Aunt K and Uncle J

My sister and brother-in-law, Kand J, came to visit this week, and we all loved having them around. The entourage was expectedly shy when they first arrived in late afternoon (we haven't seen them since Christmas), but by the end of dinner, Bug walked up to me and whispered, "Mommy, Uncle J is a boy and he's big. Can I wrestle him?" My response: "Absolutely! Go get him!" It didn't take long for the whole entourage to jump in; although, I think I overheard them giving him some instruction on proper rough housing techniques. They kept coming back for more throughout the visit, but he must have been a fast learner. Their favorite activity with Aunt K was playing picnic. They'd get out all the plates and play food, and K (a personal trainer with an interest in nutrition) would lead them in sorting out the foods by food group. During my absense for some me-time one afternoon they also got K to start reading them The Wizard of Oz (Illustrated Classics edition). By the end of the evening they were 160 pages in, and we finished it the next day! We attempted a visit to the swimming pool, but distant thunder kept us from getting in, and we gave up and returned home. Fortunately, the girls had another present from Daddy waiting them: a sprinkler! We found a setting then send out a bunch of tiny streams about shoulder high to Goose, and they loved it! Monkey and Bug enjoyed jumping over/through, and they all eventually got their faces wet on purpose. Bug also decided to relocate the sprinkler a number of times, so the lawn got watered too!

READING!!
Monkey and Bug decided they just couldn't wait until they turned 4 and asked if they could start learning to read this week. Between Wednesday afternoon and Friday evening, we completed the first five lessons, and they LOVE it! The curriculum we have is a book called Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons. It's very a very simple and straightforward, phonics-based program made up of 15 minute lessons intended to completed while snuggling on the couch with your kid. Perfect! So far they know the sounds m, s, e (as in me), and a (as in am), are working on the concepts of sounding out letter pairings, and practicing rhyming words. It also includes learning to write each letter as it's introduced. For this purpose, I purchased three small white boards and a handful of dry erase pens. Bug is a hardcore perfectionist, and I thought the ease of erasing her mistakes on a white board might be the best way to free her up to practice writing letters and pen control in general. Let's just say, it's good to be right! She (and Monkey and Goose) love these boards and they pull them out alot just to practice drawing as well as writing. Bug's pen control has particularly improved over just a few days along with her acceptance of making mistakes and taking correction well.

Practicing on their white boards

Bug wrote es!

Goose is indeed involved in this process as she is in just about everything her big sisters do. On Friday she was sitting in my lap and sounding out letters along with Monkey and Bug and has insisted that I write letters on her board for her to scribble on top of too. (Monkey and Bug are mostly tracing letters at this point.)

While Daddy may not be around to help or observe this process, he is definitely on their minds! Monkey and Bug are incredibly excited about the possibility of being able to read books to Daddy when he gets home (at this rate it just might happen!). I also let them pick out a special pencil bag to put their markers in. At first they picked out a sparkly one with stars, but it got ditched without a second glance when Monkey spotted one that "looks just like Daddy's work clothes!"

Math? Physics!
Monkey and Bug have been counting everything lately, and I've overheard Monkey counting accurately up to 15. However, they hijacked my "official" math activity for the week. I set out to do a fun gluing project (Goose could do it too!) in which we would play with arranging construction paper squares in a variety of patterns and shapes of their choosing. As soon as I had the supplies out Monkey and Bug started throwing their background pieces of paper in the air to make them fly, showing no interest whatsoever in the glue and squares, so I went with it. A conversation about basic aerodynamics ensued, and I helped them build paper airplanes out of their paper instead. We experimented with a couple different designs and different take off locations (something they called a rocket tossed from the top of the stairs proved the most popular combination). We never did get back to the "official activity," but they learned alot and a lovely time was had by all.

Swimming!

Once again, the Monkey and Bug had a fantastic week at swimming lessons. Monday was a little rough since their teacher was absent, and the girls weren't happy about having a new face to deal with. Fortunately, nobody had an actual meltdown, and they paid attention and did eventually get in the pool with the substitute. By the end of the week they even participated in the "talent show." (Thanks to the foresight of the head lifeguard who remembered them from last time and had them go first. They were showing off before they even figured out what was going on.) They both demonstrated that they could doggie paddle all by themselves with just small floaties tied to their hips. In class I saw them putting their heads under without a problem, doing starfish floats, using kickboards, and jumping in to their teacher.

They didn't have swimming lessons on Friday, but I took them to our neighborhood pool instead. I was so proud of them! They spent very little time in their floaties. Mostly, they wanted to practice their newly learned skills and experiment with their newfound ability to touch the bottom in the shallow end. Of course, Goose is fearless and takes her cues from her sisters, only without the ability and height. She had no hesitation about sliding into the pool from the side without checking that I was planning to catch her. Fortunately, she's mastered holding her breath, and I never got out of arms reach, so I was always on hand to fish her out again. Needless to say we are really looking forward to when Daddy comes home, so the girls can show off and have another grown up on hand!

Projects

Mostly led by Goose (who keeps walking up to me with a glue stick demanding, "Open! Open!"), the entourage has done several collages lately. Goose loves sticking things onto paper then methodically pulling them off. Monkey and Bug like to pick out the letters from the pile of magazine cutouts I have available, then count how many they've assembled on their papers. Inspired by their interest, I've started collecting a box of odds and ends of various materials for them to use in projects, and I'm looking forward to future seeing their future creations!

Library Day
Library day was quite the adventure this week. It started at the library playground/splash pad with an afternoon playdate with two other families who have kids the same age. The entourage refused to get on the splash pad (disappointing--it was miserably hot outside), but they had a great time climbing and sliding on the playground with their friends (Many Busytown Mysteries were solved). When they all got tired and hungry, we said goodbye to our friends and enjoyed the special treat of dinner in the library's cafe before looking for books. This week we came home with:
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy
My Many Colored Days
Curious George Rides a Bike
Tasting
As a result of my asking, "What do you want to learn about this week?" we also checked out:
A First Look at Dinosaurs (Monkey's pick; she loved finding the ones she knew from Dinosaur Train)
My Body (Bug's pick; she specifically wanted a book about what's inside the body illustrated with children of different races. That can be challenging to find, but this book was exactly what she wanted--it had transparency cutouts of all the systems for an African American boy and a Caucasian girl. She's been studying it every day.)

"Schwim! Schwim! Schwim!" says Goose

We signed Monkey and Bug up for a second session of swimming lessons, and after a week in it was definitely worth the investment! The had the same teacher they did last time, and they had no meltdowns or serious hesitations about getting in the pool itself. They both learned to hold their breath and let their teacher dunk them. They've been practicing starfish floating (on their back with all limbs spread out and their teacher supporting their head/back; they tooled around with kickboards; and Monkey even doggie paddled around all by herself with just a floaty strapped to her back.

