End of the Year

Well, I hope you all had a "joyful" Christmas, I know I did. I have finally got an mp3 player, a device formerly unknown to me. I am still having trouble figuring it out. I also got the Sillmarillon. I will now be able to read it without having to turn it in to the library every two weeks because someone else is waiting on it!

Right now we have family in town with us, and so far we have had fun with them. Yesterday me and my cousins made petit fours (sp?) and had great fun decorating them. They also tasted pretty good ;) Today we might be going the the Cowboy Museum. It's been a few months since we've been there, I'm looking forward to going again.

This will probably be my last post of 2007. Time has passed so fast. Last year around this time we were all franticly packing and looking for houses. In a few weeks it will be a year since we moved (and what a trip up here it was, smoking cars, ice storms, slick roads, air bags...) If you had told me before all of this happened, what was going to happen, I probably would have laughed at you. This next year will probably be just as exciting and surprising.


Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you,"
declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future."

-Ellentia

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Cristmas Day!


Isaiah 9:6 (New International Version)

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.


-Ellentia

Christmas Eve!

-Ellentia

2 days till Christmas!

-Ellentia

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

This video was made by comedian Tim Hawkins. How is that for a stereotypical homeschool family?!?!?!?

3 days till Christmas!


-Ellentia

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Yes, I know, I missed the 5 days till Christmas mark! Yesterday was so crazy though that I literally had no time to do anything. Yesterday our homeschool choir had it's Christmas concert and I was in a dress rehearsal from 9:15 to 4:15. And since it was at a church that was a 20 min. drive from our house we left around 8:45 and didn't get home until after 5 (we had to stop on the way home to drop off some girls that we drove home). We were supposed to be back for the concert by 6 meaning that we barely had time to go home and get ready, eat dinner and get back on time. The concert started at 7 and lasted till at least 9. And because the choir wears 2" heels my feet were ready to fall off at the end of the day.

After the concert there was a cookie and punch reception. Mom and the little ones and my grandparents went home after the reception but dad and Nat stayed to help clean up. Where were Jc and I you ask? Well, after the reception everyone was invited to go out to eat at a place called Interurban. However, a lot of people decided to go to IHOP instead. Jc and I got a ride and had a ton of fun. We didn't get home till about 1:45 and I still didn't get to go to bed yet. I had to take down my hair and brush my teeth. I had fun (ha ha) trying to undo my hair because I had so many pins and so much hairspray (I hate hairspray, it's gross) that my hair practically stood on end!

Overall, it was a good concert. Jc and I were in a ladies ensemble and during the dress rehearsal we all completely forgot the words to one of our songs. Thank goodness we remembered them for the concert! Both our songs went well, so I guess you could say I had no reason to be nervous. Well, I have to go now, Goodbye!



4 days till Christmas!

-Ellentia

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Well, more winter weather. Yesterday it was foggy all day, but the fogg was definentley the thickest that I have been in. Visibility was down to a half a mile I think. Last night Jc and I stayed up late watching a movie called Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. It's a good movie. I would put a picture of it on here but right now I don't feel like it. When I woke up this morning (very unwilling, mind you) it wasn't snowing but a few minutes after I woke up it started to snow and hasn't stopped yet. It is supposed to continue snowing for awhile and hopefully accumulate a little bit!

*15 min pause*

Well, now everything outside is looking a little white-ish. So next Wednesday our youth group is having a gift exchange Christmas party. The gift must cost $5 or less and it can't be a "gag-gift". I asked my youth minister why we couldn't make it a white elephant party and he said that it wouldn't be any fun! That everyone wants to get a good gift! Tell me, if it costs $5 or less, how can it be that great? I guess it's been a few years since he's been to a white elephant party ; )




10 days till Christmas!


-Ellentia

Ice Storm 2007

Allright, here are the pictures that I promised:



This was once the side of our pool. It now has a frozen layer of ice all the way around it.



This is the tree from across the street.



This was the fence that all the squirles used to run across. They probably skate across now!



This plant is completely encased in ice, it happened so fast that it is still green too!



I hope we won't be needing this trash can any time soon. . .



I'm almost done now. This is (was) our grass.



Last picture. This is a crepe mertyl. I think that the individual branches in ice is a very neat looking effect.

Tonight we went to my brothers court of honor. He went from the rank of Scout to 1st Class. He also got several merit badges, weather and aviation, I think. Congratulations! There were also three Eagle ranks awarded (I'm not sure if that's how you say it). I didn't know any of the boys, I really don't know any of his troop, but getting your Eagle is not easy so I will say congratulations to the three boys who got their Eagle awards. That is all I have for now, so, goodnight!

Ellentia

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

To answer your question Uncle Dave, no insect bites! I got the name of the mountain from the movie Finding Nemo. Spelled phonetically it would be wan-uh-hawk-uh-loo-gee. If you think about it, it's kinda gross!

It has been really bad here. We've had a big ice storm come through and everything is completely encased in ice. Our basketball net is now a net of ice. The tree across the street has lost it's top branches because of the weight of the ice. Tomorrow we were supposed to have a choir concert but it has (thankfully) been canceled. The people on the news said that the storm has caused the most power outages in Oklahoma's history. We lost our power about 10:30 and didn't get it back until around 4:00. We could lose it again at any time. Thankfully, the gas still works so we can stay warm around our gas fire-place. I will try to post pictures but right now, for some reason, the computer is jamming up whenever I try to upload pictures so y'all will just have to wait impationtley.


15 days till Christmas!

-Ellentia

Jc's marvelous pictures

So, as I said on Jc's blog, I will post some of Jc's marvelous pictures of the botanical garden:

The beautiful-pink-begonia-type-flowering-shrub/plant

(breath)

-organism-from-the-kingdom-Plantae
(sp?)

The "Garden of Poinsettias"

Mt. Wanahakalugi

Now that I have had my fun of lableing all the pictures I will depart!

