Connor: Happy All Hallows Eve

Hey there toes today is Halloween. I can't wait for tonight because I have come up with a great ghost story. I can't tell any of you yet because I am saving it for tonight. Enjoy this post and beware the ghosts and ghouls. Halloween is a great holiday. Mason is going as the red nosed reindeer. Avery is going as an elf. Gabe is a nutcracker. Marney is a Christmas tree. Kennedy is a candy cane and I think she will look sweet. Max is Santa Claus and Jack is a gingerbread man.

Mommio: What We Did Today

Today we went with Nana and some homeschool friends to see a play for young children called Farm To Market at the Zach Scott Theatre in Austin. It was really fun, all the kids enjoyed it. Especially the musical tribute to poop! I enjoyed the large puppets- especially the ants.

Daddio: Bowling was AWESOME!

So my scores at bowling today weren't exactly awesome-- a 102 and an 88. But what was awesome was that today, something clicked with my technique. I got a technique that was comfortable and felt right. And when I let the ball go, it would fling down the alley and start with a strong hook to the left (which is ideal in bowling-- you want the ball to almost go in the right gutter, then "hook" back towards the pins and hit the inside of the front pin). And by god, it happened over and over.

Now don't get me wrong- as you can see from my scores, it wasn't perfect. Now that I'm getting a good, strong hook it's throwing off my aim a bit and I have to make some adjustment. Thus, even though I got a lot more strikes, I also got a lot more gutterballs. But that's okay! I was so happy with how my technique improved, you would have thought that I bowled a perfect 300.

In other news, D&D night is tonight and I'm very excited because Marney is going to try and sit in and watch the whole session-- Connor's agreed to have her help him and roll his dice for him. It's especially exciting because if she can make it through two entire sessions, she gets to have her own character and join the group. SWEET!

Finally, everyone's getting wicked excited for Halloween. But I might be even more excited about the pumpkin carving. Everyone's picked out some pretty cool designs, and this is definitely going to be pretty spectacular when they're all lit up.

Marney: Halloween

On Saturday it is Halloween. I am going trick or treating. I am being a Christmas tree. And I am going to camp in my Nana's yard. And Kiki, Ava, Mason, Max, Jack, Gabe,
me, Lily and Elder are going to camp.

Gabe: Nana Day

It was Nana day today. Me,Marney and Avery played hotel. Max and Jack played with Mary. We had bubble pizza for dinner. Dad worked at home today.

Marney: Terrible Day

blah i had a terrible day. mom is mad at me.i hate gabe.Mom is mad at me.Mom is mad at me.Mom is mad at me.

Mommio: Letterboxing

Today we went to find a letterbox at a really amazing place out in the hill country in Johnson City. The place is called Benini Sculpture Ranch and it is a large family owned ranch (with beautiful views) created by an Italian artist named Benini. There is a gallery with amazing artwork and then huge sculptures all over the property. Take a look at the slideshow of all the art we saw today. There was one letterbox there found near a series of sculptures that represent fire, around a giant fire pit. The box was called Cock's Crow- after another sculpture by the same artist. Here it is!

Mommio: Our Week

Another really fun week was had! The weather has been just right to be outside enjoying ourselves and we managed to spend almost everyday outside doing something.... We moved art/music class outside on Monday, Tuesday Robin and I took time for a nice walk, Wednesday we were outside at Weaver's Bottom learning to plant acorns and playing in tons (literally) of dirt, Thursday we spent a beautiful day at the San Antonio Zoo, Friday was spent playing in the yard and basketball, Saturday we worked in the yard and today we went to a Sculpture Ranch. Hopefully the weather will continue for this week!

Monday- Roanoke Unit Study, music (recorder with Robin), art (silhouettes with Mommio), yoga, chemistry with Daddio
Tuesday- Nana Day
Wednesday- morning school at Weaver's Bottom (Doctor Dolittle book club, scooping out pumpkins, and much more), afternoon school
Thursday- going to the Zach Scott theater to see a play called Farm To Market, eat lunch and play at Zilker park, Connor Teen Library League
Friday- school, Roanoke Unit Study, house chores, movie night
Saturday- Halloween! carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, and backyard camping with friends
Sunday- finish up camping

Avery: What I Did Yesterday

Yesterday was chore day. It was fun, but some of it wasn't. We moved all of the mulch, from the mulch pile, along our back gate and the gate by our dog run. It took us hours to move all of it. At night Gabe, Connor, and I played Heroscape without dad. Gabe and Connor had huge armies and I had a small one. I lost and it was just Connor and Gabe playing. At the end Gabe won and Connor lost. I can't wait until next Saturday.