Monday morning before swimming lessons, however, Monkey in particular wasn't happy about the idea. I decided it was a good time to pull out a present that Daddy left for them: a new plastic pool with an 8 foot diameter.

(It's still filling up; they just couldn't wait to get in.)

It turned out to be the perfect idea: they got head-to-toe wet, and they were so excited to go get in the real pool and learn to really swim. They played in it more when we returned home, and I left it up one more day for playtime after swimming lessons. The transition to emptying the pool and putting it away is that I assigned Monkey and Bug the task of figuring how to empty it--especially because Bug had already pointed out that we could just dump it like we did our little wading pool. They considered the problem for a little while, and Monkey had the brilliant idea that if she and Bug each squished down part of the side, then the water would flow out.

On Wednesday we had a cookout and swim date with some friends of ours, and the girls improvements in swimming really showed. They gained a particular boost of confidence after their friend D showed them that they could touch the bottom in the shallow. They got a huge kick out of walking around "like grown ups." Pretty soon instead of clinging to their inner tubes they were flinging them out into the water and seeing if they could walk out to them. They also switched to using the tubes like kickboards.

Baking a Cake

Monkey and Bug are extremely proud of this creation.
Goose just wants to hurry up and eat it.

It was one of those "this is why I love homeschooling" moments. I wanted chocolate, and a recently found recipe for microwaveable chocolate cake in a mug was calling my name. I realized that if I got the entourage involved, this indulgence could be completely justified as educationally enriching. Here's how it went down: First, the entourage peered over my shoulder as a I looked up the recipe and read off the list of ingredients, which they helped gather from the pantry (language arts, following directions). Next, we pulled out the measuring spoons, and I told them how many of each dry ingredient we needed, which they counted out and dumped into the mug (math: measuring and counting, fine motor skills, following directions). We speculated about what would happen when we mixed the light and dark colored ingredients, then the girls stirred it up to test our hypothosis (science, fine motor skills). Next, we measured and poured the wet ingredients; once again speculating about what changes might occur when we stirred them up (more math, science, and fine motor skills). Then we popped it in the microwave and waited through the countdown to the finished product (more math, patience). Finally, we tipped the cake out onto a plate and figured out how many slices it would need to be cut into for everyone to get some (more math: counting and fractions). The results: absolutely scrumptious!

More Math!
Besides the math involved in the baking experience described above, the entourage has been really into math this week. My "official activity" of the week was creating and getting them to play with a number line that would help them practice the order of the teens (ribbon with 20 velcro squares and numbers 1 - 20 written on in small print + felt squares with velcro and numbers 1 -20 written on them large). This game proved popular although the big girls got frustrated when Goose wanted to play too.

We played several more rounds of the number puzzle game with lots of talk about the teens (for example, explaining that sixteen is ten plus six, so it's a 1 like the 10 but with a 6 instead of a 0). Later in the week Bug had an epiphany about the pattern of counting while playing with a twistie strung with paper clips. She was pulling them off one by one to count out how many she had in all. After 13 she started asking me what number came next. After 22, I turned the question on her, and she was absolutely thrilled to realize that it had to be 23! and then 24! . . . She got up to 26 or 28 and ran out of paper clips. Goose has become particularly fond of the dice. She knows they're for counting out one at a time, but the only number she can remember is three. I occasionally find her placing the dice in and out of their containing, saying, "Free, free, free" with every die.

Alphabet Puzzle
The girls finally remembered they had an alphabet puzzle along with a number puzzle, and we played with that this week too. We started by sorting into three piles the letter, word, and picture pieces. Goose helped too; mostly she picked out the pictures. Next Goose would choose a picture and hand it to her sisters who would find the matching letter and word. Bug demonstrated excellent problem solving skills by realizing that each puzzle had a uniting color and that there were a limited number of colors of puzzles. When Goose picked out a picture, Bug would find each piece of the same color (no more than 3 for each letter or word), and she and Monkey would take turns picking out the appropriate letter and word from these less intimidating options. The only problem we ran into was that I had to clarify for the girls that the puzzle wanted S for Snake, not R for Rattle snake ("But it is a rattle snake, Mommy! See, it has that noisemaker on its butt!").

Playdate and Pretend Play
This week we had a playdate with our friends Miss K, N, and G. Goose and G got right down to pushing trains around, and Monkey and Bug had their usual wonderful time with N once they warmed up to his overwhelming outgoingness and exuberance. This was the first time I've seen Monkey and Bug involve anyone besides Goose in their pretend play. Somehow they figured out that they are all big fans of Busytown Mysteries. Monkey and Bug adopted their usual personas (Huckle and Sally, respectively), and they suggested that N be Hilda the Hippo (gender is obviously inconsequential to preschoolers and we weren't about to interrupt such a fun game to sort things out for them). They had a grand time running around the backyard, solving various mysteries.

Library Day
We did the Tuesday afternoon library day again this week. Goose, mostly cheerfully, shared my lap with another toddler who decided to plop down and make herself at home. The theme was clowns this week, and the craft was to make a paper plate clown with bits of tissue paper for hair. Goose loved this craft (anything with glue sticks!), and Jos did really well too--she made a great goofy faced clown. Bug, like Goose, loved putting on the hair, but was stymied by her own perfectionism when it came to drawing on the face. I made one too to show her I drew it and to demonstrate that it didn't have to be perfect to be fun. A couple of big kids across the table showed of their imperfectly delightful creations to her as well, but she wasn't convinced. Eventually the librarian was cleaning up around us, and I told Bug she could always finish it up at home sometime.
This week we came home with these books:
Goggles
Do Kangaroos Wear Seatbelts?
The Rhinosaurus Tap!
For You Are a Kenyan Child
Remembering Miss Perry
Five Ducklings
Dot & Jabber and the Acorn Mystery

I Spy
Monkey and Bug came up with their own I Spy game for the car. One of them yells out something that catches their attention ("Yellow bus!") Then they continue finding things of the same color ("Yellow sign!" "Yellow car!") until something else jumps out at them ("Green sign!"). At some point while playing this game, they spotted what is now Monkey's dream car: a bright pink Jeep Wrangler with a soft top. "A pink car, Mommy! The kind that goes not on roads!"

Social Sunday
Sunday was a busy day, and we all had a great time. We had the usual Sunday school and church service, and after church another family invited to us to join them for lunch. Daddy and I had a great time getting to know another couple and their teenage son, and the entourage behaved beautifully (they even got compliments). When they weren't participating in the conversation (yes, they actually talked to new grown ups!), they sat quietly and ate their lunch, so the grown ups could chit chat. We had just enough time at home for naps before we headed out again to the great big playground for a BYO picnic dinner with church folks. Unfortunately--since I was hoping to meet more parents with little ones--it turned out to be just us, the children's pastor and her family, and the head pastor and his wife. We still had a lovely time getting to know each other a bit (once again the entourage actually talked to relatively new people!), and the girls had a blast on the playground. Monkey even conquered the huge climbing thing.