-Ellentia

So here is the picture of the cake that jc and I made on our last trip to Nac. I know, it has been awhile but I wanted to post the picture showing our wonderful cake-making skills ; ) Not really, I just wanted to post the picture because I could. I don't even really know what it tasted like because I didn't get a piece! However, Specter, you can ask your brother if it was any good, he's the one who cut it up!








-Ellentia

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

20 days till Christmas!




-Ellentia

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

25 days till Christmas!





-Ellentia

Hmmmn...

Well, I should probably post about something but I'm not really sure about what I should post..... Okay, this will probably be a little rambling.

Thanksgiving this year was a little different then what I'm used to because we didn't have any extended family with us. I can't remember ever not having a big family gathering at some grandparents house or another. It was different, but not too bad ;)

Sunday we --I and a few other girls including JC-- sang in church. After we got home we watched part of the video of the service and I was completely horrified at how we sounded. However, JC talked to a sound person and he said that what we heard on the video was not at all what it really sounded like because the sound people aren't able to mix multiple voices if there is a band. Hopefully we didn't sound quite that bad!

Today we are going ice skateing with our youth group. I have only ice skated once before and that was two years ago! I will probably make a fool of myself. Maybe there will be someone besides me that can't ice skate, then maybe I won't look so bad.

Yesterday was a long day. We had choir from 10am to 12pm but we had to be at the church at 8:20am because Nat's choir starts at 8:30am. Then at 7pm we had sectionals for the girls which lasted two hours and after that JC had a double trio to practice with till 10pm! And to top it all I've been sick for three days!

Okay, I'm done now. I will depart because I have things to do!

-Ellentia

Back Again

Well, were back again from our trip to Nac! Jc and I had a wonderful time! I would like to thank the Reeses for picking us up for the weekend and letting us stay in their home! Thursday after a nice drive to Nac with the Reeses we watched the medieval ball video. It is so funny to watch! The funniest part is definently the end during the freestyle!

After dinner we made cakes for the annual bake contest at the Harvest Party. Jc and I made a chocolate log cake with red roses on top and chocolate painted Camillia and Rose leaves (yes, the leaves were real). The chocolate was supposed to peal off the leaves but it wouldn't so we just put the whole leaf on. I ate a Camillia leaf at the party and it tasted pretty good (I will post pictures as soon as I get them)! Court and Gab made an apple cider spice cake. It was really pretty! They used white frosting and made little apples out of almond paste and covered the sides with nuts. It was absolutely gorgeous (it also tasted delicious)!

At the party Jc and I's cake won best taste and Court and Gab's cake won best presentation! Unfortunatley I didn't get a piece of our cake but Specter, you can ask your brother if you don't believe me. He was the one who cut the cake! Olivia M. won runner up with her beautiful pumpkin pie (I would say that it tasted good but I'm not a fair judge because I don't like pumpkin pie). On her pie she had cut out leaves from pie crust and brushed them with egg and arranged them on top. They looked very pretty.

Before the party we got to go to the first ever homeschool vs. Regents basketball game! We got there a little late and left a little early but what we did see was very good! Our team played hard and, even though they lost they played very well. There were a lot of people there to support them and we all got excited and cheered for the team! It was a lot of fun!

After the party the Reeses had a big sleepover at their house with a total of 11 girls. We played four on a couch and then watched The Love Letter and half of Pride and Prejiduce ( the one with Kiera Knightley). Unfortunately there were not enough beds downstairs so Bethany and I got stuck in Nick and Aaron's beds! I would rather not get stuck there again!

Well, overall we had a safe and fun trip! Once again, thank you so much Reese family! You have been so kind to us!

-Ellentia

*edit*
I forgot to put this in the first time, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIBBA! Libba turned 4 on Saturday! She had a wonderful birthday and got all sorts of cool presents!

Hello!

It seems like it's been awhile since I last posted. Last Wednesday my small group (at church) actually had a focused meeting! I was very excited that we were able to get something done!

As JC said in one of her posts, we went and saw the von Trapp children sing last Friday. I really enjoyed the concert, the orchestra and the children were really good! My favorite song that they sang was a French folk song. I don't remember the title but it had something to do with windmills I think.

Last Sunday I had to miss church. My littlest brother was sick with who knows what and since the handbells were playing mom couldn't stay home so I got to babysit. We went outside for awhile and Phil sat on the swing with his arms stretched up as high as they would go! I tried to get him to pull them down but he wouldn't. It looked very uncomfortable.

Well, I need to get off, we have choir in a few minutes and I will be in trouble with Nat if I make him late!

~Ellentia

Thanksgiving Moment

So, our youth group had a high school family dinner last night. While we were there, we watched a video and then had to answer some questions. Now, you get to try. Watch the video then answer the questions.




Now, without watching the video again, answer these questions. You get one point for every correct answer and if the question has more then one answer, you get double points if you get them both right!






1. How many candles were lit in the background?

2. How many people were helping in the kitchen?

3. What pattern was on the shoes of the "knee breaker" (the child who was hurting Darryl)

4. How many children were not wearing glasses?

5. What were the names of the two uncles that Darryl mentioned?

6. What did Darryl say that the youngest child needed?

7. Why were the people in the kitchen clapping?

8. What is the name of Darryl's wife?

9. What two colors were the two women in the kitchen wearing

10. What is the title of the video?

Tie breaker:
How many children started out with Darryl?

