Schooling During Summer!

Man! We had soooooooooooo much fun at the Appleseed thingamajig, that I can't even put it into words!!! I knew ahead of time that we would be learning about the American Revolution, but I did NOT expect it to be quite as amazing as it was! I am, irrevocably, a hopeless nerd! And therefore, I am almost always excited about knew information!!! I mean, I spend my time learning new words like aberration, gesticulation, ambulation and so on! I LOVE reading more than nearly any other past time, I enjoy a challenging class at school, etc.,etc., etc.!!! Not to mention, I LOVE BEING a nerd in the first place! Anyway, because of that 'nerdism', I rather enjoyed Appleseed! Appleseed, for those of you who don't already know, is a program which both helps you learn how to improve your shooting, and teaches you about the beginnings of this country! I, of course, knew about the Boston tea party and the constitution... but other than that, I didn't know much! This program, however, changed all that! I now know that there were 3 strikes that lead to the Revolution... What I loved about how they taught, was that they never said that either side was good or bad! They spoke of both sides as PEOPLE, not just heroes vs. bad guys! They also did not only tell the stories of our victories, they told of our losses as well! I learned sooo much from that one weekend! I'm even willing to say I learned more from that one weekend with my Grandparents than I've ever learned at school! Thank you ssssooooo much grandpa, for inviting us! And thank you grandma, for opening my eyes! I might not agree with EVERYTHING you said, but you opened my mind and inspired me to learn more! Anyway, for those of yall who haven't ever heard of Appleseed, I suggest you look for more information! Even if you don't want to shoot, they've got great info.! They talked about the battles, the different types of militia men, victories, losses, and much much more! I'm hoping to look further into this subject (maybe even write a paper on it... and who knows? maybe I'll post the essay on here!=) and learn as much as I can! Anyway, here are some pics!

Grandpa really had a great time there! I'm so glad he decided to share the experience!

Jared loved the novelty of camping, meeting new people, shooting, seeing his grandparents, and eating awesome food for an ENTIRE weekend! So did the rest of us!

My Grandma spoiled us all rotten, as Grandma's do, and taught me a whole lot as well!

Daddy LOOOOVED shooting with the big gun! He looked like a 2-year-old on Christmas morning! Brandon enjoyed himself as well! Ha, if that isn't the understatement of the year!
Katie, the Modern Day Annie Oakley! She actually did better than Brandon! Way better!
Krystal never shot, but she had a great time anyway! The little kids had fun with Grandma most the time, but the Jared decided that he was a boy and therefore should have the right to learn to shoot as well!

Isn't he the most adorable thing you have ever seen?
Grandpa helped each of the little ones shoot!
If Jared was adorable, just look at this fierce little princess! Ready to take on the world!
Bethany was scared at first, but she could not let her YOUNGER siblings beat her!
This shelter was Grandma's idea! Genius!!! It provided much needed shelter from the rain!
The one thing I hated about our situation was the bugs!!! So, we ironically decided to call ourselves bugs! Where's the logic in that? Anyway, Jessica was a Butterfly(of course), Jared was a Bumble Bee(typical, it has a stinger!), Bethany was the next best thing to a Butterfly...a dragonfly, Krystal was a ladybug(another obvious one), and I...... I was the TICKLE BUG!!!!!!!!
Afterward(while I was asleep) everyone got on top of the hill and held up the U.S. Flag! I wish I could have actually seen that! What a weekend!

My Fifteenth Birthday!!!

A little while before my birthday, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Robert, and Casey came down to roof their house! Which meant they could visit with us for a whole week!!! I, however, was often left all afternoon with the kids while they were out roofing... this caused some stress, but I lived through it! Now, this picture may have you questioning your sanity, but yes, my dear mother is in fact on top of the roof!!!!HeeeHeeHe!!!

Anyway, my dad had planned a day of deep sea fishing for everyone older than 11, not realising that it was on the day of my birthday! So, of course I told him he could still go fishing (even though I loathe fishing) as long as I did NOT have to eat anything they caught, didn't have to actually fish, and would get plenty of chances to see dolphins! Anyway, turns out he had the wrong information about the number of people that could go on the boat, and he had invited 1 too many people! He was actually thinking about sitting out himself, but I wasn't having any of that! There was no way I was going fishing for no reason! And my only reason to go had been so that Daddy could go have a good time! So, when I was told I had the option of staying with Aunty Sandy and Aunt Theresa... I jumped at the chance! However, it took forever to convince Daddy that this was what I wanted and that I wasn't just trying to please everyone! So, once I convinced my Dad, the plan was revised to this: I would skip school and help Mom pack as well as be brought to Johnny Carinoes, then Mom would take all us kids to Grandma's where I would stay till both my Aunts got there, Dad and them would go fishing, I'd spend the day with my aunts, and there you go... That was my Birthday!

Mom, me, and Aunt Michelle at Johnny Carinoes.

I introduced Aunt Michelle to Calamari!! I also insisted that mom try some... There really is nothing better than some fried squid with marinara sauce on top!!!! YYYYUUUUUMMMMM!!!!

Anyway, we went around the table trying a bite and declaring our thoughts from Mom,"yuck" to Ant Michelle,"pretty good" to me,"delicious!"

They also introduced me to a new food: artichokes! It was such a strange taste, I still haven't decided if I like it!

Anyway, when my Aunts took me out, we ate at a Chinese restaurant(more strange foods), went shopping for make up, and went to see 17 Again!!! Not to mention I got 100 dollars that morning, and Twilight the movie on Monday!!! Talk about a great birthday!!

My First Choir Solo!

I was so excited when I found out there was going to be a solo part in the choir concert this year! I was fairly certain I'd get it since the only other people who truly cared about choir were to shy to try out... Anyway, I practiced and practiced the few lines in the girl's solo till the day before the concert... And every time I had tried to sing it in class I did terribly, yet when I did it at home I was rather good! That night though, the last rehearsal before the real thing, she finally announced who got the two solo parts (one guy's part and one girl's)... But she had swapped the parts!!! I now had the boy's part and the guy had gotten the part I had practiced for! I now had one night to practice!!!! Needless to say, I practiced like crazy! Unluckily for me, everyone else knew about my predicament, and kept making jokes about how I'd ruin the whole concert... But that day in choir class, I proved I could do it and through their comments back in their faces! (I never said anything of course, I just sang very well and looked each of my critics in the face as I did so!) This small success, however, made me cocky. Here are the results:

What happened? I'll tell you... I had a random thought right before my next line! I completely lost my concentration, and I freaked! When I realised what had happened I kicked myself mentally! I was such an idiot! My heart rate pretty much doubled as if I'd just run a marathon and I could feel sweat run down the small of my back! The best I could do was try and salvage the last bit of my piece and hope no one noticed... Yeah right!!!

Teeth Missing!!!

O.K., so I know I haven't blogged in a while... But I've been really busy lately! So, heres my first blog in the last few months!:

Jared and Jessica have reached the tooth-fairy age!!! Jared was so frustrated when Jessica(who is younger than he is) started losing teeth before he did! But he finally lost his first tooth!!

Here are some videoes of their missing teeth:

Once Jessica lost her first tooth, itwas like they all decided to pack up and go along!

Jared didn't lose a tooth till much, much later! And even then it was only one!

Anyway, you can bet the toothfairy was rather busy!!! I wouldn't be surprised if she went bankrupt with all the money she spent on those teeth!!!(LOL!!)