Library Day
We decided to do storytime on Tuesday afternoon again--this time because the girls asked Daddy to come. They enjoyed having Daddy to hang out with while doing puzzles and to read books to them,but we skipped storytime itself this week (unbeknownst to us they had some kids/teens rock band performing--really loud and not preschool appropriate songs. The entourage wasn't interested.)
This week we came home with:
George and Martha: One Fine Day
Richard Scarry's Best Little Word Book Ever! (the entourage has gotten very good at spotting Goldbug)
Dot & Jabber and the Great Acorn Mystery
Cornelius
Counting Money (Daddy was explaining money to Bug this week)
Sheep Take a Hike

Unrelated to the library we've also started reading the Illustrated Classics edition of Peter Pan.

Little Helpers
Bug was legitimately helpful this week in assisting me in cooking a chicken cordon bleu casserole. Usually "helping" means it takes longer and requires lots of supervision and instruction. This time it meant Bug fixed the topping (mostly crushed saltines) and layered each ingredient while I prepped the next. She was quite proud of herself and, fortunately, the dish proved highly popular with everybody.

I also pulled a Tom Sawyer this week and had the entourage scrubbing cabinet fronts and baseboards. The kitchen is cleaner, and they have all mastered an important life skill and learned about the importance of attention to detail (though this last was more Bug's doing than mine).

Literary Comparative Analysis
One morning this week we watched the Super Why version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. This show always messes with the traditional tales, but this was exceptionally different (the troll was a neatfreak and the goats needed to learn some manners), and the original Three Billy Goats is one of the entourage's favorite stories (siblings who back each other up to defeat the bad guy--of course it's a favorite). They noted a few discrepancies while watching it, and afterwords they wanted to read the real story, stopping at the end of each page to point out the differences.

Math
A few weeks ago I purchased Preschool Math, a book chock full of crafts, games, and other hands-on activities to help preschoolers learn math concepts. Monkey and Bug have paged through it with interest, and today when Bug wanted to play something with me, I pulled out an idea from the book. We got out our box of small wooden blocks, and I set out a simple pattern (for example, red rectangle, blue square, repeat) and asked if they could copy it and predict what came next. Bug played along with accuracy and critiqued my technique (the blocks should be closer together apparently), but Monkey chose to create her own more complex pattern (disregarding color she laid out short, medium, tall, medium, short, medium, tall, medium, short). From there Monkey and Built a series of towers, first counting how many blocks up they could build, then experimenting with building sturdier towers by making them thicker and more complex (doors and windows). Monkey moved on to some other activity, and Bug proceeded to build an entire neighborhood of houses made from squares and triangles that she was very proud of. Goose of course was right in the midst of this activity practicing the fine motor skills of building simple towers and revelling in the pure joy of knocking them down.

Ideally, my plan is to do at least one an activity per week from this book or another source. Most of the activities involve items already on hand and are suitable for Goose to play alongside or to bring them to her level.

Later in the week at Monkey and Bug's request, I helped them with their matching numbers puzzles (each puzzle is a numeral, illustrations of the number of objects, and the number word). They've got 1 - 10 down nicely (numerals to objects), and we worked on 11 - 20. The teens are much harder for some reason.

Goodbye Again
We had to take Daddy to the airport at the end of the week to send him off on his next "big trip." Monkey and Bug did a lot more processing before he left this time: they wore his t-shirts around the house for several days before he left, a number of times they enacted pretend play with their buddies (stuffed animals & dolls) in which somebody's daddy had to leave for a while, and when they piled on the couch to watch Kung Fu Panda 2 the day before he left Bug even pieced together on her own that "Daddy wanted to watch the movie with us so we could get extra snuggle time." We will miss him!

Library Day
Because Wednesday was a holiday, we headed to the library a day early and in the afternoon instead of the morning and discovered that they have storytime then too! The upside was that this storytime had far fewer kids and both storytime and the children's section in general was therefore much less of a mad house. The downside--at least for Monkey and Bug--is that this librarian (a different one than usual) expected the kids to all participate in a round of Ring-around-the-Rosies. Goose was all about it, but for Monkey and Bug it was just an annoying interruption to an otherwise lovely story reading session and they bowed out of participating. They all enjoyed the craft though:

L-R: Bug, Monkey, and Goose
(painted popsicle sticks + construction paper squares + star stickers)

This week we came home with these books:
Moving Day
Cat's Colors
Butterflies
The Bugliest Bug
Dot & Jabber and the Big Bug Mystery
Renewed from last week:
Owl Lake
Chopsticks

Happy Fourth of July!
We celebrated the Fourth this year with a potluck cookout at their friend B's house. They had a couple of kiddie pools set up, a small swing set, and each kid brought their own riding toy to share. The kids got to play, the grown ups got to hang out, and everybody ate lots of good food.

This was the first year that the entourage got to stay up for fireworks. Fortunately, we can see the local big show from our street, and we told the girls if they could handle staying up late, they could watch with us. Miraculously enough they all made to 9:30 when the fireworks started! Monkey and Bug were incredibly excited and thought fireworks were just amazing. Goose heard a couple of booms and informed me that she was scared and wanted to be picked up. Goose and Monkey lasted 10 or 15 minutes, and Monkey decided she was just too tired and wanted to go to bed. I took the two of them to bed, and Bug stayed up with Daddy to see the rest of the show. She loved them!

Water Play
Our original plan had been to spend the morning of Daddy's extra day off at the pool, but I decided the entourage probably wasn't going to be up for that much excitement after staying up for all the excitement the night before. Instead we decide to do some water play in our own backyard. We finally tried out a tree-shaped inflatable sprinkler toy that Nana bought us a while back. Sorry, Nana, but it didn't go over well. It was just the right height to consistently spray Monkey and Bug in the face. Next we tried turning on the lawn sprinklers to see if they were low enough to be fun, and discovered that the one Mr. A replaced a month ago was accidently positioned to spray directly into the back door, which of course happened to be open at the moment it turned on. This scared everybody, and we opted to get out our tiny kiddie pool instead. The entourage had lots of fun with balls, buckets, shovels, and other sand toys. Goose also got out the chalks and discovered that coloring in spilled water makes very vibrant colors.

Saturday we tried the neighborhood pool again and had a great time. Monkey and Bug can now climb in and out of the pool (not on the steps). And today we discovered they are almost tall enough to stand in the shallow end. Goose had fun too--she still won't get back in her baby float, but she spent some time in her big sisters' floaties, and she loves jumping in!

