Periodically, the little monarchs would eat so much that they would stop eating long enough to shed their outer skin. When they emerged, they were a bit bigger and looked a little different from before. These mini stages of development are called instars. Monarchs go through 5 instars before they are ready to change into adult butterflies.

Deuteronomy 8:3 says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." Just as eating the milkweed helps the monarchs grow from one instar to the next, eating God's word will help us grow into the people that God designed us to be. Eating God's word means reading it, memorizing it, thinking about it, accepting it, believing it true for you personally, and finally obeying it. When God's word becomes a part of us, we start to grow and look more and more like Jesus. 

"I can't hear you reading, Zippy," mommy said.  Zippy was whispering when it was her turn to read the book.  Zippy was a shy little girl, but at home, she usually would talk and play loudly.  In fact, she could be quite silly.  Mommy knew Zippy was a very good reader.  But, when it was time to read together, Zippy would get very serious and very quiet.  

One day, Zippy tagged along at big brother's Adventurer Club meeting.  They earned their reading award by reading books to therapy dogs.  Even Zippy wanted to read aloud to the dogs!  Mommy thanked God for a new idea!​

Zippy has been reading aloud to Sparkles and Britney for many months now.  Sometimes both piggies listen at the same time.  Sometimes Zippy even teaches them her geography lesson or tells them the alphabet.  Sparkles and Britney always sit very still and listen nicely.  

Zippy isn't afraid to read aloud to people anymore.  She reads with Mommy.  She reads with Poppy.  She reads with Grandma.  It's fun to read together!  

In Revelation 1:3, the prophet John writes, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near."  Prophecy means message.  The Bible contains God's messages to us.  When we read or listen to God's messages, we receive a special blessing.  It is almost time for Jesus to come back.  Let's practice our reading skills, so we can read the Bible and discover God's messages to us.

Do you like blowing bubbles?  Shiloh and Zippy LOVE bubbles.  We blow bubbles inside over the carpet and outside everywhere.  One day, Shiloh and Zippy explored bubbles in different ways.  

They blew little bubbles and big bubbles.  They made bubbles fly slowly.  They made bubbles fly fast.  They made bubbles swirl all around.  Shiloh mastered the art of blowing just right to get the most bubbles out of one breath. ​

Zippy discovered that you can use long grass blades as bubble wands.  Just pinch the ends close together and swirl the grass in some bubble solution.  ​

They even made bubble mountains!  Bubble mountains are made when you blow lots of bubbles on top of each other.  They had a special bubble blower that helped them do that.  Shiloh made the biggest bubble mountain of all!  ​

Sometimes we get bored because we don't imagine or try all the possibilities.  One of the best ways to have fun is to explore something in a new positive way.  You might discover a new game or a new favorite toy.

Jesus said in Matthew 13:54 about teaching truth in old and new ways, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."  Discover the fun and insights God wants to share with you as you study and play with "old" things in "new" ways.

Mommy and Shiloh discovered that those eggs were from the Milkweed Leaf Beetle.  This bug looks sort of like a giant ladybug, but it doesn't have circle spots.  Just as their name indicates, these bugs claim milkweed as their primary food source for their larva.  And they are some ugly looking larva.  Mommy noticed these beetles hanging out on the milkweed plants a couple of weeks earlier.  They were mating.  Now they were laying eggs.  Can you spot the Milkweed Leaf Beetle in these two pictures?

Unfortunately, we don't have enough milkweed to share with the Milkweed Leaf Beetle larvae if we want to raise Monarch butterflies, so Mommy removed the eggs and fed them to our quail.  She left the beetle because it doesn't seem to do any damage to the plant.  It's the larvae that greedily eat up many leaves.

Milkweed has many pests that want to eat it.  We are watching our milkweed plants carefully.  We keep them by the front door, so we can inspect them whenever we come or go from the house.  We are guarding our milkweed for the Monarch butterflies.  They will come from afar in late summer to lay eggs on the milkweed.  We want to make sure there will be leaves available to the newborn caterpillars to eat when they arrive.

