Saying 'So Long' to 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR: This morning I turned the TV onto the news at 8 a.m., just as Australia was ringing in the new year. There were huge fireworks in the Sydney night sky.

The new year occurring at different times in different places was a new concept to them, so I grabbed the globe and we talked about the International Dateline. We also discussed the fact that each year has 365 days, and that today is the 365th and final day of 2009.

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON: According to NASA, blue moon was "used in much the same way we use the term 'harvest moon.' There were twelve names for full moons, one for each month, and the name blue moon was used in years which had 13 full moons." However, in 1943, Sky and Telescope Magazine wrote (in error) that the second full moon in any calendar month was called a blue moon - these days, apparently that's the definition most people go with.

But what I found really interesting - and surprising - is that the saying “once in a blue moon” has nothing to do with these "extra" full moons. Rather (again, according to NASA), the phrase was supposedly coined in 1883, following the eruption of Mount Krakatoa. There was so much dust in the atmosphere that the moon looked blue in color. Who knew?

IN THE VILLAGE: We made a trip over the hill to Magnolia's 'downtown,' including a stop at the library where we had a stack of items to return and a couple to pick up. The kids made a beeline for the DVDs, per their standard operating procedure. After they plucked the ones they wanted, CJ went and sat at a library table. I happened to spy a book about The Nutcracker, and plopped it on the table in front of him. Lo and behold, he read the entire thing from cover to cover (and though it was a picture book, it was pretty wordy and rather lengthy).

Afterward, we three read an oversized book, "A Little at a Time," that explains how things (trees and people, for instance) and even problems (like litter and air pollution) start out small but can grow over time.

ORANGE ORB: While some celebrate the arrival of the new year by watching an illuminated ball descend over Times Square in New York, we spent a big part of New Year's Eve on the campus of the University of Washington, watching an orange sphere fall into a basket. Over and over.

We were watching the Huskies take on the Oregon State Beavers in a Pac 10 home opener. The kids haven't ever been to a basketball game before and we really don't watch a ton of it on TV, so I thought I'd give them a primer this afternoon. The basics of basketball are SO much easier to explain than football or baseball! All they really HAVE to know is that players have to dribble the ball while they progress it (they can't carry it while they move), that a regular basket is worth two points, one shot from behind a faraway, arcing line is 3, and sometimes when there is a foul (someone breaks a rule, like plays too rough) a player gets to attempt a free throw, which is worth one point. Oh, and we talked about in bounds and out of bounds, and turnovers. It might sound like a long list, but really it's short and simple compared to all the situational scenarios in baseball and football.

Annabelle's Pokemon (Meowith) watches the Huskies down the Beavers on the UW campus

AND NOW, A YEAR END MESSAGE FROM MPA TO YOU: I found this New Year's greeting rather annoying - which is probably why the kids thought it was so fantastic. :)

But seriously, happy New Year one and all from Magnolia Prep!

Boxing Day

THANKSGIVING: For this morning's writing and art session, I thought it would be good to idea to tackle at least a couple thank you cards for holiday kindness. First we generated a list of words they might use in a holiday thank you card and wrote them on the whiteboard. Then they set about writing a couple of notes to loved ones. They both barely met the 10 minute deadline I gave them for writing (not that I'm trying to rush the thank yous, mind you, it's just that I know by now that if they don't have a deadline, these writing exercises can drag on and on and on ...).

HE HAS THE TOOLS AND KNOWS HOW TO USE 'EM: We're going to have a steady diet of math worksheets for the next few days as with the Christmas Chaos we got away from that for awhile. This morning when I presented CJ with some story problems he immediately recognized that having some manipulatives (the fancy word for thingees to count) would make solving the problems easier.

So, I went and grabbed him some poker chips and he was off to the races. He solved the problems post haste and while he was working suggested that he was earning an "A." I found that interesting since we have never ever ever talked about letter grades (and he didn't receive them in preschool or kindergarten). Obviously he's heard about grades somewhere - cartoons or ??? Whatever the case, I gave him an A+ :)

SCHOOLTASTIC!: The kids enjoyed a mid-morning story time thanks to one of the fantastic Scholastic DVDs that bring award-winning children's picture books to life. This morning's treat was titled "Click Clack Moo," though that was just one of 7 stories featured. I appreciated the fact that the DVD has a read along (close captioned) feature, so the kids actually read the story while it's being narrated.

CJ gets happy when he sees "Scholastic" branding, and he reads their name as "school-tastic!" (I think we should trademark that word!) So, the kids enjoyed the stories, including an extra on the DVD - a Spanish version of "Click Clack Moo," complete with subtitles in Spanish. We learned that a Spanish typewriter makes a "Clic Clac" sound and that Spanish speaking cows say "Muu!" That tickled the kids.

YOU SAY YOU WANT A RESOLUTION?: Wait until Jan. 1 to start a new exercise program? Not here at MPA - we're (two whole) DAYS ahead of the crowd! ; ) Since it's often cold and rainy, we don't walk/jog/run as far or as often as we do in nicer months. So, we need to incorporate a few more on campus workouts. I figured the kids might get a kick out of kickboxing. I explained to them that real boxers and kickboxers don't just battle opponents all the time. In fact, they do that infrequently. What they spend most of their time doing is conditioning, and that's what we'd be working on. So, I fired up a video from the folks at Sparkpeople (PSA - anyone looking for non-intimidating, non-irritating, effective, short, encouraging FREE exercise routines - everything from gentle yoga to cardio bootcamp that you can do anywhere - Sparkpeople are your people.)

