Butterflies Flying Free

Our butterflies have come out of their cocoons. Here are a few pictures of them before we released them. In the picture above, you can see the last butterfly right before she emerged. This was the only one we were able to watch as it came out of the cocoon. It happened so fast. After they were all out, we watched them in their habitat. We fed them "nectar" (a sugar- water mixture sprinkled on fresh flowers) and orange slices. They drink the juice.

On the day that we released them, we let the children get one out at a time. The butterfly would crawl up on their finger, and then they would lift it out! It was exciting to watch them fly away!

Miracles of Spring

We have been enjoying an exciting experience recently at the Hilling household. A couple weeks ago, we sent off for live caterpillars. The children received this gift for your own butterfly habitat from Grammy and Grampy. They arrived in a special container with their own food supply included. It was fun to watch them literally grow overnight! They got so fat! The children watched them crawl around and eat. The girls named them all -- there were four.

After about a week, they had what they call their "J" day. This is when they hang from the top in the shape of a "J".

Then they begin to form their chrysalids. They can be in their chrysalids for 7 - 10 days. So, now we are watching them closely for that magical moment when they emerge as beautiful Painted Lady butterflies! What a miracle! They look so lifeless right now. It's hard to imagine anything spectacular going on. We will keep you posted on their progress.

Aside from the butterfly adventure, the children and I enjoyed gathering lilacs for a bouquet today. I love their beauty and fragrance! I like to bring some inside where I can enjoy them more.

April Showers

The other day we had a little April shower. It didn't last long and when the sun came out, Alayna wanted to go outside and play. She enjoyed splashing in the puddles.

Melanie had to write a "sound poem" for English class. A sound poem uses alliteration and onomatopoeias (words that sound like their meaning). I thought it was perfect to go along with Alayna's pictures enjoying the spring weather. Here's the result of her efforts:

Warm Wet Weather
by Melanie Hilling

Warm wet weather
A breeze whistles through trees.
A busy bee buzzes by.
I sniff a flower. Achoo! I sneeze.
The birds twitter as they fly.
Twitter, whistle, buzz, achoo,
I love warm wet weather.
How about you?

Ladies' Tea Party

Last week I hosted the bimonthly Ladies Day Out for our church. I decided to do an afternoon tea. I served chicken and egg salad sandwiches, dipped shortbread cookies, and orange scones with orange butter (pictured above), and of course, tea. Because I was so occupied with hosting the party, I forgot to take a single picture. Since we loved the scones so much, I made them again yesterday morning. If you'd like to try them, here's the recipe:

Orange Scones

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold butter
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped mandarin oranges, well drained
Additional sugar

ORANGE BUTTER:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon orange marmalade

1) In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, orange peel and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a bowl, whisk milk and egg. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in oranges.
2) Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10 times. Pat into a 6-in. circle. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Cut into eight wedges.
3) Separate wedges and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat butter and marmalade until fluffy. Serve with warm scones.

Blowing Bubbles In The Snow

I just had to take a picture of the kids today as they played with bubbles outside in the cold. They received large bubble wands for Easter, and were anxious to play with them. When Josiah asked me the second time, and I replied, "This is something we do outside on a warm day," he decided he wanted to go outside. So I thought, "Oh well, why not?". Here's the result -- winter coats and summer fun -- what a combination!

Happy Easter

I trust all of you had a blessed Easter. Here are some pictures we took during the day yesterday.The children's Easter baskets.

We were proud of Josiah saying an Easter recitation for the very first time! I didn't know if he would do it, but he did very well. He said, "Jesus lives is what I say on this happy Easter Day!"

Melanie enjoys memorization. She says that she doesn't get stage fright because she's a pastor's daughter. It's neat to see how she improves each year, and is able to have longer parts.

Alayna was a Son-flower in "God's Garden" along with six other flower girls. She really enjoyed this part, because she likes sunflowers. She even has a few little sunflower plants in the windowsill, growing, waiting for warm weather to plant outside.

The kids cheesing in their Easter attire.

Lady Locks for Easter

Well, I finally made "lady locks". Josiah calls them "goldilocks". These yummy little cream filled cookies are delicious, but quite an ordeal to make. Melanie wanted me to make them with green tinted filling for St. Patrick's Day, but because I was a day late, I made them with pastel colors for Easter. They turned out well and we enjoyed them -- there's only a few left! Thank you Mom H. for the recipe, and Dad H. for making the foil covered dowel rods for baking the cookies.