Makes me cry every time!

Sam: “It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way  is was when so much bad happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even the darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that mean something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.”

Frodo: “What are we holding on to Sam?”

Sam: “There is still some good in this world. And it is worth holding onto.”

Introducing, the Newest Members of the Family!!

Aren't they cute! Goldberry (Mentioned in an earlier post.) is a very proud mother hen! They hatched on the 13th, so they are.....um......  12 days old. There are 5 of them. Goldberry doesn't like me to get near them. If I do, she pecks me and scratches me. She is not a nice hen! We aren't naming the chicks until we know whether they are hens or roosters. Daddy says that we are selling the roosters, so if any of you want a rooster for some weird reason..... :)  I need name suggestions for the hens. And yes, they can be gender incorrect. 

Horseshoe Falls!

Yesterday we went to a really fun swimming hole! It's called Horseshoe Falls on Shoals Creek (link to google maps) There was a wading area (deepest part up to my knees) a semi-swimming area (deepest part up to my stomach),  some more wading pools (lots and lots no higher than my waist), and a swimming area (deepest part up to my shoulders). There were lots of flat rocks which were perfect for a picnic. We discovered all of these places by walking down the river.  It took us about an hour to get there, but the drive is SO worth it! :) It didn't even seem like 90* F. (or 32* Celsius for those of you in Scotland and Germany) anymore! Splashing in the water and the shady trees kept us cool. But two last tips, don't try to climb the wet, slippery rocks, and STAY AWAY FROM THE POISON IVY!!!!!   (Lots of poison ivy around)

 Johnny-Boy and Daddy did lots of exploring!

                                     

                                                 E-man was having fun looking for little clams.  He brought a bag of them home                           and dumped them in our creek.  We'll see if they survive in their new habitat.

There is an awesome cave under the waterfall

I am actually kneeling - the water isn't that deep.

Johnny-Boy LOVED splashing

Visiting Cherokee, NC

My cousin and I! Ignore the grumpy face in the background!

For our birthdays this year, my cousin Megan and I got to go to Cherokee, North Carolina with our Grandma and Grandpa. It was REALLY fun! it took about 2 hours to get there. On the way, we got carsick. :(  Grandma and Grandpa found a hotel, and then we all went to the museum. The Museum had really creepy wax figures. Look at them! If I didn't tell you, wouldn't you think that they are real?

The Sequoya Statue outside of the museum

They had road signs in Cherokee

We went to a drama that evening called "Unto These Hills." It was really sad but well done.We went back to our hotel and had supper at 11:00pm! Grandma had packed snacks, so for supper we feasted on snack food.

 The next day,  we went to the Indian village where they were putting on skits. The skits were really cool! My cousin and I tried to get the actors to break out of character. The fools didn't even know where Wyoming was! (Because Wyoming didn't exist in 1762) After the village, we went tubing in the Oconoluftee river, where we almost crashed into a herd of geese. We saw a mother duck and her baby ducklings and a mother goose and her baby goslings. They were all so cute!

Some of the ducks in the Oconoluftee river.

Our Father's Day Card

And in case you can't see it all, it says (Bold for candy bars):

Dear Daddy, Take 5 minutes to enjoy Father's Day. We wanted to send to you to 5th Avenue, New York, or send you into Orbit around the Milky Way. But it wasn't PayDay. We had Zero extra cash because it slipped right through our Butterfingers. We thought about a What-cha-ma-call-it or a pet KitKat. We tried to Skor a shopping Spree but the cashier just Snickered. We wish you  Mounds of Crunch Crunch joy. we hope all of this candy doesn't make you get sick and Rolover. You are an Xtreme great dad and Life Saver. Love, your 4 Airheads.

FAMOUSNESS!!!!

My co-op had a science and critical thinking day today (and by today, I mean Tuesday) because they were getting interviewed by World magazine! The story won't go into the magazine until September though. Our science class was fun! We made ramps for marbles out of  foam tubes cut in half. Ours (the two other girls in the 4th and 5th grade class and I) had three loop-the-loops! After that, we ate lunch. I ate mine sitting in a tree. I think that I'm part wood elf.:) Actually, the tree was more comfortable than the grass. We went back inside and went to critical thinking. Critical thinking is actually just more science. We lifted a bottle without touching it, flew paper airplanes and added weights to them, balanced 12 nails on one nail, and thought of what an astronaut would have to have to survive on the moon. All in all, it was an awesomely fun day! 82 days left until September (and IEW)!

