This photo, taken Christmas morning,
is the one and only photo I took
during our visit! If anybody took
pictures with my crew in them, please
send them my way!

Merry Christmas Again!

We celebrated our second Christmas with some of Mommy's family (only about half the clan was there; we'll see all but Aunt E during another visit mid-January). Even with such a small crowd, the traditions continued! In fact, we restarted a tradition that hadn't happened in years. Granddad led his kids and grandkids throughout the hospital where he works to pass out boxes of petite fours and wish all the departments a merry Christmas. Some of the staff even remembered the original rounds with Uncle N (now a college student) being pushed around in a stroller!

The girls even got help Grandma decorate the Christmas tree (a first, I think, usually it's up by the time we get there). They were very enthusiastic helpers who were equally careful with the more breakable items. Of course, decorating the tree had to be followed by a round of Christmas cookies!

In fact, the next day the girls helped make even more Christmas cookies. The aunts and uncles went out for a round of last minute shopping, and the girls stayed home to help Grandma put the chocolate layer on the double dip cookies. Yum! I'm pretty sure the girls with the assistance of Uncle N were also in charge of putting out the platters of cookies that appeared after every meal. (Ok, not after breakfast, but I'm pretty sure the girls went for the candy sitting out in pretty Christmas bowls after that meal instead.)

So, not really a Christmassy activity, but we took advantage of Grandma and Granddad's close proximity to a gun club to bring a few firearms with us and take most of the family shooting. Daddy reviewed safety rules and the how-tos of aiming at home, then everyone but Grandma and Lion went to try them out. (Grandma and Lion opted to go for a walk instead.) Monkey and Bug fired both the 22 pistol and 22 rifle a number of times before Monkey couldn't take the noise anymore. The girls and I and Aunt A headed home while the boys kept firing.

One evening we went to see the Christmas lights at the city park. At least a couple dozen local businesses and organizations sponsors displays throughout the park. We cranked up the Christmas music and got to vote on our favorite display at the end. Inside the rec center, we got to enjoy hot cocoa, see a holiday display set up by the local model train association, and color a few Christmas coloring sheets. Good times!

Christmas Eve involved a traditional family dinner, the opportunity to open one Christmas present, more Christmas cookies, viewing another VeggieTales Christmas special, and attending the midnight candle light service at the church I grew up in. Lion was excited about staying up late, but she definitely slept through a good portion of the service.

As a result of those late-night escapades, we actually had to wake up the girls at 8 a.m. the next morning, so we'd have time to dig into stockings and eat Jesus' birthday cake before going to Grandma and Granddad's church. The rest of the presents had to wait until after lunch got cleaned up. For three excited little girls that's an agonizing wait, but well worth it!

They're already excited about Christmas 2.5 in January with the cousins!

Merry Christmas 1!

We celebrated  our first Christmas Daddy's family this year. The clan gathered at Aunt S and Uncle J's house, and we loved getting to see everybody! As usual the girls had a blast in the basement. I know that sounds weird, but it's a big, finished space with plenty of room for them to spread out and do their own thing while the grown ups chit chat upstairs. On this visit the grown ups spent a lot of time looking through several boxes of ancestral memorabilia. We found some really neat information and other things (the girls' great-grandfather's diaries, military ribbons, and such from his Army days in WWII, for example). Of course, none of this was of much interest to three little girls, although they did have fun getting to each choose a quilt to take home from a pile of quilts made by their great-great grandmother (if I remember that correctly). For additional around the house entertainments, the girls got in lots of snuggle time with Nana and Papa Bear, watched the BFG (while Mommy and Daddy went to see Rogue One), introduced Daddy's family to the hilarity of Home, and went for a walk on a lovely wooded trail through the neighborhood.

As usual Lion's birthday was part of the festivities!
She got her requested chocolate cupcakes and opened a few presents. The celebration continued the next day by satisfying her current Edgar Degas obsession and visiting the National Gallery to see his sculptures, including the "Little Dancer," on display. We perused a few more of the Impressionist and sculpture galleries, then headed across the Mall to the Air and Space museum, where the girls wanted to see the space ships and learn about the planets.

This wasn't a Degas work, but it was still a favorite.

One evening during out stay we all went out for a night of fine dining. The girls were very excited about getting dressed up and going to a fancy restaurant. Afterwards we took a turn through a Christmas market across the street. This year we also added to the family tradition of eating tamales on Christmas Eve by making our own. The assembly didn't take long with so many hands rolling, and they were delicious!

Tamale makers hard at work

It's officially Christmas Eve with new Christmas PJs and a
Christmas storybook!

