12X2012: Swimming

So, I had

• Go swimming once or twice.

on my 12X2012 list. Done. Once.

We went on our long bike ride, and were planning on going down the Hill of No Return. But, as the day was hot, and our other friends lived on this one road, we chose not to.*

We swung by their house, to kidnap the two girls, only to find that they had had their phone in hand, literally about to call us up! Talk about timing! They wanted us to go swimming with them in their pool at one o'clock. The three of us decided that was feasible. The two kidnapp-ees packed sandwiches and joined their three kidnappers as we cycled to the cemetery.

The day was lovely, and hot, but lovely all the same. The breeze was blowing, and we found ourselves a nice, grassy spot in the shade, on the outer fringes of the graveyard. (Yes, we were technically inside the fence, but a ways away from the nearest gravestone.) 

Luckily we had purchased two (itty-bitty) peaches apiece from the local farm market, so there were enough for all. And we had chips, and sandwiches, and veggies, and candy sticks. Plus KK ever-so-kindly bought me not one, but Two apple cider donuts. (for which I am VERY grateful. They were lovely.)

After the eating, we played one round of Dutch Blitz (I want to play more!) and parted ways. The kidnapp-ees back to their abode and the three of us to ours, so we could gather our swim gear.

Off to the pool we went, where I spent several hours splashing and floating, and actually became tan. I've been feeling so pale this year because I'm not outside nearly enough! But the 5.5 hours in the sun that day took care of any paleness I may have had. If I end up with skin cancer from too much exposure to the sun, at least it's well-gotten tan, not just lying-out-in-the-sun-to-tan tan! Haha.

So yes, that's what I've been up to. I don't know if I'll have much time for posting next week! I'm working every day but Wednesday, and boy, this'll be a nice check! ;) I don't care for long hours until after I'm done with them and I pick up my check. THEN I love them!

(The following pictures are from waaaaaay back at our old house. They're at least 3 years old. Back when we formed proper 'in order of age' stair steps!)

~Kiwi da TannedFruit~

*(or maybe we just took the wrong turn, and turned a road early, and didn't feel like going UP the H.o.N.R. just so we could go back DOWN it.)

Life Updates.

So far, I haven't been able to take my second Unicycle Riding Class. Which is too bad. Because it's not really something you can learn without practicing, is it? No.
And I haven't quite gotten my green bike fixed. I talked to the dude at the bike repair place about a tire, but he won't have any new tires in until Friday. And they're $15 apiece. Ooog. There go more dineros. But maybe it'll be worth it--maybe this one will last more than a year and a half! It's cheaper than buying a new bike, anyway.

We have a scheme in the works, which involves biking and picnicking (<--oddly-spelled word) and swimming and camping. Possibly. Biking and eating, of course! Swimming--perhaps. Camping--er, we'll see. It would involve schedules cooperating (<--another oddly-spelled word), and permissions, and plans. But that would take care of several of my 12X2012's, such as the "Take a bike trip down the Hill of No Return on my green bike" one and the "Go swimming once or twice" one also.

I'm starting to half-toy with the idea of checking out another blog site, like Wordpress or something, but I dunno. Do I really neeed to start another blog, when this one isn't posted in enough, anyway? But as it is, I get bored on here in the evenings but don't want to go to bed. So I sit here, online, with abso-youtly nothing to do. Facebook isn't cooperating today, Twitter's boring, Facebook's normally a bit boring, too. The messageboards I'm part of aren't all that busy tonight. Game sites are full of stupid teenage boys who think that by saying 'hi' in the chatbox I'll fall desperately in love with them and agree to be their 'girlfriend.' (although I still haven't figured out how THAT works, since it'd be a 10,000% online 'relationship...' Talk about stupid.) Plus I'm bored with those games.

I should go. Either go to bed, or go read, or something. I should have been working with my Mum tonight, because I got a new dress (free!! I love it. Long story... =), but it's size 12 and I'm not. Thankfully she knows how to alter and take clothes in somewhat. And I'd like to have it done in time for my friend's wedding on Saturday (hahaha, like that'll happen. O well.).

