Case of the Broken Broom

For Halloween both "A" and "E" were given a writing assignment. They were given a character (a witch) and she had a problem (her broom is broken). Their job was to tell us a story concerning this character. I thought they would write two different stories but as it turned out, they were thinking along the same lines and decided to write the same story from different perspectives. I've never seen them get so excited for a writing assignment. They were laughing at the images they created in their minds. The result of their creative juices follows:

Crash! Boing! Kaboom! Star Toad crashed into a tree and fell onto the ground. Snap! Oh No! Her sister, Lilly Toads broom broke. Star knew she should not have tried to fly but she wanted to act big and grown up like her sister. In three hours her sister would be home. As fast as a vampire, her blonde hair flowing behind her, she ran to the garden. Placing the broom under a few branches and leaves, she went inside for some reading and playing with her cat, Casper. Star heard Lilly and ran up and hugged her. Star asked Lilly how her day was.
Lily replied, "It was great. I can't wait 'cause in three days I'm going to fly my broom and scare little kids". Star winced at the thought of the broom. "Do you really need the broom"? Lilly looked at her and responded, "Of course I do. Why?"
"Well, I tried to ride your broom but I crashed and it broke in two".
"Show me where it is".
"Okay".
Lilly saw the broom. "I can't fix it", she said, "but... wait.... I can make an opening to take you to wizard town. I'll hold open the vortex and oh, here's some money to buy a new broom, and so I'll hold it open and you'll go through it. Okay?"
"Okay, Where do I go? Oh Yeah, um, um, go to Broom Broom, alright".
Lilly stepped in the vortex and was whisked away. In two seconds she was in wizard town. New sights and sounds were all around her. She asked several people where Broom Broom was. They all said to go left, left, and then right. So she went straight then left, then another left, and finally right. It took her to a bubble shop. Slowly an old man came out, "What do you want?" Mustering her courage she said, "I'm lost and scared. I need to find Broom Broom."
"Oh, Go left, left, right, turn."
"I did, it brought me here."
"Oh No, You don't do it with your feet."
"Ohhhh".
So Star stomped her left foot twice and right foot once and turned around. In a flash she was going but as she left she heard the man say, "Wait, the spell back is......". She was gone, a store was there and it read Broom Broom. She went in and bought the best broom. She then walked and walked but could not find her way.

Written by "A"
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Lilly was at school. She was learning a new spell. Lilly's mom was at the Spooky Market buying bat wings, mummy skins, ghost vapors, and dragon scales. Lilly finished spell casting class and was going to herbology. In two hours she would be home. In herbology she learned about a plant called Fire Lily. If you eat it you'll have a fire power.
Lilly walked the two blocks home and saw Star reading a book. Lilly said, "I'm home". She heard Star running towards her and hugged her. Star asked Lilly, "How was school". Lilly said, "Great! I can't wait because in three days I'm going to fly my broom and scare little kids on Halloween". Star made a funny face.
"Do you really need the broom"?
"Of course, Why?"
"Because I tried to ride the broom and it broke in two."
"Where is it?"
Star showed Lilly the broken broom. "I can't fix it", said Lilly, "but I know a spell that will lead you to the shop."
"What shop?"
"The broom shop"
"What broom shop?"
"Broom Broom Shop."
"Okay", said Star.
Lilly made a vortex, Star walked through. "I hope she will be alright," said Lilly. Lilly was tired of holding the vortex open. She was hungry and tired. It had been two days and no sign of Star. Lilly was getting worried. Lilly was starting to fall asleep when Star came back.

Written by "E"
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How did Star make it back? I'm told that is found in chapter two and I'll have to wait to read it.

Silly Poems by "A"

I came across this scraps of paper in which "A" had randomly put down some thoughts. I thought they were very cute and clever.

My Knight in shining armour,
Turned out to be a junk.
He wore a suit all full of dents,
And left me in the dump.
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One day I found a Genie,
Who said he'd grant me 3 wishes.
I said I wanted a beautiful girl,
an endless amount of treasure, and a lovely palace.
He said, "I'm sorry,
Those are wants, not wishes".
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I asked a bird to tell me why he could fly
He said, "Sure but teach me to drive".
In a week and a day he was driving away.
I reminded him of the bargain.
He simply said, "I flap" and drove away.