Christmas morning itself was full of presents and lots of fun! This year the combination of our kids not believing in Santa Claus and Nana being a gift-giving person led to their referring to her as "Nana Claus." At some point Christmas night, Bug told me, "I'm glad we have a Nana Claus instead of Santa Claus, because she actually knows us and loves us. Santa only knows if you've been bad or good." Then Lion piped up, "And Santa can only get you what you ask him for. Nana can get you ANYTHING!"

One of the things "Nana Claus" brought: WhomBatz!
(AKA: "Foam things to hit people with!")

Our trip back home involved a pit stop at the Richmond capitol building and grounds. Thanks to our digging through the family history over Christmas we discovered we're related to one of the gentlemen memorialized with a statue on the grounds. We even had time for a self-guided tour of the building itself before hitting the road again.

Happy Advent!

At home we continued our Jesse Tree devotions and even acquired some Jesse tree ornaments courtesy of Monkey and Bug's Sunday school teacher. The girls finished several Advent calendars: one involved adding stickers to a paper tree, another opening little flaps to see illustrations of the names of Christ, and a third was a computer program that had a video, game, or activity for each day. We also baked and decorated gingerbread cookies, listened to lots of Christmas music, played with nativity sets, and watched several VeggieTales Christmas specials.

The big girls got into the giving part of Christmas this year! We've never made the girls buy for each other or anyone else, but during this season we've always talked about celebrating God's generosity to us by being generous to others, and we've always gotten them involved in choosing alternative gifts for Daddy's family and giving through programs like Operation Christmas Child. This year Monkey and Bug decided they wanted to give gifts to each other, Lion, and Daddy and I too. They had so much fun choosing gifts, and they did a great job!

Guess which runner doesn't want to be here anymore?

Even the girls running club got in on the merriment. Instead of the usual activities one week, they did a Jingle Bell Run 5k. They were pretty excited about getting jingle bells to tie onto their shoes! Bug was highly motivated by the competition and finished in about 40 minutes, Lion pushed herself too hard at the beginning of the race and had to take a break partway through (this was her first time racing without an adult running partner to pace her for the first part of the race), and Monkey remembered shortly after leaving the starting line that actually she hated running long distances (she walked most of the way, but she did finish).

The Advent fun continued at church as well. We all enjoyed a potluck Advent breakfast one Sunday, the girls and I attended a potluck Women's Circle luncheon (so much good food!), and the church hosted an Advent festival one afternoon. It involved lots of crafts stations for the girls to choose from (we came home with some cute ornaments for the tree), a pizza dinner and Christmas cookies, and a mostly impromptu children's Christmas pageant (the kids chose their parts & costumes that afternoon, and a middle

Monkey, Lion, and a friend doing
Christmas crafts

schooler read Luke 2 punctuated with everyone singing appropriate Christmas carols). Our family was also asked to like the Advent wreath for the third Sunday. Bug even read the scripture verses, and each of the girls got to light a candle (with a boost from Daddy--that wreath is really tall!)

We had three little angels in the pageant!

Advent Begins!
Prepping for Advent began the weekend before this year:

We dropped off our fully-stuffed Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes on Saturday. Then on Sunday our church sponsored an Advent wreath-making workshop in lieu of Sunday school. We came home with a beautiful wreath decorated in greenery cut from the church grounds. After the worship service, the girls and I stayed to help a few other families put up Christmas decorations around the church. They were so excited to decorate our church's Chrismon tree!

Then on the first Sunday of Advent, we turned up the Christmas tunes and pulled out our own Christmas decorations: two trees (one Chrismon tree and one tree the girls can put anything they want on), candles in windows, white lights on the front stoop, wreathes on doors, garland on the banister, an assortment of other fun decorations, and (at last count) 17 nativity scenes!

The girls have a couple of little Advent calendars going that they brought home from church, and we've begun reading the Jesse Tree Advent devotional. We actually do a Chrismon tree, not a Jesse tree, but the devotional, which follows the story of redemption from creation to the nativity, has been good so far.

Friday night we attended Lion's Christmas piano recital and a Christmas party. There was a good little crowd at the recital, and Lion did a great job! No hesitation, and no mistakes! The party was actually Daddy's office party. Kids weren't invited to the party itself, but childcare was provided. The girls had a blast making crafts and some new friends. At some point after dinner, when the dance floor remained empty of adults, a few families fetched our kids and let them get some wiggles out. They loved it!

We're all looking forward to the many festivities yet to come!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Academically, we prepped for the holiday this year by reading a chapter book that followed the Hopkins family's journey from England through to the first Thanksgiving. We also read a great little book about how Thanksgiving came to be a federal holiday through the efforts of Sarah Hale.

