Katrina’s a great little artist.  She loves all things creative.  She especially likes to draw, paint, cut & paste.  While over at her Grandma Linda’s, she got to make a picture using some of Grandma’s scrapbooking supplies.  This was really cool & fun for her & it turned out really pretty, too.  I’m not sure exactly if this is when her most recent obsession started, or if she was doing it before, but lately, it seems like she is constantly asking us for paper to draw on.  Then, she will draw, color or sometimes even paint a picture with her water colors & ask for her safety scissors.  She then cuts out some shape or shapes & occasionally asks for her glue stick, to past things to it all.  She has recently made all kinds of little objects for her stuffed ladybug that she got as a prize for completing our local library’s summer reading program.  She made each item red & black, of course & described them all to us.  They include a blanket, six tiny slippers and a nice little tent for the ladybug to sleep in.  She also made some green grass, leaves & flowers out of paper for the ladybug to “eat”.  We love to see her creativity blossom, don’t get me wrong, I just wonder when she’s going to realize that we don’t have room for all this & what a waste of paper it’s winding up to be…  But, that’s our cute kiddo for ya’!  😉

Katrina is just such a responsible kid.  Not only did she just do a wonderful job raising 5 caterpillars into butterflies (with a little help from us, and thanks to the Bugville Butterfly house & instructions that she got for her Birthday, of course), but she is also very wise in day-to-day things.  To elaborate, we had a “butterfly release ceremony”, where we let her butterflies go, out into the “wild” (our backyard) yesterday, and although we thought she might be a little sad to see them go, she completely understood that it was time & that they would be more happy, living freely out on there own, from now on.  She enjoyed watching each one emerge from their enclosed habitat, almost as much as she loved seeing them come out of their chrysalides the week before.  She also recently spent some of her allowance on a new toy fish that actually “swims” in water & a fairy puzzle – things that she picked out herself.  After these purchases, she had a few dollars left.  She already seems to comprehend the importance of saving a bit, for something else in the near future.  We love how we can explain things & she “gets” them so well, nowadays.  She’s getting to be such a “big kid”!  🙂

Katrina is a good caretaker.  For about a week & a half now, we have been taking care of her new “pets” – some caterpillars that we sent off for, using the instructions that came with the Bugville Butterfly House she received as a Birthday gift from her Nana.  It’s been an interesting experience so far & much simpler than I originally thought it would be.  The baby caterpillars came live, in an enclosed cup, with everything they need to eat & grow each day & eventually make chrysalids on the inner side of the lid.  We kept the cup in Kat’s room & told her not to disturb them, which she understood & was really good about.  She’d look in on them every day, of course & would excitedly tell us how big they were getting & all.  We would check them out, too.  Once they all made their chrysalides, we followed the instructions & moved them into the butterfly habitat.  It took a few more days, but they have almost all emerged as adult butterflies, now!  Two came out yesterday, then two more today.  There is only one left to emerge, which will more than likely happen tomorrow.  Again, following the instructions given, we have been making “food” (a mixture of sugar & water) & placing it in the habitat for the butterflies the past 2 evenings.  Katrina enjoys watching them get excited & fly down to eat.  She has named them, using her own name, plus 4 of her Kindergarten classmates – assuming they are all female, of course.  😉  It’s a great learning tool & we are proud of Kat for taking such good care of her little insect friends!