Connor: Blog Of The Day

The Adventure Of Ghost 
By Connor

Ghost, Grandma and Grandpa's cat, had just woke up.  He woke up and started secretly walking to the kitchen.  Suddenly a barrel fell down and landed on top of him.  There he was under a barrel, in the dark.   He started to twist one of his whiskers and it broke with a twang.  Uncle Chris was near the barrel and heard this twanging noise.  He walked up to it and lifted it.  Ghost was knocked out, just lying there.  Uncle Chris thought Ghost was dead. "GADZOOKS!"  he shouted.   His shout echoed and Ghost woke up shortly after being buried alive in a pet graveyard.  He scratched with all his might, but couldn't get out. 

The End

Avery: Blog Of The Day

 Birthday Bash

By Avery

Hi, I am Lacy Brown. I am sixteen years old and I am going to tell you about my sixteenth birthday bash. It is so fun to listen to. One day I went to the store to pick up some stuff for mom. Right when I got into the door I looked around for some shopping carts. Where are the stupid carts? Mom is going to kill me if I don't make this quick. I thought to myself in a weird way. I ran to the vegetables first and reached for the broccoli, I couldn't get them!
     "Gosh! Why can't I ever reach the up high stuff. I hate being short!", I said to myself
     " Your not that short. You look like your about four feet and seven inches.", said a voice from behind me.
     " Who said that?"
     " Me, Uncle Chris!"
     " Oh... hi! What are you doing here?!"
     " I came to visit you and your family."
     " When I am done shopping could you drive me home?"
     " Sure. Wait a minute... didn't you drive your car to the store?"
     " Oh yeah! I did. Thanks for reminding me."
     I started getting some bread and cookies in the cart. Wow I didn't know he would come and visit me and mom today. I thought he was coming next week. Well who cares, he is here isn't he? I thought to myself.
    " Isn't it your birthday tomorrow?"
    "  GADZOOKS! I forgot all about it! Could you help me pick stuff out for my party? I need to call my mom and tell her that I am going to be home late."
    " Okay."
    I ran very fast to the party store and looked around. I found a little barrel and put it into the little cart.CRASH! BOOM! BANG! The cart fell over on top of me and the barrel rolled over my head and almost gave me a black eye.
     " Ouch, that hurt!"
     Uncle Chris helped me up and walked me to my car. I got in and drove home. I hope that mom remembers that my birthday is today. I also hope that Charlie is going to be good at my party. I know, I am going to ask mom to take Charlie to bed early. That way I can have my party and have fun! By then I was home. I ran inside and turned on the lights.
     "SURPRISE! Happy birthday!", yelled a lot of my friends and family in an excited voice.
     I found out that they secretly planed my party when I was gone. I was so, so happy when I saw everyone there! Later at the party a lady named Lulu Bee gave me a cat. I called him Mister Whiskers. It was the best party ever!

The End

Daddio: 3/31/10 Blog of the Day

Write a story that uses the following words.  Your story can be about anything you want, as long as it contains each of the words in the list.

Word List
barrel
whisker
secretly
Uncle Chris
GADZOOKS!

Connor: Blog Of The Day

sticked: The act of buying an Order Of The Stick book.

Nana sticked for Connor's leg surgery.

Mommio: Monday At Weaver's Bottom

It was haircut day at Weaver's Bottom.  Another reason we are lucky to be friends with the Weaver's...great free haircuts!  Robin cut Marney, Max and Jack's hair.  They all look great now and (despite crying, kicking and screaming through the cut) Jack loves it- he keeps rubbing his head with a big grin and saying "haircut".

 While waiting their turn the little kids did lots of swinging.

Gabe and Elder created an imaginary game of criminals who practice sumo wrestling to become better crooks.

And the older girls took a long walk.  It is so nice that they can have the freedom to wander the property without worrying...I am sure it feels great to them when they are all alone WAY back in the wildflowers!

After that short visit we all headed down the road to the slab for a swim with our friends.  It was finally hot enough outside to really enjoy it. The kids played for hours in the water, caught minnows and clams and ladybugs, built channels, skipped rocks and even met some new friends who were visiting on a vacation.

Two minnows (named Maya and Slab by the kids) made it home with us in a bucket...and much to my surprise one is still alive this morning so we are having fun watching it today.

Marney: Blog Of The Day

Heelying: To go fast on Heely's.

I passed the pizza shop while Heelying.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

puckinating: To win playing air hockey.

Avery was puckinating against Gabe.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

ranched: To put Ranch dressing on food.

Gabe ranched his pizza.

Mason: Blog Of The Day

icecreaming: To eat ice cream in a bowl or cup.

Mason was icecreaming at Nana's house today.