For the holiday itself, we were thrilled to be living close enough to go to Grandma and Granddad's house this year! We were able to join in on some family traditions and create a new one or two. The feast itself was delicious, of course, and thoroughly enjoyed by all. We went on our usual walk through the woods afterwards (to make room for the pie), and the girls even got to stay up a bit late to play board games after their little cousin was safely tucked away in bed. This year Grandma decided we needed a new tradition: a thankful tree. I'll confess we were all a little skeptical of the bare stick in a bucket, but once we added leaves for things we were thankful for, it looked great!

Board game with Granddad!

The final Thanksgiving tradition is actually the first taste of Christmas. Everyone got involved in making and decorating gingerbread cookies. I even got to open an early Christmas present: a set of ninja-bread men cookie cutters! They're awesome!

Making cookies!

Decorating cookies!

Other highlights from the weekend: cousin playtime in the basement (it's a huge, mostly finished space full of toys), going for a run on a rec trail along the river (Lion plus her personal entourage of four grown ups), playing at a great local playground, shooting air rifles in the backyard (Bug in particular proved herself a good little marksman), and picking through Mommy's stacks of old books to find ones at Monkey and Bug's reading to take home with us. Good times!

Standardized Testing
The week after Thanksgiving involved an event for which the girls are not so thankful: standardized testing. Since our state doesn't specify when during the year they have to take them, we decided to test midway through. Now if they pass with flying colors, we're done, and we no longer have this hanging over our heads. If they don't do so well, then we have tons of time to work on our weak areas and retest later. This year at least they knew what they were in for, and I'm feeling pretty good about how they did. Now we await results!

Quite Time
This photo is what my idea of a perfect autumn afternoon looks like: three happy girls with cozy blankets, hot tea, and good books gathered around the fireplace. My own tea and Bible study books are waiting for me! I've successfully instituted an after lunch quiet time that involves everyone picking out a book to read on their own. We've tried this before, but this is the first time I've actually had all three able to read independently. (The fact that Monkey in particular is cheerfully reading to herself for 30 or 45 minutes a day is an amazing milestone!)

The Election and Geography
We officially wrapped up our government study on November 9th when I read out the election results, and the girls colored in a map and added up electoral votes to figure out who the new president would be.

We're all excited about beginning our world geography studies! We've almost finished a small Maps & Globes workbook that goes over the basics of identifying continents and oceans, identifying cardinal directions, and learning about latitude and longitude. We also examined a number of maps, atlases, online mapping tools, and our globe to notice differences between them. I've been collecting worksheets to go into these topics in greater depth later, and we'll be doing studies about landforms and about individual continents after the holidays.

As a side study we've also been reading Land Ho!, a book about explorers from the Age of Exploration. So far we've learned about Christopher Colombus, John Cabot, Amerigo Vespucci, and Vasco de Balboa (Of course, we also noted that these men didn't really discover the North and South America; there were already people living here. In fact, they weren't even the first Europeans, since the Vikings had crossed into the Western Hemisphere about 500 years earlier.)

Adventures in Eating!
Have I mentioned how thankful I am not to be raising any picky eaters? They've had several opportunities to be adventurous recently: Apparently none of them remember eating acorn squash last fall; they were a bit skeptical at first, but I won them over when they realized the squash had been doused in butter and brown sugar. On their own initiative, they each decided to sample the jalapeno-stuffed olives that were being passed out at the grocery store. They immediately dashed for the store water fountain, but at least they tried them! Much more successfully, we also made smoothies using passion fruit harvested from Grandma's garden. Yum!

Academic Highlights
Monkey and Bug reached a major math milestone this week! They have successfully memorized all the multiplication tables! After the holidays their math focus will shift from primarily math facts to doing more work with math concepts in Khan Academy. Even with my intentionally holding them back in Khan until they had their multiplication tables, they're both almost halfway through third grade. I expect they'll move along through elementary math pretty quickly once I let them move at their own pace.

The highlight of science topics we've recently discussed was conducting a demonstration of a chemical reaction they learned about from a Bill Nye episode about chemicals. They cleaned a handful of pennies using vinegar and salt in a mason jar. Lots of discussion about the elements ensued. They also recently watched a Magic School Bus episode about bones and muscles, and Monkey's been telling her sisters interesting things she's learned from a Magic School Bus chapter book about bones.

In their writing lessons, since I wrote last, we've covered informational writing and poetry. For informational writing, Monkey and Bug each had to choose a topic, find three sources, take notes, write a rough draft, then type up a final paper. They did a great job! In fact, here are their reports read aloud by the authors:

They definitely had more fun with poetry though (who can blame them?!). I found a series of worksheets that uses "Casey at the Bat" as a starting point to discuss rhythm, rhyme, parts of poetry (couplets, stanzas, etc.), then went into different types of unrhymed poetry (haikus, diamante poems, etc.)

