Blizzard!
Just in case you missed the news, New England was hit with a blizzard Monday and Tuesday, and it proved to be the highlight of our home schooling week! Fortunately, it wasn't as crippling as anticipated, and we never lost power. We did, however, get almost two feet of snow!

The learning experience started when the girls joined Daddy and I on a shopping trip on Sunday to prep for the oncoming storm, and they learned all about the things one needs to ride out such as event (firewood, batteries, bottled water, chocolate chip cookies, etc.) They saw the snow begin to accumulate Monday afternoon and evening and were thrilled to wake up to LOTS of snow the next morning. They spent Tuesday periodically peeking out the window to observe the storm--noting the different snowfall rates, different sizes of snowflakes, the difference between falling snow and blowing snow (the day included some very impressive moments of the latter!). We also read a kid's book I got from the library about blizzards--the definition of, the scientific cause of, how to be safe in, historically famous ones, etc. The wind had died down by Wednesday, and we actually got all bundled up to play outside while Daddy shoveled the driveway (a new experience for him as well!). The snow was too cold and powdery to build with, but the girls made a choir of snow angels and got a huge kick out of tromping around and admiring just how deep some of the drifts were (Goose stepped off the side of the back porch and all but disappeared!)

A perfect snow angel (one of many, but it's hard to get a good photo)

Monkey was particularly intrigued by the path around the house
that the wind made and the striations in the snow next to it.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we did our usual home schooling lessons, but on Friday we declared it a snow day for the purpose of playing in it! The weather was about 15 degrees warmer, and the snow had reached the perfect state of wetness for building. We even got a new dusting of snow that morning.  The girls and I built a "real" snowman--taller than they are and complete with carrot nose, hat, and scarf! Then we tackled building a fort in the snowdrift on the side of the house.

Monkey standing proudly inside our completed snow fort.
Bug is getting started on another one in the background.

Our first real snowman!

Besides just the sheer fun of all this, these projects involved a lot of planning and problem-solving--choosing locations, planning the size of both projects, figuring out how to get snow into big balls or tall walls and how to pack the snow to keep them from tipping over, deciding what to use to make the face and arms for the snowman, figuring out how to get a carrot to stick in a hard packed ball of snow (pre-dig a hole with the stick you're going to use for an arm), deciding where to put the stairs and benches in their snow fort, the list could go on and on.

I think my favorite home schooling moment, though, (and confirmation that the girls gain so much from our life of frequent travel) was when the girls noticed the striations and curves in the snow drifts made by the wind and compared them to ones we saw in rock formations in places like the Painted Desert and Arches National Park. We talked about what made those shapes and patterns and how long it took.

Library Day
Despite the lack of storytime, it was a big day for us at the library: Monkey and Bug have their own library cards now! They were both extremely excited to check out their very own books this week, and Bug even picked out her first real chapter book. The other thing the library card gains them is computer access. The children's wing includes a row of computers designated for child-use only, and my library card can only be logged into one computer at a time. We don't currently have a desktop or a decent laptop for playing games, so the girls have been missing their computer time. Bug in particular was excited about being able to get back online to play some math and reading games (even here her interest in architecture came out--the games she chose involved either building skyscrapers and knocking down buildings). Of course, we had a to come home with our usual large stack of books:
Ballerina!
Baby Bears Books
Carl's Snowy Afternoon
Little Flower
Ballerina Bear
Earl the Squirrel
Friends
A Seaside Alphabet
The Emperor's New Clothes
Blizzards
When Washington Crossed the Delaware
Kids in Colonial Times
Happy Pig Day! (Monkey's choice)
Dinosaurs after Dark (Magic Treehouse Series) (Bug's choice)

Vocabulary
Daddy read a statistic recently that said 4-year-old girls ask more than 300 questions a day. Just for the record I don't think that number goes down as they get older. In particular lately, I've been noticing the girls soaking up new vocabulary words like hyperactive sponges. They request the meaning of any words they don't know an exact definition for, and I realized my conversations with them lately have been sounding a lot like Fancy Nancy books (a sentence that uses an interesting word followed by, "That's a fancy word for [insert common synonym].") It's awfully fun to hear these little ones pulling out new words and using them accurately. For example, Bug came running up to me laughing about Daddy and Goose going opposite directions in our narrow hallway: "Daddy was unsuspecting, and [Goose] plunged between his legs! He had a really funny expression on his face!"

