What does this mean?

    I found this on the door to the bonus room.

           The Beast doesn't know when or why he wrote it.

                                  

   It says...

           No tails. The rales. No throwing high. No fighting. No smoking. No denting walls.


      He just informed me that "rales" was supposed to be "rules".

  I'm on vacaton right now. Be patient while I'm gone.

    I will not be able to post a tutorial for the Astrid Headband. Sorry, everone. Two hair tutorials are coming soon!

Planking

   A few days ago, our mom told us about planking. The kids got all excited, and they were going around the house doing it in different places.  Here are the pictures I took.

  

          
                               A few of Thumbelina's attempts.

       

       Poor Sleeping Beauty was holding our dog's leash so she only got to do one.

  


                The Beast and Frog Prince. 

                                                    

                                                           

             The Good King and I agree that this one is the best.

                                                               
                              
                                                  Which one is your favorite?
     
                                                    
                               

       I just came home from a Schoenstatt retreat. I won't be able to post for a couple of days, because we are having Thanksgiving at our house, and we need to get ready.

                  Meanwhile...

        Please be patient and continue to vote on my poll on the top of my left sidebar.

Red Riding Hood's Appendix

    
               Red Riding Hood was feeling really sick for the last few days, so my Mom brought her to the hospital to get her appendix taken out. 

     My brothers are sleeping over at a friend's house and my the Fair Queen is at the hospital, so right now the only people at home with me are the Good King, Sleeping Beauty, Thumbelina, and Princess Sugarsnap.


    Next up: Astrid Headband (hopefully, we may have a few other articles before it, though.)

Rodent Trap

       
         This is kind of random, but...

         Here is a rodent trap that my brother made. The squirrels around our
house are getting very fat right now.


       Hope you enjoy!




    Next up: Astrid Headband

My Memoir

              For composition in school, I had to write a memoir. I was thinking of trying to get it published, but I don't think it is good enough to have much of a chance, and since I am very busy, I didn't want to waste my time. Instead, I am going to post it on here. That doesn't mean that publishing is out of the question. 

             Another reason I am putting it up here, is because the Good King wanted to see some of my work, and after some resistence, I let him read it. I didn't want to stay in that uncomfortable place by him while he read it, so I went up stairs. When I came down, he had edited my final draft! I really don't see why he has to correct our finished works, since they have already been handed in to the teacher. But since he did edit it, of course I wanted to make the corrections and do something withn it--- hence blog publishing! My grandma and uncle from Minnesota are visting and my grandma also read the finished copy. Well, I guess that's enough talk. Here it is. 
      
                                                                          

        When I Moved Up to Age Group Platinum 

           

            There were three levels for the group of 9-12 year olds on SWAT, the swim team I used to be on.  In order from the slowest to the best swimmers, the levels were Age Group Silver, Age Group Gold, and Age Group Platinum. It was when I had already been in Age Group Gold for nine months that I was getting anxious to move to the next group. 

                I started to get upset about it on a Monday in June, the day after the last meet with my old coach, Coach Tony. As usual, my parents dropped me off early so I could watch Age Group Platinum practice. While I watched them from the balcony by the locker rooms, the sweet, homey scent of chlorinated water drifted up to my nostrils, and I looked with longing at the speedy swimmers slicing the water below me. Then my thoughts turned to dismay, for amid the torrent of splashing feet swam James, the only swimmer in Gold who could sometimes go faster than me, even though he was only nine. Now James and Ally, two of my best swimming friends, and Coach Tony, my favorite coach, had all left me behind. Age Group Gold just wasn't going to be the same without them there anymore.

            After Platinum was done, our practice started. It was extremely easy for me. 

            I needed a challenge so I asked the swimmer next to me, "Can you race me?"

            "Why?"

            "Well, usually James and Ally race me, but they're gone now."

            "I guess," he said.

            I raced him and beat him.   

            I asked another of the faster Gold swimmers, "Can you race me?"

            "Sure!" she said.

            I raced her and beat her.

            The new Gold coach said to me, "Jacinta, make sure you are swimming moderately, not hard." 

            "I am," I replied, because I was.

            That night, in the van when we came home, I was having a conversation with my mom about it and broke down crying.

            "I thought you said that if I get a state cut, I will move up to Platinum," I said between sobs.

            "You don't have to have one, but you at least have to be close."

            "Well, two of the girls in my group have a couple state cuts each, and they're not in Platinum. So how will I ever be if I don't even have one?" 

            She answered, "We just have to trust God about these things." 