Election Day

In North Star Academy (our homeschool) we spent the month of October by memorizing our past U.S.A Presidents and learning about voting. We even played an online game where "A" and "E" got to choose a political party, decide which issues were most important, and which States they would campaign in. They also decided where the campaign money would be spent. (Can you believe how much money is spent on campaigning? What a difference we'd have in the world if that money was spent differently.) In the end "E" won the Presidency, he was quite excited to be our new Republican President. "A" on the other hand wanted to play the game again, this time she would get first choice and choose the Republican party. She seemed to think that was the only reason why "E" won. I tried to explain to her that the Republican Party doesn't always win, even if we want them to. (watch tonight's results to see what I mean) "E " won because of the topics he chose to address. As Americans we want to be told certain things, "A" didn't address the issues that were most on our minds. I hope in the end this lesson will stick with my children since "A" will be voting 2 elections from now.
Now for my own rant. Let me first begin by saying how grateful I am to live in a country where I can vote for my leaders. Americans truly are blessed people, however I think several Americans have become like my toddler. "I" thinks he can do whatever he wants. He's old enough to push a chair over to the stove to see what's boiling, he has the ability to touch the hot stove and get burned. And he gets burned. Yet, he doesn't realize that his burned hand is a result of his actions. He instead blames the stove for burning him. He then wants everyone to know of his trauma and insist that we make it all better for him. Yes, several Americans think they should be able to do whatever they want (i.e. gay marriages, abortions, financial insecurity, overeat, etc) and yet when times go wrong (they lose their job, house in a hurricane, get sick, etc) they have to tell everyone about it and expect the U.S. Government to bail them out and make it all better. What happened to personal responsibility? I guess it makes one feel better to place the blame on someone else instead of planning for future events. Why play with fire if you know you'll get burned? Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
What does all this have to do with the elections? I believe most Americans are good, law abiding citizens who want the best for this country and their families. However there are still a great many that believe the U.S. President is the cure-all for all our ills. They seem to think that a President can give all he promises. Every past President in the U.S. has made promises which he was unable to fulfill. If one thinks McCain or Obama will truly be able to get our Nation out of debt, they are foolish. Yes, they have plans to put into action if they are elected, they truly believe they can do it.. but at what cost to the rest of America? Bush thought he could do it as well and yet, he didn't foresee a terrorist attack, a war, or so many natural disasters in which Americans cried out for more money. (And don't tell me we'd be better off if we didn't go to war, instead those who cry about the war would be crying because the government didn't do enough to stop the other attacks that would have happened had we remained silent in our own world).
So you see, each President makes promises and I really doubt they can or will fulfill half of them. So why worry about this election at all? Because the President's ability to nominate Federal Judges will have the biggest impact of all on America. Although they think they are learned, we cannot trust Federal Judges to make all decisions for us. We must make a stand and let our voice be heard. (Way to go Hamilton Girls for standing on a corner and letting everyone know about Prop. 8). While I'm not totally excited about both Presidential Candidates, I did vote early for the one that I thought would have the best impact on America by electing Federal Judges who will allow us to keep the freedoms we now have and should have. This doesn't mean they will allow us to do whatever we want such as go against the natural laws of life (think Gay Marriages). I pray for America, our Leaders, and the families within. I pray we grow up and start taking responsibility, prepare for the future and do more to help. This country will not remain great if we stop being active participants and if we keep God out of it.

A Fun Weekend

The end of September brought us cooler weather, less humidity, and a fun weekend. The boys went with Justin to the Father and Son camp out, while I took the girls for a Super September Sleepover. This is how the kids viewed their weekend.

Sleepover night
I had a sleep over party when the boys were GONE. The theme was S. Invited Belle,Livvie,Kirsten,Amanda,Britt,Elana,Karly,Hanna,and Kendra.
We danced and played a game called Mafia. Then we made stuffed pizza.
While our tummies were rumbling and the pizza's were cooking we played sticker tag. I was on the midnight dragon team we were against the Edwards we called them the Edwardian's. I only got 4 stickers. Then we ate skittles, starbursts and our stuffed pizza. We drank root bear and Sprite. After that we cooked marshmallows for S'mores and danced til we were tired out. Then we watched labyrinth. Then we all tried to sleep but Karly got sick.(because of too much candy.)In the morning we ate snake cakes. We played with scratch cards and we played with silly string, had a spa, and then they left.




Camp out
I went on a father and son camp out. When we got there we set the tent up first thing. Then we got the blow up mattresses and blew them up. I played with my friends. We took wood to the fire pit then they started the fire using matches and dried up baby wipes. The fire was huge. More and more people came. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We went hiking and saw a jack rabbit. We saw a cave and a 6 foot deep pit. We went in the cave . We followed the trail and found a 60 foot deep ditch. There were 3 ditches. We kept following the trail and ended up at the camp. My dad told a story with a light up stick. Then we played with the light up sticks. We played hide and go seek tag. It was fun. We went to bed. In the morning we had egg sausage burritos. Then we went on a treasure hunt to find flags. Each flag had a word on it. All the words would make a sentence that would let you have an electrical toothbrush. I loved camping with my dad and I can't wait to go again.--written by E

