Mason: Book Review

Charlotte's Web

By E.B. White

Charlotte's Web is a funny book. It has some hard words but it is still a good book.  My favorite character is Charlotte. She is my favorite because she is a good character because she saves Wilbur's life.   At the beginning  Fern's dad is going to kill a little pig but Fern stops him and he lets Fern keep the pig. At the end of the book  Charlotte makes an egg sac and Wilbur takes it to the farm. Charlotte dies at the fair and lots of little spiders come out of the egg sac and float away but three spiders stay. It was really sad when Charlotte died. I  think that people should read this book.

Marney: Mason's Party

Mason's party is going to be funny because he is going to have a kitty litter cake.  He is going to have a totally gross party.  The cake is going to look like kitty litter.   But it's going to taste good.  He is going to have weird balloons.  He is going be12 .  Congratulations Mason!

Marney: Fishing Story

Carmen and her dad went fishing at the lake.  When Carmen pulled in her hook and line she saw a shark!

To be conitnued...

Gabe: DeJaVu Continued

One crisp fall morning I decided to take a stroll in the woods. I had no way of knowing my pants were going to be pulled down. I was really embarassed.  It was getting dark in the woods. I made a fire to keep warm while I slept in the woods.  The next day I was tired when I woke up and saw a kid.  He looked like he was about two years old and he was running around me in circles.   I said, "Who's there?"  I got up and scared the child away.  He ran away quickly out of the woods. 

One crisp fall... Wait! We already did this! Dejavu!

To be continued....

Connor: Our Week So Far

Okay toes this past week has been a lot of fun.  Just to recap on the week I will tell you what we did and how much fun I had doing it.  First off we went on a three day camping trip.  When we got home Daddio and the oldest four toes watched Phantasm 2.  Now today we put up some ornaments from Grandma and Grandpa, thanks by the way.  Tonight we are playing D&D and it is Marney's first time as a pixie.

Kiki: Letter To Santa (as told to Avery)

Mommio: Thanksgiving Camping

As promised here I am to report on our annual Thanksgiving camping trip to Inks Lake.  It was awesome!  The weather was beautiful, we got the perfect campsite, the Weaver's joined us, the kids were excellent the entire time and we even managed to get some sleep on the second night.  Here's just some of what we did:
Wednesday- set up camp, Weaver's arrive, bike rides, walks to the pier, roasting hot dogs, roasting marshmallows, playing with fire, glow necklaces
Thursday- up before light and very cold, pancake breakfast, more bike riding, boys vs. girls scavenger hunt (girls won of course), sandwiches, Weaver's leave, natural self portraits, trip to the playground, play games, campfire burritos for dinner (loved by all), more playing with fire, tortilla smores
Friday- up early again but not as cold, bagels, bike riding, using the rest of the fire wood, packing up and heading home

Things to remember for next year: site 310/311 are great, bring some hats and gloves, more rope for hammocks, butter knives, do another scavenger hunt, get the Weaver's to come and stay longer!

Avery: Christmas Stamp Story

Daddio: Giving Thanks.

Faithful blog-readers: you will notice that there has been very few posts on the board this week.  You may specifically notice that there has not been one since Tuesday.  Why?  Because we... were... CAMPING!  (As we do every Thanksgiving.)

I'm not going to post up about everything we did because I figure the little toes can do that.  But let me just say that the weather was ABSOLUTELY perfect for this trip-- It was in the low 60s during the day and not too cold at night.  The first night was just above freezing and the second night was probably about 40 to 43 degrees.  There was no rain and the skies were clear the whole time.  We even had a chance to break out the telescope and look at the moon and Venus-- you could even see Venus' moons.

All the toes had a great time and we didn't have any major breakdowns, which is always good.  Nana and Popo came out to camp with us, as they always do.  And we were even joined by the Weavers for the first two days.  They could only sleep over the one night, but it was great that they made it out.

Did I mention we strung up two hammocks?  Yeah.  Pretty sweet, eh?

