Oh, I'm sooooo bored. Yesterday was lovely: short sleeve weather. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Earlier this week, Monday perhaps?, it was snowing. Nothing serious, just little flurries that didn't stick. But it's still awful to see little white snowflakes floating down in October. Ugh.
Owan invited Rapunzel and me over tomorrow for a NEWSBOYS/TOBYMAC concert!! Okay, not quite an official concert, but we're going to be watching TobyMac's Alive and Transported, and da Boyz' Houston we are GO!! I can't wait! I had the time of my life when I saw them in concert in March of last year. And I desperately want to go see them again, but as I can't go to Central America (where they're performing now), I suppose this will have to do. :-D Look at this picture. Isn't that sad?? Why can't they give a free concert closer to me? I can't go all the way down to Tucson for it. *tries not to start crying*
"Peter, Duncan, Paul, or Jeff: If you're reading this, PLEASE, come to Wisconsin and give a free concert! PLEASE!"
*sigh*
I might go out and try to find a nice hat. I don't have nearly enough hats. All I've got is a pink floppy-hat and a denim baseball cap. I like the girl's fedoras at Kohls and Target, but what am I supposed to wear them with? I'd have to go out and find a new outfit just to wear with my hat. I wish I could find a hat like Paul Colman's. Or like the one Peter wears in Love Liberty Disco. That would be sweet.
So.......yup. Ho-hum. Still bored.
I've been playing a rather interesting game called Poptropica. It's rather boring after a long while, but it's not bad. I beat all the 'islands', so there's not much left on there for me to do.

I need to get off now, because Mom is coming up to work on the boys' school with 'em. I need a computer of my own.

Oh, and I wish I could get dressed up today, because I thought of a good community service project I could do. Y'know all those horrible blow-up Halloween decorations? Like, the Frankenstein's monster, giant pumpkin, etc.? Well, I'd dress up like an Indian, complete with bow and arrows and, *evil little snicker*, KILL all the blow-up things! That would be so much fun! Except we don't celebrate Halloween, and some people might consider that vandalism. I don't, though. It's doing the neighborhood a service. Some people might thank me for it. Maybe next year.
I need 2 go now, so I'll talk to y'all later. See ya!
~Kiwifruit

hey, all, just a quick update.
I got to go in and see Grandpa on Thursday. He can't talk or move much yet. Although I'm pretty sure he wanted to laugh at some of the things I said. Almost every time I see him, he teases me about my (non-existent) boyfriend, and asks how 'he' is and stuff like that. So I told him that "the boyfriend situation isn't going too good." I think he was laughing inside.
Today, Mom, Dad and the boys are down @ the hospital while Sis and I are here. I'll probably go down tomorrow.

So, how many of my relatives are reading this?? I gave the address to my Aunt B., and now Pooky's Girl is reading it, Christina, Aunt J., Jon, and who else? STOP LURKING!! Comment!

Lastly, I've got a new blog started and am getting disturbed by the lack of comments. Two posts already, and a follower (hey, Matt), and NO comments! Check it out! Comment, for Pete's sake!
Alright, I'm going now. I'm going to re-arrange my room a few times, listen to some Downhere and Stellar Kart, and um......, and read my book, and rot my brain on the computer and tv. I'll see you later!
~Kiwifruit
P.S. wow, I think that's my shortest post so far!

Prayers.

Hey, I just wanted to update really quick so that Judi doesn't pester me! Yes, Zoe, I got your tag, but don't have time for it right now, so it's going to have to wait for a while.
Rapunzel got a job and started it yesterday. It's a funny story, actually. She and I needed to re-fill our air tank at the gas station so that we could pump up our bike tires. So, Dad sent us down to A----(a little town down the road), saying there was a gas station there. No gas station. So we decided 'hey, there's two stations that we pass on the way to church. We can just run down there really quick.' We stopped at the first one to find that air is $1.00 there! And we only had one quarter and small change. Attached to the gas station is a Subway restaurant, so we went in there to exchange nickles, dimes, and pennies for three quarters. (they were very nice about it). 'Punzel saw the 'Now hiring Part-Time Days' sign, applied, blah blah blah, and eventually got a job working at a different Subway. But we never did get that air. =)
She started work yesterday and came out of the restaurant smelling like sandwiches. Today she works from 9-2, tomorrow she gets off, and then her hours fluctuate.





