I am new so show mercy on me

Nah, we will rip you apart like everybody else. ;-)

I have way too many reference books!

Impossible. Just don't try to digest them all at once.

I have some adorable little hen & chicks mix & a few days after potting them
they seemed to burst open & multiply. Wonderful! Except I began to notice teeny
tiny little black "things" moving inside the inner most crown.

Could be aphids, or any one of a number of insects. They can probably be
dispatched with Raid or similar houseplant insecticide. Follow the directions
on the can.

My 14 year old son said to put some lady bugs on them. I did. I put 3. One
of the lady bugs has stayed for 3 days. The other two abandoned me. First, did
we do the right thing?

There is nothing wrong with using predator insects for pest control. However,
as you saw, it doesn't work very well for houseplants inside the house. It
works for greenhouse crop management. The ladybugs probably will not return. In
the future, if you find ladybugs in the house, the best thing to do is put them
outdoors (except in the dead of winter), where they can lead normal lives &
multiply.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)