You may remember that Laura found a Monarch caterpillar. Since then she has found two more caterpillars to keep the first one company, and two of the three have formed their chrysalis in their final stage before becoming a butterfly. The original applesauce jar was quickly outgrown, so I offered a metal mesh wastebasket as the new caterpillar habitat.

Laura has been faithfully carrying her pets around with her everywhere. She even brought them in the van when we went to my folks’ house for dinner! She carries them upstairs to bed, outside to play, inside to sit and read for a while. She peers at them, refreshes their leaves, and admires each stage of their development.

Yesterday morning we were in the kitchen sipping hot cocoa and doing our BibleTelling and hymn study. Laura announced to the group that one of the chrysalis had turned dark, signalling the impending release of it’s occupant. We notice and admired and then continued on. A little while later, right in the middle of the first verse of “Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart”, Laura exclaimed, “I have a butterfly!!!” Sure enough, a beautiful Monarch was hanging from the shell of his chrysalis. As you might imagine, our song screeched to a halt and we all stared at this miracle.

Laura kept exclaiming, “I did it! I raised a butterfly!” I wanted to correct her and state that she hadn’t done a thing and that God should take the credit. But I realized that in part she did deserve a little credit. She kept the creatures safe and provided them with their food while they were still caterpillars. She was bubbling over with her feelings of triumph.

Later on we went outside and I took some photos of Laura holding the male Monarch on her finger. (Do you know how to tell males from females? We didn’t until we started reading all about them on the web.) Not only was it a precious moment for Laura to hold the butterfly who was content to stay on her finger, but it was a fun opportunity for me as an aspiring photographer to be able to get up close and personal with a normally-flighty creature. I’ve never been that close to a butterfly for so long. He was breathtakingly beautiful.

I little later Laura decided she couldn’t keep her pet confined to his wastebasket home, so she took him back outside and set him free.

As you might imagine, we are all eager to see the next chrysalis open. The big question on everyone’s mind is, “Will it be a boy or a girl?” We’ll keep you posted!