We're in need of prayers at the moment. My Grandpa (not the one who fell when we were moving, this is my Dad's dad) had a stroke Sunday morning, and apparently it was a rather bad one. Last I heard, the doctors are not sure how much damage was done to his brain, or to what parts of it. We were down at the hospital in Illinois Sunday afternoon, last night, and we're going down again today, as soon as Rapunzel is done with work. Last night, Dad said the Dr. said that he may not live much longer.
I'm glad that we're here now. I mean, in January, while we were wanting to move, my Grandmother (Mom's grandma) died in Iowa. If we had been moved, we would have had to drive three hours to be with her one last time, instead of thirty minutes. Now we are moved, and are only 45/60 minutes from Grandpa's hospital, instead of 2 1/2 hours.
Please pray for us.
~Kiwi
Look at the post below.

Guest Post by Rapunzel: On a Slightly More Serious Note...

Hey bloggy people! Kiwifruit, I am honored to be your first guest poster! I just wish it didn't have to be under these circumstances.
We and our mom were shopping at the mall on Friday, which normally is a lot of fun. About halfway through the afternoon, we stopped at Maurice's to see what they had. There is usually so many cute shirts and things there! But this time, I got a real shock browsing through the jeans. One belt was white with black words and graphics; the graphics showed a skull wearing a crown.
Now that turned both Kiwi and me off immediately. We think skulls are just gross. ("No offense, Judi," says Kiwi.) But what really disgusted us was the words next to the skull: "King of Kings, Lord of Lords." Does anyone else recognize the reference? For one thing, that phrase comes from 1 Timothy 6:15, which says, "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords." But this belt was pretty clearly applying the title to Death. It seemed to me that that implies that Death is God.
This is totally unacceptable! It's crossed the line from bad taste and offensiveness to blasphemy! As soon as we got home, I e-mailed the Maurice's customer service people to point it out. Unfortunately, I don't think one disgusted eighteen-year-old is going to make enough of a difference. So I'm asking you, Kiwi's loyal blogreaders, to help out. If you're as outraged by this as we are, please contact Maurice's and let them know! I asked them to consider removing the belt from stores completely, and said that I'll be glad to shop there again... when it's gone.
Their contact information is: Mail-- Maurices, Incorporated, 105 W. Superior St. Duluth, MN 55802. Phone: 218-727-8431. Fax: 218-720-2102. Email: customerservice@maurices.com. And spread the word! Thanks, y'all.
"We now return you to the regularly scheduled Kiwifruit program."

PIE!

Here is the promised post about my love of PIE.

I like APPLE pie. I like Apple pie with French topping, a lattice top-crust, and just a normal top crust. Apple pie is good.

I like PECAN pie. I like Pecan pie smothered in homemade whipped cream. Pecan pie is good.

I like PEACH pie. I like Peach pie at Thanksgiving--or any time of year! Peach pie is good.

I like CHERRY pie. I like Cherry pie with a lattice top. Cherry pie is good.

I like KEY LIME pie. I like Key Lime pie with the sour lime slice on top. Key Lime pie is good.

I like LEMON MERINGUE pie. I like Lemon Meringue pie with the top slightly toasted. Lemon Meringue pie is good.

I like CHOCOLATE pie. I like Chocolate pie because it's almost like chocolate pudding on a pie crust. Chocolate pie is good.

I like BANANA CREAM pie. I like bananas only in Banana Cream pie. Banana Cream pie is good.

I like BLUEBERRY pie. I like Blueberry pie because is is purpely-blue and has blueberries in it. Blueberry pie is good.

I like CHEESECAKE*. I like Cheesecake with chocolate sauce or fruit on it. Cheesecake is good.

I like PUMPKIN pie. I like Pumpkin pie with whipped cream because I get it on Thanksgiving. Pumpkin pie is good.

I like RHUBARB pie. I like Rhubarb pie with lots of sugar. Rhubarb pie is good.

I like STRAWBERRY pie. I like Strawberry pie because I don't get it very often, so it's a treat. Strawberry pie is good.

I like almost ALL pie. I like almost All Pie because almost all pie is good. Raisin pie is not good. Therefore, I do not like it. Almost All pie is good.

*You may not count Cheesecake as pie, but Wikipedia does and I like it, so it is now Pie.

Thus concludes my list of pies I like. The pies on this list are ones I like. I like other pies than these, but this was all I thought of. Pie is good. If you don't like it, give it to me. Because I like pie.

Ooookay, on to another topic. Here are the afore-promised pictures taken at the botanical gardens in My-ville.

