All posts by hanna

It’s Never Too Late, Right?

It’s still February.  Which is my excuse for still posting about Valentine’s Day; but the truth is I’d still be posting it if it was April.

Really the only reason I feel weird about is probably the fact that we’ve already celebrated a different holiday.  But I’m posting anyway.

I wanted to make sure I acknowledged the existence of Valentine’s Day, so I posted this, but I thought I’d share a little more about our day.  Are you guys sure you don’t mind it when I bury you in pictures I took on my little silver camera?

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Cinnamon rolls are a pretty typical holiday-breakfast at our house.  I ask for them every year on my birthday! 🙂

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It took me foreeeever to get a clear picture of those roses!

We hung bags on the back of everybody's chair for people to put Valentines in.  We opened them after dinner.
We hung bags on the back of everybody’s chair for people to put Valentines in. We opened them after dinner.

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This was taken through the red heart on the bag pictured below.
This was taken through the red heart on the bag pictured below.

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Little brother packaged up a (used) crayon and a scrap of paper with his initial on it.
Little brother packaged up a (used) crayon and a scrap of paper with his initial on it for me.  Way too cute! 🙂
Photo-bombed... by a candy heart.  It had a little help from someone :)
Photo-bombed… by a candy heart. It had a little help from someone 🙂
Happy Valentine's Day, folks!
Happy Valentine’s Day, folks!

 

P.S. I now know why someone came up with the abbreviation V-Day: typing out the whole V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E-‘S D-A-Y is monotonous!

P.P.S.  This post about Valentine’s Day is sooo good!  I’m not laughing.  Seriously.

Note: I read the above blog with my mother, so we can discuss some of the more mature topics.  This post shouldn’t be a problem, but kids should talk to their parents before browsing around.

 

Happy Monday!!! 🙂

 

 

Our Chinese New Year Celebration!

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Michael and Lucy helped make red, paper lanterns with Mom.  The ones on either side are store-bought, but they made the middle one.  (They made more than that; I’m not sure what happened to the other ones.)

 

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Mama decorated our table the night before.

We had Asian food for dinner, and then lit off fireworks:

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Preparations!

Michael stomping "snaps" with his little lawn-chair.  Sooo cute! :)
Michael stomping “snaps” with his little lawn-chair. Sooo cute! 🙂

The noise was a little too much for some of us, so Mom and Becca went inside with the littles to watch out the window, while I stayed outside and took pictures.

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I cannot believe I got such a good picture!  I was just randomly snapping!

Sparkling juice:

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Xin Nian Kuai Le, folks!

Mothers

Mr. Burd sank into a chair before the fire.  “Now, wait a minute,” he said.  “After Jon gets me a drink of water and Sally fetches my slippers and Andy puts Molly in the barn and Mother sits and rests herself, I”ll tell you all about it” (26).

-“By Wagon and Flatboat” by Enid La Monte Meadowcroft

(Emphasis mine)

 

That sounds like something my Dad would say!  Mamas sure work hard, don’t they?

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today is the first day of Chinese New Year!  We got Chinese food last year (the Hy-Vee kind ’cause all the real Asian restaurants were packed out) but we’re going a little more all out this year with Lucy.

As it’s a two-week festival, we’re actually celebrating tomorrow night because Becca  and Spencer work on Thursday evenings.

 

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Happy Chinese New Year, folks!

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I never thought I’d be the girl that posted about this… but I’m a lot of things I never expected to be.  I’m a big sister, I’m a world traveler (kind of 🙂 ), I’m a blog-writer, and I’m crazy about China.  Who would have thought?

2 Samuel 22:34-37

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.  He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  You give me your shield of victory; you stoop down to make me great.  You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.

 

 

Emphasis mine, naturally. 🙂

“Into the Dragon’s Lair” #3

In some ways I’m like “It’s already Tuesday again?” and in other ways I’m like “Tuesday?  Finally–it’s been weeks!”

I honestly meant to post earlier today, but there were several things I needed to get done, so I decided I was not going to post until I got those done.  It was a good motivator! 🙂

I think I’m looking forward to Tuesdays now as much as I do in the summer when we go swimming at “Two Rivers” state park with our home-school group on “Two Rivers Tuesdays”! 🙂

(Click here to read chapter one.)

Okay, here goes:

:-: INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR :-:
:-: INTO THE DRAGON’S LAIR :-:

CHAPTER 2 ~ THE JUNGLE:

Hannah and Spenser walk down the path for about a mile, then they come to a fork.  “Which way, Navigator?” asks Spenser.  “Left,” says Hannah, looking down at her G.P.S.  “You stay here, I’ll see what’s up ahead,” replies Spenser.  Left alone Hannah begins to wonder what creatures could might be watching her!  A stick cracks and Hannah jumps! but it’s only a rabbit.  Hannah steps aside as a daddy-long-legs, the size of a penny without the legs, scuttles past.