Connor: My Weird Dream

Last night I had a weird dream involving Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven. In the dream George was getting mad at a raven. Then the dream changed and the new dream was like the Lost Colony of Roanoke. It was kind of cool because the colony was filled with dogs. There were also wolves in my dream and their packs surrounded the colony. This dream reminded me of the time I had a dream where dogs ruled the world and humans were their pets. Unlike in that dream I was the one who came up with the idea of a dog colony and the leader of the dogs. The dream was very wacky but very interesting.

Mommio: Group Zoo Shots

Mommio: What We Did Yesterday

We went to the San Antonio Zoo yesterday with some other homeschool families. It was a beautiful day and we saw everything at the zoo. We had three grandmas along with us so all the little children (and the adults too) got everything they could ever want out of the trip! My favorite part was watching the kids feed the birds...such great reactions. You can see all the zoo pictures in a slideshow here.

Mason: A Book Review

Runaway Ralph
By Beverly Cleary

I read the sequel of Ralph and the Motorcycle, it is a awesome book. Most of the book is filled with action and excitement. At the beginning Ralph is mad at his family and decides to go to Happy Ace Academy. And at the end of the book Ralph gets back to the Mountain View Inn and gets his motorcycle back. I think that people should read this book.

Max: A Pumpkin

I catch a pumpkin. A castle one. Other one pumpkin. There's two castle pumpkins.

Kiki: Halloween

When we go trick-or-treating we are going to get candy and we are going to have costumes. My costume is a candy cane. Marney's costume is a christmas tree. Max's costume is santa. We are going to go camping at Nana's house. The Weavers are coming with us and Levi and Mikenna. We are going to carve our pumpkin. Me and Ava's pumpkin is going to be a Lucy dog. And Marney's is going to be a vampire. Gabe's is going to be a pumpkin eating another pumpkin.

Daddio: Wii Night, D&D and Bowling Update

Three quick notes:

1) Last night was Wii night for older homeschool kids. So Connor, Mason and I went over to Nana's house to play Wii on her big screen television. Cameron and Isaac joined in. I was going to set up an elaborate tournament on Mario Kart for them, but right off the bat they all wanted to play Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Well, they played that for an hour and a half, laughing like crazies while pummeling each other on the game. The trash talking was excellent. They played Mario Kart for a bit and then went back to Smash Brothers. Two and a half hours later, the party ended and everyone had a great time. Thanks especially to Cameron and Isaac for coming.

2) Because Gabe's having a sleep over with Elder tonight, we're skipping D&D and instead going to level up the characters. Everyone is moving up to level 5. Avery is a Monk (a martial arts fighter), Connor is a Duskblade (Elf fighter with some attack spells), and Mason is a bard (a spellcasting muscian). They all have a lot of gold to spend, and I don't know what they're going to do with it. Gabe leveled up this character this weekend and decided that his 4th level rogue (thief) was going to start taking levels of sorcerer -- so now he can sneak up behind foes and zap them in the back with spells. Very nice.

3) I went bowling today and did okay. 79 and 102. I improved what I was doing a little bit, so I was happy with my technique, even if my scores don't really reflect it.

Gabe: Nana Day

Today it was Nana day. We went jogging today. We went to the park. We went to McDonald's for lunch. The Weavers came this afternoon. We had pancakes for dinner. I am really excited about the sleepover.

Marney: Art

I did art today and I made it on the side walk at the new park. I made a picture of a lake with fish in it. I also played at the park I played tag and we went on the slide. I played the recorder at the lake and here is a picture of my lake.

