Mommio: Market Day!

Today at Joan's Academy the kids had a Market Day.  The idea was that the kids could sell things that they made themselves and they could also buy things from each other--everything was 50 cents to a couple of dollars.  Three of the toes participated- Connor sold crystal star ornaments, Avery sold braided bracelets and artwork, and Gabe sold slime and artwork.  They did great...Connor made $7.50, Ava made $6.00 and Gabe made a whopping $11.25.  Good work guys!

Connor: Aramill Liadon: The Impulsiveness Of An Elf

Last night when we played D&D my elf favored soul had proven just how impulsive an elf even one that worships Zeus can be.  Aramill started gambling and enjoyed it towards the end he bet all in and lost.  Aramill lasted a long while before betting all in, but sadly the rest of the group did not bet all in.  Aramill lost the competition and was almost escorted out.  Suddenly a woman and four thugs ran in  and attempted to rob the joint.  Aramill knowing that the thugs were there for the gold ran to the chest and inflicted light wounds on one thug and then attacked with his longsword.  At one point Aramill had actually used Inflict Light Wounds on a sorcerer who was right behind him.  In  short my character is more impulsive than most people I know.

Daddio: We're Playing D&D Again.

Before I started writing my book, the oldest four and I had been playing a roleplaying game called Hunter, where the kids played normal people who had to band together to fight supernatural monsters.  We finished that campaign after about six months (and Connor and Ava ended up having their characters killed-- very sad), and we haven't played anything for a couple of months while I worked on my book.

Last night we went back to playing Dungeons and Dragons.  The kids' characters didn't know each other until they all met at the Gold Goblin, a seedy casino.  They ended up stopping a group of thugs who were trying to rob the casino, but before they did, they wanted to gamble.  So we spent about two hours with the kids betting with poker chips at different games like blackjack, roulette and a dice game.  Everyone had a good time.

Gabe: my character

My character is a half-orc. 

 I got really good rolls on my character.  I have a giant sword...

 ...and really cool armor.


I also have a big wooden shield.

I also have skills like swimming. I have a plus nine on it.

Here is how I started the journey:

My dad was a  orc and my mom was a human and my dad was a pirate so he left and he died at sea. So his crew came back and got me as a slave. So one night I snuck out and swam to shore.  Then I wanted money so I am tring to work at the Gold Goblin.

Mommio: Five Days Of Fun- Thursday

Thursday was a very busy and very fun day around here!  You already heard about our big family outing to the movies to see Tangled, so here is a look at just a few of the other things we did on Thanksgiving day.  We harvested all our basil before the freeze so that we can make pesto this weekend.  Jack loved this job!

We listened to Daddio read his novel.  He is reading the kids the

final part of the book 

right now and it is pretty exciting!

We spent time preparing for the Thanksgiving feast.  Pigs in a blanket are always fun to make!

We had a grand feast for dinner.  No turkey, stuffing or veggies here!  The kids each got to pick their favorite finger food to serve at the feast and we piled it all on the table and ate way too much.

The we played some games together and watched a family movie.

Then we had a big family sleepover in the living room.  About half of us headed off to our own beds at some point in the night but it was a really great night!

Daddio: Boomerang Fun

Yesterday we went to the park for the afternoon to do geocaching and to run off some of our holiday energy.  Gabe asked that we try throwing the boomerangs that friends had given us.  The boomerangs were cool.  They weren't the toy nerf type that I had as a kid, but real wooden boomerangs that looked like they were made twenty years ago.

Last time Grandpa was here, he showed us how to throw a boomerang.  It's not like we thought-- you don't throw it like a frisbee.  You actually are supposed to throw it so it's almost straight up and down, but tilted sideways just a bit.  And when you throw it, you have to actually throw it slightly downwards, like you think it's going to go into the ground about fifty feet in front of you.  If you get it right, then right before it runs into the ground, the boomerang levels off, soars up and then circles back to you.  The trick is to accounting for the wind and finding the right direction to throw it so it doesn't just float off a hundred yards away from you.

Unbelievably, I actually managed two perfect throws.  We were so surprised that I actually threw it right, that I had to shove Gabe out of the way so it wouldn't hit him in the head on the way back.  I was going to try to catch the second one, but without any gloves or anything, I was worried I'd bruise the crap out of my hand trying.  That little piece of wood gets spinning really fast.

