Little Mista......1 and 2

For Easter Jae-min had gotten a butterfly habitat with a coupon voucher for free caterpillars.  After encountering a few glitches in the "free" portion of the voucher, our caterpillars arrived FINALLY.  Jae-min was so excited to take the container out of the box and count the caterpillars.  You see there were supposed to be at least 3 LIVE little buggers squirming around....but in true crazy mommy world nonsense.....only one little bugger had survived the mailing!!!  Oh dear, what to do???

Jae-min was beside himself and watched that lonely little caterpillar eat and eat and eat.  All the while this mamma prayed and prayed and prayed that this one little guy would make it!!!!  Come on hungry little caterpillar, its all resting on you.....

And after a few close calls...(one dropped container, oops).....and a caterpillar who for a few short hours appeared to be stuffed....he FINALLY  went into a cocoon!!!!  I continued to pray and pray that this little guy would make his transformation and not disappoint.  We had gone out for the morning and when we returned this is what we found........

 A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY!!!!  I could finally let out my mommy breath...we had done it.  How cool to watch the entire transformation...whoo hoo!!!  Now it was time to name this little new friend.  And because we have a fish named "Little Fella" Jae-min decided to name the butterfliy "Little Mista"  So we (oh I mean I) cared for this little butterfly for several weeks.  And then it was time to let Little Mista fly free.  Jae-min had a hard time saying goodbye to his friend, but has seen him visit us in the yard to check in and show us that he's ok.  Phew....with only 1 caterpillar we had success!!!!
You're probably wondering where little Mista 2 comes into play right????  Well this spring we had been playing outside when I noticed a butterfly in the grass with a broken wing.  We decided to use the habitat and nurse him back to health.  And for a very short time he became a part of our family......

And because he had a broken wing he couldn't fly away...meaning Jae-min could hold him.  Strange as it sounds that little butterfly loved Jae-min and would stay on his arm and crawl around while Jae-min watched tv or just hung out.  Jae-min was sad to say goodbye to him as well.
Gosh, we truly are the home for wildlife around here.  This little boy truly has a heart for animals and animals respond amazingly to him.
And truth be told.....we even have a little friendly squirrel who visits often.....which Jae-min has named squiggy.  So if your ever in the mood for a wildlife sighting, come on over.  Chances are we're befriending it!!!