Now, here are the answers:



























1. 6

2. 6

3. Two stripes

4. 4

5. Uncle Teddy and Uncle Floyd

6. A lot of wipes

7. Because of Pumpkin Pie

8. Halley

9. Pink and black

10. Thanksgiving Moment

Tie Breaker:

5

-Ellentia

Crazieness and halloween

Yesterday was nuts. Almost as soon as I woke up I had to start working on my paper that was due in a matter of hours. Just like I didn't plan on working on my paper on Saturday, I didn't exactly plan on working on it the day it was due. It was all written, it just wasn't perfected or printed and the pictures weren't ready at all! As you can imagine, I was a little stressed and I think I aggravated mom by asking her to go faster (she was going slower then I would have liked). I spent the the whole morning working on it with mom and, thankfully we got it finished up! Yesterday was also yearbook picture-day and so that only added to the stress that was already there! However, I got the paper turned in, I was not late to class (although a few seconds later and I would have been) and Jc and I got our pictures made. Now, will my picture turns out good? Probably not, they never do.


So, tomorrow is halloween, that dreaded holiday. I used to think halloween was just where you put on a tu-tu and went to church to play games and get free candy. Now, I really don't like halloween at all. I really dislike trick-or-treating too, on both ends. I never liked knocking on peoples doors and asking for candy (I've only been once), and I never like opening the door to give people candy. Especially when it gets late and all the weird high-schoolers come out with their creepy costumes. Last Sunday my youth minister asked who was going trick-or-treating and if so, what their costume was going to be. One boy said he was going to be Ballerina-Man and wear a tu-tu with a cape! I don't think I would answer the door if I saw him standing on the front porch! If you want a good reason to dislike halloween, research its origins. They are not good at all.

Well, I need to get off now, have a happy week!

-Ellentia

I suppose I should post again but I don't know what to post about......thinking......thinking... Well as jc said, we went to a yearbook meeting last Thursday. Yesterday was our church's fall festival and Libba of course wanted to go to that. So we all went down and I ended up working at the bake sale for an hour or so. After that I stood at the door and passed out bags of candy to everyone leaving (a very difficult job ;)



Today I have to finish writing my essay on the Cherokee Indians. I am not very far along in the writing so I certainly have my work cut out for me. So in light of that last sentence, I had better go!



-Ellentia

Hapenings

I am in a good mood right now. I found out today from my history teacher that except for the paper I am currently working on I only have one more English comp. assignment till after Christmas! I am very excited about that. Today it is very cold and rainy. I forgot my jacket because I was almost late to class and almost froze because of it!

After a shopping trip I was talking to Nat and during the conversation he happened to look outside and see a skunk! It was waddling around in the grass, occasionally shaking off the rain. I have never seen a skunk so it was something new for me!

So last Thursday we were supposed to go on a retreat with our church over fall break (by the way, have you ever heard of fall break?). Unfortunately there weren't enough people so they just had a Friday lock-in. It was a lot of fun despite the fact that while we were playing Sardines in-a-can at 3 in the morning one of the collage kids was assigned to jump out at us on our way inside and when he did I was so scared that I screamed at the top of my lungs and punched him (he wasn't hurt)! Also one of the high school boys kept on jumping out at me and grabbing my ankle and locking me in dark rooms so that I was crying before long (I scare VERY easy) and even then he didn't stop! I was and still am very mad at him.

Well, I have some work to do for that paper I am working on so I must go!

-Ellentia

Back Again!

Originaly I was going to post a long, day by day story of our trip but I think I will just upload a few pictures instead.

We had lots of time to relax.

We also spent lots of time outdoors!





Our visit to the Thorncrown Chaple was very peaceful.





Libba found some four leaf clovers!





While driving through a battle sit memorial we saw a deer in the woods right beside us. It posed for the picture.





We had lots of help setting up our tent in Tahlequah!





I watched the sun rise Saturday morning (a very rare event for me).





We took a tour of an Cherokee village recreation.





We had lots of fun!

That's all Folks!

-Ellentia

We're leaving on a trip in a few minutes so I won't post again for a week or so. Have a good week!

-Ellentia

Well, I'm finally posting again. This last week has been busy. Yesterday was the only day I got to relax a little and I got a fever and a headache. At first I thought I might have the flu but based on my last bout with the flu, I don't think I have it.

Friday we also went to the church to record audition tapes for swacda. What is swacda, you ask? It stands for South West American Choral Directors Association. My siblings and I are auditioning to be in one of the honor choirs that will sing at the convention in February. I really hope we all make it!

On Wednesday, my small group set a record! We actually made it through a chapter in our book in one night! That may not seem like it should be an astronomical event, but, my small group is always so off track that sometimes we don't get anything done!

Well, thats all I have to say, goodbye now.

-Ellentia

Indian Tacos! Get your Indian Tacos!

Boy does that phrase ever get tiring! We have been working the taco stand a lot since it opened last Thursday at the state fair. We worked the 13th, 14th, 17th, 19th and 20th. We are also going to work today and tomorrow. Needless to say I am exhausted. We also had our grandparents visiting from the 10th to the 16th.

On top of everything else I have school to do and I am not doing a very good job of keeping up. Last week I almost didn't get it done because I had two essays to write and I didn't start them till Saturday! I don't plan to repeat that mistake.

We decided to stay at the fair after we finished working yesterday and the armbands for the rides were on sale so dad decided to buy them for us. There was a log ride and we were just finishing our second go-round and Nat told the attendant to splash me. So what did he do? He picked up a cup and drenched me. I was so mad at Nat. I had even said that I didn't want to get too wet (that's probably why he said it).

Well, I need to go do some school, so goodbye for now.

-Ellentia

More stuff and Tacos

So not much has really happened since I last posted. My grandparents came in yesterday from a trip to Hot Springs.

Yesterday I had my history class. It was quite funny when my teacher tried to start a tape and she didn't know what to do so she didn't plug the video player in and when she couldn't get the tape to go in she started saying the player ate her tape! I was trying not to laugh.

Today we had choir practice and a health meeting to go to. This year the choir is getting new dresses (for the girls) and last week we tried to vote but it was very unorganized and we didn't get anything done. This week, we got called down one by one to vote and so everybody got to pick the dress they wanted to vote for. The health meeting was for the state fair food booths. We had to go because we will be working the same taco stand we worked on the 4th of July to raise money for dresses and tour.

