The Butteflies have emerged!!!

After 9 days of waiting, our butterflies have finally emerged. One was "born" yesterday, and we named her Firework before she flew away. The other three emerged this morning, and were named Freedom, Liberty and Breeze before they took to the air. The kids were shocked to learn that butterflies only have 4 legs... not the 6 that most insects have. They marvelled at their furry faces, and how they extended and retracted their proboscises out of curiosity. We have been sitting inside peeking out to see the butterflies flitting about the tiger lilies this afternoon, and discussing the many changes that they went through to become the winged beauties that they are now. I feel honoured to have witnessed the miracle of metamorphosis within my own home. Two of the butterflies chose to land on my children before taking off. And for the first time, I filled the digital camera's memory card while capturing those special moments. Life is short. Children grow up too quickly. But moments like this make parenting and homeschooling worthwhile. For two hours this morning my children and I spent time doing nothing but sitting quietly, watching a miracle unfold before us.