The Color Purple

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

PLAY DAY: This morning, CJ and Annabelle had the pleasure of attending "Harold and the Purple Crayon" at the Seattle Children's Theatre. Before they went, however, I had them watch the Weston Woods animated version of the book. CJ recalled that he watched it as a kindergartener at John Hay.

Their big bro Kennedy took the kids to the show. I dropped them at the curb right when doors opened and they managed to get front-and-center seats.

The play is based on the 1955 book of the same name. According to SCT's Web site, "Anything is possible with a crayon and a big imagination. With a burst of inspiration, Harold launches a magical exploration and simply draws where he wants to go."

CeeJ and Bee both liked the play. CJ said, "It was a pretty good play, but I like to tell you the weirdest part of the movie was when the porcupine and the moose were on the stage. They were talking French until Harold gave them the pie. They ate it and they loved it. In fact, so much that the porcupine kept asking him how does he make it. But Harold never answered. But he kept asking and asking and asking."

Annabelle reports, "The person who played Harold in the play was actually the person that played the mouse in "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."

Honestly, of the three, I think Kennedy was most jazzed about the production. It's the first time he's seen a SCT play, and he was really impressed by the great props and the quality of the acting. I'm glad he was able to take the kids. :)

SCARY STORIES: We popped into the Ballard branch of Seattle Public Libraries today. The kids took a few minutes to check out their nicely done "Spooky Stories" display. CJ, especially, dug all the creepy covers on the books and kept going back to it.

CUT UPS: This afternoon we set out for the fabric store in search of supplies for Annabelle's Halloween costume. She has decided to be Nyan Cat (also known as Pop Tart Cat). In case you haven't heard of Nyan Cat, it's an Internet meme created by prguitarman. The (gray) cat is an animated GIF with a cherry Pop Tart body. Nyan Cat flies through space with a rainbow trailing him/her/it. So, to pull it off we had to find a pattern for a costume of a cat, some gray fuzzy fabric, and fabric Pop Tart makings.

We perused the pattern books first. I encouraged CJ to try to find some inspiration as we looked, since he still hasn't hit upon a costume, and the clock is ticking (as he might be want to point out). Finding a cat pattern wasn't too terribly hard and it was on sale for 99 cents, which was nice.

CJ was not inspired by anything he saw, which doesn't surprise me. At one point I stopped on a page, pointed to a costume of a guy in sandals and a robe and (sarcastically) said, "How about this?"

CJ looked at me like I was insane and announced loudly, "NO WAY I am going to be JESUS for Halloween." Here's the look on his face just seconds after his proclamation.

Well OK then!

He was still laughing/ranting about it after dinner tonight.

TWO'S A CROWD: At most times on any given day, we have at least three computers on at all times, and often four. But I can't tell you how many times a day the kids are crowded in front of the same screen, watching something together. I think it's nice, actually. There's often a lot of lot of give and take and cooperative learning going on in those situations.

RED ROVER: You can be sure we will be learning about the Mars Curiosity Rover every day between now and when I leave for the NASA Tweetup to watch it launch.

Today, we watched a couple of videos about Curiosity (named by a sixth grade student, in case you were curious), including a cool one in sort of a movie trailer tone. It's just so amazing to think of a rocket leaving earth, approaching Mars, a capsule breaking off from the rocket, and then ... wait, I don't want to ruin the movie for you.

Mars Minded

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
THE MORNING AFTER: I'm dragging today. Stayed up way too late last night and woke up too early and couldn't go back to sleep. I had to come downstairs and read my email from NASA again, to make sure the news about getting accepted for the Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover) Tweetup (that's a mouthful!) was true. Turns out I didn't dream it. Nice. :)

In case you were wondering, per NASA's Web site, in the photo above (taken on June 3 during testing inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.): "The turret at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm holds five devices. On the left (downhill) edge of the turret in this view is the percussive drill for collecting powdered samples from rock interiors. On the edge toward the camera is a brush device named Dust Removal Tool. Farther to the right is the Mars Hand Lens Imager. Not visible in this view are the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer and a multi-purpose device named Collection and Handling for In-situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA), which includes a soil scoop and a set of chambers and labyrinths for sieving, sorting and portioning samples of rock powder or soil for delivery to analytical instruments."

