More Books... Heh heh heh

Ok, so if you have been keeping up with my blog, you remember my posts about the Wingfeather Saga. I said I wouldn't post anymore till Mustang and her mom finished reading the series. You also might have noticed, if you are the type to read comments, that Mustang and her mom finished the last book the day I posted the fact that I wouldn't say anymore until they finished it.

Now that it is later,and I haven't read them in a while, I have even more opinions about these books.  *Clears throat*  Here we go!

 First of all, I don't think they should ever let someone with a British accent read  "The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness" aloud ever again. Not that he did a bad job, it was, however, rather weird to hear Nia, Leeli, Janner, and Tink with British accents. He did things differently and said character or animal names, hmmm, quite differently..

Second, I have currently read all three books at least 7 times and I STILL can't believe that ___________ was a ______________, or that _______________ betrayed them, or that he did end up ___________ _________ off.

Third, and you had to know it was coming: Andrew Peterson, you better get on to writing the fourth book!!! I am headed quickly towards the end off my patience, and yet it is only May. I have to wait all summer, and all winter before you can even publish the thing! Then, there is no telling how quickly we will get the book even after you publish it. HURRY IT UP, please? Oh yes and, with the first book blueish purple, the second book maroon, and the third book green, what color will the fourth book be?

 Fourth, I have now spread this series to yet another family! Whoo!
 ****************
So, now I have finished griping about the Wingfeather Saga, I have another new series! It is called the Door Within series, and it is SO awesome. It follows several different people, starting with Aidan, then Antoinette, and finally Robby comes more into play.   But he is the only person , besides Andrew Peterson, that I know off that actually _____ his ____ _________ off! The books are awesome, but unfortunately, they are only a trilogy. I have read them all (twice) and they are amazing. But the third book is best. I can't tell you more about it because my mom and brother are both still reading them. My brother just started book 3 and mom, book 2.


You know, one of these days, I will fill in the blanks about the Wingfeather Saga, unless someone I know that is reading my blog doesn't know this already.

Blessings,
Firefly

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye is hard. I mean, all of us probably know a person or two that they would have NO problem saying a final goodbye to, but we also probably know at least two or three people that we would do anything to get out of saying that final bye to.

Saying goodbye to a family that I have known pretty much for as long as I can remember is really, really hard. It was almost unreal to think that it was the last time to see them. But I know that these friends will remain with me always, whether they live in Texas or not.

On the other hand, yesterday was my last orchestra concert of the season, so I had to say more goodbyes. It wasn't as hard to let go of my orchestra friends, because I know without a doubt that I will see them again in August, during String Camp.

I know that I should believe I will see my other friends again, without a doubt, but it is hard to do that while I know it could be years before I see them, or it could be months. No one will know before hand, but as they always say, hindsight is 20/20.

I know that things will be different without them, and that they will leave a hole. But it is not the end of the world. That will be on December 12, according to some. They will certainly be missed, and missed a lot.

Saying that final goodbye is hard, but this may be a better place to be for them. Adventures ARE funny things, it is true. It is also true that they come in unexpected ways.

May you find many adventures in your new home and state, my friends at GFG!
Firefly

Really, people??

We went to San Antonio yesterday, and we went to a number of different places, but we hit a Half Price Books first. There, I got two books, and my brother got several, but one especially caught his eye titled: More of the World's Stupidest Signs.

Looking through the book I found a bunch of REALLY stupid ones.
Like:These were adjacent signs outside a shopping mall : Archery Tournament- Ears Pierced.
WARNING: Footpaths unsuitable for pedestrians.
Ushers will eat latecomers.
The vicar will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing ' Break Forth Into Joy'.

Really, people??

 After Half Price Books, we went to get Dad's oil in his Vue changed. (Boring!)

Finally, we left and went on to a Toys R Us. They had the worst selection EVER! Just big puffles and regular penguins. In a Toys R Us? Really, people??

After being disappointed at Toys R Us, I was hoping for something at Target. They had something all right! A BUNCH OF FLUFFY PENGUINS!!!! Really, people???

Starvation led us to Freddy's. Yum! They had a bunch of WEIRD music.

Then we went to the Target right next to Freddy's, and I was really hoping but trying not to. We got to the corner where I thought they would be and.............. PUFFLES!!!!!!!!!!!I dropped to my knees and started digging through them. After a moment, I sighed. I had all the puffles they were selling. Really, people??