Toodle-pip, I'll see y'all later! =)
~Kiwi~

the Post-Christmas Post

Howdy folks! Merry Christmas! I'm tempted to sit here and give you an itemised list of all I was given for Christmas, but I'll just cut it short. Mom and Dad gave me art supplies (I love new art supplies!! Give me a sketch book or two, and some pens, and it'll keep me occupied for hours.) and a pretty charm bracelet. Mom made the bracelet herself.
And my Christmas was fun and if you want to know all about it, you can ask me, but I won't sit here and bore the rest of you. Because I know that some people don't like long descriptions.


2009 To-Do List-----The Results
Here's what I got done:

1. Win a big contest. (Michael W. Smith concert! =D)
2. bike down the great-grandaddy of all hills at medium to top speed
3. got lost in a corn maze (That was awesome fun. It's going on my 2010 list, too!!)
4. found someone who wanted to squaredance with me (easy)
5. learned to square dance a bit better (hard)
6. watched all the LotR movies again (love 'em)
7. watched a meteor shower (awesome)
8. got my green bike fixed up nicely (Looks snazzy now!)
9. got a digital camera (Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!)
10. got signatures from 11 famous people 
11. went to two concerts (Two amazing concerts. Thanks Kris)
12. visited friends in Iowa several times (not nearly enough, though!)

Things I didn't get done last year:

1. I didn't earn money to go to Lifest in 2010.
2. I didn't buy lots of cds. (I only bought one: In The Hands of God).
3. I didn't get an Etsy shop set up. (But it will be up and running by next Christmas, by George!!)
4. I didn't have a chance to try bleach-pen designs on tee shirts. 
5. I never did sleep in a tent. (This year!!)
6. I didn't quite get around to an all-day bike trip (This year!!)
7. I didn't get a painting sold this year. (because I didn't do #3)
8. I didn't make any music videos (although I almost did several.)
9. I didn't get two hundred posts on here (but this is my 150th!)
10. I didn't quite get the hang of double-dutch jump roping. (we never got past 10 jumps. =P )
11. I didn't get my picture in the newspaper (to my knowledge)
12. I didn't go to a drive-in theater (not much worth watching!)
13. And I didn't get around to asking a stranger a random question. (even though that should have been the easiest thing on the list!)

So I ended up not doing more than I did do! =P Oh, well, I guess I'll just put a lot of those things on my 2010 list, and get them done then!

What's on your 2010 lists?

~Kiwi~

p.s. I'll give you a 'happy new year' post tomorrow or Sunday. Too tired to do it now.

100th post!!!!!!!!

On a blogger's 100th post, it is customary to post 100 random things about yourself. Here's my 100 things. I hope you don't get too bored!