Promotion
Daddy promoted this week, and the girls and I were able to attend. We did a lot of preparatory conversation leading up to the event, so they would understand the significance of the event and the expectations for their involvement. They talked with Daddy about the changes to his uniform and how ranks work. The day of the event the girls did beautifully--especially the big girls. They all introduced themselves and shook hands with the grown ups when appropriate, then stood quietly in front of everyone with Daddy and I for the ceremony itself. Bug even commented on the way home that she was feeling shy, but she was brave and did the right things anyway.

Three Rs
For math this week, the big girls continued working on addition speed drills. Monkey's ability to focus has really improved, and it's become a much easier task for her. Bug continues her mission to beat her own times and was very excited to complete 50 problems in only 3 and a half minutes! They also worked on reading graphs and calendars and played a new addition bingo game.

For reading, Goose completed another couple of lessons and added E (as in eel) to her repertoire. Monkey read Happy Pig Day!, Ballerina, and My First Book of Girl Power. Bug read Ballerina, My First Book of Girl Power, and started Dinosaurs after Dark.

For writing this week, we completed a spelling unit, and the girls wrote about the blizzard.

History
For history this week, we did some follow up on our trip to Philadelphia and read a picture book about Washington's crossing of the Delaware and the couple of successful battles against the British that followed. We also read a book about children's lives during colonial times--clothes, education, chores, games and toys, etc. They also watched a couple more episodes of Liberty's Kids that included Patrick Henry and his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech as well as Paul Revere's famous ride.

The Three Rs
For reading this week, Bug continued working through Frog and Toad Together with a break to read My First Book of Girl Power (a board book about female superheroes). Monkey also read the Girl Power book as well as Fancy Nancy Goes to the Museum. Goose has now completed through lesson 4 in her textbook.

For writing this week, I had the girls write a sentence or two and draw a picture of something from our trip to Philadelphia (Goose just dictated, but the big girls did their own writing). They also wrote letters to Grandma, dictated journal entries about the snow, and the big girls practiced a little cursive writing (I know it's early for that skill, but they both requested that we start). As part of Goose's reading lessons she also practices writing the letters that she's learned so far (s, m, and a).

The pictures that accompanied their reports:
On the left Monkey drew a speculative map of the Valley Forge encampment and redoubts.
On the right is Bug's rendering of Independence Hall.
Goose's picture isn't available for viewing--she put it in such a special place that no one remembers where it is.

We started a new thing for big girls for math this week: timed drills for addition (right now they're adding 0, 1, 2, or 3 to other single digits). It had become clear to me recently that before we can easily move on to new math concepts, they needed to have a better grasp of the math facts. Both girls have shown marked improvement just over the course of a week--halving the time it takes them to complete 25 problems. Monkey has been struggling with this activity, less for the math skills required and more for the focus required (moving straight from one problem to the next instead of pausing to twirl her hair, stare out the window, compose a tune, etc.). It's frustrating for both of us, but we're working on it. For Bug this is an easy if somewhat boring activity that has the attraction of being a race against her own previous times. (She tried convincing Monkey that if you don't want to do something, it's best to just get it done quickly and move on. Hopefully, one of these days that lesson will sink in.)
The big girls also worked on fractions, counting money, adding doubles, and telling time this week. Goose practiced putting flashcards of numbers 1-20 in order (1-10 are a piece of cake; the teens are a lot more challenging for some reason).

More Snow!
Snow is still a novelty for the entourage, so when we woke up to a couple of inches one morning and the locals barely noticed, I declared it a "two-hour delay" and sent them out to play in all their snow gear. They requested we read The Snow Day first, and I was happy to oblige. They loved comparing their own experiences to Peter's (they made a snowman and snowballs, they drew with sticks and whacked trees, and it even snowed again later in the week).

