Every Rose Has Its Thorn

SECONDHAND SCORE: This morning the kids test drove one of their Christmas presents - one of several Magic School Bus computer games that Christian scored at Value Village. They were all brand-new-in-plastic-covered boxes and he got them for only $3 apiece - an AMAZING find. This morning's adventure was exploring "The Age of the Dinosaurs." It's a damn fine game/adventure.

The dinosaurs depicted are diverse (not just your standard T-Rex Brontosaurus stuff) and the questions the kids have to answer along the way are challenging (for instance, knowing which semi-obscure dinosaurs ate what). At one point, Annabelle came running out of the bedroom and exclaimed, "Did you know in the Jurassic period there were pineapples?"

Meanwhile, CJ is still on his future paleontologist kick. I wonder how many kids go through that. I know my sister (hi Renee!) and I certainly did.

OUT AND ABOUT: We were able to sneak a run in this morning between squalls. There was a window from 11 to noon and so we headed to the "purple play park" (Lawton Elementary, where the uprights for the playground equipment are purple).

While we were there, CJ and Annabelle thought it would be a good time to practice "skits" they can submit to "America's Funniest Videos." So they staged various run-ins and soft-ish spills. One (pictured below) involved CJ crashing (albeit rather slowly) into Christian's back while hanging onto a zipline-type of thingee. I managed to capture the moment before the collision on my crappy cell phone camera. ...

STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES: This afternoon was all about the Rose Bowl. This year it was the Oregon Ducks v. the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Christian has family ties to Oregon football. His sister Jessica graduated from UO and Christian's uncle Rich Brooks coached the UO football team for years (heck, the UO football field is even named after the dude). So Christian was rooting for the Ducks and encouraging CJ & Annabelle to do likewise.

On the other hand, as a lifelong diehard UW Huskies fan, the Ducks are the Arch Enemy to me. That said, all four of my kids were born in Oregon and I know how to rally 'round a theme, and would rather see a Pac 10 team win the Rose Bowl, so we bedecked the house in Ducks stuff.

CeeJ and Bee helped get the table ready, transforming a Seahawks game board into a Rose Bowl decoration. We washed up little rubber duckies, Bee blew up yellow and green balloons. We found the quackers, yellow pom poms (that actually said Huskies on their handles!) and found Annabelle's stuffed rose decoration.

I whipped up scrumptious Bloody Mary Flank Steak (2 die 4), beer batter bread, and made some fantastic stuffed peppers.

The dinner was awesome. The game - notsomuch if you're a Ducks fan.

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.