Patriots Redcoats and Spies Review

Summary:

When Revolutionary War Patriot Lamberton Clark is shot by British soldiers while on a mission for the Continental Army, he has only two hopes of getting the secret message he’s carrying to General George Washington: his 14-year-old twin boys John and Ambrose. Upon discovering that their father is a spy in the Culper Spy Ring, the boys accept their mission without a clue about what they may be up against. They set off from Connecticut to New Jersey to find General Washington, but the road to the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army is full of obstacles; including the man who shot their father who is hot on their trail.

I decided to let my youngest brother read it first, as it was elementary historical fiction. His thoughts:

• Good for all ages
• Made history interesting
• Exciting action
• I liked that it was  Christian
• Seemed a little unreal

My review:
CONS
 While the book was very interesting and action packed, it was definitely unrealistic. From telling jokes to George Washington (what do you call a patriot dog? Yankee poodle!) or using more modern, 19th century words like 'ok', 'guys', 'yeah', 'Mom' and "Dad', there were certainly many historical flaws. Another 'con' would be the pictures. The people all resembled Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame!

PROS
I DID, however, like the storyline. Ambrose and John, twins, had to choose to work together. They had to make many painful choices and sacrifices along the way to deliver their secret message. It was neat to see them mature and work together, and to learn more about the Culpepper Spy Ring.

The book had a Christian message, which I found uplifting.

I also found it fascinating that this book was based off a true character - Lamberton Clark was distantly related to the authors.

All in all, I give the book 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Eating DNA

Today I made a replica of some good old deoxyribonucleic acid.

Mmm. More commonly known as DNA,  it is hidden in tiny, long structures called chromosomes. During cell division these chromosomes are duplicated in the process of DNA replication, providing each cell its own complete set of chromosomes. It grows something like this: One cell makes two, two makes four, four makes eight, etc. 

 I first chose a sequence, and then placed adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine in that order. Those are just four types of nucleobases (aka, bases).These four nucleobases, along the backbone, encode biological information, like your eye color or your hair color. Marshmallows were my base pairs, and a Twizzler was the backbone. The backbone is made up of a residue of chemical sugars.

Yum! Cytosine!

Labelling my base pairs. 

                            Adenine always pairs with thymine, and cytosine with guanine.

Twisting it into a double helix.

Confessions of a Country Girl/Livestock Show

   Last week was the project show/livestock show. It's a really fun, busy week. I only made one project, but my little brothers showed their animals and I led barn tours, so we were there ALL. WEEK. LONG. :D

  I don't mind, though. I love the atmosphere: wearing boots, slugging through mounds of dust while George Strait wails through crackly old speakers, petting the rabbits waiting to be shown, cheering for friends as they show, balancing precariously on pipe fences surrounding the arena just for the fun of it, even waiting in an hour-long line in the hot sun to buy a snowcone.

Okay, my monologue has lasted long enough. Moving on,

The buckle is silver and turquoise! It's so heavy that it pulls my belt down.

I got this reserve grand champion belt buckle with my kitchen set project!!

I apologize for the galoshes/lack of Western attire; the barns are very, very muddy(I now live an hour from Old Navy, btw). But aren't they cute galoshes?

 Dad taught me how to use the tools and I learned a lot. I had a great time painting the kitchen set, decorating it, and building it. It started with an old desk I found for $40 at a thrift store, and we built shelving underneath. The faucet a nice employee at Lowe's gave to us for $5, as it was a display faucet they no longer needed.
The 'burners' are furniture grip pads glued to a board spray painted silver. The sink basin is a mixing bowl.

I had a ton of fun leading the barn tours this year as well. We had 585 kids come through. We walked them in groups of two classes from station to station, then through the barns to look at the cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits, peacocks, turkeys, horses, etc. It was such a great experience, but also a very eye -opening experience. When we asked where they thought beef came from, they said the store., or  they thought people 'grew' it.  "A man grows it an' puts it in a truck an' takes it to the store," one boy explained confidently.

