Hey guys (and gals), it's Jess here, and once again I am hacking Erika's blog!
But this time, I am not here to post embarrassing pictures of Erika or anything even remotely devious. Even though that would be fun. No, I assure you, my motives are entirely above reproach.
You see, I am attempting to fill Erika's email inbox, so that she will not come back and be depressed when she sees that she has (currently) only seven emails (yes, I do check her email for her while she's gone!). Every comment that you write goes to Erika's email, so I am asking all of you for a favor....
Please comment!!! I realize that's a very vague request, so I would suggest that you write something encouraging about her trip and how much we miss her, etc.
Won't she be surprised?! Or annoyed. One or the other! :)
Also, to read updates about her encampent, visit this website: http://www.nerca09.gateway2somewhere.com/
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Erika has...
...Gone Fishin'!
Well, not really. I'm leaving really early tomorrow morning to go to Civil Air patrol encampment. So if I'm not responding to/publishing your comments, it's not because I don't like you -- it's because I'll have no internet (Jessica may act in my stead. If you ask really nice, she may even tell you about her county executive dinner thingamabob.). And I'll be back late next Wednesday. Bye!
Well, not really. I'm leaving really early tomorrow morning to go to Civil Air patrol encampment. So if I'm not responding to/publishing your comments, it's not because I don't like you -- it's because I'll have no internet (Jessica may act in my stead. If you ask really nice, she may even tell you about her county executive dinner thingamabob.). And I'll be back late next Wednesday. Bye!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Jessica's senior pictures
These are *some* of Jessica's senior pictures -- all taken (and copyrighted) by yours truly :)
Monday, July 13, 2009
VBS
Okay, so there's this thing called "Vacation Bible School," or if you're cool, "VBS." This year (July 6-10) we had a blast, or at least the games people did. Everything from dish soap to skittles...crocodiles to sponge balls...beanbags to a running hose... The theme was "Crocodile Dock," but the phrase the kids shouted all week (with the accompanying hand and arm motion) was "Fear not." No, I didn't do that right. Let me say that over. The phrase the kids shouted all week was "FEEAAARRR NOOT!!!!!!!" Like that, except noot looks really weird.
Annetta and Iwere had the privilege of being game leaders, and we had help in the form of Nick, who is an AWANA game leader. It has been my experience (wow! I sound like I think I know what I'm talking about there! I wonder if anyone will notice!) that as a general rule, VBS game plan booklets are, with all respect and utmost honor to the writers of said booklets, to a certain extent -- and I say this with reasonable certainty-- crazy. That being said, I think we did do some of the games from the booklets, but we also supplemented as we went along. We did a maze again this year. It was obviously a Maze to Top All Mazes, as we added on to it as the morning progressed, finally ending up with this masterpiece of great ingenuity.
But the grand Finale Of Games was, appropriately enough, on the last day. Our Games Staff swelled to four with the addition of Peter, who flew up from his house in the remote regions of a far away and distant land (uh, his location is a secret, in case you hadn't figured that part out) just to help us, because we Games People were just that cool!! Actually, he said he had other reasons, but I'm sure that he was just trying not to let us get too full of ourselves, and you can see how well that worked, mmhmmm. But on Friday, we decided we could play water games outside (instead of shivering indoors while pretending that our skittles were fireflies). So we got a slippery, pool liner out on the pastor's lawn, and dragged screaming barefoot kids down it. Unfortunately, it wasn't slippery enough to have the desired effect (which was sliding), so we swiped the dish soap from the kitchen, and I use the word swiped in the fullest meaning of the word. After coating the pool liner with the dish soap, we had the kids close their eyes and dragged them down. It was a definite balance test --- mainly for the leaders, not necessarily the kids. And so we sent the kids home with clean feet, and smelling distinctly like dish soap (of all things...).
Friday night was our VBS closing program. It included (but was not limited to) eating and a program, which included (but was not limited to) singing all 433 VBS songs with motions and speaking.
And then our tightly-knit band of VBS workers, in true VBS style, left the church and checked ourselves into the local hospital. No! We went home.