            I picked up my swim bag and gear bag, and we headed out of the van, through the dark night, and into the house, where I could blow my nose.

            The next day after school, I was in the middle of watching All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series, one of our family's favorite shows at the time, when my mom rushed down the stairs with a message for me.

            "I have something to show you."

            "What?" I asked.

            I was a little afraid that I might be in trouble and quickly scanned my mind for anything I had done wrong. I followed her up the stairs and to the answering machine with a pounding heart. She pressed play for a message. Many ideas flashed through my mind as I heard an unfamiliar voice talking--- about me?

            "This is Mark Shrank." Mark Shrank? The Age Group Platinum coach? Then his voice changed and he resumed his regular sound which reminded me of a bunch of mini robots playing leapfrog. But what was he saying?

            "I saw Jacinta swimming at the meet on Sunday..."

            More words.

            "...she could start practicing with Age Group Platinum..."

            Wait! Was I just going to practice with them to see how well I could do, or was I being bestowed the great honor of joining the highest level of Wisconsin's second fastest swim team? I strained to pay attention and towards the end of the message, I had concluded that I was being bestowed the honor. I looked at my mom, and we exchanged an excited smile. Then I rushed down the stairs to announce the news to my siblings and finish watching the episode. My heart was still pounding. 

            On Wednesday, the day after the message, I headed to Platinum practice with my swimsuit; cap; goggles; gear bag; and a yellow bottle full of water, lemon juice, and cucumbers. Brand new and inexperienced, I slipped into the cool water for a monotonous set of 50 100 yard swims. Now those times are long gone, and I don't even swim anymore, but whenever I think of that day, it fills me with pride to know that I was once a Platinum swimmer.

           

                            The end. I always want my writing to improve; please feel free to criticize my work.

Movie Review: Dolphin Tale

     The first scene was about swimmers. Definately my kind of movie.   

                   This is Cozi Zuehldorff. She played the part of Hazel, and acted VERY well. Especially for this being her first movie. She is my favorite actress now. A while back I read about her in an American Girl magazine, but it didn't tellthe name of the movie she was in. I didn't recognize it was the same movie until after a while when I saw her make an expression which made me remember her.

       The main character also did a very good job of acting, but there were a few iffy spots, so I think Cozi did better.

Here is the grading (I did it like school assignments).


   Plot: B+
 
  Acting: A

Characters: B-

 Heartfeltness: A+

Names: A (names I liked: Hazel, Sawyer, Lorraine. Names I didn't like: Kyle, Clay.)

Usage of Things I Like: A+++!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Swimming, dolphins, homeschoolers, grammar, etc.)

Goodness: B

Lack of Violence: A-  

Humor: A (slight, sweet, and tickly)


     Is there anything else I missed? Tell me if I forgot anything. 


       The main character was a boy named Sawyer who is extremely shy.  He is really bad at school, but likes to make and repair lots of toy airplanes and helicopters. He gets really worried because his cousin Kyle who he looks up to (the one who is a swimmer going to try out for the Olympics) leaves to go to the war. Sawyer finds a dolphin washed up on the shore. Her circulation was cut of from her tail for so long that she got a really bad infection and Hazel's family had to cut it off.  Sawyers mom has never seen him so excited about something for a long time, so she lets him help take care of  winter (the dolphin) instead of doing summer school. Winter learns to swim without a tail, and it is causing her spinal problems. They try to make prosthetics, but she doesn't like them and breaks them all. Meanwhile, people are running out of money, and Winter might have to be put down. Oh, by the way, it is based on a true story.  

      Dolphin Tale  was alot like two of my other favorite movies, Soul Surfer and How to Train Your Dragon, and now it can take its rightful place beside them in either second or third place.                           

Birthday Pictures

   Here are the pictures I took at my birthday. Our dinner:

                                                 A potato cup. 

                                                  Ribs with...

                                                    lime and salt.  
                                        

                                                      After lime and salt were added.      
                                         

                                                           Tomatoes.  

                                                                  Asparagus.    

                                                   
                                                             For desert we had.

                                                    Two apple pies made by my grandpa. 

                                                         And one by my mom.     

Presents                  
                       
      

    
            

                                                       Curling irons. 

                                                                Heat protectant hairspray.  

                                                      A clay rosary that my aunt made.

                                   See those two red balls peeking out? Those are earrings Sleeping Beauty made for me.  

                                            Hairclips (have you gotten the point that I'm obsessed with hair?) I did the left hairstyle to myself as soon as I got them.   

