Vanished

I am so grateful to live in the digital age! I'm somewhat envious of my kids--being a digital native no doubt has its perks--but as a digital immigrant I get to wallow in the marvelousness of technology in a way that they never will. They take it for granted.

I try hard to not be a geezer with the "in my day we had to xyz..." ...but I still do it. Not long ago I pulled out my old Bud's Easy Term Paper Kit circa 1991. It's a slim paperback (staple binding) featuring MLA and APA guidelines. The best (and most used) part was the pull out; a glossy cardstock insert with bold black print that was intended to be fed into a typewriter (electric, I'm not that ancient) behind the paper to give guidelines on margins and end note spacing. I have probably typed hundreds of pages in front of that piece of cardstock. I remember the day I got it--my mom bought it for me at her university's bookstore. I had been struggling with the formatting of a paper I was writing for a high school English class. Bud provided the solution. The wave of nostalgia was momentary, then D and I had a good laugh. The girls were perplexed.

I could wax on rhapsodic about the wonders of the internet...but I know y'all know it's made up of more than just funny pictures of cats (though we dig that, too!)

But you might not yet know about this: Vanished

Its a collaborative effort between the Smithsonian and MIT. The idea is to get middle school aged kids engaged in doing science through game play.

Read more here.

Stuff like this makes me totally envious of the natives.

Skateboarding

For my dear friend Mikki, who was wondering how old a child needs to be before you can teach him/her to skateboard. I just want to say that I don't think it's wise to encourage a 3 year old to skateboard, but if s/he insists, at least get started in the winter when s/he's wearing heavy clothes (that way only the face will get bloodied.)

Inconstant Moon

In honor of tonight's nearness of the moon, my favorite Larry Niven story:

Inconstant Moon, Part 1

Gardening!

Wanna see my beautiful cold frame?

D built it out of scrap wood--in fact, it's almost entirely recycled. The back is a reclaimed sheet of plywood that leaned in our garage for many, many years. The front and sides are made of 2x4s from D's friend's demolition project. The frames for the lid are from our old bedroom windows. The girls painted the beautiful mural on the front (it's Hecate's Academy, aka our backyard)with a box of acrylic paints they inherited from their Aunt D. We lined the back with the remnants of a roll of mylar we bought several years ago for our indoor seed starting set-up (since abandoned--too much work!) We bought the plexiglass and a can of whatsitcalled--the sealant coat (my brain is fried from hours of cookie sale math.)

We installed it last week. Our lettuce has all ready sprouted!

The rest of the upper garden:

It doesn't look like much. We've planted a few rows of peas, but nothing is happening there. I share so that in a few months, when the green has become commonplace, we can look back at the brown and be evermore grateful.

Isn't This a Dainty Pose (or-A Gratuitous Picture of my Dog...because it's my blog and I'm sick and tired of cookies and I'll put up pictures of my dog if I want to!)

Pi Day

We celebrated Pi Day with two of the "nine kinds of pie we like best."

We had chicken pot pie and apple pie. We topped the chicken pot pie with buttermilk biscuits. We outlined the Greek letter, pi, in the apple pie's crust.

We started with a whole chicken, a bag of apples, I don't care to recall how much butter, and The Joy of Cooking. We added some stuff along the way (veggies, flour, some spices.) It took a long time. The gravy was divine, though; delicate and creamy. It was nice to spend the time in the kitchen with D and the kids (who drifted in and out.) We've been so busy the past few weeks. It was really fun to focus on a low-key, somewhat personal (as opposed to, say, Thanksgiving,) holiday, indulge in our collective geekiness, and prepare and enjoy awesome food.

Yay for Pi Day!

Spelling Should Be Way Cooler Than It Is

On the way to pick up T from her Saturday enrichment class (build a crystal radio,) R and I walked through a lobby where a circus class was meeting. They were practicing with puppets. He was enthralled. He wanted to sit and watch. We had a few minutes, so we plopped on a bench.

He whispered to me:

R: Mom, I want to take this class! Sign me up!

Me: Yeah, it's pretty neat. I'm sorry, it's for older kids.

R: I'm older! I can make a "W" now. T showed me how.

Me: I know. I'm sorry, Buddy.

R: I can spell my name! R-O-W-A-N...X!

Me: That's awesome!

Me: But sweetie, there's no X in your name.

R: I didn't think so. I really like X though!

Fun with Sushi

This is R's favorite book.

The first seventeen times I read it, I thought it was hilarious. Now that I've been reading it at least once a day for several weeks, I only find it funny.

I love children's literature. Before my kids came along, I worked in the children's sections of two different bookstores (the big box store was not nearly as good of an employer as the second hand chain...just sayin') If I were to have my pick of jobs that are compatible with the current life I have (and love,) I would sell children's books again. Ooh! Or maybe I would write them!

Good picture books (like Yoko,) have it all: compelling art, concise prose, rhythm, and a satisfying storyline.

Rosemary Wells is a master of superlative adjectives. In describing the sushi rolls Yoko's mom makes, she says she rolled up "the crispiest cucumber, the pinkest shrimp, the greenest seaweed and the tastiest tuna."

R has been so into the book that I added nori roll supplies to our last grocery list. He helped me make a sushi dinner for us. You will be pleased to know that he described our rolls as having "the fake-est crab!"

The last component of our sushi story:

this Melissa & Doug play sushi kit

We've had it for longer than he's been in the world. He found the box and the pieces in our play kitchen. None of us could remember exactly how it all went together, so D looked up the picture for him. He worked it out, remembered it, and now he serves us up a "deluxe sushi platter" whenever we can "taprend" to be hungry. We have a set routine and a set dialogue. First he offers up a piece of spicy tuna. We're supposed to say "Oh! That's way too spicy!" Then he offers a California roll. We're supposed to say "Oh, thank you! That's much more better!" He doesn't like improvisation, but he will accept grammatical deviations. When we're finished enjoying our sushi, he dumps the pieces back in the play food basket, so that he can assemble them again the next time someone "taprends they're hungry."