Annetta and I
But the grand Finale Of Games was, appropriately enough, on the last day. Our Games Staff swelled to four with the addition of Peter, who flew up from his house in the remote regions of a far away and distant land (uh, his location is a secret, in case you hadn't figured that part out) just to help us, because we Games People were just that cool!! Actually, he said he had other reasons, but I'm sure that he was just trying not to let us get too full of ourselves, and you can see how well that worked, mmhmmm. But on Friday, we decided we could play water games outside (instead of shivering indoors while pretending that our skittles were fireflies). So we got a slippery, pool liner out on the pastor's lawn, and dragged screaming barefoot kids down it. Unfortunately, it wasn't slippery enough to have the desired effect (which was sliding), so we swiped the dish soap from the kitchen, and I use the word swiped in the fullest meaning of the word. After coating the pool liner with the dish soap, we had the kids close their eyes and dragged them down. It was a definite balance test --- mainly for the leaders, not necessarily the kids. And so we sent the kids home with clean feet, and smelling distinctly like dish soap (of all things...).
Friday night was our VBS closing program. It included (but was not limited to) eating and a program, which included (but was not limited to) singing all 433 VBS songs with motions and speaking.
And then our tightly-knit band of VBS workers, in true VBS style, left the church and checked ourselves into the local hospital. No! We went home.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Fourth of July
Our celebrations started off with a picnic-type supper. It included my dad, grilling hotdogs, which he was practicing for Jessica's graduation party (which all, I guess, of my blog readers are invited to :) ).
And then we went to a local fireworks display. This was the first time I had taken my camera with me, so I was experimenting with various shutter speeds and the like.
The display started up during the playing of the National Anthem, right at the line "And the rockets' red glare..."
It lasted about 10 minutes, so it wasn't incredibly long, but they were pretty. The grand finale lasted for quite a while -- perhaps 20 seconds.
And then we had to maneuver through the traffic to get home!
What did you all do?
And then we went to a local fireworks display. This was the first time I had taken my camera with me, so I was experimenting with various shutter speeds and the like.
The display started up during the playing of the National Anthem, right at the line "And the rockets' red glare..."
It lasted about 10 minutes, so it wasn't incredibly long, but they were pretty. The grand finale lasted for quite a while -- perhaps 20 seconds.
And then we had to maneuver through the traffic to get home! What did you all do?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Medieval Festival Round Two
Here are just a few more quick photos from the medieval festival. If you want another camera's perspective, go to Rachel's post about it.
We had a real, live monk!! Okay, so maybe not real. But he was alive!
He read to us while we ate.
Our lives continue to be busy this summer. The younger girls are taking horse riding lessons again. I'm working on finishing up my schoolwork -- research paper, anyone?? And...we have VBS (Vacation Bible School) next week!
Just out of curiosity: do any of my blog readers help with a VBS, or have you in the past?
We had a real, live monk!! Okay, so maybe not real. But he was alive! 
He read to us while we ate.
Our lives continue to be busy this summer. The younger girls are taking horse riding lessons again. I'm working on finishing up my schoolwork -- research paper, anyone?? And...we have VBS (Vacation Bible School) next week!
Just out of curiosity: do any of my blog readers help with a VBS, or have you in the past?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Medieval Festival
Last year, we had the Scottish Festival. This year, the theme was medieval, and there were more participants. There were two separate sewing classes, because there were two "middle locations" for the scattering of participating homeschoolers. Not all of us used the same pattern, but the most widely-used one (for the girls) was McCall's Costumes M5499. It was fun, and we learned a lot.
The authentic festival was on Saturday, and so I have pictures.
This would be some of the girls - (l to r) me, Arielle, Shiloh, Rachel, Jessica, and Annetta.
We had a dinner, and it was food that they might have eaten back then - things like potatoes, carrots, chicken, beef, and bread.
There were activities, both before and after the meal. I think that this picture mostly shows the sword fighting.
This would be Rachel and Aaron, of piano recital fame, and yes, Aaron has some sort of heavy, clinky, metal armour on.
(There are more pictures coming; I just had technical difficulties and the stupid thing published before I was done!)
The authentic festival was on Saturday, and so I have pictures.
This would be some of the girls - (l to r) me, Arielle, Shiloh, Rachel, Jessica, and Annetta.
We had a dinner, and it was food that they might have eaten back then - things like potatoes, carrots, chicken, beef, and bread.
There were activities, both before and after the meal. I think that this picture mostly shows the sword fighting.
This would be Rachel and Aaron, of piano recital fame, and yes, Aaron has some sort of heavy, clinky, metal armour on.