Protecting our milkweed plants from pests reminds me of a warning Jesus gave in Matthew 24:42-44: "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (NKJV).  Jesus is coming back to this earth very soon.  He wants us to watch and wait for Him.  But, we must be careful.  The devil wants to steal our hearts away from Jesus.  Guard your heart with prayer, Bible study, and obedience.  When you find the devil planting the greedy eggs of covetousness, pluck them out right away.  Our sweet Jesus is worth the wait!

What a pretty Sabbath spring afternoon! Mommy and Zippy were both dressed in a maroon color. Maroon is a pretty color between red and brown. "Would you like to have some tea?" Mommy asked Zippy. Zippy never refuses food or drink. "Oh, yes!" She replied. Off they went back to church. It was the annual Women's Ministry Tea Time. The theme was "Showers of Blessing."

When they arrived, Zippy stayed close to Mommy. She gets a little nervous being out of the house around lots of people she doesn't know. Mommy peeked in the fellowship hall. There were a lot of women there. The room was decorated with umbrellas, rain boots, and watering cans. Sister Terry led us to a table with 5 other women.

Tea Time was lots of fun. Pastor Heather talked about seeing God's blessings even in bad situations. Zippy ate pineapple, grapes, and strawberries. Yum! Mommy brought two of our tea mugs from home.

Zippy waited nicely while ladies in front of us made their tea at the tea table. Then, Zippy got to choose her tea bag. There were lots of choices, but Zippy LOVES fruit. Her choice was easy. "I want berry zinger!" Mommy chose chamomile, her favorite. Zippy tore open the tea wrappings and put the tea bags in the mugs. Mommy poured the hot water and carried the hot mugs back to the table, so Zippy would stay safe.

Sip, munch, and munch some more! Zippy happily ate and drank while sitting on Mommy's lap. At the end, Mommy and Zippy received gifts. Zippy received a hand-made cloud bag for being a little woman in attendance. Mommy received a set of spring dish towels for guessing almost the correct number of cottonballs in a jar. Tea Time was fun!

At the end of tea time, everyone sang a special hymn - Showers of blessing. Rainy days may not seem like happy days, but they bring the cool water that plants, people, and animals need to live and grow. Look for hidden blessings on rainy days or frustrating days. If you keep looking, you will surely catch a glimpse of a rainbow!

It was Marine Chemistry AND Astronomy Day at the Science Museum.  Shiloh, Zippy, Mommy, Mumsees, and Popsees all went together.  When we arrived, a man greeted us at the door and said, "Would you like to launch a rocket? Go over there!" We walked outside to the grass area he pointed at.  

Sure enough, another man was there standing at a table.  There was a black air pump under the table.  On the table, was a closed soda bottle filled partly with water.  The tube from the air pump connected to the soda bottle.  "Would you like to turn on the pump?" The man asked Shiloh.  Shiloh is always eager to push a button and see what happens.  Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, said the pump.  The water in the soda bottle started bubbling.  Bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop!  

After Zippy launched her soda bottle rocket, we all went inside.  The grand foyer was filled with table stations of experiments and fun things to do. Mumsees and Zippy went off together exploring. Popsees, Mommy, and Shiloh headed another direction.  As usual, after the first table experiment, Shiloh was a little restless.  So, he tried to buzz around in search of something "interesting" to him.  Popsees and Mommy made sure Shiloh finished a lot of stations, but Shiloh was still very restless.

When we got to the Astronomy section, Shiloh discovered his favorite activity - make and launch a straw rocket. Here were the directions.

1. Get your materials: a straight straw, a tiny bit of play-dough, a rocket picture, scissors, tape.
2. Color your rocket picture and cut it out.
   