ROUND THE NORTH POLE: I know, I know, Christmas is over, but the North Pole is still there. Today, we learned lots about the Arctic Circle, thanks to the fabulous BrainPop Jr. First, we viewed an informational animated video about the Arctic Circle. Afterward, we printed out questions from the site's "Notebook" feature and watched the video again, this time pencil in hand, to glean answers to questions. We learned exactly where the Arctic Circle is and which countries have land within it (Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia and the U.S.). We learned how plant life has adapted to the Arctic (shallow roots, a short, fast growing season, low-to-the-ground growing, and some even have fuzzy hair!). Animals have adapted by growing thick fur or packing on layers of blubber. Some migrate south when it's cold. The video also talked about global warming and its effect on the Arctic Circle and, in turn, the world. (For those wondering, global warming was presented as definite/real and man-made. Quick, someone alert Senator Inhofe's office! BrianPop is brainwashing our youth! ;)

CJ & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: Several times today CJ insisted that he wants to be a chocolatier. "I will make dark chocolate, white chocolate and my favorite, brown chocolate," he proclaimed. He also emphasized that he does NOT want to wait until he's a man to do it; rather, he wants to do it soon. Realizing his limitations, he informed me that he will need some help attaining this goal, so his dad and I should build him a chocolate factory. ...

I think that before we invest our time and resources in doing CJ's bidding, some hardcore research needs to happen. To that end, I found what looks to be a cool tour of several Seattle area chocolatiers, but it's for ages 10 and up only (geez, discrimination - don't they know the boy wants to be a chocolatier?!).

In happier news, five minutes from our house is award-winning Theo Chocolate, the only organic, fair trade, bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the United States. They offer tours seven days a week. We are SO there (maybe for next Monday's field trip?!).

Movies, Music & More

SECONDS COUNT: If CJ had his way, his dad would never go to work. He'd just be here, 24/7, available to play Shredder v. Splinter and such. This morning CJ awoke to find Christian gone after a very nice long 6 day stretch of him being off work, and CJ wasn't pleased. He repeatedly asked me, "How long until Daddy is home?" At 8 o'clock he asked for about the fifth time this morning. I told him (again) that his dad would be home at 5 - in about nine hours. But CJ wanted to know how many seconds that was. I figure it's because he can more easily quantify/understand the duration of a second. It's the blink of an eye or the clap of a hand long. So I reminded him there are 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes in an hour, so every hour has 3600 seconds. Then, we counted that there would be nine hours until 5 p.m., which meant that his dad would be home in 32,400 seconds. When he heard that big number he was none too happy. Throughout the day he kept asking and asking, "How long 'til Daddy's home?"

NIFTY FIFTY: Since we still had the puzzle of the United States on the table, I thought it would be a good time to read a library book. I pulled out and propped up "Trains of States" and we three took a tour of the United States. Each state had its own page featuring its state flower and tree, capitol, and several claims to fame (people, natural resources and inventions). I had the kids take turns finding each state on the map.The tidbits of information I found most interesting were the origins of each state's name. As one might expect, several were from American Indian words or of English origin (often in homage to royalty). The biggest surprises were Oregon (the book says no one knows the state name's origin) and California (named for an island paradise in a popular Spanish novel from 1510-ish).

With so many states and factoids, It took us well over an hour to make our way through the book.

ZANE-Y MUSIC: Our musical entertainment today was the fantastic Dan Zanes and Friends. We love his multi-cultural music that is definitely not for-kiddies only. (His Grammy winning "Catch that Train" has been in heavy rotation in our car for a couple of years). So, while the kids had a mid morning snack, I popped "All Around the Kitchen" in the DVD player. It's a combination of music videos and concert footage. My favorite part was the title track, which has the refrain "All around the kitchen, cockadoodle doodle do!" at which Annabelle danced around the kitchen like a chicken. "Dancing in my pajamas!" she exclaimed with glee, not missing a beat.

DEM BONES: Last night in a quick trip to the library, I picked up a "Dinosaur Bones" DVD. It's an animated/narrated version of a book of the same title. When I opened the DVD case this a.m., I was happy to see a mini lesson plan to go along with the video. It listed objectives, suggested activities before viewing, vocabulary to review, and guiding questions (like "What do dinosaurs need to survive?" and "What do you think the Earth looked like when dinosaurs were alive?").

After watching it, CJ said , "I want to be a paleontologist." I also found a fun Dinosaur Bones activity online where the kids took turns building dinosaur skeletons from piles of bones.

MOVIE NIGHT: Last night we had our first MPA Family Movie Night. This is something I've been wanting to do for awhile. There are so many great/classic movies (everything from The Sound of Music to Star Wars) that are part of the fabric of our culture that the kids have not seen from start to finish. And I don't just want to rent them DVD after DVD and shut them into their bedroom to watch it - I really want to view them together, so we can talk about everything from character development to cinematography to slapstick comedy.

Last night's feature definitely fit into the latter category. Yesterday when I told the kid we had to run an errand Annabelle asked why they couldn't just stay home alone. Well, after watching "Home Alone" they have a much better idea!

As we anticipated, they both loved the movie. We talked about how resourceful Kevin was while taking care of himself, and the things he did well and the things he did not-so-well and the pros and cons of being home alone.