(There are more pictures coming; I just had technical difficulties and the stupid thing published before I was done!)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Braces Update
I am now (now: defined as the period of time between the beginning of June and this present day) the possessor of a BitePlane. It goes directly behind the upper front teeth, and consists of a oval-ish piece of a plastic-type material which is banded to my molars. Its purpose is to push my front teeth outwards so as to not *crunch* my bottom braces (which I don't have yet!) whenever I close my mouth. At least that's what they tell me.
In order for you to fully understand the BitePlane, get a large carrot. (Yes, that's the orange thing that lives in the bottom drawer of your refrigerator along with your mom's bag of weird salad stuff, and that leftover zucchini from three years ago.) Basically, the BitePlane can be recreated with a large (1/4 inch thick) carrot "coin," wedged behind your front teeth, right where you put your tongue to say the sounds d, t, l, n, or s. If you have your carrot in right, your molars will not be able to touch, thus meaning you can't close your jaw. One gets used to it after a while, but it also means you can't chew. This was scary to me at first, because chewing my food before I swallowed it had actually become a regular habit with me. However, as I was told by a fellow BitePlane sufferer, you use your tongue as another pair of teeth and are able to eat along fine.
One definite benefit of having the BitePlane versus the RPE is the fact that I am now able to say the word "geeky." Imagine all the times you yourself use the word "geeky." Now picture poor me, unable to competently form that word. Yes, it was very pitiful.
Okay, you can spit your carrot out now :)
In order for you to fully understand the BitePlane, get a large carrot. (Yes, that's the orange thing that lives in the bottom drawer of your refrigerator along with your mom's bag of weird salad stuff, and that leftover zucchini from three years ago.) Basically, the BitePlane can be recreated with a large (1/4 inch thick) carrot "coin," wedged behind your front teeth, right where you put your tongue to say the sounds d, t, l, n, or s. If you have your carrot in right, your molars will not be able to touch, thus meaning you can't close your jaw. One gets used to it after a while, but it also means you can't chew. This was scary to me at first, because chewing my food before I swallowed it had actually become a regular habit with me. However, as I was told by a fellow BitePlane sufferer, you use your tongue as another pair of teeth and are able to eat along fine.
One definite benefit of having the BitePlane versus the RPE is the fact that I am now able to say the word "geeky." Imagine all the times you yourself use the word "geeky." Now picture poor me, unable to competently form that word. Yes, it was very pitiful.
Okay, you can spit your carrot out now :)
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The Many Expressions of "Spud"
Devoted Readers Of My Blog, I am happy to present to you the Homeschool Spud Team (*cheers erupt*)!!
Um, why aren't you erupting with cheers? Maybe it would help if I would explain what Spud is. Basically, it's a game with a ball that involves the following steps:
2. Everyone stands in a circle and is given a number from 1 through however many players you have.
2. The first player has the ball and stands in the middle of the circle. She throws it into the sky while calling out a number. Everyone else runs away as fast as they can.
3. The player whose number was called grabs the ball and calls "Spud!"
4. All players stop.
5. The player with the ball (PWB) advances three, heart-stopping steps toward the nearest player, who is wilting with anxiety.
6. The PWB throw the ball at the other person.
7. Then, that player has the ball, everyone sands in the circle, and you repeat over and over until you get 4 penalties ("S" "P" "U" "D" are their designated penalties; hence, the name) and are out.
Ok, now you may commence erupting cheering as the HSST presents, in an amazing pictorial record, snapshots from a game of Spuds.
::Run!!::
::Okay, so she called my number, I caught it ...now what?::
::Hit someone with it!!::
::It's a game; you don't have to be too apologetic about it...::
::Yep, go ahead and bounce it off his chest!::
::Contemplation--everyone has a different expression on his face as they think about...something::
Um, why aren't you erupting with cheers? Maybe it would help if I would explain what Spud is. Basically, it's a game with a ball that involves the following steps:
2. Everyone stands in a circle and is given a number from 1 through however many players you have.
2. The first player has the ball and stands in the middle of the circle. She throws it into the sky while calling out a number. Everyone else runs away as fast as they can.
3. The player whose number was called grabs the ball and calls "Spud!"
4. All players stop.
5. The player with the ball (PWB) advances three, heart-stopping steps toward the nearest player, who is wilting with anxiety.