After a long day, we went to Costco and walked the entire store (on my very tired feet). Oh well.... At least I got a movie.... A movie called Courageous.

Time for more idiotic signs!

Don't let your worries kill you. Let the church help.
Bridge out Open to local traffic.
If this sign is under water, the road is impassable.
This sign not in use.
In interest of safety, it is advisable to keep your children away from fire and flames.
Do not pour liquids in your TV set.
On a container of lighter fluid: WARNING: Contents flammable
On a box of matches: CAUTION: Contents may catch fire
BOTTOMLESS PIT: 65 ft deep.
At a petting zoo: Caution: Goats may nibble at your clothes and butt.
Caution tree in center of road
Rare, out-of-print, and non-existent books!
On a bottle of carpet cleaner: Safe for the carpet, too!
A computer error message: No keyboard detected. Press any key to continue.
This floodlight capable of illuminating large areas, even in the dark.

Really, people???

Blessings!
Firefly

Presentation Night

Last night was the homeschool presentation night. I knew it was coming and prepared a piece to play from memory. 

When we got there, I knew my violin needed tuning, and for once, the tuner was actually in my case. I was showed to a room where I could practice, or tune, my violin. I tuned it, and for some reason, the G string needed the most tuning. 

I waited nervously for my turn, but when it came, I was bursting with confidence. I calmly went back and got my violin. I calmly proceeded to walk up on stage, and began my piece. I had just finished the introduction, but when I reached to hit a note on the G string, it went splat. I tried again, but it wasn't working. I gave it a slight pluck, and realized the G string was completely loosened.

I turned to the crowd and said "Pretend I played that note," and tried to continue. I did, but before long, I came to open G. I hit it, but it failed like the others.  I said "Pretend I played that one, too." The crowd of friends was very understanding, and so I tried to continue, but I couldn't. I had to have every note in there to remember the song. I took the violin off my shoulder, and was looking Mom right in the eye. Everyone else, even Mustang, disappeared. I spoke directly to my mother, saying " I think my G string's broke. I can't go on without it." And with that, I had to pull out. 

I was devastated, but I didn't burst out in tears until I had set the violin down and sat down myself. Then I couldn't even bring myself to clap for the next two. 

Then, Mom came back and said "I know I have to turn the tuning pegs, but when I do-" I cut her off by grabbing the violin and tuner and going to the room I had previously been shown. I knew how to tune it! I was turning, tuning, plucking, everything I could, but it wouldn't do right. I could get it to #G, but not G. I gave it the slightest tweak, and viola, it is perfect G. I nearly screamed. I started playing, and it was then that Mom found me. 

"What do you think?" She asked me. "This is what I think." I replied, plucking G. "You got it!"  "Yep. I want to play my piece again." I said with a confident tone of voice. "Ok... I'll ask if you can." 

She asked, and I could and did. I played it faster than I had the first time, not really caring until I got to my G string notes. Relief flooded me, but I was buried in the music and just kept playing. It sounded perfect! Finally, I finished. I was amazed at how much clapping and shouting I got from the crowd!

After that, we went in the other building with refreshments. I got at least 4 compliments from people on how well I played, and at least 3 for how well I bounced back. I even got one from a second grader.

I hope your evening wasn't as crazy as mine!

Blessings,

Firefly

School Year

As this school year comes towards a close (but we still have 5 or 6 weeks), I was looking back over last year's journal (though I won't tell you that I was looking for something to post about....) and saw what I said about last school year.
 
"This school year was AWESOME! I became really good friends with Mustang this school year (which starts in August and ends sometime in the spring). I got to do Critical Thinking and Latin 3. My favorite subjects were Critical Thinking, Latin, and spelling."

My plans for this summer are these: SWIM! Go to cooking camp, spend entire day with Mustang, swim, do regular summer stuff, go to Needle Arts camp, spend lots of time with Mustang and what not."

* * * * * * * * 
Thinking on it, I DID get to do most of my summer plans. I swam (A LOT), I went to Cooking Camp, I spent the entire day with Mustang, I swam some more, did plenty of regular (What's that mean??) summer stuff, went to Needle Arts camp, and spent PLENTY (but not enough!) of time with Mustang.