                

                                                                
                                                         Another hairclip. 

      

                                                      A video camera! 

                              Back to food, these are the candles spread out on three different pies.
Can you see how old I am?
                                          
                                                      
                                                                 
                                                                
                                                             
                                                    
                                                             
                                                               
                                                  
                                                        
                                                         
              
      

My Birthday

        Last Friday was my birthday. We have a friend who shares the same birthday with me, and she invited us to a sleepover. First we watched the movie Dolphin Tale, it is definately on my top three favorite movies list, but I'll do a review later. After the movie, we came back to their house and ate dinner. Then we made up crazy, random songs and watched another movie. The next morning, we woke up really early for our mom to take us straight to St. John Bosco Youth Day. We stayed almost the whole day, but had to leave early because my grandma and grandpa were coming to dinner to celebrate my birthday. I took lots of pictures, which will be coming later.

Table Topics

     Today for Toastmasters Youth Leadership Program, Red Riding Hood had to give a speech. I gave one last week, and today I was Table Topics Master. The job of Table Topics Master is to give each table topics speaker a topic, which they have to speak about for 1-2 minutes.  They don't know what the the topics are going to be, so it helps improvisation skills. Here are the topics I gave them. They were all on the theme of fantasy creature how-tos. (not in order). Not all of these were used; one girl was sick.

        -How to prepare and cook dragon meat.
        -How to catch a leprechaun. 
        -How to ride Pegasus.
        -How to catch a criminal shapeshifter.
        -How to hunt a unicorn.
        -How to housetrain a pet phoenix.
        -How to do a giant's hair.
        -How to find a fairy.

     Over all, it went pretty well for Red Riding Hood and me. Bad things that happened- I accidentally skipped someone and didn't realize until it was over, and we were driving home. Judging from the reactions and speeches of the Table Topics speakers, I think these topics were a little too difficult. What do you think? (keep in mind that they have no time to gather their thoughts before hand, they literally have to think and spaek at the same time).

      The conditioner is found!


          Three days till my birthday!!!

Lost Conditioner

        I haven't been brushing my hair a lot lately. I've been combing it. Combing is a lot better for your hair and brushing creates a lot of static that makes hair FRIZZY. So, for the most part, my hair is getting healthier, especially because I don't do swimming any more. That was until last night. Last night I was going to take a shower, and I couldn't find the conditioner. I tried to use leave in conditioner, and it helped, but it still is leave in conditioner, it isn't supposed to be used as a replacement for regular condititoner. My hair was a nightmare to comb through. I had tons of breakage. I really need conditioner before I take my next shower!

          I sprained my ankle yesterday. Two people I know had sprained ankles last week. One of them I was just talking to at mass. Really soon after I came home, I sprained mine. It's contagious! 

        Four days until my birthday! I can't wait!

Finally

    Finally, I am posting again! School is doing great! I love it! Our homeschool co-op started a week ago and it is really fun. Even the jobs are fun (they're actually the best part). I don't get any school done on Mondays, but that's fine.  

     Remeber at the beginning of my blog I wrote down some of my favorite things? Well, then I didn't really have a favorite movie, but since then I have watched two movies which have come in first and second. The first one is Soul Surfer, and the second one is How to Train Your Dragon. 

     Our computer is broken right now so I am at a standstill with pictures. I recently started writing my book on the computer so I can't work on that either. It can't be fixed too soon.

Cats

       About a month ago we went to our neighbor's farm. They had lots of kittens, and we took one home with us. Red Riding Hood named it Ebony (it was black.) I personally love this name and name lots of things similarly, but with this cat it just didn't seem satisfying. Ebony ran intothe barn and hid in a cold, dark corner. The Fair Queen left it, so that it would come out, but it didn't, and it was shivering.

      Red Riding Hood wrapped it in a blanket, and we all sat around in the sunshine. Apparently the others also were not satisfied, because we began suggesting names for the cat. Nobody would agree on one. I hadn't made any suggestions yet, but I finally said,"We should name it North!" Everybody agreed instantly, except for Thumbelina who insisted on calling it "Roseshine." The name fit perfectly. This cat could not be named anything else. It was North. You could call it anything else you want, but that wouldn't change its name, because it was North. Its middle name was Star, North Star in the full, but that doesn't really matter because we wouldn't call it North Star. It was North.

