My Favorite Things

Qoutes from Emelyn, age 3

2011-08-19T23:05:00.000-05:00

"Get me some milk right now! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy Mommy Mommy! Get me milk RIGHT NOW or I am going to stab you with this fork! Are you ready? It's gonna hurt! 3...2...1..."

(In a shocked voice) "Da SUN is HAWT!!!"

"I don't like Edgar. He's mean to me. He makes fun of me." (Edgar is our cat.)

"SHHHHH! I am TALKING on my PHONE!!" (While holding a remote/calculator/insert random object to her ear)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-08-12T10:04:00.000-05:00

2 sticks butter
2 eggs, divided
1/2 TBSP baking powder
1 3/4 cup white sugar, divided
1/2 TBSP vanilla
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP baking powder
3 cups flour
1 bag chocolate chocolate chips

Soften the butter in the microwave. Put it in the mixer bowl and add ONE of the eggs, the baking soda, ONE cup of the sugar, the vanilla, and the molasses. Beat until well combined.

Now add salt, baking powder, and the rest of the sugar. Beat until well combined.

Next add the flour. Mix well. (The mixture will be dry and crumbly.)

Now add the second egg, and mix until everything is moistened. The dough should be a normal consistency now.

Last, add the chocolate chips and mix until they are evenly distributed.

Shape the dough into rough balls and flatten them in between your hands. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Peyton Does Not Support Literacy

2011-08-10T11:06:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the bad quality. I took this video with my iPod because it was just too funny to miss!

Cheer

2011-08-06T20:03:00.001-05:00

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I'm in All-Star Cheer right now. Instead of being school cheer where you cheer for sports games, we practice with a gym and go to competitions. This is my first year, and I'm already nervous about competitions!

I have my punch front, front walkover, and round off back handspring on floor. I'm working on my standing and drop step back handsprings, as well as round off multiple back handsprings and connecting my front walkover to my round off. The jumps we're doing right now are toe touches, double toes, hurdlers, and pikes. I used to be doing a right hurdler in our routine, but my coaches changed it so that now I'm doing left hurdlers, which aren't as good as my right hurdlers, so I kind of wish they would change it back!

I'm on a level three squad right now, but some of the coaches are hoping we'll be able to move to level 4 at the end of the season.

Are any of y'all in cheer or gymnastics?

Robert Louis Stevenson's "From A Railway Carraige"

2011-08-05T16:42:00.000-05:00

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And here is the green for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart runaway in the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill, and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone forever!

It's hot.

2011-08-03T21:04:00.000-05:00

Really hot.

Really, really, really hot.

Like 112 degrees hot, and it's supposed to be hotter tomorrow.

Rain would be really nice right now. We actually have a 20% chance of rain next Monday, which might not sound like much to you, but it's a better chance than we've had in a looong time, so we are really hoping it will turn into something so we don't have to water the gardens 17 times a day just to keep the plants from shriveling up into tiny balls of dust. And our neighbors have about 100 goats with no pasture to eat from and hardly any hay coming along.

You know what annoys me about the heat here? When I see someone online complaining about how hot it is, and how expensive their electricity bill is because of their air conditioner, and then they say something like, "And I'm from MONTANA, so I really know what I'm talking about when it comes to heat."

And then I mentally invite them to come to Texas some time and personally experience what hot really is.

It's kind of like when we get 1.5 inches of snow here and it's a freezing 28 degrees, so all the schools close, and it's all over the news how extreme the weather is this winter! And then you Montana people start rolling your eyes at us just like we do at you during the summer.

It's hot here in Texas.

Really hot.

Really, really, really hot.

The Best Chocolate Ice Cream EVER!

2011-08-01T09:10:00.000-05:00

This is a recipe for the world's best homemade chocolate ice cream! You'll never go back to store bought after trying this!

The basic prize-winning vanilla ice cream recipe came from my grandmother, an I modified it to make chocolate ice cream. Here's what you'll need:

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 14oz cans sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 quarts (6 cups) milk
1/2 pint (1 cup) heavy whipping cream
4 1oz squares unsweetened baking chocolate

Beat eggs in a large saucepan. Add one at a time in this order, stirring very well in between: sugar, whipping cream, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla. Make sure all ingredients are completely combined.

Place the saucepan on a burner over low heat. Meanwhile, melt chocolate in the microwave. Slowly stir melted chocolate into egg mixture.

Turn heat up to medium. Cook, stirring constantly, until right before mixture starts to boil, or until it starts to noticeably thicken. Remove from heat and pour into the barrel of your ice cream freezer. Slowly pour in milk, whisking briskly until well combined. Follow the directions that came with your ice cream freezer for freezing the ice cream. Our freezer is very noisy, so you might want to put it in a quiet place.

When your freezer is finished with the ice cream, it will be the consistency of soft-serve. I think this is the best way to eat it, but if you like it firmer, transfer it to a non-glass container and freeze for a few hours until firm.

Enjoy your ice cream!

And We Have SNOW!

2011-02-01T19:38:00.000-06:00

Last night, we knew that we had a winter storm coming through, but we were just expecting nasty wet sleet. When we woke up this morning, the ground was covered with SNOW! We usually don't get much snow around here, but we have around 1.5-2 inches right now. It's really hard, though, and in high-traffic areas it has turned into ice. It's supposed to be even colder tonight, but we're not supposed to get more snow.

Hopefully it will melt off soon, because our next door neighbors have around 50 cashmere goats who are going to have their babies any time now. One had twins yesterday, but the neighbors didn't know it was out in the woods with its babies, and when we went to see them this morning, one of the babies had frozen to death. The other one was on the ground squealing, and I knew we needed to get it before it froze too, so I went over to grab it and wrap it up in a towel. When I picked up, its hair was frozen to the ground.

Our neighbors had told us that the mother goats can be very protective and that they can try to ram people who get close to their babies, so when the mother goat started coming towards us, I tried to put the baby down to see if she could take care of it, but it couldn't stand up. I grabbed it back up and we ran to the fence. My sister jumped over and I handed her the baby so I could jump over. I took it back and we ran to our neighbors' house and gave it to them.

We went with them and found the mother goat (who had gone back to the herd). We got her into a shed and gave her the baby, and when we left she was licking it, but later when we called the neighbors they said that it died too. We are all really sad about it. :(

Hopefully, the other goats won't have their babies until it is a little warmer.

Our Rabbits

2011-01-29T19:08:00.000-06:00

In December, we got 6 baby Californian rabbits for a 4-H project. We showed them earlier this month. One of my sisters got a 3rd and a 5th, and the other's rabbits didn't place. I had one that placed 4th and one that didn't place.

We were basically renting the rabbits from the breeder. If we gave them back after the show, he would "sell" them to us for a cheaper price, so we did that with 5 of them and one we bought to keep. That ended up being my 4th place one since she was the only girl. We gave all of the other ones back to the breeder, but one of my sisters (the one whose rabbits placed) kept that one. I had named her Holly, but my sister changed her name to Heather.

Right before the show, someone at our church told us that they had a rabbit they didn't want any more because it was "mean". They said it was a female mini lop, which happened to be exactly the kind of rabbit which I had been wanting to get! So, I adopted her and named her Heidi. She actually isn't mean at all, she just doesn't like to be picked up. She loves to be petted, though, and she will hop in your lap if you sit down. She acts VERY dominate to the other rabbits, though - she doesn't hurt them, she just chases them around and mounts them sometimes. (The people we got her from were told by the vet that she was a girl, so she's just a very bossy one.)

Then, my other sister (the one whose rabbits didn't place) decided that she wanted a rabbit too, so she got one from a local pet store. I think it's an American fuzzy lop, but we'll have to see how big it gets. It only weighs about 1.5 ponds right now. Its name is Hannah.

We don't have them in cages (I hate it when rabbits are always locked up in tiny cages). Instead, we have them in a 12x12 shed right now (they are mostly litter box trained), but we're going to have to move them out soon because the shed is going to be our chicken house. We are going to move the rabbits to an enclosed covered porch that's about 6x10. It has a lockable dog door in it, so hopefully we can build a little run outside that they can play in when the weather is nice. I'm excited about moving them there because the porch is attached to the bedroom that I share with my 2 other sisters who have rabbits, so we won't have to walk out to the shed to take care of them any more!

Does anyone else have rabbits? If you have an outdoor run for them, how did you build it?

Chickens!

2011-01-25T20:12:00.000-06:00

As some of you may know, we moved out to the country in November of 2010. We've been planning on getting laying breed chickens from eFowl for a while, but we had to wait until it was closer to spring for all of the kinds we wanted to be in stock.

When I checked a couple of days ago, they had everything we wanted except one kind, so we decided to go ahead replace those with a different kind and place our order.

We are getting 5 Ameraucana pullets, 5 Australorp pullets, 5 Brown Danish Leghorn pullets, and 5 Welsummer pullets. I did a ton of recearch to make sure that we picked out breeds that are good layers, lay a variety of colors, and have good temperaments. I've read that leghorns can be a little flighty, but our friends at Life In A Shoe said that their leghorns are their friendliest chickens! We followed their suggestion and ordered brown leghorns instead of the regular white leghorns so that they won't be as easy for hawks (which we have a lot of) to spot.

The Ameraucanas are also called "Easter Eggers", since they will lay blue, green, and sometimes even pink eggs! I've read that pure Ameraucanas will only lay bluish eggs, but that the hatchery variety are not usually pure.

The Brown Leghorns will lay white eggs, like the kind that are usually sold at grocery stores. They will probably be the most prolific layers.

Australorps lay large light brown eggs and are also very prolific layers. They are black in color and (if I remember right) grow to be the largest of the hens we ordered.

The Welsummers lay very dark brown eggs, which can be nearly black in high quality birds, but the eggs from hatchery birds aren't usually that dark.

Our chicks should get here somewhere around February 18, and they will be about 2 days old. We're busy getting everything ready for them right now! The chicken house is about 12'x12', but when they're little they have to stay in a much smaller area so they don't wander away from the heat and food and get "lost". (Apparently they aren't too bright at this point.) As they get bigger, we can let them have the run of the whole house and the yard! We are really excited about them!

Stay tuned for more updates about our chickens - I'll be sure to let you know when they get here!

Neat Horse Game

2010-08-10T09:44:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to tell y'all about a really neat horse game that I recently found. It's called Hunt and Junp, Inc. What I think is so neat about it is that horse genetics are actually worked into the game so that you can breed horses for certain colors! How cool is that?

Anyways, I just signed up a few days ago, and the best part is that it is totally free!! You can make money, breed & sell horses, and show them, all without having to buy an upgrade for your account!

So if you think it sounds really neat, here's the link:

HuntAndJump.com: Free Horse Genetics Game

Try it out! You won't be sorry!

Crafty Creations: The Carnival

2010-04-10T14:20:00.000-05:00

Today's featured item will help bring home an orphan from Africa. Lora Lynn and her family are selling Hope Suds to help fund their adoption. Go take a look!

Now, let's review the rules of the carnival:

You can't link to one of your own products. This carnival is about sharing cute things that others make!
Please don't enter your link in the same Mr. Linky more than once.
You can link to more than one product in the same post if you want to.
In your post, you must link to the blog/website of the person whose product you are talking about.
Please copy and paste this HTML code in your post:

It's the URL for my button, so that other people can click on over and join the fun!

Again, please do not link to your own product!

OK, now that you know the ropes, link up to your own posts about someone else's Carfty Creation!

Important:

2010-04-01T12:48:00.000-05:00

There will NOT be a Crafty Creations carnival this Saturday because we will be out of town.

In the mean time, take a look at my new blog, The Rabbit Registry! It's a collection of links to help people find out more about certain breeds of rabbits.

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET GIRL!!!

