Daddio: 4/30/10 Blog of the Day

For today's blog of the day, I want you to pretend that it's your birthday and you have to make a grocery list for all your favorite meals that you want to eat on your birthday.  Plan only one meal each for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  And make sure you don't just say what you want-- like cake-- but you have to list the ingredients you need-- cake mix, frosting, sprinkles, etc.

Connor: Blog of The Day

The scariest monster I can think of is a weredragon.  It lives in caves and feeds on humans.  In the morning it looks like an average human.  Where as every night around 10pm a weredragon will turn into a dragon capable of human speech.  You can tell the difference between a human and a weredragon from what they listen to on their ipod.  For instance a weredragon usually listens to Greenday and Smashmouth songs.  Weredragons love American Idiot.  Although those songs are popular among humans the weredragons listen to those songs all the time. If you get to their caves you can hear American Idiot playing, even if their not home.  Weredragons are vicious killers and most times will only kill in dragon form.  What's really scary is that they blend in with most teens.    

Avery: Blog Of The Day

My monster is called GARBONZOZO! He doesn't look that scary, but he has awesome powers.
1- When he is scared, he will barf all over you.
2- His super sharp nails can cut you up when he touches you.
3- His four horns can kill you if he charges at you.
4- His fur has poison in it (You might not want to touch any part of him).
5- He can't hear, but he can smell you from 15,000 miles away.
Now that you know his powers you might want to know what he looks like. He has orange and blue fur, his mouth is purple, he has four sharp horns on top of his head, Two big ones and two little ones, He has gross green nails, and he is super furry. The GARBONZOZO lives in Canada and in bad dreams. At night he would go into people's dreams and in the morning he hides in the woods. Sometimes he travels to North America and goes into my dreams.

Marney: Blog Of The Day

There is a monster I met that looks so funny. But if you do even one thing, like move, he looks scary. He likes me and he does not scare me.  He is called Marneycalledmall. I like Marneycalledmall. You might think that is a funny name. He looks blue and red.  It looks like it has water and blood going down him. He has a bunch of crocodiles crawling on him. It lives in the trees in a place called the Shed and he goes to his house all the time in the night.

Marney: A Story

A Cat

By Marney

One day there was a cat that just sat on a bed and he did nothing at all. Then that day the owner took the cat to a salon. Then the people at the place said "Do you need to get a cat haircut?"
"Yes", said the owner. 
"I think it will look good. All you have to do is go to a sit and wait for 0 days." the people said.
"Wait", said the owner. "I can not tell what you are saying."
Then the people just got the cat haircut done.
"That is good. I think it is good but are you going to put on a pot as a hat?" said the owner.
"Yes", said the people. 
Then they went to home and the cat was cool.   

The End

Marney: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

One Day

By Marney

One day there were people at a big place and thought it was good to be there.  Then they saw a girl. The girl said "I play the violin when it snows, like it is now. I do not like to play it near people so that is why I am not playing here."  Then one day there she was playing it in the snow.  The people saw her and then she was mad.

The End

Mason: Blog Of The Day (Tuesday)

Dear Friend,
I have been on Earth for ten days. I've learned lots of facts about Earthlings. They play the oddest games. They call them tag and football and man overboard. And they have something called a DS and a Wii. I visited Nana's house and they have things called candy. One of the Earthlings was called Gabe but some of his family accidentally call him Mason. That is all the information. Now we can continue our plan to take over the Earth.
From,
N1234

Mason: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

 Violins In The Snow

By Mason

One day it was snowing and a girl was playing the violin. Everyone heard it and they went outside and played violins. At the night the girl would dream about everyone playing the violin.

The End

Mason: Blog Of The Day

The scariest monster would be a half vampire half zombie.  I would call it a vampzombie.  It looks like a decapitated corpse and a vampire. It does suck blood but it doesn't wear a cape. It lives in Marble Falls in Nana  and Popo's backyard. It only comes out at night but in the daytime it hides under the porch.  What makes it so scary is that it eats your brains and then turns you into a vampire.   

Daddio: 4/29/10 Blog of the Day

For today's post, describe the scariest monster you can think of.  What is it called?  What does it look like?  Where does it live?  What makes it so scary?  Be as detailed as possible.

Mommio: The First Cast

So, Gabe has been suffering from horrible pain in his heels for about two months now.  At first it was just after a busy day, then it started being all day, then he started to only walk on his toes and then it got so bad that he was crawling at night due to pain.  Off to the doctor we went and found out he was suffering from an inflammation around the growth plate on his heels where the achilles tendon attaches called Severs Disease.  They sent us to a podiatrist who sent us to a physical therapist.  After trying that out for a week he was worse than before (actually waking up in the middle of the night with pain) so yesterday we went back to the podiatrist...and came home with Gabe in a cast with crutches!

The idea is that if he rests the tendons for four weeks it will heal and his pain will go away.  They couldn't cast both feet at the same time because due to the angle of the foot he would not be able to walk at all.  So, the right foot will be in a cast for four weeks and then we will go back and the left foot will be in a cast for four weeks.  What a way to start the summer off!  Lucky for him- he has his Nana right across the street and will be getting lots of special attention for the next 8 weeks.
As I watched them put the cast on I couldn't help but think how amazing it is with this many kids (7 I mean, we can't really include Connor in the count)  that we have not had one cast or broken bone until this point.  It is a real novelty in the 100 Toe house!

Mommio: Art Class

This week in art class we continued our study of Giotto, focusing on his famous frescoes.  Here is a video of some of his well known paintings that can be found in the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy.

After sharing our colorful scratch art homework from last time...

 We started to make some of our own frescoes.  First, the kids covered chip board with a thick coat of plaster using putty knives.

These take a few hours to dry so I made some ahead of time with Gabe to paint on in class and the ones the kids plastered in class will be used for homework.

 Next the kids drew their images directly onto the plaster with a pencil.  They tried to show scenes that include emotions of people. Giotto was known for being one of the first artists in his time to show emotions in his paintings.

