Saturday, June 12, 2010

Butterflies Are Free

So sorry I've been away from blogging and visiting for awhile. We've been busy with fun and with some not-so-much-fun things lately.

In this post you'll see one of the fun things and one of the not-so-fun:
Last year our grandson Jayden saw a commercial about raising butterflies and he wanted to do it, so my husband sent away for the kit, Jayden was fascinated with the whole process, and he was excited when it was time to set the butterflies free.

This year in school his class was doing the same thing, and when he saw the commercial on TV again it reminded him about it and he told us how th
e class was raising butterflies and he wanted to do it again at home too.
So Ray sent away for another kit, and each day Jayden would check to see the progress of his butterflies and to feed them.


And after he was satisfied that they had enough to eat, he would leave his finger inside the butterfly house and wait. And sure enough, one of the butterflies would come and land on it...



...and make it's way up along Jayden's finger.



I thought Jayden would become too attached to the butterflies to want to set them free. But when it came time, he was happy and excited to do just that!



When the butterfly door was unzipped I thought the butterflies would be happy to fly right out to freedom, but they needed a little coaxing.







Eventually they all flew off, and Mia & Jayden were all smiles...



...that is until it was time for Mia to leave and go home!





A few days later Jayden spotted this beautiful butterfly in our neighbor's yard:





Jayden also planted some tomato seeds in a little paper cup in school, we put them on the window sill in the kitchen for a few days, and then Ray and Jayden transplanted them into a pot out on the back deck. His teacher told me they are cherry tomatoes, so I am looking forward to using them in salads this Summer!




Okay, now for one of the not-so-fun things ~
We were supposed to go to our niece's graduation party in New Jersey today but Ray fell while bike riding!

He was moving out of the way of on-coming traffic on a very busy road, and he turned into a construction site, drove over a wooden board, and next thing he knew he was airborne! He made a hard landing and is scraped and bruised, and thank goodness he had his helmet on because it is scraped and bruised too. In spite of the helmet he still got a knock on the head.




This is the side of the helmet as it is supposed to look, all nice and smooth, and shiny:



And this is the side of the helmet that made contact with the ground, all scratched and battered now:




He's really feeling sore so I said a two hour drive is not something he should be doing today.
He wouldn't listen to me about going to First Med and getting checked out, but he is willing to stay put so I know he's not feeling well.



Okay, I'll try to be more faithful about posting in the future!
'Hope you are all enjoying a great weekend!

(Also, as you can see, I'm having Blogger issues again! My font size keeps changing, my pictures keep disappearing, and it has taken me over two hours to get this post ready! Grrrrr!)

16 comments:

  1. Oh, Eileen!!! Your poor husband!!! That's just horrible...hope he heals up quickly!! Thank goodness he was wearing a helmet! The pictures of Jayden and Mia are wonderful! Such a delight! But I'm sorry to hear that Blogger is still giving you fits...so frustrating!!! Hope it all gets sorted out soon! Love you so very much!!! Janine XO

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  2. HI EILEEN-

    Oh my, the butterflies are lovely - their home and then setting free, wonderful. And yet another amazing chapter you have written for Mia and Jayden. :-)

    And not so lovely is poor Ray and his injuries. Hope he is healed soon.


    Stop by my place when you have a moment -

    Love to you
    Gail
    peace and hope......

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  3. It was good to see Mia and Jayden together...their sweet smiles would brighten anyone's day. I guess Mia was having so much fun with the butterflies, she hated to leave.

    Rays injuries look very painful, but I know you're thankful he wore a helmet...they could have been so much more serious injuries! These are bad enough though!

    Hope Blogger clears up for you Eileen!
    ♥...Wanda

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  4. O.K. I've been thinking about getting a helmet and now I really want one! Poor Ray, he must be so sore! I know that you will take good care of him Eileen.
    And Jayden's butterfly story reminded me of my toad story at my great- grandma's when I was a girl! He is so sweet, maybe he will grow up and be one of those butterfly experts! I am sorry, I don't know what they are called.
    I loved that photo of Jayden and Mia together. They sure are growing up! Still cute as can be!
    Gosh I miss you posting! Love Di ♥

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  5. Poor Ray! Something like that happened to my husband a few years ago and he could not get out of bed the next day.:( I thought I was going to have to call an ambulance but I prayer and God helped me to roll him out. No fun. I hope Ray feels better very soon, poor guy!

