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!

VBS teen leader

This week, I was privileged to be able to help lead VBS at our church. I was the 4th grade teen leader. I had so much fun helping the kids with crafts, learning hand motions to silly songs, and encouraging them in their spiritual walk. Ms. L, who was in charge of VBS, explained to us teen leaders that it's important to set a spiritual foundation at a young age, so that when the kids are older and that foundation is shaken, it will not fall. I really agree with that. A lot of kids attend our church, but their parents don't often come. Each child that came to VBS was an opportunity to reach a whole family for God.
 This year's VBS theme was Colossal Coaster World, so we turned the church into a mini amusement park. There was a roller coaster made out of folding chairs and pool noodles in the sanctuary, posters advertising rides in the craft area (which was called the Scissors n' Stuff Emporium) and maps of the apostle Paul's journey in the Bible Study area. Paul's life was like a roller coaster, with its many ups and downs. All our memory verses came from 2 Timothy, and the kids learned what was happening in Paul's life as he wrote it. I had a great time getting to know all the kids. I have fond memories of my VBS teen leaders from when I was younger, so it's really neat to be in that position now. Well, that's my little spill. I have been helping Daddy and my little brothers with the fence all afternoon, and it was HOT. However, we have had more rain than usual for this part of Texas in July, so I'm very grateful for that. Hope you had a great day as well!

Happy 8th Birthday Andrew!!

Today my littlest brother, Andrew, turned 8! He was born on June 17, 2005.

This is me (at almost 7) holding him for the first time!!

Aww... :D
 Looking at the pictures above, I can't believe they were taken eight years ago. I mean, I remember every detail of going to see him in the hospital right after he was born, buying him a little shirt in the hospital gift shop,when I held him, I remember my dad saying "Use BOTH hands!!".... Sheesh. I feel very old.  He's such a fun person. I love reading or playing games with him! For his birthday, I got him the newest Magic Treehouse book, and a package of sour gummi worms, which he will hopefully share with me. :D
Happy Birthday, Andrew!

 Check out his blog at http://adventuresofandrewc.blogspot.com/ !!

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

An interview with Christopher!

So, I'm interviewing my brother Christopher today! He has a blog, it's here.  Here's a picture of him:

He's a good cook, too!

Let's start the interview!
Pink=Me
Maroon = Christopher
 
Fave color?
  "Maroon."
Age?
"12."
How long have you been blogging?
"It will be 2 years in Feb."
What do you want to be when you grow up?
"A large/small animal vet!"
Where do you want to go to college?
"A&M University, of course!"
What are your favorite animals?
"I like dogs and horses."
What are your favorite movies?
"Grand Champion, the Madagascar movies, and Raiders of the Lost Ark."
What is your favorite candy?
"Jelly belly jelly beans and sour candies."
 Who are your favorite authors?
"Hmm. Marguerite Henry, Walter Farley, Jean Craighead George, Will James, Ralph Moody, Robert Lawson, and Trenton Lee Stewart, author of the Mysterious Benedict Society series. You can find out about all these authors on my blog!"
 Favorite Indiana Jones character(s)?
"Indy and Short Round."
Favorite Mysterious Benedict Society character(s)?
"Reynie, and Sticky. Oh, and Milligan. And don't forget Mr. Benedict!"

Thanks, Christopher! Don't forget to check out his blog to find out more on all the above topics!!

Ben Wheeler Hogfest

We volunteer at the Ben Wheeler Children's Library, and we were asked to ride on the library float in the Hogfest parade. It was a ton of fun passing out candy and books to the adoring crowds.:) Then we walked around the festival, ate ice cream at Scoots n Scoops.....

Notice our lovely volunteer shirts? It was FREEZING and windy, which is why we're wearing jackets.

Then we walked over to watch people make sorghum and sugar.

It was really interesting. Christopher got to push sugarcane in the machine, as did Andrew and I.

Then it was time for our shift at the library, so we went and worked. We gave people tours, told them the history of the library, and shelved lots of books! Then it was time to go home.

The guys found an old car they liked.

A float decorated like a wagon.