Then they all used their artists watercolor sets and round brushes to paint their images.

 The colors absorb into the plaster underneath- giving it a very different look from watercolors on paper.

Homework...one more fresco.  Next time we move on to the Limbourg brothers who were hired artisans for the Duke of Berry in early 1400's France.

Daddio: 4/28/10 Blog of the Day

Write a story about the following picture:

Avery: Blog Of The Day

Dear Master,
I have been here for three days all ready and saw that the Jones family is always eating this strange food called pizza. This guy with a blue shirt seems to like the pizza too. Every time they get it, he carries it to them and then gets money. Money is just like blarple, they work hard to get it. Also, one day they went to their grandmother's house, but for some reason they called her Nana instead of grandma. I really don't understand their world. At night they seem to sleep. I thought they sleep in the morning and work at night, like we do. I also saw the most disgusting thing, it was brown and was inside a bowl of water. I think that they call it a toilet and they do whatever their doing in a bathroom. I am going to return in the night tomorrow.
From,
K147

Marney: Blog Of The Day

Dear Friend,
I think I saw a boy and I think his name was called Gabe.  I saw a bunch of candy in a house and those people called Gabe and Ava call the house Nana and Popo house.  I love to do this you can to my friend.  It was so cool.  I ate some candy it is good. I will come back.
From,
Marney

Connor: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

The Jabberwocky

I think the Jabberwocky meant that sometimes anyone could face their fears.  The Jabberwocky kind of inspires me the way the classic stories of the knight slaying the dragon inspires most people.  I think frabjous meant wonderful, great, extraordinary.  I think that this points to the well known phrase "there's nothing to fear but fear itself."  The Jabberwocky was probably the best poem ever written in my opinion.   I guess the Tumtum tree meant a big, fat tree.  The Jabberwocky involves more monsters than just the main monster.  The jubjub bird sounds extra dangerous.  The Jabberwocky seems to be very vicious.  I think this poem was written to tell people that you can stand up to whatever fears you have whether it be bullies, nightmares, the dark, or anything.

Daddio: 4/27/10 Blog of the Day

For today's blog of the day, I want you to pretend you are an alien that has been sent to Earth to see what the planet is like and what kind of life lives on it-- you landed in Marble Falls and secretly spied on the Jones houses (including Nana and Popo's house) to gather your information.  For your post, write a letter back to your home planet leaders explaining what you found.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

The Walrus and the Carpenter

I think that one night the sun came up for some reason and no one could sleep. So this girl said that it was not fair to come up in the night and keep everyone awake. It was a very nice on the beach, there were no clouds in the sky, and there were no birds in the sky because it was supposed to be night and they needed to rest. But while everyone tried to sleep the walrus and carpenter where walking around the beach talking about how it would take forever and ever for seven maids to mop up all the sand on the beach. So while they were walking the oysters started following them and when they sat down the oysters would just wait for them to get up. They start talking and eating bread. Then when they were done the walrus and carpenter got tired and asked if they could go home, but the bad thing was that the oysters ate them.

Marney: Blog Of The Day

 The Crocodile

The crocodile is in the Nile river trying to get pretty so the fish will go into his mouth.  The crocodile is getting fish in the crocodile mouth. So he showed off himself and the fish wanted to see him so the fish went into his mouth. I like the poem because it is funny and it is cool because the crocodile tricks the fish.

Kiki: Blog Of The Day

The Crocodile

The crocodile is pouring water on his scales. The crocodile is trying to catch fish that are in the water.

Mommio: R.I.P. Luigi

Once of Gabe's beloved rats, Luigi, died last night.  He was a great rat- he loved to be held, was great at cleaning up his cage and was an amazing jumper.  He will be missed by his rat family and the Toes too.

Daddio: 4/26/10 Blog of the Day

Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland, which you recently read.  Alice in Wonderland had many weird poems in it which were difficult to understand.  For today's blog of the day, I want you choose one of the following poems from Alice and Wonderland and wrote a paragraph explaining what you think the poem is about.  Don't talk about what Alice or anyone in the book thought of poem, but write about what you think the poem means.  Pick one of these poems:


The Crocodile (for Marney and Kiki only)

Jabberwocky

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Connor: Blog Of The Day

My Opinion On Illegal Immigration Laws

Personally, I think our politicians have forgotten the Declaration of Independence.  The reason for my thinking this is that we Americans in the 18th century stood for life, liberty, and the right to be happy.  Well Mexican immigrants are not quite being treated like other American citizens.  They are treated differently from all other groups of people immigrating to America.  The people from Europe and Ireland, Greenland and the Soviet Union (aka Russia) and China and Japan are allowed  to come in and not be investigated as to where they come from.  America in a way seems to be reverting back to the 19th century.  Immigrants from Mexico have been killed, but some ranchers were killed too.  The immigrants jump the fences swim the Rio Grande and do everything it takes to get to the land of liberty.  For what? To be questioned about if they immigrated here legally.  I think we should get rid of the laws in these border states that say you're allowed to shoot those who enter your territory.  I mean what are we, canines or humans?  So what if the legal immigrants forget their IDs, are you just going to treat them like they have no civil rights?   This is terrible. These laws about checking to see if the immigrants are citizens of the USA are racist.  21st century America is possibly the worst place in history besides the 19th century. 

Mommio: Our Week

Okay little toes, here's the plan for the week...let's see how close we get!
M- Mason/Ava archery class, school, Poe Unit Study, Gabe physical therapy, music/art with Weaver's
T- Nana Day, Max well-check, Sweetberry Farms, yoga class, Connor/Mason Wii night
W- Gabe therapy, Inks Lake swimming, school, Max/Kiki yoga class, RPG night
T- school, Poe Unit Study, yoga class, Connor/Mason Teen Library League
F- Gabe therapy, school, Poe Unit Study, house chores, family movie night
S- yard chores, science with Daddio, Connor/Daddio chemistry
S- family day (maybe swimming)

Daddio: 152!

