Let's Move!

SCOOTIN' IN THE SUN: Now that spring has sprung, we are making a point to try to spend a significant amount of time outdoors every day (beyond just running to and from the car, har har).

To that end, around midday, we headed for the hilltop and spent an hour getting fresh air, exercise and some Vitamin D. The kids happily scooted 'round the park, and clambered on the playground.

Meanwhile, I gave Kirby a good walking, when she wasn't busy being petted by preschoolers.

When Christian got home, the kids had scooter round 2. We went to the waterfront this time. They scooted along the south shore of the ship canal between the Ballard and Fremont bridges.

It was idyllic - if you don't count the part when Christian and I were absolutely DOUSED by a bird flying overhead (if you catch my drift). It was both horrific and hysterical. Like getting struck by lightning, in a way. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. (No point in getting mad about it - that's just part of being out in nature, no doubt.)

WHITEHOUSE TWEETUP: Via a Let's Move post on Facebook, I learned today about an exciting TweetUp taking place on Monday, April 9, at the 134th annual White House lawn Easter egg roll.

The link to apply for the Tweetup is here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/tweetup   Registration is open through Tuesday, March 27th at 11:59 p.m. EST. Registration is for children ages five to thirteen and one to two parents or legal guardians. I threw our Easter bonnets into the ring, of course. I try to teach the kids about American history and traditions every day. What better way to teach them than for them to experience it?

Flying to DC would be wildly expensive for us, but the opportunity to visit our nation's capital for the first time: Priceless! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

PEEPS PROJECT: While they aren't part of our regular diet, we do love Peeps - for art projects. :)

Regular/longtime readers of our blog know that Annabelle's "Sesame Peeps" won the Grand Prize and Peeple's Choice awards in last year's Seattle Times contest. This year, the paper's just calling for photos, but there's no contest per se. That's totally fine by us, it's not all about the ribbons and glory and grand cash prizes. :) It's "art" for the sake of har (heh heh).

Here are some of our raw materials ...

You're going to have to wait until Monday to see what this year's "masterpeeps" is. The kids spent hours on it today and I can report that it's shaping up nicely.

I would also like to report that it's amazing how much curriculum you can work into a Peeps art project. In addition to all of the art aspects (color mixing and matching, cropping, composition, blending and more), we also talked lots of math (size, scale, circumference, diameter, length), and research skills were important, too (finding images on the Internet, for instance).

Cerebral stuff, this Peeps sculpting is.

Angry Birds at Space Needle

CHANGE IN PLANS: We were in the car on our way to school this morning and, as usual, I was flipping through radio stations looking for something we'd like to listen to. My button pushing ceased at 107.7 "The End" when I heard the DJ talking about the release of the Angry Birds Space game today - and a big event at the Space Needle to go along with it. Well that certainly had our attention!

Details were sketchy. In fact, the DJ said organizers were being a bit mysterious about the event. Hmm. We were intrigued. As we exited the freeway in Shoreline, I asked the kids if they were interested in checking out what might - or might not- be going on at the Space Needle. I told them that if we went, it would mean missing their music class. I also warned them that the event - whatever it was - very well might be over by the time we got to the Space Needle, which means they could miss both music AND the Angry Birds event. They thought it over for a few seconds and decided they wanted to go check it out. So, I flipped around in front of the school and back to Seattle we went.

We got lucky and found a free 2-hour parking spot by Key Arena. It was 9:45 as we did a walk-trot hybrid toward the Space Needle. As we approached, at the northeast corner of the Needle, I could see a bunch of news cameras and people staring up, so I figured we hadn't missed whatever it was.

BTW, the gentleman in the red hoodie is one of the Angry Birds developers. He's taking a photo with his phone.

So, of course, we joined the rest of the people staring up. What we saw was a whole bunch of rigging, a couple of unfurled banners, and a big red something in the middle. ...

I was trying to listen into conversations, and I heard a woman associated with the Space Needle say whatever it was was originally scheduled for 10 a.m. (hence all the media), but winds and other obstacles had slowed things down. So, we waited. And waited. While we waited, CJ and Annabelle were interviewed by radio and TV stations.