Swimming Lessons
Bug and I were a bit frustrated with their formal swimming lessons this week. Neither of the big girls are being challenged to the point of improving their skills (neither of them have been asked to practice swimming on their own yet, and the teacher is still holding their hands when they jump in), and Bug's attempt to talk to her teacher about modifying a particular activity didn't get a response (Bug needed less help than she was being given in jumping in, but wasn't quite ready to jump in and swim back without assistance in reorienting, and she had a very specific request that would have helped bridge the gap.) It's not just us though! Apparently, this teacher is a new one this session, and other moms on the sidelines were also dissatisfied with the lack of challenge and with the ratio of time spent sitting on the wall and actually practicing swimming. Goose's challenge during swimming lessons was that it was unusually cold in the water! The poor girls spent most of the class near tears, but she still did everything required of her without complaint. I was really impressed with her perseverance.

Swimming lessons are only one day a week here though, so on Thursday after doing my own workout we took advantage of a nearly empty (and much warmer) pool to do my own swimming lessons with them. Bug had a list of skills she wanted to practice to keep up with her class back in California (front stroke with side breathing, back float, treading water, and streamline gliding). I also worked with her on jumping in then swimming back to the wall by herself, so she's ready to try that in class next time and doesn't have to worry about working out modifications with her teacher. In the month or so since we've done lessons, Monkey has somehow reverted back to being afraid to put her head in the water or to be in the water without an adult holding her. We worked on both skills and by the end of our family sessions she was dunking herself repeatedly (not happily but at least without panicking) and cheerfully kicking around with a kickboard solo. She was even willing to glide a yard or so by herself to get to it from the steps. This week I didn't work on much intentionally with Goose, but the lifeguard gave her a floaty and she rediscovered the joys of jumping in and kicking around all by herself (particularly if in pursuit of a rubber duck).

Games
I'm not an avid game player myself (I don't have a competitive bone in my body), but for kids card and board games are a great learning experience--for the practice of academic knowledge, for the development of logic and strategy skills, and for emotional maturity. Mostly for that last reason, I've decided to make playing games a regular part of our life. Recent game-playing experiences revealed I had a couple of very sore losers on my hands. This week we played a math board game (kind of a race involving adding doubles), and I taught Monkey and Bug how to play checkers. Both girls did very well and had a good time, but both experiences also required apologies for inappropriate behavior. Watching their distinct personalities at work is always interesting: Monkey took a broad view and just started moving all her pieces as soon as an opportunity arose, gradually gaining more strategy in evading capture and capturing Bug's pieces. Bug on the other hand had a strategy from her very first move, but she tended to focus only on a few pieces and was really thrown off her groove when Monkey successfully completed countermoves that disrupted her strategy. (I don't even know how many times I said, "Take a deep breath. It's your move: look at your options and change the situation.")

Soup's on!
On a particularly chilly day faced with a mostly empty fridge, I pulled the entourage into the kitchen for a casual cooking lesson: soup without a recipe. We started with a simple decision--cream or broth? They went with broth, so we put chicken broth on to boil while we scavenged the fridge, freezer, and cabinets for additional ingredients. We came up with a dash of garlic and ground savory (we smelled a few spices and went from there), chopped summer sausage, leftover rice, and a healthy serving of frozen mixed vegetables, then we dropped an egg in to make it a little heartier. Yum! (After her second helping, Monkey has requested that next time we "make one of those soups where the pieces don't move around so much." Me: "You mean a chowder?" Monkey: "Sure, that kind.")

Philadelphia!
As usual we're making our current location an educational experience and trying to see it all! This time we took advantage of a three day weekend to visit Philadelphia. Bug in particular was excited about just passing through the edge of NYC on our way there and getting to spot the skyscrapers and drive across a double-decker bridge. Once in Philly we occupied a hotel room on the 24 floor with a view down Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the art museum--so cool! In addition to visiting with some friends, here are the sights we managed to see during those three days:

Liberty Bell & Independence Hall
The girls and I have been studying Pennsylvania colonial history and its place in the Revolutionary War, so getting to actually see these places was pretty neat. We also stepped into the west wing of Independence Hall to see an original print of the Declaration of Independence, the inkwell used to sign it the hand written original, and several original drafts of the Constitution.

In the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
(Monkey is having a good time, I promise. She just didn't want to be in the picture.)

Benjamin Franklin Museum
Down the street from Independence Hall was this fun museum with interactive displays about Benjamin Franklin's life and inventions. Highlights: virtual typesetting and printing press demonstration, a trivia game/puzzle, an exhibit about Franklin's experiments with electricity (including a replica of a hand-cranked machine to generate and store static electricity), a glass armonica demonstration, and a reproduction of Franklin's sedan chair (photo at right).