I went bowling today over lunch because I didn't get to go on Wednesday.  The first game was the same crappy stuff as always, and I scored an 88.  Then my co-worker, Brandon, gave a piece of advice that we both thought was really minor at the time.  He told me that it looked like my hand was in an upward position when I released the ball, and I should have my wrist twisted just slightly more when I release the ball.  I shrugged and said I'd try it.

BAM!  Several strikes and spares later, I scored the highest score I'VE EVER BOWLED-- 152.

This is like the first day of the rest of my life.

Everything will be different now.

Mason: Blog Of The Day

I think that the illegal immigrants law is not fair because people from Mexico have to take their drivers license and papers to be able to move to the United States of America.  If they have papers and forget them they will be arrested and have to be prove who they are to be able to to get out of jail. People that have different skin color are arrested too. People from Mexico are not allowed to come to America so if I was from Mexico and I had no papers and I had different skin color I would be arrested and sent to jail. I think that police that arrest people with different skin color is not fair because it means people that are from different places that forgot their papers and have different skin color will go to jail.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

I think that it is unfair to the Mexican people because they have to fill out a bunch of paper work. I also think that they get put in jail because of their skin color.  I also think that it is unfair that  they have to carry  their drivers license around. The Mexicans are in a small country, they need space. You need to let them into our country.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

I really think that we should let people come into our country because it's good to have people here in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. I heard that some people have to pretend to be someone else just so that the can live here. If somebody from Mexico wants to come to our country they have to have their driver's license, ID, and a lot of paper work. I don't think that African American and Mexican people want to be carrying all of that stuff with them everywhere they go. Now, if they don't bring their ID and drivers license everywhere they go they might have to go to jail. I don't know what will happen when they find out who they are, but I think they might just send them back to Mexico. Some police just look at what color their skin is and if their skin is dark then they think that they need to see what country they come from, who they are, if they have their license and if they have passports. I think that it is really unfair to a lot of people. I think that we should take down all of the walls, gates and all that stuff and let whoever wants to come into the country, come into the country. If I was in charge of everything that's going on I would make a law where you don't have to bring your ID every time you leave your house and that you can come into the US whenever you want.

Marney: Blog Of The Day

I think that it is bad that Mexican people cannot come to our country to work and live.  They cannot do that at all. I think that it is bad that they cannot go to places without a card.  It is so bad, I think you should let them come in our country.   It is still bad. 

Daddio: 4/23/10 Blog of the Day

For today's blog of the day I want you to read this article from Time and blog about what your thoughts are on the issues raised in the article on illegal immigration.

Connor: Blog Of The Day

Our No Impact Week

Well this week we wanted to see if we could attempt not to cause the Earth any harm or less harm.  So far we changed what we have for dinner.  We also tried to produce less trash. That did not work the first day, but the rest of this week nothing but a few items that belong in the trash anyway went into the trash.  We all tried to not waste fossil fuels even though that's kinda tough seeing as I have doctors appointments every Tuesday.  Yesterday was the food day.  Today we're trying to use only the electricity we need.  Although I pretty much have everything but the heater and air conditioner on in my bedroom meaning the computer and lights and I have good reason not to turn either of those of at the moment.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

This week we did No Impact Week.  No Impact Week is when we make our planet a better planet.  Saturday was Consumption Day.  On Consumption Day  we didn't buy anything except gas and groceries for the rest of the week. Monday  was Trash Day.  Trash Day is where we don't make trash. Tuesday was Transportation Day.  Transportation Day is where we don't use cars.Wednesday was food day.  Food day is where we don't eat packaged foods.  Today is Electricity Day.  Electricity Day is where we don't use electricity.  I like that we didn't make a lot of trash this week.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

We are doing No Impact Week because we  really want to help the Earth and it is Earth Day. We also started doing No Impact Week because we found out about it on a website called noimpactproject.org. Every day we do something different for the Earth.We started doing this on Monday. So, on the first day it was trash day. So, we looked at our trash we made in one day and the whole trash can was full, we were a bit sad. But, on Tuesday we almost made no trash, we only found diapers. Also on Tuesday we had to use no cars to go places. But we failed on that one because Dad had to go to work and Mom had to take Connor to the doctors. Wednesday was food day. We had to eat food that is not in plastic bags and stuff like that. We did really good on that one. For dinner we ate steamed broccoli, chicken and sweat potatoes. Today is energy day. So, if us girls are not in our room we should turn the lights off, or if it is really sunny outside we could turn all the lights off and then the light can shine through the windows. I am really liking the No Impact Week so far, but I kind of don't like the energy day because I can't watch as much TV.

Mason: Blog Of The Day

For are science we are doing No Impact Week. No Impact Week is when  we try to make less pollution on the Earth. The things that we are trying to change are trying to use cars less because cars use pollution, use less electricity becaues it uses coal to make it and throwing away less food because the more trash we make the more pollution we make. I like No Impact Week because it is fun. I think the best change is throwing away less food packaging because we make a lot of trash and now we make less trash.

Kiki: Blog Of The Day

Mommio: Why are we doing No Impact Week?
Kiki: For the Earth.
M: Tell me three things we are doing this week for the Earth.
K: We are not using a lot of energy.  We are not making trash.  We are not throwing away food.
M: Do you like doing No Impact Week?
K: Yes, because it is fun.

Kiki: Blog Of The Day (Wednesday)

The Man Who Wanted A Dog

By Kiki

A person was kissing a magazine because it wanted a dog.

The End

Kiki: Blog Of The Day (Tuesday)

1. Let people have ponies.
2. Drive without a seat belt.
3. Ride a pony.
4.The air would be clean.
5. Grow flowers.

Kiki: Blog Of The Day (Monday)

The Food Day

By Kiki

There was a slippery parrot that ate gourmet food.  The spoon tied the parrot up with a rope.