My personal opinion....

Saturday night awesomeness!!!!

Guess what Mommy found at a yard sale!!! You aren't guessing, are you? Fine. I'll tell. 

Now tell me that that is sooooooo cool! And for only 50 cents!

It comes with (left to right) Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn, Galadriel.....

..... and a Nazgul! But the best part is *drumroll*

THE RING OF POWER!!!!!!! But some ring... It doesn't even turn me invisible.

We had a very long and hard game. I mean, how am I supposed to know how many elves wide was the row when the elves marched to Helm's Deep?

Daddy and Mr. D were on a team together. Mr. D was going to be by himself being Galadriel, but he decided to team up with Daddy as Aragorn. I was Frodo (my lucky piece!) and E-man was Gandalf. Galadriel didn't get used. The Nazgul only ate one of us once!

I won the game to the question "What actor plays Eomer?" I easily answered it, "Karl Urban." And then my brothers got mad and said that it wasn't fair because I know everything about Lord of the Rings. They're right. Except for how many elves wide was the row when the elves marched to Helm's Deep?  :)


Trivia Question:
What does Frodo say that he is carrying when Strider grabs him at The Prancing Pony Inn?

Comment with your answer. The real answer will be in my next post. And no Googling it either. Or watching that scene, or reading that part in the book. THIS IS AN HONER SYSTEM 

Soon-to-be-World-Champion Golfer!

Today Johnny-Boy decided to play golf. (Notice his mismatched golf uniform!)  If you think that's strange, he once played golf with a grape and a celery stick. He plays golf with any stick-like object and any round object. He is a very strange child...one who's obsessed with golf.  This past fall, he robbed squash and gourds from the fall decorations on the porch - why?  So he could golf with them, of course.  The weirdest thing about all this golfing around?  No one in our family plays golf.   Not my dad.  Not my grandpa.  Not my other brothers.  So how does he know how to golf anyways??

I got to play his caddy. In other words, I got the balls that he hit into the ditch, woods, and chicken coop. He discovered that if the balls went in the ditch, I would get them for him. So golf turned into throwing-balls-into-the-ditch-so-my-sister-can-fish-them-out-for-me. Finally I walked away and said "Bye balls!" Johnny looked at me and said "Dez?" (Please). And how could I turn down that face? He joyfully jumped up and down as I got the ball out. He then promptly threw it into the ditch again. This cycle went on for a while until I gave up and went inside. 

He hates paparazzi...

I love skies like this!

A Very Exhausting Day

     Today we went to the zoo with our friends. And I was appointed the official baby-sitter of two 2 year olds at the playground. You wouldn't want to know how hard it is. DO YOU KNOW HOW FAST THEY RUN!?!??!?!?!!!!  Really fast, let's say.
     The zoo part was fun though! We saw a raccoon eating the flamingo's food! And we saw the soon-to-be-mother giraffe. I tried talking to the chickens (I can talk to ours!), But those chickens don't understand Speckled-Sussexish. They talked in some sort of foreign chicken language.

My charges and I

The Leopard Exhibit

Water is exciting! :)

I wouldn't trust him as driver.

"WOOK!! WOOK!!! NAKE!!" Snakes are apparently very exciting.

     The funniest part was Johnny-Boy. He hadn't been to the zoo since he was really little. He was SO excited about all the animals, playgrounds, and the waterfalls" As you can see in the picture above, the snakes were his favorite part!

The Yummiest Brownie Thing

This is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (The following 50 Os were censored out) good! Warning: These will disappear immediately. Mmmmm.... I'm getting hungry just looking at pictures of them.  The recipe looks kinda long - but the results are TOTALLY worth it.  It's crunchy, gooey, chococolaty all at the same time. Let me know if you try them!

World Famous Delicious Triple Layer Brownies
The original recipe calls for a different brownie part. It was good, but kind of bland and crumbly.  My mom had the idea to swap in our favorite brownie recipe and now it's moist, chewy and perfect!