    Congratulations on the sweet butterflies! What a lovely experience! We tried that once but had no luck.:( I am sure that the whole event of letting them go was so thrilling!!! Lori

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  6. So glad you're posting more, Smiley!! Just love all the tales and antics of Jayden and Mia! Such fun! And what a gorgeous butterfly!!

    Sorry your hubby took a bad spill! I am all too familiar with that scene...just not the falling off the bike part! I just FALL!!

    Tell Ray I am praying for wounds to heal!!
    Love ya and hope you have a joyful Sunday, sweetie!!
    Becky

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  7. Thank goodness Ray was wearing a helmet...(They are a requirement here if one rides on a public street)... I'm soooo sooo sorry that he fell and was hurt. I do hope that he recovers soon.
    I am thrilled that Jayden didn't mind setting the butterflies free....and happy to see butterflies in your garden.
    Welcome back, my friend. I have missed you.
    I send you hugs and love,
    Jackie
    P.S. Guess which outfit is our favorite one to put on baby Carley Rose? It has yellow ducks all over it....and I think of Mia every time I see it on Carley. Hugs to you!!!

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  8. That was one heck of a fall! Poor guy. Traumatic too I'm sure flying through the air. Thank goodness for helmets.

    What a fun adventure with the butterflies. I remember being so fascinated by caterpillars when I was Jayden's age or maybe a little older. Kids love the cycle of nature. He will never look at butterflies the same again.

    Hope Ray heals quickly :(

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  9. So happy to read about Jayden and his butterflies...but so sorry to hear about Ray's accident.

    Hope he will recover quickly and that there are no complications inside of him.

    I looked at your last post for May...I loved the pictures you put in there, Eileen.

    Enjoyed my visit here.

    Love
    Lidj

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  10. OH, what a scary thing! I'm glad that he didn't break anything, Eileen. It's bad enough being scraped and cut and sore. I went through that when I fell, and it is no fun.

    I love seeing the pics of Jayden and Mia, and that is so neat about his love for those butterflies. What a great thing to do with a child. I'm afraid if we tried that with Cecelia that she would never let the butterflies go as she tends to want to keep the things she loves close... as evidenced by Hattie, her frog doll I gave her several years ago, that has seen more wear and tear than you can imagine, and with whom she refuses to be parted. ;-)

    XO,

    Sheila

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  11. That was a serious fall off the bike, more of a skid. Wise man to be wearing his helmet.

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  12. Thank God for the angels protecting Ray from more serious injury....

    So interesting, the butterfly "project"! What a great way to connect kids and Creation.

    Thank YOU for persevering in spite of blogger difficulties. It sure is good to hear from you.

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  13. Just here to see how you and Ray are doing...And to send you my love...and to let you know that you've been in my thoughts, dear Eileen! Love, Janine XO

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  14. Eileen, I absolutely loved this post! Well, not the part about poor Ray but thank goodness he wore a helmet. I hope he is all patched up and feeling better soon. I love the idea of a butterfly house. I wish I would have thought about something to do like that with Ryan. I made a note to try to pick one up next year. Even if Ryan doesn't like it I think I would. That butterfly was beautiful. Please tell Jayden he did a wonderful job raizing the butterflies! Bblessings to all of you.
    Love, Carol

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  15. Hello Eileen .....had a great time catching up on all your news!
    I know my Miss Tanzi would love to do the butterfly thing... I'll have to see how expensive it is to ship to S.A.
    What a horrible fall Ray had... without that helmet things could have been far worse!
    love to you all
    x

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  16. Checking on Ray... How is he doing?
    Thinking of you all, Eileen.
    With love,
    Jackie

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