1. I know and can sing many many songs. Most of the songs played on Air1 and K-love in 2008 I know by heart.
2. I love to read. (P.G. Wodehouse, Shannon Hale, Christopher Paolini…)
3. I have been home schooled since birth.
4. I’m going to graduate in ’010!
5. I am hopelessly addicted to blogging.
6. As I write this, I’m listening to “Protest to Praise” by Downhere.
7. I simply adore biking.
8. I’m contemplating getting a bug-shield for my bike.
9. I nearly had a bike crash earlier today.
10. One of my favorite hobbies is painting.
11. My “Old Movie Blog” is fun to do research for!
12. I have met 15 famous people: Daniel Kirkley, Jason Gray, Jason Germain, Marc Martel, Glenn Lavender, Jaime Jamgochian, Lanae Hale. Brian, ’Nirva, Gabe, and Tedde from the Diverse City Band, and Hawk Nelson.
13. Concerts are great fun to attend!
14. But I’ve only been to three: Newsboys, Bethlehem Skyline Tour concert, Winter Jam ’09.
15. I don’t have a boyfriend, and don’t really see a need for one right now.
16. I really need to build up my “Artiste’s imagination”
17. No, I don’t have Facebook, Myspace or Twitter.
18. I should be doing chemistry right now.
19. I love to run, but I haven’t got any endurance.
20. My name doesn’t actually have a ‘k’ or ‘w’ in it.
21. “Rockstars need money,” and so do I.
22. I really really really want to see Paul Colman in July!!
23. I have one of the starring roles in The Play.
24. I used to sleepwalk on occasion. Who knows if I still do so…
25. I have two brothers and one sister.
26. I know at least the choruses to 80+ Newsboys songs. By heart.
27. I was ecstatic to get a letter from my friend the other day. AND it had a picture of her in it!!
28. Writing 100 Random Things about me is harder than I originally thought!
29. Sometimes I (randomly) burst into a (random) song.
30. I used to have a sheep that I showed at the fair. Her name was Mandy, and then she had a lamb named Freddy. I still have a 3rd place ribbon that Freddy won…
31. I was in 4-H once, but didn’t like it.
32. My sister and I are NOT twins!!
33. I like having my nails brightly painted.
34. I recently memorized the first stanza of “What is so Rare as a Day in June?” by James Russell Lowell.
35. I prefer geometry to chemistry.
36. I am quickly running out of things to say.
37. I really really really want to enter Downhere’s tee-shirt contest!!! Really!
38. I don’t get to wear pj’s to school. Horrible, isn’t it? :-P
39. I have a stuffed turtle.
40. Flip-flops rate higher with me than tennis shoes.
41. I have never broken a bone. (Of my own, that is…)
42. Volleyball is amazingly fun!
43. I do a lot of diving in volleyball.
44. I have 6 cds: the Newsboys’ GO, Thrive, In The Hands of God and the ITHOG EP. Michael W. Smith’s Live the Life, and Avalon’s Testify to Love.
45. My dresser top is always a mess ‘cause it’s my “catch-all.” But more on that later.
46. I can’t believe I accidentally skipped this one!
47. I love the Newsboys’ Going Public cd.
48. I want a new pair of shoes.
49. I can’t wait for consistently warm weather.
50. I have a “Zits” cartoon taped to my door that describes me perfectly! I’ll have to give y’all a pic of it sometime.
51. I cannot brain today. I have the dumb.
52. Sadly, I appear to be the “Teasable Type.”
53. Colors are cool!
54. I don’t like washing dishes.
55. My occupation? Dishwasher, scullery maid, bathroom scrubber. Oh, and most-of-the-time student.
56. My plan for this summer is to stay as active as possible. That means bike rides, volleyball, double Dutch jump rope, anything else that’ll keep me moving!
57. This has been 57 random things already!
58. One of my friends ‘owes’ me $31.64 already. It’s a long story…
59. I went horseback riding once in Tennessee in ’06.
60. Skip-bo is a good card game.
61. I don’t play any instruments.
62. I accidentally skipped #s 46-49! Oops!
63. Hopefully I’ll be able to hand out awards to my faithful blogreaders soon…
64. I learned that it is possible to start a Twitter account with a fake email.
65. But I either deleted the account or forgot the password. I forgot the password, anyway. The account may still be there. *runs off to check* Nope, it’s still there! www.twitter.com/kiwidafruit. No updates, though. Unfortunately, I can't get in to delete it because of the forgotten password.
66. I luuuuuuuv my digital camera! (Thanks, grandma & grandpa!!)
67. I have been hit in the face by the ball in the following sports: soccer, baseball, dodgeball, and basketball.
68. I have been knocked down in the following sports: dodgeball, soccer, basketball, football (LET IT BE KNOWN: I was not playing football voluntarily. It was entirely against my will that I was standing out there in that field, watching everyone else know what to do!), tag, and, as of Sunday, volleyball.
69. I used to be quite accident and injury prone.
70. I enjoy beading earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, but haven’t been ‘inspired’ to do so lately.
71. Writing is fun, but not ‘on demand’ writing.
72. Geometry was so much better than chemistry!
73. I like the game Bomber Penguin. (Skittles, you'd like it! give it a try.)
74. I just found two cool videos of Marc Martel that I'll have to post soon!
75. I am ¾ of the way done with this thing!!
76. My toenails are pink right now.
77. I want to visit my great-grandma (and Skittles!) in Florida!
78. Have you ever played ‘Pit’? I have.
79. I am 17 years old, 2 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days old.
80. I want my own email address. (Hinthinthint)
81. Blogger frustrates me!
82. I like music videos.
83. I want to make a music video to “Praying for Sunny Days” by Hyper Static Union.
84. Catchphrase is a good game to play with friends, especially when it gets rowdy!
85. I’m going to give 25 points to whoever reads all of this!
86. I think I’ve been on blogger for about one year.
87. I just read through a year’s worth of my life in my diary.
88. I have had one of my watercolors sold at an art auction.
89. I want to see Dagmar soon ‘cause I have a s’prise for her…
90. My room is a wee little bit messy right now.
91. I had no school today.
92. My middle name is Elizabeth.
93. My hair, after being twisted up in a bun for 24+ hours, looks really odd!
94. I am/Praying for sunny days to return to me…..
95. I don’t have a best friend…I have about 20!
96. If you looked at my dresser right now, you would find: 3 porcelain dolls, a crystal bell, four cds, a Willow Creek angel, a little-bitty doll, five glass bottles, perfume, Mary Kay product, four ponytail holders, an IOU note (from my friend, now worth $31.64), a library card, four barrettes, two pairs of earrings, a cd insert, two batteries, song lyrics, bangle bracelets, two necklaces, flattened-out foil from a blue Easter crunch-bunny, a ring case, bookmark, a radio, and $1.33 in small change. I hope you found that fascinating!
97. Three houses ago, ‘Punzel and I chased the landlord’s cows around. (I was 6-7)
98. I have a signed Newsboys poster with a large, long haired hole in it…;D
99. I am very very very distantly related to Dan’l Boone. I think.
100. I survived my first 100 Random Things post!! Hallelujah!

