Fridays and Weekends

Today was a ton of fun at co-op! The absolute best part was when we acted. See, in Writing Class, we have been making characters up, and then acting them out. We've done a lot of court cases, simply because they are good when you have a lot of people. Today we combined a murder at a zoo, with 1,000,000 dollars, and we got one great court case. In fact, it was so lengthy, that we didn't have time to finish it, so we have a week to wait impatiently and a week to think about it. So class was fun!

Mom also took me to the library today; I am starting to go through Christy by Catherine Marshall. I've been watching the Christy movies, so I wanted to know the real story that hadn't been touched by some movie director! So far it's good, though the movie left out some parts (sometimes I am finding that's good). Otherwise, the movie has been true to the book..... so far. I'm only on page 220 of 474! I'll let you know how it turns out. :)

Tomorrow is supposed to be my first softball game, but thanks to the weather, I don't think it's going to be happening. :( 100% chance of rain, but hey, anything can happen! My team is pretty unprepared-we've only had one practice-, so if the game got canceled, maybe it wouldn't be too bad. We shall see!

Well, that's most of the news for now; tomorrow I'll be baking lots and lots and lots of cookies for a get-together, so I'll try to post pictures of them! Until then..............

Victory!

Yay! I have met with victory after my dismal failure at science a few days ago. Two days ago, something clicked with the AMAs and the IMAs, and I was able to get an "A" on my lesson! The same with my final quiz today. :) All that's left is the big test on Monday, but I am retaining an open attitude!

Ice Cream Socials and New Pillows

Those two items mentioned in my title may seem like they have nothing in common with each other, so you may be somewhat surprised to find out that they do. They are both happenings or purchases that occured yesterday to me/my family. We decided that to celebrate the last day of Spring Break we would have an ice cream social, complete with brownies, ice cream, whipped cream, sprinkles, nuts, chocolate sauce, and hot fudge. Yes, they were good! And then, when Dad, E, and I were at Wal-mart (shopping for our goodies!), in the central aisle, we discovered a display of the big long pillows that I think are called "body pillows." Anyway, since they were only $7.50, Dad bought me one to match my room:

(It's the big, long teal-ish colored one.)

So, yes; ice cream socials and new pillows can be considered related in some circles!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Why is there always one school subject that seems just too difficult? Science is hard, and this year I'm doing it on the computer, so that might be part of my problem. But does anyone besides me find the AMAs and the IMAs and the math formulas written for a tried-and-true scientist hard and confusing!!!???? They are not making my science right now a happy experience, and when I am finished with this burdensome section in a week, I'll be glad to put it behind me. I just wish it was easier to understand. :( Oh well, I am already done with school, and it's just now 2:00pm, plus it's gorgeous outside, so I am going to go enjoy it! Sorry for all my complaining; Science will get better and eventually I'll understand it!

Back to school

Tomorrow it's back to school. I just counted the days, and since I believe school lets out for summer on May 22, there are just about 44 days of school left. So six weeks and two days, roughly; but of course, there are weekends which I didn't count, so it's actually more time than that. Did any of what I just said make sense? Probably not. Never mind.

I had a wonderful spring break. I got to bake, sew, go shopping, play with friends, and hang out with no school to worry about! Yesterday's softball practice went like a dream; I have a good team this year, I think, as well as the best of coaches. First game is on Saturday, and someone has to win the game, so it might as well be our team!

Today's weather has been gorgeous; I took Bono for a walk-which he loved-, and now I think I'll go read in the shade......

Another Blog

Hi, everyone! Just a quick note to let you know that I have created another blog, for the sole purpose of talking about dogs and discussing doggie things. It's still incredibly basic; it will get better though! I'll put stuff on about my dogs and my sister's dogs, and if you have a dog you want me to talk about, let me know! For the link, look over at the list of favorite sites. Thanks!

Donuts!

My efforts were rewarded; my donuts turned out pretty well. They taste great for a "Chocolate Cake Donut," although my brother complains that they are too "healthy!" Anyway, I'll have to experiment with some different recipes. Let me know if you have a favorite donut recipe!

Don't they look just scrumptious!

A Few Disappointments.... Oh well, I'll be just as busy!

Well, it looks like my "jam-packed" week isn't going to be so jam-packed. I probably won't get to go riding, and I'm not babysitting. Sigh. Oh well. I get to clean tomorrow. Yippee. But, then some friends are coming over, so that will be awesome fun. And then I get to go visit another friend, later in the week. First softball practice is coming up over the weekend too; I can not wait!!! I've got my favorite coaches EVER! They make so much sense, and practices are always so much fun. Yay! Oh, today was my shopping day with Mom. We had a lot of fun; got new clothes, found fun stuff, and I bought a donut tin so I can make donuts tomorrow morning for breakfast! So that was a lot of fun. I'm going to sleep well tonight, but for now, I'm going to go organize my drawers and watch a Christy with Mom!

The First Official Day of Spring Break!

Today, Monday, March 16, 2009, begins Spring Break! I'm really happy to have a whole week of freedom. But of course, it's jam-packed with activities. The most exciting ones will be shopping with Mom, getting together with a friend, babysitting, horseback riding, a little dog training ; everything I guess! I also want to do some baking, especially cookies. Oh, I also have a buyer for Kaya, the American Girl doll I am selling. Yippee! I'm going to try to arrange a meeting today, tomorrow at the latest. This morning I baked a coffee cake, but I don't know how it turned out, since I think I forgot to put the butter in. Oops. Maybe I'd better go test it.......

