Rewind

BITE SIZED: We started this morning with some language arts, British style. We used the K-1 level "Bitesize" educational activities on the BBC's vast educational Web site. Such fun (and so much learning!) to be had there. The kids had a smorgasbord of tasty choices - everything from enticing "Kung-Fu Sentences" to intriguing "Alien Punctuation."

It's kind of fun using UK-based literacy exercises, as we learn terms they use. Yesterday it was the fact that a period (.) here is called a "full stop" there. Today, Annabelle was 'playing' "River Rhyming" and asked me what a "pram" is. :)

BACK TO BALLET: After a week's layoff, Bee was back to ballet this morning. There were quite a few new faces in her class, so hopefully she was a good role model to the newcomers. ;) While she was doing the tutu, CJ and I went for a stroll, and hit the hardware store. Normally that wouldn't pique my kids' interests, but this hardware store has pretty pet parakeets and free popcorn, so it's actually a treat to go there. This hardware store (Magnolia Ace) also has the odd distinction of having a whole aisle of fancy cupcake foils/fun cookie cutters and fancy sprinkles. Go figure. We bought some cupcake wrappers (naturally) and pads for the feet of our furniture (gotta protect those new wood floors at MPA!).

KIRBY TROT: We took Kirby for a stroll around noon and enjoyed the bounty of beautiful tulips that are popping up all around our neighborhood right now.

HAIL-OH: This afternoon we headed out to one of my favorite places: Swanson's Nursery, just west of Ballard/Crown Hill. It's a sprawling urban nursery, with excellent plant stock and really cool gardening-related supplies accessories. In one of its buildings there's even a ritzy little garden cafe and a good sized koi pond.

Of course, the koi are a a big draw for the kids. These fish are incredible - bigger than our dog, I swear and SO colorful. And I take it they're hungry, because any time a human approaches the pond, they practically crawl out of it, looking for a handout. (Unfortunately, this photo doesn't give you any sense of scale at all. Other than the fish scales of course, haha. Sorry. Couldn't help myself!)

While at Swanson's, we had to look at every cactus we came across (cacti being one of CJ's "things"). A bit later, while we were admiring $500 palm trees, a hailstorm started. Not sure why, but it was kind of fun to be standing amidst all the beautiful flora and fauna with pea sized ice pellets storming down. The kids took refuge in a funky little playhouse on site and enjoyed the weather show.

TESTING 1-2-3: This afternoon, I wanted to paint an upstairs bathroom, so I brought the kids and some worksheets upstairs so I could semi supervise them while I work. The worksheets were from the back of a second grade math book and I liked them because it wasn't just straight up computation. In fact, most pages were just ONE problem to solve, but a whole lot of words proceeding it, detailing what the student had to do to arrive at the correct answer. I'm happy to report, the kids both aced their tests - even though the one involving adding up the value of coins pictured. Initially, it gave CJ fits because, "They're all gray!!!" he wailed at the black-and-white worksheet. ;) I reminded him that he could figure it out if he noted the coins' size and graphics, and that's just what he did.

MEMORY LANE: While the kids were working on an unfamiliar desk upstairs, they spied small photo albums from their baby years. They started thumbing through them and reminiscing. I was in the adjacent room, listening, and it was so entertaining.

Realizing most of the photos in the two books found upstairs were of CJ's baby years, Annabelle demanded to know where her "memory books" were. I told her where she could find them downstairs and she would up making 6 trips up and down the spiral staircase, toting the photos up. Once they had all the books together, they spread them out on the floor and started poring over them. "Here's my first birthday cake. It's Tinky Winky, a Teletubby," CJ noted (rather than recalled.)

"Here's me getting a bath in the sink!" said Annabelle.

"Here's me with Rick!" said CJ.

"Here's me with Ken!" exclaimed Annabelle.

They spent a good 30 minutes just paging through the albums, remarking upon what they saw. At one point, I heard CJ say softly, "Ah, good times. Good times." How cute is that? :)

Eventually the reminiscing morphed into a game, where they were hosting a program and narrating the stories that were represented by the photos in the books. It was fascinating to listen to. I leave you with a few of their favorites ...