It got to be approaching 11 and we noticed a couple of people walking toward us carrying Angry Birds stuffed animals, t-shirts and such. CJ and Annabelle asked one little boy where he got his bird, and he and his parent explained they were giving away merch at a table under the Needle. Oh boy!

So, we headed over there and waited in a l-o-n-g, s-l-o-w line. It took us about a half hour to wind to the front. Once there, it was certainly worth the wait. The kids got to meet the game's developers. (They were super nice!)

They also got a ton of great swag - they each got t-shirts, big stuffed Angry Birds of their choice, key chains, and a FABULOUS book, signed by the author. Sweet!

After the swag haul, we went back to our viewpoint and watched and waited some more. By then, they were starting to inflate the big red Angry Bird.

We waited awhile longer, during which time, CJ and Annabelle read their great new book.

When we picked it up, based on its title "Angry Birds Space," I thought it was going to be a game playing guide. Wrong! Instead, the book, published by National Geographic and written by Amy Briggs, is all about space. How great is that?! There are pics of Angry Birds interspersed throughout, but the real "stars" are of the space kind. 

We hung out until around noonish waiting for something spectacular to happen. The kids were hoping they were actually going to launch the bird over the Needle, I think. Unfortunately, they were just 'launching' the product. ;)



We decided to stop by home to get the hungry kids' lunches, and then head up to their LEGO class. I told them if they wanted to, we could come back after LEGO class and see if anything was up with the bird. So, that's what we did.

We found the bird now hanging by the banners we saw earlier, in a way so that it looked like the bird was in a slingshot getting ready to hit the top of the Space Needle.

All in all, an unexpected, amazing day that the kids won't soon forget! After all, it's not every day you get to see an Angry Bird attached to the Space Needle.

STILL COUNTING: We did well on our food budget on Day 4 of the United Way of King County Hunger Challenge. Kids' breakfast, lunch and dinner (combined) total: $6.80 + .40 dessert = $7.20; Christian & I:  $2.80 bfast + $1.13 lunch + $2.86 chili dinner = $6.79. Grand total: $13.99. Living large, we are!

Spring Has Sprung

CROCODILE ROCK: Annabelle brought home a couple of her art class creations today. One was a dinosaur. She reports it's a hybrid of Corythosaurus and a T-Rex.

Another project she completed was a very cute alligator. (After a bit of discussion we decided it was a crocodile rather than a 'gator, as gators' snouts are more V-shaped and tapering, while crocodiles are more u-shaped.

HUNGER ACTION WEEK DAY 3: In a panic stricken voice, the first words out of CJ's mouth this morning were, "Did we record last night's pizza?!"

So even though our participation on Hunger Action Week is symbolic, it's nice to see that it actually does have some resonance with the kids' thinking.

It also gives us pause to think about issues other than hunger awareness. For instance, today we were planning our upcoming Peeps scene. I told the kids it occurred to me that since we weren't eating the Peeps and other food items (pretzels, marshmallows, Rice Krispies and such), technically the items wouldn't count against our Hunger Week budget limitations. HOWEVER, I also pointed out to them that if we were on a super tight budget and food assistance, it's very likely that we couldn't even take on our our Peeps project. I mean really, if you are worried about having money for the amount of food that you need to eat, you probably couldn't very well afford to buy a bunch of food items you're NOT going to eat.

Truth be told - we went over today because we went out to dinner (on the way lowdown happy hour + other discounts cheap, but still not cheap enough). However, thankfully we were well under on Monday, so we're still on track for the week unless we get "happy" again.

ACROSTIC AUTHORS: Since we didn't really do anything special to mark spring's arrival yesterday, this morning I righted that oversight. First, I asked them to think about things that reminded them of spring. They listed birds, butterflies, flowers of various sorts, weather-related items, activities and more. Next, I asked the kids to write the letters S-P-R-I-N-G down the side of their paper vertically and I asked them to each write an acrostic poem about the season.

Annabelle wrote:
So many animals return, 
Playing tunes with their songs are birds
Rabbits hopping to and fro
In the park we play all day
Nobody is too cold
Going into green pastures - Spring!

CJ wrote:
Sound is nice of the birds chirping
Play in the nice gentle wind
Right time for daisies to bloom
It is the perfect time for fun
Now isn't it beautiful?
Go outside and play!