I know that for now, you will have to wait for me to post about this school year, but some of my main highlights were: getting two brown puffles, getting out of orchestra early (Yeah, I know, I'm not nice..), my puffle plan/party, watching Mustang's game and surprising her by being there, getting Tristin, riding Quest, SNOW, going to the Witte with Mustang and her mom, going on a trip with my family to Waco and Brenham, REK concert, WILD HORSE AUCTION, petting mini baby, meeting Rookie, library opening, breaking a geode, and 3 days in a row with Mustang.

I have had a good year so far! I hope you have, too!

Blessings,
Firefly

My Cookie Monster

     Ok, so you might be thinking that I've gone nuts from the title of this post. But I haven't!

     Cookie Monster is an orange puffle! His full name is Cookie Monster, but everyone calls him Cookie. On the day I got him in San Antonio, May 18, 2011, he was very hyper, and didn't know much. Here is a conversation between us when we passed Mustang's house on the way home.

"Say hi to Mustang!" Nana said
"Hi to Mustang! Who's that?" Cookie immediately replied.
"My best friend." I answered.
"Oh! Do I get to meet her? When?"
"Yes, Cookie, you will meet her tomorrow."
"Oh. When's that?"
"When the sun-"
"What's THAT? The sun?"
"The bright thing."
"Oh."
"When it goes away and the sky-"
"What's the sky?"
"The big thing in the air."
"Oh."
"When the sky turns black."
"What is black?"
"The color of the road." I reply showing him the pavement.
"Oh! So we get to drive in the sky?"
"No, just the color is the same."
"Aw, man!"

Next day:
"So do I get to meet her right now? Huh?" Cookie is very impatient.
"No, in a couple of hours."
"What are hours?"
"You see the clock?"
"Yeah...."
"You see that it says 9:59?"
"Uh-huh...."
"Keep watching.."
"Wow! It changed! Now it says 10:00!"
"Yes. An hour is 60 minutes, and when it is 12:00, we will go to Mustang's house and you will meet her."
"Yeah!!!"

      So, as you can see, he is very inquisitive. He has learned, in his one year, a lot, like the meaning of 'ice cream'.
"Ice cream? NUMMY!"
 Darn! He heard me say i-c-e c-r-e-a-m! Anyway, he has also learned all about trees: "Trees are high. They taste like a piece of wood, and climbing one is really scary. Unless you are promised ice cream. Then, climb the tree at all possible chances! ICE CREAM!!!!!"

     He has learned about spy phones, and how to change the "Please leave message after the beep" yadda yadda. " BEEP! If you want me to eat the phone, press 1. If you want me to eat the phone, press 2. If you want me to eat the phone, press 3. If you want me to eat the phone, press 4. If you want me to eat the phone, press 5. If you want me to eat the phone, press 6. If you want me to eat the phone, press 7. If you want me to eat the phone, press 8. If you want me to eat the phone, press 9. If you want me to the phone AND a bowl of ice cream, press 0. If you don't want me to eat the phone, tough luck."

     He has learned about other puffles: "They are good playmates, but one of them told me that the entire universe is not only food! I still don't believe him."

     He is SO silly! But I wouldn't trade him for anyone!

Interesting Days!

Since the last time I've blogged, I've had some very interesting days.

We went strawberry picking with Mustang and her mom to make strawberry jelly afterwards. (The jelly is yummy!)

We had picked all the strawberries by now, and if you can't tell, I took the picture. Aren't we interesting?

The rest of that day was spent at Mustang's house. We played in the creek, she found an ARROWHEAD, we broke a bunch of giant flint rocks, and, quite accidentally and without having any knowledge of this, found and broke A GEODE!

My bigger half of the geode

Then the next day, we took Mustang out to the Ranch and we fixed up our tree fort.

Sunday was tap pictures. I hate being princessified. 

Don't I look oddly thrilled?

In the long run, however, I liked it

Monday, I was at orchestra and we (3 homeschooled girls talking to 2 publicschooligans) and both publicschoolagins said they wished THEY were homeschooled, then one said " Yeah, I wish I was homeschooled, but they said that 81% of homeschoolers never get to collage because of the socialization." Ha! The entire rest of the time we (the homeschooled girls) ran around saying stuff like "AAAAAAAH! A person! Run away!!!!"  It was pretty fun.

Tuesday, I went to the park, nearly got heatstroke, upped my speed to 15 mph running top speed, and accidentally ran into HR and her mom at the library.

Today, my weirdness is writing this post.

Have a weird week!
Firefly