This is the one Mom decided to use, but she turned it black-and-white.
This is an interesting plant Dad decided to photograph. There's a whole bush of these little seedpods.

Sitting there, lookin' cool.

Peeking through the I'm-not-quite-sure-what-they're-called reeds.

Thus concludes the photo gallery for today.

I need to do a 'shout-out' to my mom, who is turning XX today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!! My grandparents are up here for her birthday. Grandpa's doing much better. He doesn't need crutches anymore, and the pain has greatly decreased. We're thankful for that. :-)

Last night was our bible study night. This week we, somehow, got caught in a predestination/election debate...again. It's not the same teacher (obviously) but I still have a very hard time following it all. Rapunzel started it with needing something clarified, and then someone else picked it up from there. The bible study part went into 2o minute overtime! Ooof! Across from me was Mom & Dad, and my new friend Noah. Dad was sitting there silently chuckling at Rapunzel, because the pastor, who is teaching this, was frustrating her. After 'Punzel was done discussing things with him, another lady started an in-depth topic. Several people were showing signs of wanting to finish the study and go on to snacks. I don't know what started it, but I was starting to be amused by watching other impatient people, and apparently Noah was, too, because he started almost-laughing, and then every time we looked at each other, I would feel this strong urge to start laughing. It was very hard not to start laughing out loud. That would have been very awkward. :-)

Ta-ta for now!

~Pie-loving Kiwifruit

Pictures...At Long Last!

Hey, Bloggy Buddies!! Here are some of the long awaited pictures! First the ones from the Cubs game. Sadly, my mom won't let me post pics of a any of my siblings :^(, but she will let me show ones of myself. Here we go!

Walking towards Miller Park. The architecture is really cool, although it's hard to see here. It looks so HUGE when you're standing right by it! I nearly fell over backwards....

Me, walking down towards the park. That's my brother in the blue shirt. I'm afraid that's all you're going to see of him!

Waiting to go in. So excited!!!

Dad and Grandpa watchin' the game. Even though the Cubs lost, I think Grandpa had a good time! He was really tired the next day, though.

Mr. Alfonso Soriano up to bat... even though you can't really tell it's him very well! This, alas, is my 'Uncle'. I do not believe he is really any relation to me, even by marriage, which he supposedly is. If he was really related to me, he would not be cheering for the Brewers, or any baseball team that is not the Cubs. :-)

Self explanatory.

It was a great night. I wish I could show y'all pictures of my brothers asleep in the van on the way home! Mom got several good pictures of them.

Here are some pictures taken today at the botanical gardens in My-ville, our new home town. Mom wanted one of each of us to frame.

On second thought, though, I won't post those yet. Mr. Stupid Angus-the-Computer (Angus is our computer's name.) refuses to upload the other pictures. Hmph. I don't like you, Angus!!!

The barn dance was super-fun! I can't wait to do it again next year! They had two shifts of dancing, because there wasn't enough space for everyone to do it at once. I danced the first shift, then helped form a fifth square the second time. The first shift was hilarious because no-one quite got the hang of it enough to dance predictably through even two or three calls. Some of us are planning to practise once a month or so with a video and cds from the library until next year, so we don't look quite so stupid out on the dance floor. Not that we looked any worse than some of the other groups, but this way we'll appear to be professionals. :^D

Mom says to get off now. I don't want to. What I want is to get some sort of job so that I can buy my own laptop someday in the near future. Like that's ever going to happen.
Tomorrow I'm going to dedicate a whole entire post to PIE, of which we had two this weekend. But I'm going to get off now, because a STUPID lady-bug look-alike is terrorizing me. It keeps swooping by me. I don't like them. The stink to high heavens, and the bite. Stupid bugs. They have practically taken over our mud room on the back of the house! you have to run through there, ducking, covering your mouth, closing your eyes, in a bee suit to avoid them landing on you. What I hate most is when they get in your hair. *shudders*

