Old Memories, New Tradition

As a child, one of my favorite memories was walking through my Grandma's garden searching for caterpillars. I can remember the smell of dill as we searched every little branch making sure we didn't miss even one of those little green and yellow worms. Then we would poke holes through the top of a jar and anxiously await for the butterfly transformation. And I love that the caterpillar tradition still lives on with my kids.

A few weeks ago, my dad (my girls call him Shummy) sent the girls a big container filled with dill and three fat green caterpillars. Each of the girls' names were labeled on the outside of the container. There were holes poked all around it. The perfect caterpillar home. Mikah immediately said, "It smells like pickles!" They were so excited.

Now, we checked on these little guys daily. The girls insisted that we open them up to count them. One... Two... Three caterpillars. Every day we had to check for cocoons. This became the highlight of my toddlers' day.

When they finally did make cocoons, we labeled the outside of the jar with the date. (following Shummy's instructions) And watched daily for a butterfly to appear.

Well, here recently I started noticing mold growing on the dill. And it seriously started to smell like I had a rotten pickle Scentsy in my house. Even the cocoons started to turn a dark color... So I decided that maybe I should put them outside with the lid off and hope for the best. I mean how do you explain to a toddler that their caterpillars died?

Well today, something pretty amazing happened. I walked out while the girls were sleeping to see a big black and orange butterfly literally fly right in front of my face. "No way," I thought to myself. I quickly checked the cocoons and by some miracle, one of those little critters turned into a butterfly!

(despite the dark ugly color of the cocoons) I ran so fast inside to grab my phone that I literally almost tripped over one of the dogs. I snapped a picture of this beautiful butterfly so my girls could see it before it flew away.

When Mikah woke up from her nap, I told her the good news. And of course, she wanted to see the butterfly. Before we walked out the door, I tried to explain to her that it had probably  flown away. But again, by some crazy chance, there it was! Just sitting on the fence waiting for her. Flapping its pretty little wings. Mikah was thrilled. "It's so cute!" were her exact words. I looked down at her and smiled. That's when I noticed the butterfly dress she was wearing. Coincidence? Maybe. But I like to think things happen for a reason. And that little girl's smile reminded me of the same sweet memories I used to have. One of my favorite memories with my Grandma has now become a new tradition with my girls and their Shummy.