SCHOOL SUBJECTS: This week on our visits to the park, we've been encountering neighborhood children who are off on their winter breaks. Today we met some friendly children who told me they attend (the private) Spruce Street School, which reads like a cool place based on its Web site. Yesterday we met a family of children who live in our 'hood but attend St. Alphonsus (parochial) school in Ballard. Maybe, just maybe, we'll meet a neighbor whose children actually go to the neighborhood schools. ...

Yesterday it was funny, the very chatty caretaker/babysitter of the kids we met yesterday asked us where our kids go to school. Without hesitation Christian replied, "Magnolia Preparatory Academy." She asked, "Oh? Where's that?" To which I replied, "Our house."

"Oh, so you homeschool!" she said with enthusiasm. That info apparently gave her the green flag to start gushing about Michael Medved (who, in 2007, penned a column discounting/defending the history of slavery in the US), Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. It's interesting how someone who homeschools is instantly assumed to be a very conservative and/or religious person.

It's also interesting how often I've made that same assumption in the past. Guess I'm being served up a big steaming pile of karma on that one! : \

Back in the Saddle

COMMENCE DECOMPRESSION: Today's main agenda at MPA? Get the campus back in order. The disorder caused by Christmas related preparation, and the aftermath of 5 days away from home and our return with dirty laundry and Christmas bounty in tow.

As I unpacked bag after bag after bag, the kids worked on some math, reading and writing worksheets at the table. Annabelle's math was a bit rusty - almost all of her addition problems were off by 1 (over). She must have been counting wrong. However, we hit 'reset' and she was able to see the error of her ways and correct accordingly.

What I was really pleased with this morning is that when CJ was faced with a writing assignment, he didn't have a bout of his usual Perfection Paralyzation. Instead, even though he didn't know how to properly spell all of the words he wanted to use in his answers, he plowed through doing the best he could. That's a huge step forward. I think maybe a few days away from it prompted the shift. That, or it was the special Cheez-Its that were awaiting him when he was done. ...

PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD: This weekend we made two exciting food finds. In the one and only grocery store in Siletz, Ore., I found Alpha-Bits. I am a bit embarrassed to admit just how excited I was by this discovery. They are a childhood fave and I haven't seen them on a store shelf in YEARS. Of course, when I checked the fresh date on the Siletz cereal, I learned that their boxes of Bits had probably been on their shelves for years - they were expired by a couple months. Undeterred, I bought a box so CJ and Annabelle could have an Alpha-Bits experience. :)

While perusing the Wal-Mart in Newport on Christmas Eve (fortunately, the People of Walmart were out in full force! It was glorious!) we discovered SCRABBLE Cheez-Its. Talk about a score. We bought three boxes and the kids had some of their late morning snack today - with the catch being they had to spell a word before they could eat 'em!

STATE OF MIND: As mentioned in an earlier post, one of the gifts the kids got from Santa was a map of the US. CJ started working it this weekend but didn't get a chance to finish. Today, he and Annabelle worked really well together and finished the puzzle. While they worked we talked about regions of the country (Northwest, Southwest, the East Coast, New England) and so on. It was a fun, hands on geography lesson.

I explained to them that Alaska and Hawaii aren't really just off the coast of California, but that the puzzle makers put them there so that they would fit within their rectangle.

WEEKEND REVISITED: There were a few adventures the MPA student body had this weekend that are definitely worth revisiting. A biggie: Visiting the Pacific Ocean.

On Boxing Day, CJ, Annabelle, Rick and I headed to Newport, Ore. to do a bit of beachcombing. We made our way toward the water, where I encouraged the kids to feel it to see how cold it was. I explained to them the fine art of running from a wave that has broken on the shore. It was a little more critical than normal that they were successful in outrunning it, as it was really cold out and we didn't have a change of clothes for them.

One time, when he was ankle deep in the water, CJ asked, "Could it pull me back out?" Clearly he's heard about undertows from somewhere. I told him that yes, in fact, it could, that's why you always want to be extra careful when you're in the ocean. Don't go in too deep, and always keep an eye on the waves when you're walking along the shoreline.
Walking along the beach we found a couple of lifeless jellyfish. After a bit of tiptoeing around and trepidation, Annabelle was brave enough to try to touch one with a stick. She about jumped out of her skin when Rick yelled, "Watch out!" just as she poked it. Typical older brother, eh?

From Newport, we headed south on Highway 101, in search of a place to have lunch. En route, we crossed the beautiful Yaquina Bay Bridge. Designed by Conde McCullough and built in 1936, it's 3,223 feet long, is as much as 133 feet above the water, and has a soaring steel arch in the center span. Lo and behold, what awaited us on the other side of the bridge? Why, it was the headquarters of the Rogue Brewery. Who knew? So we pulled in there and got to wander through the brew works on our way to the restaurant. There were enormous tanks and bubbling vats - it looked like an enormous science experiment!

The joint was jumping and we had to wait a bit for a table, but it was worth the wait. The kids were entertained by the water view and a bird flying around the funky dining room.

Ho Ho H2O

SANTA DELIVERS: As expected, Santa came 'round last night. And, as one might also expect, CJ was up at 6ish ready to see what Santa's visit brought.

Club Penguin action figures dominated Santa's bounty this year, much to the kids' delight.

After the present frenzy and breakfast, we hit the water.