GETTING BUGGY: Today in science, the class started a unit on insects. Already, they've had some great up-close and personal experiences.

They had the opportunity to pet a Madagascar hissing cockroach (so cute - ha ha)!

They also had the opportunity to herd meal worms (altogether now, "Ewwwwwwwww!).

I am happy to report, all of the insects lived through the science class.

STEMCAST: This morning, a reminder in my electronic calendar reminded me that at 10 a.m. there was a live "STEM Through the Eyes, Ears and Heart of a Woman" on the Nasa Digital Learning Network. We had to leave for Annabelle's art class at 10:20, but we did catch the first third of it.

The webcast was advertised as "A look into the intriguing world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics from a woman's perspective! A female NASA STEM professional, along with a female intern from NASA’s Johnson Space Center share their journey toward a career in STEM."

The Webcast featured former STS flight controller Jennifer Scott Williams. She shared her journey from preschool through college to Mission Control. She talked about her love of ballet as a preschooler, art and writing as an elementary schooler, and, interestingly, her interest in fashion is what led her to an engineering degree (she initially wanted to be a textile engineer). She switched to electrical engineering, and ended up in Mission Control, working over 20 space shuttle missions! It was a good experience for the kids to hear someone talk about being their age, and about how they felt and how they grew and changed over the years.

Though we had to leave before the program was over, I left NASA's DLN running on my computer. Upon returning home several hours later, we happened upon a broadcast of a tour of the NASA vessel that recovers solid rocket boosters and other high tech equipment from the water post-launch. The ship and its equipment and crew were really interesting, and it was interesting to be reminded (by the narrator), "NASA isn't just a bunch of aerospace guys."

It's hard to believe, but today's really the first time I've poked around in any depth at all on the NASA Digital Learning Network Web site. It's fabulous!

The main page explains "NASA's Digital Learning Network™ provides science, technology, engineering, and mathematics or STEM content featuring NASA missions and research. Register for free, interactive events listed in our catalog or watch our webcasts listed below."

Yes, please!  There are so many things for us to see and do. We'll be back for lots more! What a wonderful resource for any teacher or parent with students of any grade! 

HAUNTING PAST: The kids took a trio of Accelerated Reader quizzes today on three Seuss books they recently finished ("And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street," 'The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins," and "The Sneetches and Other Stories."

As CJ was taking the test, he stopped to tell me that in "The Sneetches ..." book, 'The first story reminds me of what used to happen between black people and white people." In the first story, the Star-Belly Sneetches and Plain-Belly Sneetches have all sorts of issues based solely on their physical differences. I told CJ that many of Dr. Seuss' books deal with societal and environmental issues.

I started flipping through "The Sneetches ..." and there, to my horror, in the very last story, "What was I Scared of?" were the blasted pale pants! AAARGH! Not too long ago my sister and I were talking about those damn, bodiless pants freaked us out when we were kids. Turns out they STILL freak me out.

Day 2 - Hunger Challenge

HUNGER ACTION WEEK DAY 2:  Our social awareness-meets-math exercise continued today, Day 2 of our participation in United Way of King County's Hunger Awareness Week. Our challenge is to have our food budget this week not exceed an average of $22 per day, which is how much a family of four might qualify for through the Basic Food (food stamps) program.

For the first several hours of the day, big brother Kennedy was riding herd on CJ and Annabelle and helping keep track of what they ate and the associated price tag.

CJ had: peanut butter toast (.45), 27 Cheez-Its (.14), 2 pieces of leftover pizza (.74), peanuts (.25), 3 pieces of (different) pizza ($4.50) for his daily total of $6.08; Annabelle had a cup of cereal and milk (.35), mac and cheese (.74), peanuts (.15), and 2 pieces of pizza ($3) for a daily total of $4.24; I had coffee ($2), animal crackers (1.09) and 2 pieces of pizza ($3) for a total of 6.09; Christian had coffee ($1 ); 2 eggs (.16); sausage (.55); cheese (.32), 2 peppers (.09) and 2 pieces of pizza ($3) = $5.12 = $21.49 and BARELY under the $22 mark. Phew.

