, as compiler, I’d send out a list of needs to The Word Quilters, that’s what we call ourselves. For instance in a section we call “Peppermints for Little Ones” (hints for children’s activities), I’d put out a call, and the WQs sent in their hints, and then I put them into appropriate chapters.

Brenda: (Smiling) Are we still friends? Seriously, we each have our own platform, ministry, and family life, and those interests kept this project in perspective – it was important but not the only thing on our plates. No one was so enmeshed in this project that she campaigned for her own way. We never had a bitter disagreement or insistence to be “right.”

Terra: We are each other’s biggest cheerleaders.We offer support and ideas for our separate writing projects and for personal prayer requests. I love these ladies, and I have only met one of them in person. So far, Karen is the only one who has met each of us, and one day we hope to meet in person, in a circle of friendship and love.

Trish: I think we are all very flexible and forgiving. We do have a variety of personalities here, but God has worked amazing things through our little group.

Leslie: Though I have seven non-fiction projects in various stages of completion, I could not be more thankful that this is the one to reach publication first. I am truly blessed to have worked with these women, learned from them, watched as they’ve poured heart and soul into crafting a product that will impact lives for the Lord.

Where can my readers get a copy of SOCF?

Cathy: The coauthors will all have a supply, plus our publisher, Leafwood Publishers, will have plenty of copies and discounts for buying five or more. Or they can be ordered at most online stores or by your local bookstore.

Karen: And anyone who leaves a comment here can be entered in a drawing for a free book and a gift basket worth $200! For a list of its contents, check our blog, A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts. And while you're there, leave another comment and increase your chances of winning!

Tell me more about your blog.

Karen: We started our blog in July and it is accumulating a wealth of information about Christmas. Each of us posts one day a week following the theme for that week. Watch for new recipes, tips, ways to simplify, stories, etc., similar to what is in our book.

Leslie: Ooh, ooh, let me answer this one. I’m probably the newest to blogging among the group, but I LOVE it. I’ve enjoyed posting and receiving comments back from readers. What an amazing adventure having an online voice can be! This blog will focus on a different theme each week—anything from tips to avoid overeating during the holidays to how to give a guest room special touches—and expand on the material in the book. I think readers will get to know the authors’ individual personalities and connect on a more personal level. Plus, they get that many more ideas, information, inspiration (!) at no additional cost.

WQs: As an added bonus for inviting us to your blog, we’d like to pass along this Christmas tidbit to you and your readers:

Enjoy a blessed Christmas this year! And thanks for inviting us to share our book, A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, with you.

Please take a moment to leave a comment. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a free book and a Christmas basket of goodies valued at $200!

Early Birthday Gifts for the Budding Engineer

Tyler received some early birthday gifts in the mail this week. It's fun to spread the celebration out! School is really getting in his way the past couple days - he just doesn't have enough time in the evenings to put everything together.

Thank you to Aunt Aya, Uncle Andy, Kotomi, & TJ for the great Lego set!

Thanks to Aunt Joyce, Uncle Mike, & Mark for the cool Indiana Jones Legos!

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa R for the robotic crab kit. This was for ages 10+ and had some small parts, but Tyler was extremely patient and did a great job with it. He and Ron built it in about an hour, maybe 90 minutes. The disappointing part was that after it was all done, it didn't work because the sun was too low (it's solar powered). Tyler tried it after school today, though, and it worked great. He thought it was pretty cool!

And There Was Light

Our power was restored this afternoon. We were just shy of being without power for 48 hours. The longest we've gone without power was for about 4 hours once last winter, so this was certainly a record for us. I know there were people much less fortunate than us, and I don't mean to make light of a very serious situation for some, but I'm a little disappointed our adventure is all over. It was kind of fun not to have any tv, to be huddled a little closer in the evenings, not to have to cook, and to have the kids home from school an extra day or two. We also had the opportunity to hang out with family a little more. I did miss the dishwasher, and the dog hair on my carpets was just begging to be vacuumed up, but over all it wasn't nearly as terrible an experience as it could have been. We were very blessed not to have any major damage from the storm and to have the resources to eat out a little extra if necessary. I do think it's a tad unfair, though, that the power came on before Ron got back from his trip. It would have been nice if he could have taken at least one lukewarm shower.

Here is a video I took during the wind storm. Watching it, it just doesn't seem to have really captured the force of the wind. I will be surprised if I ever experience something like this again.



We saw this tree down when we went out for dinner Sunday evening. When the kids and I went to Uncle Ron's house on Monday, it was still there.

We took advantage of another no school day and went to the zoo for a couple hours today. We had a nice time. (The kids thought the napping gorilla was hilarious.) Before our power came back on, we had already made plans to visit Grandma C for a hot (& free) meal and to do some laundry. We found out the power had been restored on our way to Grandma's, but we took advantage of the free meal anyway. (Thanks Mom.)













I guess it's time to get back to reality...and time for a trip to the grocery store to restock that fridge.

In the Dark

The remnants of hurricane Ike and a cold front moved through yesterday, causing unbelievable winds. We had hurricane force gusts and 40-50mph sustained winds most of the afternoon and early evening. It was pretty unbelievable. Our power went out yesterday afternoon betwee 3:30 & 4, and it still hasn't come back on. The frustrating thing is that the development right behind ours has power. Their warm, twinkling lights mocked us last night as Ron tried to find a radio station that carried the football game. I have a little laptop battery life left and have been able to connect to an unsecured wireless network (from someone behind us, I'm sure) to check the news. Both kids' schools were cancelled today, too.

I suppose I should conserve my remaining battery life. They are estimating that it may take as long as a week for some people to have power restored! I guess I better go clean out the fridge...