CJ was happy splashing around, but he still insists on a life jacket. You know him - safety first!
Annabelle, on the other hand, is apparently part seal. She was swimming under water ...

And she was jumping off diving boards ...

Can hardly wait to see what she does tomorrow.

This afternoon we played Scrabble with some new and inventive rules - including that the words don't have to touch. Or be real words. ;)

Santa's Coming Tonight, Tonight!

IN THE SWIM: After a 7 hour drive yesterday, we woke up this morning to a sunny day in Siletz, Ore. Not too long after breakfast, the kids hit the pool. Annabelle was very adventurous, willing to put her whole face in the water in attempt to swim. I think tomorrow she'll make a real leap forward toward genuine swimming. Meanwhile, CJ is happy to be in the pool, but he's not a bit interested in submerging his face. Oh well, in time. ...

EDIBLE ART: After swimming, the kids (including Rick) were treated to a cookie decoration session. Nonnie and Co. had baked up gingerbread men, Christmas trees and ornaments and there was an array of frosting and sprinkles for embellishment. Here's Rick's victim, er, creation ...

CJ went for a more traditional approach ... and, if I'm not mistaken, he has already eaten all three of the cookies he decorated.

FERN GULLY: After the cookies, we went for a bit of a nature walk with Kirby in tow. I was trying to point out to the kids the differences between the naturally growing plants and trees at our place as compared to Nonnie and Bops', who live along a river with lots of large trees and, therefore shade and water-loving plants all around. There is lots of fern and moss. We'll have to take a closer look tomorrow with Nonnie present, as I know she will be able to enlighten us about the flora and fauna.

SURPRISE VISITOR: Just before dinner tonight, there was a knock on Nonnie and Bops' back door. And who should it be but Santa Claus himself, stopping by to drop off a couple of early presents.

The kids were mightily surprised. One of the presents Santa brought the kids was a puzzle of the United States. After dinner tonight, I opened it up and spread the pieces out for CJ. I told him I'd be right back to help and when I returned just a couple of minutes later, he'd already got a good jump on most of the border. Go CJ!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL: And to all a good night. This Santa's helper has some work to do! Happy Holidays!

Octopus's Garden

SOMETHING'S FISHY: Ever since they saw the episode of the "Kirby Right Back at Ya!" cartoon called "Dedede's Raw Deal," the kids have been semi obsessed with going to a sushi restaurant. But not just any sushi restaurant would do - it had to feature a conveyor belt with moving sushi, like the one in the cartoon.

Well today was their big day. I told Kennedy, who loves sushi, that we'd take him there for lunch before he had to head back to Bellingham. Rick was available, as well, so off to Sushi Land we all went! Fortunately (and perhaps it's a first) reality actually exceeded expectations hatched while watching the cartoon. The conveyor belt circles the whole restaurant - it must be around 60 feet in all. Along it move dozens (perhaps hundreds) of colorful little plates with tasty works of art. We sat down right across from a sushi chef's station, and had an excellent vantage point to all sorts of savory wonders being created.
Almost as soon as we sat down, CJ snatched octopus off the belt. Perhaps not surprisingly, he loved the IDEA of grabbing octopus in a sushi restaurant. The eating part - well HELL no.


Though neither one was keen on really chowing down, they had a blast playing with their chopsticks, and they did each sample a spring roll and some endamame.
Later, CJ asked me when sushi was invented. I gave him the lazy, "Oh, hundreds and hundreds of years ago" answer. He wouldn't accept such vague generalities, which I find either annoying and awesome, depending on what mood I'm in. ;)

Well, according to Sushifaq.com, "What was to become sushi was first mentioned in China in the second century A.D." Apparently, sushi was originally a way of preserving food. The site says fish was placed in rice and allowed to ferment, which allowed an individual to keep the fish edible for some time. Makes sense to me. Of course, sushi has evolved. The sushi we eat today has its roots in the early 19th century, when Hanaya Yohei conceived a major change in the production and presentation of his sushi. Instead of wrapping the fish in rice, he placed a piece of fresh fish on top of an oblong shaped piece of seasoned rice. This style is called ‘nigiri sushi’ (finger sushi) or “edomae sushi” (from Edo, the name of Tokyo at the time). Interesting (and tasty!) stuff.

MONKEY-SEA, MONKEY DO: Today, we had to head out to Toys R Us at Northgate. (I know, I know, heading for one of Seattle's biggest shopping destinations just a couple of days before Christmas = crazy.) But it had to be done. You see, a person can't score the near mythical Sea Monkeys just anywhere. As far as I can tell in my travels, Toys R Us at Northgate is the only damn place in Seattle that has 'em, and we really needed (yes, NEEDED, not wanted) to get them for a young 'un on our gift list.

Once in the car, the kids were holding the Sea-Money habitat (just add water!) like it was the Golden ticket! Naturally, they were both curious to know, just what IS a Sea-Monkey?

I told them I thought they were brine shrimp - that I remember hearing that somewhere at some time.

Once home, we looked it up. According to their official Web site:

Sea-Monkeys® are a true miracle of nature. They exist in suspended animation inside their tiny eggs for many years. The instant-life crystals, in which the eggs are enclosed, preserve their viability and help to extend still further their un-hatched life span! Sea-Monkeys are real Time-Travelers asleep in
biological time capsules for their strange journey into the future!