6. The PWB throw the ball at the other person.
7. Then, that player has the ball, everyone sands in the circle, and you repeat over and over until you get 4 penalties ("S" "P" "U" "D" are their designated penalties; hence, the name) and are out.
Ok, now you may commence erupting cheering as the HSST presents, in an amazing pictorial record, snapshots from a game of Spuds.
::Run!!::
::Okay, so she called my number, I caught it ...now what?::
::Hit someone with it!!::
::It's a game; you don't have to be too apologetic about it...::
::Yep, go ahead and bounce it off his chest!::
::Contemplation--everyone has a different expression on his face as they think about...something::
::Group shot::
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The Mighty Woodcutter!
Okay, here we go on post 2 of the promised 4. My readers will have to tell me if they (and that's the blog posts, not the readers themselves, even though you could tell me that too) have been "amazing," because I admit to being slightly biased! For *several* years, Grandpa-on-my-dad's-side has been working very passionately on clearing off the brush that has infested the back 10 (or so) acres on our property. It would be a big job for anyone, but especially for an 80-odd year old man who goes with a walker because of arthritis. He asked me to hike out back and take pictures of the project, so my little buddy and I did exactly that. Here they are, along with a big pile of apple wood that he sawed up, from trees that used to be there. Apple wood is especially challenging to cut up, because it's not really that straight.
Here is a portion of the cleared area.
However, don't get the impression that Grandpa is planning to sit back and relax a little. He has plans involving bulldozers for next summer, he says!
Here is a portion of the cleared area.
However, don't get the impression that Grandpa is planning to sit back and relax a little. He has plans involving bulldozers for next summer, he says!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Return of the Florida Relatives
(Before I begin, I would like to say that I have noticed on my Feedjit that Aunt Marge has been on my blog quite a bit, looking, no doubt, for this very post. However, we are not going to make a big deal out of the fact that I have someone actually checking my blog for updates. Nor are we, in the interest of maturity, going to mention Aunt Marge past this intro. Instead, we are, very maturely and sixteen-years-old-ish-ly going to bypass the urge to tease her and are, with extreme professionalism, going to post this post, yes sir!)
Florida relatives. They've been. And I also have a virus-less computer, so I have no excuses to not blog and tell Aunt Marge (ha ha! Did you really believe that intro paragraph, Aunt Marge? Ha ha!!) all about it. Basically, they came, they ate, they left, they ate (with apologies to Julius Caesar). They arrived around 1630 on Saturday, ate, and left around 2015. Jessica and I ducked out to go to some campaign-announcement-kickoff-gathering-speech-Republican-thing. I actually knew a couple people there, and I got to re-meet one of the candidates for county legislature who is a Christian man and is very nice and I hope he wins.
Moving on to Sunday, which was interesting from the get-go. We rattled off to church (yes, rattled, Aunt Marge!), taking two trips because my grandpa's car only holds 6. Because our pastor and his wife were taking a trip, my dad was asked to preach. Also, Jessica and Rachel played their recital piece for special music. As a result, most of Rachel's church came to our church, and so did the Florida Relatives, and so did our other friends, JC and Wen Yan. (See what you miss, Aunt Marge?) Daddy's sermon was from Hosea. Sunday evening was our family get-together at Uncle Steve and Aunt Martha's house. Astute readers (by which I mean, those who have attained Aunt Marge-like qualities) will remember Uncle Steve from November.
We ate
talked
ate ice cream cones
talked some more
played
took pictures
and ate more ice cream cones.
So it was an enjoyable evening. (Even if Aunt Marge wasn't there to defend herself against all the shocking stor--oh, wait, I'm sworn to secrecy about that part!)
Monday and Tuesday have basically centered around computer work, with rabbit trails off for eating, mostly. Grandpa Bob took Jessica, Annetta, Lydia, and yours truly, out for lunch Tuesday. We picked Jessica up from work and had to have her back at the Board of Elections in an hour. We barely made it, but for the sake of the hundreds of important public officials that read my blog (yeah right...) (and for Aunt Marge, just because she would wonder...), she was back in time.
Tuesday evening was our special dinner for Grandpa Bob and Grandma Suzy. We made special food, and had special music, and special dishes, and special waitresses. Can anyone (that's you, Aunt Marge) say it sounds "special"? I'm not sure what we did on Wednesday. Maybe we skipped it. But Thursday was CAP, and Colonel Bob a.k.a. Grandpa Bob took me to CAP. That was fun. Uncle Victor, Aunt Joanne, Julia, and Grandpa Bob left this morning, and Grandma Suzy is staying until Wednesday.