Valymanisses
Monkey and Bug have taken the next step in pretend play and started making up their own creatures instead of just using characters from books and TV shows. The other night they went into great detail about Valymanisses, small giants who live in our backyard. Apparently Valymanisses can be defended against if one climbs on top of the climbing dome and roars at them. This causes them to shrink until you can barely see them and turns them into nice fairies. The nice Valymanisses are quite helpful: they make thunderstorms go away by licking the clouds with their very long tongues (that curl up like butterfly tongues when not in use). Pretty fascinating stuff.

Coloring Sheets
The entourage has completed quite a pile of coloring sheets this week. I found several free printable mandalas and other detailed pictures to color online that Monkey and Bug have been using to practice coloring in the the lines. Bug's skills are pretty impressive and Monkey is showing definite improvement. Goose wants to color too of course, and I usually give her plain paper or one with a simpler drawing on it. She cheerfully scribbles for a bit then brings it to me, asking, "Nice? Nice?"

Goose as a cow. She's been really into costumes lately. Too cute!

Bug commandeered the camera at some point this week, and Monkey and Goose decided to start pulling faces for her.

Math Games

Inspired by the girls' recent interest in numbers we acquired a few new math toys. First, a set of dice. Bug in particular loves these. She spends time arranging and counting them all by herself, but Daddy and I will also jump in to roll two or more dice for her and Monkey and ask questions like the following:

• Which dice has the number [ ]? (preferably answered without counting every dot)
• Which number is smallest/biggest?
• Put them in order from smallest to biggest.
• What do they add up to?

 All the while, we reinforce ideas like the consistent arrangement of dots (1 dot in each corner is always 4) and consistent answered to math problems (2 dots plus 2 dots is always 4)

  

We also purchased a set of fraction bars since they've already evidenced a practical understanding of splitting things in halves or quarters. Daddy sat down and explained (to a rapt audience of all three girls) fractions up to quarters, and Bug at least has spent some time playing with various arrangments of the different bars.

They also pulled out the numbers matching game I made with juice can lids awhile back, and they can consistently match numbers of dots with numerals up to 8.

  

Zoo

We did another zoo day on Monday, and this time we got to take Daddy! Monkey and Bug were most excited to show him the giraffes, ostriches, the massive pigeon, and the tasty looking turkey. Our girls have no qualms about the fact that we eat some of these cute critters, and they were fascinated by the fact that Daddy had also eaten rabbit and goat. They also had fun connecting the animals they saw to various stories they're familiar with (Timon the meerkat from The Lion King, Kaa the python from The Jungle Book, various fish from Finding Nemo, etc.). This time Bug also worked on her map reading skills. She'd find where we were on the map, locate the next animal she wanted to see, and show me what path we would need to take to get there. Of particular interest to Monkey and Bug was a large sign showing the skeleton of an elephant. They noted that the elephant's tail had bones, but the trunk did not. Goose loved running after her sisters and seeing the animals; although we still can't convince her that not everything with four legs is a doggie and not every bird is a duck.

Language Arts
Bug at least is actually starting to read. On our way to the zoo, she was excitedly pointing out the signs to the zoo and explaining that she knew they were zoo signs because they had Z-O-O written on them (they were just green highway signs, not the zoo's official sign with pictures). Monkey, Bug and I have discussed that they  both know the first steps to reading (knowing letters and what sounds they make), and they are up for doing lessons to learn the next steps--but only once they turn four. They can rattle off a whole list of books they can "read" all by themselves along with close to a dozen nursery rhymes they have memorized. They often read these memorized books to themselves and to Goose.

Monkey and Bug also love to make up original songs as the soundtrack to whatever the pretend play of the moment is. Monkey in particular enjoys this, and I've even heard her intentionally rhyme some of her lines.

Goose and Bug started playing a new game this week: Goose dumps out the bag of Memory game cards and picks one out of the pile. She looks at the card, hands it to Bug, and asks, "This?" Bug takes the card, tells her what it is, and adds it to a very neatly stacked discard pile. I had been watching them play this game for a while when Bug looked up and informed me that she was helping Goose learn new words.

Bunk Beds!
Monkey and Bug loved helping Daddy build these! It was a good excercise in following directions and learning about tools, and they are just so much fun!

Nana and Papa Bear! (and Library Day)

Nana and Papa Bear came to visit for a few days, and for two nights Daddy and I left for a belated anniversary getaway. Daddy and I had a lovely time sans kids (movie night, uninterrupted dining out, perusing bookstores at our leisure, exploring the area, . . . It was lovely). Right before we left, everyone but me went to the pool, and the girls got to show off their swimming skills. While we were gone, they did some shopping, went out to eat, played with Nana's iPad, and basically had so much fun they wore out themselves and the grandparents.

 

The highlight outing, though, was that Nana and Papa Bear got to do library day this week. Instead of going to storytime, they went to the "big library" where they got to play on the playground, play with the library's "buddies" and statues, make Papa Bear read books til he was hoarse, and eat lunch in the library cafe. This week they came home with:

Chopsticks

Owl Lake

Players in Pigtails

Little Hawk's New Name

The Berenstain and the Ghost of the Forest

Cinder Rabbit

We also still have the books from last week as well as a newly purchased copy of The Complete Mother Goose, which the girls are very excited about. We've checked out versions from the library on a number of occasions, and Monkey and Bug love finding the nursery rhymes they already know. (The funniest one to read with them in the new book is the "What are little boys/girls made of?" rhyme. They think it's silly and quickly note that boys and girls are actually made of bones, blood, and muscles.) 

 

Superman!

After Nana and Papa Bear left, the entourage settled in with Daddy to watch original episodes of Superman and Aquaman (Daddy's favorite). They were all enthralled, but Goose was hilarious. She says alot of words, but not many of them clearly. However, "Superman! Superman!" comes out loud and clear. She definitely follows some of the action too, yelling "Wheeeee!" as the runaway train is falling and "Got it!" when Superman catches it.

Daddy's Home!
Obviously, the entourage and Daddy and I are all thrilled to have him home, even if it's just for a few weeks. The entourage wore their TEAM DADDY t-shirts to pick him up at the airport, and he was greeted by a very energetic welcoming committee. The excess energy continued to expend itself in baggage claim, which garnered lots of smiles from the other travelers (imagine the entourage shrieking and giggling, running circles around Daddy and I). We've been fortunate that he's only had to work mornings, so we've all gotten in lots of Daddy time. According to her plan, Bug spent all of Sunday's worship service snuggled on his lap, and we were all excited to introduce Daddy to our new church. The girls were also eagerly anticipating roughhousing with Daddy upon his return, and this week has included a lot of wrestling and chasing. They got their weekly Daddy date, and happily returned to the usual playground to show off any skills acquired in his absense (Goose in particular is more nimble than when he left). We also made it to the neighborhood pool, where Monkey and Bug were happy to show off their ability to "swim all by themselves!" (with floaties of course). With Daddy present though, they were brave enough to venture into the pool with him without floaties, so progress is being made. We also discovered that Goose's old baby floaty is buoyant enough to keep even Daddy afloat. While Goose herself refused to get in it, Monkey and Bug had a blast--especially when they discovered they were capable of pushing Daddy off!