P.S.: For some super cute pics of our  Christopher's :) little chicks, check out: http://childressdvm.blogspot.com/

Doll Photo Shoot

So, Last night Andrew and I decided to play photographer. Thanks to Kanani and Kasandra Natalie for letting us take their pics!:)

* Most didn't turn out too well-I probably should've waited till the next day to take these, as it was really dark and the sunset didn't look as pretty as I'd expected. It didn't help that someone (Andrew!) was running around shooting my models with Nerf guns!:-)

When I last blogged, I told ya'll had pneumonia, and I hadn't been feeling like blogging. The medicine I took I was allergic to, and that was a lot of fun. (NOT!) However, thankfully I've been feeling lots better now. I was able to go to church, and both my brothers had their birthdays and we went to the Grapevine mall, (a fun place) and did a lot of fun things there.  Today my aunt surprised us and came to see us. She brought the boys birthday gifts and she even brought me roses as a feel-better-soon gift. It was very sweet. I even went to play practice tonight! So I'm feeling well enough to do lots of things, but I still have to take it kinda easy. I was very excited to here I won a contest over at http://littleskyeyes.blogspot.com/2012/06/winner-winner.html . Thanks, Erynn!!  I'm soo happy! Have a good night everybody.

4-H Roundup

Me before I gave my speech...

I gave a speech/PowerPoint on Portion Distortion at 4-H Roundup, which is  a contest where 4-Her's give speeches, play instruments, and many other things, within certain categories. It's really fun!! You write a speech and memorize it. (it has to be at least 5 minutes long) Then you go to Roundup and give the speech in front of judges and others. They will mail you a scorecard  with feedback later. My speech was on Portion Distortion, which is when your eyes are too big for your stomach and how to eat healthier. I was in the health category. My brother Christopher did a cooking demonstration and got first place in his category also! His blog is http://childressdvm.blogspot.com/ I really enjoyed doing Roundup and hope to do it next year!

Me with my first-place medal after my speech1:-)!

Fashion Show

My brother and I after he won Roundup (a speech contest) and I won Fashion Show

I participated in a 4-H Fashion Show, and I modeled an Easter Dress in the Dressy category. This was my first time doing a Fashion Show, but I got first place! I was really excited. You have to answer several questions on your dress's style, fabric, and fiber, then model your dress.  Some of the questions I had to answer were about accessories, fiber content, and generic names of fabrics. I really learned a lot about my outfit and how to model. The Fashion Show is a great learning experience.

Book Review of America Sisters- A Titanic journey Across the Sea

My mom read this book to my brothers and I, and we all really enjoyed it...

America Sisters- A Titanic journey Across the Sea is about:
Sixteen year old Alfreda Anderson returns from her job in the city to her country home in Sweden to find her little brother, Karl, dead and her home in chaos. Papa sent two tickets to America on the White Star Line's new ship, the Titanic, and in a strange twist, Alfreda and her ten year old sister Erna will be going to America alone. Alfreda is thrilled. She'll never have to work for her stingy relatives again! She can go to school, learn English, become wealthy... Erna hates leaving the farm and the little trolls she thinks live there. She's nothing like Alfreda. The two girls must learn to get along, and just when they start to think that they can handle anything, a mysterious ring gets them in trouble with  stewards on the Titanic, strange roommates bother them, and they get lost... Still, Alfreda and Erna are certain that everything will be fine-until April 14, 1912, when the Titanic goes down. This is a great read!

Our Party (and The Great Skunk Fiasco)

We had a party at our house yesterday for some of my Dad's co-workers. We got to explore the property, fish, play ball, and a lot of other things. A little bit of drama happened as we were setting up for the party... Mom and Andrew went to get the BBQ. Dad, Christopher and I were setting up chairs.  Then Dad said "Oh my gosh, there's a skunk in the building!"  So we started yelling and whistling at the skunk to get it to go away. It  was the same skunk that my dad had seen bothering our chickens this morning. He'd hurt it pretty bad, and it had wandered over here again, disoriented. We threw a bunch of baseballs and a volleyball at it, and it ran out of the building. But before Dad could shoot it, it ran into the garage, where I, in a moment of pure genius(lol) had left the truck door open. Bravely I ran past the skunk and shut the door. :-) (I really did, and I threw a baseball at the skunk.)  We managed to shoot the skunk. And so, the house smelt just lovely for our visitors. But we still had a great time! Everyone liked playing with all our pets and wandering in the woods, and we had fun showing them around.

Chocolate Chip Muffins!!

This is one of our favorite recipes. It's a yummy spin on blueberry muffins.

1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup choc. chips

In a bowl combine dry ingredients. Mix in wet ingredients. Stir well, then add chocolate chips. Pour into lightly greased muffin tin. Bake in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 20 minutes. Enjoy!