Anyhow, it was a really awesome time, and I'm sure that Mommio is going to post up a whole load of pictures.  So let me leave you with these photos of me showing off my magical wolf shirt that Uncle Mike bought me (it has magic powers!) while fighting a forest fire.

Daddio: Connor's With Me

Connor's with me at work today because he has a dentist appointment this afternoon.  It's cool because after the appointment, we'll run by the game store and buy my birthday presents at the game store ($100 of gaming stuff!  Yipee!).

He's been watching Naruto and Destroy/Build/Destroy all day.  He's also played some Pokemon.  He's not even aware that I'm typing this.  He's in his own world.

Mommio: Our Week

Not a normal week coming up, it is our annual Thanksgiving camping trip to Inks Lake.  Here's a shot from last year's trip:

The weather looks like it will be perfect this year (40-65 and sunny)and the Weaver's will be joining us this time- should be great!...this is what it looks like and we will report what we did when we return.

M- camping packing, yoga, chemistry
T- Nana Day, Connor to work with Dad, Connor eye appointment,  more camping packing for Mom
W- camping at Inks Lake
T- camping at Inks Lake, science
F- camping at Inks Lake, home, family movie
S- Christmas decorating, chores, D&D
S- more Christmas decorating

Connor: The New Zombie Dragon: The Dragon's Past

Hi my name is Roarsnortflame, but this is my name said in dragon. My name translated into English means Monster. My ancestors lived in china. I was born in England in the year 1500 c.e. My mom was a very powerful dragon who killed many humans. It seems like only last week I ate William Shakespeare. Long ago I flew to America, but back then it was the New Found Land. I landed on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. I waited a few years and a group of settlers came to Roanoke. Lead by a man named John White, I stayed in my hidden area while they were there. One year John White left the island and didn't come back. I took advantage of this and ate the colonists in the dead of night. In the morning I saw ships sailing towards me I was so nervous I gasped and fire spewed out of my mouth. As if that wasn't enough, after that I cut the cheese and the ship sailed toward me again. I decided to cover up any of the evidence so I wrote the first few letters of a nearby town run by the natives. That is the end of my tail sorry for the lame pun I mean, that this is the end of the story and if to make sure none of you tells anyone I will eat you next week.

Daddio: New Computers

NEW COMPUTERS!  Popo wanted a new computer, and we wanted a netbook for Connor's new room (we're converting the outside office into a bedroom for him).  So Nana and I went to Best Buy yesterday and they had a special going on:  three computers for $1,100.  Popo's computer alone would have cost that much.  So not only did we get the netbook (which I'm using right now), but a laptop to replace Jenny's (which has been acting wonky lately).  The laptop is nearly identical to the laptop Jenny had before.  The netbook is pretty sweet.  It's tiny, weighs next to nothing, and can fit easily into a backpack or purse.  It's really, really cool.

The other big deal was that we got my laptop hooked up to the tv.  So we can go on hulu or the different networks and watch all the different shows on the tv (through the laptop).  Seriously, I don't understand why anyone is still paying for cable television.  I suppose eventually everyone is going to start doing this, and we'll end up paying more for our cable internet service, but we'll enjoy it while we can.

Avery: A Book Review

A Wrinkle In Time
By Madeline L'Engle

In A Wrinkle In Time a girl named Meg and her brother Charles go to a crazy world called Camazots. They got there on an old lady that can turn into a cool marble creature. In the middle of the book they meet a fluffy, huge, and caring monster called Aunt Beast. Aunt Beast was a finger shaped thing who did not know a lot at all about earth or anything on it. At the end Meg went to IT. IT is a giant brain that took control of Charles. The only way that Meg got Charles back was by telling him how much she loves him. The book was mainly about how they were trying to find their father. They found him in a glass room. Later on they finally got her dad out of the glass room. My favorite part of the book was when Meg had to use Mrs. Whatsit's glasses to see better. I love this book and I hope that other kids do too.

