Preschool Week of 9/30 - The Week Daddy Deployed

So, last week, we were given 1 week's notice that Crumpet Sr (thanks Natalie, for the wonderful nickname - we use it a lot now, and hubby gets a big kick out of it!) would be deploying for an extended period of time. I put home schooling on hold in favor of family time, but we did continue to go to the co-op preschool. This was mandatory, because Crumpet was line leader Monday, and he loves to be in charge. It is still the only time he enjoys preschool...
Here he is, leading circle time in the morning:
Some of the centers that day were...
Counting and adding using dice and dominoes:
Sink and float experiments:
It was black and white week, so the dramatic play area had masks of black and white animals. Dramatic play is always Crumpet's favorite area:
And, at the end, he got to show and tell the noisy, annoying Star Wars gun that he loves more than anything right now:
Crumpet Sr. was able to come to the beginning of class, and Crumpet was very proud to have him there.

At home:
When Daddy deploys, I send him with a stack of cards to open nearly weekly, and always on holidays that he is missing. I write notes and send pictures, and this time, I had Crumpet make crafts for the holidays we won't be together. It was so odd to be making Thanksgiving crafts in September! And it was a struggle to get Crumpet to complete even these ridiculously simple crafts. He's just not feeling artsy right now!

Both of these crafts came from DLTK's holiday section.
Jack o'Lantern:
Fingerprint turkey:

In other news:
Crumpet has finished the beginner section of Progressive Phonics which we read every night before bed, so we'll be moving up to the intermediate section.
One day when we were out, we saw a phone number. I had Crumpet read it to me, and then asked if he knew his own. He repeated it to me and has it right except for one number! He won't cooperate when we practice at home, so it's good to find out that he almost has it!
We got rain for the second time since we arrived, and it was so exciting that we went for a walk and played on the playground in the rain:
And we had another amazing sea turtle adventure. We were at the beach with friends, and this sea turtle swam right up to us. You aren't supposed to touch them, but this one touched us!
So that was our week of learning. Now we'll be learning about how Crumpet functions without Dad, and whether or not Mom survives. Everyone keeps telling me that a young child's first deployment experience is the worst, and I should prepare for major tantrums. Um, really??? I don't talk about it much here, but Crumpet is an incredibly difficult, angry child, and the tantrums are already something to behold. Worse?! Um, no, can't do it. So wish me luck! And sanity!