Reading Terminal Market
The sights! The smells! The sounds! The crowds of people! The introverts among us were overwhelmed and breathed a sigh of relief when we left, but we all agreed: The food was awesome and definitely worth braving the lunch crowd for.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Someday the girls will understand
why this is a fun picture. Showing
them the clip of Rocky running
up the stairs doesn't do it justice.

We spent several hours at the Museum of Art and took in a lot more of the exhibits than I expected--these girls can race through a museum at an incredible rate! (Please note: this wasn't a rush to get it over with--they just couldn't wait to see everything!) Plus, this is an art museum that includes a lot more than your typical "art"; it has an armory (think knights in armor, not modern soldiers), a reconstructed Japanese tea house, a medieval Spanish courtyard, ancient arches and doorways from all over the world, and American furniture from all eras. Of course, we went through the traditional galleries of American and European paintings too. We discussed Medieval and Renaissance triptychs and the symbolism in religious art (i.e., Mary is usually painted wearing blue, Jesus usually has a halo); the difference between a landscape, a portrait, and a still life; noticing the subtleties of the differences in style between artists (this came up with the Impressionists--telling Monet, from Renoir, from Van Gogh). Though Daddy and I probably would have skipped it, Monkey really wanted to see the contemporary art exhibit, and obviously we obliged. She and her sisters had fun picking out which paintings they thought they could duplicate, but Monkey's favorites were definitely Picasso's Cubism paintings.

Pat's and Gino's
Dinner was a Philly classic: cheesesteak from Pat's and Gino's (technically, I think we were at Gino's). The girls agreed--totally worth waiting in line in the cold for!

Valley Forge
Winter weather threatened to ruin our plans for the next day, but things cleared up enough by late morning that we were able to see a few friends and visit Valley Forge anyway (sadly much of the park was closed, but we got to see the highlights). On the upside, we got a very authentic perspective on life in the encampment that winter! After watching a video about the Continental soldiers experience here, we perused the small museum (lots of good daily life artifacts to examine--cooking, weapons, entertainment, medical treatment, etc.), then drove out to see the redoubts (and discuss why they would have been effective had the British ever arrived) and the reconstructed cabins (very small, very dark, but probably reasonably warm with a fire going and 12 men packed inside). At Bug's request we also drove to see the Memorial Arch (at the very end of the passable roads).

Discussing the redoubts with Daddy from the top of them.

Trying out the bunks in one of the cabins.
Bug: "This would not be very comfortable!"

The Crossing of the Delaware
The day we drove home we visited the site of Washington's crossing of the Delaware. We were very disappointed to find the museums closed on both sides of the river, but Daddy and I remembered enough of the story plus information on outdoor signs to make it a worthwhile stop. We also got to peak into the windows of a few Colonial era homes (usually manned by historical reenactors). The girls thought Washington's plan to sneak up on the Hessians on Christmas under the cover of dark and by an unexpected route was pretty clever.

This was the week I resumed my usual milspouse MO by jumping headlong into a new community: we joined the local Y, attended our first Lego Club event, joined the Chapel's children's choir, started swimming lessons, and had a playdate with a family of fellow military homeschoolers who live down the street from us. Oh, and I had my first evening leading a women's small group Bible study.

Library Day
Once again library day was a huge hit! Bug and Goose were eager participants in story time, and Monkey enjoyed the stories from a distance while setting up a doll house at the toy tables. The standard theme seems to be "books the librarian is excited about today," and it makes for a great story time. The girl's favorite this week seemed to be one about a little boy trying to decide what pet he wanted to have--alligator? elephant? puppy? Of course, we came home with our own little stack of books to read:
Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms
Harris Finds his Feet
Princess Bess Gets Dressed
I Broke My Trunk!
Pie in the Sky
Rrrralph
Planting the Trees of Kenya

Library day wasn't over yet though! We had signed up for an art lab that afternoon creating tin foil sculptures. Apparently, there were technical difficulties with the supplies, so we didn't get to do that, but the librarian turned it into an impromptu Lego Club event instead, which proved highly popular (we hadn't been able to attend one yet, so this was a fun introduction). Goose was the only little one in attendance, so she had a big bin of Duplos all to herself--she built a playground complete with a climbing wall, playhouse, and riding toys. Monkey and Bug collaborated with a new friend (G who lives down the street) to build a house, complete with furniture.