Mommio: Our Week

It was hard getting back to a "schedule" this last week but we managed somehow, we even fit in a swim at Inks Lake- probably the last of the year. The highlight of the week was the archery class for the four older toes, they loved that! Here's the plan for this week:

Monday- Roanoke Unit Study, music (recorder and rhymes), art (silhouettes), yoga, chemistry with Daddio toe
Tuesday- Nana Day, Connor orthodontist, Connor and Mason Wii night with homeschool friends
Wednesday- morning at Weaver's Bottom (Doctor Dolittle, burd stuff, terrarium), sleepovers for Marney and Gabe, afternoon school, leveling D&D characters
Thursday- San Antonio Zoo with homeschool friends
Friday- school, Roanoke Unit, house chores, movie night
Saturday- yard chores, finish Wright Brothers science, game night
Sunday- letterboxing, Mom and Dad date night

Avery: What I Did Today

Today was very busy! The first thing that Gabe did after breakfast is he went and picked all the radishes from our garden with dad! We had a lot of giant ones. Later in the day we all did our chores. I had to vacuum, Mason had to mop, and Gabe had to clean the rat's cage. after we did our chores we had lunch. we had hot dogs. after we ate our lunch mom and Dad went to get stuff down from the attic, so that we could get stuff for our Halloween costumes. I am going to be an elf! At night Gabe and I had a hand and foot combat. I won! Gabe still did a really good job. I just can't wait for tomorrow.

Connor: Sleepover Night

Tonight is sleepover night. We are having a lot of fun. I enjoy it because I have played wii with Gabe and stayed up late. I love sleepover night. Right now the kids are making popcorn. Jack, by the time you read this for the first time you won't remember this day. Jack, you were very cute tonight. Good night toes.

Mason: Archery Class

Today we went to archery class. We learned how to use a bow and arrow. We liked it because it was fun. I want to go to there again. My score was 4. Jason's first score was 20 and his second score was 21.

Mommio: A Morning At The Weaver's

This morning we went to Weaver's Bottom and we.....
Ate yummy granola.
Fed chickens our leftovers.
Had sword fights.
Caught tiny black frogs.
Jumped on a trampoline.
Fed goats.
Walked goats.
Petted goats.
Held cats.
Chased dogs.
Colored pictures of animals.
Read Doctor Dolittle with friends.
Made a thunderstorm.
Gathered wood.
Learned to build a fire.
Started the first fire at Weaver's Bottom campgrounds.
Boiled water over a campfire.
Ate apples.
Played in mud.
Found a Map Turtle.
Saw a toad in a hole.
Got very sweaty, hot, dirty, wet and smelly.
Ate lunch.
Got Jack's first hair cut.
Slept in the car all the way home.

Kiki: A Book Review

Dick and Jane
By Gray, Baruch and Montgomery

I just finished reading the first chapter in Dick and Jane. My favorite part is when they look at the cookies. I'm happy that I can read it by myself. I learned these words: Dick, Jane, Sally, Baby, Tim, Spot, Puff, and, look, see, oh, funny, up, down, a, I, something, yes, jump, no, run, Mother and come.

Daddio: A Good Day

What a good a day. I got into the office today and found out that we got an exciting new case from a new client that I helped convince to use our firm. Then I went bowling and was pretty happy with my results (more on that later) and later tonight is D&D. So it appears that this is going to be one of the best day in the history of Daddio.

Bowling update -- Okay, the bad news first: my scores were only an 86 a 91 and an 82. But I'm not worried about my scores and I'm actually happy with how I did today because I was able to make some serious improvements on my technique. I'm now getting the ball to hook in the proper direction (it was originally hooking in the opposite direction -- away from me -- known as a back up ball) and with a semi-consistent trajectory. All I ever want is to feel like I'm making improvement, and I felt like I was today. So I think it was a good day.

Gabe: Nana Day

Today was Nana day. We made vanilla brownies. Then we made biscuit sandwiches. Then I made a quilt. The girls made dolls. We had lasagna for dinner.

Marney: Art

I did art today. I made a portrait of my imaginary friend. He is a skeleton and Lily and Robin made one too. I love to do art and my friends do too and if you want to you can make one too. And you would like it too.

Mommio: Our Week

After a very busy week with G & G toe here to visit we will try to get back to a normal schedule around here this week. Here are the plans:

Monday- Roanoke Unit Study, music (recorder duets), art (relief portraits) and yoga with the Weaver's, chemistry with Daddio
Tuesday- Nana Day, Connor and Mason out to dinner with Mommio, Daddio overnight to Houston
Wednesday- morning at the Weaver's- starting our new book, Doctor Dolittle, for the book club and learning how to make applesauce on a campfire, afternoon school, Daddio home from Houston
Thursday- Roanoke Unit Study, school, Connor, Mason, Avery and Gabe go to archery class with Daddio Connor Teen Library League
Friday- Roanoke Unit Study, school, cooking, house chores, sleepover night
Saturday- yard chores, Wright Brothers science unit with Daddio, family game night
Sunday- letterboxing at the Sculpture Ranch

