Current and Ongoing Interests and Activities

Some topics and activities are ongoing in our lives, so here's an overview before I get into posts involving specific highlights. I'll try to do one of these overviews every so often as interests develop.
Animals: This interest is mostly pursued through Diego the animal rescuer. We usually watch an episode while we snuggle on the couch first thing in the morning, and frequently follow it up by searching for YouTube videos of the featured animal. Episodes usually inspire us to look for books about particular animals at the library and play games Monkey and Bug invent based on animal characteristics.
Music/Instruments: They have a number of instruments (bongos, drum pads, recorders, maracas, xylophone) that get pretty frequent play. Lately Monkey and Bug been requesting drum music, so we've been doing Pandora searches for music that's heavily percussion and watching drum solos on YouTube. They have an app on their iPods that gets them to identify instruments by sound. They pay very close attention to any instruments or choirs used in music at church. They also have a collection of kids CDs that we sing along to while we're in the car.
Arts & Crafts: Monkey and Bug do a lot of coloring (coloring pages, coloring on plain paper or the white board). They also like to practice cutting and gluing with construction paper, and I've been doing more organized craft projects with them. Goose is very interested in crayons, but at this stage she mostly tries to eat them. We're working on it. :-)
Reading/the library: Our house is full of books! We read lots of books together, and all three girls like to spend time "reading" books on their own. Monkey and Bug each have reading lights, so that at night if they aren't ready to sleep yet or get up too early, they can look at books. We're also regulars at the local library, so this blog will include weekly updates on what we're checking out.
The YMCA: We're there three days a week. I get to take exercises with other grown ups, Monkey and Bug get to play on a huge, foamy climbing thing and play with other preschoolers, and Goose gets to play in a nursery with new and exciting toys.
Military Homeschool Playgroup: A once-a-week gathering in which a bunch kids, birth to teen, are set loose in gym with lots of balls and occasionally hula hoops. Part of the afternoon involves an organized gym class for those interested, and the big kids are usually in and out between the gym and other classes (art, drama, etc.) All three girls love chasing balls around the court, and they get to have positive interactions with big kids who help/teach them instead of just running them over.
Church: We're there Wednesday nights for dinner, and Monkey and Bug go to choir and a Bible class (Goose is in the nursery). Sunday's involve Sunday school, and Monkey and Bug come with Daddy and I to "big church."
EVERYTHING: At this stage my life is a constant stream of answering questions about anything and everything. I try to answer as accurately as possible and am usually amazed by what they are capable of understanding and remembering.