The End

Marney: Blog Of The Day

What we did to make our week good is we turned off the lights when we are not doing something in that room.   We did that so it does not waste our lights.  We are not playing on the DS that much.  It is much better that we are doing this so you can do it too if you want to.  I love to do it and we are going to eat better and we are doing that and we are not having a bunch of new things to eat.  I am doing it too with my family.  We are doing this for the Earth. 

Daddio: 4/22/10 Blog of the Day

It's Earth Day!  For today's blog of the day, I want you to post up about our experiment with No Impact Week and write about the things we've changed and why we're doing it.

Mason: Blog Of The Day

 The Weird Dream

By Mason

One day a man was working and he saw a girl and kissed her. They went to a restaurant and had food. He figured out it was all a dream because the restaurant was on a cliff.  He woke up and he was sad because it was a dream. Or was it?

The End

Connor: Blog Of The Day

The Strange Day
By Connor

One day I was working in my back yard.  Suddenly I saw what looked like a laser beam zap my neighbor's house.  There strangely wasn't any flames I looked up just in time to see a discus shaped object gliding away.  I went over to my neighbor's place to check on him.  When I got there I saw the effects of the laser, there in my neighbor's living room was my neighbor kissing his girlfriend who died last year.  This was weird considering that the woman I saw my neighbor kissing had no body and hear head was in a frame.  I exited my neighbor's home just in time to see the pictures of my long dead pets walking out of my home.  The boxer dog licked me and meowed for some strange reason.  The picture of my cat started purring and then barked at my neighbor who has a job as a mailman.  This was weirder I found that the picture of my poodle was speaking french which is the same language that my neighbor's dead girlfriend spoke.  Then the discus came back and fired another beam  and the next thing I know my pets are alive again and acting the way they're supposed to.

The End

Connor: Blog Of The Day (Monday)

The Alien Pirates
By Connor

In the year 4010 a bunch of rowdy pirates sail the galaxy.  These pirates are mean fellas most of them are skinny and strong.  Their captain is a chubby man with a great, big, pinkish nose and a black suit.  Along with this black suit the captain wears a red cape and purple hat.  He has green skin and keeps an orange parrot on his shoulder at all times.  One cold winter day the captain calls out to everyone that they will soon be landing on a planet called Jumbo, this planet  is known for being very big.  One of the crew members throws the rope across to the tallest building on the planet and walks to Jumbo.  Eventually all members of the crew reach Jumbo including the parrot.  They run around to test the surface of the planet.  As it would turn out the surface of the planet is slippery.  The pirates soon got used to the ground on which they were walking and went to pillage the whole planet.  They returned to the ship with lots of loot including a golden spoon.  When the pirates returned to their secret base on their home planet Mars they sold the golden spoon to one of the other martians.  This martian used the spoon to eat a lot of gourmet food.

The End

Daddio: Too Sick to Bowl and Other Updates

I've finally gotten the cold that everyone else in the family got.  I'm proud of the fact that I held out the longest, though.  But considering the pounding headache, congestion, sore throat-- and the worst is the exhaustion, I decided not to go bowling this week.  That's okay, though, since I've been happy with my performance the last two weeks.  RPG Night is also getting canceled for the same reasons, which stinks because we haven't played in a month for various reasons.

I've been informed by an anonymous source that I've failed in my blogging about No Impact Week, so let me remedy that.  Our efforts to minimize our impact on the environment have actually been pretty successful.  Our efforts to reduce our garbage have been amazing.  The first day-- when we just made garbage like we normally do-- we ended up filling an entire 30 gallon bag in one day.  But then we started being conscious of our choices in things to use and consume and tried to produce less waste.  In the last three days we have probably only filled a second bag only a quarter of the way, for all three days combined.  We've also switched over to what I'm calling "scratch" cooking-- everything is prepared from raw ingredients and no processed foods are allowed.  This is considerably more work, but the food tastes better, is healthier, and I can eat more food for less calories when the food isn't processed.  It also didn't cost anymore at the grocery store this week than it usually does.  I suspect that our reduction in garbage is largely due to not buying pre-packaged processed foods.

There have been a couple of failings on my part.  We weren't supposed to spend money except on predetermined things (gas and groceries).  This was to reduce our consumption.  On Monday I totally forgot and went and picked up (and paid for) a lunch for a co-worker that was having a hard day.  I also realized that tomorrow I'm getting a haircut and I should have brought that up at the meeting when we were deciding what to spend money on.

The other thing I did wrong was I went back on the "no coffee" rule.  Even though coffee is a raw, single ingredient, our research showed that coffee is generally bad for the environment because it has to be shipped halfway around the world to get to our local store.  Well, that's a noble goal in theory, but the reality is that I'm addicted to the large amounts of caffeine that I get in my coffee every morning, and drinking extra-strong tea just wasn't cutting it.  I was actually feeling depressed from coffee withdrawal.  So we started drinking coffee again yesterday.  But other than that, I've stuck to the rules.

In other news, I had a nice conversation with Uncle Daniel last night, who I haven't talked to in a while.  He's doing really well, has recently passed the two toughest parts of his CPA exam and only has two more sections to take.  The next test is in May- GOOD LUCK, UNCLE DANIEL!

Finally, for those that haven't heard, Gabe is having very severe growing pains.  His legs are actually outgrowing his Achilles tendons, causing sever pain in his heels. It's called Sever's Disease (could it be named after the character Mike Sever from Growing Pains?  Probably not). Some days he's unable to walk because it hurts so bad.  But the good news is that he went to the podiatrist on Monday who gave him arch supports and lifts for his shoes which make it a bit easier to bear (and make him taller), and he just called me a few hours ago after his first physical therapy appointment and he was really happy because the stretches they taught him really helped a lot.  He's been very brave through all of this and I'm very proud of him.

Also, Mother's Day is coming up in a few weeks.  For the Toes, if you have any ideas for great things we can do for Mommio, I'd certainly appreciate your input.  Don't post it in comments, though- come talk to me in person.