Okay, I'm going to make the rest of this brief. I owe a big thanks to Dagmar and Matt, because they got me started in blogging and have answered numerous questions about it.
Thanks to Mom & Dad, for letting me get a blog.
Thanks to everyone who reads this blog and comments.
A smaller 'thank you' to the people who read this but don't comment. Comment if you want to get a big thank you.
And thanks to my followers, just for following.
Basically: THANKS ALL Y'ALL TO EV'RYONE WHO READS THIS!

So long, readers!
~Kiwi~

Maybe You Could Help--Monday

I need some help. Firstly with the titles. Which are boring. Secondly, last Autumn, when we first moved in, there were this little, nasty, black gnats all over my window. The holes in my screen are just big enough for the little buggers to get through. Well, with the warm weather and all, they are BACK!!!! And in full force, too! So, what do I do to keep them away? I'd appreciate it if y'all could tell me what to do about them. Fifteen blogger points to whoever can come up with something that works!


So this is what we've been doing this past week:

Monday and Tuesday: I believe we just did school. If I did anything else, it must not have been important!


Wednesday, I had Bible study at our friends house. It was also Avalon's birthday, so I did a Happy Birthday post for her. I think I'll have to mark down all my blogger-friends' birthdays, so I can do it for all of them.
We stood around afterwards, talking, and gazing at Noah's "Itouch....Udon't" as he checked to see who shared our birthdays. I don't think he checked mine. >:-[ We're working on a scoring system. Jumbo Shrimp had an Emperor born, but then two Kings died, canceling out the Emperor. I think she ended up in the 'negatives.'


Thursday I worked on a totally annoying painting that WILL NOT come out correctly. I've tried three times. The first one looked good in my head, but not on paper, so I took the element that DID look good and put it on the second sheet. It didn't look good. So then I tried a third time, and yet again it doesn't look right. I didn't give up, but it is set aside for a good, long while.
At 1:00, JS and Kirsten picked me up and we went ice skating! It was so much fun! It was homeschool skate afternoon, and I got to request which station was to be played, so I picked the Christian station with fewer commercials. We heard ITHOG and another song I haven't heard in forever: "My Deliverer" by the Ragamuffin Band. Love those two!
Skating was so much fun....I fell only once, and even then it was more of a slide than a fall....we danced the Virginia Reel on skates and played Crack-the-Whip. Friend of Narnia was there, and Kirsten, and Jumbo Shrimp.
I had a grand time, even though I now have a rawish spot on my ankle from the skate rubbing.