Daddio: 3/30/10 Blog of the Day

Make up your own verb and then write a definition for it. A verb is an "action word" like: running, hammering, thinking or eating. Your verb can be as crazy as you want.  Make sure you give the definition and then use it in a sentence.  Here's an example:

Sploondering: The act of scooping ice cream.  Once Jerry found a large spoon, he quickly sploodered the mint chocolate chip into a bowls for him and his friends.

Connor: Blog Of The Day

My grandpa had a great cat.
I don't think it chased a rat.
the cat had black fur
and is alive nevermore.
I cry when I think of that.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

One day I saw my grandma
And then I saw my grandpa.
Then my grandma smelled like grandpa.
Soon my grandpa saw my grandma
and they both smelled  like grandpa's paws

Avery: Blog Of The Day

 The Skype

by Avery

I went onto Skype to talk to Grandpa
and he was the only one that I saw.
We talked and talked
a very lot.
Then I walked away cause I got a call.

Daddio: 3/29/10 Blog of the Day

Today you need to write a limerick about Grandma and Grandpa. A limerick is a five line poem.  The first rule is that some of the lines in the poem have to rhyme with other lines in the poem.  The second rule is that each line has to have a certain rhythm pattern.  I'll give you the rules first, and then I'll give you an example of a limerick:

Rule 1:  The last words of the 1st, 2nd and 5th lines all have to rhyme with each other. The last words of the 3rd and 4th lines must rhyme with each other.

Rule 2:  The rhythm pattern for the 1st, 2nd and 5th lines all have the following pattern: da DUM da da DUM da da DUM.  The rhythm pattern for the 3rd and 4th lines all have the following pattern: da DUM da da DUM.  Look at the example below to see how the rhythm pattern works.

1. There once was a fellow named Tim
2. whose dad never taught him to swim.
3. He fell off a dock
4. and sunk like a rock.
5. And that was the end of him.

See how the last word of lines 1, 2 and 5 all rhyme?  They all have an "im" sound at the end.  In the same way, lines 3 and 4 rhyme because they both end with the sound "ock."

You can also see that the rhythm pattern of lines 1, 2 and 5 follow the pattern.  First say, "da DUM da da DUM da da DUM" and see how line one fits with it, "There once was a fellow named Tim."  Try this with lines 2 and 5 also.

You can also see that the rhythm pattern of lines 3 and 4 follow the pattern.  First say, "da DUM da da DUM" and see how line 3 fits with it, "He fell off a dock."  Try this with line 4 too.

Now you know how to write a limerick!  Write one about Grandma and Grandpa (or anything about them-- like Alabama, the Air Force or cats).

Mommio: Art Class

After sharing our watercolor and gold leaf homework...

We started to study the famous Italian artist Giotto today.  He was another artist during the Gothic period in Italy (1267-1337) and was actually the apprentice to the artist we studied last week- Cimabue.  As a young child Giotto first discovered art while he was tending to his father's sheep. He began by scratching circles, and then pictures of sheep, into the flat surfaces of the rocks on the hills where they roamed.  Today the kids tried making their own scratch art pictures.  We learned about scratchboards that artists use now and we watched this cool time lapse video of  the making of a  scratchboard portrait.

We also looked at bits of this video taken at a Scratch Art expo done by tattoo artists from around the country.  It was very cool to see what people can do with scratch art!

After I covered the table with lots of newspaper- we got to work creating our own homemade scratchboard- first they colored a thick layer of white with an oil pastel onto a piece of chipboard.

Next they covered over the white with a double layer of black oil pastel, until they could not see through it.  At this point there was a lot of complaining about how tired their arms were!

Then I cut each child's homemade scratchboard in half so that they could try out two different methods.  For both they used the sharp end of a paperclip to scratch pictures into the top layer, revealing the lighter color underneath.  First, they scratched freehand patterns directly onto the scratchboard.

For the other one, they learned how to make a transfer pattern.  I gave them a sheet of regular paper cut to the same size as their scratchboard and had them draw a picture of their choosing with pencil.
Next we taped the picture to the scratched board and traced over the image again with the pencil.

Then we removed the pencil image and revealed our transfer image on the scratchboard.  Using the paper clip again, the kids scratched over the lines of the image and filled in more detail where they wanted it.
Here is what they came up with:

This was a fun project!  For homework the kids will experiment more with scratch art by using various colors as the base instead of one light color.  Next time we will learn more about Giotto as an adult, his masterpiece Lamentation of Christ, and how to make frescoes using plaster on chipboard.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

How To Dress Your Dog

By Avery

1- Pick out an outfit that has a shirt, pants and shoes.

2- Start off by putting the pants on. You have to put its two hind legs in the pants. After they are on it's legs put the tail through the tail hole. Don't forget to zip the pants up.