Mommio: Zilker Letterboxing

Here are the letterboxes we found today at Zilker Park. The first three were found at Zilker Botanical Garden and the last one was at Zilker Hillside Theater. The Rainy Day box was near the cactus garden and had a hitch hiker in it, we will be the first people to hide the hitch hiker and plan to take it to North Carolina with us. The next box- Jack's Haiku- was in the Oriental Garden in the bamboo forest (a really cool place). You can read the haiku that we put in this box in Avery's last post. The Sakura (Japanese word for cherry blossom) was also hidden in the Oriental Garden, near the moon bridge. The person who made this one spent a lot of time making a beautiful two part stamp of a cherry blossom tree. The last box of the day- Hillside Theater- was behind the theater around some old goldfish ponds. The stamp is really nice because it is also a maze. Great finds today!

Avery: What We Did Today

Today we went to the Zilker Park Botanical Garden. We first went letter boxing. We found four of them. My favorite letter box was the haiku one. Here is our haiku:
Hiking through Zilker, Looking for letter boxes, We're 100 Toes.
Dad and Connor made the haiku up all by themselves. I didn't like the rainy day one that much, but we did find a hitchhiker in it. On the last one we did Gabe stepped in dog poo. All of us thought it was super funny. Also we looked at lots of gardens. My favorite one was the Japanese garden. We saw lots of flowers, some trees, and lots of bamboo! There was also a fish pond. The fish were about three feet big (almost the size of me!). I loved going to Zilker Park with Grandma and Grandpa and I hope we can do it again the next time we see them.

Connor: What We Did Today

Today Grandma, Grandpa, Mommio, the kids and I went to Longhorn Caverns. Longhorn Caverns is a bunch of caverns filled with rocks and crystals. Inside the caverns there was a part where we had to duck because the ceiling was very low. We also saw a rock that looked like Abraham Lincoln's face. We enjoyed looking at all the rocks and crystals and we learned about the history of the caverns. Here is a picture of the rock that looked like Abraham Lincoln's face.
Tonight we are going to watch Inkheart.

Mason: A Book Review

Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing
By Judy Blume

This book is great because it was funny. The main character is Fudge's brother, Peter. The story is all about Peter getting an animal and Fudge eating lots of things. At the end Fudge eats Peter's pet turtle and has to get it removed. After he gets it removed Peter's parents get him a dog and Peter names it Turtle. They got a dog because it will grow too big for Fudge to eat. I recommend this book and I'm sure that kids will really like this book, but there are hard words. I still recommend it because it is really funny.

Daddio: OH YES! (Bowling Update)

Whew. Well now I feel better. I realized that my problem yesterday was that I was trying too hard to make sure that my cool, new, expensive ball hooked and reacted the way it's supposed to. And in doing so, I was screwing everything up. So today I went back to basics.

Today I decided that I would forget about getting the ball to hook, and instead I just wanted to get a form I was comfortable with and that could get the ball to consistently go exactly where I intended it to go. So with a little bit of trial and error, it worked.

Long story short -- the ball hardly hooked at all, but went exactly where I wanted it to. This has made me happier than you can imagine, because now working off this basic form, I can start tweaking the elements of my game (the release, the approach, etc.) and continue improving. Just like when I was practicing for the tournament, I expect that I'll get a little bit better each week.

Today's scores: 97 and 106. MUCH better.

Kiki: What We Did Today

Today we saw turtles and lizards and snakes. My favorite was the black and yellow lizard, I like that lizard. They save their food in their tale. They lick their eyeballs. I petted a lizard. And they live in Africa. And I petted turtles. And I petted snakes. That's all.

Daddio: OH NO! (Bowling Update)

What happened? I mean... WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!?! Well, I actually know what happened. I'm trying to use the same technique that was working for me with the crappy house balls as I'm using with my new ball. This, of course won't work because of the way the ball is drilled, the different way I hold it, the different effect of the weights on when the ball is released, etc.

Anyhow, the whole time I'm bowling today, I just felt completely uncomfortable with the ball. It was like I kept trying to adjust what I was doing to find something that felt good and that I could use, but I never got there. It was really weird and disorienting.

I went with three guys from my office and bowled a 56 and a 66. Ugh. That's just awful. But again, I'm not so much worried about my score as I am about my technique. So even though my scores were horrible, what I'm irritated with is that I can't find my comfort zone with my approach and release of the ball.