Goose and Daddy getting in some snuggle time

Riding the bumpy car again!

Birthday Party
In the afternoon before we picked up Daddy, we went to our friend N's birthday party. It was a nice low-key affair (a tray of fingerfoods, a homemade cake, a couple of balloons, and lots of time to play in the backyard). The best part though is that they got to witness someone turning four. Turning four is a really big deal for a preschooler. Monkey and Bug occasionally come up with things they just know they'll be able to do when they're four. (N's mom and I were discussing that we think it's because this is the first birthday at which they're actually aware of the concept of getting older.) Monkey and Bug marvelled that N was four, but he still looked three. I think they expected him to turn into a grown up when he blew out the candles. Their own birthday might have been a disappointment if they hadn't had the opportunity to celebrate this milestone with N first.

Finally!
Goose finally figured how to say her sisters' names! One comes out easier than the other, so they both get called that on occassion, but she's getting it straightened out. And, of course, they are still collectively "my sissies" more than anything else.

Library Day
It was a slightly smaller, quieter crowd at the library this week, which was a relief for everyone. The theme this week was fireflies, and all three girls could do the craft this time.

Construction paper with holes cut out + yellow tissue paper squares + chalk = Fireflies!

After the formal storytime we had our own reading session in a corner of the children's section. An almost 3-year-old boy, Q, couldn't resist the coziness and plopped himself into my lap after I finished a book, asking that I read his baseball book next. I obliged with no objections from the entourage, and he picked our next several choices. Everyone's favorite was a book he found about sharks. Monkey and Bug excitedly told him about the shark teeth bracelets Daddy brought them from his trip, and Q was full of tales of the man-eating shark that lives in his bathtub. Goose made friends with Q's little brother, and they had a grand time pulling out most of the books from the toddler bins. When it was time to go, all the siblings pitched in to help clean up. We came home with these books this week:
Mouse Paint
Are You Ready to Play Outside?
Mother Goose
Leo the Late Bloomer
The Bippolo Seed and Other Stories (Dr. Seuss stories published posthumously)

Really Big Girl Beds
Another bit of excitement this week was preparing for the coming of bunk beds for Monkey and Bug! We don't have the actual beds yet, but the entourage came with us to pick out new mattresses, comforters, and sheets. They loved hiding underneath the newly opened sheets and comforters with Daddy and popping out to surprise me. They are so excited! At some point I overheard Bug explaining to Monkey that they get new bunk beds because they are almost four and, therefore, almost grown ups.

Braids
The other milestone reached this week is that Monkey and Bug finally agreed to let me braid their hair and keep the braids in longer than 30 seconds! Monkey is particularly a fan of this look and has requested them several days. I am also a fan of this look since it keeps her beautiful long hair from getting completely unruly. (No photo yet available. For whatever reason they strongly object to photos of their pretty braids right now.)

Number Concepts
Monkey and Bug are slowly increasing their understanding of numbers. They've been practicing counting objects a lot and are getting much better at establishing a consistent one-to-one ratio (they no longer skip objects or double count them). Mostly they only count up to 12 since that's the number they can consistently and accurately count to. I noticed this week, too, that their idea of the almost inconceivable big number is growing. For the longest time they used the number 5 the way most people use the term "bazillion." That number slowly grew to 7, then to 12, but this week Monkey has been throwing the number 60 around. She can't count to it, but she knows it's out there and that it is indeed a big number.

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!!!

How it Happens
Inevitably the best homeschooling moments are not the ones I plan, but the ones that just fall into place. Monday morning was a perfect example. After our Monday chores of getting bathrooms cleaned (yes, the entourage helps with this; even Goose contributes to scrubbing the tub now), I wanted some fresh air and the entourage wanted a snack. Despite the pouring rain, I solved both our problems by popping a large bowl of popcorn and heading to the front porch to snack and watch the rain. There the conversations began:

• Why does God send rain? So the plants' roots cans suck up the water. When we finally had a sunny day later in the week and weeded the garden, Zoe pulled one up and exclaimed, "Look! That's the part that sucks up water!" 
• Where does rain come from? When the clouds get too full of water, it falls out.
• What things will keep you dry in the rain? Rainboots, raincoats, umbrellas, . . .
• What color is rain? Hmm...
• What sound does it make? "Dibble dibble dopp dopp dopp" (credit to Dr. Seuss)
• What shape are raindrops? To answer this one I grabbed a sheet of construction paper and we caught a bunch of raindrops to see their splatters.
• How many raindrops are there? "Too many!" This last one reminded me of our rhyming counting book, Raindrop Plop, which I retrieved from the shelf inside and we had a front porch storytime. During this reading we noticed details like the worms crawling out of the ground (a few days earlier we had been on a walk and noticed the dead worms who didn't make it back to the dirt, and had a brief preschool-level discussion about death). Of course, reading a counting book inspired them to start counting other things (bushes, trees, cars, etc.).

By my accounting this conversation covered theology, science, life skills, math, and language arts. Eventually we ran out of popcorn and got tired of sitting on the concrete (I see a front porch bench purchase in our future), so we headed inside to find other ways to amuse ourselves. 

Of course, that wasn't the only happenstance learning opportunity of the week. The other one that really stands out occurred later in the week when the entourage had sardines for lunch (Thanks, Granddad. Monkey and Bug have been requesting "little fishes like we ate with Granddad" for weeks and I finally gave in.) Bug's question about whether fish have bones inspired me to pull out the little spines for inspection. Monkey wanted to touch them; Bug just wanted to look. I showed them how to feel each other's spines too, which they thought was pretty cool. They also discussed what parts of the fish were missing (heads, tails, etc.).

Best Buddies
Well, the buddy isn't new (LA from next door), but Goose's recognition of her as someone special certainly is. She can even say an approximation of LA's name, which is more than she does for Monkey and Bug whom she refers to collectively as "my sissies." On our mornig spent outside, Goose insistently repeated LA's name until I went with her so she could gleefully ring the bell and invite LA to play. "Come, [LA]!" The two of them spent a long time chasing each other around with baby doll strollers, while Monkey and Bug retreated inside to play a game that was easier without Goose around. Our visit to the neighborhood pool with Miss N and LA at the end of the week was met with equal enthusiasm by Goose. She was being very hesitant about the pool (just splashing her toes in) until LA appeared, and suddenly she was jumping in with gusto and wanting to "shwim! shwim!" Frequently pausing to yell for LA and play with her too. Miss N was even kind enough to hold both of them in the pool for awhile, which thrilled them and gave me a chance to play more with Monkey and Bug. I even got them to jump too.