Hmm. Nothing about their TRUE origin there. Digging deeper, however, we discover:

Sea-Monkeys® are a unique species of brine shrimp, known by the scientific name
of Artemia NYOS. We not only unlocked the most elusive secrets of their life
cycle, we created new formulas to keep them alive under conditions found in the
average home—an accomplishment never before achieved! Finally, after years of
crossbreeding, we developed a hybrid. These amazing new hybrids grow larger and
live longer than any "natural" variety of brine shrimp. Resulting from the most
exquisitely sophisticated “aquaculture technology”, by true pioneers in this
science, only the utmost resources of a leading marine biological research
center working for a span of many years has made this project a complete
success.

Wow, high tech hybrid brine shrimp, they are. The Web site reports the Sea-Monkeys may live up to two years. Funny, when I was a kid, I recall them living maybe two hours. ... Anyway, it says they should grow up to be between 1/2 to 3/4 an inch in length during their first four weeks. After they're a month old, they'll supposedly start breeding "and have more adorable babies."

PLAYGROUND POW WOW: It wasn't sunny, and it was a little chilly, but we managed to sneak in a play session this afternoon with a favorite play pal, Connor. We met at Lawton Elementary since it has a covered play area and rain was a definite maybe.

For a long while, the kids played warring octopuses (sushi inspired, perhaps?). At one point CJ took a break in the action to come over and ask me, "What does an octopus eat?"

Well crap, I have no idea. "Um, sea creatures," I volunteer, feebly.

I'll trust the folks at University of California - San Diego when they tell us, "Octopuses eat shrimp, lobsters, crabs, and snails. They eat by grabbing prey into their eight arms. Using their parrot-like mouth, they shred prey into small pieces that will fit into their mouths."

Yikes. Note to self: Add "octopus" to list of creatures to avoid.

After playing in the school yard, we ventured uphill to the adjacent city park. It will soon be renovated, which will give us yet another great place to play. There's a lot Seattle gets wrong, but their parks are first rate.

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS: To grandmothers' houses we go tomorrow. That's right, with approximately 72 percent of the state of Washington population, we will be traveling on I5 (and other highways and by-ways) tomorrow. First stop, Vancouver USA, then on south and west toward the Oregon Coast area.

In other words, MPA will likely be offline tomorrow.

Winter Wonderland

ADVENT OF WINTER: Today is the shortest day of the year (at least as far as the sunrise-sunset measure goes), and boy did we pack a lot of fun into it! It was a Monday, and that means Field Trip!!!

Disclaimer: This was not a super educational outing. But when I got to thinking about it, I recall from personal experience (both as a kid and a chaperon) oftentimes field trips are basically just a chance to get away from the bricks and mortar and out into the "real" world. Such was the case with today's adventures.

MOVEMENT & MOVIE: For starters, Annabelle had another special dance class this morning: "Ballerina's Christmas." I'm not sure what all it entailed, but am told by Annabelle that she and the others were doing "real ballet dancing." Not sure what it is she's doing every other time I take her to ballet. Hmm. ...

Meanwhile, CJ was at an Imax 3D movie at the Pacific Science Center. On the bill "Santa vs. the Snowman" According to its Web site, in the film, "Tradition is turned on its head when an innocent and lovable Snowman discovers Santa's Village and reaches in the workshop window to pick up a shiny, new flute. What ensues is an all-out, riotous battle for Christmas, with the Snowman and his minions squaring off against Santa and his elf army for the rights to the worldwide gift delivery franchise of the jolly man in red."
It got six thumbs up (from CJ, Kennedy and Christian who all saw it together).

Bee finished ballet at noon and we two ripped over to the Seattle Center to meet the guys at the ice skating rink where CJ & Bee would be donning ice skates for the very first time in their young lives.
As we approached the rink (in the basement of the Center House), it was clear that every single Boys and Girls Club in the greater Puget Sound area had, likewise, decided to go on a field trip to ice skate at the Center today. Oh well. ...

The fearsome foursome (everyone but me) got booted up and hit the ice. It was a teeming mass of barely-in-control (and some clearly out of control) humanity. The ice, much like Seattle streets, was lumpy and bumpy, full of potholes and fissures. So CJ and Annabelle stumbled and tottered around and poor Christian and Ken labored to keep them upright.

Fortunately, the group scored a slider/walker/really-bad-skater frame. Annabelle use it for a few laps but then graduated from it. CJ then grabbed on and it never left his grip until we left the rink. ; ).

From there, it was 605 feet upward, to the top of the Space Needle. There, we found a 21st Century St. Nick sitting in a rad rocket sleigh. CJ and Annabelle climbed aboard and while Annabelle was enchanted by Santa, CJ, however, was more interested in his cool ride. There were buttons and switches and a video display panel - things Santa just couldn't hold a candle to in CJ's mind. The photographers were trying to get CJ to look at the camera. He'd respond by turning his face toward them, but there was basically no getting his mind and eyes off the dashboard. It was pretty funny.

Next, it was on to a cookie decorating station. The kids got to frost and embellish (and eat!) rocket shaped cookies.

Next, we actually enjoyed the view for a few minutes before heading back down to the ground. Here is a shot of Christian and the kids looking out toward our neighborhood, on the Magnolia peninsula:

LET'S TWIST AGAIN: Once we got home, we swung into Christmas dinner mode. We were celebrating our holiday dinner with Kennedy and Rick tonight. While I was prepping prime rib and stuff, we let the kids open a couple of presents early. One was a Twister game (thanks G&G!). Rick spun the pointer and hilarity ensued. I think CJ and Annabelle learned some new yoga poses tonight. ;)

At one point Christian walked into the room and said, "I used to play that when I was a kid."