All that being said, I'm not actually that disappointed. Sure, I would have loved to gone on out my first try with the new ball and bowl a 150 or better, but that wasn't realistic. And if I'm going to look at it realistically, I know that it's just going to take more time and practice.

And the most important thing is that I had a great time.

Mommio: Book Review

Last week we finished reading The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman. This is the first book that we read for our book club with the Weaver's. We read a few chapters a week at dinner time and then on Wednesday mornings at the Weaver's we discussed each chapter, learned new vocabulary words and the kids drew illustrations that I will put together into individual books later on. We all really enjoyed this book! It is all about a young girl (who eventually gives herself the name Alyce) who is all on her own and learning to become an apprentice to a mean midwife in a typical village from the middle ages. We learned a lot about the time period, their beliefs, their medical practices, holidays, and their attitudes towards women and children. The kids liked all the funny words that were used, especially the various ways to tell someone they were an idiot. Great book, and a great group reading project!

Gabe: What I Did Today

This morning we went to Nana's house. Then I went on the bike with my Grandpa.






Then we made smores brownies. We also made bread sticks. We also had a Russia class. We had a very fun day.

Marney: What I Did Today

I went to Inks Lake to go letterboxing. We found two of them at Inks Lake. Gabe found both of them. We found one that is awesome, it is the smiley face one that we hid a few years ago. The other one was called Ink In The Lake. We found that one under rocks next to a tree. It was hidden good. I had a fun time letterboxing today with my Grandma and Grandpa and the rest of the family.

Mommio: Our Week

Last week went well, it all seems to have been a blur to me though since it just flew by. We didn't have music and art because the Weaver's were out late the night before getting their new goats, but that's okay because we got to meet them all on Wednesday. Connor's neuro. check up went well, his MRI had no changes again so he can wait 2 years now for the next one. Great! This week Grandma and Grandpa are visiting AND it is supposed to rain all week so all bets are off on the schedule...but here is what we have planned so far:

Monday- Russia Morning- learning all about Russia, G & G's trip there, making food and crafts, yoga, Nana & Popo leave to balloon festival
Tuesday- cook "snake" breadsticks
Wednesday- Adventure Club on reptiles at Robin's place, D&D
Thursday-
Friday- Sea World, N & P return
Saturday-
Sunday- G & G leave, chores, science

We also might: go letterboxing, swim at Inks Lake, swim here, swim at the hotel, go to Longhorn Caverns, go bowling, go to Sweet Berry Farms, go to the Witte Museum, do some more baking...and much more, or less.

Daddio: Rainy Day Blues.

Grandma and Grandpa Cerha are in town visiting, and we were going to go to Inks Lake State Park to go hiking and letterboxing. If we had time, we were even going to go swimming in Inks Lake. We watched the weather close this morning, and the weatherlady said that it probably wasn't going to rain until tonight. So we gave Max and Jack early naps and even ate lunch early. Grandma and Grandpa went to their hotel to get their swimsuits on and then all of a sudden... BOOM! It was pouring down rain. It rained for about 30 minutes.

Rainy, wet weather isn't conducive to hiking, so we decided to go with Plan B-- bowling. So we all packed into VanGo and drove to the bowling alley. We knew we were in trouble when the parking lot was full. So I ran inside and every lane was taken... it was Sunday League Day.

So bowling was out, and we decided to move to Plan C-- Rockhoppers (an arcade/fun-center). We drove into the parking lot and knew we were in trouble when there weren't ANY cars in the parking lot. It wasn't open yet and wouldn't be for 20 minutes more. So we drove home.

So hiking, bowling and the arcade were all out. We moved on to Plan D-- the movies. Fortunately, going to the movies is pretty foolproof. As I type this, Grandma, Grandpa, Connor, Mason, Avery and Marney are all at the theater watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Kiki got in trouble and couldn't go, and Gabe went and saw it with me and Mommio on his birthday.

While they're gone, Mommio, Gabe, Max and I decided to decorate the house for Halloween. It's pretty sweet looking.

So even though we didn't get to do our first, second or even third choices for the day, it still turned out pretty good.

Daddio: Attack of the Centipede!

At Mikenna's birthday party yesterday, her family showed us a centipede that they caught. It's HUGE! Like six inches huge. And it looks totally fake and is quick as a whip. It was so cool. Mikenna's mom, Cassandra, told us that their hermit crabs had just died, so when they found it in their yard, the caught it and put it in the hermit crab's cage. Then didn't know how to feed it or anything, so they were going to let it starve to death. Here's the best part... THEY LET US TAKE IT HOME FOR THE WEEK!