PICKING 'N' GRINNING: CJ and Annabelle had a guitar lesson today from Ken. They worked on tuning and memorizing the notes for each string Every Body's Gotta Do All Electric. They also learned a little bit about reading guitar tabulature.  The happy trio also did some multiplication today, as well as had a lesson in the physics of flight, including the concepts of thrust, lift, gravity and drag.

When I arrived home, they were making paper airplanes while listening to Wagner's very inspiring "Ride of the Valkyries," perhaps most famously used in "Apocalypse Now." (They also listened to some Mozart and Vivaldi.)

AND LATER: While CJ was enjoying acting class, Annabelle and I hung out on an old pew and read for awhile before starting up a game of Space Chess. That game's doubly challenging (at least for me), because you have to remember which piece represents what.  

Hunger Action Week - Day 1

THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN: For the third year running, our family is participating in the United Way of King County Hunger Action Week. Our participation consists of tracking exactly how much we spend on food each day, and staying on budget. For our family of four, we're allowed $22 per day, a number determined based on the maximum monthly Basic Food ("food stamps") benefits for our family's size.

 

Why this exercise? Per UWKC, "The Challenge is an exercise in empathy to see how tough it can be to rely solely on food stamps … and how much tougher it could be without them."
While we're tallying our food expenditures, we're also learning more about hunger in our community. According to the United Way of King County's Web site, 1in 5 kids is at risk of hunger in our community, and in the last four years, Seattle food banks have seen a 30 percent increase in the number of clients coming to them for help, while experiencing a 31 percent decline in donations.

This week is always full of fantastic math exercises for the kids. Sunday, we went to the Grocery Outlet to lay in some supplies for the week. Then, we carefully figured out the per-serving prices of some of the foods the kids would be eating this week - everything from bananas to carrots, cereal to bacon. CJ did most of the pencil to paper work, while Annabelle did most of the labeling on boxes and such.

EDIT: Guest blogger Christian here to report the day's totals.
CJ: 1 Yogurt, 1 carrot, 27 Cheez-its, 1 oz. dry roasted peanuts, 1 string cheese, 34 Cheetos, 3 pieces of pepperoni pizza, and an ice cream sandwich for a total of $2.83

Annabelle: 1 Yogurt, 1 carrot, 27 Cheez-its, 1 oz. dry roasted peanuts, 1 banana, 34 Cheetos, 3 pieces of pepperoni pizza, and an ice cream sandwich for a total of $3.03

Kristine: Coffee, 2 bananas, 4 oz. dry roasted peanuts, and rice for $3.35

Christian: Coffee, cream, 2 eggs, 1 sausage patty, 1 oz. peanuts, dinner leftovers, 1/4 cup almonds, and 2 bottles of beer for a total of $6.75

Family total: $15.96 which is, of course, well under the $22 allotted. Clearly some (The kids and Kristine) should eat more and one (me) should not hog the budget.

SPARE ME: This weekend marked a first - we took the kids bowling at Majestic Lanes. It was a a nice, big Brunswick alley up in Lynnwood, about a half hour north of here.

The kids donned their classy rental shoes and threw some bowling balls down the alleys. They each managed to get a couple of spares and celebrated wildly when that happened.

Sometimes body English helps ...

 SPA DAY: Apparently the daily grind of being almost 9 is starting to wear on CJ, because on Sunday he declared he needed a spa day, and he wasn't just talking. He took himself a nice long bubble bath, donned his dad's robe, wrapped a towel around his head and asked for a bucket to put some of his bathwater in so he could soak his feet. Earlier, we'd bought a cucumber at the store, because everyone knows they put cucumbers on yours eyes at a spa, right?

He enjoyed a quick hand massage and even did some oatmeal exfoliating. He was absolutely glowing afterward. :)

STILL GROUNDED: We've been keeping our eyes on the 5 (rockets) in 5 (minutes) "Launch Madness" that was supposed to take place last week from Wallops, VA, but bad weather kept the ATREX mission from launching over the weekend. As of Sunday night, the lastest update said that the launch is targeted for Tuesday night, March 20th. Updates available here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/atrex.html

When Pigs Fly

DRILL, BABY, DRILL: Today, in a borderline desperate measure to help the kids learn their multiplication tables, I decided to throw a pig at them.