Mommio: The Haircut

Daddio: Where's all the posts?

I've had a busy week and didn't get a chance to post up on Monday about my bowling scores (they were bad), but what's going on with everyone else? The last post was on Monday and now it's almost 11 pm on Wednesday, and still no new posts?

I mean, didn't Max get an awesome new haircut today? But no pictures?

Unacceptable!

I will say that I'm posting now because I've finally found time, but only because I'm in a hotel away from you toes and I can't sleep (like always when I travel). I miss you guys.

Avery: Lucy: Lucy's Creepy, But Yet Amazing Day

Today I went on a walk through the park with my owner's grand doughter, Avery. Of course Nana (my owner) went with us..... well because Ava is only 9! Ava was feeding the ducks right when we got there. Ava didn't hold me so tight and I got loose. I did not run away like most dogs, I started chasing all the duck into the water. Soon I ended up in the middle of the lake, at Johnson Park! I was about to drown, until this kid flowting on a raft picked me up and took me back to the shore. soon I was with a duckling. It was soooo ugley that I started making fun of it and said "Hey, all the ducks here, look at this ugley duckling! He is so ugley that his feathers hate him and fall off!" "That is not funny at all. Even though I'm not the prettyest duck..." Really, You are not even close to pretty. You are down right ugley." I Interupted with an ugley voice. "Lucy, come here. Come here Lucy." Yelled Nana and Ava in a sweet voice. When they were yelling I saw that Ava had a towle and was ready to dry me off. Soon I was with Ava and Nana and we were on our way to Mc. Donleds. When we were in the car Ava was drying me off with a huge towle Nana chose an outside table so that Ava could run around on the playground. While Nana was ordering the food I went up to the top slide and slid down it with Ava and her friend Lilly. Lilly is Ava's best friend! Every time they went on the playground without me, I thought that Ava and Lilly did not want to play with me anymore. "I'm back with the food! Oh, hi Lilly, I didn't know your family was here." Said Nana in an excited voice "My hole family didn't come, it is just me and Chealsie." reasponed Lilly in a loud voice. When they were eating Ava found some ketchup on her burger, she scraped it off of her burger with a fork and then she let me lik the fork! Then I new that Ava likes me still and that she will never forget about me, even if she is away on vaction. Later we went home and Lilly and Avery had a sleepover at Nana's house. They also played with me, gave me a mohak, gave me a bath, and let me eat some whipped cream. It was the best day ever!
So since that day I have learned to never give up because I will always be included.

Mommio: Our Week

Here's what we are doing this week (really):
Monday- school, visit with Weaver's, yoga, Christmas ornament chemistry
Tuesday- Nana day, Mommio planning with Robin
Wednesday- Weaver's Bottom (art, music, storytime, book, club, naturalist class), D&D
Thursday- school, North Carolina Unit Study, Connor Teen Library League, Daddio to Plano
Friday- school, North Carolina Unit Study, house chores, movie night, Ava to gym Fun Night with Lily

Connor: George and Rex's Action Adventure Mystery

Hey there George fans. It's me, George the mystery solving pooch. Hey what about me? I thought I had more fans. Yo out there Rex fans. It's me, Rex. Hey this is my story Rex. Are you kidding me who would listen to someone who has funny fur. Rex this is not the time to be immature, so please quit acting like you're a puppy. Let's just start the story Mr. Funny Fur. quit calling me that. So yesterday I was reading the blog and then I suddenly realized that I was inside a video game called Kingdom Hearts. Rex had just come into the game. Then Rex and I had to figure out who did this to us. Soon we found out that Mickey Mouse did it. It wasn't hard to figure that out. Soon we were out of the game, but we had a new problem we were trapped in the Zombie Dragon story. We ran when we spotted the dragon's cave and grabbed a golden and brown sword that we found near the cave. We got in the cave and noticed the dragon. Then we jumped off a rock or maybe it was a dead human. The moment we were in the air we slashed the dragons head off of its neck, but don't worry we're sure the dragon will be in another one of Connor's stories.