Annabelle looked at him and (innocently) asked, "Do you think you can still do it, Dad?"

It was a very fun and full day. Tomorrow we might even crack a book. ...

Mmmm, Donuts!

HO HO HO!: Christmas came early to the Kisky household in the form of Kennedy, who was on our doorstep at 7:30 this morning, donuts in hand. (Have I mentioned CJ adores donuts? Oh, and he adores Ken, too.)

So CJ was in bliss this morning - until he made a disturbing realization: There were three donuts in the bag. One was for him (he chose a chocolate frosted round donut), one was for Annabelle (she chose a chocolate frosted bar) and then there was a maple bar. Neither Ken nor I wanted the maple bar, which meant it sat there in its white bag, taunting CJ.

Seriously, the unassigned maple bar was totally eating at him. He wanted to know who would eat it. When would they eat it? How would we decide who eats it and when they eat it?

Finally, I told him that he could have half of it after music. (I did this suspecting that if I hadn't told him that, he would have spent the whole damn music lesson obsessing about the maple bar.) It satisfied him and he was able to get back to important stuff, like watching cartoons. Crisis averted.

FUN & GAMES: Today was the kids' last Musikgarten until 2010. For the last 10 minutes of class (the part parents are in on) they played a fun game of hide and seek. While the future seeker was hiding his or her eyes, another student would hide a small purse and the rest of the group would sing (to the tune of "Yankee Doodle"), "Lucy Locket lost her pocket(book), Kitty Fisher found it. Not a penny was there in it, just a ribbon 'round it." Once it was safely hidden away, the seeker would go looking for it, and while they were searching, classmates would pound on hand drums lightly or piano if the seeker was "cold," or forté if they were getting close. The closer the seeker was, the louder the drumming became. The game was a nice twist on hide and seek, and a great way to reinforce those two musical terms.

PORING OVER IT: I had to do a couple of things upstairs, so I asked the kids to take turns reading a story out of their new "High Five" magazine in my absence. I listened from afar as they read "Cow Food," an adventure of Tex and Indi and their cat named Cow. Rather than rushing back downstairs, I waited to see what they would do when they were done with the story. I was hoping they'd just keep on going, further perusing the magazine. Sure 'nuff, that's exactly what they did. They read a recipe for Mac and Cheese Muffins (and begged to make it), took turns reading another story, and did some word find and hidden picture puzzles.

IT'S BLITZ!: When the kids got back from music today, they were hungry, so I got them a mid-morning snack and let them watch the last half of The Price is Right for the first time in weeks. I'm working on stuff around the house and not paying much attention until the "Showcase Showdown" at the end got my attention. I glance over at the screen couldn't believe it - there stood the Seattle Seahawks' mascot, Blitz, on TPIR stage. Of course, I immediately recalled that TPIR host Drew Carey has a significant Seattle tie - he's part owner of the MLS team, the Sounders. Anywho, the showcase featured a trip to Seattle, tickets to a Seahawks' game, a VIP event with Warren Moon and a new SUV to use for tailgating. Nice! Unfortunately, the dude who bid on it was like $10k under - apparently he doesn't realize the value of some face time with Warren Moon. ; )

While we're talking prices, let me take this opportunity to report that for the last two days, every time we go into a store (which is a lot this time of year), CJ has been a price tag reading fool. He totally has the dollars-decimal-cents thing down. Excellent!

ROLLIN' ALONG: So, Annabelle decides instead of walking during our midday sojourn, she wants to scoot. I knew I'd end up carrying the thing, but went along with her request. Neither she nor CJ are quite coordinated enough on it yet to scoot uphill, and the sidewalks and streets in our neighborhood are typical for Seattle (translation: riddled with potholes, cracks, and poor drainage). So, of course, I wound up carrying the scooter 95 percent of the way. Oh well, more exercise for me. ;)

FULL CIRCLE: What's on the menu tomorrow morning? Yes, donuts. Again.

We'll be meeting a former classmate from kindergarten (and her mother) at Top Pot Donuts for a reunion. CJ hasn't seen his friend since last June. She's a super sweet girl who recently sent CJ a letter telling him she misses him. So tomorrow they'll have a chance to catch up.

Tonight I talked to CJ about some of the questions he might like to ask her (No, not, 'What's in your fridge?'!) and things the two of them might talk about. Hopefully he'll remember some of the "script" tomorrow. ;)

I've decided to leave Annabelle at home because if she comes along, she will dominate the conversation and try to direct every interaction. It's who she is, it's what she does. ;) I'll be the first to admit that often that is very helpful when it comes to CJ and social situations. However, he really needs to be able to go it alone, and not count on Annabelle for all of that "interface" stuff he'd often rather not deal with. And I know without a doubt that CJ can be conversant and engaging and outgoing - because I see him do it every day. I think the trick with him is he needs to learn that he doesn't always get to decide when he cares to engage and when he doesn't. Those darn societal norms need to be heeded!