Friday was 'Jordan's Thirteenth birthday....turning thirteen on Friday the Thirteenth....:D Bad luck. He started the "seven years of insanity" period common to teenage boys. (not all, mind you. Just many. Don't get angry at me, Matt!) Also, the entire family entered the "seven years famine"........I'll leave y'all to figure that out..... ;D


Saturday it was warm and nice so (if I remember correctly) we got together with some friends. Ah, yes, we were out in the back yard, saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa G. when Monkey said "There's some people waving to us from the street!!" So I thought he meant just some of the kids that live back there. It was actually JS, Kirsten, and two other friends, Alena and Elizabeth. So we went back there and rode around. I would tell you the name of the street, 'cos it's kinda cool, but I googled it and the correct one came right up. Rats.
Monkey rode with us back there, but then we struck out on our own. Alena and Elizabeth's older bro showed up, which was good as I was having bike troubles. We had to put my chain on twice, and then Nathan got it to stay on. Now it just makes a slight grinding sound....and it's stuck in low gear. So I have to pedal really hard to go anywhere. It's tiring to do anything on it!
I want to get the Jolly Green Giant fixed.....(here's a link to a picture of a bike like it.....here's another....and this one's pretty close. My bike is brighter and has the handlebars like the last pic, only green. Anywho.)
Drat. I forgot to call the bike repair shop today. Again. There's always tomorrow.....


Sunday Mom and Dad were at membership classes at church from 1--4.
My Grandma M. was over for the weekend. She came on Sunday afternoon, and she left today. We played a few rounds of Rummy, Uno, and Checkers together.

Monday (the day this was supposed to be posted) I did an agonizing amount of schoolwork, and was finally released (thanks, Mom) and went to the park to hang out with JS and Kirsten. Know what's awesome? There were quite a few people there and......I heard not a swear word. Neat, isn't it?
And then yesterday evening Grandma and I took a walk together around the block. Our neighbors (the ones who's garage lights are on half the night and shine in my window and keep me awake) across the back lot were out and said 'hi.' Grandma thought that was so nice of them, because I said we hadn't met any of them. She also found several houses that she said (jokingly) she should buy, since they're so close by!
I don't think I've really taken the time to actually look at many of the houses in the neighborhood! There are some really nice, pretty ones that I never really noticed. I'll have to take another walk sometime soon.

Today, our friend Anna came over and we did facials. She's starting out in Mary Kay. It was cool and weird at the same time. I don't think I've ever put on eyeshadow and mascara before! Okay, maybe the eyeshadow, but not properly. We got a few good pics that I'll have to put on here.
And I went to the park again. It was sunny with a high of about 75. sweet.

Now, Soul Skittles wants me to make a big production out of this, so..... drum roll pu-lease........ Miss Skittles, I would like to present to you an over-sized check for....... FIVE (5) blogger points!!!! Yay!!! *streamers, balloons, and confetti!!* Three cheers for Skittles!!
She found the Song of the Day when no one else did! I thought it would be too obvious, but it wasn't. The song was Thrive by the Newsboys. Go see if you can find it. (but no points if you do now.)

In reply to the some of the comments left on my last post....

Judi: Yes, I should....I have a post started, but I just never get around to finishing it. I'll work on it! Yes, I've been on your blog lately, I've just been reeeeaaaally bad at commenting. Sorry! I'll head on over as soon as I get a chance.

JON MEYERS: Hi, nice to know you're still reading this! Sure, I'll write an obituary for it. What's it's name? Oh, and I saw a pic of Savannah on your sister's blog! She's so cute! I can't wait to see her in June!

Zoe: Shame on you for laughing at Everett's untimely demise! ;D Yeah, you should have heard Mom and Dad's reactions.

Skittles: I'M NOT FURGETTIN' ANYTHING! *subtracts five points from Skittles' point thingy because of impatientness on Skittles' part* JK.

guitargirl: Thanks! I will, but it won't be entirely finished for about a year. It's a once-monthly ladies quilting bible study, and there are twelve blocks. You do the math.
No, I'm using the machine. Yeah, it's slightly lazy, but....
Yes, I'm turning 17 on Monday. My counter-that-you-cannot-find is up above this post, below the video. I moved it there so that it would be rather prominent....apparently not! :D

Alayne: I saw that you're following me. Thanks! Do you have a blog? Might I ask how you found me?

And that's all I have time for today. I'll be seeing y'all later. tomorrow, probably.
Have a good day, y'all!

~Kiwi da Fruit

My Life--Monday #3

Huuuh. I think I'll start out this post with a quick overview of my past week.

Tuesday, March 3rd: I.......did.....schoolwork aaand....schoolwork. I don't remember doing anything else. If I did, it was obviously not important.