   I guess, in the five years I've lived in the country, I've become used to learning exactly where my food comes from. I know where the animals live, what they eat, and  where the plants grow. Not to say I'm an expert at country life; I can barely ride a horse. :)
Still, I've come to think of myself as a country girl, and I'm proud of that!

Photos For 4-H

I'm sick. :(
 And instead of laying on the couch, I am posting. For you. :D 
Actually, I need your help! 
Comment and tell me which picture(s) should be submitted to the
4-H  Photo Contest! 

(1) My kitty Marion

(2) Oak Alley Plantation

(3) Henny Penny

(4) love

(5) Oak Alley , looking up

(6) inside a vase

4-H Food Extravaganza

    Every year I post about the District Food Extravaganza, but this year it's different. I'm a 4-H Senior, this wonderful age  limit between 14-18 that allows us to go to State!! WhooHoo! So, if you place first at county, and first at District, you have a chance at State. Sadly, I placed second. :(

However... I PLACED FIRST WITH MY FOOD CHALLENGE TEAM! WE'RE GOING TO STATE!!

My team

 It was so much fun and I can't wait for State! My team is super nice and I think we all work together well.
We couldn't believe it when they called our names. We were clapping, and then Katelynn said,"Wait-that's us! We won!"

All the people from our county who participated. We were up against a lot of competition.

Playing Games With Nursing Home Residents

So, my 4-H group and I recently volunteered to play games at a local  nursing home. I learned many new skills, the first being wheelchair bowling. You begin by setting up plastic pins in a triangular shape, and then roll a plastic ball into them. My job was to chase the plastic ball, bring it back to the bowlers, and keep score. The bowlers were so precious! One, obviously certain Ella, Elijah, Lainey, and  I were incompetent, would direct  us on everything from how to add the scores to how to set up pins - "one first, the two in the middle, three, and four in the back". One lady wanted to hold Ella and show her how to bowl. And one good-natured woman just laughed when she made a mistake and clapped when she got a strike.

 We set up pins, set up pins, and set up pins. And while that may seem redundant, those ladies NEVER got tired.

Meanwhile, Christopher, Andrew, and several other kids played checkers with some of the other residents. They played endless rounds of checkers and Wahoo, and, I must add, were excellent sports when one woman was caught cheating. (!) They simply grinned and kept playing.

I also re-learned how to play Spoons. My cousin Charles had taught me a long, long time ago, but I promptly forgot. So Abigaile and Colbie, these adorable little sisters in our group, took it upon themselves to teach me. (Thank y'all!) After playing with the nursing home patients for nearly 2 hours, it was time to go. We bade our new friends goodbye and went to Icrave, a delicious frozen yogurt place. It was awesome! I had key lime yogurt and  white chocolate mousse yogurt with white chocolate chips. Oh...It was so good.
Then we headed to Youth Church.

Goodbye for now!

Caribbean Princess cruise Days 2

 Day 2 we were at sea. It  was Sunday, and there was a wonderful church service. The 'pastor' explained "I'm not a minister- just a nobody trying to tell everybody about Somebody." How cool is that?! He was from a tiny town in Alabama, and filled his sermon with fascinating stories about his church there. All the passengers attending the service came from different denominations and different places, and it was really neat to see them together worshipping God. I imagine that's what heaven's like.
After church,we played games and ate lunch in the buffet. Our friends taught us a new game called "Joker". It's pretty fun! That night was formal night- oh my. We dressed up, ate a delicious meal, and met a lot of new people. All of the workers on board are from different countries- Philippines, France, Ukraine, England, you name it. So it was really interesting to meet them and talk to them about their countries. We became good friends with the head waiter, Mr. Hector Catalan. Not only was he super nice, he is an amazing singer!! He sang beautiful songs every night during dinner.
 

My 15th birthday!

I had an amazing birthday! My friend JoGail came over and hung out, I got lots of cute and thoughtful gifts, and a general good time was had by all. :) (love that  phrase! It's so old timey- newspaperish.)
On my actual birthday, I worked in the surgery department, so I opened gifts when I got home. Then my family took me to Chuy's. I love that place. Then Saturday, I worked in the volunteer's concession stand to raise ,money for 4-H. I got some delicious cheesy fries. Then JoGail came over and we had a party!