2010-03-27T07:03:00.000-05:00

(NOT)

(but her Mama)

Online Horse SIMS Reviews: Part 1

2010-03-26T16:45:00.000-05:00

This is the first of a 3-part series that will review 3 different online horse SIMS. The one I am going to review today is Howrse.

I've already done a post telling what Howrse is about, so if you haven't already, go over and read that before you read this.

Pros:

Friendly community
Friendly & helpful moderators
Fairly realistic
You can breed your horses
There is a "Safe Haven" (a place to sell horses that other player's don't want)
An advertising section of the forum
2 different currencies
You can "age" your horse to make it grow up faster (this is a pro for impatient players, but a con for players wanting realistic-ness. See cons.)
You don't have to care for your horses every single day. If you are unable to get on for a while, your horses stay the same way you left them until you get on again.

Cons:

Fairly small number of breeds
HUGE number of players (over 1 million), so there is a lot of forum spam
Unrealistic aspects, such as being able to age your horse, make your horse immortal, bringing a dead horse back to life, etc.
No trading feature, where players can safely trade items to each other without the fear of being scammed
Ads. Uggh. The ads are annoying, but since the game is free to play, I'm not really upset about them.

Ratings on a scale of 1-10:

Realistic-ness: 7

Family friendliness: 7 (Just because of all the forum spam. However, if you stay off of the forums I would give it a 9 or 10.)

Difficulty level: 6

Overall friendliness: 9

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, that's my review of Howrse. Feel free to put your opinions of it in the comments, but please keep the comments nice or they will not be published. (By nice, I don't mean that I only want to have people saying my review is great. I'm perfectly fine with someone saying "I disagree with such-and-such a point. However, I am not fine with someone saying something like, "You're so stupid, how in the world can you think that!")

Crafty Creations Announcement

2010-03-25T10:08:00.000-05:00

ATTENTION: I have any important announcement to make regarding my Crafty Creations Carnival!

From now on, the Crafty Creations Carnival will be held bi-monthly instead of every week. I might change it back to every week eventually if it generated enough interest.

So, there will not be a Crafty Creations Carnival this Saturday, March 27, but there will be one the Saturday after that.

Click here to read the rules of the carnival, and be ready to come back on Saturday, April 3!

Crafty Creations: The Carnival

2010-03-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

Today, I'm going to show y'all something adorable I found on Etsy. But first, let's have a run-through of the rules of this carnival, shall we?

You can't link to one of your own products. This carnival is about sharing cute things that others make!
Please don't enter your link in the same Mr. Linky more than once.
You can link to more than one product in the same post if you want to.
In your post, you must link to the blog/website of the person whose product you are talking about.
Please copy and paste this HTML code in your post:

It's the URL for my button, so that other people can click on over and join the fun!

Again, please do not link to your own product!

Okay, now that that's out of the way, here's this week's featured Crafty Creation:

An absolutely ADORABLE teddy bear!

Hop on over there and take a look, and then link up to your post about someone else's Crafty Creation!

Crafty Creations

2010-03-19T19:02:00.000-05:00

This is just a heads up that my Crafty Creations post will be going up tomorrow morning at 8:00! Get your posts ready!

Oh no!

2010-03-16T14:36:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I forgot to do my Crafty Creations carnival last Saturday! I can't believe I did that! We went out of town and I completely forgot about it. I'm really sorry, everybody! I will be having it this coming Saturday, though, so get ready!

My Turtle

2010-03-15T17:13:00.000-05:00

Some of y'all might remember that a while back, I said I wanted to get a Russian tortoise. Well, I didn't get one, but I did get...

A 3-Toed Box Turtle!

Her name is Pumpkin. She's been living inside over the winter because I didn't want to let her hibernate. I'm hoping to build her an outdoor pen in one of our flowerbeds. I measured it a while back, and I think I remember that it's around 5' by 12'. Right now I'm in the process of digging it up.

I feed her a lot of different things. Last time I fed her, her meal was butternut squash with chopped bell pepper, tomato, and green beans. I usually also give her a nightcrawler with every meal but I'm currently out of them. I'm planning on getting some more then next time we go to Wal-Mart.

She's about 6 inches long (her shell length) and I'm not sure how old she is, only that she's an adult. Her favorite foods are earthworms and cherry tomatoes.

Does anyone else have a turtle?

10 Reasons I'm a Weirdo

2010-03-11T08:50:00.000-06:00

I do not like any type of carbonated drink. They burn my throat. In fact, when I was about 5 and I (very rarely) wanted to drink a carbonated drink, I would pour it in a cup, put water in it, and then let it sit on the counter for about 4 hours. That usually got rid of the bubbles.
I love snails, salamanders, toads, and other critters like that. They don't gross me out. I think they're cute!
I talk to my dog sometimes.
Even though I'm technically in high school (9th grade), I like being around the middle schoolers at church better than being around the high schoolers. Also, most people think I'm a middle schooler anyways, because...
I'm a lot smaller than most kids my age. I'm only about 5'2" and 105 pounds, which actually works very well with #4.
I like being short.
I hate that peanut-butter-and-dry-milk edible "play dough". It grosses me out.
I looooove gymnastics, but I get scared to do stuff that I know I can do easily, like a back handspring.
I like to organize things as long as I just get to sit in the same place and sort the items. I don't like when I have to clean up a room and I have to go to all corners of the house to put everything away. When I got bored, I used to dump out my box of beads and mix them up just so I could sort them out again.
I actually typed out this list and published it on my blog.

How to set up an aquarium - for beginners

2010-03-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

I've noticed that there is a big need for information on fishkeeping, and that a lot of the information out there isn't so great. So without further ado, here is the first of many posts about fishkeeping.

Many people buy a bowl and a couple of fish before doing any research. If you are one of those, pretend you are starting from scratch, and after you follow the instructions in this post, move your fish to the tank you've just set up.

If you are one of the few people who decided to research fishkeeping before diving in, congratulations! You've just taken the first step in helping to make sure your fish have a long, happy life.

A good size for a first aquarium is 29 gallons, since it is small enough to care for easily but big enough to house most common species of fish, including goldfish. However, some people can't afford a 29 gallon tank so it's OK to start smaller, but you shouldn't get a tank smaller than 10 gallons for your first tank since there aren't a lot of options as to what to put in anything smaller than a 10 gallon. Here's a tip, though: If you look on Craigslist, you can often find used tanks in good condition for a really great price!

Assuming you can afford a 29 gallon tank, here's a list of what you'll need to set up your first aquarium:

A 29 gallon aquarium

An aquarium stand

A lid for the aquarium

A filter rated for at least a 29 gallon aquarium

A 200-250 watt aquarium heater (if you are keeping any fish that is not a goldfish)

Filter cartridges (they are the pieces of sponge-like stuff that go inside the filter)

An API master test kit

None of the things I listed above are optional. They are absolutely necessary to keeping fish, unless you are keeping a goldfish tank, in which case you won't need the heater, but you will still need everything else listed!

Here are some optional things to make your aquarium much nicer:

Substrate (gravel, sand, etc. My favorite substrate is sand. You will need about 1-2 pounds of substrate per gallon of tank, so you will need around 40 pounds for the 29 gallon tank.)

Decorations (plants, driftwood, castles, etc.)

A light, if the lid didn't come with one (these will make the aquarium much more
attractive, and are necessary if you want to have live aquatic plants in your tank)

Do NOT buy any fish yet! You will buy them much later in the process.

Okay, now that you have everything, the fun part starts! First, you will need to find a good place to set up your tank. You shouldn't set it up right next to a window, door, or air vent because those can cause the temperature of the tank to fluctuate. You will need to put the tank near a power outlet because you will need to plug in the filter, heater, and lights. The floor of the place you choose needs to be level. You will probably also want to place the tank in a main room of the house so everyone can see the fish.

Once you find the right place, set up the stand and make sure it is level. Then take the tank and carefully rinse it out with the water hose (if the weather is warm) or in the bathtub (if the weather is cold & the tank is small enough). If you have purchased a used tank, you may need to scrub it thoroughly. If it is a new tank it just needs a light rinsing to get off any dust. NEVER use soap on your aquarium, because it is very hard to get all of the soap off and even a tiny bit of soap can kill fish.

After you have rinsed the aquarium, empty it and dry off the outside so it will be easy to carry. Don't ever try to carry the aquarium when it has water in it. A full 29 gallon aquarium will weigh in at between 250 and 300 pounds!

Set the aquarium on the stand and make sure it is centered. Rinse the substrate well and put it in the bottom of the empty tank. If you have any large decorations such as big rocks, caves, etc. go ahead and arrange those in the tank as well. You should also stick the heater to the back of the tank at this point, but do not turn it on yet.

Slowly add water to the tank until it is about 1/3 full. If you put a plate on the gravel and our water on top of it, the gravel will not be disturbed by the water. After the tank is about 1/3 full, secure any plants in the gravel and continue to fill the aquarium until it is full. Put the filter on the tank and fill it with water. Put the hood and light on the tank. Now you can plug everything in!

Most people go out an buy a whole bunch of fish at this point, but that is a very bad thing to do, because your tank is not cycled yet. Here is a brief explanation of the nitrogen cycle.

I'm not going to explain how to cycle your tank before you get fish, because it would take a long time, so instead I'm going to give you links:

Different methods to cycle your aquarium before you add fish

How to do a fishless cycle on an aquarium

Do you notice how the articles say to test your water? This is where the API master test kit comes in. Test strips are cheap, but they are not very accurate at all, so you should use the liquid test kit.

You will know your tank is finished cycling when it holds steady at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 10-30 nitrate for at least 3 days.

NOW you can add your fish! They will be so much happier now that they don't have to go through all of the stress of the nitrogen cycle, and happy fish are generally healthy fish.

Congratulations! You just set up your first tank!

An Explanation of the Nitrogen Cycle

2010-03-10T09:00:00.000-06:00

Here is a brief explanation of the nitrogen cycle.

When your tank is just set up and no fish are in it, there are a few tiny bacteria floating around in the water. These bacteria eat ammonia.

When fish poop, they produce ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish. However, when you add fish to the tank and they start pooping, the bacteria start eating the ammonia & reproducing more bacteria that eat ammonia. So what's the problem? Well, remember that at first there are only a very few bacteria, so when you add fish to the tank, you are suddenly adding a lot more ammonia than those few bacteria can handle. Eventually the bacteria will have reproduced enough times that there are enough of them to handle the ammonia, but until then, the ammonia just builds up in the tank until it kills the fish. The fish usually die before the bacteria has multiplied enough.

Once there are enough bacteria to handle the ammonia, any fish that have survived will be OK, since there won't be any more ammonia, right? Wrong! When the first bacteria eat ammonia, they produce nitrites. Nitrites are just as poisonous to fish as ammonia. However, just like with the ammonia, there are a very few nitrite-eating bacteria floating around in the water. Eventually they will grow and reproduce enough to handle all of the nitrites that are a by-product of the ammonia-eating bacteria, but until then, just like with the ammonia, the nitrite will build up in the tank and kill the fish.

As you might suspect by now, after there are enough nitrite-eating bacteria to eat up the nitrites, these bacteria also produce a by-product. It is called nitrate. Nitrate, however, is only poisonous to fish in very large quantities, which is why you should change 25% of the water in your tank once a week. This keeps the nitrate level low enough that it doesn't harm the fish, and everyone lives happily every after!

The end.

Check out this giveaway!

2010-03-08T17:15:00.001-06:00

Life in a Shoe is having a great giveaway! Go on over and enter!

Crafty Creations - post your links!

2010-03-06T02:01:00.000-06:00

Today is the big kick-off of my Crafty Creations Carnival! If you want to know how to be a part of this carnival, read this post.