So Aunt Marge, I know you wanted to know all that, and that you enjoyed reading all that, and you can't wait to read more and that furthermore, you will be so pleased that you will leave me a comment!! Yes, that whole thing was a deliberate act in quest of comments. Hey, you would do the same thing, Aunt Marge!
Florida relatives. They've been. And I also have a virus-less computer, so I have no excuses to not blog and tell Aunt Marge (ha ha! Did you really believe that intro paragraph, Aunt Marge? Ha ha!!) all about it. Basically, they came, they ate, they left, they ate (with apologies to Julius Caesar). They arrived around 1630 on Saturday, ate, and left around 2015. Jessica and I ducked out to go to some campaign-announcement-kickoff-gathering-speech-Republican-thing. I actually knew a couple people there, and I got to re-meet one of the candidates for county legislature who is a Christian man and is very nice and I hope he wins.
Moving on to Sunday, which was interesting from the get-go. We rattled off to church (yes, rattled, Aunt Marge!), taking two trips because my grandpa's car only holds 6. Because our pastor and his wife were taking a trip, my dad was asked to preach. Also, Jessica and Rachel played their recital piece for special music. As a result, most of Rachel's church came to our church, and so did the Florida Relatives, and so did our other friends, JC and Wen Yan. (See what you miss, Aunt Marge?) Daddy's sermon was from Hosea. Sunday evening was our family get-together at Uncle Steve and Aunt Martha's house. Astute readers (by which I mean, those who have attained Aunt Marge-like qualities) will remember Uncle Steve from November.
We ate
talked
ate ice cream cones
talked some more
played
took pictures
and ate more ice cream cones.
So it was an enjoyable evening. (Even if Aunt Marge wasn't there to defend herself against all the shocking stor--oh, wait, I'm sworn to secrecy about that part!)Monday and Tuesday have basically centered around computer work, with rabbit trails off for eating, mostly. Grandpa Bob took Jessica, Annetta, Lydia, and yours truly, out for lunch Tuesday. We picked Jessica up from work and had to have her back at the Board of Elections in an hour. We barely made it, but for the sake of the hundreds of important public officials that read my blog (yeah right...) (and for Aunt Marge, just because she would wonder...), she was back in time.
Tuesday evening was our special dinner for Grandpa Bob and Grandma Suzy. We made special food, and had special music, and special dishes, and special waitresses. Can anyone (that's you, Aunt Marge) say it sounds "special"? I'm not sure what we did on Wednesday. Maybe we skipped it. But Thursday was CAP, and Colonel Bob a.k.a. Grandpa Bob took me to CAP. That was fun. Uncle Victor, Aunt Joanne, Julia, and Grandpa Bob left this morning, and Grandma Suzy is staying until Wednesday.
So Aunt Marge, I know you wanted to know all that, and that you enjoyed reading all that, and you can't wait to read more and that furthermore, you will be so pleased that you will leave me a comment!! Yes, that whole thing was a deliberate act in quest of comments. Hey, you would do the same thing, Aunt Marge!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Howdy.
Well, I have roughly 4 amazing posts to blog. Unfortunately, I have no computer. Except for this one at the Barker Library which, although it's quite speedy, isn't quite a blogging computer. See, we have this problem, and it looks like this: virus(es) = no computer at Erika's house. And from that, we can make a new equation which looks like this: no computer at Erika's house = no new posts for her readers to enjoy. Bummer, huh? Horrific, eh?
I thought so, anyhow.
Well, whatever. But to give you a sneak preview (as I waste this sublime hour that I have at Computer 3), they include the Awana Olympics (with pictures!!), The Mighty Woodcutter (and Sidekick), The Return of the Florida Relatives (which technically isn't happening till Saturday), and any updates I may feel like inundating you with just because.
So stay tuned, and till then...
I thought so, anyhow.
Well, whatever. But to give you a sneak preview (as I waste this sublime hour that I have at Computer 3), they include the Awana Olympics (with pictures!!), The Mighty Woodcutter (and Sidekick), The Return of the Florida Relatives (which technically isn't happening till Saturday), and any updates I may feel like inundating you with just because.
So stay tuned, and till then...
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