Monarch Caterpillar Lazing About on a Milkweed Plant.

We have a large patch of milkweed plants alongside our garage.  They are currently home to quite a few striped caterpillars whom I believe to be future Monarch Butterflies. The kids and I have been watching them eat up the milkweed leaves for several weeks now. So far we haven't spotted any signs of Chrysalis building, but these Caterpillars are definitely growing in size.

Monarch Caterpillar Chomping on a Leaf.

I bet in the next few weeks that these Caterpillars will start wrapping themselves up for their next journey of their life cycle.  Before they do, I took some time today to capture them in their current state. Whether they were alone, with a companion, eating or lazing about, we found them to pretty fascinating creatures!

Interestingly, my daughter, aged 4, also spotted a white hairy Caterpillar crawling along our lawn.  After looking at it closely and doing some research, I believe it to be a Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar.  Unfortunately it is a type of Caterpillar that can give you quite an itchy rash if you are sensitive to their barbs.  I got a pretty good photo of this one, who was quite social.  But we stayed away because we are not going to take our chances.

Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar on the move.

I think later today I may find our copy of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle and leave it out for my younger kids to find.  We may also have a little stuffed caterpillar too for them to play with.  Hopefully we can extend this experience a bit if they are interested.

As I was looking at my bookshelf, I also found a book that may be of interest to older kids and parents.  It is called, 'Hope for the Flowers' by Trina Paulus.  It is an easy read, with illustrations, but packs big thoughts about dealing with change through the story about a caterpillar.

Have you spotted any Caterpillars recently?  Please share in the comments.  If I spot any Chrysalis building I will be sure to share with you all.  Have a great day!

The other night I chopped up peppers to serve with dinner.  I started by chopping  the tops off horizontally . As I set the tops on the counter, I thought they looked like flowers.  I knew that I needed to save them. So I stuck them in a plastic bag and tossed them back in the fridge, because Mama had an idea.















It's two days later, and I'm finally getting around to the peppers I shoved in the back of the fridge. They still look just as pretty and vibrant as when I first cut them.  So what did I save them for? Painting with Peppers!!

With the help of my two youngest, we gathered up finger paints, paper, newspaper, a Styrofoam tray and smocks.  My youngest also found a green Bingo dauber and an ink pad and stamp that he had to have too.  But he was being a forward thinker because the green stamper was quite coveted and came in handy.

After setting up a painting area in the kitchen and getting my 3 year old into her painting smock we were ready! My toddler was not interested in a smock.  He just wanted the mysterious green bingo dauber to play with.

My daughter loves to paint and she took right to messing about with the peppers.  Because little brother was coveting the green bingo dauber, she of course had to use it too! So there were a few tiffs with little brother over the green bingo stamper, and a few talks about sharing along the way.  But otherwise there was a lot of creating going on.

Seeing them getting into the paint and exploring different ways to use the materials inspired me.  I used the peppers to stamp out flower heads, then used the green stamper to make stems, leaves and grass.  My daughter saw what I was up to, but I didn't force her to partake in my project. She did ask me what I was doing though.


I think using the peppers to stamp out flowers would make a nice Mother's Day or Spring art project. You could add embellishments, attach a poem or even make a greeting card. Just putting that out there.

All in all both my littles had a good time messing about with the paint and peppers.  I even got to get a little creative myself. It was an easy activity to pull together, and it gave us something to do together.

I hope you find something that inspires you to do with your kids.  Remember sometimes the little things, like the tops of peppers, can lead to bigger things, like making memories with your kids.  Happy Mother's Day!

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