So Long, Winter!

THE RUN AROUND: The kids had a blast in Musikgarten this morning. There was plenty of music and merriment, of course, and they got to play a game where they all stood in a circle and one child was the cat. The cat patrolled the perimeter of the circle while everyone sang, "Mouse, mousey in the housey, hurry hurry do. Or the kitty in the housey will be chasing you." At that line, the child who had been designated the mouse popped out of the circle and ran around trying to escape being captured by the cat before sliding back into his spot safe and sound. (If memory serves, doesn't the game "Duck, Duck, Goose" work somewhat the same way?)

After the lesson, the kids asked for a few minutes of swing time on the park bench in Teacher Nancy's front yard. I obliged as it was sunny and warm enough, and plus, a neighbor who is regularly out on the balcony (see him up there in the photo?) playing his guitar was out there doing his usual thing (that thing being singing mostly Jethro Tull).

PATIENCE, GRASSHOPPER: For some visual arts action, I thought I'd have them do some drawing. We had a library book on hand that shows how to draw insects step-by-step. I chose a grasshopper for them, because grasshoppers are featured in a couple of their Musikgarten songs.

We've done exercises like this before, but other times we've used a video "OnDemand" lesson from ActivityTV. For whatever reason, the kids seem to have a lot better luck with the video tutor. Their grasshoppers by-the-book were a struggle to produce.

That said, when they finished their drawings, they had fun coloring them, each choosing to go against the grain and not paint the insect green. CJ opted for a mostly goldenrod g-hopper. Bee's was a rainbow of colors.

STEP CHILDREN: We've had the same spelling list of 25 words for four days running, so it was time for the test. The kids asked to play the work-their-way-up-the-stairs game again. They get to step up with a correct answer, step down for a miss. Annabelle only had one misstep. CJ got stymied by a couple of words and each and every time I told him to close his eyes, pretend he was holding a book and to picture a sentence. For instance, one of the words was "little" and I told him to pretend he was holding a book with a title of "The Three Little Pigs" and to read to me how the word "little" was spelled. That worked like a charm every single time.

BARK PARK: A little after noon, we headed down the block to Bayview Park for some Vitamin D and fresh air. The kids were clambering all over the play equipment, and I was surprised they had the place to themselves. Public schools weren't in session today.

To and from the park, the kids were noticing all of the dandelions (or dente lions as they now call them, happy to have a chance to show off their vast French vocabulary). Annabelle picked a whole bouquet and thought they smelled delightful. She didn't mind the yellow nose afterward, either.


UNDERDOGS: OK, I'll admit it. I turned on some March Madness for a few minutes this afternoon. Just 10 minutes - I swear!!! It was the end of the Clemson v. Missouri game and Annabelle asked me who was the underdog - she knows I often root for the underdog when I don't have a dog in the fight, so to speak. So I showed her how the teams' seed in the tournament were listed before their name, and explained that was their ranking, and that 1 was best and 16 was lowest in each region. After Clemson knocked Mo. off, coverage switched to Wofford and Wisconsin. The Badgers were a 4 seed and Wofford was 13th. Annabelle correctly and immediately concluded that Wofford was the underdog. So there you have it. Our math lesson for the day. :)

DIRTY DOG!: Regular readers know that our indoor grow operation has moved partially upstairs. Our tomato sprouts burst onto the scene there, and the sunflower seeds are stashed upstairs, as well. The pots are on the floor, on trays, and to date there's been no problem. But this morning when I emerged from the shower, I found a guilty looking dog and dirt all over the floor.

Mercifully, Kirby had only torn into one tiny pot by the time I caught her. I gave her holy hell and she slunk off. The good news is, while cleaning up, I discovered that several of the sunflower seeds have sprouted. Yay!
SCENIC ROUTE: When Christian got home, we went for a run/ride. Instead of a route around our immediate 'hood, we ventured west torward Magnolia's bluff. It was a clear, sunny day, so the vistas of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains were awesome. Around a mid point, we stopped in a patch of grass to play "Red Light, Green Light." What a simple, fun game.

SPRING HAS (ALMOST) SPRUNG: This afternoon, I pointed out to the kids that today is the last day of winter. Tomorrow, spring starts. At that, Annabelle recalled that there is a first day of spring-themed play in the "Small Plays for Special Days" library book we still had around.

So, we checked to see what props we needed (a lion's mane, lamb ears, lilies and strawberries) and set about assembling and/or crafting them.

Unlike last time, however, I didn't have the kids don the costumes right away. I told them that in real world drama productions, actors' first rehearsals are costume free. The basically start with a reading of the play/lines. I had the kids do that sitting at the bar. After that run through, I had them say and act their lines, but still no costumes.

After that run through, it was time for the dress rehearsal. CJ did a good job of staying on point with the script and tried to keep Annabelle on task, too. "Ahem - your line," he said more than once, through gritted teeth. Meanwhile, Annabelle kept giving CJ acting pointers, interrupting the production with cries of, "CJ! CJ! CJ!" followed by some advice about what he should be doing.

I suggested they each concentrate on their own lines and cues and that it's important to stay in character, no matter what.

Tonight after dinner, they staged the production for Christian and they did pretty well.

This photo from dress rehearsal absolutely cracks me up. It looks like a rough Halloween-gone-wrong mugshot of both of them. So, so funny.