Connor: Blog Of The Day (Tuesday)

Five Things I Would Do If I Was President

1.Make laws against use of fossil fuel using vehicles

2.Have time machines built

3.Resurrect plant eating dinosaurs only

4.Zombie proof every building

5. Have military scientists invent vehicle to find  Atlantis 

Avery: Blog Of The Day

The Dream That A Guy Did Not Like

By Avery

One day a man woke up and ran to his kitchen.

     " Where is my robe?! I have to wear it now!", said the man

     " Daddy, it's in the fridge on the top shelf.", said his daughter.

     " Why is it there?!"

     " Because I put it there."

     " Look, Stacy, you're sixteen, so you should know were to put my robe!"

     " Fine."

     He got his robe out of the fridge and put it on. He started to shiver right when it was on him. He stuck his robe in the oven and waited fifteen minutes. Then he put it on and he was super warm.

     " Daddy, where is the cereal? I need to meet Grace at the mall in an hour, so I need to get ready now!!"

     " It's in the pantry on the third shelf."

     " Thanks."

     " Hey! I thought I told you to stop reading those gossip magazines.", said her dad as he took it away from her.

     " Give it back!"

     " No. I told you not to read these."

     " So."

     " Hey, be nice."

     He ran to his bedroom and got dressed. He put on a fancy blue t-shirt that shines, long silk pants, and rainbow socks. Then he ran to the living room and sat down in his chair and started reading Stacy's magazine. He saw plenty of models, ads and clothes in it. His favorite part was reading about how people are making macaroni and cheese with this shell stuff.

     " Daddy, I'm going to the mall now."

     " Okay. Don't forget to take your money with you."

     " Okay!"

     Why can't she be nice to me. I always take care of her and she always is mean and rude. He started reading again. Suddenly half of his face was gone, but the other half was stuck to the magazine. He started thinking about how it was weird and crazy.

     " Okay, I know what it means when people say that you are being sucked into something, but this is just crazy."
     He started thinking that it is so annoying that his head could only stay in one pose. He was kissing some girl with blond hair.

     " Dad, I'm home!"

     " Okay.", he said as she walked into the room.

     " Hey dad, can Grace and I have a... wow. What happened?"

     " Hi Grace. So um, well, I...look it's hard to explain."

     " Here I have some scissors, we can cut the magazine off your face."

     " No, no, nnnnooooooooooooooooooooo!"
     Suddenly he woke up and found out it was all a dream.

The end

Avery: Blog Of The Day (Monday)

Cooking Time

By Avery

One day a woman named Carter went to the store. She went to the candy aisle first so that she could make a sweet treat.

     " Okay, now that I got the jelly beans I can get the milk.", Carter said as she started walking to the milk.

     " I am so glad I get to be on a cooking show. I can actually meet the great gourmet chef, Carlos! He is so good at cooking. Maybe I could make my own cooking show some day. Wait a minute... I am on my own cooking show. But the bad thing is that I don't know how to make a super fancy gourmet meal."

     She ran to the check out counter and put her food on it. For some reason she saw pickles on the counter.

     " Sorry but I didn't get pickles today. Could you please take them off the counter?"

     " Sure. But I just want to know one more thing."

     " What is it?"

     " Are you very sure that you did not buy any pickles?"

     " Yes, I am very sure of it."

     " Good. That will be $25.62."

     " Here you go."

     " Thanks."

     " Your welcome."

     Carter drove home and put her stuff away. Her phone started ringing, the ring tone sounded like a monkey eating a banana. She looked at her phone and saw that she got a text message from Carlos the cook, it said "It's me Carlos. You need to get here fast, we're about to start the show." Carter ran to her car and slipped because it was super slippery. She looked down and saw a little puddle of water. Well... It was a big puddle not a little one. She got up and got in her car. Thirty minutes later she was at the studio.

     "Hi, Carter! How are you?!", said a voice.

     " Carlos?!"

     " Yeah?"

     " Oh my gosh, I am so excited!"

     " I  know you are."

     They ran into the studio and both tripped on a rope. They got up and looked around. They couldn't find out who did it, so they just started walking.

     " And... Action!!!!", yelled the director.

     " Hi, I'm Carlos the cook and today we are going to make one of my favorite gourmet meals, Russian Salad. Oh no... I almost forgot to tell you that today Carter Cook is making the Russian Salad with us!" he said as Carter walked onto the stage.

     "Hi Carlos, I am so happy to be on Cooking Time with you today."

     " Me too. I mean that I am happy you are here, okay."

     " Sure."

     " Okay, so today for our Russian Salad we are going to need mushrooms, lobster meat, turkey meat, broccoli, olives, pepper and lettuce."

     " I got the meats and the olives.", she said as she held up the turkey.

     " And I have the lettuce, broccoli, pepper and mushrooms."

     " So, Carlos, what tools do we need to make it?"

     " Well, a parrot, a spoon, pan, spatula, knife and gloves."

     " Why gloves?"

     " Because if we're handling meat we might want to put gloves on."

     " Oh... right."

     " First we need to put the meat in a pan. We need to chop the meat up into really small pieces okay?"

     " Got it."

     " While the meat is cooking we can chop up our veggies."

     " I have the knife."

     " Now I need you to chop up the lettuce, olives and mushrooms, I'll chop up the broccoli."

     " Why do I have to chop up most of it?"

     " Well the broccoli needs to be cut up in a very fancy way."

     " Okay."

     " Carter could you go chop up some of the meat with the spatula for me, please?"

     " Yeah sure."

     " Thank you."

     " You're welcome. Hey... can I put the pepper on the meat now?"

     " Yeah sure, please do."

     " The meat is cooked Carlos."
     " Then we should put the veggies in with the meat."

     " Got it."

     " Hey... Lulu!"

     " Who's Lulu?"

     " The parrot."

     " Oh."

     " Here she is."

