Welcome our new additions....

We received this little guy when he was just a teeny tiny egg.  After he hatched, we fed him milk weed leaves one after another until his transformation into a chrysalis today.  We've done this for multiple summers now, but it's so neat to see how new it is for the youngest in our crew.  Our 3 year old, Pookey, is just amazed at the changes and is now counting down the days til our little caterpillar becomes a beautiful butterfly!  Hopefully two weeks from today, we'll have a butterfly (if we can keep the jar still and safe from curious little hands!).

And, onto our other additions....
We have a mom and dad barn swallow who have nested above our garage light. 

Neil has tried deter them in the past because of the mess they make....

(and this was only after a day or two because I hosed it all down a couple days ago)

The babies hatched last week and we got our first peek then, but they have grown so much in such a short time.  The nest almost looks too small now for them...

And one of my favorite things is that the mom and dad are such good parents and stay so close to them.  They even swoop down at us when we are out front.  It scares poor Melody so much!  But what a great teaching moment on how much parents love and protect their young. 

++ Thank you God for school made easy and teachable moments like this right outside our front door, and for the beautiful additions that you have blessed our family with right now!!  They are precious!!! ++