Here are a few samples of their poetry:

Sea, Sand, and Sky, a free verse poem by Bug

On Sunday morning
We went to the beach
And waves go rolling by.
We each have a sandwich,
And we stay there till dusk,
And that's the end of the day.

Monkeys, a cinquain poem by Monkey

Monkeys

Tails, hand-like feet

Monkeys love yummy fruit.

They like to climb and swing in trees.

Not apes

To the Zoo!

Everybody loves climbing fake
termite mounds!

The girls and I finally made it to the local zoo for a field trip of our own. It's a great little zoo, and the girls were very eager to get back and do the zoo more thoroughly than they were able to on the field trip with all the other kids from church. For this visit, the girls wanted to focus on the Africa section--zebras, giraffes, lions, ostriches, meerkats, a variety of interesting birds, and a couple of surprisingly lively tortoises ("That turtle's climbing on the other one!" "Is it going to be ok?" "Why are they making funny noises?" Meanwhile, a fellow mom and I are dying laughing, while assuring our kids that the tortoises are totally fine.) The girls were disappointed to discover that the elephants have been removed, but now we we're looking forward to seeing the rhinos who'll replace them. We also explored a botanical garden at the back of the zoo that they didn't get to explore before. It has clearly seen better days, but it's still has a lovely formal rose garden and gazebo that's perfect for taking a quiet break.

To the Games!
Daddy found a regional Highland games to compete in, and we

all had a blast watching him compete and exploring the Celtic festival. We even made friends for the day with another mom and her preschool daughter who were also there to watch their husband/daddy wear a kilt and throw heavy things. In addition to lots of time spent watching the athletes, we did our usual exploring of the Village of Clans and the vendors' booths. We admired all the clan crests and tartans along with some swords and armor (one clan even boasted a kilt-wearing Stormtrooper!), learned about the workings of a typical Scottish croft, watched an Irish step dancing competition and a sheepdog demonstration, and consumed Scottish pies, bridies, and shortbread. Yum! In addition to pumpkin painting and face painting, the children's section also included a tent of swordsmen, and we were able to sit in on a demonstration/lecture about the history of swords from the short, stabbing swords of the Bronze Age to modern fencing foils. The girls were absolutely fascinated; they did quite a bit of dueling with the balloon swords they acquired at the swordsmen's booth, and Monkey even decided to purchase a wooden one to bring home.

Happy Halloween!
Halloween this year was a nice low-key event. Our current neighborhood doesn't do trick-or-treating, but the local Y hosted a fall festival on Friday that included trunk-or-treating, a bounce house, and several carnival games for the kids. As usual, the real highlight for them is dressing up! (For the record, Bug specified that she is not a pirate, but a privateer--any piracy was therefore legal and patriotic.)

The girls have never shown an interest in carving a jack o' lantern. They want to eat the pumpkin! It's become our tradition to do just that every fall. This year we roasted pumpkin seeds and made pumpkin soup.

Tidbits

• We wrapped up our unit on the U.S. government just in time for the election. We read books about, talked about, and did worksheets about the three branches of government, different levels of government (local to federal), and the election process. We did not, however, talk much about the current candidates (It hasn't exactly been a kid-friendly election cycle!).
• Daddy and I recently decided to P90X together (it's an intense 90 day workout program). We didn't intend to include the entourage, but Lion decided it looked like too much fun to miss! She's particularly a fan of the plyometric day. She informed us, though, that she wouldn't participate on the days she had running club or gym class--she doesn't want to overdo it. Smart girl.
• We've been all about the Magic School Bus lately! Monkey's read chapter books about bats and the skeletal system, we've got a library book about ancient Egypt, and we've watched episodes about bats and energy.
• Bug completed the worksheets I had about the Spanish alphabet and basic phrases and vocabulary. She decided she wanted to step it up a bit, and Daddy remembered he had a stack of Instant Immersion Spanish CDs. She's loving it! And, now that it involves fun computer games, Monkey and Lion are intrigued as well.

The Great Outdoors!

A viewing dock out into the lake allowed us
to watch turtles swim!