Swimming Lessons
The Y here actually has swimming lessons for homeschoolers one morning a week. Our friends from the library also attend these, so the girls already had people they knew! Unfortunately, the age 6 and up class only had room for one more. I put Bug in that one since she's the better swimmer, and we got special permission for Monkey to join the preschool class for this session (it's a tiny class, so the teacher should be able to tailor things a bit for her).

Children's Choir
Just this week, the chapel started a children's choir, and the girls did great! Miss C, the worship leader, is teaching them about different notes and how to listen to their voices. They're also going to a learn songs to sing in the service eventually. Everybody hung around afterwards, and the girls got some playtime in with the kids from church. I'm hoping the slew of new friends this week will ease their adjusting to this new location!

Snowy Playdate!
The day of our playdate it actually snowed enough to play with! The girls had fun running through it on our way to G's house, and they stayed outside to make snowballs for a while when we got back home. The playdate itself went beautifully (which is particularly good since Miss K and I discovered we have a lot in common, and these get-togethers over tea are going to continue whether the kids like it or not!).

Three R's
I got the girls work folders started up again this week, so they had regular worksheets to choose from again. I also realized I was getting really bored with worksheets (I imagine they feel the same), so this week I focused on coming up with more not-worksheet math lessons. We did a couple of edible math lessons in which I passed out flashcards and they had to illustrate the problems with Cheerios or Goldfish. Goose participated in these lessons too. I also remembered I had a book full of DIY math games that the big girls are actually hold enough for. This week we tried a card game called Diamond 10 that involved making 10s.

For reading, Bug is working her way through Frog and Toad Together, and Monkey opted to do repeat readings of We Are in a Book! Goose reviewed her sounding out skills and added a new sound to her repertoire--A as in apple.

For writing this week, we finished a spelling unit, did scrambled sentences worksheets, and reviewed nouns and verbs. Bug also created a menu for her pretend restaurant (we didn't bring play food with us, so she created a bunch out of craft supplies), and Monkey completed a "surprise story"--I had her blindly pick a story card, then write a few sentences about it.

History
Our history studies this week involved an intensive study of the Pennsylvania Colony and Philadelphia. We read the rest of the sections in the DK book involving Philadelphia and Valley Forge, I got a kid's non-fiction book about the Pennsylvania Colony, and we read a picture-book biography of Benjamin Franklin. We also watched another episode or two of the Liberty's Kids series that covered events leading up to the war and the occasionally violent disagreements between the colonists themselves.

[I give up. I'm admitting defeat and moving on. I simply don't have the hours it would apparently take to get my poor little malfunctioning computer to download, edit, and upload the dozen or so great photos that belong in this post. You'll just have to imagine the cuteness!]

Christmas Adventures!
Celebrating Christmas this year was a two-week-long event! We took advantage of our current East Coast location to see all the extended family, and celebrate Christmas twice! The adventure began with another set of flights--this time with just the girls and I (we headed out earlier and returned later than Daddy and saved hundreds of dollars--none of the grandparents objected to additional time with the grandkids either!). I think the entourage considers themselves seasoned travelers now, and they did wonderfully going through security, take-offs and landings, etc.

Christmas with Mommy's family this year was particularly exciting because all five of Mommy's siblings (even the one who's a missionary overseas) were home for holidays! When you throw in significant others and the addition of two new cousins I think we had a crowd of 17 people staying at Grandma and Granddad's house. So much fun! The girls loved meeting their baby cousins and particularly getting in some playtime with R, who at 9 months old is into everything he can possibly reach.

I think the girls favorite traditions at Grandma and Granddad's house were the abundance of Christmas cookies (yum!) and the filling of the stockings. Santa doesn't visit here, instead everybody helps fill each others' stockings with the requirement that only $1 or less may be spent per person. The girls were very excited about purchasing monster erasers for the aunts, uncles, and grandparents and googly-eyed books for the babies, then sneaking them into everybody's stockings.