I have to get off now to help with dinner, so long!

-Ellentia

*edit*

Here is the video that is the same idea as the video on Specter's blog.

Stuff

As Specter has noticed, I'm home. I would have posted sooner except that when I was going to post I discovered that jc had already posted about the trip so I decided to wait till I thought of something else to write about. I still don't have much to say but since I had a request to post I decided to go ahead.

One thing I am excited about is Philip. I think he might turn out to be left-handed! I am left-handed and I need a partner in crime! I am the only one in my immediate family that is left handed so I have high hopes for Phililp. Just for fun here are some statistics and trivia (I'm not sure if they are true though)

• Did you know that only about 13% of people are left-handed? (I looked this statistic up and found two sites that had the same number)
  

• Left-handers have an advantage in softball and baseball because we stand closer to first base (this I can say is true from experience).

• Sinistrophobia is the fear of left-handedness.
  

• During the 1600's, people thought left handers were witches and warlocks.

• They say everyone was born right handed, and only the greatest overcome it (he,he,he). ...Brilliant Author unknown

• August 13 is left-handers day

• The left side of your brain controls the right side of your body, and the right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. So only left handed people are in their right mind!

I had fun reading these statistics and random trivia, hope you enjoy them to!

-Ellentia

Weekend trip!

Well, were headed off to my cousins wedding tomorrow morning (she lives out of state), I will post when we get back! Wow, this is the shortest post I've ever typed!

-Ellentia

1/2 plus 8 :D

Last Saturday our church had a mission outreach day. All the youth went to a place called the Infant Crisis Center which is a place people can go when they need help taking care of their babies and/or toddlers. I was assigned to package diapers. I and the 3 other people working at my table packaged around 2000 diapers in about 2 hours! What we had to do was take the diapers out of their original package and put a certain number into a plastic sack. We were supposed to get as much air out of the bags as possible but I was the only person who figured out how to do that. I was very tired of diapers by the end of the workday.

While we were working the subject turned to dating (imagine that). The pastor that was working with us shared his opinion of what the ages of the two parties involved in a date should be. He said that the youngest girl a guy should date should be half his age plus 8. For example:

Lets say the boy in question is 18. Take his age and divide it in half and you get 9. Add 8 to 9 and you get 17. So 17 is the youngest that a girl he dates can be. I thought that it was a funny way to determine the age of whoever you date!

Now, to end my post, I thought I would type up a clip from one of my favorite books. However, to get the full efect of what this says, you MUST read it out loud:

A clip from
Fox in Sox:*

(Fox)
Bim comes.
Ben comes.
Bim brings Ben broom.
Ben brings Bim broom.

Ben bends Bim's broom.
Bim bends Ben's broom.
Bim's bends.
Ben's bends.
Ben's bent broom breaks.
Bim's bent broom breaks.

Ben's band. Bim's band.
Big bands. Pig bands.

Bim and Ben lead
bands with brooms.
Ben's band bangs
and Bim's band booms.

(Mr. Knox)
Pig band! Boom band!
Big band! Broom band!
My poor mouth can't
say that. No, sir.
My poor mouth is
much to slow, sir.

(Fox)
Well then...
bring your mouth this way.
I'll find it something
it can say.

-Ellentia

*If you would like to read the compleat story of Fox in Sox, you will most likely find this tongue twisting book at your local library in the children's section.

Home again

Hello, Hello! We're back from our weekend trip to New Mexico for my cousins 4th birthday! Happy Birthday Samantha! It was good trip and we got to see my grandparents, my cousins, my aunt and uncle and my great grandma. However the hotel's pool water had so much chlorine in it that it burned your eyes just sitting next to the pool! (that was sorta random, I know)

The scenery was, of coarse, just beautiful! Unfortunately we didn't see much on the way up there because we didn't leave our house till about 6 pm! On the return trip though, we got to see plenty. The car trip up wasn't much fun. It was cramped and dark most of the way and with 2 little ones you can just imagine what that was like. The car trip home was much more comfortable because dad drove a different car home (we got our great grandmothers old car) so there was an extra seat. However, dad had much different trip home.

Since he had to be back in time for church on Sunday he left Saturday afternoon. Well, on the way home the alternator in his car quit working so the battery rand down. And on top of the car troubles it was raining cats and dogs and the roads were flooded because of hurricane Erin! And we thought we were safe from hurricanes up here! So he had to wait out the storm and while doing so he missed church. Thankfully he was able to fix the car and got home Sunday.

Well, I must get back to school, so I will have to go.

-Ellentia

Redhawks!

Last night we went to go see a Redhawks baseball game. I have been to minor league games before but they don't really count because I was to little to remember them. It was a lot of fun. The Redhawks (the home team) played the Memphis Redbirds. Jc said said that Redbirds wasn't a very manly name.

Anywayz, we had enough tickets to invite some friends so we had a lot of fun. During the national anthem there were cameras scanning the crowd and we were on the screen at the very end.

On the Redbirds there were several left-handed hitters and one fouled the ball into our stand twice in a row! It was quite funny when the same lady let out the same terrified shriek both times!

Because we had little ones and because we wanted to stop for some ice-cream after the game we didn't stay for the whole game, we left about a half an inning early. I don't know how the game ended but when we left the Redbirds had one point (they got that in the first inning) and the Redhawks had zero. It was a pretty slow game, but it was fun.

Well, I don't have much else to say so I will end this post.

-Ellentia

14!

Sunday was happy day for me because it was my birthday! At youth that night I (and 4 other people) were recognized and then almost squashed to death because my youth minister had everyone else get a running start and give us a hug!

That night I opened presents and got some lovely beads and buttons from my family for making jewelry. My grandparents got me High school Musical, a scarf with fringe and the very necessary birthday shirt.