The Crafty Creations that I'm sharing with y'all today are Mimi's headbands and hairclips. They are handmade and super cute! I can't believe she actually makes them herself. Take a look at some of my favorites:

Pink & lime green headband

Aquamarine & chocolate headband

Raspberry pink & pistachio green hairclips

Green flower hairclip

Blue & green headband

Aren't they adorable?

Now it's your turn! Leave me a link to a post of yours that talks about someone else's adorable creations!

Pictures - 3/04/2010

2010-03-04T15:35:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to share some of my favorite pictures that I've taken.

Crafty Creations - The Carnival

2010-03-01T13:56:00.000-06:00

I've decided to have a blog carnival! I will put up a Mr. Linky this Saturday (March 6th) and I'll leave it open to new links until Monday. I'm hoping to do this every Saturday, so don't forget to come back!

What you do is find a product that another blogger sells that you think is adorable/nifty/useful/etc. Write a post about that product, linking to the blogger who makes it, and then link your post up in my Mr. Linky!

Here are the rules:

You can't link to one of your own products. This carnival is about sharing cute things that others make!
Please don't enter your link in the same Mr. Linky more than once.
You can link to more than one product in the same post if you want to.
In your post, you must link to the blog/website of the person whose product you are talking about.
Please copy and paste this HTML code in your post:

It's the URL for my button, so that other people can click on over and join the fun!

Remember, it starts this Saturday, so everybody get typing!

World's Best Caramel Chocolate Cake

2010-02-27T20:11:00.000-06:00

I just made the BEST caramel chocolate cake EVER! Here is the recipe:

1 box German chocolate cake mix
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter or margerine
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
2/3 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate pieces

CAKE:

Prepare cake batter according to directions on box. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 cake pan and bake as directed. NOTE: You have to use a 9 x 13 sheet cake pan. This recipe will not work with a layer cake or bundt cake. When cake is done, remove from oven and use a fork to poke holes all over the top of the cake.

ICING:

Melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in brown sugar, milk, and vanilla in that order. Keep whisking until it boils. After it has boiled for a couple of minutes, add the chopped pecans. Stir well to combine and let cook for another couple of minutes. Add coconut, remove from heat, and let it sit during the next step.

THE NEXT STEP:

Put the chocolate chips in the blender and use the shred or ice crush setting until most of the chocolate is in little pieces about the size of the chopped pecans. There will be some pieces bigger than you want and some chocolate "dust", but that's OK. The "dust" will melt on the cake and make it extra good.

Pour the caramel mixture over the cake and carefully spread it out. If you aren't gentle enough, the pecans will tear the cake. Sprinkle chocolate bits and dust over cake. Wait a few minutes for the chocolate to melt and serve warm.

Some Tips on Internet Ettiquete/Grammar

2010-02-23T12:37:00.000-06:00

Today, I thought I'd share some tips I have discovered that make it easier to get along with other people on the World Wide Web.

When You Capitalize Every Word Like This, It Makes Your Message Harder To Read. See What I Mean?
WHEN YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS, IT IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED YELLING.
When you dont use any punctuation at all like this it makes it harder to read what you are saying and it also makes you look kind of dumb
Plz don't use chat speak like this in forums bc most of the members don't like it when u do and some even have rules against it.
if you want to look rlly stooped talk lik this dont use any capitil letterz or punkshwashin misspell half of th words use chat speek leeve letterz off of the endz of words and put a z instead of an s at th ends of words also dont proofread anything u type.
If you don't wish to appear dumb, disregard the previous advice.
Emotion is very hard to express through typing, so sometimes your message can come across the wrong way. Smileys can sometimes help get your message across the right way. Don't flood your message with smileys, though, because it gets very annoying.
There are some words that are not interchangeable, such as "also" and "too"; "their", "there", and "they're"; "you're" and "your", etc.*
If you join a new forum, make sure you read the rules before you post so you won't accidentally break any of them.

* "Also" and "too": These can sometimes mean the same thing (example: You could say, "I went to the store also," or "I went to the store too,"). However, also and too are not interchangeable all of the time! For example, you could say, "Also, we went to the park," but it would be weird to say "Too, we went to the park,".

"Their", "There", and "They're": "Their" is possessive, as in "Their dog ran away". "There" means a place, as in "Let's go over there". "They're" is a contraction that is short for "they are", as in "They're going to the zoo".

"Your" and "You're": "Your" is possessive, as in "Your dress is pretty". "You're" is a contraction that is short for "you are", as in "You're getting this blanket dirty!"

If you have any more good tips, please leave them in the comments!

Clay Animals

2010-02-11T17:57:00.000-06:00

I'm making clay animals to sell to help the people in Haiti. Here are some examples:

Cow ($5)

Pig ($4)

Goat ($4)

Turtle ($3)

100% of profits will go to Haiti. I'll have a PayPal button up in a little while!

The iPod

2010-02-02T20:05:00.000-06:00

Maybe you've seen the iPod story and the iPod follow-up story on my mom's blog, and you're wanting to know more about the iPod I got on eBay. No? You think that would be boring? Well, I don't really have anything else to post about, so here I go anyways.

The iPod I was originally going to get from the lady on Craig'slist was pink, and since she said she had just got it for her daughter for Christmas, I'm assuming that it was one of the most recent ones and looked something like the iPod in this stock photo:

The thing is, I don't really like pink, especially hot pink, but since I was going to be getting an iPod Nano for the price of an iPod Shuffle, it wasn't too big of a deal. But when the deal fell through, I started looking around on eBay to see if I could find an iPod Nano for around $50. I ended up getting one for just $56 including tax, with free shipping! WOOHOO! It is a 3rd generation and it's green. Here's a stock photo of what it looks like:

Green also happens to be my favorite color, so I'm happy that I got this one! It should get here between tomorrow and the 13th. I'm really excited about it!

Chocolate Pie

2010-01-20T17:05:00.000-06:00

I have made this chocolate pie twice in the last several days. It is reeeeeeeally good! I did do 2 things different, though:

1. I didn't use 4 raw eggs. I just didn't want to be eating raw-egg pie, so we got a carton of Egg Beaters and I used that. 1/4 cup of it equals 1 egg. It is real egg product but it is pasteurized so there's not a slight chance it could be carrying salmonella or anything like with regular eggs.

2. We didn't have any baker's chocolate, so I used the cocoa/oil substitute. 3 tablespoons of cocoa and 1 tablespoon of cooking oil equals one square of melted unsweetened baking chocolate.

The pie still turned out great and it set up fine. I put whipped cream on top and it was DELICIOUS! You really have to try it!

Need A Laugh?

2010-01-15T21:10:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I haven't posted since September! We've all been really busy. I know I've probably said this before, but I really am going to try to start posting more. I'm going to try to post at least twice a week.

Anyways, if you need a laugh, you've come to the right place!

(Yes, this is MY little sister, and not some random baby off of YouTube! I was the one giving the interview.)

(This IS some random kid off of YouTube.)

Floor Collapses at Weight Watchers Watchers Weigh-In

(This is the same little sister as the first video)

(Yes. This is our dog.)

Sooo... have you laughed yet?

Randomness And A Video

2009-09-02T14:22:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted here in forever! We just started school last week and I've been really busy.

List of random items:

We have homeschool gym day, piano, and gymnastics all on Monday AND we also have to get all of our school work done!
I jammed my left thumb at gymnastics last Monday.
It's a good thing it wasn't my right thumb because then I wouldn't be able to hold a pencil. Wait... would that be a bad thing?
Have you ever tried functioning with only 1 thumb?
A couple of weeks ago my big 55 gallon fish tank started leaking everywhere.
I decided to try to sell it instead of re-sealing it. Again.
Someone is very interested in it and I'm really hoping they buy it! *Fingers crossed*
I'm saving up my money to buy a turtle or tortoise, but I'm not going to be able to get one until after we move.
I really want a Hermann's Tortoise, but the only kind of tortoise that any pet stores around here carry is a Russian Tortoise, so I might have to get one of those instead. Or I might get a box turtle, because they're not as expensive. But I really want the Hermann's Tortoise.
I have decided to do a weekly video interview with my baby sister Emelyn and post it on my blog. She'll be 2 on December 7th.

Here's this week's video:

Gymnastics!

2009-07-22T13:20:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the long delay in posting, peoples. I've been really busy lately. I just got back from church camp on Friday, and I haven't really had time to post anything.

I'm starting gymnastics tomorrow! I'm super excited! Cameron (9) and Adrienne (7) are also starting. We've been seeing what we can do on the trampoline. I can do a cartwheel, a summersalt, ande I can also do a flip in midair by pushing off of my hands! If I go over hard enough I can land right on my feet and stand up.

Does anyone have any tips for the first day of gymnastics?

And does anyone notice anything different around here? I just completely re-did my blog and I love the way it looks! I'd also love to get feedback!

The Big One

2009-06-15T09:51:00.000-05:00

We had a huge storm here recently. The hail was golf ball sized, the power went out for over an hour, and our trampoline almost blew away!

HUGE giveaway, and other matters

2009-06-10T16:46:00.001-05:00

Life In A Shoe is having a HUGE giveaway. Huge as in BIG! FAT! GINORMOUS!!

You could win $400 worth of Geneva Bible Pages, or $200 cash! Go here to enter!

The other news is that I managed to delete my blog layout. So if you notice things looking a little funny around here, you know what happened.

Win a cute purse!

2009-05-22T14:58:00.000-05:00

Go here to win an adorable purse!

LTC

2009-04-14T09:55:00.001-05:00

This past weekend (Friday and Saturday) I participated in LTC, which stands for Leadership Training for Christ. This was my first time to do it, so I only chose 2 activities to do, Chorus and Bible Bowl.

Chorus is basically the same thing as Choir, but we don't use musical instruments while I think that some church choirs do. I also heard that it is called Chorus so it won't be confused with a regular church choir.

In Bible Bowl, the topic this year was the book of John. (Each year the topic switches back and forth from the Old to the New Testament. I think next year's is 2 Samuel). You spend as much time as you can reading and re-reading the topic book for that year. You also go to practices to help you see what it will be like in the actual competition.

On Easter weekend, all of the LTC participants from your church travel to a hotel which has specifically reserved the rooms that weekend only for LTC'ers. All of the events are hosted in the hotel. There were about 1800 children participating in the location our church chose to go to (not all from our church, of course) and that doesn't count the parents and siblings, so you can see that it is crowded!

In the actual Bible Bowl competition, you go to a huge room with tons of tables lined up in rows. There are 4 people to a team, and your team sits one behind another, not beside each other. The announcer reads a question over the loudspeaker, such as, "In the beginning was ________. A: The Word, B: God, C: Satan, or D: Moses."

You have a cube in front of you with each side labeled A, B, C, D, or E. You also have a sheet of paper next to you with the same questions that the announcer is reading. After the announcer reads the questions and possible answers, they ding a timer, and you have five seconds to think about your answer. Then they ding it a second time and say "Locate your answer." After five more seconds, they ding it a final time and say, "Reveal your answer." You turn the side of the cube with the letter you chose toward the front, where a table judge is sitting. You have to have your hands off of the cube when the announcer tells you to show your answer or your answer will be counted as wrong.

There are 100 questions in shifts of 25. After each 25 questions, you get a 5 minute break where you can eat a snack or go to the bathroom.

I got 3 questions wrong, so I got a score of 97, which is an individual Gold Medal. My team also did well enough that we got a team gold medal. Our Chorus group got a gold medal also.

Red Envelope Day

2009-03-31T09:35:00.000-05:00

I thought that the perfect post for red envelope day would be a post with 2 stories about 2 mothers who made different decisions.

Once upon a time there was a mother who was pregnant. She went in for a routine test and found out that her baby would have down syndrome. The mother decided to have an abortion. She went on her way, thinking that she had just rid herself of a burden.

