Bar Mitzvah

I have not been to a Bar Mitzvah in probably 18 years (my brother's). You can imagine my excitement when we got invited to  our neighbor, Ari's Bar Mitzvah.  We have really enjoyed getting to know Ari and his family over the last year and a half.  Ari and his brother Ian are so kind to Zach and Jeremy.  They are always out in the cul-de-sac playing soccer or football and Zach so badly wants to be like the big boys.  Andrea and Dan are also so great.  We were happy to be a part of their special day.

Is it a Butterfly yet?

Never realized how interesting the birth of a butterlfy is.

Ever since learning about the butterfly at school, Zach has been wanting a butterfly.   So, we bought a milkweed plant with a caterpillar already on the plant.

After planting the milkweed in our backyard, we waited until the caterpillar got big before putting the net on top of the plant.  The net is so that the caterpillar can have something to attach to when making/becoming a chrysalis.

After putting on the net, the caterpillar did its thing.  It made the chrysalis (which is a green looking shell).

Two weeks later, the chrysalis disappeared and there you have it - a huge butterfly.  Zach's eyes lit up.  He couldn't believe that we actually helped in the creation of this butterfly.  

We took off the net and let the butterfly hang out on one of the milkweek branches.  Not knowing if the butterfly was going to fly away later on that day, we thought it would be a good idea to spend some time in the morning looking at the butterfly.

As we suspected, the butterfly was gone when we came home later that day.  Zach was sad, but, he understood.  We were told the butterfly would come back to lay some eggs...  We are still waiting...

     

 

Party, Party

The next day, we celebrated Father's Day, Graduation and Jer's Birhtday.  What can I say, we like to celebrate around here.

I love this srunched up fake smile!

New Birthday Present!

Jer's 2nd Birthday

I feel like I am starting every day, blog, sentence with "I can't believe" but it's true, I cannot believe my baby is TWO!  This little man just blows me away.  He is such a kind, goofy and affectionate baby, yes.. I did just say baby.  (I realize I am in denial).  We had a small birthday day gathering, complete with good friends, family and an ice cream truck. Thank you everyone for celebrating with us!

Father's Day 2012

Poor Josh, really gets the short-end of the stick now. I'm sure he thinks it's great that he gets to share Father's Day with Jeremy on his birthday, but he's lucky if I remember to get him a card. I actually tried really hard this year and the boys and I made Josh and My Dad a Father's Day picture frame. We did steal the idea from Michaels.com but the love and effort was all ours.

Daddy and His Boys!

What's a Father's Day
without a Miller Light?

Gesher Graduation

The school year has ended for Zach and he will be entering Kindergarten in the Fall. He has developed so much over the year - too fast. It felt like everyday he was coming home more of a little man, telling us about new things he learned - everything from history (who Martin Luther King, Jr. is) to nature (how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly) to our environment (the importance of recycling). We are so proud of you and love you very much! You did great on Graduation day!