Projects

Monkey and Bug invented their own projects this week. One day they decided they needed big paper and "spot paints" (paint markers). Later in the week, we went for a walk (the first walk in which Goose actually walked; Monkey and Bug rode their trikes) and found several really nice pinecones. We talked about pinecones falling off the trees, and I suggested turning them into bird feeders. They had other plans: They explained that we already had a bird feeder and that these were going to be for decoration. They painted them and hung them on the bird feeder in the backyard.

Circuits

Daddy decided to break out one of his Christmas presents this week and introduce the entourage to the inner workings of electronics with Snap Circuits Jr. They made a light bulb turn on and off and made a song play, and they seem to understand the basics of creating a closed circuit for it to work. [This section subject to rewrite once Daddy gets a chance to read it  :-) ]

Library Day
The entourage spent most of their time at the library this week working on puzzles. Goose's triumph was figuring out how to climb up on the stools to reach the puzzles. We came home with these books:
Zoo in the Sky (constellations)
The Three Blind Mice
Peter's Chair
Read Me a Fairy Tale
There's a Bird on My Head
A Color of His Own and George and Martha (renewed from last week, because we couldn't find them before we walked out the door)

Rocking Horses
The entourage ended up getting two rocking horses for Christmas. Monkey and Bug love the big one and frequently use him as "transportation" to where ever their pretend play destination is. They've also used the sewing cards as either tags ("So if he gets lost, the people will know to bring him back to our house") or as a GPS ("So I won't get lost while I'm riding"). Goose took a little warming up. In fact, for the first week or so she was terrified. We finally pieced it together: This thing has 4 legs, fur, and is about the size of Grandma and Granddad's dog. So, once a day I'd sit down with her to pet her horse, and occasionally Monkey and Bug would hop on for a few seconds to show her it was safe. Monkey even explained and demonstrated that the rocking horse didn't have a tongue, so it couldn't possibly lick her. Finally, she was convinced--and she loves it!

Oh, the Questions!
How do frogs sneeze?
How long was I in your tummy?
Does [fill in name of extended family member] have any sisters? If the answer is no, then: Why not?
How old is God? (Anybody have tips on explaining eternity to 3 year olds? They were not convinced.)
I also spent some time explaining the importance of the contents of my wallet and why I don't want to answer an endless stream of questions while trying to find it (it was--thank goodness!--eventually found.)w