It's Drafty in Here

HELLO, RUBY THURSDAY: First thing this morning the kids asked to check on their crystals. I love it when they're so enthused about a science project.

Just checking the bowl on the counter made it seem as if nothing had changed, but when we lifted it up and looked at the bottom, and then tilted it to expose the bottom, we could see a big change, indeed. The entire bottom of the bowl is covered with rock salt sized ruby crystals.

Interestingly, the rocks we were instructed to put in the bowl are entirely crystal free. I'm still not sure why the rock was supposed to be in there, and mystified by what size rock it was supposed to be. Hmm. ...

ADD IT UP: We did some more math this morning - more mostly mentally adding numbers two and three digits long. CJ has taken to this more quickly than Annabelle. I have to think it might be in part due to his playing video games (who says they're good for nothing?). WE GOTTA GO: This morning I was alternately trying to talk myself into and out of going to Costco. I finally decided to Just Do It. When I told the kids, Annabelle took it upon herself to get a pad and pen and quiz me about our shopping list. And then (unlike her mother) she actually remembered to BRING the list to the store and consult it while shopping. Nice.

While there, we scored a new (to CJ) "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book (#3 in the series). In what has become a familiar scene, he curled up on the couch and pretty much didn't move until he'd finished it a couple hours later.
UP TOP: Today, by gum, was THE DAY we WOULD pull the weeds in the parking strip. I feel like such a loser every time I drive up and see the dozens of weeds there, mocking me. While I got down and dirty, the kids played soccer in the too long grass.
Their game had a lot of Rules, mostly of Annabelle's making. I told Annabelle that IMHO, too many rules sometimes sucks the fun out of a game. ... Apparently CJ agreed, cause he ditched that in favor of getting his book and reading it outside.

THE WAR ROOM: We rarely turn the TV on during the day, but today I made a couple of exceptions. First, the Mariners' game was on at 10 a.m. (they were in Detroit playing a matinee game). So that was our background noise for a couple hours this morning. The Ms won for the third day in a row which is, unfortunately, shocking.

Late this afternoon I watched the clock with my mind on the start of the NFL draft. I was thinking I was going to tell the kids about the draft as we watched it, but it occurred to me we could do a quick lesson ahead of time. I went and grabbed the white board.

I asked the kids if they know what a draft is. Neither one of them knew, so I explained that it's just another word for choosing players for your team. They both have experience with that in schoolyard type games and video games.

I asked them if they could think of a video game where they have lots of choices about whom they play as. They both struck upon Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Perfect! I asked them, "What are some of the things you consider when choosing your player?"

Annabelle said she always wants someone who can float. CJ said he considers how much damage their attacks do. Annabelle said she also considers how fast they can run, and CJ said he looked at "how long range" their attacks are.

With those criteria in mind, I asked them each to draft 5 players for a Super Smash Bros. Brawl team. I explained to them it would be a serpentine draft. That means there's a first pick, and then the person who picks second also picks third, then the first picker gets picks 4 and 5, then it goes to the second picker who gets 6 and 7, and so on. They made their picks and afterward, I asked them why they picked each of their players. We talked about how you wouldn't necessarily want a team full of people of the exact same characteristics (all floaters, for instance), and how versatility is important. I asked them how they determined what a character's strengths were and they said by reading about them and watching them. I told them that's exactly what people drafting players for pro sports teams do, too.

I pointed out to them that the things they were looking for - floating (vertical jump), how much damage they could do (strength), how fast they can run, and how long range they were (stamina, endurance), were all things the teams would be looking for in players for the NFL draft. I thought our draft lesson plan went REALLY well and was actually educationally sound, I do believe. ;)

Soon, it was time to turn on the TV where we saw Cam Newton picked first overall (dubious choice, IMHO) and Jake Locker of UW go 8th (excellent- even higher than projected!). I am going to predict right now that Locker will have the more notable career of the two.

P.M. PARK: After dinner, we walked up to the neighborhood park, where CJ, Bee and Kirby all enjoyed some more fresh air. After a session at the playground, we walked up and over to the baseball diamond. There, Bee worked on her (imaginary) fastball, and they both ran the (invisible) bases. ABOUT FACE: This afternoon Annabelle asked me if she could be on Facebook. Hmm. I tried to think of really good reasons to say 'no,' and didn't come up with anything. ... The obvious response might have been, "Well, you're too young." But really, I don't think age has anything to do with it - what's important is using Facebook wisely/prudently. And so, I helped her sign up and we started a Facebook 101 session.

About the very first thing I explained to her is that on Facebook when you make a post or comment, it's not like an email or an instant message, just between you and the other person. It's out there for your friends and your friend's friends to see. I know she grasped that because she said, "Well then you'd have to send them a private message," and pointed to the icon to do just that. Another thing I explained to her is that while there are games on Facebook, that if she chooses to play games, it can clutter up her friends' Facebook newsfeeds and some people might choose to unfriend a person over that. She looked horrified and said, "They can UNFRIEND you?!?!" :)

I told her that there are enough games available elsewhere on the Internet, and that I'd recommend she steer clear of Facebook games. We shall see how this experiment in social networking goes. ...