This story is true, but I can't show you the baby, or the hundreds of other babies with this same story, because they never got a chance to be born.

Once upon a time there was a mother who was pregnant. She went in for a routine test and found out that her baby would have down syndrome. She chose not to have an abortion and to keep the baby, even though she found out soon after the baby was born that she (the baby) would have heart problems.

She named her baby Hannah, which means Grace.

This is a true story, and this is baby Hannah.

Can you imagine what would happen if her mother had decided to have an abortion? Baby Hannah wouldn't be here showing us her nose because she would be dead.

Many other babies with down syndrome aren't here to show us their noses because they are dead. Someone decided that they didn't want a "burden", but instead of getting rid of a burden, they got rid of a blessing.

But Hannah's mother decided to keep her blessing, and now she has an adorable baby who had a chance to live and is showing everyone that down syndrome is not a bad thing at all.

No Human Footprints

2009-03-26T10:35:00.000-05:00

AKA "If you insist on thinking you spotted fossilised human footprints in with the dinosaur prints, you're just plain dumb."

We went to Dinosaur Valley State Park yesterday, and there was this big disclaimer on the sign at the first exhibit:

Click to enlarge.)

Really now? Not only do you insist that the human print found INSIDE a dino print was a fake, you choose to ignore the many fossilised human footprints right in front of your nose.

What's this?

Someone (like the person who designed the sign) might claim that the one on the lower right is just a smudged dinosaur track, nevermind the fact that it fits my foot perfectly:

But what about the one on the upper left?

You can see VERY distinctly the toe marks. What kind of dinosaur had 5 toes that were all on the front of the foot, with the one on the inside being largest and then the rest going down in size from there? Here's a closer look:

Here's another set of tracks that we found that aren't as clear, but they show a big person and a little person's tracks side by side. I thought this was neat.

At the Zoo

2009-03-06T09:34:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we went to the zoo. I learned something very interesting from Reagan:

The mention of candy will straighten up any attitude right quick!

Also, is you offer to hold her hand, she will demand to be carried, but as soon as she spots the gift shop her feet will sprout wings and she will leap out of your arms and go flying towards the toys!

We're having an epidemic of bathroomerosis; that is, certain people have to inspect every bathroom on the face on the earth. They do this by announcing that they need to go right now 5 minutes after we start driving and could we please stop at that gas station.

Also, it's very helpful to know that if you accidentally forget to put the memory card back in the camera, you can only take about 20 pictures.

14 month old babies love snakes. Real snakes. Not the toys. If you show a 14 month old baby a live snake, it will squeal and point and bounce up and down.

The zoo is fun. Even with all of the bathroom episodes and "lame" 3 year olds.

My Aquarium

2009-02-26T10:36:00.001-06:00

Right now, I have a 10 gallon aquarium, but as soon as I get the stand I'm going to set up a 29 gallon one. I already have 2 female Mollies (Pipsqueak and Skittles) and a male Dwarf Gourami (Sprite).

I'm going to be moving them into the bigger tank, and I'm also going to get 5 black Kuhli Loaches and 6 Corydoras.

I'm going to have sand on the bottom for the loaches and corydoras so they don't scratch themselves. I might use live plants, but when I first start it I'm going to be using plastic ones.

I hope I can get the Corydoras to lay eggs because they cost about $5 each at the pet store!

I'll try to post pictures after I get it set up.

Goldfish: Caring for them & some common myths

2009-02-23T10:24:00.000-06:00

First, let's look at some goldfish myths and the real truth.

"Goldfish will only grow as big as the tank lets them. They are perfectly happy in bowls because they don't grow too big."

On the outside, it appears that the goldfish does only grow as big as the tank allows. However, goldfish do not have an automatic growth controller that clicks off when the goldfish can't get any larger without having much swim room. A goldfish's natural size varies from 8 inches for the fancy breeds to over 12 inches for the comet. If a goldfish is kept in a tiny tank or bowl, it is stunted. But only on the outside. Its organs keep growing and growing until the outgrow the body, which leads us to our next myth:

"Goldfish only live for a few years."

Sadly, most goldfish do live for only a few years due to improper care. If kept in a proper environment, a goldfish's natural lifespan is 20 years or more. The oldest goldfish on record lived to be 49.

"Goldfish do not need a filter. They are very hardy and are fine without one."

Goldfish do need a filter, much more than most other fish. They are extremely messy. Unless it is removed some way, the waste and excess food rots, which will kill the goldfish because rotting waste and food produce ammonia. Ammonia burns a fish's gills, which leads to a painful death if the situation is not addressed quickly. Even then, a fish can have lasting damage to the gills.

Now, let's talk about setting up a goldfish tank. Goldfish need much larger tanks than other common fish because of their adult size. If you take good care of your goldfish, it can be with you for over 20 years!

The general rule of thumb for goldfish is 20 gallons for the first goldfish and 10 gallons for each additional goldfish. Goldfish need excellent filtration to keep all of the waste down. Buying a filter for a goldfish can be more expensive than for another kind of fish, but since goldfish do not need heaters, the cost is probably about even. List of things to buy:

29 gallon tank
Filter rated for a 40-60 gallon tank
Gravel
Plants (Live plants look nicer, but a goldfish will uproot them and possibly eat them)
Optional decorations/accessories (like caves, statues, driftwood, etc.)
API master test kit (if you don't already have one)

You probably won't want to only have one, so let's say you're wanting to start out with 2. You'll need to buy a 29 or 30 gallon tank. The difference between them is that a 29 gallon is 30 inches long, while a 30 gallon 36 inches long. 29 gallons are probably more common than 30's.

Do not buy a goldfish yet!!!! If you add your goldfish right now, they will die of ammonia poisoning because your tank has not completed the nitrogen cycle. Look here for detailed directions. I would recommend using the "Add Daily" method, even though it takes longer, because in the end there will be much more beneficial bacteria to eat up your goldfish waste and the fish will be much less likely to die.

After you have cycled your tank (your tank has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrItes, and 10-20 nitrAtes), you can add, at most, 2 goldfish. If you are using a 29 or 30 gallon tank, you need to get one of the fancy varieties, like a Black Moor or a Fantail and NOT one of the longer plain varieties, like a Comet, because these grow much larger. Here is an example of how big the fancy varieties can get if kept in healthy conditions. This kind of growth is NORMAL! Pond goldfish are not the only ones who naturally grow large.

Make sure you do a 25-40% water change once a week to keep your fish healthy. NEVER totally empty the tank and wash the gravel, because this kills the ammonia-eating bacteria!

Caring for bettas: Creating a betta tank & some common betta myths

2009-02-22T20:20:00.000-06:00

Supplies to buy:

Tank
Heater
Filter
Gravel
Plants/decorations
API test kit

First, you'll need to buy a tank. Do NOT buy a bowl, a vase, or anything less than a 2.5 gallon! A 5 gallon would really be alot better than a 2.5, and if you get a 10 gallon, your betta will have a palace!

You'll need a filter and a heater. Bettas like to be kept at around 78 degrees, and they don't like alot of water disturbance from the filter, so take this into account when buying. Make SURE you don't go overboard with the equipment. A filter for a larger tank will cause too much water flow, and a heater that's too powerful can kill your betta by overheating the tank.

Also get some substrate. Don't get sand. If you get gravel, make sure it's smooth so it won't damage your betta's fins. Marbles or those little flat glass "pebbles" will work well.

Get some plants and decorations, too. Live plants will provide oxygen and absorb some ammonia. If you get fake plants, don't get plastic! They will tear your betta's delicate fins. Get silk plants instead. Get a couple of structures for your betta to play with, such as a castle with large smooth-edged holes.

Take your tank & equipment home. Do NOT buy a betta yet! You'll need to cycle your tank before you put your new friend in. Set up the tank, plants, decorations, filter, and heater. Don't put it in direct sunlight. Research instructions for a fishless cycle, follow them, and don't buy your betta until you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and around 10 nitrates.

Make sure you acclimate your betta before letting him into his new home. If you don't, you risk having him or her go into shock from the change in water temperature.

If your new fish doesn't eat right away, don't worry. Give your betta a few days to settle in.

When cleaning the tank, never wash off the gravel, and NEVER use any soap on anything going into your aquarium. Use a siphon & gravel vacuum and do a 25% water change every week.

Common betta myths and the real truth:

"In the wild, bettas live in mud puddles, so they are fine in those little cups."

In the wild, bettas live in rice paddies in Thailand, NOT in mud puddles or elephant footprints.

"Bettas don't need a filter or heater. They don't have a filter or heater in the wild."

In wild betta habitats, water flow provides natural filtration, just like the warm climate combined with the lower water level (NOT mud puddle levels) provides natural heating. With no filter, the betta is practically breathing its own waste, only it is not in the form of waste. When fish waste and excess foods rot, they produce ammonia, which is toxic to fish in levels as small as .75 ppm. When I got my sister's betta from the store, I tested the water from his tiny cup, and the results were 8+ ppm. Ammonia burns the gills of a fish, leading to extreme pain and eventually death.

"Multiple male bettas can be housed together. What stops them from being together in Thailand?"

Nothing. Nothing stops the bettas from seing eachother. However, nothing stops them from swimming away or hiding either. If one male has had enough in a rice paddy, he can swim away and/or hide in the plants. In an aquarium, and especially the small ones that bettas are usually housed in, the males can not get away from eachother, so if one tries to escape, the otehr will bully it to death.

I hope that if you decide to get a betta, you will keep it in good conditions like the ones I listed!

Her Royal Highness Demands...

2009-02-20T10:49:00.000-06:00

An audience with mommy at 2:00 in the morning,

Cough Drops,

Kool-Aid,

Purple Medicine,

And numerous other things that I can't remember...

Reagan is sick. The night before last she had a 103 degree fever and a bad cough and she woke up screaming that there was a wolf in her room. Mymomconnie took her to the doctor the next morning and waited in the tiny room for 2 1/2 hours for the doctor to come out and say, "She has a cold. Give her Robitussin."

Aaaannnddd... how much do we owe you for that?

Later, she was looking through one of Adrienne's school books when she saw a picture of a squirrel. She squealed, "That's what was in my bedroom last night! I saw it!!!"

I think that maybe we might possibly need a lesson on animal identification.

Right now she's running around underwear, and since we're about to go to the store, Mymomconnie asked her, "What about your pants?"

Her reply was, "Don't know" (and the unspoken part was probably "Don't care")!

Last night she woke up in the middle of the night and started out saying, "Where's Mommy? Mommy, I need you!" and built it into, "Mommy, come here RIGHT NOW!!! I WANT TO SEE YOU!!!!"

Let's hope she doesn't start hollering about wolves at Wal-Mart.

Quotes From Reagan

2009-02-13T09:41:00.000-06:00

"If you don't give me nickles, then I will DIE, and you will be sorry!

"You neeeevvvvveeeeerrrrr let me go into the liquoooooooor stoooooooooore!!!" (When we were getting boxes to pack in)

(Mommy) "Did you go to the bathroom like I told you to?"

(Reagan) "Umm... sort of!"

"Where is outside?"

"Cake makes you healfy."

"I like RD-2E." (R2-D2)

"Hi, Doorbell!" (After we've been calling the baby 'Adorabelle')

"If you give me ice cream then I will grow."

(I asked her to tell me about Star Wars, and she answered me in mostly single words:) "Anakin. Ahsoka. Rex. Shoot. Kill eachother. Stars (light sabers). Hey, I want a purple light saber for my next birthday!"

(About Yoda) "Green. Orange (???)."

"I have nickles, and you don't!"

The Lemonade Award

2009-02-06T09:34:00.000-06:00

Holly at Seeking Faithfulness gave me the Lemonade Award! Thank you, Holly!