Brownie Base
Ingredients: 
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (we use Bakers brand)
1 and 1/2 sticks or 3/4 of a cup of butter
2 cups of sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of toasted walnuts or pecans (optional)


Directions:

• Heat your oven to 350°F.
• Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray
• Microwave the chocolate and butter together in a large microwaveable bowl for one minute.  Stir and continue microwaving in 30 second intervals until melted smooth.
• Stir until chocolate is melted and completely combined with the butter. 
• Stir in sugar.  
• Blend in eggs and vanilla.  
• Add flour, salt and nuts and mix well.
• Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake 30ish minutes

Marshmallow layer

Ingredients:  

4 cups of mini marshmallows, or large marshmallows snipped in half with a kitchen scissors.

• Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over evenly over brownie part and return it to the oven for 2-3 minutes  or until marshmallows are poofy and melty.  Using a butter knife dipped in water, spread marshmallows over the brownies.

Topping Stuff (I have such good adjectives):

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup chocolate chips (we like dark chocolate!)
3 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of peanut butter
2 cups Rice Crispies (or other crisp rice cereal)

Directions:

• Combine chocolate chips, butter, and peanut butter in a microwavable bowl.
• Microwave for one minute on high,stirring every 30 seconds 
• Stir in cereal and spread over top of the cooled brownies.
• Put in refrigerator until it is completely hardened.
• Serve and prepare to have to make more!    

I think this is the longest blog post I ever have written.

Is he alive?

A Science Lesson About Chickens

I bet you didn't know that chickens have to get dirty to get clean! Or, in other words, chickens dust themselves to get mites and bugs off of them. They look SO funny! :)

They twist themselves in weird positions and kick their legs to get the dust all over them. They don''t like us to see them "taking a bath," which is understandable in a way. They don't like me taking pictures of them. Now you have had your summer science lesson, NO MORE SCHOOL UNTIL SEPTEMBER!!!!!!!!!!

Playing With Photo Effects!

He's so cute when he's bright blue!

This is actually a window!

It was some sort of super hero impression.....

Sun through the trees

Flying chicken

Nice Family Photo  NOT!!!

Pippin

Pippin is the youngest chick. Being the youngest means that she gets left in the dust quite a lot. All the chicks run off to some exciting piece of dirt and leave Pippin behind when she is looking down. She has a certain call that she does that I can tell apart from any other. She uses her call quite often, as it is means "Where is every one else? Help! Help!! Where are you?"  Pippin is very loud and FAST. 

My Life Philosophy

  

    I have come up with a theory; That theory is, What if everyone lived like hobbits? What could that mean? We wouldn't have to worry about terrorists or gas prices or war or money or advertising or world hunger. The most important thing that we would have to worry about is whether or not our second-breakfast was ready on time.

    Quoting from the prologue of The Fellowship of the Ring: (main points are bold):"Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more numerous formerly than today; for they love peace and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-farmed countryside was their favorite haunt. They did not and do not understand or like big machines more complicated than a forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a hand-loom, though they were very skillful with tools. They are quick of hearing and sharp-eyed, and though they are inclined to be fat and do not hurry unnecessarily, they are nonetheless nimble and deft in their movements. [Hobbits of the Shire] were a merry folk. They dressed in bright colors, being notably fond of of yellow and green ; but they seldom wore shoes , since their feet had tough leathery soles and were clad in a thick curling hair, much like the hair on their heads, which was commonly brown. Thus the only craft little practiced among them was shoe-making; but they had long skillful fingers and could make many other useful and comely things. Their faces were as a rule, good-natured rather than beautiful, broad, bright-eyed, red-cheeked, with mouths apt to laughter, and to eating and drinking. And laugh they did, and eat and drink, often and heartily, being fond of simple jests at all times, and of six meals a day (when they could get them).They were hospitable and delighted in parties, and in presents, which they gave away freely and eagerly accepted. [All hobbits] lived in peace and harmony with each other."  Now, wouldn't you like to be a hobbit?

   When Tolkien was writing about the Shire, he was basing it off of England and his childhood memories. He never liked battles, fights or industry. The Shire was a peaceful paradise for Tolkien.

 

I think that living like a hobbit would be fun! If we wanted anything, we could make it! We wouldn't have electricity, air conditioning, or running water, but we could use candles and sunlight, go swimming or sit by the fire, or haul our own water to build muscles. The fanciest toy we would have is a doll, or a stick horse. We could read books instead of watching TV. The world would be a much better place. I personally would not mind lack of modern appliances, I would like to only play outside. And I forgot to mention the seven meals a day! :)

HOBBITS FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!