From Dogs to Dragon

SOOTHE THE BEASTIES: It's said music has charms to soothe the savage beast. Not sure about that, but it seems to work for domesticated dogs, Kirby and Laika, snooze to the grooves of Annabelle playing "Pumped up Kicks." 

And here's a gratuitous dog shot for you. I never realized how hard/impossible it is to take a photo of a pitch black dog until I had one. The camera just can't/won't focus on her, poor Laika. No doubt years from now she'll wonder why there are only cute baby photos of Kirby and not her. 

SOCIAL BUTTERFLIES: An announcement about an upcoming NASA Social (formerly Tweetup) certainly caught my attention. Actually, EVERY announcement from NASA Socials catch my eye, but this one's extra special 'cause it's a Left Coast event and, therefore, closer to home. 

It's a two-day event for the launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission. The kids and I have studied up on Landsat before. It's a program that's been running for 40-plus years now, using satellites to make Earth observations  The February launch will be the eighth satellite in the program. Thanks to Landsat data over the years, there have been improvements in human and biodiversity health, urban planning, disaster recovery, energy and water management, agriculture planning and management and more.

The Landsat launch Social will be on Sunday, Feb. 10 through Monday, the 11th at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompac, Calif.

One of the things that excited me most about the announcement was this line: "On the day of the launch, NASA Social participants AND THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES are invited to a special public viewing area to watch (the satellite) achieve orbit aboard the Atlas-V rocket." 

That's right - the whole darn family could go! How cool would that be?  

Registration for the Social starts at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, Dec. 12 and closes at noon on Jan. 2, 2013, right here: http://www.nasa.gov/connect/social/social_ldcm_feb2013.html

TEACHING TECH: A Facebook post by Washington STEM led me to a story about tips for teaching technology from people who work in the field. A short read with valuable advice - http://www.technapex.com/2012/10/thoughts-on-tech-education-from-8-entrepreneurs-in-tech/

BOFFO RESOURCE: NASA strikes again! An email today from our nation's space agency let me know about a new online science resource for teachers and students to help bring Earth, the solar system, and the universe into their schools and homes.

Called NASA Wavelength, the Web site features a boatload (rocketload?) of resources organized by subject, for students from elementary to college level, or just anyone who wants to boost their science knowledge.   

The site is searchable in a variety of ways, including educational standards, subjects and keywords, and you can even sort by other important details, like  and other details. You can even sort lessons by the time or material cost required to carry out the lesson or activity. 

SPLASHING DRAGON: If you love splashdowns like we love splashdowns, you're going to want keep an eye on SpaceX's Dragon capsule come Sunday.

Dragon will be closed off and sent on its way at about 6:25 a.m. PT Sunday. A series of thruster firings will carry it away from the ISS and soon it will begin its deorbit burn. 

As soon as Dragon hits 45,000 feet above sea level (13,700 meters), its two drogue chutes will deploy to slow its descent. Then at just 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) 

When Dragon reaches 13,700 meters (45,000 feet) above sea level, it will deploy two drogue parachutes to slow its descent. At 3,000 meters (10,000 feet), it will deploy its three main parachutes. 

Splashdown is expected just after noon, at 12:20. We'll be watching: http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

WRECKINATORS: Still basking in the afterglow of having seen the wonderful "Wreck-It Ralph" last night, today the kids played around on the movie's Web site for the first time.

They were thrilled to learn they could play the three major games featured in the movie,  and "Sugar Rush," "Hero's Duty," and "Fix-It, Felix Jr." 

CJ wore the shirt he won for playing a game during the pre-movie gameshow by Radio Disney.

Everyone should have a rainbow-puking troll shirt, don't you think?

Sneak Preview

WE GOT SOME GOLDEN TICKETS: We were in a really neat store, Blue Highway Games, on Queen Anne around 3:30 this afternoon picking up a gift for someone, and as we were checking out, I spied on the counter a couple of free passes to a preview screening of "Wreck-It Ralph," a Disney movie that premieres Nov. 2.

Be still CJ's heart.