3. Tape your rocket to the straw at one end.
   
4. Plug the rocket end with play-dough.

Mommy and Popsees also tried to figure it out.  First, they adjusted the launcher.  Maybe the tiny pipe should be angled this way or that way.  Maybe Shiloh needs to let the pipe drop more smoothly.  Maybe the play-dough seal wasn't tight enough and letting air out.  Maybe...it's the rocket.

"Okay, it's time for worship," Mommy said. "Today, Lamby will ring the worship bell."

"But I want to ring it," whined Doggy. "Noooo! Give me that!" Doggy snatched the worship bell out of Lamby's hands.

"Hey, Doggy! You're not being nice," said Lamby.

Ring-a-ling-a-ling! Ring-a-ling-a-ling! Ring-a-ling-a-ling!

"Doggy, don't you see how sad Lamby is and how mad you are?" Zippy said. "That doesn't feel good. You can be happy for others when they have something you like or want.  Then everyone is happy."

"Yay, Lamby!" cheered Doggy.  Everybody clapped for Lamby.

The 10th Commandment of God says, "You shall not covet...anything that is your neighbor's." Coveting is wanting something that belongs to someone else. It is the root of much evil in this world.  Coveting causes people to lie, steal, hurt and kill, just to get what they want by any means possible.  Instead, watch your heart.  When you find yourself wanting something that belongs to someone else, ask God to help you be happy for them.  

It's always fun hunting for hidden treasure.  The garden is full of hidden treasure.  Many plants that we eat make tubers (which are bulging stem parts underground), or they make storage roots.  You have to dig up these plants to discover the yummy vegetables.

Mommy's little helper, Zippy, volunteered to go on a garden treasure hunt.  Let's see what she found inside the planter with the beautiful vines.  Look! Those are sweet potatoes, a type of storage root vegetable.  She was very proud of her harvest treasure.

On another fall day, Zippy went on another garden treasure hunt.  This time, she found out what was in the planter with the tall green plants - sunchokes!  These were much smaller than the sweet potatoes.  In fact, they are quite knobby and odd shaped.  It is exciting to find garden treasure.

We can also find reminders of Jesus and His words in our daily chores, our own parallel life experiences to His life, and in our observations of nature.  He promises in Jeremiah 29:13, "And you will seek Me, and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (NKJV). Jesus does not hide from us.  We just need searching eyes and a longing heart. ​I promise, He is the best treasure you can find!

Again, and again, Shiloh launched pumpkin after pumpkin.  He didn't want to do anything else at the festival.  We discovered that you call the activity Shiloh enjoyed so much - pumpkin chunking.  This fall pastime is new to us.  ​When mommy's hands were too cold to be outside any longer, we insisted it was finally time to go home.  

The Bible says in Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."  Evil pride is when you feel like you are worth more than others and like you don't need God's help.  Sometimes we are tempted to feel pride when we get a high score or win.  We forget that God helps us with all that we work at.  We may even taunt others around us for not doing well.  But, just like a pumpkin that really can't fly, a prideful person will soon discover the hard way that making oneself better than others and forgetting God leaves you with just gravity to contend with.  You will fall down and be ashamed.  Don't be a pumpkin! Give glory to God and cheer everyone on. 

"Look, Mommy!" Shiloh shouted with his hands up in the air. "It's raining leaves!" It was a breezy fall day.  Absorbed in her list of outdoor fall chores to do, Mommy didn't even notice the beautiful brown, yellow, and orange drizzle all around us.  Shiloh was beaming with eyes wide with wonder.  The bright sunlight bounced off the falling leaves, making the air glisten.  

Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (NKJV).  Sometimes, mommy-hood seems like endless messes to clean up and a long list of chores that still need to be done.  But, God showed me through (uncomfortable!) mud puddles, raining leaves, simple tools, and little kids that He sees those messes as meals enjoyed, new discoveries made, and evidences of fun and laughter.  Put that rake down and experience the miracle of raining leaves.