Monday

This weekend the girls and I took an impromptu mini vacation to Branson and Eureka Springs. We did lots of shopping and having fun, but took time for something educational. We went to see the Christ of the Ozarks and then went to the museum there. The museum has dinosaur fossils and connects science and biblical theory when it comes to creation. The girls loved the dinosaurs. We looked at how different they all were... some were big, some were little. Alex wanted to see a real dinosaur so I had to explain that they aren't alive anymore, but these are their bones and that is how we know what they looked like. We then spent some time in the museum gift shop and bought quite a few neat things for school. Things on creation and the Earth. A few books, a few workbooks, and a huge floor puzzle. We had fun talking about all the things that God created. WE names people we knew and lots of animals, trying to make the point that everything was made by God. We did the puzzle yesterday and the girls loved it. Although I had to do most of it, I made sure to pick pieces up and point out details of it... then asked Alex if she could see the other birds, etc. When we were done they had just as much fun tearing it apart when we were done. I've noticed that Emma is getting better at staying focused long enough to get something done... like picking up toys. I told them we had to pick the pieces up and put them in the box and to my surprise, Emma actually did it without any extra encouragement. Yeah Emma!
Today we went over shapes again and Alex remembered the octagon. Went over colors. Counted to ten forwards and backwards. Now for the alphabet. Alex is doing amazing. She was looking at a new Elmo book in the van on the way to Branson, it happened to be about ABC's. Then she looked up and said, "N is for Nonnie." Yeah! Then she went on and got M for mommy and D is for Daddy. She can also recognize O & P. So, the letter recognition list is up to A, E, X, D, M, N, O, P, Q. We are getting close to several other letters, but these are the ones that are consistent.
Emma loves books but still can't always sit still through an entire book when I'm reading to them. However, she frequently sits and 'reads' books on her own and always has a few books in bed with her.
We have also been saying nursery rhymes. Jack & Jill and Hey Diddle Diddle are two fairly new ones for us.