One of the things I love about home schooling is being able to occasionally set aside the formal lessons in order to get some hands on learning on a gorgeous fall day. The girls and I did exactly that the other day when we headed out to spend several hours exploring a local wildlife reserve. Besides stopping to read the signs about the eco-friendly parking lot, the benefits of a rain barrel, the process of building an oyster shell reef, and the history of the park itself (it used to be farmland), we also consulted the pocket field guides we brought along to learn about the local flora and fauna:

Trees: sweet gum, water oak, sassafras, magnolia, and holly

Flowers: dayflowers, smart weed, goldenrod, and a variety of other wildflowers that could not be identified

Other Plants: shelf fungus, ferns, muscadine vines, and LOTS of mushrooms,

Bugs: daddy long legs, pill bugs, water striders, ants, dragonflies, and butterflies

Animals: turtles, minnows, oysters (well, shells anyway)

We loved this place! There are still a handful of trails we've yet to explore, so we'll definitely be going back.

Now that autumn and cooler weather is finally here, the girls have also been spending many hours outside in our own backyard. While I'm not privy to the details of their complex pretend play, it involves lots of running around, climbing, and collecting and arranging sticks, stones, leaves, and pretty much anything else they can find. They've also been riding their bikes again on a regular basis, and the other day they got to explore a bit more of our neighborhood when I decided to go for a nice long walk and told them to grab their bikes and join me.

Little Runners
The girls are still loving running club. This past week Miss C actually had 9 and under group do a timed 1/2 mile run. Lion and Bug both beat their time from when Daddy and I took them running last month (Monkey never bothered to ask Miss C what her time was, but she had fun just running with a friend of hers). Lion did so well in fact that Miss C is going to have her run the timed full mile with the big kids next month! Lion was SO excited to be moving up. Miss C's goal is to have all kids running the timed full mile, but she's moving them up as she deems them ready. So far only Lion and two other kids (both bigger than her) are ready to make the switch.

While I'm not participating at the girls request, I did manage to find another mom who'll walk laps with me instead of standing on the sidelines while the kids have running club. This week though, we pretty much neutralized any calories burned by taking the kiddos out for ice cream afterwards with a couple other moms. Fun times!

New Addition!

Our academic lessons continue as usual with no major milestones to report at this point. However, we recently acquired a huge magnetic, dry erase board! While Daddy and I are both looking forward to having this big white space for teaching purposes, the girls have spent a good portion of the weekend so far drawing and playing with our large and mostly unused collection of magnets.

Daddy worked night shifts recently,
so we gave him peace & quiet by
picking up donuts and spending a
Saturday morning at a local park.

Science Topics
Recent time at a park and on a rec trail have led to some fun local wildlife sightings. We've seen a turtle, a large yellow mushroom, a snake, tiny crabs, hundreds of snails (clinging to the grass in the photo at left), and watched a garden spider catch a bug in its web, wrap it, and carry it across the web.

We've also recently experienced a huge amount of rain--enough that the local school district closed for a day due to flooding. Fortunately, our house was fine, and we had good discussions about why "the clouds aren't running out of rain" and why some areas flood and others don't even though the same amount of rain falls.

Good rainy day activity: watching Bill Nye the Science Guy. We watched (and discussed at length) episodes about gravity and volcanoes/plate tectonics.

Go! Go! Go!
We're a couple of weeks into the running club and P.E. class. The girls love them, and we've all had the opportunity meet some other local homeschoolers. The only complaint I've heard is that Lion says the little kids group at running club doesn't get to run enough. She was particularly disappointed that the announced "timed half mile run" turned out to be an untimed quarter mile run for their age group. (She did note, however, that she crossed the finish line second, beaten only by a boy who was at least a head taller than her.)

Since the girls get credit for physical activity outside of club meetings--and double mileage if a parent exercises with them--we've gone on a couple of runs with our whole family. Both times we've gone to a rec trail about 30 minutes away. It's a two-mile straightaway with no off shoots. With Daddy and I both running the trail and keeping an eye on the girls this gives them a chance to run their individual pace and practice some independence by taking off on their own.

We've gone swimming a couple of times, too. Miss D invited us to use her pool until the end of the season. We got in one awesome swim day at her place, but relocated to the indoor pool at the Y the next week when the girls deemed it a bit too chilly to go jumping into an outdoor pool.

Pirates & Presidents
We've just finished our study of the U.S. presidents themselves, and now we're moving on to the how our government works and the election process (the very, very basics). My plan is for our study to wrap up around election day.

By popular demand we've also been studying pirates--specifically the female ones. We've been reading a book called Sea Queens that records the tales of pirate women from around the world as far back in history as ancient Greece, and I recently found a documentary about an Irish pirate from the 1700s that we'll be watching.

While neither a pirate nor a president, we also watched a documentary about one of the women who may have inspired Mulan tales. Since Mulan is one of the girls' favorite Disney movies, they were very curious about a possible history behind the story. This one involved the daughter of a washer woman who grew up to lead an army of 20,000 against an oppressive imperial government about the time of the American Revolution (she eventually lost, but's a pretty inspiring tale).