Wednesday I had a very difficult school day, filled with insightful, meaningful, and sentimental thought-provoking questions, cruelly confusing chemistry, weird writing assignments, and horrible history. Okay, maybe the history wasn't that bad, but I spent an entire beautiful, sunny, warmish day sitting inside working. And illiteration sounds good. :)
We had bible study that night, and afterwards we had quite a few discussions based on the videos: Jordan is not real, the pain from my non-real fist is not real, the crumbs from my tortilla chip? Not real! :D It was Theology, and he grazed that subject. I'm just glad that the teacher didn't go in depth about it!


Thursday was a Day of Firsts! Rapunzel and I went on the First bike ride of the year, I heard the First red-wing blackbird (they don't come up until Spring!), and I went outside in short sleeves for the First time in 2009. We had a simply grand time out in the 60 degree sunshine!


Friday had its Firsts, too. First robins....the robins are back!! First day of bare feet!! We played all over the structure at the park (mostly where we weren't supposed to play--on the tunnel, on top of the enclosed slide....), and I went barefoot because it's easier to clamber with bare feet.
Note to self and all concerned: The first time you go barefoot after a long winter, don't walk on the road barefoot. It's slightly painful.


Saturday we went to the library and unexpectedly ran into people from church, including Friend o' Narnia and Julia. I like seeing people from church at random places around town!
I finally got to hear the videos Downhere put up of the Christmas Album Recording Process. But I forgot/ran out of time to watch the video on Duncan's blog. *aaaaaaaah*

Rats.



Sunday we went to church (of course) and got to see Owan at long last. (Before I forget again, Owan, could y'all send me a few pics from the Winter Jam concert? Especially the one of me 'n' Nirva, and me 'rapping.' Lol! I can just imagine how weird I must have looked! I think Heather has our email.)
We also had Jumbo Shrimp, Kirsten, and their younger brother over yesterday. We made a soap opera, and managed to get two people murdered by the jealous 'Iris'. :D In the next episode of "Young Stomachs Churning," We'll hopefully have another guy in it so we can get a little love-triangle going.
(Please do not think that we enjoy real soap operas. This is making fun of them. Just in case you wondered. :)


Today I rediscovered my detestation of cleaning bathrooms. They're gross and disgusting. (I wish I were in Star Wars or Star Trek. I'll bet Anakin and Princess Leia and Spock and T'pol never had to clean toilets!)
And I made banana bread, which smells quite delicious.
Now I get to spend the rest of my day in relative leisure. I'm gonna paint somethin'!


*aaaaaaah*
I keep remembering. Hmph.
I guess I may as well go ahead and post my thoughts on the Newsboys Stuff. I'm refraining from looking at the official notice until after posting. I'm afraid I might be too upset after reading it to post.


Oh, why do this? If I'm too upset, I'll simply hit 'post' and post what I've got. I can't sit here another minute and keep wondering!
Here goes! *runs over to NBSite with worried look*

*returns*

Hallelujah! (no that's not the Song of the Day:) It's not as bad as I'd feared!! I was scared that Pete was leaving was an "entirely, for-good, ne'er-comin'-back-again, nothin'-to-do-with-the-band-from-now-on" kinda leaving! I'm still horribly sad that he's not going to be at most of the concerts, but hey! It'll still have that 'Peter Furler style' to it! Does anyone know if he'll still be on their cds?
Here's the scoop for those of you who haven't a clue as to what I'm talking about: apparently, a few concerts ago, Michael Tait came out instead of Peter (?) and announced he was the new front-man (lead singer). Without any notice ahead of time. So there's been LOTS going on on the NB Message Boards about that. Every time I've been on them in the past 48 hours there's been at least 40 people on! And the comments on the Big Announcement have been jumping every time I refresh the page!
I'd actually sat down and written out a whole big, long speech about how I don't want Michael Tait to join and Pete to leave, but if the 'Boyz are sure that's what God wanted done, by all means, Do it! but I'm not going to post all that. I am behind Pete 99% in this decision. I'm having a hard time reconciling myself to this, but.....this should be interesting. Maybe it'll be the start of something new, a real good thing.


Rapunzel says to tell y'all that she's rejoicing that Pete isn't leaving entirely by wearing black today. I wish I had some black to wear. I wish I had an NB tee shirt to wear. I wish I could have attended one of the more recent concerts (one with Pete in it) and gone ahead and bought a shirt. I got money for it now! *sigh*

Lastly is the Song of the Day. No one found my last little hidden title which was "A Better Way" by Downhere. "There's gotta be a better way to do school work than slogging my way through!" One point for me!

