I'll Be Home for Christmas!

      I'll be home for Christmas!!!!!! Wonder of Wonders. I'm so excited!!!!!! I can't wait.
     The other day, we set up our Christmas tree, just like every other year. Then, the next day, we were all called to the couch for an announcement. We were then told that we were going back down south for Christmas!!!!!!
     We will be heading down to Alabama and staying there for three days. Then on to Florida for Christmas Eve. And then...Back to Alabama for Christmas day with our grandparents!
    Then of course comes the long...fourteen hour drive back to Missouri. :(
     I can't wait to see friends that I haven't seen in a year...
   I will post pics. I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, Thanksgiving passed so long ago, that I'm not posting about it this year.

It's Been A Week...

      Okay, it's been a week since I posted last...
     We had friends over yesterday. One of my pen pals came, (with her family of course) and spent the night. I had so much fun with them. I have pictures, but don't feel like trying to upload and edit them right now! I might do it sometime tomorrow. It was so fun seeing them again. They were such a joy to spend time with.
     We are still counting down the days until Thanksgiving comes, (bringing visitors with it). It is now  a week from yesterday, or six days. Five weeks from yesterday until Christmas. Or, fifty-nine days; however you want to say it.
   
             Well, I am now signing off until Thanksgiving, or until it snows! Au Revoir...

Lately...

     You know that your brother is interesting when he tells you that he wants to spend his birthday in a hospital room, or sings love songs in opera to himself!
     You know that you're in for  treat when your brother starts singing. I love listening to Jacob sing. His most recent favorite song is the theme song for the PBS kids show "Super Why."
     We had our first flurry today and everyone sort of got caught up in the excitement. Okay almost everyone (Anna and Sarah weren't too interested).
     Thanksgiving is coming up and everyone is excited, (we are expecting friends to come  over). The younger ones are counting down to Christmas by the week.
     Jacob informed me the other day that Christmas was the most special day of the year, because Jesus was born a bunch of years ago. The way he told me was funny, he had no idea that I already knew!
     We've been busy, I'll post more over the holidays. :)

Siblings And A New Blog

     I love having siblings (most of the time). The other day, I got asked by my brother Jacob what color I was when I was little. He somehow could not understand that I didn't change color when I got older. I've always been dark. I tried to explain to him, but he just didn't get it. :)
     Recently, Lydia has been reading aloud more often and it is fun to sit and listen to her read.
     Samuel has been very interested in the crawdads he has been finding in an old drainage ditch close to our house. He likes bringing them home, and observing them. Somehow they keep disappearing. I'm not sure if he has been letting them go, or whether he has been killing them. I'm not interested enough to ask!
     I have recently (as of yesterday) printed off  some yahtzee score sheets and Jacob and I have been 'rediscovering' the game. Jacob's new favorite word now is "Yahtzee!"
     I have started a new blog called StoryTime. I like writing stories and would like to be published one day. Here is the link to my story blog:     StoryTime

Update To Say, I Have Not Forgotten My Blog

   I have really been busy recently.That's why I have not posted in a while. So, no, I have not forgotten about my blog! I've turned thirteen, met a new friend,started a Pinterest page, helped a family pack for their move to another city, and numerous other things!
     Bernard is a young man from Rwanda whom we met at an art festival. He is the new friend that I mentioned. He is a Christian whom, not having a church home, we have started taking to our church. At the moment, I have no pictures. I will try to have some soon.
     I could say a lot of other things  about my recent life, but I would't know where to start. I'm just writing today to sort of catch up on the past few days... or is it weeks?

Earrings, Cake, Pie, & My Birthday

     Okay, so I posted yesterday, but, who cares?
Yesterday, I got my ears pierced as an early birthday present. I was enthralled!
     Also, I made my own birthday cake, (which Sarah was not happy about, because she wanted to make it). I made a very good looking chocolate pie this afternoon that I will be enjoying in just a minute! I am also going to be making my birthday lunch for tomorrow, and I think my cherry pie for breakfast tomorrow!
     I have been very busy in the kitchen recently. Hopefully, it will stay that way. I like working in the kitchen.
     I am planning on post ing more on my birthday!

Heritage Festival & Mizzou Football

     Saturday, all of our family went to a Heritage Festival in Columbia, MO. We had fun walking on stilts, going on hayrides, listening to the people tell about our past, and looking in old buildings.

You probably can't tell, but this is a blimp

Panning for gold

An old building

     After the festival, we headed to the library. Mizzou was playing Indiana the other night and people were lined up for a very long ways, because there were no other parking spaces. Just about everyone, (except for the four people I saw wearing red for Indiana) wore black and gold! And all of us thought it great fun to sit, in traffic, watching the stream of black and gold go by! Up here, there are no two major teams like in Alabama. In Alabama, you either rooted for Alabama or Auburn, and feelings ran high. Here, it's Mizzou all the way. Unfortunately, Indiana beat Mizzou. I thought, if they could beat Alabama, they could beat Indiana. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Oh well, they might win their next game. Go...Missouri!!!

All those people!!

Go Mizzou!

More People

And more people

And even more people!!

Homecoming

     Until earlier this month, I had absolutely no idea what homecoming was. I've never gone to public school, so I never needed to know. Well, yesterday, we (meaning all of us children and Momma) went to the Auxvasse homecoming parade. We mostly went for the candy! They threw more than was expected and so Momma pooled most of the candy and said she'd pull it out for special occasions. There is no worry of it going bad as, it has plenty of preservatives, (I've eaten candy that was almost four years old, it won't kill you). Needless to say, we did have fun and learned a little bit about what public school is like, (Not that I ever wanted to know).

People are always ready and willing to give Lydia and Jacob all of the candy that they pick up.

A Story Night

Saturday night, Anna, Sarah, and I turned all the lights out in the basement and told each other silly stories by candlelight. We had a lot of fun and made some interesting memories.

Muffins and a Wednesday Morning

   





Anna and Lydia spent Monday afternoon making blueberry muffins for everyone. As we are sort of gluten free, she had to make a gluten free recipe. Cooking gluten free can be frustrating because the recipe is not always consistent. You can get something one way the first time and have a flop the next time without even doing anything different.

     Wednesday morning, Momma took the boys to vision therapy up near Saint Louis. She left us girls and Daddy home "alone." Anna, Lydia and I spent our time watching movies. We watched Disney's Tangled on youtube, a Nineteen Kids and Counting episode and, The Swiss Family Robinson. We hadn't seen it in ages, and I must say, it wasn't as well made as I remember it being. The father was acted by Richard Thomas who also acts John Boy Walton in another series. It was very interesting to see him grown up!

Random Pics

Yesterday, I was outside watching my younger siblings play in the yard. I'm not really sure what they were playing, but it made for a great photo session! These are all candid photos that I took while they were just being themselves. As you'll most likely notice, most of them are of Jacob. He had the most interesting expressions!

Fishing!!!

Earlier today Lydia, the boys, Daddy, Mommy, and I went to a local fishing tournament.  Samuel caught about eleven fish; one of which was large mouth bass. Lydia and Jacob also caught several. I won the prize for most fish, with an grand total of seventeen fish. All of us had fun. So that nobody was left out, there were door prizes, which was nice. Everybody caught at least one large mouth bass. I just barely made the age limit, which was twelve and under.

Lydia on the way to the pond

One of Samuel's fish

Jacob's biggest fish