Mason: D&D Character

My D&D character is a dragon shaman. A dragon shaman is a person that worships a dragon. I have a moringstar for a weapon:

And at level four I can breathe fire:

I chose three different auras. One of them is that I can walk on fire and take no damage from fire weapons. Another one is that if someone attacks us they take two points of fire damage. And the last one is that everyone gets one extra attack point.

Connor: Aramill Liadon: An Inquiry of Assistance

It was an average day when I the elf cleric Aramil Liadon had been chosen as Favored Soul of Zeus.  The High Priest told me I must investigate a gambling competition called Cheat Hades of His Gold.  I have to find out if this pays tribute to Hades or not.  No one avoids Zeus's divine judgment and thus I shalt discover the truth.  Should I meet allies along the way you are free to join my quest.  Although if you happen to be Hades himself prepare to face defeat.  Hades has scourged this land for far too long and now Zeus, my divine master, wishes to halt anything that holds his name.  Be forewarned my mission is not for the faint of heart.  Anyone who fears seeing the god of the dead fighting divine justice I bid thee turn back.  With my skills I will happily split any treasures that belong to Hades with all who help granted that if anything of pure evil is taken by those with me the item is destroyed.  Your either with me or against me.  I am confident that other Favored Souls of multiple gods will assist me, with the exception of those with the evil alignment.  Let it be heard that the favored soul of Zeus is looking for help.  I will gladly accept help from any who will grant it.  With that Praise Zeus and his family.  May Zeus bless you.  Thank you for reading this post kind sir or madam I will be waiting in a tavern for any who might help.  I am dressed in a tunic with the emblem of Zeus on it.

Daddio: Happy Thanksgiving!

It's almost 1 am on the night of Thanksgiving.  We're in the middle of a family sleepover, but only Connor, Mason, Gabe and I are awake.  We had a truly great day today.  We went to the theaters and saw Tangled in 3D.  It was a cute, funny and really entertaining Disney movie that reminded me of their recent "classics" like Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.  More exciting was that we all went to the theater.  It was Jack's first movie ever, and he loved it.  All the kids were so well-behaved and hypnotized by the movie.  It was great fun.

We did a bunch of other stuff-- we had our feast of finger foods; watched family movie (Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe); played games (Pictionary, Bingo and Uno Attack); and played the Wii.  Now we're seeing how late we can stay up.  While the boys are playing computer and video games, I'm doing some final edits to my book.

It was a great Thanksgiving.  Of course I'm thankful for all the Toes, but I'm most thankful for Mommio for turning our disappointment on having camping get rained out into the best Thanksgiving ever.  We love you, Mommio.

Nana' s Thoughts

Happy Thanksgiving my little Toes.....reading all the things you are doing  sounds like you are having fun.  The weather looks bad for camping outside today and your list of things to do looks awesome.  Love the garden pictures...and the crops are yummy.  Thanks.  Max, your wall is beautiful...you are a great builder.  Gabe...I think you know how I feel about that blue slime....it is a sight to behold.  Keep blogging and writing your novels....I love reading your stories. 

Mommio: Five Days Of Fun- Wednesday

Well, our camping plans were quickly canceled when Avery started throwing up Tuesday night AND the weather predicted a hard freeze for Thursday night...but never fear- we quickly put our heads together and came up with an awesome list of things we all want to do for our five days together.  Everyone added a few things to the list and then we wrote them on the whiteboard and decided when we would do each one.  Here's what the list looked like Wednesday, the circled things are the ones we were doing that day.

And we did it all!  Here we are building a giant fort (that's what Jack put on the list). And then we all got inside and played together.  Max and Jack were so happy!

Daddio and Avery made peanut butter pies for our dessert at our Thursday night "feast".  Don't worry- Avery was feeling better by this point in the day.

And here are the kids playing MarioKart together.