With public schools starting up this past week, we carried out two of our own "school" traditions: a not-back-to-school day and a planning tea.

For our not-back-to-school day, we always do something fun and non-academic during public school hours. This year we headed to an amazing indoor play space (think McDonald's play space on steroids). They loved it! It's a huge enclosed space that involves climbing things, slides, tunnels, a ball pit with a ball shooter, a net bridge, and a kid-powered merry-go-round. They made friends with a four-year-old who was also running around, and I'm pretty sure they were in constant motion for almost 2 hours!

Here's a small glimpse of the play space. My girls are in there somewhere.

The girls bake brownies for our planning tea. Seriously, I did
little more than supervise the process this year. Home
economics (a.k.a., kids help around the house too) is a crucial
part of our home school program.

We're year-round learners here, so the whole "back to school" thing doesn't mean much to the girls. (They're still trying to figure out how to answer questions like "Are you ready to go back to school?" from well-meaning adults. We have at least practiced some responses to "Why aren't you in school today?") However, we do usually have what we refer to as a planning tea sometime late summer. We spend a morning preparing tea and treats, then enjoying both while we discuss upcoming activities and what we're going to be learning about, and we declare them "officially" in whatever grade I deem appropriate (this is actually more of a social designation than an academic one, and has more to do with where they fit into activities at church than anything else). So, here's a bit of a run down of the upcoming year with my first grader and two third graders:

As we have for years now, everyday begins with breakfast and Bible time. We're currently about halfway through "The Essential 100 Jesus Stories." When we finish that list, we'll be breaking from our usual reading of only Bible stories to read The Ology by Marty Machowski (it's basically systematic theology for kids that tackles the "ologies" of God, Christ, people, etc. through about 70 daily readings). Our church's children's program doesn't require any Bible memorization, so I came up with my own list of verses we're working on based on perusing a few "x number of verses every Christian should know" lists.

We have a lot of out-of-the-house activities we want to do this year!

Home School P.E.: The Y down the street is hosting this weekly class that starts next week, and the girls and I are looking forward to meeting some other nearby home schoolers.

Library Visits: Well, they've all outgrown storytime, so this isn't a formal event anymore, but it's definitely a non-negotiable part of the weekly routine!

Just Run: A local mom recently started a chapter of this national running club for home schoolers. Lion in particular was thrilled to find a running club for kids. They had a blast at the first meeting learning about posture and pacing through games and instruction. This club encourages kids to be competitive not against each other, but against their own best times. Their first timed run is next week, and the club also plans to participate in local races throughout the year.

Music Lessons: Their respective piano, drum, and violin lessons continue, and I've got them all back in one time slot! (Bug's violin was on a different day at first, but a spot opened up along her sister's starting in September!) Bug is transitioning back to violin very nicely, and it's definitely the right level of interest and challenge for her.

Martial Arts: Daddy's planning to have them pick up their martial arts studies later this month. We found a good school where they'll be studying muay thai and brazilian jiujitsu. Even Lion gets to participate this time! (She's so excited!) They'll be in back-to-back lessons for a little while, then Lion will move into the same class as her sisters when she turns 6.

Church: Sunday school starts up again this week as does the monthly children's ministry event. The girls will stay after church with all the other elementary kids to eat lunch, do games/crafts, and learn a Bible lesson. Our church also does Wednesday night suppers as a time for church-wide fellowship, but there are no additional studies or programming. The girls just have fun playing on the playground while the grown ups chit chat.

Tired yet? Me too! Before we can get to all those fun afternoon and evening activities, though, we have to tackle academic subjects. For this reason we've declared an official wake-up time, and a goal of sitting down to formal lessons by 8 a.m. Monkey and Lion are not fans of being rousted out of bed, but they are enjoying getting things done earlier in the day. As usual our academic focus is primarily on the three Rs:

Reading: Lion is advancing her reading skills through Bob Books and phonics worksheets. Bug has started doing daily read aloud sessions with me again. While she'd been voraciously reading solo based on my recommendations, she's found books she wants to read that are just beyond her level, and we agreed that reading those together would help her build her skills. Monkey loves to read but she does so very slowly (not an problem except for those pesky timed standardized tests). To increase her fluency we've added additional phonics and sight words activities to her usual read aloud time with me.