He has been talking about the movie for well over a year. The story takes place inside arcade games, mostly after quarter-plugging customers have gone home for the night. The title character, Wreck-It Ralph, lives in the game Fix-It, Felix Jr. Every day, all day, Ralph is the bad guy, and every night, he goes home alone, to the dump, while all the other game's characters celebrate Felix Jr.'s heroics. Ralph finally gets sick of his lot in life and tries to mix things up a bit, with disastrous - and often hilarious - results.


I was immediately excited at the prospect of scoring the passes (four free tickets to a first run 3D movie would run our family around $60!), but then a little panicked when I saw they were for TONIGHT at 7 p.m. And the guy working the counter said if we were interested in going, we needed to go super early, as the promoter gives out way more passes than there are seats.

I called the theater and asked what time they recommend we arrive, and was told 5 p.m. Then, I quickly called Christian to see if we could swing it. The plan fell into place, and so there we were camping out in line on the fourth floor of Pacific Place outside the AMC theater. It is where we'd call home for the next two hours.

It really wasn't bad, because we had stacks of books to read, a bathroom nearby, and it was warm and dry and there were lots of friendly people in line.

We were also surprised when Radio Disney reps showed up and started giving away "Wreck-It Ralph" and other Disney swag. The kids scored bags full of stickers, coloring books, and more. They each got temporary Wreck-It Ralph tattoos, too.

And once inside the theater, Radio Disney had a mini game show going. CJ and Annabelle were invited to play a Wreck-It Ralph puzzle game against another brother sister team. Disney being Disney, they were all winners, and each got neat t-shirts for their troubles.

And then, finally, it was movie time! Fortunately, "Wreck-It Ralph" was entirely worth the wait.

The movie is visually stunning - you feel like you really are immersed in the colorful world of the video game characters, especially in Sugar Rush, a racing game with Japanese arcade console and Candyland inspirations.

The story was engaging and the voice actors were spot on. We laughed, we gasped, and a couple of tears were shed. Even the soundtrack was fantastic. I'm so glad we went.

Upon reflection afterward, CJ gave it a 10 out of 10 without hesitation. "That. Was. AWESOME!" Annabelle pronounced just before going to bed.

HUNT AND GATHER: Another day, another fabric store - and more hunting for Halloween costume stuff.

Annabelle has decided she will be a pony for Halloween. But not just any pony. She wants to be a My Little Pony. Specifically, Pinkie Pie, her favorite pony. So somehow we have to transform her into this. ...

I told her straight off she is not going to look just like the image above - that we'd be going more for our spin on Pinkie Pie. An interpretation, if you will.

We started at Value Village to see how much we could get without having to go the fabric store route.

We did pretty well there. We scored a couple of long, bright pink wigs that we can use for the mane and tail. And we got shoes, pants and a white shirt for CJ's Gangnam style outfit (leaving only the blazer and bow tie to score).

At the fabric store we found a jumpsuit pattern we're going to modify into a MLP, and some fabric for CJ's blazer. LOTS of sewing ahead for MPA.

MELODIOUS: On the way to the library to return the book before it was overdue, the kids read "Mozart Finds a Melody."  According to the publisher's Web site, it's based on a true story about Mozart and his beloved starling, and how his pet's singing inspired a famous concerto.

This evening, I found some theme unit plans  on Homeschoolshare.com that would go nicely with the book.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Halloween

PHOTO CREDIT: NASA

NASA CATCH UP: This morning we had NASA TV on, catching up on the latest news. We saw a replay of the Soyuz launch of Oct. 23, which was carrying NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin to the ISS.
Following the launch coverage, we watched a video about the importance of being able to reproduce test results in science.  Good stuff.

We were also treated to a bio of pioneering astronomer Nancy Grace Roman. Born in Nashville in 1925, Roman's career has ranged from scientific research, to creating the first NASA astronomical program, to working with the teachers and students of today. She's studied the stars since her childhood, and was encouraged to study science by her father, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist. 

She is often called "Mother Hubble" thanks to her efforts to make the Hubble Space Telescope a reality.  You can see a short YouTube video of her talking about the Hubble here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2movHF4NzA&feature=colike

We also watched a live Q&A session from the Johnson Space Center with astronaut Clayton Anderson. He's a veteran of six space walks. He was asked by a student what is the most amazing thing he's ever seen in space. Of all things, his answer was the Palm Resorts, which are shaped like a big palm frond, in Dubai. That, and World Resorts were "absolutely breathtaking," per Clayton. He also noted that hurricanes are beautiful from space, but their beauty is, of course, tempered by the knowledge that they can be deadly.

