Keeping It Low Key
Monkey and Bug have been wanting to just stay home lately, so I'm afraid my attempts to keep us (ok, maybe mostly me) busy and distracted in Daddy's absense may have been running them into the ground. Goose seems unfazed by all the activities and asks for playdates with LA every single day. For Monkey's and Bug's well-being we kept it low key this week, and I actually turned down three additional playdate opportunities. The entourage spent lots of time reading books, playing out ever more complicated storylines with their toys, and pulling out the games.

Reading
We finished Hugo Cabret, which they loved! They have informed me that we need an automaton, but I'm hoping they'll settle for wind up toys. This week the entourage and I visited a fantastic, local used bookstore and cheerfully discovered that they have a large Illustrated Classics collection. This time we came home with The Jungle Book, The Wizard of Oz, and Peter Pan. We're several chapters into The Jungle Book, and Monkey and Bug are constantly peeking ahead to see if they can figure out what happens to Mowgli.

Math
Monkey and Bug continue to be very interested in addition, and Bug in particular has been figuring out addition on her fingers. She's been running me through drills like "If I have 4 fingers up on this hand, and 5 fingers up on the other hand, how many is it?" Occasionally I turn the tables and make her count them out. She's also been able to figure out (at least up to 5) problems like this: If she needs 4 of something and she already has 2, how many more does she need to get? Monkey is always paying attention but she doesn't usually come up with her own questions.

Bloodwork
I had to go to the lab for routine bloodwork and as usual had the entourage in tow. We discussed beforehand what would happen, which led of course to lots of questions: What does blood do? Why does the doctor need to check it? Will they take all of it? What would happen if they did? Will they throw it away when they're done? They also wanted to know what kind of doctor was going to take my blood, so, yes, my three years old are now familiar with the term "phlebotomist." They made me say several times, so they would remember. The nurse was very impressed that they were simply curious about the process, not freaking out like most kids who see their mom get stuck with a needle.

Bible Verse: Philippians 4:13
We've started learning our third Bible verse: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13). I've put the cards from our previous verses in a photo album on the bookshelf, and Monkey and Bug like to pull it out occasionally to practice singing them. I can't remember if I've mentioned it, but we mostly sing their verses. They don't like repeating after me, but they love to sing, and so far I've managed to remember/make up tunes for each of our verses.

Library Day
We missed most of storytime this week in favor of a Skype date with Daddy! Much more exciting. The theme this week was frogs, and we got there in time to do the craft (paper plate frog) and watch an actual frog the storytime lady brought in a fish bowl. There were so many kids there this week that it was too loud to just sit and read books, but the girls brought home quite a stack instead:
Petunia Goes Wild
Should I Share My Ice Cream?
Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic
Daisy and the Beastie
Olvina Flies
It Chanced to Rain
A Color of His Own
Alexander and the Wind up Mouse
Petunia's Christmas

Field Trip!

I decided to venture out with the entourage on our first field trip with the homeschool group we're part of. We went to the Forest Ranger station, and the fire fighters across the street brought their fire truck and gear over to show us too. The entourage loved seeing the vehicles. The rangers had bulldozers, four and six wheelers, and massive pick ups with hoses mounted in the back. The fire fighters of course had the big red fire engine with all the compartments on the side, which they opened to show us all the hoses, axes, first aid supplies, etc. One of the fire fighters also put on his full gear to show the kids what everything was and so they could see what he would look like if he ever had to rescue them.

(L) Goose sitting in the ranger's six wheeler with some friends
(R) The entourage watching the fire fighter put on his gear

Of course, the entourage was among the youngest in the crowd, and the rangers and fire fighters spent a good bit of time talking at the level of the older kids, some of whom wanted to know about things like thermal imaging and how the air tanks worked. Goose was quite happy wandering among the big kids, pointing at the various vehicles ("Truck! Truck!") and bringing me rocks she found in the parking lot, but Monkey and Bug were ready to go home early. My hope is that they're saving up their energy for the excitment that awaits us tomorrow:

Daddy's Coming Home!!!