Super cool!

UP NORTH: Thursday is our long out-and-about day, starting with music class in the morning. As we pulled up to the school, the kids asked if we were early. I told them class didn't start for about 5 more minutes. They both said, "Good!" and told me they wanted to go to class early so they could play with the musical instruments there. I liked hearing that - and I also love that the kids are allowed a chance to have some free time to explore and play with the instruments. That wasn't usually the case in the former music class.

MALL RATS: After music, we had just over three hours to kill. The kids did some math online at the library. (They love CoolMath-Games.com, and so do I.) They also got some vitamin D outside on the playground. But the highlight of their day was a trip to (gasp/gag) THE MALL. Specifically, Alderwood Mall, in Lynnwood. We went there because they both practically begged to go. I was going to say, "I don't know why," but I do know why. It's because we never go to malls because, well, I can't stand them. (There's a reason I do almost all my shopping online). Our first stop was the food court, where they each got an incredibly greasy and overpriced piece of pizza from Sbarro. They loved it.

And then we did some obligatory mall strolling, stopping only in two stores - Spencer's and Game Stop. We bought nothing. The kids also checked out a Pokemon themed kiosk.

It had a couple of touch-screen games, which they enjoyed. All the while I'm just ITCHING to get out of the place. And so, our entire mall experience lasted about 30 minutes. That got us back to the library in plenty of time for me to watch and listen to the NASA Tweetup that took place today in Washington D.C. with two of the STS-135 crew members. I have to admit, it's kind of funny watching people in the audience typing on laptops and texting on phones while the astronauts are talking. In most instances, I think that would be considered poor form, but at a Tweetup, well, it comes with the territory.

LEFTOVERS: Forgot to include this earlier in the week ... I'm thinking perhaps CJ has been hanging out too much with me in the kitchen and/or watching too many Food Network challenges. On Sunday night, teams were crafting alien themed cakes and CJ was alarmed at their lack of progress. "The clock is ticking guys, ding ding!" He yelled at the TV.

I've Got a Golden Ticket

PUNKIN HEAD: Above is one of Annabelle's creations from her 3D art class today.

I must say, I felt at home when I walked into the art room this morning, as there was an explosion of papers of all shapes and sizes covering the work tables. It reminded me of my desk at home ...

TO THE TEST: Today we finally got around to having the kids take their Accelerated Reader (AR) tests. In case you're wondering, AR is (per Wikipedia) "a daily progress monitoring software assessment in wide use by primary and secondary schools for monitoring the practice of reading."

CJ isn't super suited for multiple choice type tests as he often has an answer that isn't the 'right' one, but it makes perfect sense when he's allowed to explain it. Couple that with him being told it's a timed test and ZOMG. Once he knows it's timed, that's it - all he can think about is tick-tock-tick-tock to the point of preoccupation. Given that, it's amazing he even tested at grade level. The upside of him testing below his abilities is he will get more AR points for reading easy books. And I'm pretty sure getting an average/on point score for a reading test in 3rd grade won't affect his college admissions.

Annabelle, on the other hand, didn't know it was a timed test (which is good, as that freaks her out, as well, for whatever reason). Given that lack of knowledge, she was able to test in the 99th percentile for her age/grade. Of course her reward for testing so well is she'll have to read much "harder" books to earn points.

INTERWOVEN: The kids' science class is still in the midst of its unit on textiles. Today, they got to dissect some swatches of burlap and wool and compare and contrast the fabrics. They also got to take a good look at them under a microscope.
FEED ME: I was cutting a ground beef chub in half today (I known, ewwwww, sounds gross!) and the process resulted in some meaty morsels left over on the knife and cutting board. At that moment, I looked up at the windowsill and remembered we have a supposedly meat eating plant. I asked the kids if they were up to an experiment and they were both totally on board! Much to our delight, with just one exception, each of the Venus Fly Trap's sharp toothed heads went after the meat in a big way. Upon being offered some ground beef, they closed rapidly - almost instantaneously!

The kids were pretty impressed (not to mention freaked out).

