Releasing Our Praying Mantis Nymphs

Praying Mantis Nymphs

A few months ago I decided that I’d pick up a Praying Mantis Kit so that we could hatch some Praying Mantis Nymphs for the kids to observe. The kit was from Insect Lore and they actually sell a bunch of different insect kits like butterflies and lady bugs. They even have some kits themed on The Grouchy Ladybug and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

I had just gotten home from work and had gotten into bed. Andrew came busting in to tell me that the Praying Mantis egg had hatched. I got dressed and went back downstairs to see the cage with a ton of them all crawling around. You have to release them right away because they will eat each other. You can try and keep 3 or 4 of them but you have to get them live bugs to eat. So, we opted to release them all in the back garden. Andrew was excited. Allison and Eva, not so much. I just hope that some stick around so I can photograph them when they get larger.

An Independence Day Reading List

American Flag

From Time to Time I receive books from Disney Publishing. I promise that I’ll bring more books to the blog as suggestions. I receive these books for free and I get them to review and share with you. Opinions are our own.

We received a couple of books recently that are perfect to read heading up to the 4th of July holiday and the celebrations that we will be attending. Two years ago Eva sang God Bless America and did an amazing job. She may do it again this year at the annual neighborhood parade. I hope she does because it is the 100th anniversary of the song. You can see her sing it in the video below.

One of the books that I have to tell you about is God Bless America: The Story of an Immigrant Named Irving Berlin. This is the story of Irving Berlin’s experiences that led him to writing this song which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The second book is about Thomas Paine and Common Sense. I had to read Common Sense for Humanities when I was in college. I may have to re-read that one. We read both of these books and they were good. We then donated them to the kids’ school for the library. Continue reading An Independence Day Reading List