It was November 17th when our butterflies started to emerge from their chrysalis, we were told they would only live two weeks. Well, low and behold, the butterflies are still alive as of  today December 5th! Not sure how we got so lucky for them to live a little longer than the normal, but I am proud to say all are doing great!

We did have one deformed one that didn't survive but a week, it was deformed because the chrysalis fell to the bottom of the habitat only a few days before it was to emerge, that was a crucial time for it to fully form and it wasn't strong enough to survive long. We were really surprised it lived as long as it did.

This project taught us all a lot. We watched the complete life cycle of the butterflies, and as they age, we see their wings become a little tattered, it is interesting to watch them.

The hermit crabs are not as active as they were the first week, all that shell swapping must have worn them out a little. They seem very relaxed now, some even digging deep into the sand, not to molt as they still have their shells on, but it appears they are digging down because they prefer the safety of being underground. They enjoy being bathed daily. We originally only planned to have 6 hermits, somehow the company messed up and sent us 11! Well needless to say we were not wanting 11 and we found another homeschooling family that was local who was interested in doing a crustacean study, so they came and got the other 5. This has also been a great learning experience for us.

Our Asia unit study is coming along well. Teaching this study makes me realize how much our local schools slack when it comes to education. I never learned much in geography or history, but with this study, I am learning loads along with my kids. We had no idea how many countries were in Asia until we started this project, and I had no idea that Russia is on the Asian continent. Amazing at this age that we are still learning something new too!

The pleasures of homeschooling is priceless! My kids are healthier and happier, they are more confident again, and are learning more than we could have imagined. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get into the swing of things again, well, it didn't take any time at all. We found our routine right from day one! We get up right at 7:30 am, we start school right at 9 am like the local schools, they get a lunch and recess break at 11, we resume after lunch/recess and finish our work sometime between 1:30 and 2:30. Makes a long day, but literally my kids are learning twice as much now as they were in public schools and love learning again!

Well- if I haven't bored you by now, have a good night.

Happy Holidays!