JoGail!!

We did our nails, played outside with my brothers and their friend, and talked for forever!  My mom made me a delicious coconut cake with fluffy white frosting, which was really good.

I was rather spoiled this birthday:
My super amazing friends I volunteer with at the hospital got me a ring. A real ring! It's so cute. I just love it. You can see it in the picture at the bottom.
I got the book Secret Letters, about Sherlock Holmes' daughter. It was epic. You should read it!

I received a lovely pair of chic brown slacks and a scarlet blouse, orange flower earrings and bracelets. Also two adorable journals, a purify water bottle, candy, and an Amazon Gift Card. My lovely relatives sent money which was greatly appreciated. I'm saving it for college. Medical school isn't cheap. :)

So now I'm 15. Everyone asks if I feel older. Not really, but when people ask me my age and I say 15, then it hits me.
15!
Woot Woot!

muy delicioso spicy Dr.Pepper pulled brisket//

This recipe for spicy pulled brisket is quite possibly the best food ever, paired with homemade tortillas and guacamole. Oh yeah. :)
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You will need:
1 brisket
1 small/ medium onion
2 cans of adobo peppers in chili sauce
2 cans of Dr. Pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
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1. Place the brisket in a foil-lined 13 x 9 pan.

2.  Slice the onion and place all around the brisket.

3. Add the adobo peppers and the Dr. Pepper.

4. Sprinkle brown sugar on. Once everything's been evenly distributed, pop it in the oven @  300 degrees Fahrenheit.  

5. Cook for 6 hours. You can tell when it's done by the awesome smells and the way the meat falls apart. The same way you check brisket for doneness. 

Yummy. Seriously, try this recipe- you won't regret it.

Trixie Belden books!!

It's no secret I love to read. Anyone who has seen this blog knows how much I enjoy finding a good book!  I've been a huge fan of the Trixie Belden books ever since my mom gave me her old copy of The Red Trailer Mystery a few years ago. Now, whenever I go to yard sales or book fairs, I keep an eye out for Trixie books. There are 39 in the series, and 2 quiz books. I had 8. Then, a few days ago, at the library, I saw seven. SEVEN Trixie Beldens that  I did not have. The cool thing about this library is you keep the books. Forever, and for free. I had just scored myself 7 Trixie Belden books. Ah, what bliss followed me home! Then a tragic thought struck me. You, my dear readers, may not know who Trixie is!

Trixie and Jim

 Trixie is a teen living just outside the  town of Sleepyside-on-Hudson, in the Hudson River Valley area of New York. She lives at Crabapple Farm, which had been in her family for either three six generations  with her parents and three brothers, Brian, Mart, and Bobby. In The Secret of the Mansion (Book one) she meets lonely, sheltered rich girl Honey Wheeler whose family has just moved into the Manor House. A runaway boy in desperate need of their help soon arrives, and they have their first case!
Throughout the series, the two girls solve mysteries that baffle the police and, along with their brothers and friends, form a club called the Bob-Whites of the Glen, through which they have fabulous adventures. The books were written between 1948-1984, and some are VERY hard to find. I feel super blessed to have found the original editions. Here is a list of the first 10:
1. The Secret of the Mansion
2. The Red Trailer Mystery
3. The Gatehouse Mystery
4. The Mysterious Visitor
5. The Mystery Off Glen Road
6. The Mystery in Arizona
7. The Mysterious Code
8. The Black Jacket Mystery
9. The Happy Valley Mystery
10. The Marshland Mystery

Any other Trixie Belden fans out there? Comment and let me know!!

(Thank you, pinterest for the photo! :) )

Traitor in the Shipyard review

Andrew, my littlest brother, got me this book with his reading club form. (Can you say AWWW?) This is probably one of the best AG mysteries. It keeps you guessing until the very end.