     " Why do we need Lulu?"

     " Because today I was playing pirates with my kids and they told me to act like a pirate on my show."

     " Cool."

     " I know."

     " While the veggies are cooking I will get out a plate."

     " Good and I will get out some dressing."

     " Ouch!"

     " What happened?"

     " The knife cut me."

     " Here, This bandaid will help you."

     " Thanks."

     " Your welcome"

     " Oh... the food is ready."

     " Great!"

     " Just mix all the food up and ta da!"

     " You have a Russian Salad", Said Carter Cook as she held up the salad.

     " Just put the ranch on and you can eat it."

     " Thank you for having me here Carlos."

     " Your welcome."

     " Cut!"

     They walked off the stage and got out their spoons and started eating the salad. So I think you learned a few lessons in this story.

1- Russian Salad is a real meal and you should make it some day.

2- You should never cut yourself with a knife.

The End

Marney: Blog Of The Day

Kissing

By Marney

One day a guy was at a shop that was having a bunch of sales. He bought one of the books. Then on that day he got the news people and told them to take a picture. They did the picture, it was funny. He was kissing the book. Then he was in the news. He said that he did not want them to take a picture like that.

The End

Marney: Blog Of The Day (Monday)

The House

By Marney

One day there was a house that had an owner that had a dog and the dog had a pet parrot.  The parrot always has slippery feet so the house was always wet. The dog ran out of the house one day and got caught by the rope they had.  Then that day they had gourmet food. They said it was so good, the parrot and the dog did to. The owner needed a spoon so she got her good spoon and then they had a fun day.   It was fun to the dog and parrot.  

The End

Marney: Blog Of The Day (Tuesday)

1. I will have a pony that all people can buy.
2. I will tell the people that they got to have a monkey as pets.
3.I will tell the people that they are not going to go to the store.
4. I will let the people have a big, big, big, big house.
5. People get to see me all day.

Avery: Blog Of The Day (Tuesday)

1- buy a pony

2-  paint the white house orange (I would call it the orange house)

3- I would make everything free

4- I would let people have pet monkeys in America

5- I would get a monkey

Mason: Blog Of The Day (Monday)

The Parrot Who Went To A Restaurant

By Mason

One day a rich man bought a parrot and collected spoons and had rope.  No one knew why he had rope so he decided to throw the rope away.  He went to a restaurant with his parrot to have dinner. When he got in he slipped on the floor. The floor was slippery and he and his parrot had gourmet food.  The man had steak and the parrot had parrot food.  Thirty minutes later they went back home but they forgot to pay the bill.

The End

Mason: Blog Of The Day (Tuesday)

1. I would make taxes cost less money.
2. I would make windmills that are powered by wind.
3. I would make sure people use less car pollution.
4. I would make books cost less money.
5. I would help find oil in the future.

Daddio: 4/21/10 Blog of the Day

Write a story about the following picture:

Gabe:Blog Of The Day

1dig out a pond.

2let people have horses in their houses.

3 I would make a environmental roof. 

4 I would make a environmental car 

5 I would make a robot cooker.

Daddio: 4/20/10 Blog of the Day

Make a list of five things you would do if you were the president of the United States of America.

Daddio: 4/19/10 Blog of the Day

Write a story that includes all of the following words:

slippery
parrot
spoon
rope
gourmet

Connor : George and Rex's action mystery

Howdy people I am here to solve this mystery. Aw shut up mister Funny Fur.  Rex could you please hand me that baseball bat next to you? Yeah sure what ya need it for.  Oh I just want to knock you out.  In that case forget it.  Rex come back here.  No way captain Funny Fur. Okay his insults aside I fear we were trapped on a boat to be more precise.   A pirate ship George just come out and say it.  Anyway it belonged to Blackfur the pirate,  Blackbeard's dog  and he didn't like us on board.  Well we fought him or I fought him captain Funny Fur was cowering in the corner.  The fight did not go over so well for Rex.  Well we finally got back home and there were Gracie, Jack and Loki.  They told us that we had to figure out who had sent us back in time. Look unlike captain Funny Fur here I am tired of this. So Rex would you prefer me telling the story of the mystery in more detail.  Spare me please.  Okay so long story short:  Rex and I found out that we were sent to the past by Popo and Nana to keep me from harming the kids and Rex from insulting Lucy.  Oh by the way Lucy is is dumb.  Rex shut up.  

Connor: The New Zombie Dragon: Evil Rules

Hello people I am your new ruler.  I am now 4,003 years old and ready to kill all.  My rules include that all humans walk to school, work or where ever  their going.  No one carries weapons in my utopia.  You losers bow down and worship me.  This is the most wonderful thing that happened to me all year long.  My new military commander is a werewolf who doesn't seem to have a name.  I call this werewolf Mr. wolf.  I plan to kill you all on the winter solstice, the only day my goddess accepts offerings of wonderful tasty humans.  Luckily for me I never sleep so good luck trying to kill me before I kill you.  Man I hate sending these posts to the past.

Connor: Science

Today we started our first day of the science unit on not affecting our environment.  We had more trash than usual like 8 diapers, many bits of food  and food containers and paper.  Yeah so basically we did not reduce our trash today.  Today you kids made dish soap and laundry detergent.  Mason and I had not helped.  I really can't wait to start tomorrow's activity.

Mommio: Laundry Detergent

We are also learning to make our own powdered laundry detergent for our front-loading HE machine during our No Impact week. There are lots of variations on how to make this on the internet, we used the one on this blog.  We will use this all week and decide at the end of the week whether we will switch back to using pre-made detergent, or stick to this new (cheaper, safer)stuff.  The first load just came out of the washer and it was nice and clean!

Ingredients

 1 bar shaved soap (we used Ivory)

1/2 cup Borax

1/2 cup washing soda

 Directions

Shave the bar of soap, using a cheese grater, into a bowl.  Put it into a container with a lid.  Add other ingredients.  Shake it up.  Use 1 Tbs. per load.