Mommio: Wednesday Word Count

Max- 246 (goal 100)

Kiki- 1,881 (goal 1,000)

Marney- 2,728 (goal 5,000)

Gabe- 2,868 (goal 5,000)

Avery- 8,531 (goal 10,000)

Mason- 2,900 (goal 5,000)

Connor- 9,006 (goal 10,000)

The kids were moving right along with their incredible novels when BAM...sickness invaded our house and we stopped writing for a few days.  But, I think they have done so great all month that we are going to go ahead and add another 5 days onto the deadline so that everyone has an opportunity to achieve their goals and finish their novels.  So...the new deadline is Sunday December 5th.  Eleven days to go, good luck guys!

Max: My Wall

People run over the wall.  Then they step over it if I make it taller.  Then they make a chair to step over it when I make it even more big.

Mommio: How The Garden Grows

Our fall garden has been doing so well this year!  Here's what it looked like this morning...

 And here are a few new things we saw in the garden yesterday.  

We picked four nice zucchini and ate them with dinner.

 We had a sunflower blooming.

 There is a new crop of snow peas to harvest.

 A new cucumber is growing.

 And the broccoli is just beginning to form.

 It's supposed to freeze here in the next few days so we are hoping that the garden hangs in 

through the freeze and lasts a bit longer!

Mommio: NaNoWriMo Sneak Peek- Connor

In his home he saw Jessica had disappeared from every picture of them.  After closer examination Fredrick notices burn marks on one half of each photo.  Just as Fredrick finished looking over the pictures he heard the door swing open.  Hearing George’s voice Fredrick decided to ask him about that shadow.  After an hour of talking of this shadow they talk about the burn marks on the photos.  Suddenly Fredrick hears a voice.  Noting the voice is in his head Fredrick stops talking to George.  The voice belongs to a girl, no not just any girl, Jessica.  Jessica starts telling Fredrick that a dragon kidnapped her.  To this Fredrick thinks Yeah right, Drama Queen and I’m the king of America.  Fredrick then hears Jessica say Listen King Idiot, you found burn marks on those photos and in the photo you took that shadow was next to me.  Insulted by the fact that Jessica had just called him an idiot Fredrick just listened for half the lecture and then said Look can we just cut to the chase? Where are you?  Are you okay and please tell me what I have to do.  Jessica just replied with I don’t know, but this dragon seems to be a creature of extreme power.

Gabe: Slime

Today I made slime for Market Day. I am selling the slime for 50 cents. Here are the pictures. This is the recipe:

1. Dissolve 1 tsp of borax in a cup of water.

2. Mix 4oz of glue with 1/2 a cup of water.  Add food coloring. 

3.  Mix solutions together.

4.  Mix by hand out of the bowl.

 

Mommio: NaNoWriMo Sneak Peek- Mason

Jake said “Where is my family? Tell me now!”
Jack said “NEVER!!!”
Jake said “If you don’t tell me I will shrink you.”
Jack said, “Okay, I’ll talk.  Your family is in my underwater active volcano and you will never get them.”
Jake said “ Wanna bet? If I win, tacos for life. “
Jack said “ If I win, gummy bears for life.”
Jake said, “Fine, but only the red ones.”
Jack said “Fine, it’s a bet”

Mommio: Grocery Helpers

Weekly grocery shopping for ten people has never been something I look forward to...but today we tried something new and it was great!  I gave Avery and Marney about a third of the shopping list (I made sure they were all things the girls knew where to find and what kind to get), they got their own cart and were on their own.  Meanwhile, I did the other 2/3 of the list and we all met up.  An hour later we were out of the store- and that was even with the super crowded store full of Thanksgiving shoppers!  The girls did such an awesome job that we have decided that we'll fine tune this system of splitting the list and keep doing it every week.  They are even going to teach the rest of the kids how to do it.  Grocery shopping will never be the same again! 