• The American Girl: Caroline Abbot, from Sackets Harbor, New York.
• The plot: It's 1812, and Caroline's father's shipyard is frantically building ships to keep up with the British. When Papa's old friend arrives penniless, it's the least the the Abbots can do to give him a job. After all, he helped Papa escape from a British prison! Life is beginning to look up for Caroline. She even has time for sewing lessons at Miss Lucy's. But when things go missing around the shipyard, sails are slashed, and fires are started, Caroline soon realizes there's a British spy afoot- and it's someone who knows the shipyard well. Is it one of Abbott's trusted workers, whom she has known all her life, or could it be Papa's dear friend? It's up to Caroline to discover what's really going on.
• What I especially liked: Just when all the evidence pointed to a character you were SO sure was the spy, new clues and hidden pasts would come to light.  I loved that the plot wasn't easily guessable or boring. I also always enjoy the 'looking back' section, which told all about real-life spies in the War of 1812.

This was a very enjoyable and interesting  read, although I finished it quite quickly. It would be perfect for  ages 9-12, and was packed with facts about the war of 1812, which is an often overlooked part of our country's history.

Volunteering @ The Air Show

   Thunder Over Cedar Creek Lake is an air show in our community. It consists of WW2 bombers that fly as low as 500 feet above your head to parachuters performing with the flag to the tune of 
"The Star Spangled Banner". The show ends with fireworks dropped from the bomb bay of a plane over the lake. It's an very inspiring show. A few days ago,I had an unique opportunity to help there. My 4-H group and I managed a booth at the show, selling t-shirts to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project and Fisher House.  The most amazing thing happened while we were selling the shirts. A young woman and her mother buying shirts started to cry when we explained what the money was for. They said they were staying at Fisher House, a place for wounded soldier's families to stay while the soldier is in the hospital. The young woman's dad was  wounded and in the hospital, and Fisher House had provided them free tickets to the air show. Wow. This really made it personal - here was someone we were selling the shirts for. My group and I were inspired to sell even more shirts. We raised $400+! I enjoyed getting to help our soldiers and see the air show, and I hope I can help again next year.

Back to Homeschool Magazine Review

 

I've been a big fan of BTH magazine for a year now, and I write many articles for it. But today, I realized something very important. I forgot to tell my lovely followers of this! :)

The magazine is free, and sent straight to your email bimonthly. It's filled with stories, book, movie, and game reviews, jokes, poems, essays, and educational articles all written by homeschoolers JUST LIKE US! You can submit anything you've written to it. I write for the magazine's writer's board, which is a neat oportunity.

One of the main reasons I recomend it is that there is a wide variety of articles. The magazine always has a theme- fairy tales, sports, famous people- so there's always something for everyone. To read back issues before subscribing,  click here. The magazine is totally free, and there are no ads.

One chocolate chip

This is a little haiku I wrote about a chocolate chip. I was making cookies the other day, and I spent a little too long observing a chocolate chip... We've been learning about a haiku in my language arts- you know, first you use 5 syllables, then you use seven syllables, then five again. I had to write about a common cooking ingredient, so I picked a chocolate chip:


                     One chocolate chip
                            so smooth, tiny, round. but now
                                            it's melted in my hand

4-H State Roundup

Thursday I went to State 4-H Roundup at Texas A&M University. It was HUGE. There are 254 counties in the state of Texas, and at least one   4-H club from that county is at State. So, of there are ten kids from every county, that's 2,540 4-Hers. Which makes for a crazy, hectic, and fun week. :) I participated in a Healthy Lifestyles Invitational Contest with two really good friends of our family.

My Healthy Lifestyles team with our prizes! 

The Healthy Lifestyles contest is when you study 8 classes of facts, and place them.It's like Livestock Judging or Consumer Decision Making in a way. I'll explain:

You study things like teen driving safety, the My Plate, how to understand a nutrition label, things of that nature. Then you have a scenario you place. For example:

John is not supposed to drive past his curfew, which is midnight. Which one of the following should he do if Bob wants a ride home, and it's 11: 30 p.m ? He doesn't want to break the law!