Yesterday mom made me an incredible chocolate cake with chocolate glaze and filling! She even got a flower from the garden to put on top! It was really yummy! It was also the cake I had picked out a few months ago to have!

We also went out to eat at one of my favorite places, Red Lobster! We never get to go there because Dad and Nat don't like seafood. I had shrimp and it was really good!

Well, I need to get off now, I have lots to do so I will have to close this post!

Ellentia

Fish tales, fish tales, fish tales are stories that seem to good to be true!

So this last week Sunday through Wednesday our church had a musical camp for kids going into 1st-5th grades. And since my parents were running the camp, I was of course drafted. It was kinda like VBS except it was from 9:00 to 2:00 so it was a lot longer. The kids learned how to play orf instruments and how to play hand chimes while learning a musical called Fish tales. I will be singing the songs for weeks.

I got to help teach the kids how to play hand chimes. I thought that it would be relatively easy because we only had about 10 to 20 kids in each group and we only had each group for 30 min. Boy was I wrong! Getting the kids to listen instead of talking and dinging the chimes was next to impossible! The funny thing was that the older kids were the most difficult! The younger kids mostly did what we asked them to, whereas the older ones wouldn't do anything you asked them to!

I'm done complaining now.

I was amazed at how well the performance went! The kids learned the songs and the hand motions and the lead parts learned there lines and the whole production went off almost perfectly! Some of the soloists bobbled because they were nervous but other then that it was great! I am so glad the whole thing is over!

Last night we had youth and I played volleyball. I was terrible! And the worst part was that every time I made a mistake (which was quite often) jc complained at me! Even so I had a lot of fun being terrible! Well, I have to go now!

-Ellentia

So I know it's been a while since I last posted but really, nothing terribly exciting has happened till yesterday.

Yesterday was Mom's birthday! So Happy birthday Mom!

Also yesterday, Mom and jc picked up jc's friend who is visiting for a few days (she lives in Texas).

Monday jc is leaving for camp.

Other then that and besides school, nothing exciting has happened for a while. It seems like everything has slowed down for the summer. Even our youth program is taking a break!

Well, I need to get off now, so, good day!

-Ellentia

I was going to post some statistics like jc did but it took to much time, concentration and effort to look all of it up so I abandoned the idea.

I have had a very long week, even though not much has happened. Tuesday I had some friends spend the night and it was a lot of fun. We swam on Tuesday and we watched 3 movies. It was nice to have them over.

Wednesday evening wasn't so great. The kids at youth were in general just a bit mean and rough and it wasn't much fun. Tonight we have youth and I'm hoping it will turn out better.

It rained this morning. Even though it isn't raining everyday anymore the water still doesn't have anywhere to soak in so it just forms puddles in the grass.

Last night while mom and dad were out to dinner with some friends we watched Alfred Hitchcock's re-make of his movie (yes he re-made his own movie) The Man Who Knew To Much. It was really good and much easier to understand then the original movie.

Well, since I can't think of anything else to say I will close this post by saying thanks to all who still read my blog. I really appreciate it.

-Ellentia

Indian Tacos

I think I will start out by saying Happy 4th of July, even though it is a little late. Yesterday we went to a parade. We had to get up early to get a good spot to watch but it was worth it. I enjoyed the parade but I would've enjoyed it more if half of it wasn't advertisement. They weren't even very good floats sometimes. There were some, however that I really enjoyed, such as the boy scouts at the beginning of the parade:



And the firetrucks:


And the Star Wars people:

And the lovely horse-drawn carriages:

All in all it was a good parade!

At about 4:00 (after a nice swim) jc, my brother and I all worked an Indian taco stand at a 4th of July festival. Why would we do that you ask? To earn money to go on a choir tour at the end of the year.

It was SO hot inside because the taco shell was what they called "Indian fry bread" and you cook it the same way you cook a funnel cake. Then, the beans were on a big stove so they would stay hot and the heat emitted by the grease and the stove was enormous. However, the tacos were really good!
-Ellentia

RAIN!!!!!!

So you'll never guess what has happened every day for 17 days! It has rained every day for 17 days! The record used to be 14 days in a row from way back in 1937, ending the dust bowl. We broke that record Wednesday.

Thankfully there has been no tornado danger, just flooding problems. On Wednesday Sam Champion from Good Morning America was here to talk about the flooding. You can read the story they featured here.

I am ready for it to stop raining! It has rained almost all day and it's still going strong. I took these pictures about 20 minutes ago.

As you can see it's been raining really hard here.
That, <-- is our street :O








This is a video that jc found the other day and it made me laugh so I thought I'd post it. Don't worry though, I'm not going to start posting a video every time like jc does!

-Ellentia

**edit** I'm posting this pic so I can put it on my profile, that is all.

Guitar, Blackberrys and Rain

Well hello everyone, that is, everyone left. No one is really around these days. Except for Specter and jc (even though jc ''forgets'' to read my blog) and I.

Last Saturday was the most exciting day--the good kind of exciting that is-- I've had in about a week. I got to sleep in about an hour without getting in trouble and the I also got clean up after breakfast. yay. After we finished cleaning up I was sitting at the computer doing nothing productive when I noticed that it had gotten strangely quiet and sort of deserted looking in the main parts of the house.

Then, a voice from the distance calling to me. It was mom. So I go see what she needs and everyone is in there just looking at me. And Nathaniel has a video camera. Their all just staring at me. After a few seconds of akward silence Dad tells me to look behind the door.

THEY GOT ME A GUITAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have wanted to learn to how play for several years but since we didn't have a guitar I had to learn how to play the piano instead. I doubt they'll let me stop playing the piano but hey, I can finally learn how to play the guitar! I'm very excited (as if you can't tell). I have been trying to play some chords on the guitar and I have managed to play some but it is harder then I expected. It hurts to play some of the chords. Oh well, I am determined to learn how to play, no matter how much it hurts at first.