Writing: All three girls have spelling lessons now, and Lion loves that she's learned enough to write a few things independently. The rest of her writing practice is through first grade worksheets I've pulled off the Internet that deal with beginning grammar and composition skills. We've stepped the writing program for the big girls this year. They're now working through a Daily Grams workbook and writing a paragraph every lesson day based on a list of journal prompts. This year they're also going to learn about specific types of writing (opinion, informative, narrative, and poetry). We've done a unit introducing opinion writing already, and the other will be introduced throughout the year.

Math: Lion is still working through early math skills using worksheets and manipulatives, but now on a more formal, regular basis. I anticipate she'll start Khan Academy lessons sometime in the next 6 months to a year. Monkey and Bug are continuing to slowly work their way through third grade math concepts in Khan Academy while mastering their math facts. At some point this year I'll declare them ready and just let them loose in Khan to work as quickly through math as they are comfortable.

Social Studies: This isn't a subject that gets covered everyday, but it's a fun one. We're currently most of the way through our study of the presidents, and I'm preparing a unit on world geography next. We spent quite a bit time discussing US geography this summer when we had the opportunity to drive through most it.

Science: I've mentioned before we've covered this subject best through a lifestyle of exploration and that will continue to be our primary method. This year though the girls are also old enough to appreciate more science TV shows and documentaries, and I have a book of simple experiments I'd love to find the time to do at home.

[Look what I found: a lost blog post! I think I must have written it right before our beach trip, but never posted it. Enjoy!]

On a recent Monday, a lady from our church invited us and three other families for a pool party complete with a hot dog lunch because her "grandsons all live out of town, and I need some little ones to come enjoy all this!" We had a fantastic time! It was a great opportunity for the girls and I to get to know some of the other moms and kids from church, and the girls loved having several hours to just play with their friends.

Following up with Bug's interest in movie special effects, we discovered Khan Academy's "Pixar in a Box" program. It includes a series of short videos explaining how animated special effects are made, punctuated by simple animation programs that let you experiment with the effects they've been discussing. Bug hasn't worked through all of it yet, but she had a blast creating her own falling water and fireworks.

Bug finally got to start her violin lessons! She really likes her new teacher and has been thrilled with how quickly it's come back to her. Right now he's just having her practice scales and the songs she played with her last teacher, so he can get for where she's at and what to do next.

We love the Olympics! Watching the endless stream of talented athletes and cheering for the US are always entertaining, and of course they're full of learning opportunities: We've discussed different countries; their geographic locations, flags, and languages; the basic rules of a wide variety of sports and the skills it takes to play them (judo, tennis, handball, water polo, soccer, gymnastics, swimming, diving, fencing, rugby, beach volleyball, track & field sports); good sportsmanship; and the history and importance of the Olympics themselves.

In a break from the norm, the girls have had quite a few adventures without me recently! They went on two field trips with a group from our church with a weekend at Grandma and Granddad's place in between. Since I wasn't a participant, I don't have all the details and funny anecdotes, but I did receive a few cute photos.

First, they headed to the local zoo with about 20 kids, our children's minister, and a handful of volunteers. The girls had a blast riding the train, seeing all the animals, enjoying a picnic lunch, and just getting to hang out with their friends. I have been informed by the girls that it's totally worth us getting a membership and going back when they can actually learn more about the animals. (Meanwhile, I did some serious homeschool planning, read a bit of a novel--in a quiet house!--and did some personal shopping.)

Next was their weekend at Grandma and Granddad's! We staged the drop off at a Cracker Barrel halfway between us and enjoyed a lovely lunch (Thanks, Aunt E!). On Saturday they spent several hours walking the creek and woods with Granddad--definitely their favorite Grandma & Granddad's house activity. They also helped Granddad buy new Nerf guns and a play kitchen for the basement (a huge semi-finished space with plenty of stuff for grandkids). On Sunday they went to church, and on Monday morning I got them back again. (Meanwhile, Daddy and I got a weekend away with other grown ups to go rafting and enjoy kid-free dining.)

Their second field trip was to the local aquarium. They were especially excited because their good friend A was coming this time, and the loved getting to spend the whole day hanging out! Apparently, the touch tank was the highlight of the actual aquarium stuff; though they admitted that this aquarium was not nearly as cool as the others we've been to in recent history.

Beach Week!
Grandma and Granddad have had a time share here on the

East Coast for over 30 years, and this year the girls and Daddy got to come! (Technically, the girls have been before, but they were too little to remember.) Aunt K, Uncle J, and their cousin H were able to come too. The girls were so excited about getting some cousin time!