Nutcracker Sweet

SPECIAL PERFORMANCE: Though Bee's ballet is officially over for winter session, I had her signed up for a special, one-class event called "Nutcracker Ballet" this morning. Though it was at the same place (the Magnolia Community Center) and with the same teacher, it was a big departure from her typically-very-regimented regular class. It was a fun-filled 90 minutes where the girls got to try on different costumes, watch a video excerpt from "The Nutcracker," do some coloring and drawing and there was even a gift at the end - a pretty little nutcracker, of course.

It warmed my heart when Annabelle walked out of class, walked right up to CJ and handed her prized nutcracker right over to him. She knows he has quite a thing for nutcrackers of all shapes and sizes. He was so pleased and thanked her repeatedly and spent most of the rest of the day with the green nutcracker in his hands. Throughout the day he asked Annabelle different things about what she'd done in class and asked her to show him how a nutcracker dances. She demonstrated a few moves, and we also checked out a few videos on YouTube of various performances of The Nutcracker.

DUTCH TREAT: Our mailbox today held a couple of great surprises. One was an oversized envelope with funny looking stamps, which intrigued the kids. Inside was a Christmas card with unfamiliar words printed on the front and inside. What was familiar, however, was the photo on the cover. I held it up and asked the kids if anything looked familiar. They both recognized that it was a picture of our aluminum Christmas tree - and wanted to know what the "funny" words on the cover said. Mercifully, there was a note tucked inside that translated the Dutch for us. It said (sic), "The text on the front can be translated as: ..wishes you cosy holidays and a mentally healthy 2010!"

I'll second that notion!

So, it was fun to see a leftover photo I'd parked on Morguefile.com find a "home" on the front of a non profit health organization's holiday card. It's a small world after all! Speaking of which, of course then we had to get a globe out and locate The Netherlands.

GIMME FIVE: Also in our mailbox today was the first issue of a magazine that Gma & Gpa bought the kids a subscription for - "High Five." It's a product of in the "Highlights" line, and based on our initial leaf through, it looks like it's going to be a terrific resource for MPA. There are stories, games, fun looking math exercises, craft and recipes ideas - even a bilingual story. We're looking forward to exploring every last page! Looks like there's even an audio edition and a parent/teacher (that's me!) guide online!

COYOTE TROT: It was a decent (translation: not freezing and no torrential rains) afternoon, so we took Kirby and the Street Sharks (action figures) to our neighborhood park for P.E.. Before we left, CJ remembered that last time we were there (well over a week ago) he wanted to draw Lost Lake (not sure what the genesis for that) so we brought some chalk along and did just that. On the way home the kids, as has become their usual routine, the kids looked for signs of our "friendly" neighborhood coyote.

STICKY SWEET: Believe it or not, at separate times today, each of the kids asked me where maple syrup comes from (CJ asked while eating pancakes this morning, Bee asked upon spying maple leaves at the park). So, when we returned from the park, we hopped on line and learned about maple syrup (including by watching a video about production at the Canadian Organic Maple Company). It's a more complicated process than I thought it was. I thought they just tapped a tree and the stuff flowed straight into bottles, which were then carted to the store. ;)

GOOD v. EVIL: All day today, CJ kept asking about angels and devils. At first I blamed it on the Veggie Tales (he'd picked one of their DVDs from the library recently), but as it turns out, Tom & Jerry are the genesis of his ponderings. He explained to me that in the cartoon "that gray cat" sometimes has little people sitting on his shoulders. CJ explained the shoulder sitters "both look like him," but one tells him to do good things and the other tells him to do bad things. CJ thought one was an angel and one was a devil, which is one way to look at it. I'd always thought that shoulder sitting device used in cartoons represented an internal struggle of conscience. ... Anyway, we had a several short conversations today about angels, devils, and trying to do the right thing even when someone's trying to get you to do the wrong thing.

AND BY THE WAY: The sun didn't rise above Queen Anne hill (to our east) until 8 fricking 30 this morning. Boy, I'll be glad when the days start getting longer.

Dark Days of December

REINDEER GAMES: This morning we started off with a writing exercise. I told the kids, "Imagine that Martians had just landed on earth and everywhere the aliens look they keep seeing things about a reindeer with a red nose. How would you explain Rudolph to them?" I asked them to write three sentences about it. We brainstormed a little together to come up with words they might use (Rudolph, reindeer, sleigh and Christmas) and I wrote those on the white board to help (none of those four are spelled like they sound!)

To say CJ was slow out of the gate would be an understatement. He sat there, pencil hovering over paper, for a "good" 20 minutes. The trouble? He wanted to write a sentence that started with the word "he" and he said he didn't know how to spell it. This is ridiculous for two reasons - 1) He does know how to spell it and 2) even if he didn't know how to spell it, he most certainly could have sounded it out, because he knows all of his letters and letter sounds. But that aside, he was suffering from a full blown case of Perfection Petrification. I told him to go ahead and leave the table, go sit on his bed and chill out and report back when he was ready to get to work. About 15 minutes later he emerged, cured (at least temporarily) and soldiered through the assignment.

As a soundtrack for their Rudolph writing assignment, I played different versions of "Rudolph," of course - including a guitar only version by Sungha Jung, a Korean teen who knows his way around a guitar.

Also in the reindeer vein, I wrote all of the reindeer names on slips of paper and had the kids alphabetize them. I'd just introduced them to alphabetizing last week, and this particular challenge was a good one, because there are, for instance, three reindeer names that start with D (Dasher, Dancer, Donner), so it was a good challenge - and they got to learn that if the first letter is the same, you go to the word's second letter. And if that is the same too (Dasher, Dancer), you then go to the third letter.

