Cheating??? No way!

The kids really love butterflies -even Cool Dude, Thing One. They love to chase them. They love to ask questions about them. They love to watch them if they're lucky enough to catch them. They also love caterpillars, because well, all furry (or not so furry) turn into butterflies.

I thought that it would be super awesome to get them one of these caterpillar-to-butterfly kits that I hear about so often. How cool of a mom would I be to them then?! But let's not forget that I'm also a totally CHEAP mom, and I wasn't about to spend $19.99 (plus S&H) for the kit and then another $3.00 S&H for the worms themselves for a grand total of about, oh, lets say $30.00. (Don't forget that the kit itself is bigger and would cost more for postage.)

And before you think that I'm horrible because I couldn't bring myself to spend only $30 on my kiddos happiness, I want you to know that 1.) I wanted them for the CLASSROOMS, not for the house. Thus, I'd be spending SIXTY dollars... on things that may or may not even make it to butterflies, and 2.) I didn't have them when I was growing up, and I (for the most part) turned out just fine. Besides, I'M the one who wants them for the kids -not the kids themselves.


So what's a mom to do?

I'll tell you what THIS mom did. She went out, found herself a Gypsy Moth cocoon, pulled it out of the tree, and stuck it in a big 'ole (empty) cheese ball canister. Insect Lore, eat your heart out! It cost me a bit of sunburn (which I'm sure actually happened when we were out in the canoe -especially since the worms were in the shade), a bit of energy (which after my BLT w/ C for lunch I needed to burn off anyway), and my big plastic bottle that the kids use for lightning bugs. (Guess we'll have to eat more cheese balls.)

Again I say, Insect Lore, eat your heart out.

We brought it into school today. Thing Two was sooo excited to show his teachers and all of his classmates. Thing Two, on the other hand, had a full blown temper tantrum, actually it was more of an after effect of her heart breaking because she wanted caterpillars in her class too. And if you could have just seen her poor heart broken face you would have cried as well. She perked up a little when I told her we'd get one for her to bring into her class for Wednesday. She completely perked up when she remembered that we have a mini ant farm that she could bring in. (DON'T buy the mini ant farm from Target's dollar spot. The holes are too big for the ants, and they escape. Unfortunately, I found this out too late... *grrrr*)

So tomorrow we go on the hunt for another Gypsy Moth caterpillar cocoon. This might prove to be a bit difficult since from what I'm reading, they're not supposed to be out until June. Let's hope we find some more early risers!

Ugh! I just realized that we're going to have to eat A LOT of cheese balls tonight and tomorrow night! ACK! My belly hurts already!