3- To put the shirt on you have to first put the dogs front legs in the sleeves. Then (if the shirt has a zipper on it) zip it up.

4- Get the shoes and push them onto the puppy's paws.

Marney: Blog Of The Day

How To Dress Your Dog

By Marney

1. You buy a dog and then you buy some clothes.

2. Then you put the feet in the clothes. 

3. Then if you have a zip jacket you can put it on.

4. If you have a jacket you have to go and get the jacket and then put it on by ziping it up.

5. Then you have a dog in clothes. It is cute to put it on a pet dog, it makes the dog look cute.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

 Zombie Models

By Gabe

One day a girl was dressing her models.  Then they lost their heads because the first model turned into a zombie and ate the seconds one's head off and the second one turned into a zombie and ate the first one's head off.  Then one kicked the girl.  Then both of the zombies ate her until she was dead.  They decided that all humans should listen to them and be their servants. The zombies took over the world, broke down the buildings and ate all people and animals.

Daddio: 3/26/10 Blog of the Day

For today's blog of the day, you need to write a set of instructions that someone can easily follow.  The title of your instructions will be "How to Dress Your Dog."  Then make sure you number your instructions, that they are clear and easy to understand.  Then post up a picture of a dog from this link here.  Mommio can help you post the picture you want with your instructions.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

Two Sides Of The Story

 By Avery

     Hi, my name is Lora Joe. I am the one who got kicked in the butt by that little sculpture. You would not like the reason she did it. Here, let me tell you the story.  One day I ran into my store and it was all messed up. I looked around to see if there were any clues to see who it was that did it. But all I found was writing on the wall that was upside down and backwards. I thought it said Lulu Higenbottom. I wonder whose name that was. 

     "Hello, is anyone here? Well, I guess not.", I said as I looked around.

     I started picking up some clothes off the floor and putting them back on hangers. Then I started to wipe all the writing off of the wall. I really had to clean up the place, because my boss is coming to see how business is going. Suddenly another one of the employees came in (I am the first one and she was the second one).

     "Hey Stacey, come over here and help me clean up this mess, please!"

     "Sure, but why are you in such a rush to clean up the place? I mean, isn't it a Sunday, the day where everyone comes here to get summer clothes?"

     "Yes it is Sunday and I am rushing because our boss is coming over to check on the store!"

     " Oh then I will start helping right away!", said Stacey as if she was a super hero with a deep voice.

     After an hour we were all done cleaning up and all we had to do was put outfits on our plastic models. I got out a box of outfits and then put them on the floor. I found a pink outfit with dark blue jeans to put on my model. My model did not want to wear pink so she kicked me in the butt! I thought that she was angry about pink because she is usually wearing orange, green, blue and red.  So that is the story about the butt kicking doll.

     "No it's not! I know the real story.", said a voice.

     " Oh no! It's the model that kicked me in the bootty."

     The model told me her side of the story.
     "One day you came into the store and picked up the mess I made in the store. I made the mess because you made me wear a scarf last week. I was so mad that I would actuly make that mess. So when you bent down to get the pink clothes I saw a bug on your butt and kicked it off. That is the real story."

     " You are both wrong.", said another voice.

     " Stacey what are you doing here? You didn't see anything at all!"

     " You are wrong about that. I did see everything. I got down our store camera and watched everything that is on it and saw why she was kicking you.  One day  you went into the store and picked up the mess that two year old babies made. You called me in and told me to start putting things up. Then when we put the outfits on our models she kicked you because the kids set her up in a kicking position. There is the true story. If you guys don't believe me you can watch the tape if you like."

The End

Marney: Blog Of The Day

The Shop

By Marney

One day there was a shop but they never got money so they put on a bunch of fake people in the shop. So they had to put up the dolls and they had a bunch of people because the shop was filled with people and she said that it was the best day she had because she had a bunch of money and so she went to the people. She said that she wanted all the people in the state to come and so all the people in the state came and the shop was ran over by a bunch of people. They got on the roof to come in because there was a bunch of people in the shop.  She was so happy she ran all the way to the house that she lived in. She put on the new hat that she got from her mom when it was her birthday and she was happy that she got that hat from her mom because it was a happy day.   Then she put on the cool hat that made her happy.  All the people ran away from the shop because it was weird that she wore the hat.