Wow...

Okay, I have been posting with astonishing regularity! Believe me, this will not always be the case. I am getting really tired of rain/cold weather, and today we have both! Grrrrr. I love winter for a while and then I am ready for spring; right now I am ready for spring. Today was mildly busy. I started off cleaning my room, but then I decided to sell an American Girl doll of mine, so I had to get out all the clothes and accessories and the doll, and set a reasonable price - since I already sort of had a buyer, this was important! And then my room was a bigger mess than when I started. So the morning's objective failed. This afternoon I went to the library, the paint store, and the pet store. Then Dad and I took Bono and Tallie for a walk. So, it's been a pretty good day overall, and now I am going to go fix dinner for my family........

Testing Success!

I have finally finished two long days of testing! Spelling/Language were easy; but then, I have had a difficult English book that is incredibly thorough, and reading is a favorite pasttime for me. Science, not being my forte or favorite subject, was a little difficult. Math was long and a bit tedious, but not really difficult-just quite a bit of computation. Listening too was relatively simple. The one rather annoying thing was that there was the kid sitting behind me who muttered and sung to himself a lot! Grrrrr. Anyway, now it's over, and I am on Spring Break for 9 days!!!!! :)

Mom's Blog

Hi, everyone!! Check out my mom's awesome blog!! It's over in the list of favorite sites; Pasticheknits. It's really cool!!

Testing, Spring Break, Colds, and Softball

1. Hi, everyone! As you can see from the title of this post, life has been a little hectic. The ski trip was awesome-everyone check out the pictures!-, but since then, things have gotten busier, and busier, and busier.
2. First item: yes, tomorrow starts two days of SAT. It's never that bad, though; it's more the suspense leading up to a big test, such as the SATs.
3. Second item: Spring Break technically starts on Monday--I think though, that Spring Break starts when I get done with school on Friday!
4. Third item: As to the item about colds, my brother is sick with a cold for the 4th time this winter. He's getting very tired of being sick.
5. Fourth item: it's finally time for softball!! One of my favorite coaches managed to get a league together for girls my age. I'm really happy since softball is my favorite sport to play. The first practice is on Saturday. I'll let you all know how it goes.
6. That's all the news for now. I'll post again soon!

Ski Pictures!

Picking out poles for the first time; my brother is the only one looking at the camera!

Preparing for the sled race! Good luck, boys!

My brother giving me my first lesson on skiing. Thanks, Jer!

It's finally finished! Tomorrow's the real test!

Hard at work duct taping! Nice job: It looks spectacular! :)

Here are the promised pictures of sled building, skiing, getting off lifts, etc. Enjoy!

Skiing!!!

Yes, it's true; I went skiing March 6-8. It was a ton of fun.

First, we went to Paoli/French Lick, Indiana. We went with some of my older siblings that I haven't seen in a while, so that was a lot of fun. The night we got there, we just relaxed and sort of prepared for the next day. We had an good dinner and then roasted marshmellows by a campfire and sat in our own personal hot tub. Lots of cardboard had been packed for the trip because there was a cardboard sled race, and my two brothers were going to enter. (I'll enter pictures of this and other fun happenings later!) Suffice it to say that out of a field of 9 sleds plus, there were 6 sleds in front of them. Still, they had fun!

We also had a great time on Saturday afternoon. Simon, my brother-in-law, taught us a bunch of really cool magic tricks, which we then performed on anyone who happened to pass by! We also went and fed a ton of carrots to some horses. The general favorite horses were Clyde, a horse with a bunch of attitude, and Sable, a black mare Percheron. We also celebrated Feb./Mar. birthdays that night, since out of 9 people, 4 of us had birthdays in those months! That was fun, and we got to eat chocolate cake!

Sunday, we slowly(because of the time change), managed to get ready. Muffins and eggs spurred us on! Then we went and explored the woods in the ranch and discovered some garter snakes, which some of us held. That was our Sunday excitement, and then the families parted and went our various ways. It was a ton of fun! Thanks all, for a wonderful weekend!!! :)

Birthday Success!

We had a great morning yesterday, with my mom's birthday & party. In the morning we ate a french toast breakfast and gave presents to Mom. Then we finished decor, and did some whirlwind cleaning and vacuuming, and that ended about 3:20pm. My mom's birthday went really well. Well, mostly it went well. We started making sandwiches at 3:38pm, and Mom's party started at 4:00. Thankfully, the party was an open house, so no one actually arrived at 4:00. Then at 4:30, everyone started arriving at once! I think we had about twenty kids, all in the same room, plus adults in the next room! We kids played a game of "Apples to Apples", and then sat around, trying to come up with something intelligent to say! :) The arrival of dinnertime was met with much rejoicing, and soon food fights and dueling with toothpicks began, in the carpeted living room. One of Mom's friends sang a hilarious song (in the adult room), the guests signed a memory book, and we devoured a delicious cake! But by the end of the evening, I was about ready to scream. Little girls had taken over my room, but only two of them were super annoying. They peered into my junk drawer, my closet, and pushed another young girl off the bed. They left not a moment too soon, and then I spent some time with my brother and two friends, playing the laughing game and talking. The evening ended well, and I'm glad my mom's party was such a success!