Anywho, Goodbye. I will talk to you (about PIE) later.
~Kiwifruit

Cubs Game/Life Update/Acceptance Speech--A lot of stuff, I know! :-P

I couldn't post right after the game because I was busy, and then I got banned from the computer by Mom because I was spending 'too much time' on the computer. 'Too much time' depends on who's talking. I say two-three hours is too much. Mom says one hour is about all I need per day. [Yes, but not one hour six times per day- Kiwi's Mom] Hmph. So, anyway, about the ball game. We drove up to Milwaukee Friday afternoon. I had so much fun. The Cubs lost, but then again it was for the better. The Cubs were already going to the play-offs, but we'd either have to play the New York Mets or the Milwaukee Brewers, and we prefer the Brewers. If you're a good Cubs fan, you'd know what the Mets did to the Cubbies in '69. I'm not allowed to repeat such horrible happenings. So, even though my Cubbies lost 5-1, I still enjoyed it. Monkey had wanted to buy cotton candy really bad, since he doesn't remember what it's like, and he was convinced that it was $8, since it's 'expensive'. So he brought the money, but they couldn't find any cotton candy. So while Monkey was sitting there, watching the game (as best he could), my Aunt Jackie snuck up behind him and sloooowly lowered the bag in front of his face. You should have seen it!! He was sooo cute! His eyes got really big, and he got this disbelieving grin on his face, and he looked at Aunt Jackie, and looked back at the candy. When he took his first bite, his eyes got even bigger, if that's possible, at how it just melts in you mouth. It was so cute! I hope we have pictures of that!
We had a great experience for our first major league ball game. We were rather far back and high up, but we could see well enough to distinguish some of the players. Did you know... Alfonso Soriano is usually the only one wearing the shorter knickers? But Felix Pie wore them too when he came out that night.
Right now I'm really disgusted. Those Cubs players need a piece of my mind! Has anyone seen the past two games??? Why did Lou Pinella send Fukodome up to bat when he couldn't even hit the broad side of a large barn last night?? Why didn't he put in a pinch hitter? Rrrrgh! And Soriano. Oh, Soriano! What happened to your hitting? *sighs and shakes head* All I can say is that they had better shape up tonight, otherwise they're outta the play-offs!

The Saturday after the game, Rapunzel and I went to the botanical gardens and the Milwaukee Art Museum with our aunts and uncles. I wish I could have spent all day at the museum. I got to see original Renoirs and Monets. It was neat.
For supper, we went to a Thai restaurant, where my parents & brothers met us. I've never had Thai food before. It was very good. I can't remember what I had--something with the word 'pud' in it. It had shrimp, noodles, and bean sprouts and an interesting sauce that was very sweet with a distinctive peanut flavor. 'Most everything came in three levels of spiciness; Coward, Adventurous, and Native Thai. Rapunzel and I shared one at a Coward level, but I tried some of Aunt Jackie's Adventurous stuff. I love spicy foods, but that was just murder!! Uncle Steve (Jackie's husband) had some stuffed shrimp and white rice at the 'Adventurous level. I took some of his rice, since everyone had more than enough to share, but accidentally got a little itty-bitty bit of sauce. Yow, that was hot! By the end of the meal, Uncle Steve had to ask for some milk, along with the boys, who got some of the 'contaminated' rice. He turned so red! It was funny.

Now, on to something more serious: I was awarded two awards. One from Judi, thanking me for pushing her to update, and the other from Catfreak70, thanking me for showing her how to do this. I thank both of you for these beautiful awards. I feel so honored that you thought of me! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Now it's my turn to award awards.
The first goes to my dear friend Dagmar. She got me interested in the blogging world. And if it hadn't been for her, there would be at least three fewer blogs in the world! Thank you, Dagmar!
The next goes to....(drumroll, please)....HMS Avalon!! She's got a great blog going, a great story being written, and gave me an excuse for starting a 'Comment Blitz'. Even though she doesn't post as often as she should, we still love her!
Matt deserves one, also. He's got a cool free music blog going, and he helped out with some side-splitting comments in our Comment Blitz.
Let's see. Miss Judi, of course, for the same reason she gave for nominating me! And for continuing that suspense-thriller story she started. Thanks, Judi!!
Last, but not least, Catfreak70. Like the others, she's got an awesome blog. And she's a great friend of mine, even though we're now three hours apart!! :-D

Thus ends the 2008 Best Blogger Awards. I'll add Owan, Zoe, and Heather to this later, but I'm supposed to be getting off right now and don't have time to!! Sorry, y'all! I promise I'll add ya later! ;-P

But one last thing before I go! Our new church is having a Barn Dance tonight! It sounds like a lot of fun, and I can't wait to go. There's going to be square dancing. I wish I could remember how to square dance! Our homeschool group did line dancing a few years ago, and two of the weeks we 'learned' square dancing. If we had had a few more weeks, I probably would have gotten the hang of it.
So, I need to go now, and do something. I don't know what it'll be, but I'll probably find something.
TTYL!
~Kiwifruit

P.S. We started school on Monday. It's really boring. I've got History, Literature, Writing, and Biology so far. Ugh.