Other highlights of the visit with this side of the family: Visiting the local science center, where we got to watch a dome theater show about the solar system (Goose fell asleep partway through, but the big girls thought it was pretty cool). I have also now been informed that I need to teach them more constellations. The also loved part of the temporary exhibit this time--something I think they called the Imagination Playground, basically a big open space full of huge foamy blocks, wheels, gears, etc. that the kids can use to build their own structures. Getting to see the original Chrismon tree, a 30-foot tree covered in ornate Chrismons from all over the world. Very impressive. Going for a hike on the riverwalk trail, I don't know how far we went, but the girls loved spotting some turtles, crossing a former railroad bridge, and just having open trail to burn energy! (They were less than impressed with the multiple dams we saw on the river, but then I realized the last dam they saw was the Hoover Dam, and I had to agree with them.) Learning about Grandma's fish pond, I wasn't involved in this exploration, but in addition to admiring Grandma's flora and fauna, the girls learned about water quality, the life of algae, fish hibernation, etc. Playing piano with Aunt E is always popular if she's around, but this time I requested a slightly more formal interaction with the piano, and they all had a blast. She taught them about how a piano works, the difference between high and low notes and loud and quiet ones, following patterns, creating moods, using each finger to play different notes, etc. By the end of the week, she led them through a pre-readers rendition of a couple of Christmas carols. The suprise of this interaction is that Goose was enthralled by the piano! She requested multiple lessons per day, and loved having time to just experiment and make up songs on her own. She would even stand at Aunt E's shoulder (or sit at the top of the stairs at bedtime) to listen to her play. (I see piano lessons in my future!)

Next we headed for a second Christmas with Daddy's family! We decided to break up the all-day drive to get there by taking a break to visit Daddy's and my alma mater. We got to show the girls the buildings were we lived, worked, and took classes, and gave the girls a chance to get their wiggles out on some of the hills, fields, and common areas.

The girls have favorite traditions at Nana and Papa Bear's house too! As soon as we arrived, they headed for the coffee table of Christmas toys--nutcrackers, matryoshkas, a snow globe, and a collection of Rudolf and company dolls.  I don't think they remembered the Christmas Eve tamales from last year, but all three girls enjoyed them (I think they ate them as leftovers at ever possible meal after that night). We also made and decorated soft gingerbread cookies--so much fun and so delicious! The girls were really looking forward to opening their new PJs Christmas Eve, and Nana did not disappoint--they love their cozy footie PJs!

Other highlights from our visit with Daddy's side of the family: Cooking lessons with Uncle J, the girls were fascinated by the whole process of brining and roasting the Christmas turkey and Uncle J was happy to explain it all to such as eager audience. Later in the visit they got to eat at the their favorite sushi place and drive through a Christmas lights display; the girls had a great time with Nana and Papa Bear while Daddy and I got an overnight getaway in nearby downtown Nashville (that might have been my favorite part of this whole trip). Later we took the girls into Nashville to visit the Parthenon--they were duly impressed with the temple and huge statue of Athena. That event was made all the more interesting because the girls remembered our studies of ancient Greece, remembered the scene from Percy Jackson that takes place their, and even made the connection between the Amazons featured on Athena's shield and Wonder Woman. Of course, no visit to Nana is complete without a shopping trip! The girls got to visit a music store where Bug was able to hold and play a violin (her potential instrument of choice), and Monkey got to play a snare drum (a long-term musical interest of hers). We also stopped at a Lego store where the girls were excited about all the Master Builder creations on display, and ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe--huge automatons! Of course, my girls were excited! Back at Nana and Papa Bear's house, the girls and I also had fun braving intermittent rain showers to explore a new trail around the lake behind their house, and play biologists collecting clues about a animal who left evidence behind--several holes in the ground, half eaten acorns on the ground, and scattered nut shells on a picnic table. After running through the list of possibilities the girls decided it must be a squirrel, a hypothesis confirmed by Papa Bear.

Celebrations at both houses included an additional party--Goose's 4th birthday! At Grandma and Granddad's house, she put in a request with Aunt E for mini chocolate cupcakes. Aunt E even made a special one just for her that was topped with as much frosting as it had cupcake! At Nana and Papa Bear's house we had a breakfast birthday celebration with glazed blueberry muffins. Goose was very excited to celebrate twice with all her family!