Mommio: Our Week

Last week was certainly an interesting week here with one person after another getting sick with this 24-hour stomach bug.  Unfortunately we had to cancel a lot of our plans. We did manage to get some school done though and Daddio finished his book!  So, this week we have big plans for our traditional three days of Thanksgiving camping at Inks Lake...I don't know if we will all end up being able to go because half of us still haven't gotten the bug yet.  But at least some of us will be having fun doing all this:
M- no Joan's Academy, Megamind movie, camping packing
T- camping shopping and packing, Connor-Mason-Ava Harry Potter movie with friends
W- camping at Inks Lake
T- camping at Inks Lake
F- camping at Inks Lake
S- Christmas Decorating
S- Christmas Decorating

Mommio: NaNoWriMo Sneak Peek- Ava

I walked into the heavy, cold rain and to my small fort. It was an oak tree with a stripy mail box glued to it. I painted the trunk black and some of the branches blue. I climbed up the tree and looked in the mail box. I was hoping to see a Green Day poster, but instead I found a letter. On the front it said “From: Wendy To: Lindsay”
    “ Who the heck is Wendy? How does she know my name?”, I said to myself.
    I opened the fancy letter and I was  not surprised to see fancy hand writing.

Hello Lindsay,

I am an elf like you. I bet you wonder how I know your name and a lot about you. Well... I have been sending my slaves to spy on you and they tell me everything they hear you say and everything they see you do. Now to real news. You have to fight my monsters. They will kill you quick and easy. When you die everyone in  the world will be my slave and I will be the queen.

Wendy

Daddio: The Book is Complete

I have finished the writing and major revisions to my book!  I've been sick and throwing up the last two days, so I had time yesterday to finish rewriting the changing the sections that needed to be changed.  So then we printed up the entire book so that I can proof read it and make sure the different parts are consistent with each other.  It was 402 pages single spaced.  It was so heavy that Ava could barely balance it on her head and Gabe couldn't carry it on his back without assistance:

Mommio: NaNoWriMo Sneak Peek- Gabe

John got out to fill the gas tank and the gas pump was not working. So they went in to tell the guy that the pump was not working.  So he went in and the guy was held hostage and there were goblins and  two jumped out at them. John turned into a werewolf and bit the goblin. Johnny pulled out a really big shotgun and had to load it then, just in time he shot the gun before the goblin slashed him with a machete.   John and Johnny just figured out that there were about 50 more goblins so Johnny pulled out a poison dart gun and started shooting everywhere.

Mommio: You Know Things Are Bad...

...when you find out one of the kids is keeping a tally of how many times each person in the house has thrown up!  Gabe is keeping track in his notebook...according to him Avery will be the next one to get sick. That's Avery, Marney, Daddio and Kennedy currently on the chart- he can't remember how many times he was sick four days ago.

Marney: Welcome Back

I am going to post on my blog now and Kiki might not because she is sick.  She does not want to blog today.  So please come to my blog if you can and I am going to post a bunch. Check it out. Thank you for reading it.

Mommio: NaNowriMo Sneak Peek- Marney

“Hey, that is not nice” said Miley.  “It is nice to me.” said Jimmy. “Go home now.”said Miley to Jimmy.  “Fine, but I think you guys are wimpy and I am the strongest. “ said Jimmy. They thought he was joking because he had a smile on his face but then he came back and he was blowing fire balls from his mouth.  They were surprised because he just blew one fire ball out and it was scary.  They didn’t know that he could do that so they tried to defeat him but they didn’t know how to defeat him.

Mommio: Blog Update

So, we are playing around with some of the blog templates to update our blog a bit- Gabe really likes this one, but Avery likes that old one better.  What do you guys think?

And check out the new July and August slideshows on the left...it was a fun summer and I'm working my way through the pictures!

Gabe: Watch My Video!

Go to my blog and watch my video tour of the fall garden.  Read the other stuff I have there too.

Mommio: Poor Kiki!

Poor Kiki!

Poor little Kiki,

Throwing up every hour.

Get well soon baby.

Connor: Blog Of The Day

I am going to sue Rex for frightening my clients, Bowser and his friend Pedro.  Bowser, who happens to be a rat is afraid of dogs as is Pedro so it would make since that this turtle and rat would cower in fear every time Rex, who is in fact a dog passes by.  Rex has recently sniffed the cage and the box on top of it too much.  My clients fear that he may try to eat them.  I will try to get the judge and jury to decide on Rex having to stay away from the cage and the box.  My clients are nice and would try to befriend Rex if he were a less frightening animal like a rabbit or frog.  I heard from a reliable source that the defense lawyer is none other than Kennedy A. Jones and note that she has skills with trials.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury thank you for coming.  My clients Bowser and Pedro are suing Rex in order to keep him from frightening them.  Rex being the hyper dog that he is runs in front of the cage and box in which Bowser and Pedro live respectively.  Bowser fears that at any moment his best friend could be eaten.  Pedro fears the exact same thing.  Rex is always sniffing the rat cage and turtle box which makes my clients a bit uneasy.   With all due respect to the defendant I say that we must stop Rex from going so close to the cage and box.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