Determined not to let it starve, we did some research on the internet and found out that centipedes are "generalist" predators, which means they pretty much eat anything that's not too much bigger than it and that they can catch. It said that usually this means they eat worms and grubs and stuff like that. Yesterday we went to find some worms, but it was raining and we couldn't find any right away, so we grabbed a snail and threw it in the cage. The centipede didn't have much interest in the snail. Maybe the shell doesn't look very appetizing.

Well on the way back from our failed bowling trip (I'll post about that later), we were getting out of the van and saw a giant, fat earthworm. Gabe picked it up, we ran into the house and I threw it in the cage with the centipede. He jumped right on it and started munching away on it. He started at the head and just kept working his way down. A couple hours later, he was still eating it and wasn't even half way through. He's taking a break now and drinking some water we put in his shell. I guess eating a juicy earthworm makes you hungry.

Coolest. Thing. Ever.

Avery: What I Did Yesterday

Yesterday Marney, Kiki, Dad, and I went to Mikenna's birthday party. She was turning five years old! When we first got there Mikenna showed us her kitten that she found at her house. They named him George Ghost because he popped out of the bushes like a ghost. After a few minutes we went to the table so that we could eat food and drink punch. After eating we went outside to put glitter in our hair and play some games. The first game we played is were we had to balance eggs on our spoons. Then we did the pinata. Elder was the one that made all the candy come out. Also we played in a bounce house. It was big and colorful and all of us could fit in it. When it was time for presents everyone was super excited. Mikenna liked the presents that everyone gave her. Marney,Kiki, and I gave her an earing holder for her earings. The birthday party was awesome!

Rex: My Action Adventure Story part 3

Hey, I'm back, my next adventure is more scary then usual. It started last Halloween while my owners were out trick or treating. I was in my bedroom with T and then I heard a noise coming from behind me. The noise, though I didn't notice it at the time, was a voice. Then I turned around and saw the Headless Horseman riding on horseback. I asked "Why would you want my head? I mean, I'm just a dog." Even though he had no head I thought I heard him say something like"I need your help finding a missing dog." So I wondered what kind of dog could he be looking for. Then I thought that Cerberus might have escaped the underworld. Then I thought that he might mean a wienerdog. So I looked around for a gigantic, three headed dog or a regular sized wienerdog. Soon I saw two types of dogs one of them was a giant, three headed dog the other was a skinny little dog. I howled at the wienerdog. Then the Headless Horseman came to me and I think he said "Good dog." Then the Headless Horseman, Cerberus and the wienerdog disappeared. I went back to my room and went to sleep. To be continued.

Mommio: Wednesday At The Weaver's

We had another great morning at the Weaver's this week- it was beautiful outside, we finished up The Midwife's Apprentice in our book club and got to meet the new goats. It's so cool that our friends are becoming actual goat farmers- and more cool that we are getting to learn along with them...coming soon: goat breeding, baby goats, milking goats, goat cheese, goat soap making. So much to learn!

Mason: A visit

Tomorrow grandma and grandpa are coming to Marble falls to visit us. And they are sleeping in a hotel we are going to try to do these things go to sea world, yoga, adventure club, and cooking. It is going to be fun while they are here for a week.

Daddio: Thanks Nana!

I did awful at bowling yesterday. Just awful- 83 and a 60, but I'm not letting it bug me because: (1) I was trying to use proper technique/grip/etc. with a house ball, which I've decided is nearly impossible; and (2) while I was bowling, I was waiting for the guy in the pro shop to finish drilling my new bowling ball.

And then he finished drilling it. And I held it. And it. was. AWESOME!

Wow. Having a bowling ball that fits your hand is awesome. It actually makes using proper form 100% easier. I'm using a fingertip grip with plastic inserts and a full thumb.

The ball was done with two frames left in my last game. I got it, went to the lane and bowled my ninth frame-- it looked good and knocked down eight, but leaving a four ten split. I picked up the ball again and rolled it perfectly into the right edge of the 4 pin kicking it out directly into the 10, and picking up the spare. This ball is blessed.

Then in the 10th frame I tried too hard to spin the ball and only knocked down one pin.

Big deal. My bowling ball is awesome.