“Navigator!  Come look at this!” calls Spenser.  Hannah runs after him and sees a shiny object lying on the path.  “What is it, sir?” she asks.  Spenser stoops and picks it up.  It is a golden necklace!

“I think this is some of my great, great, great, great grandfather’s treasure!” says Spenser.  “Then we’re on the right track, sir!” says Hannah.

The two of them continue.  Finally they come to the dragon: lying cold and lifeless across their path.  “Are you sure it’s dead, sir?” asks Hannah, with a shudder.  “I think so,” replies Spenser, “but you stay here; I’ll go make sure.”  He cautiously taps the dragon with his walking-stick.  Then a little harder.  “It’s safe!” he calls back.

After passing the dragon, the path is scattered with bones.  Some of the dry weeds in the under-brush are charred and black.  “Are we still on the right track, Navigator?” asks Spenser.  “Yes, sir!” replies Hannah.  “And we’re getting close, sir!”

As they go further the birds and insects become fewer and fewer.  The jungle grows quiet.  Hannah stoops to pick up a shiny object on the path.  “I found a diamond, sir!” she calls.  Spenser comes running back.  “We must be getting close now!” he cries.  Hannah lays her hand on the handle of her knife.  “There’s no danger, Navigator, we saw the dragon and it’s dead.” says Spenser–but he looks nervous too!

After about another mile they come to the mouth of a large cavern.  It’s about five feet wide and opens on to a rocky tunnel.  It’s surrounded by gravel, bones, and ashes.

“The dragon’s lair!” breathes Spenser.

Prudence

“Then you would have us retreat to Minas Tirith, or Dol Amroth, or to Dunharrow, and there sit like children on sand-castles when the tide is flowing?” said Imrahil.  “That would be no new counsel… But no!  I said this would be prudent.  I do not counsel prudence (860).

-“The Lord of the Ring: The Return of the King” by J.R.R. Tolkien

“To fly would only be to obey the dictates of vulgar prudence.  But we did not come here to be prudent (116).

-“Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Jules Verne

(emphasis mine both times)

 

Note: “The Lord of the Rings” contains three of my favorite books ever written, but I would not necessarily recommend “Journey to the Center of the Earth”.  It was just alright, and there were a couple reference to evolution.  I honestly enjoyed the movie more, which is rare for me!

See you tomorrow!!!!! 🙂

Picture overload!

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Not much snow left around here!

I took this last Saturday when we went outside to play; there’s even less now!

I wasn’t going to get my camera out that time, but…

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…the guys started filling up this tub…

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…and making snowcastles!

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And doesn’t this deserve a picture?

Here’s a couple pictures of them working on it:

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Earlier that day we dropped Dad and Spencer off at the new building our church is renovating (to help take out the old sprinkler-system), and then the rest of us went to the zoo.

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We saw an IMax and then went to the Aquarium… we went there on my birthday one year, and I spent two hours in there happy as a cricket.  Me and fish! 🙂

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I think I could ALMOST make someone believe that I'd been scuba-diving! :)
I think I could ALMOST make someone believe that I’d been scuba-diving! 🙂

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They recently re-did the aquarium... I thought the giant crabs were a nice touch! :)
They recently re-did the aquarium… I thought the giant crabs were a nice touch! 🙂

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This was Lucy's first time to the zoo, and she was a little apprehensive about the tunnel... she did okay though, brave girl!
This was Lucy’s first time to the zoo, and she was a little apprehensive about the tunnel… she did okay though, brave girl!
The tunnel is one of MY favorite features--you can lay down and look up and feel like you're UNDER water... like a mermaid! (I think that's what started my ocean-craze; mermaids).
The tunnel is one of MY favorite features–you can lay down and look up and feel like you’re UNDER water… like a mermaid! (I think that’s what started my ocean-craze; mermaids).

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Jellyfish... pretty, aren't they?
Jellyfish… pretty, aren’t they?

 

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Lucy laughed and laughed about these little guys! :)
Lucy laughed and laughed about these little guys! 🙂

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Thank you for reading all this and looking at ALL these pictures!  Do you guys like it best when there’s more text or pictures in my posts?

Happy Saturday, and happy Valentine’s Day!

P.S.  Do you any of you have a favorite animal/animals to see at the zoo?

P.P.S.  My computer says snowcastles (^see above ^) isn’t a word.  In my humble okay not-so-humble opinion, if sandcastles is a word, snowcastles is to.  And in case you were wondering: I’ve been making up words for a long time… I used to make them up to put in poetry because I needed a word that rhymed.  I refrain from doing that now, so that others will understand my poems–which is the point. 🙂