Confusing? You bet! But, luckily, if you've studied the packet, you know which laws are important for him to follow depending on his age and what he should do. You place all the classes according to what you feel are the best options. So if you think option 2 is the best, 4 is okay, 1  is poor, and 3 is bad, you'd bubble in 2,4,1,3 on the scantron. Then your team has to give a speech.My team placed third, and one of the boys on my team won 1st high point individual! I'm  so  proud of my team, and I hope to try this contest and more again next year!!

Vacation part 2

  We left Dauphin Island a little earlier than planned, because it was starting to rain really hard, and we were worried about the only road out flooding(That sounds so dramatic. But,it really was the only road out - after all, it is an island!) So, we headed to Mobile, as it was on the route home. Dauphin Island is about 40 minutes from Mobile, Alabama, and there are tons of fun indoor things you can do there. We went to the Gulf Coast Exploreum of Science, and it was amazing!! I loved the health area. There was a large computer screen where you went 'shopping'. It  calculated all your  'purchases' and told you how healthy or unhealthy they were. The whole health room was educational and fun! There was also an exhibit called The Debakey Virtual Surgery Center. It was in the My Bodyworks health gallery.You have  the opportunity to conduct your own virtual surgery - you choose open heart surgery or knee surgery. Then you get to use the scalpel to cut open the skin, the saw to cut bone and the retractor to access the heart. The patients' vital signs are displayed on the screen as you try  to complete the surgery successfully and quickly -and keep your patient alive and healthy. I was a little scared I'd mess up and "hurt" the patient, but I completed a successful surgery. It seemed so real! The knee surgery was my favorite. The surgery center also had many other medical things you could practice: seal blood vessels with laser beam accuracy, challenge your hand-eye coordination with exhibits that mimic endoscopic surgery techniques(you used a big stick to push little bits of equipment through a tube. Daddy and Andrew were really good at it.) and learn about careers in health and safety. I loved this because I want to either be a pediatric nurse or a dietician. Then we went and ate at a restaurant called Felix's Fish Camp. Their crab soup was AMAZING! Then it was time to head for home.

Our Vacation Part 1

Monday,we drove through Louisiana. We drove from our house in Texas through Shreveport, and then straight down, all the way to New Orleans. We stopped at Oak Alley Plantation, just outside of New Orleans, and had a tour of this amazing old plantation....

Oak Alley

The weird looking thing is a ceiling fan. A slave would pull the rope, and it would fan the guests.

The plantation owner's' wife slept here.

The very lavish master suite.

One of the slave cabins

 We crossed a lot of bridges over the Mississippi. You could see a lot of factories and oil companies.

Then we were in New Orleans. Parts of it were very pretty.

However, parts were scary. We decided to go for a walk through the streets, and we wanted to walk down Bourbon Street, because it's very famous. However  there were a lot of bars and clubs, and shops that sold stuff with, er, bad pictures on it and posters of ... people posing , shall we say, inappropriately... We quickly abandoned that idea.

Then we went to eat at Deanie's Seafood. It was really good.

It started raining, so I had to take a bunch of fast pictures from the car.

                                                 There were beautiful flowers everywhere.

Tuesday, we kept driving, through  a little piece of Mississippi and Alabama, then we got on a long bridge and drove to Dauphin Island, Alabama. We rented a beach house called "Sunny Pit." It had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a nice kitchen and 360 views of the Gulf and the Mississippi Sound. It was so cute!

My room at the beach house.

             We went swimming every minute we could, even when it was windy and raining! On the days it stormed, we played board games and read books.

 We toured historic Fort Gaines, also on the island. It guarded Mobile Bay from Union soldiers during the Civil War It was used as an outpost during the Spanish-American conflict in 1898, and as an Army base in WW 2. The famous quote "D*** the torpedoes... Full Speed Ahead!" was given during the Battle of Mobile bay , which took place at the fort. All over the fort were little tunnels leading to rooms that would've stored ammo, men, or guns.
There were tons of winding steps leading to tiny  rooms, like secret passages. It was really fun to walk through it, imagining what it was like for the people there.

These stairs seemed to go on forever, but they led to a large store room for guns and supplies.

Mobile Bay.




Wow. This was very long. Part 2 won't be as long, I promise. Comment?
<3