Here is what it's about:

The Lemonade Award recognizes bloggers who are positive, show gratitude, and make the best of things. That is folks who make lemonade out of lemons.

The rules for the award are:

#1 You must link back to the person you received the award from.

#2 You have to pass this award on to ten more blogs, of your choice, which also demonstrate great attitude and/or gratitude!

#3 Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

Well... I don't think I can come up with 10 blogs, so I'm just tagging 3:

Emma at A Bookworm Named Pickle

Hannah at Hannah's World

Lindsey at Exceedingly Abundantly Blessed

In other news, I've decided that even though it's still February, I can't stand a winter-y blog any more, so I'll be giving my blog a remodel. I give you permission to scream about this certain announcement: I'm probably not going to do it myself. I think I'm going to get a free background from somewhere because I don't feel like working on one. Now you may scream.

Also, Reagan has somehow gotten it into her head that it would be fun to walk around all day with no shirt on. Last night she was banned from the table until she put on a shirt. No shirt, no shoes, no service! Except in this case, it's OK to have no shoes.

This morning, when she was told to PUT HER SHIRT ON, FOR PETE'S SAKE, she replied, "Well, I not goin' outside, so I OK with no shirt."

She's wearing a shirt now.

Cameron's birthday is in 4 days, so we're going to Wal-Mart tonight to get her presents. I'm getting her a betta. I got her one for her last birthday, and she LOVED him, but he died after a few months because she forgot to de-chlorinate the water once when she was changing it. I saw a REALLY pretty one the other day. It was purple, and I think it was a half-moon betta instead of a normal one. I hope he's still there!

If you're bored, then...

2009-02-04T19:31:00.000-06:00

Take a look at Nikki's blog whilst squealing and flapping your hands around.

Look at this free tutorial about bathtubs.

Stare at these beautiful horses.

Laugh your head off at this hilarious video:

We were dying over here about the parts, "You have 4 eyes" and "WHY is this HAPPENING to me?"

That last part sounds like something that Reagan might do. Sometimes, when she's in trouble, she says, "I can NOT stop this crying!" Once, in the middle of a PRAYER at church, I might add, Reagan was acting up, so Mymomconnie pinched her to get her attention. Bad idea. She started yelling, "MY MOMMY PIIIIIIIIIIIIINCHED MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

Never assume that cute means harmless.

First: Attention! Alert and Alarm! Second: The Rodeo!

2009-02-03T11:32:00.000-06:00

Mymomconnie has hacked into my blogger account! I did not publish her comment on this post! Oh well, I know her password!

Last night we went to the rodeo. I would post pictures, but the camera has an objection.

My favorite part was the barrel racing, and I got some good pictures which I can't show you. (Glaring at the camera)

There was also a hilarious clown act where the clowns were doctors and they were taking a lady to the hospital. At the end of the act, the announcer said, "If that doesn't kill her, nothing will!"

At the beginning, there was a big parade of people on horses. I got some good pictures of that, too.

At the end was Mymmomconnie's least favorite part, bull riding. I've figured out that if the camera wakes up in time to take a second picture of the bucking, it means that the guy hung on long enough for the buzzer.

And now I can't think of an ending for this, so I'll just say it.

The end.

You can go home now.

Healf Foods

2009-01-31T10:28:00.000-06:00

This is a conversation that I overheard which I think shows how people's views on what foods are healthy can be different.

Katherine (4) and Reagan (3) were sitting at the table, eating cake batter. Katherine brought up the subject of health food.

Katherine: "Reagan, there are certain foods that are healthy for you. Can you tell me what one is?"

Reagan: Slurp, slurp, lick, slobber: "Cake makes you healfy."

Silence.

Katherine: "Reagan, cake does NOT make you healthy. Apples do."

Today, I did a little interview with the Director of the Health and Nutrition Department, age 3. Here is her list of what makes you healfy:

Cereal
Cake
Strawberries
Lunch
Macaroni
Banana

At this point, she stuffs her face with cereal and proclaims, "I'm making myself healfy."

I think I like this expert's views.

Is anyone there?

2009-01-29T10:43:00.000-06:00

I'm just wondering if anyone actually ever reads this blawg. PLEASE, if you read this post, comment!!!!

Sabino

2009-01-27T10:23:00.000-06:00

Look here to see the rest of the horse color posts.

Sabino is a paint pattern that is fairly common, but not as much as Overo and Tobiano. A Sabino horse typically has 4 white stockings, a blaze or bald face, and white under the belly. This pattern is very common in Clydesdale's. A horse can also have the sabino gene and not have any white on its belly, so the horse only shows a bald face and stockings.

Here are 2 Clydesdale sabino horses:

Here is an example of a horse that does not have white on its belly.

This sabino foal has a very high stocking on its back left leg:

This is a good example of classic sabino.

There IS a Creator

2009-01-19T20:40:00.000-06:00

I have decided to do a post on Creation Evidence.

Today, in public schools, evolution is taught as a fact. Just like 4 x 3=12 is taught as a fact. Public school teachers are not allowed to teach about creation as a fact, and that's making a big impact on how people view creation.

Here is a quote from a great book, Out With Doubt, that shows how many people view God and creation.

Tommy really thought Mr. Hinson was a great teacher, and all of his friends
agreed.
But Tommy had one big problem. Mr. Hinson taught some things
about the universe that Tommy had not been taught at home. For instance,
when he taught the unit on dinosaurs, he said that some of their bones were
around 150 million years old. And when he explained about the meat-eating
Venus Flytrap, he said that it just happened by genetic mutation. None of
these things had really bothered Tommy until today.
Today in Mr. Hinson's science class was different because he talked
about God, or to state it more correctly, the idea that there is no God.
"Today in class," said Mr. Hinson, "we are going to talk about the
origin of the Universe. Who can tell me how it got here?"
Eugene Lepton, the class genius who read his science textbook for
fun, said, "It started out as a tiny, dense ball about the size of a period at
the end of a sentence. Then it exploded in what is called the 'Big Bang'
and sent particles flying all over. Eventually the planets organized in
orbits."
"Very good", Hinson commented, "That's exactly right. Now, can
anyone tell me how old the Universe is?"
Lucy Landsdale, who always tried to outdo Eugene, piped
up: "Most scientists say that the Universe is about 8 to 20 billion years
old."
"Right again," said Mr. Hinson. "And how did life originate on
our planet Earth?"
This time no one answered, so Mr. Hinson began to explain.
"Hundreds of millions of years ago, in a chemical swamp, a single-cell organism
formed from nonliving compounds. It genetically mutated and evolved into
multicellular bacteria. Those bacteria adapted and evolved through more
mutations and natural selection, and changed into different types of plants and
animals. Eventually, mammals like apes and monkeys evolved, and we humans
evolved from a common ancestor we shared with them."
Suddenly, Jimmy Johnson-whose dad preached at a large church in
town-blurted out in a rather nervous-sounding voice: "That is not
true. The Bible says that God created the Universe in six days, and
created man out of the dust of the Earth."
Tommy knew he had been taught the same thing about God, and he
silently wished he had the courage to do what Jimmy was doing.
Mr. Hinson chuckled and said: "Yes, Jimmy, that is what the
Bible says," as he walked over to his desk and pulled out a black Bible from the
top drawer. He read several verses from Genesis about God creating
the whole Universe. The Bible was a King James, and many of the words
sounded strange to the class. Then Mr. Hinson continued: "You see,
the Bible is an old book filled with old ideas and lots of mistakes. Very
few really smart people believe in the Bible anymore."

What the teacher says about the Bible pretty much sums up what many people think about creation and the Bible these days. The general idea is that the story of creation is just some outdated science possibility that people believed before the idea of evolution was invented.

The very FIRST verse in the Bible says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

One of the primary rules of science is the rule of Cause And Effect. If there is an effect, then by the rules of science, there must be a legitimate cause. For instance, if a vase falls off of a table and breaks, of course it did not happen because an ant crawled by, but it could have happened because a toddler reached out and grabbed it. Or if a rainbow appears in the sky, it certainly was not caused by a bird, but because the sun was shining on a rainy day.

Yet even scientists refuse to acknowledge this rule when it some to creation. Remember what Mr. Hinson taught Tommy? Well, what caused the chemical swamp? An the non-living compounds from which the single-cell organism supposedly morphed? And if they have the answers for that, I want to know, what caused the causes? And the causes of the causes?

Also, here's another interesting point: I know that there are small mutations in the animal kingdom today, such as an albino lion, but has it EVER, in all of history, been recorded that a monkey and its offspring mutated into humans? And I don't mean where scientists have "recorded" that is happened millions of years ago. I mean an actual documentation by man of this supposed event. If monkeys morphed into men million of years ago, why haven't we seen even the SLIGHTEST change in monkeys for as long as history has been kept? If it happened then, why not now?

And here's something else very interesting: In some canyons, layers in the rock can be seen. Scientists claim that each layer took a million years or more to be built up by the flowing water, yet there are fossilized trees standing up through 3 or more layers! If each layer really took a million years, the tree would have rotted down to a stump before even a little bit was covered with rock!

There is much, MUCH more evidence for creation, so much more that I can't list it all! And still people insist that the world just happened to come into existence through some phenomenon.

It seems to me that people will believe whatever they want to believe, regardless of the evidence proving that belief wrong. Why is this? Why do people want to deny God's existence over and over again? I think it's because they are afraid to admit that there might actually be a real God, because they don't want to have to obey Him and to what He tells us to. What they don't know is that they are missing their only chance to have eternal life. I don't say "eternal salvation" because, no matter what we do, our souls are going to live eternally. We only get to choose if we have Eternal Life or Eternal Death.

Reagan.

2009-01-17T10:04:00.000-06:00

Reagan has a very bad cold recently, and the worst part is her cough. Sometimes she can't stop coughing, and usually what brings it on is A) She went outside in the cold or B) she was crying about something (which she happens to be doing quite a lot).

Anyways, when she gets coughing really bad, sometimes we have to put her in the shower and let it get really steamy.

Anyways again, earlier, for some reason, she was crying about something completely irrelevant, such as, let's say, her hair clip was blue instead of green. Here's an interesting conversation that I heard:

Mommy: "Reagan, stop crying. You're going to make yourself cough."

At which point I mouth to her, that's exactly what Reagan wants.

And right on cue, Reagan says, "Can I take a hot shower?"

Me: "I told you!"

Mommy: "No, there's no hot water left right now."

Reagan: "Then can I take a cold shower?"

Mommy: (giggle giggle snort) "NO! You'd be freezing!"

Reagan: "But I LIKE cold showers!!!!"

Mommy: "It would be too cold!"

Reagan: "I don't care if I ever get cold. I NEVER get cold!!!"

Then she goes off to do something else. Or so we think....

A few minutes later I walk into the bathroom and see Reagan in the shower, just standing there, waiting for water from Heaven to pour onto her head.

Sometimes she never gives up.

Because I'm Bored

2009-01-16T10:56:00.000-06:00

Did you know....

The oldest recorded goldfish lived to be 49.

At one time in England, taking a bath was punishable by death!

To stop the spread of germs, one king outlawed kissing!

Goldfish don't have stomachs.

Goldfish can weigh as much as 10 pounds.

Scarlet Fever is the same as really bad Strep Throat.

Yarn can be made from recycled plastic bottles.

If a butterfly's wing is magnified, it appears to be covered with fur!

It is a myth that goldfish will only grow as large as the tank allows.

Alligator Gar can grow to be over 10 feet long! Don't believe me? Look here.

Bison are not the same as buffalo.

A kangaroo can jump the length of a school bus in one hop!

People did not evolve from monkeys.

Once, a group of dolphins protected shipwrecked sailors from sharks!

