Beach Day!
We had a crazy warm day last week (80 degrees!), so obviously we hit the beach. The water was still freezing, but that's never stopped these girls from loving it! Highlights: We found lots of sea shells this time, including four sand dollars. We also spent some time examining sand fleas  (the tin ones are practically translucent) and observing a flock of godwits, speculating about why God gave these birds such long legs and beaks. The girls also spent a lot of time chasing waves, digging holes, and building sand castles. So much fun!

Other Science Topics
In addition to all the science exploration to be done at the beach, we've delved into a number of topics at home:

• Now that the neighbors with their outdoor cats are gone, we have a gopher again! Bug and Goose actually witnessed its arrival when they noticed a patch of heaving dirt, then watched as a rather sizable weed got pulled below the surface. (They named it Cassidy, because they realized they don't know how to tell boy and girl gophers apart, and they know Cassidies of both genders.) Bug almost immediately pulled out her computer and started Googling gopher eating habits as well as their range (She's hoping they're not as prevalent at our next location since we'll get to do some gardening there.) 
• We also had a lengthy dinnertime discussion about the layers of the Earth, plate tectonics, and earthquakes (causes and safety procedures). I've no idea what started it, but the girls were fascinated.
• The girls have also been cheerfully researching edible wild plants. Don't worry--they've been doing the research then sampling the outdoors. It's not terribly unusual these  days for me to peek outside and see them happily munching away on sourgrass, clover, or dandelions.

Church Work Day
I was actually pleasantly surprised by how excited the girls were about this activity: A few times a year our tiny little church schedules church work days where everyone shows up to do some deep cleaning and major landscaping jobs. This time the highlight was planting several new trees in the church yard! Unfortunately, whatever adult was supervising declared Goose too little to help dig. She came to me in tears, but Miss L and I quickly got her involved in helping us wash all the toys in the baby nursery. (She recovered well until she learned that a little boy exactly her size had been allowed to dig. There was quite a bit of righteous anger vented in the back seat on the way home.) The girls also helped scrub the white boards; although they decided that the church really just needed to buy new boards.


Happy Valentine's Day!

We love Friday park days!

This is the first year we've actually done any Valentine's Day celebrating with friends. We turned our regular Friday park date into a mini Valentine's party. All the kids (11 of them) made each other Valentine's, and the girls and I brought heart-shaped sugar cookies along with pink frosting and a selection of sprinkles. The kids had a fantastic time decorating and eating their treats. Unfortunately, the mom who actually initiated this idea couldn't be there because one of her girls was sick. I knew they'd be heartbroken that they missed it, so the girls and I collected their Valentines and set aside cookies for them. The following Tuesday (once everyone was healthy) we made a special delivery and let the girls decorate their cookies and hang out for a bit.

Morning at the Pool
This week we set aside our lessons one morning and joined some friends at the neighborhood pool instead. It's been way too long since we went, so I was very pleased to see that the girls hadn't lost any of their swimming skills. We spent most of our time in the kiddie pool, but I had each of the girls practice jumping in, swimming solo, and floating/treading water in the big pool. Bug also attempted to dive for rings (a skill she was working on last time we came), but she didn't think of it til the last minute, so she didn't have much success. Maybe next time!

(Monkey got a belt too. She just
wouldn't consent to have her
picture taken.)

Yellow Belts! 
Monkey and Bug were very excited to promote to Yellow (with white stripe) Belt! They've been working very hard, and they did a fantastic job on their test.

HGTV Fans
We'll be moving soon and are planning to buy a house in our next location, so Daddy's been watching a lot of HGTV to get in the mind set of seeing the potential in houses. The girls have been surprisingly enthusiastic about watching these shows. They've been asking questions about the process of buying a house, and they always have opinions on the various features and renovations being made. They are all excited about helping Daddy with whatever projects we may have in our next new house!

Budding Musicians
Bug had her first violin recital a week ago! She was nervous,
but she did beautifully. She played two songs accompanied by a pianist. She said afterwards that she didn't like doing the recital--standing up on stage with everyone staring at her--but that she was very satisfied with her performance. She was also pleased that she can now leave those songs behind and start working on some new material!

The girls have actually been taking their music a bit more seriously recently. Monkey and Bug even composed a few measures together. Monkey decided on a drum pattern, and Bug chose notes to play and matched her bowing rhythm to Monkey's beat. Goose  plunked along on the piano for awhile--following the rhythm and choosing notes seemingly at random--but she lost interest when the big girls enlisted my help in printing up blank sheet music and actually helping them write down the notes. They were so excited! (Monkey cannot wait til we move to a bigger house and actually have room to get her a real drum kit.) Bug has also been pulling out Goose's piano books and teaching herself to play some of the beginner piano songs as well.

Even More Lost Teeth!
Monkey and Bug each lost another tooth this week! And they seem to have developed a habit of losing them rather violently. Monkey lost hers when she and Daddy were practicing a self-defense technique--they misjudged each other movements and Monkey got a tooth punched out! (It was really loose; minimal blood was shed.) Bug lost hers when she and Goose accidently bumped heads while we were out shopping.

Self-Defense Is Authorized
Unfortunately, those self-defense techniques they were practicing when Monkey lost her tooth weren't just for their jujutsu class. Our social circle recently added a family with a little boy who initiates play with other little boys by wrapping his hands around their neck and pushing them to the ground. They are otherwise lovely people, but his mom says he's just playing--he doesn't mean to hurt anybody. In our house, a chokehold isn't a form of play, and Monkey and Bug have pulled this child off of their friends on multiple occasions so far. We praised the girls for coming to the defense of their friends, and had a discussion later at home to make sure they knew that if they felt attacked they had permission to fight back (I also gave the boy's mom a heads up that if he ever went after one of our girls he was likely to get punched; she seemed ok with that). Daddy highlighted a few techniques specific to chokeholds.

Artist in Training
Monkey painted her first canvas! She's been planning it for awhile, so she was very excited to set up her easel and put paint to canvas. We also discovered that Bob Ross's Joy of Painting show is available on Hulu. She's a big fan now.

Little Locksmiths
Somehow related to one of Daddy's classes, he came home with a lock-picking practice kit that included a variety of transparent locks and picks to try out. He pulled them out for the girls, explaining how the different lock mechanisms work and how to get past them without a key/passcode. They even found some online videos demonstrating different techniques and tools. Bug in particular was fascinated. She's been studying her little cashbox--trying to figure out how it works and playing with a few bobby pins to see if she can pop it open. No success yet, but she's making progress in figuring out what she needs to make happen.

And She's Off!
No, not Goose's running this time--Monkey's reading! She finally got past whatever learning hurdle changes reading from being a difficult chore to something fun. Hooray! We came home from the library with a whole stack of books at her level, and she's finally reading on her own time, not just when I make her. Even she noticed how much more fluent her reading has gotten over the past couple of weeks.