Connor: What I Learned In History

So far I have read about some cool things in history. I learned about P.T. Barnum and his practical jokes. Like one joke he played was on a door he had the words to the egress. People thought an egress was a cool new creature or something like that. It turns out egress is a fancy word for exit, so when people went through the door they had to pay to get back in. I also learned about Mark Twain, but his real name was Samuele Clemens. I learned about all the books made by Mark Twain. I also learned about immigration and the problems people had with it. Immigration is still a problem today because even though immigrants are doing the jobs most of the American people don't want and for a lower price. I learned that at one point in our history some people did not like people who look different and this is still true today. I also learned that The American Party did not like Catholics and people from other countries.

Gabe: DeJaVu

One crisp fall morning I decided to take a stroll in the woods. I had no way of knowing my pants were going to be pulled down.

To be continued...

Marney: North Carolina

On Christmas I am going to North Carolina. I am going to see a light house. I am going to a bunch of parks and it is going to be loud in the car because of the babies. I am going to see where the Wright Brothers launched their airplane. I am going to slide down the hills. I am going to be on the beach for ten days. I am going to have a hot tub in my house. I am going to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum to learn about shipwrecks.

Kiki: Christmas Story

Once upon a time there was a person called Santa but it wasn't Santa. Then at the night there was the real Santa. In the morning in snowed and there was presents outside. And then there was no more snow but there was some snow. Some people didn't have snow because snow didn't go there so they went to a different place. And then Santa, the real one, was there and brought us on his reindeer. And then we went to North Carolina to go see all kinds of stuff. And then in ten days we will go back home and then we will be home and we will see presents. The End

Mommio: A Field Trip

This Thursday we went on a field trip with some of our friends to see The Little Mermaid at the Scottish Rite Children's Theatre in Austin. The theater was really neat, the oldest one in Austin with scenery handpainted in the 1800's. The play was very cute- and we loved the guy who played Ursula. Afterwards we walked over to the capitol building to have lunch on the grounds and run around...picking statue noses and playing toilet freeze tag (a new invention of the kids where you have to freeze in the pose of a toilet and can't be free until someone flushes you). A great day for everyone!

Mason: A Book Review

Superfudge
byJudy Blume

This is a fun book. It is funny at the beginning when Peter's mom is having a baby. When the baby is born they decide to go to a new home for the year. Pete doesn't want to move to a different place because he really will miss his friend. At the end the book they decide to go back to there own a apartment. I like this book. I think people should read it.

Gabe: Rat's Birthday

The rat's birthday is on 4th of July. Luigi and Mario are turning one. I don't know how old Bowser is turning, I think he is younger than them. Their birthday will be lots of fun. They will love it because we will give them special treatment. Their excited about their birthday. We love it a lot too. I love them a lot. They are great pets.

Kiki: What I Did Today

I played music. I went on a walk. I went to do recorder with Mikenna. I played. I did a craft with leaves and paper. I singed songs. I played. I went home.

Connor: George: Doggie Detective

As you may or may not know my owner's grandson, Connor, is Detective Jones. I am the detective's assistant, George. Yes, my brother Rex, is an action hero. This week I am solving my first solo mystery. Earlier today Lucy came to me with a mystery. The mystery is to be known from this point on as The Case of the Missing Chew Toy. Lucy can't find her chew toy and now I have to sniff out every possible suspect. I will start with my owner Nana. Wow, that was quick, but it isn't Nana. I can't believe I don't get candy for desert just because I bugged Nana. Now to try some other dogs in the neighborhood. I know T and Rex love chew toys. "Rex did you have anything to do with it" I ask. Rex answers "Why would I?" Okay that's done now I move on to T. "T did you have anything to do with the loss of Lucy's chew toy?" T says back "red rubber ball." "Yes T did you take it?" "yes." "Will you give it to me T" "yes." After talking to T and getting the red rubber ball I walk home holding the red rubber ball in my mouth. I bring it over to Lucy. That concludes my first solo mystery. To be continued. Smell ya later.

