For the Love of a Wooly Bear Caterpillar

It started in Valle Crucis this year.  Mike and I were on a little retreat to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary last weekend.  We were out back of the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, NC and saw a couple of children looking around in the tall grass near an old barn.  They were trying to find Wooly Bear Caterpillars.  

We found a couple as well and knew that this would be the best present our 8 year old Philip could ever want from the NC mountains.... well except maybe a baby Mallard Duck.  Ha!
So we brought two home, one for Joseph and one for Philip. We don't see many of these around our yard, so we knew it would be fun for a day or so to watch them and then set them free.

What Philip did decide to do is draw them.  

All of us have a Nature Study Notebook.  
We draw things we admire in nature and it's fun to go back and look at the boys' drawings when they were 6 years old or 8 years old and see how their drawings have changed and improved as they have grown.

One thing for certain as I look back on their drawings is this.... they always love to draw insects.  And Philip has drawn the Wooly Bear many times.  Something about the Wooly Bear is just special.

We looked up what they like to eat.  Dandelions was a favorite.  We were able to pick a few in the backyard and I must say, the Wooly Bear got VERY excited when he discovered the flower as you shall see.....

What I love about these photos is how simple life can be.  How truly special it is to just appreciate nature and the small things in life.  My sons help me to do that all the time.  Nothing seems to get unnoticed with these two.  I guess I just crave simplicity right now. I always have but even more so these days.  

God really does teach me a lot through our sons.  I'm forever grateful.

When drawing a caterpillar make sure your specimen is close by or by Philip's preference, ON your paper.  They have a tendency to want to escape or hide which of course can be quite comical and distracting.  Having something close by they love also helps keep them busy, but seeing as caterpillar attention spans are quite short they will still wander off.  (Smile)

It's fun to stop in the middle of your drawing and observe.
"Will he move up the Dandelion stem??  Hmmmm...."

Don't forget to draw the things your Wooly Bear likes to eat.  

Enjoy your Wooly Bear's excitement of his Dandelion.
Make sure you take lots of photos of his activity.  You never know what the Wooly Bear may do.

Mr. Wooly Bear was craning straight up looking so happy.  Philip told me, "He's praising God! Look at him!  He's grateful for his Dandelion."  I thought that was the cutest thing I'd ever heard in my life.  A caterpillar praising the Lord..... well of course he was!
(Big smile)

It's ok to bring another Wooly Bear on your notebook to keep the other one company.  Just make sure he has his own Dandelion to keep him happy also.

This is what happens when you give your Wooly Bear two Dandelions.  He will get excited and explore the new one.

How long will my little boy appreciate Wooly Bears?  How long will he want to draw them in his notebook?  We'll have the memories for a long time and the photos too.  I like to capture these moments because life is a gift and oh so short and I don't want them to forget our simple home schooling days while they were young.  
We set them free that afternoon and watched one sit on a tree root for a long time.  The other one ambitiously took off across the grass to the Pear tree.  Happy to be back in nature, but I wonder if he misses those tall grasses of Valle Crucis?