We also went blackberry picking Saturday. It was very prickally. But it was worth it. I have never seen such big blackberries! I picked one that had to be at least 2 inches long! We picked for about 2 ta 3 hours and we picked a lot. I must admit though, I like the taste of dewberries better.

And, you'll never guess, it rained Saturday and Sunday, even though on Saturday the sun never stopped shining, which is to say that the clouds didn't block out the sun at all so it was bright and sunny outside, all the while it was pouring rain!

-Ellentia

VBS

I guess it's been awhile hasn't it. I have had a busy week although nothing terribly noteworthy has happened i a while besides the fact that we saw some friends the other day that I haven't seen in a really long time. Aso, our grandparents were here last week from fLORIDA.

sO THIS WEEK was VBS at our church and if you cant tell from my typing , I'm worn out. Wednesday I had a ffirend over for the day and she is the second friend that I'v had over to our house. Wait, no, she is the third friend i've had over.

I should get off now, i have some school to do and then we might go to the sstor so I need to end this post.

Ellentia

Rain...

So as you can see, I decided not to post about the luau because I didn't feel like it. It was rainy at the party but we swam anyways. We also had a reverse limbo contest. Instead of going under the rope we jumped off the diving board and went over the rope. Of course I was the first one to get out : (

They also had a distance contest to see who could jump the farthest (they had a rope to jump over) but I didn't enter that contest. They played old music the whole time and I surprised myself by knowing a lot of the songs they played. At the end of the party, when it was just about dark, there were hundreds of fireflys all twinkling in the yard. I haven't seen that many fireflys ever, it was really pretty : )

It has been hot and icky here lately but today it cooled off and has been raining again. And I thought it wouldn't rain here... Well, I should probably get off now.

-Ellentia

Just a little longer

So I'm finally back (again) and I am posting. However, there is going to be a luau for the high schoolers tonight so I will probably add on to this post tomorrow. So...what has happened since my last post...oh yes! Camp! Last Saturday I went to church camp! It was SO fun! I had the best time I've ever had at a camp.

Since I am now considered a freshman (yes! I'm finally in high school!)I got to go on the "float trip" at camp. Monday all the freshman went down to a river and we got rafts (big enough for 6 people) and we "floated" down the river for about an hour. It was fun except it was really short and some crazy boys kept trying to flip our raft and they made me really mad.

At the camp there was a ropes course and each day we did an "element" every day (an element is one part of the course). I think our small group got the hardest elements. We had to climb the "Jacobs Ladder" and it was really hard. If you were standing on a wrung, the next one was at eye level and the ladder was only attached at the top so it was swinging the whole time. Not a good combination for me. To say it nicely, I am not very athletic and I only made it up to the second wrung.

Our other high ropes element (there was also a little ropes course that was much easier) was the rock climbing. It wasn't real rocks, just a really tall wooden platform (just a little shorter then a two story house) attached to a really tall tree with blocks of wood and plastic handhold thingys. Well, since I didn't compleat the Jacobs Ladder I was determined to climb all the way up the "rocks". So the first time I tried I made it halfway up. I couldn't get a hand hold though so I came down. Then, after everyone else had gone I went again and got about 2/3 of the way up and again, I couldn't get a handhold. I was stuck for probably 5 or 6 min. trying to get up. I kept slipping and falling off (I was attached to a rope, don't worry) and finally I just had to come down.

Unfortunately While trying to climb up I pulled the skin off my left hand and boy it hurt! It still hasn't healed. I also got really soar because the camp had so many huge steep hills that I had to climb up and down all day long. Well, I need to get off so I'll end this post.

-ellentia

Home!

So we're finally home! I am so tired from our trips that I didn't even dream last night! You'll never guess what happened yesterday so I'll tell you what happened.

My grandparents had brought a motor home and a pop-up trailer camping with them. So, on the way home my grandma drove their van in front while my grandpa drove the motor home with the trailer hooked to the back. Well, they were driving along and suddenly my grandpa heard a loud boom and so he pulled over to see what had happened. He saw flames in the engine and when he couldn't put them out he let their dog, Miky out and they took off running because they had just put gas in the motor home and plus there were two bottles of propane in the motor home.

Everything burned up. The motor home, the pop-up, all their clothes were burned, camping stoves and lanterns, 4 fishing poles, brand new tools, everything is gone. The car behind them called the police and then my grandpa called my grandma because she didn't know what had happened.

In about 20 min. the fire fighters were there and put out the fire which had also caught the grass on fire. Thankfully no one was hurt as far as I know. The Albuquerque news crew and helicopter came and the crash was on the news. If you want to see the story and watch the video, click here, the link will take you to the news website. I will try to post pictures if I can get some.

Well, besides the fact that that there was a huge fire, the camping trip was really fun. We went fishing in the Pecos river everyday but I never caught anything. However, by the end of the trip we had five rainbow trout so we grilled them for breakfast yesterday and they were SO good.

When we got home yesterday we had all sorts of surprises waiting for us. Dad got our pool ready to swim in and we are going to finally get to use it today. Yay! Also, he got his new tablet computer that he ordered for work and it is really neat. And, he is finally making my bed! I had wanted a loft bed since my room is pretty small and he is going to make it after he finishes my little sisters bed.

Whew! So much to tell and so little time to tell it! Oh yes, one more thing. Tuesday is jc's sweet sixteen so y'all wish her a happy birthday! We love you jc!

-ellentia

Home at last!