Mason: My Birthday

On my birthday I am going to a hotel in Austin with Nana because on the 12th birthday you get to go someplace special with Nana. These are the things I am planning to do with Nana: I am going to watch movies, have breakfast in bed, swimming in the pool and in the hot tub, and play games. I am also going to go downtown and have lunch with Popo. I am going to the bookstore and I am getting books for Gabe, Avery, Connor, Marney, Kiki, Max, Jack and me. I think it is going to be the best day ever.

Marney: My Birthday

It is my birthday in a few months on January 3rd, I'm going to turn seven. My birthday cake is going to be the Wizard of Oz. My balloons are going to look awesome because they are going to be blue. My birthday is on my vacation with my family but my party is at my house with my family and Nana and Popo. It is going to look awesome and here is a picture of Oz.

Gabe: Camping

We are going camping soon at Inks Lake on Thanksgiving. I think camping is lots of fun. I hope we get a big camp site that has lots of trees so we can use the hammock. I want to go on a hike up the mountains and I want to have a scavenger hunt while we are hiking. I also want to eat tortilla smores, because they are really tasty and better than normal smores. I love camping with my family a lot.

Mommio: Our Week

Monday- Six Flags
Tuesday- Sea World
Wednesday- Disney World
Thursday- Bush Gardens
Friday- Worlds of Fun
Saturday- The Great Escape
Sunday- Disney Land

Just checking to see if any toes are reading. But our week will be just as fun with no amusement parks!

Max: Dinosaurs

I love the dinosaurs. Little ones. The big one wants to go home. She had a new mommy. Making loud noise.

Avery: What I Did Today

Today we went to a play call Walking With The Dinosaurs! People made these robot dinosaurs and put them on stage with a guy that would talk all about them. My favorite dinosaur was the t-rex! It was huge and loud. I thought that is was funny when The big T-rex roared sooo loud and then the baby T-rex did a tiny growl. After the show we went to Chili's for diner. I had a corn dog. I love watching plays and I can't wait to see an other one.

Mommio: A Wednesday In November

This Wednesday was a great day, and one that only happens in November in Texas. We started the day in long pants and jackets and ended it in swimsuits in the river. Just perfect. In between the two we had a blast with our homeschool friends at Weavers Bottom. As you can see from reading the kids posts from today, we learned a lot about birds this week at our homeschool Adventure Club meeting. Go take a look at the pictures from the meeting!

Mason: Birds

What I learned about birds: 1. I learned to find owls you look for bird poop, owl pellets and bones.
2. Owls live in high dark places and holes.
3. I learned that owls eat rodents and it helps farmers.
4. Owls don't eat bones so they barf it in to a pellet.
5. Birds use wind to glide.
6. Baby birds eat yolk, there is something in the yolk that allows it to eat yolk.
7. There is a bald eagle that has no white head.
8. Birds are related to dinosaurs.
9. Ducks run and flap their wings.
10. Birds open their wings to get them cold and close their wings to get warm.

Marney: Birds

Connor: Birds

This week we studied birds in Adventure Club. I learned a lot about birds. I learned that water birds launch by running on water. I learned about Bald Eagles, like the fact that there may have once been a different species of Bald Eagle besides the White Bald Eagle we see in the United States today. Something else I learned is that you can find an owl by looking at owl pellets on the ground and then looking up. I also learned that owl pellets and owl poop are not the same thing. I learned that the way you can tell what an owl ate is by looking at the pellets. Owls will eat rodents, bats, cats, small birds and snakes. I loved learning about birds.

