In the name of Science...

I was "hunting" butterfly eggs for over two hours today. This is a true story. Kindergarten studies the life cycle of a butterfly… So here is the short/PG version:
1. An egg is laid on the bottom of a Milk Weed leaf
2. Tiny caterpillar eats his/her way out of the egg
3. Caterpillar eats lots of Milk Weed (but not apples, pears, oranges, & junk food per The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle) I've heard it will also poop a lot…which makes sense...
4. Big & strong caterpillar climbs up something and hangs in a "J"
5. A chrysalis forms (notice I DID NOT say cocoon, cocoons are just moths)
6. After about 2 weeks - a beautiful monarch butterfly comes out of the chrysalis and flies away
7. The monarch butterfly flies to Mexico and looks for a partner to "dance" with
8. The partners "dance" then fly back up here to lay eggs & start the process over again

Mini Lesson on Caterpillars/Butterflies - you're welcome for that new knowledge and there will be plenty more where that came from, so get excited!

In other news - I was the crazy lady walking along Illinois & Hamilton Roads this afternoon. I was attacked by 50 million grasshoppers and discovered that milk weed only grow in the most inconvenient places. Places where you can't park your car. Places that have huge burrs & thorn bushes. Most of the time I was walking through weeds up to my waist and the entire time I was hoping there weren't any wild animals waiting to attack me. I was praying. And hunting. And cursing. And thinking, "I don't make enough money to be spending my Saturday doing this." But I love my students, so it was worth it.

Oh - and I *think* I found three eggs. (this will have to be verified by a butterfly egg expert on Monday - aka: another Kindergarten teacher)

Finally - Josie is a crawler. More on this, less on butterflies, I promise.