Home Again!
Much as we loved visiting Nana and Papa Bear, the entourage was very glad to be home again. In fact, they skipped this week's library day in favor of staying home to just play with their toys (mostly Playmobile plus fairies) and read our own books.

Of course, staying home to play may have seemed even more enticing with the addition of a new playtable for the playroom. (The drive home always feels longer than it ought to, but this time we decided to split it by making a very productive stop at Ikea on the way home. The girls loved exploring all the rooms set up in the store--particularly the kids rooms and the toy section.) All three girls have really enjoyed the new storage bins for easy access to Playmobile parts and the fact that they can now leave out the buildings and some of their toys on the table instead having to put them away and rebuild every day.

Reading
We decided to start reading Winnie the Pooh this week (the original A. A. Milne chapter book), and they love it! I suspect I'll be re-reading many times in the future. I've also started having them to narrate back to me parts of the book we've read. They have an easier time explaining Winnie the Pooh than some of the other books we've read, and they've used this excercise to help clear up some things ("What is a bell pull, Mommy?") In addition, sitting down to "read" to themselves and to Goose was particularly fun this week since we acquired new reading lights for the living room (You know you're raising bookworms when your barely-readers are just as excited about new reading lights as you are!) and "new" seating in their upstairs reading corner (new throw pillows for the living room meant the old ones ended up in their room with the promise of new pillowcases for them at some point). We haven't done any more actual reading lessons, but Monkey and Bug have excitedly practiced writing letters (even some that haven't been in our lessons yet). Goose has also been grabbing a pencil and paper with them and proudly showing off her own "letters."

Goose Milestone
I realized this week that Goose has started learning her colors. I've heard her use pink, blue, and yellow. She knows the words for green and red, but she doesn't always use them accurately. Monkey and Bug took longer to learn those too, and I blame it on my own uncertainty with those two shades (oh the joys of being colorblind!).

Playdate
Our homeschool playgroup was cancelled again this week, so Miss K and I set up a playdate for just our kiddos instead. Miss K was recovering from surgery, so the girls and I had a serious talk beforehand about what that meant and how they might need change what they do. The kids had a great time as usual, and this time I let the girls bring some of their Playmobile things to show N. N was especially thrilled to have friends for playing Busytown and Monkey and Bug were greeting with an enthusiastic "Hi, Huckle! Hi, Sally!" Many mysteries were solved.

Church Night
Monkey and Bug, my little introverts have finally adjusted to the Wednesday night routine, and nobody actually cried when I left them in their "new" class with "new" teachers. Despite their anxious looks when being dropped off, they excitedly showed off their crafts afterwards. After we left her sisters, Goose, however, walked back down the hall looking up at me hopefully and asking, "My class? My class?" Same gene pool...very different kids! Goose and I spend the predinner hour hanging out in the library while we wait for Monkey and Bug. Goose does a very good job of being gentle with the library books and helping me put them away when we're done. Fortunately, childcare for all three of them is available while I go to a class of my own.