What appears to be a horse's knee is really its ankle.

The tallest recorded horse was over 7 feet tall at the shoulder!

Bats are not blind.

Elephants can signal to other elephants by stomping.

The Canadian Goose population grows 8% every year!

My Guppies

2009-01-14T14:26:00.000-06:00

You might have read on my previous posts that I had one female guppy and several young guppies. Well, I had to give them away when we moved, but I bought 3 male guppies to live in the new tank I got for Christmas.

Here are some pictures:

Sadly, my blue guppy, who was my favorite, died, and now my other two guppies are acting sick. I think it has something to do with the filter. I think it's stressing the fish because they're having to swim against the current all the time, but I don't know what to do because the filter needs to run to keep the tank clean. Does anyone have any advice?

Pattern Test

2009-01-10T10:46:00.000-06:00

Here's the paint pattern test. I'm going to show 7 pictures, numbered 1-7, and you can comment to tell me what pattern you think each number is. **Be sure to carefully study the 2 previous posts before you try to take the test!**

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

Number 7 is a trick picture! One horse in it is overo and one is tobiano. Looking only from the back, and reading the information I put in the previous posts, can you tell me which is overo and which is tobiano?

Overos

2009-01-10T10:26:00.001-06:00

Tobianos and Overos are the most common paint patterns, but until you have seen lots of horses or pictures of horses from each pattern, they can be hard to tell apart. Here are some overos compared with a tobiano:

Overo

Tobiano

Overo

Overo

Overo

Overo

Notice that all of the overo's have blazes or bald faces, and that if they have white legs, it is because of white stockings and not becuase the pattern runs off of their body and onto their legs. Also notice that the overo's pattern covers the middle of the body, while the tobiano pattern usually leaves the middle of the body dark. Also, the overo's pattern is much more jagged than the tobiano's, and the overo pattern does not cross the horse's back. Tobian's look like someone poured a bucket of white paint over them, while overo's look like someone took a piece of chalk, drew a pattern on each side, and colored it in.

Look at the next post up for a test on how much you know about paint patterns!

Tobianos

2009-01-08T10:18:00.000-06:00

Before I start this post, I just want to say that if you posted a comment about, I don't know, A MONTH AGO, and it just got approved, it wasn't my fault.

Mymomconnie "forgot to tell me". ;)

Now for the horses.

Tobiano is probably the most common paint pattern in the U.S. The "standard" tobiano has a dark head which may or may not have markings, and the white covers at least some part of the shoulder & hip and extends to all 4 legs. This is a good example of a classic tobiano:

Here is another:

This one has the classic pattern, but is a little unusual because you usually don't see tobiano's with a bald face.

And, of course, there are the extremes: hardly any white, and a lot of white.

Here's a good example of a tobiano that has pretty minimal markings:

And here are a couple who have quite a bit of white.

If you have a request for a horse color that you want me to post about, please leave a comment and tell me!

Duns

2008-12-19T10:17:00.000-06:00

Dun is the "original" horse color, as in early horses were some variation of dun. A dun horse looks a lot like a buckskin, but it has markings that are referred to as "primitive markings", such as leg barring:

And dorsal stripes:

The original variation of dun was bay + dun + mealy. However, many more dun variations exist today.

A bay with the dun gene is a Zebra Dun:

A chestnut with the dun gene is a red dun:

A black with the dun gene is a grulla (pronounced grew-ya):

A palomino + dun is called a palomino dun or a dunalino. A buckskin + dun is called a dunskin.

An interesting fact about the dun color is that a horse cannot be a dun unless at least one of its parents was a dun also, unlike most other colors.

Roans

2008-12-18T09:31:00.001-06:00

Now, I'm going to talk about roans.

A roan is a horse who has the base color, such as bay or chestnut, mixed with white hairs. The head and lower legs are darker. Sometimes the mane & tail are also mixed with white, or "frosted".

A bay with roaning is called a Red Roan or a Bay Roan:

A chestnut with roaning is called a Strawberry Roan:

A black with roaning is called a Blue Roan.

Roaning can be found in all colors, but in light colors it can be hard to see. Here is a buckskin roan:

All roans carry at least one copy of the roan gene, which means that all of their foals will have at least half a chance of being roan. Roans are born the base color of their coat (bay, black, etc), but when they lose their baby fur, which is some time between 4 months and 1 year, the roaning shows. Sometimes a roan is confused with a horse that is greying out.

The Cream Dilution

2008-12-17T10:33:00.000-06:00

Now that we know about the basic horse colors, I'm going to talk about the cream dilution.

A bay horse with one copy of the cream gene will be buckskin:

Notice that a buckskin horse looks alot like a dun horse, however, the are not the same. A dun horse will have a dorsal stripe and leg barring, and a buckskin will not. Also, the genes that cause duns and buckskins are not the same.

A bay horse with two copies of the cream gene will be perlino:

Perlinos are often confused with Albinos, but they are not the same.

A chestnut horse with one copy of the cream gene will be palomino:

And a chestnut horse with two copies will be cremello:

Notice how cremello looks like a very light shade of palomino instead of just white. Also notice the difference in the palomino's eyes and the cremello's eyes.

A black horse with one copy of the cream gene is very hard to tell apart from a normal black horse except by DNA testing or if it produces a cream dilution foal. Single dilute black horses are often called "Faded Blacks", "Smoky Blacks" or "Summer Blacks".

A black horse with two copies of the cream gene is a smoky cream:

Don't go anywhere, because next I'm going to talk about roans!

The Basic Horse Colors

2008-12-16T09:14:00.000-06:00

I decided to do a series of posts on horse colors. This one will start with the basic horse colors, bay, black, chestnut, and grey.

All colors are either red based or black based. Bay and black horses are black based. Chestnut horses are red based. Grey horses can be either, because the grey masks another color, such as bay or chestnut. These horses are almost never born grey, the horse is born one of the other colors and then they "grey out" as they get older.

Grey horses are often confused with white horses, but see the black muzzle and the black around the eyes? A true albino has pink skin.

Grey horse (either base):

Here's a chestnut horse (red based):

Here's a true, or jet black horse (black based):

And this is a bay (black based):

One of the reasons that a bay turns out bay instead of black is because of a gene called Agouti. If Agouti is present in a horse's coat, it restricts the black to the legs and muzzle, so the horse is bay. If there is no Agouti, then there is nothing to restrict the black so it covers the entire horse.

Horses are either homozygous or heterozygous for any gene that they have. Homozygous means that a horse has a double copy of the gene, and will always pass on one copy of the gene to its foals. Heterozygous means that the horse has only one copy of the gene. For example, a horse that is DNA tested and shown to be e/e is homozygous for red, and will never produce a black based foal. But a horse that is DNA tested and shown to be E/E is homozygous for black and will never produce a red based foal. A horse that is tested to be E/e can produce a red based foal or a black based foal, because it has one copy of each gene. However, since black base is dominant and red base is recessive, a horse that is E/e will appear to be black based.

These are just the basic horse colors. You can add dilutions to them to get other colors, but we'll talk about that next time.

**NOTE: I got all of these pictures and all of the pictures I will be using in the rest of the horse color series off of Google.**

The Wonders Of Science

2008-11-24T18:46:00.000-06:00

Reagan has made 2 important scientific discoveries lately!

The first is that if you don't chew your pickle slices AT ALL, they can be barfed up completely intact at a later time and make for a really gross story.

The second discovery was made today while we were picking pecans. She informed Mommy excitedly that she "Opened a pecan and IT! HAD A NUT! INSIDE IT!", and best of all, "The nut, IT! TASTED! GOOD!"

I wonder what we'll discover next.

The Throw-Ups

2008-11-20T09:06:00.001-06:00

Reagan has "The Throw-Ups".

That would be bad enough, but Reagan needs a little work on obeying without arguing. Here are some conversation clips that I heard:

"Mommy, I WANT TO GET UP!!!!! You KNOW my stomach doesn't hurt ANY MORE!" (To make this sound authentic, have a whiny two-year-old say it while another sibling is stomping their feet and one more is making gagging sounds.)

"Mommy, WHY can't I have cereal?!?!? You know I don't have the throw-ups any more!"

Add a long pause, and then:

"Mommy, I NEVER EVER throw up!"

In other news, how do you like my blog's new look? ~~Mommy~~ A certain person named whose name I shall not mention said that my header looked like it had a big pile of sand in it.

Tell me if she's right. Okay?

Katherine's Story

2008-11-11T10:07:00.000-06:00

Last night, I overheard my 4 y.o. sister pretending to read a book to my 2 y.o. sister. I'll relay the story to you IF you have a strong stomach and IF you are not eating. If you fall into that category, just go away. That's right. Leave. Go on!

Katherine's Story (with interuptions)

4 y.o.: "Once upon a time there was a dog and-"

2 y.o. "What kind of dog?"

4 y.o. "Just a dog. Once there was a dog and he ate a person-"

2 y.o. "HE ATE A PERSON?!?!?"

4 y.o. "Yes."

2 y.o. "Eeww."

4 y.o. "But his stomach didn't like the person, so he BARFED HIM ALL UP!"

2 y.o. "EEEEWWWW!!!"

4 y.o. "And then he got a drink out of his water bowl-"

2 y.o. "Eeww."

4 y.o. "And then he ATE THE PERSON AGAIN!"

2 y.o. "EEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!"

The moral of this story is: Dogs, DON'T EAT PEOPLE!

And to all of you who were eating when you read this even though I warned you: Aren't you sorry now?

What Will Happen If Obama Is Elected

2008-10-31T11:46:00.000-05:00

About spreading the wealth:

If Obama is elected, there will be no more little red hens. They will all die of starvation:

LITTLE RED HEN

"Once there was a little red hen. She called all of her Democrat neighbors together and said, 'If we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me plant it?'

'Not I,' said the cow.

'Not I,' said the duck.

'Not I,' said the pig.

'Not I,' said the goose.

'Then I will do it by myself,' said the little red hen, and so she did. The wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain.

'Who will help me reap my wheat?' asked the little red hen.

'Not I,' said the duck..

'Out of my classification,' said the pig.

'I'd lose my seniority,' said the cow.

'I'd lose my unemployment compensation,' said the goose.

'Then I will do it by myself,' said the little red hen, and so she did.

At last it came time to bake the bread.

'Who will help me bake the bread?' asked the little red hen.

'That would be overtime for me,' said the cow.

'I'd lose my welfare benefits,' said the duck.

'I'm a dropout and never learned how,' said the pig.

'If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination,' said the goose.

'Then I will do it by myself,' said the little red hen.

She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see. They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, 'No, I shall eat all five loaves.'

'Excess profits!' cried the cow. (Nancy Pelosi)

'Capitalist leech!' screamed the duck. (Barbara Boxer)

'I demand equal rights!' yelled the goose. (Jesse Jackson)

The pig just grunted in disdain. (Ted Kennedy)

And they all painted 'Unfair!' picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.

Then the farmer (Obama) came. He said to the little red hen, 'You must not be so greedy.'

'But I earned the bread,' said the little red hen.

'Exactly,' said Barack the farmer. 'That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle.'

And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, 'I am grateful, for now I truly understand.'
But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread because she joined the 'party' and got her bread free. And all the Democrats smiled. 'Fairness' had been established.

Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared...so long as there was free bread that 'the rich' were paying for. And eventually there were no more rich because they all joined the 'free bread' crowd, so all of the animals died from starvation."

(Click on the picture to see it bigger)

About the Obama tax plan:

Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too.

It's unfair that he got ten times more than I got'

'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

*Snicker snicker* This stuff cracks me up.

I Like To Ramble

2008-10-31T09:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I was going to have a giveaway for the bloggy giveaways carnival, but by the time I heard about it, IT WAS OVER, Y'ALL.