After getting home from our Christmas travels, we settled in for three or four solid stay-at-home days to rest and get back into whatever qualifies as a normal routine these days. (I have lots of Christmas pictures to sort through, so that post with come later. I'm late posting as it is! This entry is for Tuesday through Friday of last week!)

Three Rs
I didn't have new folders ready for the big girls, but the three Rs were made a little more exciting this week with the additional resources acquired over Christmas. Reading lessons with the big girls featured the new Fancy Nancy books. Bug read Fancy Nancy and the Dazzling Book Report and Fancy Nancy Sees the Stars. Monkey read Fancy Nancy and the Boy from Paris. Goose has started official reading lessons, too! I've begun How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and she's learned the M and S sounds along with activities that build sounding out skills.

For math this week, for the big girls I drew up a few worksheets that reviewed all the basics they've been working on: skip counting, multiple digit addition, subtraction, fractions, telling time, and creating graphs. We also practiced counting money (thanks to the addition of Christmas money and the allowance I forgot to pay them while traveling) and ran through some addition flash cards. For Goose's math lesson this week, I pulled out my new deck of WonderWoman playing cards. First, I tested Goose's number recognition for 2-10 and her ability to put them in the right order (flawlessly, I was impressed). Then I pulled in the big girls and taught them all how to play War (comparing numbers) and Go Fish (finding matches, counting). That pretty much exhausted my repertoire of card games--they loved it, so I need to find some other easy ones to play.

For writing this week, I had all three of them write thank you notes/pictures for Great Grandma and Granddad. We also played with our new story cards (Monkey lined up about a dozen cards and got particularly creative and detailed) and our Xoom Cubes (although we didn't actually play the games yet, but we had a good time practicing building short words; Bug even pulled out some tricky ones like "know"). All three girls dictated journal entries, and the big girls started a new spelling unit (it was a short week, so we'll test it next week).

COLD!
Now that we're in the throws of a New England winter, I've been hearing a lot of "I miss the beach!" out of the girls (and I'm inclined to join them). The day after we returned from our travels it was 1 degree outside with a wind chill temperature of -24 when Daddy left for work. Once it had warmed up a little (10 degrees), I bundled up Monkey and Bug and had them join me outside for a couple of minutes just to experience "real cold" (Goose opted out of this activity; she watched from the window while wrapped up in a fleece blanket). We didn't last long, but we were outside long enough to admire the ice and put a chunk of it on the back stoop so we could watch it melt (it too a few days). At least the snow is pretty! The girls were really impressed when the predicted 50-mile-per-hour wind gusts picked up and the dining room window had a temporary white out.

Bible Studies
For our first thing in the morning readings, we've decided to continue reading the Gospel Luke, since our Advent readings ended in Luke 2. We continued working on Chapter 12 in their quizzing books, and they're memorizing Exodus 15:11.

Crafting & Cooking
The girls were thrilled to get lots of craft supplies for Christmas! They've been busy constructing any number of projects from the odds and ends we've now collected, making origami insects, and creating designs with Monkey's new spirograph. Bug (inspired by the frigid temperatures) has also started knitting a scarf on one of her looms.

Monkey and Bug both expressed an interest in really learning how to cook some things on their own, so this week they each took turns being in charge of lunch for a day with me present for consulting. Monkey fixed burritos filled with black beans, corn, and cheese and a side of canned pineapple. Bug cooked scrambled eggs with cheese and pulled out various leftovers for sides--carrot sticks, corn, garlic bread, etc. This process involved them both locating all their ingredients and utensils, using the stove, and practicing skills like shredding cheese and cracking eggs.

History 
Our studies of Colonial America continue. My original intent had been to do this study chronologically--looking at the early colonies in the order they were established, then moving on to events of the Revolutionary War. Well, that plan has been officially scrapped in favor of centering our at-home studies on whatever travel plans we have coming up. I also realized the Liberty's Kids series that outlines events of the Revolutionary War includes 40 episodes, and I'd like to spread out our viewings, so we can talk about things and study some of the characters as they come up rather than doing a marathon TV watching session.