My client Kyle Jones is suing Phoenix Wright for being a dumb lawyer.  The damages that I am asking for from the jury are to  make him quit being in the video games.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury Kyle Jones was in a trial as the client with Phoenix Wright and Phoenix Wright was saying all the wrong things so they lost the trial.  Phoenix Wright is a really dumb lawyer and for that I think the jury needs to make him quit being in his video games. Thank you for listening.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

I am suing Miley Cyrus because in the middle of her concert my client ,Pedro, and his friends yelled boo at her and she got raged. The result of Miley's rage leaded to her throwing a microphone at my client. Now my client needs head surgery. I would like Miley Cyrus to pay for her surgery and pay my client an extra 100 dollars. I would like an extra amount because she caused my client bad pain and he is going to have head aches for a really long time.


Ladies and gentlemen of the jury...Miley Cyrus threw a hard, metal microphone at my client, Pedro. The results of the microphone hitting his head means that he is going to need serious head surgery that might make him stay in the hospital for two weeks. They said that the surgery is going to cost 2,112 dollars. And I would like for Miley Cyrus to pay for that. I also would like her to pay Pedro an extra 100 dollars because she caused pain to his head. He even passed out for an hour. Thank you ladies and gentlemen of the jury for listening to my clients horrible problem.

Marney: Blog Of The Day

I am going to sue Ava because she took my client's flowers. I am going to want Ava to pay my client $900  because she took the flowers. My client paid $300 for the flowers and Ava should pay extra money because she hurt my client's feelings.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury my client bought flowers and Ava took them.  Ava has to pay back for them.  The flowers cost $300 but Ava needs to pay more because she hurt my client's feelings.  I am asking for Ava to give $900 to my client.

Mason: Blog Of The Day

I am suing Best Bay for my client Connor because they gave him a broken TV and did not replace it or give him his money back. The damages that I am seeking is that they give him money that is the cost of  the TV.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury my client, Connor Jones, has bought a TV from Best Buy and it cost over a thousand dollars.  When it got to his house it looked like it was broken and it didn't work.  Connor called them and tried to get them to replace the TV but they didn't want to and they didn't give them his money back.  He wrote letters to them complaining about the TV but they still didn't do anything.  I think that the jury should make Best Buy give my client the same amount of money that he paid for the TV.  Thanks you ladies and gentlemen of the jury for listening to my client's problem.

Mommio: NaNoWriMo Sneak Peek- Kiki

"The evil bug girl Kelly was on a vine next to Zoey’s house and she heard the plan.  Kelly is going to explode their ship before they can reach Jupiter.  She will plant a bomb in their ship while they are sleeping.  But for now the purple haired, big winged, three toed Kelly will have to wait for Sally and Zoey to build their space ship."

Daddio: 11/18/10 Blog of the Day

For today's blog of the day, I want you to pretend to be a lawyer!  Pick someone or some company and sue them over something.  First, pick any person or business or company that you feel has somehow done you wrong somehow-- if you can't think of a real example, then make something up.  Then, for the first paragraph of your post, write the name of the person or business you're going to sue, the reason you are going to sue them (what they did wrong to you) and what damages you're seeking in your lawsuit (are you seeking money or to have the other person ordered to do something?).

In the second paragraph of your post, I want you to make your opening argument to the jury (the men and women that will decide if you are going to win your case).  You can tell them whatever you want, but it should try to persuade them that you are right and they should give you what you want.  It should start, "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury..."

Avery: My Lap Book

About two hours ago I made most of my lap book. It is all about those Desert Bighorn Sheep! I spent and hour on making it! It is almost finished... I am just going to add some good facts on the left side. Oh... look at the baby Bighorns! They are just sooooooo cute! Look at the pics mom took for me:

SWEET!!!!!!!