Ahhhhhh! It feels so good to be out of the car again! We got back from putting the yearbook together a while ago and am I ever glad to be out of that car! In case you don't know, our family went back to nac to put together the yearbook and see friends. We stayed with the Reeses although I spent every night with someone different. We amazingly finished the yearbook Tuesday and so Wednesday we swam most of the afternoon. I really enjoyed swimming, it was a lot of fun! At first we were having what jc called "combat swimming" and then we just sat around and talked. What is combat swimming, you ask? It is where you try to push other people into the pool and not get pushed in yourself. It was mostly Nick and Nathanael against jc and I and Courtney, Kelsey and Gabby. It was quite fun, especially when Nick tried to push you in and you pushed him in instead (although that was a rare occurance for me;) Elizabeth and I got to put together the pages for the medival ball and I must say, as far as I could tell it turned out really good. There were plenty of pictures from the ball but unfortunately there were a lot of pictures of the same people and there were several dark pictures that we couldn't use. And you'll never guess what we found out when we got home! Due to a mix-up, my suitcase got left at the Reeses! Oh, well, I can get along without it because nothing essential was in the suitcase. Well, I really need to get off and finish packing for our camping trip to New Mexico that we are going on tomorrow. Boy, won't that be a fun car trip! -Ellentia

Watermelons and eggshells ;)

So I guess I'll post more pictures since I found some really cool ones that my grandma sent us.
-Ellentia

Flowers

So I couldn't think of anything to post so I will post some pictures that I took that I think are kinda okay ;) So with out further ado, the pictures:
-Ellentia

CATS! and Seussical Jr. and rain...

So Saturday we went to go see CATS! It was AWESOME! I absolutely LOVED it! I have wanted to see CATS! live for a long time so it was sooooo cool to see it live! Jc had heard that the Broadway CATS! was very different from the West End Theater's movie (the one that I have) but they were incredibly similar. Both the choreography and the costumes were very similar. Unfortunately one of my favorite scenes from the movie was not in the show but there was a scene in the show that wasn't in the movie.

Yesterday we went to see the Seussical Jr. performed by a local children's theater. It was great! It was so funny watching another theater perform it because jc and I were in it last summer at a different theater. After the first number I thought oh no, this is going to be a disaster, but it was actually quite good! I think that my favorite characters were the Wickersham brothers, Mayzie and the Cat-in-the-Hat. They were all very good at their parts.

In other news not much is going on around here

besides
a
whole
lot
of
rain.

We were or are (I'm not sure which) under a flood watch. And I thought it wasn't going to rain as much up here. The only problem is that with rain comes severe weather and with severe weather comes tornadoes. In Nac a lot of rain in the spring meant it would be reeeally humid. Up here a lot of rain in the spring means a possibility of tornadoes. Fun.

Well I need to get off now but before I close: when jc posts a quiz, everybody takes it! When I posted a quiz, nobody took it! Whats up? ;)
-Ellentia

Frisbee golf (and other happenings) (and now Cats and Seussical Jr.)

Ahhh! The end of a long week! Last Tuesday our grandparents came up for a choir concert. The concert went well although I almost lost a most beloved (and valuable) mirror. Thursday we went to the Cowboy Museum and played some frisbee golf. Saturday we went to the arts festival and I saw some absolutely gorgeous jewelry! To read more about the festival, jc posted about it so you can read her post.

Sunday we went to church and watched Americas Funniest Home Videos.

Monday we played More frisbee golf and had a few adventures on this one particular hole. It was a tricky hole to play because it went over a small creek and had one small path cut through a big group of trees. So my grandpa went to throw but right as he let go he slipped and fell! It was like something you'd see on Americas Funniest home Videos! Then, my grandpa saw something on the bank on the creek (it turned out to be a frisbee) and then when he went to get it he couldn't get back up! I almost died laughing! But unfortunately my laughter was silenced.

As we were going towards the next hole I decided to try a different path then everyone else that ran parallel with the one they were on. Then I made the mistake of trying to cut across to the other path. Big mistake. As I was about halfway over I looked down just as I was taking a step and came within a 1/4 of an inch of stepping on this snake that was bout the biggest snake I've seen outside of a zoo! I screamed louder then I have screamed in a long time. But d'ya know what really got me? Afterwards my grandpa asked me what the head of the snake looked like and was surprised that I forgot to look! Anyways.

I found this cool test that is really funny! To take it click on this link. I am 86% Dixie! Haha!

-ellentia

**edit**
WE ARE GOING TO SEE CATS! Mom got jc and I tickets to go see Broadways traveling Cats production this Saturday! I have the movie but I haven't ever seen the play! But wait! Theres more! Sunday we are going to see a local theater perform the Seussical Jr.! Ordinarily that wouldn't be so exciting but this last summer jc and I were in the Seussical! It will be interesting to see how they do it differently!

Branson, MO!

Well, I know I didn't post about this as soon as I should have but anyways, here it is.

Last Thursday we (my brother and I) went to Branson, MO for a choir tour. Thursday we sang and got critiqued by the judge. Our choir director didn't like the judge because during his critique he helped her direct and she said he was lucky he didn't get a punch in the nose!

After we sang we went to the Dixie Stampede and had a blast! The dinner they served each person was huge! they gave us each a whole rotisserie chicken, a slice of pork, a bowl of soup, a biscuit, corn on the cob and a huge apple turnover type dessert! If I had eaten all that I wouldn't have needed a meal for the next week! It was, however, very good and the show was even better!

At the beginning we were divided up into the North and the South. Then they did a lot of really neat tricks during the first half. In the second half they had a series of races and contests between the North and the South (I forgot to say, we were on the Southern side).

Some of the contests were between audience members, like the stick-horse race and the chicken chase. Others were between members of the cast, like the Ostrich race. Still others were between animals representing each side, like the pig race (I know, some of these were pretty crazy!). Our side, the South, was winning but because it goes against history for the South to win the contestants from the show made sure that the North won. Phooey! Oh well, it was all for fun!

Friday we went to Silver Dollar City (in case you don't know, Silver Dollar City is an amusement park). I had a blast! I love roller coasters and I'll ride anything! We rode a new ride that they have called The Great Swing (click on the picture to see a video of what the ride is like!) It was really fun! I have to get off now so I will end this post although I might add on to it later!