So. . . in light of the long weekend Daddy has coming up, we're now studying Pennsylvania with a special focus on Philadelphia! I went through our DK book about the Revolutionary War and tagged all the references to Philadelphia and Valley Forge, and the girls and I have read a few pages already. We also watched the first two episodes of Liberty's Kids. The girls have learned about the Intolerable Acts and the Boston Tea Party, the State House in Philadelphia, and the Continental Congress, and they've been introduced to Benjamin Franklin, Sam Adams, and Phillis Wheatley. Home schooling win: my 6 year olds can now explain "no taxation without representation."

Happy Advent!
This is absolutely my favorite time of year, and we've been having so much fun with it! Granted, some of our usual traditions have been set aside for a year, and the majority of our Christmas decorations are still in their bins in California. Our Christmas tree, however, is being featured at our church in California, all decked out with international flags and nativity scenes for their children's pageant. If we can't enjoy our tree, I'm glad it's available for our friends!

As usual, Advent kicked off with the lighting of the first candle at church, and we get to break out the Christmas hymns. We even got to do a little decorating that afternoon. We set up the two nativity sets that came with us (the matryoshka set and the pop-up paper one both traveled nicely), and I was thrilled when Daddy and the girls surprised me with a 4-foot tinsel tree and a box of ornaments from Five Below! I really didn't think we'd get a tree this year!

A little later in the week, the girls and I pulled out our craft supplies and spent a couple of hours handcrafting more decorations: chrismons for the tree, snowflakes to hang from the curtains in their room, wreaths for doorknobs, paper chains for the tree and the dining room chandelier, and some toilet paper tube angels to sit in the kitchen window. Eventually we found a foamy nativity kit at a craft store, so the girls could have a nativity scene they were actually allowed to play with. It was kind of a milestone actually, because the girls were able to put it together entirely on their own. All I had to do was hand them the unopened box, and tell them to have fun!

Hot cocoa + craft supplies = hours of fun + Christmas decorations!

I was very pleased not only with how our chrismons turned out, but with how well the big girls could come up with the symbols on their own or explain the meaning behind the ones I suggested. It was also fun to listen in later when Monkey and Bug would explain all the chrismons to Goose.(For my readers who aren't familiar: chrismons are "Christ Monograms," handmade, gold and white ornaments that are all symbols of Jesus. For example, a crown for Christ the King or a shepherd's crook for the Good Shepherd. Usually, we have two full-sized trees--one for chrismons and one for the assorted adorable handmade ornaments you acquire when raising three girls!) The girls also got to make chrismons at church one Sunday for the trees in the chapel there.

We took a break from our usual Bible characters readings to do special Advent readings (Thank you, Focus on the Family website!). We read a few verses every morning and talk about what it has to do with Christmas. Some of those Old Testament prophecies can be pretty puzzling to little ones!

The girls and I got to participate in an unplanned Christmassy event, when we happened to visit Home Depot the morning of the December kids' workshop (apparently, these workshops are monthly free events that we are totally going to take advantage of in the future). The girls each got to hammer together and decorate three lawn ornaments each--a snowman, gingerbread man, and snowflake.

And, of course, we have to go shopping for Christmas dresses! I'm not one of those moms who goes for coordinating outfits--I'm all about individual expressions of style and learning how to shop wisely. They can pick out whatever "fancy" dress they want, but it has to be machine washable and within a set budget. All three girls were very pleased with their outfits this year!

The family tradition of Sunday nights being movie nights continued, but this month with Christmas movies! We featured the usual favorites--Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Muppets Christmas Carol, and The Polar Express. On the afternoon we made the girls fleecy blankets, we did it while watching the American Ballet perform The Nutcracker (I managed to find the whole ballet streaming on YouTube). The girls also had fun comparing this rendition to the version we've always watched before--the one Maurice Sendak designed (sadly, not available as a streaming video this year). The girls also managed to have several other days during the week when they were able to get lessons and chores done and still have time to watch some of the shorter films like The Grinch who Stole Christmas, The Toy Who Saved Christmas, and Charlie Brown's Christmas.

I'm definitely considering it a parenting win that as we got farther into Advent, the girls began to realize with dismay that most of the Christmas movies we watched and songs we heard on the radio didn't talk about the real meaning of Christmas. Bug was particularly upset about this. She pointed out that even if there weren't presents or decorations or parties or anything, it would still be "the most wonderful day of the year" because Jesus was born! How could all these people just ignore that!