We kept it simple and had a blast. Most days involved going to the beach/pool, hiding from the sun during the worst of the heat (eating, napping, reading, or watching the Olympics), then heading out to the beach/pool again late afternoon. The girls were thrilled to finally visit an ocean that had warm enough water and small enough waves that they could actually swim in the ocean, play in the surf, and go boogie boarding. They also helped Grandma and Granddad build a fairly elaborate sandcastle everyday. If we hit the tides right, Granddad liked to see how his castles held up against the rising water; however, if the tide was nowhere near coming in, the girls quite gleefully crushed it for him themselves. While there weren't many whole sea shells to be found, the girls loved collecting pretty bits of tumbled shells. We also spotted some local wildlife: lots of little fish, sea gulls, a jellyfish, a pelican, dolphins, and a crab or two.

They were also huge fans of the swimming pools. All three girls have become quite confident swimmers, and Monkey and Bug even managed to retrieve diving rings from the bottom of the 8-foot deep end. I think they could all do underwater flips and handstands by the end of the week too. In addition to the usual pool noodles, kickboards, and beach balls, Aunt K and Uncle J also brought along a couple of water guns that provided nearly endless entertainment (H may not even be 2 yet, but he's a pretty shot!). We also spent time playing miniature golf, corn-hole, Foosball, and on the playground.

We departed from our routine activities a couple of days, though: We spent one morning visiting an aquarium about 30 minutes down the road. While not nearly as big and impressive as our local aquarium on the West Coast, this one had a sea turtle rescue station we got to walk though. The girls were particularly impressed by the truly massive loggerhead turtle awaiting diagnosis. After touring the real rescue station, the girls got to go through a simulation turtle rescue and took a toy turtle through all the steps of diagnosis, treatment, rehab, and return to the sea. So much fun! Among the other highlights were a presentation about the wreck of the USS Monitor and its transformation into a marine wildlife reserve, a diver presentation in the big tank, a couple of albino alligators, a touch tank with rays and sharks, and an outdoor nature playground.

We spent another evening at the sand dunes. Lion was especially excited about running up and down these huge mountains of sand. We even remembered to bring our kite! The wind was a bit strong for our kite to sail properly, but Daddy managed to keep it up pretty nicely. It only went kamikaze on a few other tourists :-)

Monkey and Bug also celebrated their birthday at the beach! It was fun to have the extra family around to celebrate and eat cake with us. They also opened presents from Daddy and I and Grandma and Granddad. Grandma's choice of a suncatcher kit proved fortuitous as it kept them happily occupied when a thunderstorm kept us from going out one night.

What a great week! Many thanks to Grandma and Granddad for hosting the fun!

We are loving being on the East Coast and close to family again!

A couple of weeks ago Uncle K drove up to visit for a weekend (a former service member himself he wanted to visit his old stomping grounds with the next generation). The girls got to have a
“granddad” around for a few days, and I think we wore him out! On Saturday we spent most of the day in Nauticus, a fantastic maritime and science museum, and toured the USS Wisconsin. I know we’ve toured lots of ships and subs on our travels, but that never seems to get old. The girls love exploring the labyrinth of p-ways and scuttling up and down the ladders. Nauticus also included the Naval Museum, and Monkey in particular was fascinated by all the model ships on display. At Uncle K’s suggestion we followed up the museum explorations with a walk downtown to ride the new light rail system. Everybody loves trains! On Sunday, he was able to join us for church before heading home.

The basement has poles!
They must be climbed!

The next family visit involved us making the relatively short drive to visit Aunt S and Uncle J in their new home! The girls were big fans of the basement bonus room and quickly made themselves at home down there. On Saturday morning Daddy, Lion, and I took advantage of our proximity to the Mt. Vernon Trail to go for a 3-mile run together. (Since Monkey and Bug aren't runners, the three of us don't often get to go together!) That afternoon, we visited Mt. Vernon itself. It was miserably hot, but we got to see some really neat things! We toured the mansion itself, of course, poked our heads into the surrounding buildings (guest servants quarters, outhouse, kitchen, clerk's office, stables, storehouses, etc.), strolled through the garden, visited Washington's grave, and listened to a concert/lecture by a fife and drum re-enactor. Sunday was a lazy morning followed by a little antique shopping before we headed home. 

We were here! (with "big bucks" from the fifer)

learning how to hold a musket

holding hands with the Washingtons

Shortly after that trip we had a visit from Nana! It was a rather

Such silly girls!

short, last minute visit, so we kept it low key. Saturday was spent just hanging out, going to a couple of antique stores, and doing pizza and a movie that night (the girls asked to watch Zootopia as a matter of social survival: all their peers at church love the movie, and the girls want to take part in conversations). On Sunday Nana got to join us for a hymn sing at church and lunch out with friends afterwards. That evening she got the girls all to herself while Daddy and I got a date night!

They showed Nana some of their yoga poses.