Chapter Books
I have fond memories of my parents reading aloud from the Chronicles of Narnia when I was a kid, and I've always thought I'd love for that to be something the entourage and I did too. I actually tried picking up the Narnia books to read to them several months ago. I figured it was early but worth a shot. True to suspicions they weren't into it, and I figured someday I'd try again. Well, we didn't start with Narnia, but we are now reading a chapter book together. I recently read The Invention of Hugo Cabret and during quiet time one afternoon this week Bug found the book. As soon as quiet time was done she came bounding down the stairs demanding that I read it too her. Jos took a peek at the book and was equally enthusiastic. Over the course of the afternoon/evening we got through 200 pages, and they were disappointed when I insisted we quit for the night and go to bed. Based on the conversations I've heard while they flip through the book on their own, I think they really are following at least the basics of the plot. Even Goose has spent a good bit of time snuggled on the couch with us listening and looking at the pictures. Daddy and I discussed that we need to acquire some illustrated classics to jump into next.

Superheroes
The other books Monkey and Bug discovered this week were Daddy's Marvel and DC Comics encyclopedias. They spent a long time one day spread out on the floor with these massive, colorful books admiring the characters' features and speculating about who were bad guys and good guys and who would win various match ups. I decided to follow up on their interest by introducing them to actual storylines. I opted to go retro (simple graphics and storylines, minimal violence, clear black-and-white morals, and plenty of melodrama to get into) and discovered to everyone's delight that Netflix has the original 1940s episodes of Superman available for streaming. Watching the entourage watch Superman is highly entertaining to say the least. They wait with great anticipation ("Where's Superman? Where's Superman?"), and all three of them cheer when Lois Lane gets rescued and the bad guy goes to jail at the end of every episode. For some reason they know who Spiderman is and desperately wanted to watch a TV about him. As expected, even the original 1960s versions proved too angsty and complex for the preschool set. For the time being, we'll stick with the man who "fights for truth, justice, and the American way."

Library Day
Library day didn't actually involve much library this time. This week the library was sponsoring a magic show instead of storytime. The girls were very interested for the first 20 minutes or so  (especially the part where he pulled a live boa constrictor from a previously empty box). But the library was absolutely packed with kids, whom the magician had yelling various magic words and helping him count and cheer, and Monkey and Bug decided they had had quite enough of the crowd and the noise and informed me they were ready to go (Goose was completely unfazed). We made as hasty an exit as possible without stepping on any other children and went home for lunch. Before the show we had managed to pick out three books:
Knuffle Bunny Too
Jabber and Dot and the Mystery of the Missing Stream
How Can You Dance?
Also before the show, we turned in our records for the summer reading program and each girl got to pick a book to keep in addition to a handful of good coupons. (That evening we spent their first coupons and got a free dinner at Taco Bell. They were very excited about paying their own way.) The books they picked were:
Rosie's Walk
Charlie Needs a Cloak
Mudge Takes a Bath

Goodbye Aunt E
Aunt E came for one last visit with me and the entourage before departing to Japan for two years, and we all loved every moment! E even gave me some "me time" and therefore had no competition for the entourage's attention for awhile. It was nice for all of us to have an extra grown up around for swimming lessons, haircuts, shopping, and eating at a real restaurant. Right before she left, the girls insisted she read them their pre-naptime stories and she showed them on our big map where she'll be moving. That night after she left we ate ramen soup and practiced with chopsticks and discussed that it was food from Japan and that Aunt E was probably going to get really good at using chopsticks.

Swimming
Swimming lessons continued this week and ended on Thursday. Monkey and Bug continued to make progress and even let their teacher dunk them without tears! (Goose meanwhile discovered the joys of running around the big reception desk in the middle of the lobby.) We also had three visits to the pool outside of classes. On Monday Aunt E was with us, so we all donned bathingsuits and went straight to our neighborhood pool from swimming lessons. Monkey and Bug took to the water immediately. The grabbed their fish floaties and happily kicked around the pool quite independently despite the fact that it wasn't terribly hot outside and it even started raining. Bug even jumped in the pool with out someone to catch her! Granted, I don't think she expected to go entirely underwater, and she did freak out a bit, but she still wanted to get back in the pool. This pool visit didn't go quite so well for Goose, but I did eventually have her splashing her feet in the pool. Mostly, she just wanted to wrap up in her towel and lounge poolside. Based on our next two pool visits though, this reaction was strictly due to water temperature. She is a little water baby! We went to our friend's apartment complex that has a kiddie pool section (6 inches of water). Goose had a blast splashing around with our friends, and it didn't take much for me to convince her to go swimming with me. She loves jumping in and is completely unfazed by getting facefulls of water every time. I even dunked her a couple of times without her getting upset. Since she has a bathing suit with the floaties built in, I can just hold her hands and let her float, which she thinks is awesome. Since Goose loves the pool, and Monkey and Bug kept up their independence (while still staying pretty close and following all the rules). I think I may even be brave enough to take on the neighborhood pool without another grown up.

Library Day
The summer program continues. The entourage has long since finished the requisite 35 books read to them, but we keep forgetting to take the record of it in to get their prizes. The theme for this week's storytime was elephants, and the craft was a construction paper elephant head with a party blower stuck through for his truck. The elephant heads didn't keep their attention for long, but the party blowers are still getting regular use.

The girls recruited Aunt E to read them books after storytime, so I got to look for books and chat with a friend. We came home with these books:
Too Many Kangaroo Things to Do
Berenstein Bear's Four Seasons
I Will Surprise My Friend
Dinosaurs Dance
The Extraordinary Egg
The Sneetches and Other Stories
While not a library book, we've been reading quite a bit from A Treasury of Fairy Tales, a collection of a couple dozen classic tales wonderfully illustrated. It was a bargain purchase from a consignment store that is going to get lots of use!

Playdate
We had playdate with N and G again this week, but this time we went to their house. Grown ups and kids alike had a fabulous time. The entourage was very excited about N and G's extensive toy train collection. They get along so well, they even know when to go their separate ways and leave each other alone for a bit. At one point the big kids got very quiet and Miss K and I looked to find the three of them had retreated to separate corners of the study, playing with Starfall.com (N), worksheets and crayons (Bug), and a magnadoodle (Monkey). The real excitment of the playdate (not entirely positive) was being enthusiastically greeted at the door by their Newfoundland mix. He didn't jump up or lick them--he was just there and HUGE. The entourage was anxious/upset at first, but I stepped up to pet/distract the dog and the kids and dogs (there was a smaller one at his heels) quickly settled into cheerfully ignoring each other. Except Goose--it didn't take her too long to go from anxious to fascinated, and she started following the dogs around. I'm thrilled the entourage will finally have a chance to really get to know some very large and very well behaved dogs in a friendly environment.