And Avalon gets five points for finally blogging. That brings her total up to (drumroll, please!) 0! Well, it's better than -5, isn't it?

I'd better get off now and do something else. I'll post again on Wednesday.
Ciao!
~Kiwi the Bitterly/Sweetly-Happy/Unhappy-Weirdly-Emotional Fruit

There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place...

Well, I'm home again, after that long, grueling-yet-incredibly-fun-filled week of VBS. Sorry it took so long to post again. This past week has been full of nothing. Has it already been more than a week?? Almost two weeks??? How time flies. This is a quick overview of what happened:


The theme (I don't know if I mentioned this already or not) was sort of 'tropical island-ish', with lots of flowers, leis, and surfboards. Mike, Justin, and I led the 3rd & 4th graders together for the week. Most of the kids were fairly easy to control, except for a pair of brothers and one kid I'll call James. James tried to eat part of his plastic lei, his name tag, two pieces of paper, and his Styrofoam cup. Mom says we should have just let him do so, a bit of paper wouldn't hurt him, but it was distracting the other kids, especially the part with the lei. One little boy tried to eat the school glue, but I got it away from him in time.

Just a quick summary: twelve kids in one day (our record) was hard to handle. A total of fifteen kids showed up, but not all on the same day. One bag of ice was used (headache), three band aids (all on the same kid), three broken flip-flops (one broken on purpose by James), four worn-out leaders (by the end of the first day!), five craft projects left behind and never claimed, six songs and their motions to memorize in five days, ten towels left behind for leaders to remember (after water games on the second and fourth days), and about twenty billion papers, crafts, and other things for the kids to forget and the leaders to remember (we finally came up with a solution; put all papers and craft projects in the 'homeroom' for the kids to pick up when their parents come and get them.)! But would I do it all over again? Of course! The only thing I would have rather done that week is move. Yes, I would have done a few things differently, but I would love to go do that again.



So what's new with my life now, you ask. I'll try to boil down the answer to one word, but I don't know how well that will work. Here goes!

Nothing.

Well, that was easier than I expected! But it's true, nothing much is happening now. Last Friday, we all went to our friends' house for lunch and to spend the afternoon. We went bike riding together with three bikes. There were four of us. Rapunzel and Hotshot (we all have nicknames) each rode a bike, and then Cobra and I rode the third. It is new and has pegs on the back so a second person can ride. First I tried pedaling while Cobra rode on the back, but the seat was too low and the handlebars too high for me to ride comfortably. So we switched places, which worked really well. However, she got tired of pedaling after a while. She stopped the bike and I tried to dismount. It didn't work--well. I did get off, but, let's just say it wasn't very graceful. Have you ever been walking along, when all of a sudden your foot turns? Like, instead of stepping on the bottom of your foot, you suddenly step on the side of your foot, and in doing so, trip? That's what happens to me all the time, and that's what happened then. I was wearing flip-flops, so two of my toes got half the skin scraped off, and I had to wear an ankle brace for the next three days. But it's almost back to normal now. :-)



PAINTING NEWS:

I'm working on a Christmas card idea which involves a pine tree with two cardinals in it, in front of a snowing, dark grey-blue sky, with snow on the ground, and a wide border around it. But it needs something more. I'm not sure what, but it needs something. And I need to decide on a color for the border. I tried red, but that distracts too much. And the painting itself needs more detail work. With more detail, I might be able to get away with a red border, w/out it distracting. Suggestions, anyone? I'll put a pic of it on here once I get a satisfactory practice one done.



Here are the results of the poll on Chicken Little characters: Kirby (the little alien) was the favorite with four votes. Chicken Little, Fish Out of Water, Runt, and None of the Above tied for second place with three votes a piece. In third (with two votes) are Abby Duck, Turkey Lurkey, and Morcupine Porcupine. Buck Cluck only landed one vote, and Foxy Loxy and Melvin (Kirby's dad) completely lost. I liked Chicken Little (of course), Fish Out of Water, Kirby, and Morcupine Porcupine best.



Okay, that's all for now, folks! Adios!

~Kiwifruit