Mommio: Dish Soap

As part of our No Impact week we are trying out making our own dish soap for the dishwasher.  The recipe we used was found on various websites and the one we ended up using was from here.  It is safer for the environment as well as much cheaper for us.  We will use it all week and decide what we think at the end of the week.  The kids had fun making this with Daddio and the first load is already going!

Ingredients

1 cup Borax

1 cup Washing Soda

 Directions

Mix the ingredients together in a container with a lid.  Shake well. Use 1-2 Tbs. per load.

Mommio: Our Week

All this week we are trying out the No Impact challenge to improve our environmental awareness in honor of Earth Day.  Some of it will be challenging for us (like switching coffee for tea for the week) and some of it will be fun (like the kids want to try washing their clothes in the bath with the grape-stomp method) and some of it will be helpful (like making less trash, watching less TV and using less electricity).  Today is Consumption Day, where we focus on not buying anything new (other than food) or unnecessary for the week.  Other than that craziness, here are our plans for the week:
M- Trash Day (try to make less trash for the week), Mason & Gabe archery class, school, Poe Unit Study, Weaver's Bottom or Inks Lake, Gabe podiatrist
T- Transportation Day (learn how to travel more efficiently), Nana Day, Connor leg doctor, Jack well-check
W- Food Day (try to eat more fresh foods), school, Poe Unit Study, Weaver's visit, house chores, Max-Kiki yoga class, RPG night
T- Energy Day (use less electricity), school, Poe Unit Study, Avery-Gabe-Marney yoga class, Connor-Mason Teen Library League
F- Water Day (use less water), school, Poe Unit Study, art and music with Weaver's, family movie night (or, skip all that and go watch high school kids launch rockets)
S- Giving Back Day (find ways to volunteer locally), Ava-Marney-Jack-Max 5K walk with Nana & Popo, family day (rocket watching or letterboxing), Connor & Daddio chemistry
S- Eco-Sabbath Day (we are supposed to take a break from all things electric on this day and just spend time together), yard chores, science with Daddio, guitar lessons with Daddio

Mason: Blog Of The Day (Friday)

What If Rats Ran The World?

1.Animals will be able to walk on two feet.

2.Animals would be able to talk to each other.

3.There will be no computers and they be able to drive cars and they will be on the moon.

4.They will be able to go to movies and the money is food.

5.They will be able to play video games.

Marney: Blog Of The Day (Friday)

What If Rats Ran The World?

By Marney

1. They will poop.

2. They will watch TV on a tiny TV.  

3. They will make a cake out of their poop.  

4. They will eat their poop.

5. They will poop on a clock and eat the clock.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

What If Rats Ran The World?

1. They would live underground.

2. There would be no pollution because there will be no people.

3. The rats would have a fat president.

4. The rats find the human's stuff.

5. They would hunt in mischiefs.

6. They would eat wild fruit.

7. They would have an underground fire.

8. They would have police and governors.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

What If Rats Ran The World?

1- It would be shedding season all year (Yes, rats do shed.)

2- Money would not exist.

3- It would smell bad.

4- Poop would be everywhere.

5- Toilets would not be real.

6- There would only be rat movies.

7- There would be a new language (Squeakns).

8- There will be no pets at all.

9- Bugs would be the new pets.

10- Math and school would not be real, ever!!!!!!!!!

Connor: Blog Of The Day

What If Rats Ran The World?
1. The world would most likely be run by a king.

2. Rats would collect taxes and other things from animals.

3. Technology would probably be advanced and also kind of rare.

4.These rats would probably also create syndicates or gangs whom would rob pretty much everything.

5.Cats might be killed on sight by anything.

6.Mice and rats would get married.

7.Dogs would be guards.

8. The song Three Blind Mice would be outlawed.

9.  Instead of using cents to buy things you would use mince.

10.  All houses would be so tiny only rats or mice could fit in them.

Connor: Blog Of The Day- Story Version

The Rat Government
By Connor

I am the great rat king.  In my kingdom we are known for raiding the other animals.  Our superior intellect helps us to swindle these animals out of their food.  One day my followers brought back a lion and we kept it hostage.  The lion is still in chains, but I have reason to fear that many of our kind may die.  In short my fellow rats we need a hero.  

That was the full speech I gave, imagine my surprise when one of my weaker guards chose to do it.  We sent Vlad in there a few days later and he walked out carrying the lion 's tail.  Soon Vlad was telling all these crazy stories and I decided to have someone check his "proof."  As it would turn out the lion was still alive, just missing a tail.  I talked with the lion about how he would earn his freedom.  In the morning Vlad's bones lay in the stadium where we had left the lion.  Suddenly a rat named James started telling the whole kingdom that I had killed Vlad.  Sure enough the lion got hungry again and ate the rest of my guards and my followers.  Now I am the great rat king of an empty kingdom.

The End

Daddio: 4/16/10 Blog of the Day

The world is now run by rats!  For today's blog of the day, I want you to imagine what the world would be like if it there were no humans and the world was ruled by super-intelligent rats.

Mommio: Adventures In Letterboxing, Part 3

Last Saturday, after watching the Robin Hood play at the Scottish Rite Childrens Theatre, we all walked over to check out the Capitol building and grounds and find a few new letterboxes.  We all really liked finding there.  Each of these letterboxes were really well placed, were nice hand-carved stamps and had a little bit of a history lesson to go with them.

After having a picnic lunch,

 we found our first letterbox at the Peace Officer's Memorial.

Here is the first stamp of the day, the Texas State Capitol.

Nearby, we found the next stamp of the day, the Goddess Of Liberty.  This is a carved image of the statue on top of the Texas Capitol building.

The third box of the day was found near the underground rotunda.  It was the Lone Star State box.

The last box of the day was found near the replica of the Statue of Liberty.  This box was special for us because it was the first one that we let Max find!  It was called License Plate Series: Texas.