-ellentia

**Edit**
FYI, Specter, the changes made since this was first posted are template changes, nothing exciting! (except that I figured out how to change the colors and font of my template so it is a one-of-a-kind template!)

Confirmation Sunday

Well, since I didn't get to post about this last Sunday I will post about it now. Last Sunday was confirmation Sunday which means that everyone who was in the confirmation class gets confirmed and joins the church as full members.

Jc and I participated in the class so we were both confirmed, even though we have already been baptized. It was really neat and now I am an official member of the Methodist church.

During the service we had to stand up in front of the church and take our vows and then we went and talked with a minister and then your family and friends came down and prayed over you. I was trying so hard not to cry (because I was happy, not sad) but unfortunately the tears got the better of me : }

It was kinda funny, I got four crosses that day! Well, I have to go clean up and pack for a choir trip to Branson Missouri (I will post about the trip afterwards) and so I will go for now!
-Ellentia

pretty flower

-ellentia

Footprints

One Night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking on the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you the most you would leave me."

The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

I just love that story. I don't know who wrote it but whoever they are they did a good job. Today, the craziest thing happened. Today (yes, in April) it snowed! Not a big heavy snow but a light feathery snow that won't stick. Maybe if were lucky it'll snow on Easter! Wouldn't that be something! Well, I need to go now so to all you who read my blog (Specter) thank you for your constant support and good day!

-Ellentia

Smart

My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more then one!

And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes - I guess he don't know
That three is more then two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more then three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more then four!

And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head -
Too proud of me to speak!

by Shel Silverstein



-Ellentia


Update!
This afternoon it was pouring rain and at about 4:45 the tornado sirens went off and we turned on the news (after preparing for the worst) and found out that there was a tornado not five miles from our house! I tell you we got such a scare! Fortunatly the tornado was short lived and the storm moved on although it did do some tornado damage in the countys just north of us.

Spring break!

This last week has been fun. I signed up for a spring-break sewing camp and it just finished today. It was a three day camp and I made a purse, belt, hair scrunchies and finished my dress (the one I made for the ball needed a few touch-ups). I also had to do a little school because we took off a few days to go to my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary party in Florida (I forgot to post about that). Last Saturday we (the older kids and Dad) went to the zoo to see what it was like, however there is an unspoken law that says everyone with kids has to go to the zoo on St. Patrick's day and the zoo was packed! We did have fun though and there was this cool little trail you could walk that had native Oklahoman animals. My favorite part was definantly the tram ride. It took us all over the zoo and was quite fun. The down-side to spring break is that there are no social gatherings (except at the zoo). Last night the most wonderful thing happened. It rained! Okc is much dryer then nac so it won't rain as much. My favorite kind of day is when the sky is overcast and it is raining intermittently the whole day.
-Ellentia

Gospelgrass and Jesus painting

Well sorry guys but I keep forgetting to post, I will try to do better. This past weekend was the first ever Gopelgrass bluegrass festivle at our church. It was really cool. It was a shame that more people weren't there because the music was awesome! And the neatest thing about it was that the majority of the bands were families with kids ranging in age from 4 to 19! One of my favorite bands had a little girl who couldn't have been older then 6 or 7 who could play the fiddle extreamly well. The lady in charge of the festival said that we should form a family band and play at the next festival! I say NO! I wouldn't enjoy that. Now I'm sure your wondering about the second part of the title (if it were me I would be wondering). I saw this really cool video called Jesus painting:

-Ellentia

Well, sorry about that long absence guys. I got sick with what I think was the flu Friday evening and stayed sick until the next Thursday. And I was really sick. I had such an awful soar throat that it was almost too painful to eat and I had high fevers and couldn't go to sleep or stay asleep. All I could do was lay around and read. I am so glad that I am better. In other news not much has been going on since I last posted. It snowed here on valentines day and there were all these storys on the news about the problem of getting your flowers delivered. Today jc, dad and I went and looked at tvs (we are buying a new one) and dad was hard to please. He wants one under $1000 that is reasonably big, doesn't fade when you look at it from the side and has a good picture. I wonder if he'll find his perfect tv. We have our grandparents visiting with our two cousins and it has been a full house, especially during dinner. Our cousins are both boys and they and my younger brother sit at a table in the other room and they are so noisy they could bring down the house! All they do is go back and forth from playing on our gamecube to playing basketball to playing in my brothers room. Just for fun here is a little cartoon:

Dad just came in with a tv! I guess he found one he liked. It is a 42 in LCD tv. It's vizio brand and their unpacking it right now. I guess they forgot that its past dinner-time :0

-ellentia

An old withered flower

An old withered flower
Swaying limply in the breeze
Had a little treasure
That it refused to leave


But at the first gentle wind
The treasure crashed to the ground
Unnoticed by all
Making not a sound


A hard cold bed of gravel
With little bits of straw
Was the only thing at the bottom
Ready to break the fall


But the little treasure did not give up
Pushing through the gravel
As though it was nothing
But it still had far to travel


Up up up to the surface
The little treasure pushed its way
Up tho the surface higher it climbed
Waiting for the day


It broke the surface
A wonderment to all
Ready to grow a
Stem so tall


A stem that would soon have
A flower with petals
With color so bright
It could win medals


Slowly over the spring
It grew with great measure
Waiting for the summer
To unlock it's treasure


Then one wonderful
Cool summer morning
Ocher colored petals
Spread without warning


At first they were dismissed
As they looked like crumpled paper
But soon they were unfurled
To show that they were greater


The loveliest flower of them all
Standing high through summer
In the fall lost its luster
as the petals lost their color


Soon it was an old withered flower
Swaying limply in the breeze
With a little treasure
That it refused to leave...


-ellentia