Summer Reading

Our local Knox County library hosts a summer reading program every summer. The teen summer reading only requires five books. I've often participated and have some good books that I'm planning on reading that I thought I'd share with you!

My required school reading for next year is The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway and Night by Elie Wiesel. I'm also in the process of rereading The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare. And I just put A Voice in the Wind, An Echo in the Darkness, and As Sure as the Dawn (all by Francine Rivers) on hold at the library on the recommendation of a friend. I'll be posting reviews as I read them. I'm eager to hear your reading for this summer! Who has some good books?

P.S. I'm also in the process of writing a book! It's definitely a little kid book, a spoof on the forming of the United States of America. My brother likes it though (as a 13 year old), so I may post some snippets as I write...

Evan

I would like to commend my brother on his excellent work in Latin over the summer! Although trying at times, Latin went really well this summer, and I am so proud of Evan's hard work in learning his Latin words! He took a quiz every day this week on all the words we've covered so far, and the lowest grade he got was a 98%! EXCELLENT WORK, Evan!!

Best Little Brother Ever!

Summer Craft Project!

Being the organized person that I am, I enjoy laying out my school clothes for the next day. So, Mom bought me a clothes rack, I painted it to match my room, and then Dad helped me hang it behind the door. It's really cute, and I like it a lot. A very cute, quick, and practical project.

Vacation pictures!

For those of you who didn't know, my family and I went on a trip to the Northeast, specifically Maine. We returned Thursday after a wonderful time with family. Some friends asked me to post pictures, so here goes! Here's a narrative of events first:

On Wednesday, we arrived in Portland and explored some lighthouses. We also went to an excellent restaurant, Espo's Trattoria. The food was great, the portions, HUGE! Thursday we saw my grandparents in Freeport and shared a meal. We also visited the famous L.L. Bean, which is incredibly impressive! :) On Friday, when the rain poured buckets, we drove to Beals Island, where we met my brother and sister-in-law. We spent three wonderful days with them! Saturday the six of us went to Jasper Beach. It's named Jasper Beach because of the rocks filled with jasper that make up the amazing stone beach. The weather was great! Sunny and cool, with a breeze. After spending most of the day there, we just managed to beat the fog back to Beals Island. Unfortunately, the fog stayed over the island for the remainder of our trip. That night, we did something neither Ev nor I had ever done before; we cooked lobsters. Dad and Kim were the only people who ate them, but to my credit, I did try some. Personally, I thought it was chewy and tasted kind of strange. Like my mom said, it's like eating rubber bands. But to each his own! Sunday we hiked 2 1/2 miles to a beach, but the fog lay over everything, so we just smelled the ocean smells and and stuck our hands in the cold water. We saw a whale's head, or what was left of it. Jer, Kim, Ev, and I went out later and threw bumpers for Jer and Kim's dogs. It was so much fun!! The dogs were usually right on target, so it was very fun to watch! Oh, and early the next morning, at about 4:30 am or 5:00 am, the lobster men went out and then the Coast Guard tested all their very loud equipment. I think fewer people slept well that night. Monday we parted ways with Jer and Kim and then drove down to Bar Harbor, the home of Acadia National Park. But the fog was settled over Acadia too, so we drove back to Freeport. Tuesday we explored Freeport, but Wednesday Dad, Ev, and I went skeet-shooting. My only comment: it's a little harder then it looks, and I'm not going to do it again. My shoulder is still recovering. Thursday was just flying home, which sounds easy, but wasn't. We were delayed about an hour and a half out of Portland, and the Atlanta airport was backed up due to heavy thunderstorms earlier in the day. We finally made it home at 8:00pm. Our checked bags, however, didn't make it to our house until Friday morning. Happily they are now in our possession! Vacation was great! I hope you enjoy the pictures! (I'm sorry, but they're not in chronological order.)

Ev skeet-shooting.

Me, also skeet-shooting.

Two boats coming in after a day at sea....

Portland Head Light: beautiful!

Dad and me, starting our hike back from the beach...in the fog!

Mom sitting on a rock at the beach.

The whale's head.

Dad and Kim...and the lobsters!

Jer putting the lobsters in the pot.

Ev holding a lobster.

Jasper Beach: gorgeous!

Ev and Jer examining some rocks.

Family picture!

Where does it go?

I just realized that today is June 23. You might ask why this is such a startling revelation. I have been out of school for a month, and yet I feel like I've gotten very little accomplished. True, I've tutored, petsat, cleaned, and gardened, but still.... Where is the time going?! There is only roughly a month and a half of vacation left!!!

Squash!

Today Mom and I picked some squash from our garden! We fried them with onions, and they tasted really wonderful. As you can see, one of the squash is actually two conjoined. I'd never seen such a thing happen with vegetables!

More Latin!

It's now been roughly three weeks since Ev and I started Latin, and since we are covering two chapters this week, I decided to make my own Concentration game. I ended up making two: one for his Chapter 5 words and one for his Chapter 14 words. We've had a lot of fun playing the games, although I've won every game, so Ev is not very happy about that. But he enjoys it more than flash cards, and it's the same basic principle! Tomorrow I am going to review everything he's learned so far before we move on. It is really nice to have a "student" with a brain like a sponge! I also encourage you; if you have a sibling that struggles in something you are good at, or if they just need a hand getting ready for next school year's classes, help them! It's a rewarding experience to watch someone you are helping get really good at something, even if you're just there to encourage them! (Here are some pictures of one of the Concentration games. I apologize for the blurriness.)

Summer Languages

This summer I have been made tutor to my brother for Latin. On Saturday, we started, and thankfully, it all came back. After all, being the tutor, it's good to have a better understanding of the language than your student does! We read through the grammar, covered and copied all the vocabulary - 27 new words for Ev -, had a quiz -yeah, yeah, I'm a tough teacher -, and then he studied, studied, studied. We have 9 weeks to get through 12 lessons, including 3rd declension nouns: three chapters of them! I also am hoping to keep up with Spanish over the summer. Gulp!

Summer Vacation!

Hey, everyone! I am finally out of school!!!! It's wonderful to be free. :) Here are my some of my summer plans:

1. This summer, I'm tutoring my brother in Latin - the school where he is going next year teaches Latin, and I did the book I'll be teaching him last year, so hopefully it will all turn out okay-.
2. We're going to the Northeast in July, which is going to be soooo fun. We have family up there, and it just feels like home.
3. I'm also going to do a bake sale one weekend. Last time we did it, the sale was successful, but we had to split the money four ways, so it didn't amount to much.
4. Mom wants my brother and me to take computer classes, and both the library and the Apple store offer free lessons.

So, no really big plans. Of course, we'll go swimming! One of our friends lets us swim at her apartment pool, and there is rarely anyone swimming, so usually we have the pool to ourselves. What are you doing this summer? (Comments below this post.)