Marney: Blog Of The Day

A Car

By Marney

One day there was a car and the car was new to the people that had it. The car never got one of the people that had it in it.  Then one day one of the people that had it got in it and was going to go to a park and then it was going and it got stuck. It got stuck on a wire. Then the car got down and the people were safe. The people lived good.

The End

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

Mrs. Car

By Gabe 

One day a girl named Mrs. Car was going to work.
  She was on a road.  She did not know that her car was in rivers. Then she backed up into a lake.  Then she backed up into a wire.  Then police came and took her home.
The End

Connor : Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

The Raven

  It was a mysterious night, during the war of 3010, just 2 days after my mocking bird Lenore died.  I was living on Mars at the time and had just come home from part of the battle.  There, floating just out of my reach above my bust of the Greek goddess Athena, was a wolf.  This was a habit which birds had so I named the wolf Raven.  Raven became my favorite of all the pets I had owned.  One day, upon closer inspection, I found something in his ear.  What I found was an earpiece. It was weird because wolves don't wear earpieces.  I backed  up and then Raven lunged at me. His claws at my throat, he says to me "Forget that bird or die."  I heard a voice speaking to Raven  the voice said "Kill him now."  Raven  did not kill me, but instead keeps his claws at my throat at all time.

Marney: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

One dark day I was in Max and Jack's room and it was so cool. But then I was finding Jack's toy. But then I said "I wish I went out of this room."  But then a cat came in and I said "A cat, a cat came into the house. My mom is going to be so mad." And then the cat said "If you were a cat what will you do?" And I said "What?" And the cat said "Here." and I was a cat.  The cat and me looked the same and I was red and the other cat was red and then the cat saw the toy and then I said "You see the toy." and the cat got the toy.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

One day Popo was leaving on a business trip for 3 days. Nana said "Bye- see you later ".  Cassandra took the dogs to groom them for 3 days.  So that night Nana's doors were all locked. Nana went to  go to get her keys but they weren't there.  She heard a creak, it was a rat opening the door. The rat said "Keys." and pionted over to the window. They were outside on the bench. Then Popo came home and he opened the doors. Nana went to say hey, then she went to get her keys but they weren't there. But then the rat came to her and showed her and then ran away. Then she figured out it was Bowser and she trapped him and got her keys back.

Daddio: 4/15/10 Blog of the Day

Write a story about the following picture:

Mason: Blog Of The Day

The Talking Frog

By Mason 

One day I was sitting on my bed reading a book when someone was knocking on my window. It was a frog. He jumped on the TV and said "Eat my shorts". He also said he knew where Lucy was. He said that Lucy was in the jungle eating Nana's shorts. I asked the frog how to get to the jungle. And he said that I have to get on a lily pad. I got on a lily pad and 50 minutes later I was in the jungle. I found Lucy and headed back home.

The End

Avery: Blog Of The Day

The New Raven

By Avery

One day I was sitting on the couch and I heard someone knocking on my window.

     "Who is it?"

     " Just me sir. Your servant."
     " Oh... just push the green button and you can come in."

     " Thank you."

     The servant was a robot with an apron on. It was made of pure gold and a little bit of brains. The brains are in him because he needs to know things. For some reason I looked out the window and it was snowing! I got on my mittens and coat on and ran outside. I made snow angels and threw snowballs at my servant. But then I saw all of the people playing with their girlfriends and it made me so sad and reminded me of Lenor, my dog. I lost her when I went to the park.

     " Lenor!!!!! Where are you?!", I yelled in a sad voice.

     I ran inside and started crying. I looked at my blue curtains and then crawled to them. I tore a piece of curtain and wiped my tears with it. I also blew my nose a lot. Again there was a knocking on my window.

     " Come in."

     " Hello? Is anyone out there?"

     I ran to the window in fear and saw that it was just a giant spider trying to get inside  my house.

     "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! A spider! Shoo, shoo, get away spider!!!!!!!!!!"

     I let it in through the window. It  came in and crawled up my leg. I tried to get it off, but it bit me! I got wire cutters and took the spider off with them. I ran to the window and dropped the spider into the snow. I shut the window and closed the curtains. Then, I fell asleep and started snoring, and I had a horrible dream that was so bad that no one else could dream about it. 

     " Henry!!??", I screamed to my servant.

     " Yes sir?"

     " I need you to start my bubble bath."

     " Okay."

     Henry left.

     " Oh... Lenor. I miss you so much.

     " Lenor.", said Henry in an annoying voice.
     " Why are you doing that?"
     " Oh... I just read this book call The Raven and in it a guy said Lenor and then the name echoed back to him, so I thought it would be funny if I did it."
     " Well your just making me even sadder. Is my bath ready?"
     " Yes, yes it is."
     " Thanks."
     I ran to the bathroom and got in the bath. It was so hot that I stood up and let it cool off. While I waited I got all of my rubber duckies and put them in the bath. I felt kind of stupid because I was running around the house naked looking for ducks. About half an hour later I went to the bath and sat down in it. Suddenly one of my ducks stood up and started kicking me in the face.
     " Ouch! that hurts. I thought you were fake."
     " Well I'm not. Now, I heard you miss your dog."
     " Yeah, but why do you care?"
     " Because, I know where she is."
     " You do?!"
     " Yeah. But if you want information you need to turn on the jets."
     " What do you mean?"
     " I'm trying to tell you to turn on your bath jets so that the bubbles will get bigger."
     " Okay.", I turned on the jets and the bubbles started to rise.
     " Good. Now what do you  want to know?"
     " I want to know where my dog, Lenor, is."
     " She is dead."
     " What????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
     " Yeah, she's dead."
     " How did she die?"
     " She was swimming and then she drowned."
     " She was swimming?!"
     " Yep, at Dripping Springs."
     " Okay."

     I got out of the bath and put on my robe. I got the talking duck and put it on top of my fireplace. So it sat there all day. And it is still sleeping and eating right above my fireplace.

The End