      We only had it for two hours. After that our parents didn't want to keep it and we had to give it back. At the farm, it wouldn't be called North. It would disappear back into its family of nameless creatures. No other cat we would get could be named North, because North was the only North. That name would also disappear. It would go to that empty black hole, somewhere in Forgotten Land and whirl forever in loneliness amid all the other lost names that have ever been wasted since the beginning of time.  

       Now, a new cat has entered our lives. It came to our house one night, and we fed it, so it kept coming back. Now we let it come into our basement. We are trying to find its owner.

      I've been writing this post over the coarse of a few weeks. Frog Prince and I were stacking straw last Friday. The lady who  dropped us off at our house was the owner of the cat, but she didn't want it anymore. We still couldn't keep it though because the Fair Queen is allergic to cats, so we sent an email to the homeschoolers, and one family came to take it.

The Forgotten Poem

      Last night in my dream, there was a poem that I really liked. In my dream I was not the one who wrote it, it was in a book I was reading. When I woke up, I realized that I was the one who created it since it was in my dream. I am certain that I have never read a poem like that before. It also had to do with the dream I was dreaming, so I know it is mine, but as soon as I woke up it began fading quickly. Since it was the middle of the night, I couldn't write it down, and now I only remeber some parts about it. I remember one of the lines (almost all of the exact words), I remember what it was about, I remeber that it was not a rhyming poem, and I remember the title. It was called "The Secret", but it didn't have really have to do with a secret. The person in the pom was calling herself a secret. I thimk it is pretty funny that I had it in my dream, already with good line breaks and rhythm without having to think about it. I just read it, like someone else had already written it. When I am awake and thinking about it, i cannot write poems nearly as well. 

     My mom took some pictures of me recently. Here they are:

Sleeping Beauty

  My old camera broke, which is why I haven't had a lot of pictures on my blog, but now I got a new one. It is very good. Here are some pictures of Sleeping Beauty I took with my new camera.

           This morning I got to see the mist in the willows for the first time. Mist has been one of my favorite words for many years now. It is so much better than fog, fog, FOG. Which reminds me, I'm collecting words now to use in poems (which won't be very often.) Well, back to the subject, the white sun was well over the horizon and made the mists glow. I love it when the sun makes the mist glow orange, but not in this situation. That would just ruin the cool-toned scene. Mists and willows fit so well together. I was going to walk through the mist and the willows, but then my dad called me. Today was The Beast's birthday. My grandparents came over to celebrate it. I wrote another page of my book. That is all I have to say today.

A Lovely Idea Goes Away

          A few nights ago I read the story "East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon' to Sleeping Beauty. This has always  been my favorite fairytale, and when I found it in a collection of stories I had gotten from the library, I was overjoyed. I read it to her as soon as I could. This is how the story goes.

      One stormy night a white bear knocked on the door of a poor man's house. The bear promised the poor man riches if he would give him his youngest and most lovely daughter. Of course the man said no, but the bear said he would be back next thursday. The girl heard and went with the bear. He brought her to a large castle inside a hill where she had only to ring a bell and she would get whatever she wanted. Even though she had all these luxuries, the girl was troubled because every night a stranger would come into the room after the lights were out. It was always gone before dawn. The bear told her to trust and not be curious, but one night she took a candle and looked at the stranger. He was a prince. Wax from her candle fell on him, and he awoke. The prince was under a spell so that he was a white bear during the day. Since she looked, the spell was not broken, and he had to go marry one of the witches in the castle east o' the sun and west o' the moon. After the prince and the castle had disappeared, she asked the every wind if he could take her to the castle. Only the north wind had blown there before. When she got to the castle, (by means of the north wind) the girl discovered that the prince was to marry she who could wash three spots of wax from his shirt. No matter how hard the hags tried, the shirt only got dirtier when they washed it. The girl tried washing it last, and it became pure white. The sun came out and turned the rest of the lot to stone, the girl and the prince were married, and they lived happliy ever after. 

       Well, I decided that it would be a good idea to write a book of this story in my own retelling. That was before yesterday. Yesterday our friends came over and started telling us about a book in which there was a prince under a spell so thet he was a polar bear. Then they went on to tell me that the bear brought the girl to a castle under a mountain. Oh no!

    "Did she drop three drops of wax on someone who was sleeping in her room?" I asked. She did.
   
     "Then did he disappear, and she had to find him at a castle east o' the sun and west o' the moon?"

       "No," one girl said, but then her sister said, "Wait! I think it did say something about that castle in there."

         So, as you can see, somebody already wrote a book based on my most beloved tale! Of course, I am still able to write my own version, but now I don't really want to. It just isn't special anymore.