Because Mymomconnie forgot to tell me about it while it was going.

Oh well. Better late than tardy.

"What did you just say?" You're saying.

Oh nothing, I was just quoting Hank The Cowdog.

So at the NEXT Bloggy Giveaways, I'll be giving away...

A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS!!!

Just kidding.

I'll be having a really great giveaway with crafts that you can make yourself, so don't miss it!

My Math, It Is STRANGE, Y'all

2008-10-30T16:48:00.000-05:00

This is actually a real problem that was in my math book today.

"The formula for the space (s) passed over by a body that moves with uniform velocity (v) during a given time (t) is s=vt. Find s when v=180 feet a second and t=3 seconds."

Now, I'm curious: At what time is the human body moving at one hundred and eighty feet per second?!? Is it a common practice these days to shoot people out of cannons so scientists can dream up mathematical formulas to torture innocent kids?

My Very Long Educational Post

2008-10-23T16:16:00.000-05:00

I decided to write a very long educational post about the upcoming election and the presidential and vice presidential candidates.

About spreading the wealth, I wonder if Obama has realized what will happen if we "spread the wealth". It's nice for people who have money to help suffering people, but if Obama takes from the people who have money and gives it to people who just don't feel like working, what do you think will happen? The people who worked to earn their money would see it and think, "Hey, I don't have to work to get money! I can just sit around all day, and Obama will GIVE me money for doing nothing"! Pretty soon, all of America would just be sitting around and waiting for someone to spread the wealth, and one day everyone will wake up and there won't BE any more wealth to spread!

I'm sure that everyone has heard that Barack Obama voted to withhold lifesaving aid from babies who survive abortions, but do you know what that means? If not, watch this video:

Obama and his supporters call themselves "Pro-choice", meaning that they think a woman should have the choice whether or not to have an abortion. They claim that it is the mother's body, and she knows what is best for it and should be able to choose what she wants. If this is the case, then why would a mother who delivered a full term baby and decided she didn't want it be arrested for leaving it in a closet to die? Would it be any different for a 1 week old than a 1 year old? NO! So why is it any different for a baby delivered at 22 weeks than for a baby delivered at 36 weeks?

And if people know what is best for their bodies and should be able to chose what happens to them, why are people arrested for abusing drugs?

Did you know that my dad was adopted because his birth mother was not married and decided she didn't want to take care of a baby on her own? If she had decided to have an abortion, I wouldn't be here right now.

The moral of this story is this: don't forget to vote (for McCain!)

The Ultimate Chocolate Cookies

2008-10-14T11:31:00.001-05:00

I invented a recipe for Ultimate Chocolate Cookies and Ultimate Chocolate Icing. The cookie recipe has been posted before on Mymomconnie's blog, but no one (except us) has ever seen or tasted Ultimate Chocolate Icing. So I thought I'd share with you.

Ultimate Chocolate Cookies

4 sticks softened butter (not margarine!)

3 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/3 cup cocoa

3 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

Pre-heat oven to 350. Beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy. Mix in cocoa. Stir in flour, salt, and baking powder. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Ultimate Chocolate Icing:

8 oz. cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cup cocoa

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. milk

Cream the cream cheese in the mixer bowl. Add the vanilla and the powdered sugar. Beat in the milk. Stir in cocoa (and I do mean stir. And do it SLOWLY, or you'll be sorry). Whip the icing for 45 seconds to a minute. Spread on cooled cookies.

**Note: These are the large family versions. If you have a small family, then halve both recipes.**

**Warning: These cookies are dangerously chocolatey. If you aren't extremely careful, you may find yourself wanting to lick the knife after you ice the cookies, and as we all know, that is a bad example. But I did it anyways.**

The Kind Of Town We Live In

2008-10-10T18:48:00.000-05:00

Here is an example of the kind of town we live in. These are the things that made the August news:

8-2-08 At 9:30 AM a resident reported a wallet stollen from an unlocked car. At 11 AM a resident reported ATV tracks on his property.

8-4-08 At 10:15 AM a resident reoprted that a CD case had been taken from his car the night before. There were four homes whose occupants reported doorbells being rung between 3:30 AM and 4 AM, with some reporting property damage.

8-6-08 At 10:30 AM a resident reported plant and yard items missing.

8-7-08 A resident reported golf clubs missing. The resident was unsure when the clubs disappeared and said they may have fallen from a golf cart.

8-8-08 At 11:45 AM there was a collision. There were no injuries, and the drivers exchanged information.

8-11-08 At 12:30 PM a resident reported that a canoe had been stolen. At 3:15 PM another resident reported that 8 to 10 gallons of gasoline was stolen out of his car's gas tank.

8-12-08 The garbage truck operator reported that house paint had been thrown away in someone's trash and was now leaking onto the road.

8-13-08 At 9;30 AM a resident stopped at the Security office to report that an older man was walking along the road near the campground area with a stick in his hand. As cars would approach he would hold the stick out onto the road and cause the cars to swerve to miss the stick.

8-14-08 At 1 PM a resident reported suspicious activity at her home the night before. Security went to the area but found no one.

8-15-08 The same resident from the previous report again reported suspicious activity outside her house at 1:30 AM. Security went to the area and found suspicious activity at another location on the same street that turned out to be an underage drinking party. The Sheriff's Deputy on duty took over the situation. The resident was fined a flagrant violation.

8-16-08 The clubhouse recieved a report of boys on the golf course with BB guns. Security ent to the location but was unable to locate anyone fitting the description.

8-18-08 Damage to the golf course was reported in the area of No. 6 hole. More than 15 holes were punched into the green, the water fountain was broken, and the irrigation controller was damaged.

8-19-08 The garbage truck operator reported that gasoline had been thrown away in someone's trash and was now leaking onto the roads.

8-24-08 Homeland Security, the Secret Service and the Sheriff's Office responded to the air strip for an airplane that flew into restricted airspace. The situation was quickly resolved.

8-26-08 At 9:30 AM the garbage truck operator reported that three different colors of paint were leaking onto the roads, after which he was told to fix the hole in his truck. (Okay, I'll admit that I made up that last part!)

Fish And Other Thoughts

2008-09-17T10:56:00.000-05:00

My guppy had babies.

Again.

From the last "batch", I have 1 male and 1 female who are about 6 weeks old. From this batch, it looks like I have 4 that are living, and I can't tell if they're males or females yet.

I'm going to have to give them away before we move, so here is a list of all of the fish that are we have that we need to give away:

1 full grown probably pregnant guppy
1 6 week old female guppy
1 6 week old male guppy
4 1 day old guppies
2 male platies
1 female platy
3 minnows
1 Rosy Red minnow
1 goldfish
1 algae-eater fish

I'm going to let the minnows go in a pond, but the rest are going to find a new home.

Now for the random thoughts:

If you go on a trip, and you think, "I'm not going to drink out of that water bottle after everyone else did because they might be sick and then they would get me sick", then sure enough, nothing will happen.

But, is on the way home 5 days later, you think, "Well, no one got sick last time, so I might as well get a drink", then sure enough, your 4 year old sister will start throwing up the next morning.

57 million chigger bites are VERY itchy!

The fish population is multiplying way too rapidly.

Why did the one who got sick have to be the one who takes one and a half weeks to get well?!?!?

We have piano lessons and a dentists appointment overlapping tomorrow.

Also, the dog has an eye infection and needs to be taken to the vet.

And don't forget, you have a couple if other tiny little things to do, like, I don't know, oh yeah, we need to PACK UP THE WHOLE HOUSE!

6-soon-to-be-7 year old's birthday is in a week, and we still have to pack and do school whilst getting ready for a birthday.

What do I do if someone starts throwing up all over the floor while Mymomconnie is at the grocery store buying toilet paper?

When you go to the liquor store to get boxes to move, you REALLY hope that no one you know hears the 2 year old bawling, "YOU NEVER TAKE ME IN WHEN WE GO TO THE LIQUOR STORE! I WAAAAANT TO GO TO THE LIQUOR STORE!" (Nevermind that she has never seen a liquor store in her whole life, That "never" business is just a trick to get what she wants.)

The same 2 yr old has very clever ways of getting what she wants, like this:

Daddy: "Woobie, when did you get so big?"

Woobie: "It's the ice cream."

And this:

Woobie: "One day, I'll grow as big as Cameron! (the 8 yr old)

Me: "When will you get that big?"

Her: "When you give me some chocolate milk."

Me: "What if I don't want you to grow up?'

Woobie: "Could you just give me some chocolate milk?"

Me: "What if I don't want to give you some chocolate milk?"

Her: "Then could you give me some candy or gum?"

And this. First, let me set the scene: 2 yr old sees sick 4 yr old get a popsicle.

Her: "Mommy, I neeeeed a popsicle!"

Mommy: "No, you're not sick."

Her: "Mommmmmyyyyy! My mouth makes me sick!"

The Sign At McDonalds

2008-08-23T10:41:00.000-05:00

OK, I know that the title of my blog is "My Favorite Things", but seeing something like this sign is NOT one of my favorite things. Except that it made us crack up laughing.

This is what the sign at McDonalds said, and I'm not kidding:

NEW! SOUTHERN STILE CHIKEN!

I'm going to try to post a picture later.

Oh, by the way, the "N" on "Chiken" was backwards.

Also Known As "P-Bess"

2008-08-04T16:28:00.000-05:00

We're having the first night of VBS at our church tonight. We have a CVS in our town. My little sisters like to watch a channel called PBS.

So they call VBS and CVS "PBS". But when they're in a hurry, which is fairly often, they shorten it to "P-Bess". These are phrases commonly heard areound these here parts:

"Mommy, can we watch P-Bess Kids?"

"Mommy, what time does P-Bess start? Can we invite the neighbors?"

"Mommy, did you get my medicine at P-Bess, or the other place?

Off to get a little Woobie dressed for P-Bess.

We Have a Winner!

2008-08-01T12:38:00.000-05:00

We have a winner to the blog contest! I used a random number generator to get my number. And the number it picked was...

Congratulations to...

JULIE D!

Who Needs Toys When You Have A...

2008-07-31T13:09:00.000-05:00

I'll bet you're dying to know what one item can substitute all of the baby toys in your house. Be patient! I'll tell you in a minute.

If you want to get rid of all of the thousands upon thousands of baby toys, just go out and buy your baby...

A PHOTO PRINTER!

A photo printer is a baby's best friend.

See?

It teaches them how to crawl...

How to sit...

And how to contort themselves into all sorts of bizzare positions.

And also how to fall without breaking your nose.

And then they will just sit and stare lovingly at the photo printer, and talk to it, and proceed to turn all 37 knobs the wrong way.

A baby and her photo printer... how sweet!

Tutorial on How To Use GIMP, Part 1

2008-07-30T14:31:00.000-05:00

I've decided to do a tutorial on how to use the various tools on GIMP. I don't know what some of the tools do because I don't use them.

When you first bring up GIMP, this is what the main window will look like:

These are the first 4 tools on the top:

The first one is used to make rectangles and squares. If you wanted to draw a house on GIMP, you could use this for the "body" of it. The second tool is just like the first one, only it is used to make ovals and circles. With the third tool you use the mouse to hand draw an area that you want to crop. The fourth tool is used to select an area so you can erase everything on the outside or inside of it without erasing the outline.

These are the next 4 tools:Actually, I'm not sure what they do because I never use them.

Here are the next 4:The first one you use to pick a color that is already on an image so you can color another part of an image the same shade as the first part. The second one is used to zoom in or out on an image. I don't know what the third one does (grin), but the fourth one you use to move an image that you have put on top of another image around.

Here are 4 more:I only know what the second one of these does. It's the cropping tool, and I used it to make these pictures that y'all are looking at right now!