Gabe: Birds

We had Adventure Club on Wednesday at Robin's house with the homeschool group. We learned a lot about birds. Mom taught us how to dissect owl pellets, there were lots of bones in mine. The owl pellets were really cool but they were hard like a nut. We had a snack called Pigeon Poop, it had pretzels, cereal, marshmallows and chocolate. We went on a bird hunt with Robin. Robin taught us that she has lots of different kinds of birds at her house. I think we saw a sparrow and it was black. It was very, very, very fun.

Mason: D&D Night

Last night me, Connor, Avery, Gabe, Marney played D&D. Marney rolled Gabe's dice. We went in to a sunken ship and fought eels. Then we went through a hole and fought a shark. The shark knocked on a door then we fought a sea hag. It was a fun game and I think Marney will be a good player for D&D.

Kennedy: Adventure Club

When I was finding some bones in the owl pellets I found a part of the teeth of a rat. And then I found a leg bone of a rat. And then we went outside and looked at feathers and made hummingbird feeders with Robin. We learned about feathers and about birds. And then we played. I played with Mikenna. And then we went to the Slab to swim. When I was at the Slab I found a good boat. It was a stick. And then we were looking for seaweed for the boat. And then we went and played mermaids. And then we went home. Then we did chores.

Daddio: Bowling and Halloween

Halloween was a blast. You toes stayed up way too late and were way to tired and cranky the next morning... BUT IT WAS WORTH IT! Trick or treating; ghost stories; ghost in the graveyard; the fire pit; roasting marshmallows; eating candy... it was a complete blast.

D&D night is tonight and again I'm very excited. Once again Marney will be watching (and trying to stay awake the whole time) so that she can join the group in a few weeks. Even more exciting than that-- tonight's adventure will take place... UNDERWATER! Sweet. It's not easy to swing a sword underwater.

Bowling was very disappointing today. I bowled a 74 and a 109, which are comparable to what I bowled last week. But I was out of sorts and didn't feel comfortable. It just was a bad day. Blah. It's okay, I suppose, because I still had my hook (even if my aim was completely all over the map). Here's hoping that next week is better.

Gabe: Halloween

We had lots of fun doing stuff on Halloween with our friends. We did a great and fun recorder show. We did Follow the Leader on the recorder. We also played solos. I played Au Clair De La Lune. I think I did really good. There is a video of us playing Follow The Leader. We also did an art show with the Weavers. My favorite things that we made were the pinch pots because one of my pinch pots I am going to use as a money pot. We went camping at my Nana's house. We did lots of stuff, like play Ghost the Graveyard. My favorite part of camping was roasting marshmallows because I didn't eat it but it would get really big and then burn.

Marney: Today

Idid no art or music today but I went to the bank with Nana. And went to yoga. And on Saturday I loved it because we did art, music and trick or treating and here are pictures of them.

Mommio: Our Week

Our Halloween weekend was so busy (and fun) that I never got around to posting our schedule for this week. So here goes...

Monday- lazy morning, yoga
Tuesday- Nana Day, Connor orthodontist
Wednesday- Adventure Club meeting at Weaver's Bottom about birds, D&D night
Thursday- back to the sculpture ranch with Nana and the Weavers, outside day
Friday- morning school, Roanoke Unit Study, house chores, movie night
Saturday- go to Walking With Dinosaurs with Nana and Popo
Sunday- yard chores, start ornaments, science, date night

Avery: What I Did Yesterday

Yesterday was Halloween! When everyone was here we got to have our dinner, we had tacos. The Weavers and Miki's family was with us. When we had dinner we got to look at the art (We are having an art show!) I liked the pinch pots the most. Lily made a tea set! At 6:00 pm we did a recorder show. Lily and I played a song together, Mason, Gabe, Marney, Connor, and Kiki all played solos, and we all play two songs together. Later in the night we went trick-or-treating and got lots of candy! I really liked Lily's eyeball witch costume. After we went trick-or-treating we had too much candy! Late at night we told ghost stories, ate marshmallows, and played on the zipline. Then we slept in for a long time. I can't wait for the next Halloween.