The End

Daddio: 3/25/10 Blog of the Day

Write a story about the following picture:

Connor: Blog Of The Day

March 24, 2010
Dear Max,
Here in Iceland there was a big volcanic eruption around midnight on Saturday. Man, was it scary! It happened a lot like a few volcanic eruptions from Iceland's past. There was said to be lava shooting up out of the craters near that big glacier named Eyjafjallajokull. I was freaking out while hearing about it. I thought that the ice would melt. Anyway I was sleeping fine, for a while. I woke up quickly because of all the commotion. There was yelling, shouting, and shrieking and all that noise was keeping me from going back to sleep.   So I decided to try to come to you in America, but the planes would not fly, because of all the ash in the sky.  I was evacuated to one of the nearby villages.  Just so you know, I am fine. I don't know when it is safe to go back.  My house is still intact.  Just be glad a volcano didn't erupt near you. Please write back really soon.
Your pen pal,
Connor

Connor and Gabe: The Adventures of Husky

The Strange Snowstorm

By Connor and Gabe

Hi, my name is Husky and I am a husky.  One day this year a giant snowstorm came and destroyed half of New York city.  I was so scared I went to the bathroom in my doghouse.  I couldn't believe that New York was gone, but I decided to run all the way to Texas with my friends.  It was so hot in Texas that I could swim in lake Marble Falls.  I was shocked when I noticed there was no way out of the water on the side of the lake I was on, other than ladders.  Then I looked up and saw a German Shepherd with a rope.  He tied the rope to my tail and  tried to pull me up, but I weighed too much.  Soon there were tons of humans to pull me out of the water.  When I got out of the water I was so excited that I jumped onto a roof and landed with a crash.  Then I got down and looked at the German Shepherd and asked him if he would be my friend.  When he said no I went to Chili's to eat out of the trash.  Then I put on a Chili's suit and hat, which didn't fit me at all, and then went through the front door and acted like I worked there, but I couldn't get out.  Then I saw a pretty poodle.  She had a pink bow on her head and I thought she was looking at me.  I asked her for a date and she kicked me to Alaska.  Now I need to get out or something.  I will get back to you humans later. Stay in school and don't let stray dogs talk you into giving them your steak and corn on the cob.

The End

Mommio: Monday At Weaver's Bottom

This Monday at Weaver's Bottom was a nice, low key afternoon. It was just us and the Weaver's enjoying the pretty day. Some of the baby goats have been getting caught in the fencing around their pen so I helped Robin wire the fence line and meanwhile...

Kids rode bikes.

 Kiki rode a horse.

The girls jumped high.

Big brother pushed little brother.

Mason finally held a baby goat.

Snacks were eaten. 

Avery visited with Priscilla.

Gabe tried (hard) to catch minnows.

And then Lily led us all on a beautiful wildflower walk.

Mommio: Watch The Volcano

Here is some footage from two days ago of the Iceland volcano that the kids have been blogging about:

Avery: Blog Of The Day

March 21, 2010
Dear Eddie,
A horrible thing happened to me on Sunday. There was an explosion from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano! It was so bad. It was only a little explosion, but our house is on the volcano. Well, it was. The volcano flooded over our house. Right when we saw the lava we ran out of the house and to the main town. We had to run because we didn't have enough money to afford a little car. But the even worse part is that my little brother Charlie fell out of his stroller and we think that the lava got him. In the newspaper it said that no one died but some got hurt. Now we are stranded on a little island. The lava was so hot that it melted a lot of the snow on the mountains and flooded a little bit. So now we are stuck on the little island. My mom has been freaking out a lot now that she can't drink her coffee in the mornings and instead she has to drink a lot of water and coconut milk from the coconuts that we pull down from trees. My dad and I made a little shelter with giant tree leaves and bamboo. We also used some mud so that we know the shelter will hold together. In the afternoons when the current in the water is fast my mom looks to see if Charlie is going to flow by us. I told her that she should stop worrying and that the police will find him someday. After I told her that she calmed down a little bit and started talking about what we are going to do when we get off the island. She said that we should move to somewhere that has only a little snow and NO volcanoes. She said it would be fine if it had only 7% of snow. I wish we lived in the time when they elected a woman for their chief, because there was no big explosions. Did you know that when my dad heard about people who hunted whales he started sitting at the edge of the island waiting for a whale to come by? I don't want him to eat a whale. They are so cute! You know what? I am just glad that there is no lava or lava rocks on this little island. Did you know that the ash from the volcano is a good thing to use when cleaning? This morning my mom told me that she wants to live on a mountain that is 30,000 ft tall. Well, I was thinking that we could make this island our new home. We could make a shelter out of trees and when stuff flows past us in the river we could take it out of the water and use it for whatever we want. I will be here for a few years, so if you want to live with us for a month or two you could fly over here in an airplane and have fun with us. If you want you could ask your parents if you could come over to the island and live with us forever. Please write back.
Your BFF,
Avery
P.S- Look at the drawing of our shelter we made. It looks just like my drawing. But it is way bigger than it is in the drawing.