This is my off-track summary and my-computer-is-working-hurry-and-post-something post.

First, we found some monarch caterpillars. Very exciting! The kids named them Thunderbolt and Wiggles. Wiggles was the most friendly and everyone held him.

 Bryce was devastated that we put them in jars. He probably would've slept with his if it was allowed.

When the monarch's instinct tells it to become a butterfly, it'll hang upside down with the aid of a lot of silk and then hang there in this 'J' shape for a day or more (this is all written from observation, not pre-written scientific material).

The green hat is actually the beginning of the cocoon. It happen so quickly. Moving from the 'J' to this.

To this: all covered, but still stripey like the caterpillar. This all took about five minutes.

The cocoon is all finished here (well, there were a few more golden dots of color added as it ripened).

Then we waited.

In the mean time, Bryce began t-ball, Ella started soccer and Dane...got pneumonia.

Bryce is having a great time, but won't watch the ball. Ella is having fun with her best buddy on her team, but won't watch the ball. Dane is making a great recovery after about 10 days of being exhausted, moody and restful. He has only a couple of days left of his anti-biotic.

  We've made lots of yummy salsas. (I couldn't get this pic to turn). This is half-Lemon Boy tomato and half red.

Ella had a VERY happy birthday. She requested cup-cake baking supplies and got them. She's kind of a wiz with that pastry bag. We had a extended family party the Sunday before she turned 7 and then just a celebration with our family with some reserved presents.

 As part of the birthday fun, we traveled into Little Cottonwood canyon to our favorite rock throwing spot.

"We" did the final touch up painting in the kitchen. Just need to get those pendant lights installed and then the remodelling will really be finished. 

More nature inside the house: found this tiny half-dollar sized mushroom growing at the base of one of my house plants. CUTE!

Then this morning! The metamorphisis was complete for Thunderbolt. 

As of this moment, he's hanging on my ficus tree, drying his wings in the warm dining room. I have tiny sugar water supplies throughout the room. 

Bryce was so gentle. We're excited for Ella and Dane to come home so that they can see, too! This has been a precious miracle to experience for our family. It's been great!

Bryce says that "Jesus is the best!" because he helped Daddy find the caterpillars in the first place.

Hello.

I've been sick all week. Why does stuff like this happen? ie you begin a new goal, one that is really good for you and then it gets messed up? I'd been exercising. I was feeling more energy than I had in years and despite hate, hate, hating exercise I have LOVED that. Even my brain feels more alive!

Anyway, so despite hating exercise I got out there in the chilly cold before dawn and did it. I was just a few minutes under my when-I'm-not-sick goal so I was pleased with that.

I've gone back to writing poetry. I am so happy with it and have been quite prolific. (If you have a desire to check it out, click here) It feels like I have a piece of my soul back. In fact, I have entered three of my poems for the Segullah poetry contest. I haven't submitted writing for a contest since I was in Jr. High and was published in the good ole Spanish Fork Press, so this is a big deal for me personally.

I have been laughing a lot lately. Foolishly, I don't do this much. I take myself waaaay too seriously and my abdominal muscles suffer for it, as does my mental health. Thankfully, Cam and I are quite caught up in the sitcom Big Bang Theory. It's nerd heaven and I get all the jokes! We've been catching up on past seasons. Then the other night we watched Arsenic and Old Lace with Cary Grant and we were rolling. Hil-AR-ious!

I talked Cameron into doing the whole Harry Potter event at the District on Thursday. Oh yeah! (speaking of nerd heaven...) We'll be dressing up and doing all the fun stuff there is to do and we're doing it together. That's what's really awesome for me. Cam and I started reading Harry Potter books together (out loud and in British accents HA!) during the second year of our marriage. It's really been a fun thing to share.

My two favorite days of the week are Thursday and Sunday. The mix up of school schedules on Friday and lack of structure on Saturday really irritate me, but Thursday...Thursday is my least busy run-around day and it's just close enough to the end of the week to be blissfully appealing. (Anyone hear me on that?)

Sunday, I am happy to say, has become such a joy to me because of my calling. I love serving in the Primary and even to have people relying on my to do my job so that they can do theirs. Serving has brought me a lot of joy.

Babies seem to be everywhere! So happy about the arrival of sweet little Chloe (see below) and happy to hear about other friends that are expecting. There is a small tinge of baby-hunger, but honestly, when I look at what I have with my kids, I am so happy with them. I love the age that they are all at. I love seeing their progress, what they're learning, how the way they interact with me and each other changes. They are such a blessing and I am so pleased with them.

Oh yeah...a spent a few days as a blond this week. It's part of a very long, not-so-gripping drama of messing with my own hair color and having to bleach out the mistakes and so forth. Currently, I'm back to my normal light/medium brown and as content as a...whatever thing is truly content. Probably nothing getting a few gray hairs. I wouldn't be content in that state.

I'll have to ramble about the kiddies later, but here's an idea of where I am. Thanks for reading, if you got this far, or even if you just read the first stanza, er, paragraph...

Bryce: I don't want a black computer (which we have now). I want a white computer.

Dane: When I grow up, I want a laptop.

Bryce: Well, I want a whitetop not a blacktop.

Cami: Laptop, Bryce.

Bryce: No, I don't want a blacktop.

Dane: And I want a phone like Daddy's (he just got a company issued Blackberry). I'll be so used to my laptop that it'll be easy for me to figure out how to use the phone.

Can any of you, in you wildest dreams, imagine saying these things when you were a child? Life has really changed in 25 years.

Today is Civic Day in Canada.

Everyone who owns a Honda celebrates and then they all sing with one Accord.