CARVINGS: Tonight the kids dug into the pumpkins the picked out at the patch on Monday. Annabelle drew up a Sonic the Hedgehog design, while CJ opted for a scary face.
They both worked really hard and stayed on task (they were BIG pumpkins and took a long time to clean out). I was proud of them.
In the end, this is what they came up with. They were quite pleased with the end result.

MARS & ME: Regular readers may have figured out that I have, well, a thing for NASA. Frankly, this thing for NASA is the primary reason I'm on Twitter. I follow all sorts of NASA branches, affiliates and fans. NASA does a great job hosting Tweetups (gatherings of Twitter followers) for all sorts of NASA events (launches, landings, facility tours and such). I watch each and every NASA Tweetup notice with keen interest, but haven't applied for any - until just recently, when a Tweetup for the Mars Rover Curiosity's launch in late November was announced. I've been watching the build up to this launch for, well, YEARS now, and as soon as I saw that notice, I fixated on it and decided I *needed* to be there for that. So, I threw my hat into the ring and from following Tweets, I knew today was the day notices would go out.

And here's what's funny. When I got up this morning, for whatever reason, my Spidey senses told me I was going to be selected for this, to the point where when I was obsessively checking my email for a confirm, I was thinking not "am I in?" but "what's taking so long?"

Not until 4:30 p.m. did the Best Email Ever come in. It read, in part:
Dear Kristine ...

Congratulations! You have been selected to attend the NASA Tweetup on Nov. 23 and 25 in conjunction with the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover!

Hallefreakinglujah! (I think I just crashed spellcheck.)

I've booked my flight, my car and a (flea bag) room. It ought to be the adventure of a lifetime, really. Looking at the other people selected it's a little intimidating - a whole bunch of PhDs, physics people, astronomers and such. Oh well. I'll just shift back into my journalism mode and it will all be OK, I s'pose. That, and I can bake them some cookies. ;)

Act Two

ONE AND ONLY: Here's our tomatillo crop. Bountiful, no?

We do have a number of other lantern-like thingees hanging off our plant with tiny lil tomatillos in 'em, but I don't know if they're going to get enough sunlight to come to their full fruition, so to speak.

This lovely little organic edible went into some south of the border chicken soup I threw together this afternoon.

MORNING REPORT: This morning we worked on math (a chapter review assignment, which the kids didn't have much trouble with - except, in Annabelle's case, for the problems she skipped. She has a bit of a problem with that.

You'll note in the photo above that the kids both go to counting on their fingers sometimes. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Seems like I've always heard counting on your fingers is a bad thing. But then again, if the answer is right, does it matter how you got there?

CLASSY: This afternoon Christian (once again) took CJ to his Theater of Possibility acting class and sat in on the fun. I'm told by the two of them that there was some improv during class time and that CJ especially enjoyed that portion of it. When I asked CJ how he liked acting today, he said, with great enthusiasm, "I'm looking forward to the next class!" I don't think I've ever heard him say that about any subject/class. Yay for all of us!

Meanwhile, down in Columbia City, I was sitting in on Annabelle's yoga class. Her yoga instructor had asked me to film the class so that she could show her yoga teacher (the yoga teacher's yoga teacher, in case that's not clear).

In all these years, I'd never sat in on one of the kids classes. I've always known it was wonderful, because their teacher is really awesome, but was neat to see what actually goes on in there. It's lots of fun, as well as a great mental and physical experience for them.

CAPED CRUSADER: Imagine my surprise tonight when flipping through the channels and discovering that "Batman"the live action series from the '60s, was on the Hub network. Yes, please! So we four enjoyed an episode with Cesar Romero as the Joker. Pow! Biff! Great fun!

Moon Missions & Pumpkin Patches

PRICELESS PHOTO: Above, CJ and Annabelle are pictured with Al Worden, one of just 24 humans who have flown to the moon. We attended a presentation of his at The Museum of Flight on Saturday. It was a standing room only crowd in their theater. Nothing like a moon traveler to get people's attention!Worden was a wonderful storyteller. He basically took us blow by blow from lift off of Apollo 15 (his moon mission) through splash down and the Navy SEALS plucking him out of the Pacific. AMAZING stuff. What a treat to hear a living legend share his stories like that. I took lots of notes during his talk, which I'll transcribe at a later date, but here are a few fast facts:

