Sad Fact of Life

The sad fact of life is death of animals( people too, but this post is about a bird). Noah found out the hard way...finding a extremely hurt little bird, fixing a home for it, and then having to dispose of the dead little thing two days later. This little bird was hurt badly, although the picture doesn't show it. We think both its wings were broken, and one of its feet had a claw missing. Mom called Animal Services, but found it would cost something to have it put to sleep. We ended up not needing that, for it died a couple of days later. When Noah came to me the day before the poor thing went away, he asked for a picture of it. I thought he was going to cry...literally sob over it. I don't blame him..for he was attached to it.

This is a picture of the littel bird in the nest Noah

made for it.

Rangers' Apprentice

The books that I described as " GREAT" in the last post, are in a series called " The Rangers Apprentice". My friend Joelle recommended it to me, and although I was hesitant to read it at first,..it has turned out to be a fascinating series, so far. I've finished book 6, already, and hope to read the whole entire series( 10 books total, I think). The author, John Flanagan, mixes everything that is needed in a book ( romance, fighting, reasoning, adventure, mystery and time setting), in a great way. It's set during the Middle Ages, and even though the first couple of books have what mom said was the " Grim Reaper" on them, the book is actually good.





I'd recommend it, for probably about 9-10yrs and up. It's got fighting and some bloody stuff ( no pictures), and some touching parts,...and I know some people are emotional to that kind to stuff ( I can be with movies..which is why I don't really like the theater). Mom bought the first book at Sam's, and is going to read it to Noah, and I think he will really like it. It's got a boar fight, a Kalkara fight ( the Kalkara are mean creatures that fight for someone else..who I forgot. I don't remember much about them). He will really enjoy the fighting parts...and Mom will delight in the romance. ;)

Catapult Camp

my poster

Last week I had Catapult camp, which was pretty cool. Honestly, I didn't want to go, as I had a couple of GREAT books to read. ( I'll post on those later). It turned out to be really fun and the teacher, a graduate of this past year, was really good. There was math involved...such as the mechanical advantage, but Bethany explained it great. Her Mom, Dad, and sister were a great help too. Mrs. Johnson helped with the posters and such; Mr. Johnson designed and built the catapult; and Bethany's sister helped with the speech and launching one of the catapults.
There were two catapults, but I used the smaller one, since all the kids couldn't use just the big one. I'm sorry we don't have a picture. We kids each shot it 25 times, to get our data, then with the help of technology, we graphed it...on paper and on Microsoft Excel.

If you can't read the title ( which is supposed to draw attention), it reads: Heads of enemies. Dead animals. Burning Straw. Underneath, is the whole introduction, question, hypothesis, method, discussion, and conclusion. A lot of work...if you ask me.

Dinosaur Exhbit

I'm off schedule on posting, so first...sorry for that. About a week or so ago, the whole family went to the Dinosaur Exhibit at the US Space and Rocket Center. Pretty cool place. After that we went into the Davidson Center, to see that huge rocket ( it DOES have a name, but I don't remember it) that is spilt apart into sections and hanging from the ceiling. They had a graduation from Space Camp going on, so we heard a lot, thanks to speaker all over the Center.

Noah with a skull

Junior Paleontologists...a sandbox with

shells and "dinosaur teeth".

Sue, the T-Rex. This is a cast of her real bones.

We actually don't know if it is a boy or girl, but the "she" part comes from the person who

found her.

Happy Father's Day

The three dads in our family:

Papa: dad to Mom and T-Bone. ( T-Bone is below w/ VJ)

T-Bone: dad to Tytus.

Dad: dad to me, Noah and VJ.

Fun with cousin Tytus

We watched Tytus for a little bit yesterday, and we all had fun with him. He is a cutie, and no one can resist cooing over him. He had grown up so fast!

Sugar~ the dog we are babysitting.

Sugar sleeping in our computer room. I had been watching my math lesson, and she

came in to keep me company...and fell asleep.

Noah and VJ love her! ( as do all of us)

I was so happy to get this picture of her smiling.

Sugar is a great dog. Golden retrievers are so cute, but she is an attention/love-magnet..nobody can resist giving her loves.