It might sound harsh, but rest assured, it's a really cute pig - rotund, neon pink with a red tummy. That, and it has a fuzzy hide and fiberfill for innards - what's not to love?

The idea was to try to get a little reflex and muscle memory involved in this whole X times Y = whatever equation.

We started this morning with 6s. The kids have 6x7 down pat, as it's answer is also the answer to life, the universe and everything. 6x0, 6x1 and 6x2 are also locks. Turns out the others are all wildcards. :/

Our 'game' went like this - I'd say 6 x ___ and then lob the pig at them. They got one point for catching the pig and one point for answering the equation. Let's just say they got waaay more pig points.

"I'm so tense and sweaty," Annabelle said after a 20-minute session of 6x__s. 

Later in the day we did the pig fly game with 5x ___. Shockingly, they were better at the 6s. We'll be repeating this.

DEAL O' THE DAY: Midday we went to the big Goodwill store on Dearborn here in Seattle. There we made a great find - a complete, unopened model rocket kit with electronic remote ignition and 2 engines for just $4.99. Sweet!

We've decided we'll use it as our test rocket before we launch our SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon capsule. Here, CJ shows just how talented he is. He can hold a rocket and read a book, all with his eyes closed!

LOST AND FOUND:  We received a rather surprising call on our way home from Goodwill. It was CeeJ & Bee's oldest brother Rick, telling us his car had been stolen. Um, BUMMER!

I immediately told him that I thought he'd get it back, and to call the non emergency number for Seattle police. When I ended that call, I told CJ and Annabelle I had a feeling Rick's truck was still in our neighborhood, and that I wanted to drive around for a few minutes and look for it. We checked out a few streets within a few blocks of Rick's place, but we didn't find the truck. I called him back and learned that's because his truck had just been found - only three blocks from his house. It was parked blocking a driveway in the neighborhood, and was in the process of being towed. I picked Rick up and we went to the tow yard. The good news is, Rick got his truck back with no apparent damage in short order. The bad news is, it cost him $130 some dollars. BIG BUMMER.

A couple hours later we gifted him with a locking club for his steering wheel that came with an $1000 anti-theft guarantee. Hope that helps.

WE'VE BEEN WARNED: Last night, CJ let us know that he was going to make a move and "it's going to be expensive." He said his movie was going to be a live action story based on the game Portal 2. For props, CJ said he needed every single Portal 2-related product in the Think Geek catalog.

And so, last night, he started adding up the items. This morning, even before hitting his laptop (gasp!) he went back to the math.

BTW, first words out of mouth this morning were, "I need a green screen. How much will that cost?" I suggested to him that a green screen could be rather easily and inexpensively made. That idea was quickly dismissed by him, saying, "This needs to look LEGIT."

Oh, OK, CJ.

So he showed me a "legit" greens screen kit on Amazon.com. Amazingly, it looked suspiciously like a few overpriced green sheets. ... He agreed with my observation, and then we watched a couple of YouTube videos about building a green screen.

By this evening, he announced he was planning to scrub his movie plans, as the budget seemed too big. I told him that might be too hasty. For instance, some fools put up $250 million for the disastrous "John Carter." We encouraged him to come up with a script - or at least a good "treatment" - and then we'll talk.

Mixed Bag

A rather boxy shark created by Annabelle in LEGO class today

TO BE CONTINUED:  A couple days back, I asked the kids to write a story using a prompt from the "Voyages in English" section of Loyola Press' Web site. It read: 'You wake up one morning feeling a little strange. As you walk into the kitchen for breakfast you discover you have a super power."

The kids started stories, but in giving them instructions I specifically told them they had to include reactions from family and friends in their stories. They neglected to do so, so today, we revisited their stories. ...

CJ:

I woke up one morning feeling strange. I felt like I had water in my head, maybe even blood or lava! As I came to the kitchen for breakfast, I asked for some Reeses Puffs, but then I realized that I had the power to levitate!