Building
We followed instructions to build a motorcycle with parts from their workbench this week. We don't do this often, but when we do I'm always reminded of what great projects these are. The girls work on colors, shapes, counting, following directions, using the right tool for the job, and practicing fine motor skills and end up with a cool toy to play with and then disassemble. They discovered they had a number of stuffed buddies who were about the right size to ride this.

This is our collection of nature treasures from our walk
around the neighborhood on Saturday.

Swimming Lessons
Monkey and Bug started their first session of regular (not Mommy & Me) swimming lessons this week. I'd been really talking it up and we visited the pool (to tour and watch, not to play) where they take place last Saturday, so they'd at least be familiar with the space. Despite excitment leading up to it, Day 1 did not go well (cue Monkey's total meltdown poolside when the teacher arrived). They had barely gotten their toes wet as they huddled together about as far from the teacher as she would let them get. I've been very impressed by the lifeguard staff who would sit to talk with the girls to help them warm up to the idea and do things like bring them security objects--diving rings, floaty noodles, and rubber ducks--to play with. One lifeguard even jumped in to help with the reluctant swimmers (one little boy in addition to my girls). By the end of Day 4, they let the teacher tie a floaty around them and help them kick around the pool! Bug proudly informed me that she even got her hair wet. I'm excited about what improvements next weeks lessons will bring, and how they'll do in our neighborhood pool.

So Busy!
In addition to swimming lessons, this has been an extremely busy week. Here's the day-by-day rundown:

Sunday: We went to Sunday school and worship as usual at our new church. The entourage and I continue to enjoy it, and we're excited about bringing Daddy with us when he comes home. Monkey and Bug even received compliments about their good behavior during "big church," where they sit with me for 15 or 20 minutes before leaving for children's church. That night we were invited to a cookout with members of a Sunday school class I visited that day. We all had a great time getting to know some new friends.

Monday: After their first swimming lesson they asked if we could go to the library to "just chill and read books." We had a lovely, quiet time sitting at one of the little tables reading books that Goose brought us. I wrote down what we read, and we almost finished our summer reading program assignment of 35 books! That evening we headed to the Y, so I could attend a pilates class, and they all got to play in their classes.

Tuesday: We followed up swimming with another trip to the Y. Goose was excited, because on Tuesday our neighbors LA and H are in her class while Miss N and Miss J come to spin class with me. Monkey and Bug are a little jealous, but they're too old to play in the toddler class. That afternoon the girls and I celebrate Daddy's and my wedding anniversary by baking chocolate chip cookies. (That morning I showed the the card and present that Daddy hid for me before he left and told them how he sent me a note to tell me where to find it. This just a few days after he set up an Edible Arrangement to be delivered as a belated Mother's Day gift [we were out of town on the day].These girls are going to have very high expectations for their future husbands!) That evening we joined the neighborhood crew (four families this time) for a bounce house playdate at LA's house.

Wednesday: After swimming, we went to our little branch library for the first summer storytime (we skip the school year storytimes in favor of the homeschool playgroup which is on summer break now). We got to see lots of familiar faces, including the new friends that we made at the library party on Saturday, and we came home with these books:
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin!
Jabuti (South American folk tale)
ABC
Miss Bindergarten Plans a Circus with Kindergarten
Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly

Thursday: Our new friends (Miss K and her boys, N (3 years) and G (20 mos.) came over for a playdate after swimming. I think all the busyness of the week was getting to Bug; she informed me before they arrived that she didn't want to play with friends and she didn't think she could handle sharing. I was very proud of her for being self-aware enough to realize that, and she found fun things to do while they were here anyway (sitting in my lap while Miss K and I chatted, retreating to the landing of the stairs with her bear where she could still watch everybody, and making a bracelet at the kitchen table away from the other kids). Monkey and N hit it off immediately. Within 10 minutes of walking through the door they were animatedly discussing how best to fight off monsters with their light sabers, and Monkey was cheerfully showing off her trucks and showing him the best ways to get to the top of the climb-and-slide. Miss K and I were thrilled to discover that we really are running our households and raising our kids in remarkably similar ways. Since they're only a few minutes away, I think we'll be seeing a lot of them! That evening the girls said they wanted to go somewhere, so I packed up our dinner and we headed to a new playground for a picnic. The girls didn't eat a whole lot, but that playground is really cool! Goose's new favorite word is now "Climb!" Despite the late hour, it was still really hot outside, so we decided to stop and splurge for ice cream for their bedtime snack.

These were not the most exciting parts of the playground,
but these were definitely the best photos I managed to get. These girls are fast!

Friday: No swimming lessons today, so we just had our usual trip to the Y, followed by grocery shopping. Goose got to sit in the car part of the cart at the front for the first time. She handled it beautifully. When we got home we pulled in at the same time as Miss N and LA along with some friends of theirs and they invited us for a bounce house playdate. Miss N and I pooled our leftovers to feed everybody and the kids had a great time.

Saturday: I decided to try something new today and stay home all day! I informed the girls of "the plan," and they were thrilled. They spent most of the day playing relatively quietly. Our only real excitement was going for a walk in the neighborhood and finding things to start our "collection." We filled a tupperware container with pinecones, magnolia leaves, a sparkly rock, a smooth piece of wood, and several dandelions. At home I set the girls up with their magnifying glass and handheld microscope, and spent the next 20 minutes or so listening to a chorus of "whoa!" "cool!" etc.

Pretend Play
Monkey and Bug's pretend play continues to get more complex. It involves actual storylines now (usually a cycle of bad guys attacking someone who is then rescued only to be attacked again). The really new piece is how they've incorporated external thing into their play. When Goose started destroying the series of roads, tunnels, and bridges they built, instead of getting upset, they simply declared her the "bad guy" and started rebuilding and coming up with defensive measures. Saturday morning when I turned on our iTunes Instrumental library to listen to while we worked/played, they started taking their cues from the music as to what should happen next, and even asked me replay songs that had obvious cycles of ominous then triumphant sounding sections.

However, my favorite pretend play moments of the week were the following: Bug requested that I make her a construction paper crown. Initially I wondered if this was the start of what I hear is the inevitable preschool girl obsession with princesses. Far from it! She carefully placed the crown on her head, stood on the couch, raised her arms, and declared, "I AM THE QUEEN OF EVERYTHING!" Who needs to be a frilly princess when you can have cosmic powers, right? (A few days later she walked into the room wearing the crown, and I asked her an unrelated question. She answered me, then politely requested that I address her "Queen of All." Well, of course, your majesty.) Monkey meanwhile was pretending to be a hunter. She gathered up a bunch of empty paper towel rolls which she explained was her gun collection and went off in search of animals. I don't think she ever "shot" anything, but she invited the Queen of Everything to join her, and they had a grand time.

The Queen at her computer.
Monkey requested a pink crown, but it didn't last long after this picture was taken.
She requires far more durable accessories.