From Anderson, we learned that NASA astronaut Sunni Williams ran the "Boston" Marathon while on the ISS in 2007. She started on a treadmill at the same time as the race, and finished in 4 hours and 24 minutes. Not only did she run 26.2 miles, she circled the Earth a couple times, to boot!  

TWO HALVES: Today in science class the kids learned about symmetry. They had fun with three worksheets, trying to find and create different shapes with patterns on the paper and a mirror - for instance, by holding a mirror at a certain angle perpendicular to an oval on the paper, they could create a heart. And by bisecting a capital B from top to bottom, they could produce an 8. And so on.

The last fun with mirrors exercise they had time for today was putting a shield around the center of their pencil, so they couldn't see their hand and its tip. Then, they had to use a mirror to see the tip, and they were charged with writing their name on a piece of paper. Sounds so easy, but boy was it hard!

CJ took his time and painstakingly wrote his name perfectly. Perfectly backward, that is!

DECK THE HALLS: Today we FINALLY got around to hanging up a few Halloween decorations. 

We've been meaning to do it for days/weeks. So glad we have that off the 'to do' list.

It was fun seeing old favorites, including many pumpkins and witches from the kids' preschool years. 

In less productive Halloween related news, we went to the Jo-Ann store on 150somethingth and Aurora today. Lordy, how I hate that place. Every time it's the same thing - can't find what I want/need, ridiculous long lines, and green aproned staffers moving in s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n. In the car when we left the store, Annabelle innocently asked, "Do you think they lied when they applied for their jobs and said they could work fast when they can't?" LOL.

We spent a fair amount of time at the pattern book table and TOTALLY struck out. I just wanted a pattern for a boy's blazer. Apparently boys don't wear blazers any more. Because NOT ONE BOOK had a single one. Not Butterick. Not McCalls, Not New Look. Not Simplicity. NOT NO ONE. I told the kids we'd wasted enough time, I'd just make my own damn pattern, recalling that I probably had a couple blazers about CJ's size in the costume box at home, from when Rick and Ken were his age. I'd made those blazers without a pattern, as well. Happily, we did find an old one, so now I'll just go back to a different fabric store for fabric. We have CJ's costume idea dialed in, but Annabelle's still casting about. She better make up her mind quickly!

WOW! AMERICA!: We read one of many library books we need to get 'round to this morning. "Wow! America!" is a big, colorful book that is mostly eye candy. There are few words, but the story is told via vibrant illustrations by Robert Neubecker.  Afterward, we found an interview with the author-illustrator on the Reading Rockets Web site: http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/neubecker/

Farm Fresh

A FEW MORE: Photos from Schuh Farms in Mt. Vernon, WA, our destination yesterday.

Here's their big ol' barn. Can you spot the kids?

They had lots of lovely produce. We admired these gourds, and brought a few home. 

We liked these gooseneck ones, too. 

 And they had a corn maze, as well. It was shaped like a Christmas tree.

 

There were 10 posts placed throughout the maze. Each had a trivia question about Christmas. The answers were on the posts, as well.  The posts had rusty paper hole punches so you could mark off the markers as you made progress.

There was also a pumpkin patch, of course. The kids had it all to themselves when we stopped by. 

And here are a couple more of the colorful cut outs that made for good photo opps. Here, Annabelle's a scarecrow.

 And here, CJ demonstrates he can drive the farm truck with no hands. :)

 Annabelle chose to bring home three of these white lil punkins. She named them all Casper.

Pumpkin Pilgrimage

THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Today we took our annual pumpkin patch pilgrimage  Our goal is to visit a different spot every year, and this year we visited Schuh Farm thanks the recommendation of a friend. Glad she told us about it. :)

One of the things my friend told me is that there were lots of great photo opps. That was true. :)

CJ makes an excellent tractor driver.

There was the classic "American Gothic,"

 

And Annabelle makes a great ghost : )

I've got more (hopefully good) pix. I'll post 'em tomorrow if they're not too bad,

Please watch this. It is wonderful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX-xToQI34I