I went outside to play with the Frisbee, but thanks to levitation, it brought the Frisbee to a whole new level! After a while, I went to a barn, but then I realized that this levitation had a mind of its own. It lifted the barnyard up then crashed it, it made a NASA rocket go crazy, and much much more.

I went to the hospital, So I could stop this levitation. I asked the doctor "CAN YOU GET THIS LEVITATION POWER TO GO AWAY!!!!!!??????" The doctor said,"Okay, but this will require a lot of surgery." After a while, the doctor said "Sorry, But it looks like this is impossible."

After that, I went home for my birthday party. After getting home, I saw my friends saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you...." They found out I had the power to levitate things. I was about to bite my cake, but then it splattered in my face due to levitation. (Luckily not the candles.) My parents took me to the hospital, only for the doctor to tell them that he got me previously and it was impossible. After that, my parents (and friends) had to keep me in a indestructible room where there was a lot to do, for example, make a castle. (Not to mention that I was the only one in there.)

Bee:

One day I woke up and felt funny when I was heading for the kitchen to eat breakfast. I felt like I had gills! I looked at the fish tank and sorta wanted to jump right in! I asked myself, "Why do I want to jump in there?" so I went to the kitchen and ate my Alpha Bits. And right after that, looked in the mirror. I did have gills! I was so startled I almost fell over!

I decided I wanted to go swimming. I just wanted to test my gills! And so I went to the beach and dove underwater in my swimsuit and flippers. I stayed in there longer than ever before. My gills worked! Now I don't have to worry about losing any air while I'm underwater.

But when I went home my dad was shocked to see a had gills! My mom was too. My dog even sniffed my gills because she thought they smelled "fishy" get it? Fishy? OK, so when I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, I made sure to splash water on my gills so that they wouldn't dry out overnight. When I woke up, I still had them. But I'm used to them now.

THEY WRITE THE SONGS: In music class, CJ and Annabelle each got a bit of time to experiment with writing an original composition. Here's what they came up with (visually). Since there is no staff, it's going to be hard for you to read along. ;) If I were really on the ball, I would have taped them humming the songs for you.

CARROT TOPS: Our RootVue planter continues to entertain. We planted carrot seeds back in mid-January and they've been growing well ever since. In fact, they are quite clearly outgrowing the planter, so today, we did our second thinning session. The kids each plucked a couple of juvenile carrots out and inspected them.

I re-planted the culled carrots in a box outside because maybe, just maybe, they'll continue growing.

ONCE IN A LIFETIME: Mark your calendars now, for a once-in-a-lifetime event is coming in June 5, when Venus will cross between Earth and the sun. How rare is it? There have been just 53 transits of Venus across the sun between 2000 BC and 2004 AD. The first recorded transit was in 1631, though it's likely it had been witnessed before.

NASA just released Part 1 of a short movie called "The Transit of Venus," which does a great job of describing the rare occurrence.  The kids and I watched it this afternoon.

After we watched the video, we hopped to the NASA Web site all about this year's transit: http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/

Your best bet for viewing is to head to Hawaii. (Doesn't THAT sound nice?) As it did during the last historic transit, Hawaii will be hosting astronomers and star gazers for the event. Check out the Transit of Venus trailer: http://youtu.be/T0QpXNT5AT8.  I sure hope it isn't raining here in Seattle on June 5.

GREAT GRAPHIC: Today, via Twitter, I learned about a great graphic showing "US Space Travel: A Timeline of Manned Flights. I'm not going to copy and paste it here, because I don't know who owns it - but you can take a look at it via this link: http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17gbhan0n17mejpg/original.jpg

LAUNCH MADNESS: NASA's "5 in 5" - the launch of 5 rockets in about 5 minutes was postponed Wednesday night. Called ATREX, the mission is to measure winds high above our Eastern Seaboard. (You can watch a video about the mission here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/atrex-nightlight.html)
 
The latest word is that the launch will go no earlier than the night of Saturday, March 17. A decision on whether to count for March 17 will be made late Friday afternoon. When it is a go, the ATREX mission will be web cast beginning 2 hours before the opening of the launch window at this link: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast. The launch window opens no earlier than 11 p.m. EST and closes no later than 6:30 a.m. The public can call 757-824-2298 to confirm the launch window opening time.