I had a fun time camping. I went around yelling Mama, mama when it got closer to bed time. Before that I had lots of fun throwing dirt on the fire, it became more fun when others would tell me to stop but I didn't. My fingernails had so much dirt under them, it took mom a long time to wash it out. Dad was really brave to take me and I'm glad he did. (written for I, from reports of other campers)

Some old writings

Some time ago A and E wrote the following, which I just found while cleaning up. We are in the process of getting our food storage and emergency preparedness plan put together. It has involved sorting through items we haven't unpacked since moving into our new home. Although it is a long process of deciding what to keep and where to put it, I am enjoying the feeling of being organized. Even if it only last for a few days. The kids love opening up the closet under the stairs and seeing our food storage. We won't be able to fit a years worth under there but we definitely can get 3-5 months worth, more if we only eat rice for every meal.

I have a camera. It is silver. It is about 1 inch high by 1 inch wide and 2 inches long. On the front is says: Fujifilm digital camera finepix A120.
On December 18th I took it with me to England and back. I took 117 pictures (which by the way is the most it can hold). Oh, and it is battery operated. Today I finally downloaded all 117 pictures.
The pictures I took were about birds, my cousins (Rachel, Emily, Hannah, and Lizzy) and other sites. I love my camera so much.
---written by A

Scout Camp
My favorite thing to do is archery at scout camp. We got to go four times in all. The first time I shot the arrow, I got two bulls eyes. Then the second time I did it I got two more bulls eyes. The third time I shot I got four bulls eyes and the fourth time I got five bulls eyes.
Behind the archery area there were bb guns. They were cool except that mine wasn't working. We also played water wars. It was where you would throw sponges at each other and you are behind a big piece of wood in the shape of a ship. The other team cheated. They walked right up to our ship and threw sponges at us. This was my first time to go to camp and I wish I could go again.
----written by E

How many spelling words can you use in a story about a dolphin?

Flipper the dolphin was in school. She was learning the alphabet for the first time. But her mind wasn't on that. It was on Macy. She was a big bully and she was as tough as an elephant. She promised Flipper that she would squeeze her like a marshmallow. The bell rang. School was out. Flipper swam as fast as she could. Bam! Too Late. Macy and her bud's were waiting at the door. "Come Flipper dipper," said Macy, "We got business." Flipper knew for sure she was dead meat. Suddenly a fishhook landed next to Macy. "Ahhh", screamed everyone. Macy and her buds took off. Flipper splashed once and headed home for some sugar shrimp and some television. The End.----written by A (10 words)

Once upon a time there lived a dolphin. The dolphin was swimming. A school of trout dashed by. The dolphin saw something gray way out there. The dolphin swam closer. The gray thing was swimming closer and closer until it was so close the dolphin saw that it was a shark. The dolphin sway away as fast as it could. She was out of breath. The dolphin said to itself, "I'm sure I lost it." The next day the dolphin forgot all about the shark. The dolphin was eating clams as white as a marshmallow and sea weed as sweet as sugar. A whale swam over: it was as big as an elephant. The dolphin was splashed by the waves. The dolphin was swimming along and the shark sneaked up behind the dolphin. The shark said, "over here!" The dolphin turned around and the shark killed her. The End ----written by a boy, E (6 words)

When are you grouchy?

Here is a story about me being grouchy. We were riding in the car when I asked my mom if I could have a dog. She said, "wait." For weeks I kept asking and then I asked again. We had a little talk about bugging people and she said, "no to getting a dog right now." I was mad and grouchy. I walked slowly and talked quietly. Soon my mom said, "go to your room." I left and played nintendo. After a while I cooled off. I said to myself, "that is so silly to be grouchy!" I got up and left my room. ---written by A

One day I went to my friends house for a sleepover. We ate pizza and drank root beer. We swam in his pool. After swimming we came inside and watched batman and played video games. We also played on the computer. We also stayed up all night long. When it was morning we were all lazy, tired, and grouchy. -----written by E

When do I get grouchy? My grouchiness revolves around sleep. I get grouchy when I am awakened earlier than I want. Having a good nap interrupted can make me grouchy. The worst is when I don't get enough sleep the night before. It is during those times that the smallest, most insignificant things can set me off, such as: toilets not being flushed, cupboard doors being left open and having to repeat myself over again. Unfortunately it is my wonderful children who suffer since they are with me most of the time. (they don't seem so wonderful when I'm grouchy though) I realize this is a problem I have and has nothing to do with my children. Through the years I've trained my body to stay up late at night and sleep in. I've even been able to train my children to do the same. Not really something to brag about. I've realized that it is a bad habit and nothing good comes of it. I would accomplish so much more if I woke before the children in the morning. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise and not grouchy. I want to be that healthy, wealthy and wise person. I look forward to any ideas or suggestions of how I can make myself a morning person and keep the grouchiness away.