Math Games
Monkey and Bug invented a couple of new math games to entertain themselves. The first involves asking me at random times to count up to a certain number that they name. I have agreed to count up to anything below 20, and they've been greatly impressed by my skills at getting all the teens in the right order (this may be the only time I ever impress anyone with my math skills so I'm enjoying it while I can). The second game involves adding up different groups of people on their fingers. For example: They say, "There are four of us girls. When Daddy comes home, how many people will we be?" We count them up. "Ok, if Daddy's home and we go to Nana and Papa Bear's house, then how many people will we be?" This continues with increasing complexity to include any friends and neighbors whose names they know. At some point we added up quite a list, and Bug exclaimed, "Wow, that would be a very exciting party!"

Hooray for Family!
I realized yesterday that I forgot to write a post last week. My weeks kind of ran together since we spent my usual writing day on the road to my folks house. Which, in fact, brings me to the theme of the past two weeks: Extended family visits!

Nana arrived Sunday, May 6, and gave me a long much-needed break about a month into Daddy's "big trip." I don't think I cooked a single meal in the three days she was here, I had another adult around the house to help and talk to, and I think I totalled about eight hours out of the house without the entourage! The girls had a grand time hanging out with Nana, playing, reading books, playing games, and of course shopping. The highlight of one outing was the entourage getting to play on the quarter-fed vehicles in the mall (and unlike Mommy, Nana actually has quarters!). Their favorite: a simple, simulated roller coaster ride. Monkey was the brave one who tried the moving vehicles first and showed Bug how much fun it was. The other highlight of the visit for the girls was that Nana arrived with new books and accompanying buddies for each girl: Ladybug Girl for Bug, Cheeky Monkey for Monkey, and Duck & Goose for Goose.

Nana drove away in time to give us a day or two to prepare to hit the road for our own "big trip" to Grandma and Granddad's house--Uncle N, Aunt E, and Aunt A were also home. (The entourage are great travellers, which is fantastic because I see lots of road trips in our long-term future. Car trip only toys, movies, and snacks kept them happily occupied.) We were there nearly a week and had a lovely time. We visited the zoo. Highlights included: a great merecat exhibit, a turkey who was really into our wagon (he followed us around all puffed up and showing off), a peacock showing off his tail, howler monkeys, goats (the girls actually touched them this time! I think that might be a first), and tigers who were being very cooperative and visible. We also spent some time in the neighboring science center to check out the dinosaur exhibit and kiddie section, which the girls loved. They were most into the animal- and grocery shopping-related pretend play. Other highlights of the trip included going to church with the family (where Grandma stayed in the nursery to be the helper teacher since the arrival of the entourage doubled the typical size of the preschool class), visiting the local butterfly house (lots of butterflies, caterpillars, and chysalises to watch and we even spotted the elusive resident turtle), visiting Grandad at work and getting to see the mural with all the animals, listening to Uncle N's school band play a few songs at the end-of-year concert (it was bedtime; Monkey and Bug were interested, but Goose had had enough), and last, but not least--in fact probably their favorite event--hiking the trails in Grandma and Granddad's woods. We got to walk through a "jungle" (pawpaw grove) to see a little waterfall in the creek, find Jesus bugs and salamanders farther downstream (Goose was particularly into turning over rocks to find critters), hike to the old swimming hole in the river, see two turtles (a very brave baby one and a larger bright orange one), and admire an impressive spider web or two. Later that afternoon Granddad also took the girls around to the birdhouses to see the baby birds. All three girls are getting braver about Grandma and Granddad's dog too. This visit they were playing fetch, chasing her around the yard, and even trying to give her commands. Of course, they also spent lots of time playing on the playset outside, playing with the Little People town, playing Aunt E's baby grand piano (all three of them at the same time frequently while singing at the top of their lungs), and playing with all the bigger toys in the basement (kitchen, playhouse, bouncy horse, etc.). And I loved that they got to do all these cool things with lots of extra adults around to help!

Top: Dancing in Aunt K's old costumes
Middle (L to R): Chillin' with the merecats at the zoo, feeding geese after our picnic, petting the goats
Bottom: fascinated by the goldfish pond in the butterfly house 

Mother's Day
Daddy may not have been on hand to organize things (he sent an email, and an ecard, and an Edible Arrangement), but the entourage still recognized the day--even if unintentially. For example, when I woke up that morning, I could hear Bug trying to keep Goose quiet and checking on Monkey. When she heard me stirring in the bathroom, she peeked her head in and whispered, "Did you get a few extra minutes, Mommy?" They made special cards for me in Sunday school, and that afternoon they picked wildflowers from Grandma and Granddad's backyard for me. Even Goose participated, though she failed to bring the stems with her--just the flowers clenched her tight little fist. Made me smile!

Emotional Maturity
In Daddy's absence, it's become obvious who has the emotional maturity to keep this household running smoothly, and it isn't always Mommy. Bug has proved herself a Godsend in helping me keep it together. The first occasion was a real calling out, and provided the incentive I needed to beg a neighbor's help in giving me a break. Imagine Bug, hands on hips, admonishing me sternly, "Mommy, we do not have meltdowns. We do not scream. Take deep breaths. You need to apologize to [Monkey]." Fortunately, Bug herself was behaving perfectly, and I did as told instead of lashing out at Bug--an entirely possible outcome. (This had to be the most humbling experience of motherhood so far.) Since then she's become an expert at noticing my "tells" and appearing at my elbow to whisper, "Mommy, you need to stay calm." Just the reminder I need to take a deep breath and dig for those extra reserves of patience. It has at least been an affirmation that all the things I'm trying to teach them about how to handle themselves are actually sinking in--even if I don't always succeed in following my own advice.

On a related note, Bug recently made known that she was tired of sitting in the middle carseat and having to do things like help Goose and distribute snacks. I told her that she and Monkey were welcome to trade carseats, but that they both had to agree to it--I wasn't going to force anybody to move. And that was the last thing I said on the matter. The two of them worked out a compromise: Bug would sit in the middle for short trips, and Monkey would sit in the middle for long trips when that position requires more responsibility. They have since successfully negotiated who sits where every time we get in the car without any referreeing from me! It's been a couple of weeks since they started this, and I am still a little in shock about how well they've handled it all on their own.

Library Party!
The entourage and I headed to the library today for the kick off of the summer reading program. It was a perfect sunny day for it. The librarians had sidewalk chalk and crafts to do, a free hot dog lunch, and of course picking up our summer reading packets and the usual checking out of books. We came home with:
The Doorbell Rang
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
The Barn Party
George and Marth: Round and Round
Fiesta Babies
This Is the House that Jack Built
While the entourage was oblivious, my favorite part of the morning was striking up a conversation with a fellow Christian, military wife, and homeschool mom who has a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old, who just moved into a house maybe three minutes from us. I see playdates in our future!