Come back later for more of the tutorial!

We Have GUPPIES!

2008-07-29T09:40:00.000-05:00

Yes, my subborn guppy DID finally pop! I'm not sure how many babies there are. At one time, I saw 4 swimming around together, but now, the most I'm seeing is 2. The others must have died or got eaten or else they're hiding.

The babies are SO CUTE! They're about as big as a grain of rice. They have HUGE eyes. I can't get a good picture, so here are a couple I found off of Google:

Oooh goodie! A Giveaway!

2008-07-28T16:11:00.000-05:00

I've decided to participate in the Bloogy Giveaways Carnival! I'm giving away a free makeover to any Blogger* blog! It will include a free header, a free background, 5 free buttons, and your choice of a free customized picture for your profile or an extra sidebar!

Here are some examples of blogs I've done:

Logue Lobby got a complete makeover!

So did This She Could Do!

Leave a comment to be entered! I would appreciate it if you tell others about this, but it is not required to be entered. No more entries after 12:00 Noon on Friday, and I'll draw a winner and announce them in Friday evening.

Go to Bloggy Giveaways for more great giveaway fun!

*I can only do a makeover to Blogger (Blogspot) blogs at this time.

Salamander Habitat

2008-07-27T12:54:00.000-05:00

I'm making a habitat for Cricket. It's good and big (70" by 44") so he has plenty of room to crawl around. It's not done yet, because...

Well...

I don't know how I could have possibly counted wrong (wink wink), but I don't have enough wire.

Actually, it's called hardware cloth.

Why is it called hardware cloth? It is in no way, shape or form like cloth. Look at the checklist:

CHECKLIST FOR DETERMINING IF SOMETHING IS CLOTH:

Soft: No.

Patterned: No.

Able to be sewn with a sewing machine without breaking the needle: No.

Pretty: No.

Un-scratchy: Definitely NO! (This can be proved by my right arm and hand, which look like I got in a fight with a cat.)

See?

Not cloth-like.

And about my guppy: The stubborn thing absolutely REFUSES to have its babies! Unless I counted wrong again, and it's due NEXT Monday.

Blog Designing

2008-07-22T12:17:00.000-05:00

I can do headers, buttons, backgrounds, borders, and lots more! Contact me at smockityfrocks AT msn DOT com, tell me what you want, and we'll work out a price.

Guppies

2008-07-17T18:33:00.000-05:00

My guppy is supposed to have babies on Monday! I am really excited! I can't wait to see if these ones live and what they look like! Last time she had 22, so I think she'll probably have about that many this time.

Anyone want a guppy?

Favorite Songs

2008-07-16T08:52:00.000-05:00

Threeundertwo tagged me to do a list of my 7 favorite songs. The rules of this tag are:

List seven songs that you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your Summer of 2008. Post these instructions in your blog, along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what their favorites are this year!

My songs are:

I am a Sheep
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
That song from Star Wars (I'm not sure what it's called)
From a Railway Carriage
I Need You To Love Me
Listen To Our Hearts
Ring of Fire

I tag:

Mymomconnie @ Smockity Frocks
Emily @ He Is Risen
Kara @ Eskimo Kisses And Air Hugs
Kittykait @ Life In A Shoe
Linz @ Exceedingly Abundantly Blessed
Jennifer @ The Story Of Us...
Denise @ Logue Lobby

Photography

2008-07-15T11:07:00.000-05:00

I like to take pictures of things, and since ~~I don't have anything else to post~~ I just know that y'all will enjoy staring at random pictures, here are some:

Funny Sayings

2008-07-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, 4 of my little sisters were playing outside. They played for awhile, and then I heard Cameron say, "Come on! It's time to back to... ummm... ALABAMA!"

Once, Adrienne said to Mymomconnie, "Let's pretend that I am a child and you are my mother."

A few days ago, Reagan said to Mymomconnie, "Someone's mad at you!"

"Who?" said Mymomconne.

"Bad Girl! Hahahahhehehehehohohoho!"

Book Survey

2008-07-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

I found this at Emily's blog:

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you love.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I've read 13 - more than twice as many as the average adult reader!

Inexpensive Unusual Pets

2008-07-10T20:58:00.000-05:00

Last summer, I got an idea to get a salamander. I wanted to get an Axolotl, so we went to the bait shop to look at the Water Dogs. You know, those mud colored slimy lizards with gills that get used for fish bait. I picked out a healthy looking one, and he only cost me $1! Then I bought a 14 gallon see-through Rubbermaid container for him to live in, and I got some polished rocks about 1-2 1/2 inches wide to put at the bottom of his tank. I also got some aquarium plants to put in there. Altogether, it cost me about $30 for everything. Now, If I had gone and bought my salamander at Petsmart or Pet-Co, it probably would have cost at least twice as much as it did.

As it turns out, he wasn't an Axolotl, but a baby Tiger Salamander. I named him Cricket. Now he's grown up, and he lives on land, but he still lives in a clear Rubbermaid tub (I need to build him a pen outside).

So, my Frugal Friday tip is, if you want a salamander, rescue one from the bait shop instead of buying one from the pet store!

Go to Biblical Womanhood for more frugal tips!

What Is Up With These Girls?!?

2008-07-10T12:46:00.000-05:00

My 6 year old sister was taking pictures, and somehow, she managed to catch people with all of their weirdest faces:

Princess No Mouth

"I'm sleepwalking. See? My eyes aren't even blinking.... oops, they just did."

"Momma, I've got a biiiiiiiiiiiiiig mouth!"

"Don't you dare take my picture."

"You just did, didn't you?"

"Quuuiiiiiiit thaaaaaaat! Mommyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

"Got any treats?"

How does she get them to make those faces?

Keeping Minnows As Pets

2008-07-09T12:42:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, we caught 4 minnows out of a pond and brought them home. We couldn't really fin anything on Google about how to care for them, so I just had to figure out what they would eat. Now I decided to make a post about how to care for them so all 5 of you out there who read my blog will know how to care for minnows. Because I'm sure that all of you have minnows. I'm not talking about Rosy-Reds, either. I mean the real thing that lives in ponds and gets used for fish bait.

First, you need to know that no matter how big your minnows are, or how small your crayfish is, DO NOT, under any circumstances, keep them together. The crayfish just might decide to kill and eat the largest minnow, and when you move the crayfish to a different tank, he might go and die on you.

Have you ever noticed that when you take a couple of dozen minnows in a bucket to use for fish bait, they all die after a few hours? That's because they don't have enough oxygen, so you need to have an air pump in a tank for minnows.

You don't have to have a big tank, but they will be a lot happier and healthier in one. At first, we have 4 minnows, 1 crayfish, 2 tadpoles, and an unknown number of water snails in a plastic box about the size of a shoebox. Then we moved them to a 1 gallon tank with a lid when they tried to jump out of the box. Now I upgraded to a 10 gallon tank, which, if you buy one without all of the fancy gadgets such as heaters, filters, etc., only costs about $10. We have 3 minnows, 1 guppy, 1 algae-eating fish, and 2 snails (which, for some wonderful reason, don't seem to be reproducing) in it.

At first, I had to try different foods to see what they would eat. I found out that they eat floating foods, but the only food we had at the time was betta food, so I would either crush it or soak it in water for a while before I gave it to them so that they could eat it. Now, I use tropical fish flakes and freeze-dried tubifex worms mixed together. What I do is get a small container, such as a spice container, that's been thoroughly cleaned, and then I coarsely crush the flakes into the container until it's about two thirds full. Then I take some tubifex worms cubes and crumble them into the flakes until the container is almost full. Now shake it up to mix the food. (I crush the food because even though the minnows could probably handle the big flakes, the guppy couldn't.)

We don't heat the water, and they are fine. They also don't seem to be having any babies, which is good for me, because we'd have to find something to do with them.

That's how I take care of our minnows.

The Best 4th of July Dessert Ever!

2008-07-06T12:33:00.000-05:00

For the 4th of July, I made up a recipe for a red, white, and blue dessert, and we all love it! Here's the recipe for 4th of July trifle:

Ingredients:

Blueberries
Sliced Strawberries
1 16oz. bag of frozen mixed berries, which has Strawberries, Blueberries, and Raspberries
2 large tubs of Cool Whip
1 angel food cake, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 normal sized batch of strawberry jello (not the family sized box) cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Instructions:

In a large trifle dish, put down 3 layers in this order: cake, cool whip, mixed berried. On the last layer, before you put down the cool whip, scatter the jello pieces evenly on top of the berries. Spread on enough cool whip to cover the last layer. Make alternating circles with the blueberries and the strawberry slices. Refrigerate covered for 4 hours before serving. Cover any leftovers and store them in the refrigerator.

How To Make A Coconut Monkey

2008-07-05T16:30:00.001-05:00

I just made a really cute coconut monkey! Here's how:

Supplies:

2 halves of a coconut shell
Hot glue gun
Hot glue sticks
Felt
A cord (A shoelace would work well)
A black thingamajigey (I don't know what it's called, so I'll post a picture of it)

Directions:

Make sure both halves of the coconut don't have any meat left in them. Punch out all 3 eyes of the coconut. Try to make one hole bigger than the other 2 for your monkey's mouth, like this:

Take the half of the shell that doesn't have eyes and ~~drill a hole~~ get your brother to drill a hole on the point in the middle of the shell.

Cut a strip of felt about 1-11/2 inches wide and 5-6 inches long. Take the half of your shell with eyes and glue half of the felt to the bottom inside the shell. Then line up the other side, make marks where the felt should go, and glue the other half of the felt to the inside bottom of the other shell. It should look like this:

You just made a hinge.

Now take your cord and double it over. Tie a knot on the double end, not the end with 2 points. Slide your black thingy (the picture's the next from the last) onto the doubles cord starting at the end with 2 points (remember, you tied a knot at the other end)and push it all the way down to the knot. Push both points of the cord through the hole in your monkey's rear end. It will look like this:

Now take the points of the cord, and glue them a little under and below each eye, like this:

The cord is the latch, the tail, and the handle. When you want to latch the monkey, squeeze the black thing and pull it up to the top of the cord, like this:

You can put stuff inside of your monkey and carry it around. Also, to make it look more like a monkey and not like a mouse, you can glue felt ears on the monkey, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Here's the finished product, minus the ears:

God Bless The USA

2008-07-04T20:48:00.000-05:00

Sno Cone Survey

2008-07-02T16:45:00.000-05:00

Mymomconnie is having a sno cone survey! My favorite flavors are: Almond Joy, Birthday Cake, Coconut Cream, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Watermelon. The flavors that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole are Pickle Juice and Pickle Cheesecake. Yes, someone (who shall remain unnamed) actually tried the second ones and tried to feed it to the dogs after tasting it.

They wouldn't eat it.

Another flavor I don't like is strawberry lemon cheesecake with cream. I tried it once, and it was pretty.... weird. I have to wonder when the people who make the sno cones think when we put several crazy flavors together. Today, I ordered a Strawberry Orange with Cream for one of my sisters!

My Guppy

2008-07-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

I recently bought a guppy from Wal-Mart. At first I didn't know she was a guppy because she was in a Rosy-Red fish tank. She looks alot like this:

Only she's not as green. She's more of a grayish color.

She had babies a little over a week ago, but none of them lived. She should have babies again around July 20th.

If you have any advice about guppies, please let me know!

Also, if you live around us (you know if you live around us) and you want a guppy in a couple of months, let me know!

Neat Blogs

2008-07-01T16:32:00.000-05:00

A Bookworm Named Pickle
Bookworm Emmy
Eskimo Kisses and Air Hugs
Exceedingly Abundantly Blessed
Hannah's World
Life In A Shoe
Logue Lobby
Nikki and Danny
Our Humble Opinions
Smockity Frocks