Liftoff! We have liftoff!

Dawn of the Ares: Upon upping at 5:20 this a.m., the first thing I did was log into the NASA Web site to see what the status of the Ares I-X was. The rocket was still on the launch pad, awaiting a weather window, the countdown stuck at 4 minutes. I knew that it had to happen by 9 a.m. our time today or the launch would be put off a couple of months. So I watched and waited. Finally, at about 8:25 things looked favorable weather wise, so I gathered the kids around and they watched the countdown and the first NASA rocket launch of their lives. The shots of it roaring away from the launchpad were amazing, and then the footage from space was awesome, as well. We watched replays on the NASA site (highly recommended viewing!), which had several different angles of the event, including a cool one from an onboard camera, so you could see the buildings, roads, etc. getting smaller as Ares climbed in altitude.

I wouldn't be surprised if the launch is something the kids remember forever.

CALENDAR CATCH UP: We hadn't broken out the calendar in a week or so, and the kids are hot to figure out how many days until Halloween, so we got them out today. They figured out it's Wednesday (day after yoga, day before ballet), and that it was the 28th with little trouble. Yay!

DRIVING ME BATTY: Since the holiday is rapidly approaching, I thought it would be nice to get in another Halloween craft project. We haven't done any thing "batty" yet, so I went online and found a little tutorial about how to draw a bat. I liked it because it took what could be a daunting project (especially for Mr. CJ) and broke it down into bite sized steps that he could totally follow. (First draw a circle, then two triangles, then another circle, a couple more triangles - that sort of thing.) Against my better judgment, I let them watch a Scooby Doo Halloween special while they were drawing. Despite that, the kids produced a couple of cute bats on black construction paper post haste. I handed them scissors and told them to cut their bats out while I hopped in the shower. Mid shampoo, I hear crying. Specifically, CJ crying. "What now? Another crafting accident?" I wonder. So I hop out to find that CJ has cut his bat up into several bits. Ruh roh, as Scooby Doo would say. Obviously, CJ was was following all lines, instead of just the outline. I wasn't happy. I blame myself, of course, for letting them watch that blasted cartoon while working. So, off went the TV (Gee, I hope the gang solved the mystery!), and CJ had to draw and cut out a second bat, this time head, wings, ears and feet intact.

With the TV off, I played the perfect bat-ground music while they worked: The Count from Sesame Street singing Batty Bat.

HUNTING AND GATHERING: Halloween is Saturday and the kids' costumes are not ready. This hangs heavily over our heads. (Well, really I'm the only one worried about it. The kids just expect it to happen.) Anyway, one of today's activities was taking stock of what we do have on hand, what we need to procure and think about where we will find it. That's right, people, today MPA was all about good old fashioned life skills!

CJ has decided to be the Joker from Batman (no doubt inspired by Rick's get up last year and my fear of clowns). Annabelle has decided to be a bee. Incredibly, Annabelle can still squeeze into the bee costume she donned as a 1 year old, but it's a little short :). So we decided that would be the top half of her costume and that we'd fashion a flower for her bottom half (so she looks like a bee sitting on a flower). So it was off to Big 5 for black socks (bee arms/legs) and green socks (part of the flower stem. Then Goodwill, Value Village and the fabric store for the balance of the stuff. I think we managed to round up everything we need. Once home Annabelle and I stuffed and sewed legs to the bee costume. Tomorrow we'll fashion the flower. CJ tried on his Joker outfit and it will work fine. He also modeled a C3PO costume he found at Goodwill that he just HAD to have. At just $3.50 or so, I was happy to oblige-they play dress up year round and how often can you buy a droid for under $4? He did have one complaint about the getup, though. "I can't eat my Cheez-Its!" he lamented, trying to shove them through the mask. I told him that droids don't eat, so that's not a problem. The costume came off shortly thereafter.

PREPPED FOR THE PENNANT: The World Series starts today and you know here at MPA we embrace absolutely any excuse to learn about baseball, so today's featured reading was "Hey Batta Batta SWING! The Wild Old Days of Baseball" by Sally Cook and James Charlton. The very early days of baseball are revisited; baseball phrases like 'can of corn' and 'frozen rope' are explained; the genesis and evolution of uniforms is covered; the facts go on and on. A bit wordy for one sitting with CeeJ and Bee, but a fun read nonetheless.

TRUE CONFESSION: CJ and Annabelle were talking about their former preschool this morning and CJ admitted, "I always wanted to marry Miss Brooke," the teacher.

OVERHEARD: The kids were looking for a lost item in the living room and Annabelle found it, to which CJ said, "You sure have a smart brain, Annabelle."