Birthday cake/cupcake pictures

These cupcakes Mom brought to VJ's preschool for his b'day.

The thing on top is a monster truck.

A better picture of his birthday cake.

VJ's birthday

A fork-lift birthday.

VJ's actual birthday party..with a cake.

T-Bone ( uncle), Stephanie ( aunt) and cousin Tytus,

Mimi and Papa ( grandparents), and mom, dad, bro and sis attended.

This " party" was when Nana came up from Birmingham.

She would have come up the week after ( the top-most pic), but

I had my dance recital. So she came up for my recital, and we had ice cream

sandwiches after the recital. It was Mom's idea to stick a candle in the ice cream sandwich.

As said above, Nana came up for my recital, a visit, and ice cream sandwiches. After we got home, we had the desert. That worked for me...I didn't want to puke on stage ( and I didn't. ;) )

ASAP, I will get Sugar's adorable photo up. I got her " smiling". I still have to load it up on the computer, and then it'll get on the blog.

Pictures from past few weeks.

Sorry for not posting. A friend of ours who reads the blog reminded me to post more after we saw him at Dad's work today ( it was " Take Your Children to Work" day)..so I will try to do better.

Before school took their summer break, Noah had a report due about Russell Cave. Below aways, you can see the pictures that I posted from when we visited the cave. Here are some pictures of his diorama and poster board. I might explain a little below each:

He made a cave out of a box and Play Mobile figures, and then a poster board to go behind it.

the inside of the "cave". There is a better picture later.



This part was like the outside of the cave,

and the stream ran into the cave. This was "attached" to

the "cave". There are several animals

that the Indians hunted.

The set-up with the poster board behind it.

His poster board.

This is the inside from above.

In the last picture, you might have noticed that the mother is grinding corn, with a baby on her back. The little girl is on the brown "bear skin" with her doll. The blue on the left is part of the stream that into the cave. In the "south-east" part, the little brown thing with blue in it, is a basket with blueberries. On the "north-west" part, there is a snake. In the middle of the "north" part is three little clay pots of corn. In the "north-east" corner, there is another little clay pot of corn.

Noah worked hard on the research, and Mom offered help and suggestions. It turned out great. I'm not sure what kind of Indians there were, but they hunted and fished. They relyed on plants a lot.

Family News:

1~We are babysitting an elderly Golden Retriever named Sugar for a friend. The mom is a friend of Mom, and Noah goes to school with one of the boys. She is really good...she sleeps a lot, and doesn't like the sit outside while we eat dinner ( I don't blame her...it gets hot around these parts). Noah wants a German Shepherd in a couple of years, and he's getting a bit of training. I think babysitting an elderly Golden Retriever is a bit different than having a puppy German Shepherd and training it, but Noah will do fine, considering that he's read up on it, he has parents that had two Chocolate Labs ( when they were married...Mom had a dog when she was growing up, but Dad didn't), and he has two siblings. VJ likes the dog, and so do I. Sugar's really sweet, and likes attention..just like kids ( I admit it..I do too.). Funny thing is, she sleeps everywhere,...in our computer room, in the threshold between our living room and kitchen, in the kitchen, under our dining room table, in Mom and Dad's room ( for a little while), in Noah's room, and in the hallway between the boys' rooms. ( I have our spare room, across the house, near the kitchen, and right beside the laundry room. My bathroom shares a wall with the garage). When I say Sugar is "elderly", I mean she's not young. I believe she is about 8-9 years old in dog years ( about 48-52 human years). Sugar likes to be with people..so when I'm watching a math lesson and Mom is outside playing or watering the garden with VJ, she will come in and sleep on the floor.

I can't get a picture of Sugar up at the moment, but ASAP I will.

2~ We are watching " Liberty's Kids". It's a show that came our in 2002-2003, but we are watching it on Netflix..on Roku. It's a great show about the Revolutionary War..where these 3 kids ( Sarah, James, and Henri) note, question, disagree, discuss and help out during the War. I really like it. It starts with the Boston Tea Party, and goes through Bunker Hill and the Declaration of Independence..and a little further. We're watching the series.

I hope this satisfies you for the next couple of days. ;)