EPISODE 7: Today, during our radio theater interlude, Cinnamon Bear, Jimmy, Judy, and the Crazy Quilt Dragon met up with Presto the Magician who was of absolutely no help in their quest to find the silver star for atop the twins' Christmas tree.

Table work today also included a couple of reading comprehension and sequencing exercises. They both aced those quickly, with zero help and with flying colors.

CLASS REUNION: This afternoon we were invited to the home of one of CJ's classmates from Befriended. It meant driving to Bellevue in the pouring rain, but hey, we'll go a long way for a good time. ;) So CJ and Annabelle got to spend an hour and a half playing with three siblings, all boys, ranging from 18 months to 6 years old. On the way over, I talked to CJ about things he might say to or ask his classmate. CJ's first thought?: "What's in your fridge?!"

I couldn't help but laugh.

They played with and alongside each other really nicely for the most part. At one point they were even all dancing together to a CD called Movin' 2 Math by Jack Hartmann, former child psychologist turned full time kiddie music maker. One of the songs, "Make Any Shape and Freeze" had lyrics that instructed them to make various shapes with their body (a gorilla, a body builder, a shark, a chicken, and so on) and then freeze. It was entertaining watching their different dance styles.

On the drive to and fro we listened to "Here Come the ABCs" by They Might Be Giants and "Grammar Rock," from Schoolhouse Rock fame. Good stuff.

Getting Nowhere Fast

MULLING MILLIONS: When I announced it was math time this morning, for whatever reason, it went over like a lead balloon. I remembered that we have a couple of math-related DVDs that need to go back to the library soon, so I proposed that we watch one of those as our math lesson today. CeeJ and Bee were thrilled. So, we watched a "Reading Rainbow" episode called "Math is Everywhere." It featured the book "How Much is a Million?" The illustrated children's book uses clever examples to help illustrate just how much those "illion" numbers are.

For example, the kids learned that if they were counting to a billion, it would take 25 years, and that if a billion kids were standing on one anothers' shoulders, they would tower up past the moon. A trillion kids would stack up almost as far as Saturn's rings and it would take 200,000 years to count to a trillion.

Part of the "Reading Rainbow" episode was a visit to Giants Stadium to see how employees and vendors use estimation to prepare for games.

Keeping with the numbers theme, we tuned into "Numberjacks" for the first time in ages. The kids used to watch it daily. It's pretty elementary stuff - well below their age level when it comes to mathematics - but what makes it interesting is that it's in Spanish, so the kids get to listening to that language and pick out as many words as they can.

BEAR IN THE AIR: Since it was raining so hard, we didn't take Kirby on her mid-day walk. Instead, I had the kids throw her toy bear for her to fetch. I asked CJ to throw the bear 13 times. After every couple of throws, I'd ask him how many time he'd thrown it, and how many more he had to go. He was able to come up with the 13 - # = answer almost instantly!

YOGA WOES: The kids had yoga today and the class itself was AOK, as usual. It was the Seattle traffic that made it trying. It took us 45 minutes to get there, the teacher was 10 minutes late (due to traffic) and it took us over an hour to get home. Not sure what the massive gridlock was all about. Yeah, it was a little rainy, but hell-o! This is Seattle, people! Fortunately, before we left home, I had the presence of mind to grab the CD "SpongeBob's Greatest Hits" that I found at the library last week. It kept the kids entertained for the duration.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?: I love reading micro local papers, and a couple of days ago I picked up the Magnolia News. On the front page was a photo of some young, local ballerinas. The lead paragraph reads:

As it does every year, the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker
has cast several girls and boys from Seattle. Included in this
year's cast are several girls from Magnolia, including Ashley
Ochsner, 9th grader at Holy Names Academy; Eileen Kelly, 9th grader
Seattle Prep; and Katharine Grimm, 9th Grader Seattle Prep
(pictured). Additional Magnolians include Alexandra Sheldrup, 5th
grader Our Lady of Fatima and Mary Luken Raz, 6th grader at Pacific
Crest School.

At that point, for me, the story became about something other than ballet. Five neighborhood kids listed and NONE of them, not ONE, attends public school. And Magnolia is considered a creme de la creme neighborhood, one with the best Seattle Public Schools has to offer. It really serves to underscore what seems to be the case in this city - way more often than not, if someone can afford to send their kid to private school, they DO send their kid to private school. Sigh. And the more I read about the current climate in SPS, the more disheartened I become about the prospect for things improving measurably anytime soon.

Though a person reading this might think otherwise, I am actually very PRO public schools. I've volunteered thousands of hours in public schools, taken a lead role in bond and levy campaigns, blah blah blah. And I do (almost always agree) with the adage, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." But I'm also not a big fan of beating one's head against a brick wall and in my experiences with SPS, there's a whole lot of brick. Hell, I saw it from Day One, when I went to sign CJ up and the extraordinarily rude woman in the enrollment office basically said "bite me" in response to questions about school assignment from two parents in line ahead of me - and she definitely counseled them to go enroll their kids in a private school.

BONUS SHOTS: Here are a couple of 'leftovers' from yesterday's field trip to the Pacific Science Center. They're of the kids in the Gemini capsule, CJ checking out tides in the greater Seattle area, and the kids with Hong Kong Phooey (a favorite from my childhood!)