My Soapbox

Today was the first time Ron and I had to split up for the kids' games. Ron took Tyler to his football game, and I took Danielle to her soccer game. Ron said Tyler did very well today. Tyler really seems to be enjoying it. Danielle did very well, too, but I think her 2nd bowl of cereal slowed her down a bit. :) Next week we'll switch and I'll take Tyler, Ron will take Danielle. It's disappointing not getting to watch both kids play, but at least both kids get to play.

I need to vent a little about something that's irritating me tonight. Probably everyone else will roll their eyes and file it away with my "it's not a hamburger pattie, it's a hamburger patty" argument, but it's my blog and I'm going to write about it anyway.

Tyler and Danielle both complete Weekly Readers in their classrooms. This week Tyler's was about monarch butterflies. What a great topic for him after our caterpillar/butterfly experience. Well, it could have been a great topic. There wasn't any new information introduced in the paper, which is understandable. I realize not everyone in first grade would know as much as Tyler does about butterflies simply because of our experience this summer. What really irritated me, though, was this diagram of a butterfly's body:

Sucking tube??!! Feelers? Sucking tube REALLY annoys me. Even Danielle knows that part has a name, although she can't quite get it right. 6 and 7 year olds are not too young to learn that a "sucking tube" is a proboscis and "feelers" are antenna. Who cares if most of them will never use that information again? They should be given the opportunity to learn it. Ron and I have often talked about our fear of our kids being "dumbed down" once they got into school because information is taught to the average. This is just one example. Why wouldn't they (Weekly Reader, in this case) take every opportunity to provide accurate, complete knowledge just in case there was a student, somewhere, ready to soak it up? There is no reason our children should loose the edge they have just because they're in school rather than at home.

I'm still irritated. I wonder if Weekly Reader has a comment section on their website...

(Go ahead, roll your eyes.)

More Milestones

Tyler FINALLY lost his first tooth. It has been loose since the first of June! I didn't think he was ever going to lose it. It came out during dinner tonight. He was most impressed with how much easier it was to chew again once it was out. I guess we'll be having a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight.

Tonight Danielle read her first real book. She needed help with the last word in some of the sentences (not all), but she read the rest of it. She was thrilled!! The story she read was the first story in Tyler's 1st grade reading text book.

Danielle's Day

Since I was all caught up on the laundry & shopping, and had cleaned as much of the house as I had intended, today was Danielle's day to pick our activities. Somehow I managed to make it through the entire day without ever touching a Barbie!!

After lunch today she wanted to go for a walk in the woods, and she wanted to invite Uncle Ron. I missed having Tyler with us to enjoy all the things we found, but we had a really nice time. We saw so many things:


A beaver lodge


A crayfish (aka crawfish or crawdad, depending on what part of the country you're from). He was pretty tiny. Danielle didn't keep him in her bucket. We just put him in there for a minute so he wouldn't pinch Uncle Ron while I was taking his picture.


A giant nest from something giant? We didn't see the homeowner. Probably a good thing.



A gartersnake (I think).




Danielle collected lots of "treasures": leaves, acorns with and without hats, hickory nuts, walnuts, shells, and even a buckeye. It was a really good afternoon.

Just Stuff

Things around here have been uneventful lately. I guess that's a good thing. So far both kids are doing great at school. Danielle seems much more comfortable there this year and is really enjoying being with her friends. Tyler's managed to behave himself for almost 3 weeks now! This week will be the first time he's gone 5 days in a row because the first 2 weeks were only 4 day weeks. He should be good and tired by Friday night.

The work he's brought home has been nearly perfect. He's only had one paper so far that wasn't 100% (he missed 1). Today, though, he was a little upset when I pulled out his work. He didn't want me to see one of his papers and was almost in tears about it. Of course, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was a note from his teacher about his behavior. Instead, he was upset because he got an S- on a handwriting assignment! (Handwriting grading scale: S, S-, U) He was genuinely upset about it. He brought home 10 other papers with perfect scores on them today, yet he was miserable about an S- (which "is like an F" he said). Tonight when I put him to bed, he wanted me to stay awhile so we could talk. He eventually brought our conversation back around to his paper. He was afraid because he got an S- he might have to repeat 1st grade. His handwriting is S- quality because 1.) He works quickly, sometimes too quickly 2.) He still doesn't make all his strokes the right way (like starting at the bottom rather than the top) or in the right order (like making the loop before the stem) and 3.) He's a boy. We talked about how he could improve his score the next time, and he agreed he really didn't try his hardest. I assured him he would have to do a lot worse before he'd have to repeat 1st grade. Honestly, if an S- in handwriting is as bad as his grades ever get, I will feel extremely fortunate!!

In other news, Danielle and I have been hunting for monarch caterpillars. We haven't had any luck. We've gone out 2 days this week. Yesterday my brother joined us. We found some fuzzy black, orange and white caterpillars on some milkweed. We knew they weren't monarchs, but we thought we'd take them home & look them up. If they changed into something pretty, we'd keep them until they emerged. Turns out the cool looking caterpillars will become milkweed moths, which are rather ugly. (I think fuzzy caterpillars will be moths and the hairless ones will be butterflies.) We decided to let them go. Before Danielle released them, though, she wanted to "play" with them. I was folding laundry & making dinner and generally just not paying attention. They took the caterpillars upstairs and let them crawl around on the train table while they were playing. When she brought them back downstairs before dinner to release them, they were almost completely bald! All of their fuzz had either fallen out or had been accidentally "pulled" out while they were being handled. It was gross. The kids felt bad when they realized what they had done. Surprisingly they found 3 out of the 4 still alive in the corner of the yard today.

This is a picture I found on the web of the milkweed moth caterpillar.

This is the milkweed moth. (Not my picture, either.)

These were our balding caterpillars. (Tyler took some pictures while they were "playing".)