-It took TWELVE seconds for their rocket to clear the tower (that's forever compared to most launches I've watched). It was the heaviest launch ever (and still is). So instead of the thrown back in the seats with an elephant on your chest sensation you usually hear about for lift off, Worden's experience was QUITE different. He said it was like being at a red light, having it turn green, taking your foot off the brake and NOT stepping on the gas!
- Yes, he drank Tang. He hated it and says he hasn't had it since.
- He didn't get along with one of the two other astrodudes on his mission. He said in the end, it was a positive result for the mission, as they were constantly trying to outperform one another.
- One of their three chutes was destroyed during descent - basically dissolved by toxic fuel being jettisoned as they descended. Fortunately, their capsule was actually designed to land with two chutes, with the third just being an extra one for safety's sake.
- Worden was fired from NASA just nine months after his mission. It's a long story, which he tells in "Falling to Earth," his new book. He was exonorated years later, but it clearly still stings like crazy.
- He was greeted and treated like a hero at The Museum of Flight.

Before the even presentation started, I asked CJ and Annabelle to look around the auditorium. I pointed out to them that they were two of just 5 or so kids in the audience. Most people were my age and older. I told them that they were SO lucky to have the opportunity to hear the stories of a man who has flown to the moon, as those astronauts are so few in number and will only shrink with every passing year. And I'm happy to report, CJ and Annabelle were awesome little audience members. In fact, three times during the talk CJ leaned over and said to me, "This is really interesting." :)

While we waited in line to get a book autographed, the kids enjoyed some freeze-dried, astronaut style ice cream.Afterward, when we got a chance to visit with Worden, he was nice as could be. We're so lucky to have been in a time and place to get to meet him!

Naturally, while we were at The Museum of Flight, we took some time to revisit some exhibits. I was THRILLED that CJ practically begged to go see the World War I exhibit. He really seems to dig this place - more than any museum/science center/zoo we've ever visited. In the WWI exhibit he was absolutely entranced with a multi-layered map showing Europe in the WWI era. He really wanted me to photograph each layer for posting to the blog, so here goes ...


ICING ON THE CUPCAKE: Sunday, we FINALLY finished Annabelle's custom "Vanilla Cupcake" cat hat. We made the arms/scarfs that attach to the sides of the head, as well as little pockets on the paws that serve as furry mittens. Naturally, Annabelle had to trick it out with some glittery pop poms, representing sprinkles on a cupcake. In order to get proper placement of the frills, Annabelle employed CJ as the model. I told him to pretend he was a "Project Runway" model, but he was nonplussed with the job. He found the hat itchy and too warm. Fortunately, he soldiered through.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN: Today we made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch. If we'd put full stock in the official weather forecasts for the day, we most certainly wouldn't have gone. They were all dire forecasts - 90 to 100 percent chance or rain, with some accumulations, perhaps even lightning or thunder. But when today dawned (grey, albeit), Christian and I looked out at the gray skies, sized them and some radar action up, and decided we'd take our chances. Good call on our parts. :)
We actually saw some blue skies while winding through the challenging and pretty corn maze, where the corn truly was as high as an elephant's eye! (Can you seeCJ?)

Above, the kids are at the entrance, eager but confident.
And here they are in a "Rocky" style celebration at the end. We did take a few wrong turns (four by my count), but for the most part it was a pretty successful navigation through the maze.
After the maze we visited the Kids Korral. There, CeeJ and Bee tried their hands at lassoing a 'cow.' They weren't good at it. Perhaps the pro rodeo circuit is not in their futures.

There was also a milking station the kids had fun with. There was also a bubble table. CJ spent more time there than Annabelle. He blew one bubble that went from his wand toward the farmhouse, made a 360 degree circuit around the yard, andwhen it got back to him, he popped it. :) After that it was on to a hay maze and a corn bin. I think the corn bin was the highlight of both kids' farm visit. They did snow (corn?) angels, dove in, swam, slid, you name it. It was sensory overload (in a good way).

We had to do the obligatory stand by the ruler pose ...In the Kids Korral, our two also REALLY dug the ducky races. They got to pump water to flood and flow rubber duckies down a gutter trough.

Of course, we visited the pumpkin patch, where we found a couple of cute pumpkins and a scary scarecrow. :)