My Sewing Days

Lately I've been doing a lot of sewing. I've had to sew a rip in Kenna's duck's leg, a rip in my snake, and two rips in Tobin's snake. I didn't really have to I guess, but I wanted to. It's fun. I have also worked on and finished a stuffed snake made out of a tight leg. The material had been stretched out with Kenna playing with it; so now it's as tall as her! I have been working on a stuffed horse too. So far I've got the back legs finished. I'm going to give the snake and the horse to Sammy and Sarah, friends of ours who live in the neighborhood. Sammy's four and Sarah's two. Since the tight legs are white I'm going to let Sammy and Sarah decorate them, 'cause I don't know how I would decorate them. I hope they'll like their new stuffed animals. I think I'm going to do some more sewing things when I'm finished with Sarah's horse!

Simple Pleasure Hiakus

Robin
I hear a robin
Peeping in a nearby tree.
Its sound is joyful.

Wind Rushing
As I ride my bike
I can hear the wind rushing.
A sound of nature.

Water Patterns
I watch as water
Trickles down the driveway in
A simple pattern.

God's Sun
The sun is shining.
It is a beautiful day
Created by God.

Autumn
Leaves fall to the ground.
Nature is all around me.
It is a fall day.

Rain
When I listen I
Can hear the pit-ter pat-ter of
The rain falling down.

Sounds of the Night
A cricket chirping.
Dogs barking somewhere nearby.
An owl hooting.

A Dog
A nice lady is
Taking a dog for a walk.
The dog sniffs my hand.

Flowers
The smell of pretty
New flowers blooming with so
Many bright colors.

The Trees
Ever so many
Tall trees waving in the wind.
What a sight to see.
Branches move slightly.
Leaves rustle gently, with a
Soft, wonderful sound.
So many different
Colors of green leaves adorn
The trees that I see.

Pictures
Looking at pictures
Brings back different memories
Of times and places.

Smoke
Smoke of a fire
Curling up a chimney and
Climbing to the sky.

Kittens
As I watch kittens
Play, I'm filled with happiness.
Play, young kittens, play.

Ripples in the Water
Throw a rock into
Water. Watch the ripples get
Bigger and bigger.

Piano Music
Playing music on
The piano is fun to do,
And fun listening to.

You may wonder why I'm writing haiku's. I don't know myself. I just had this idea a few days ago: I could write simple pleasure haiku's. However, after I wrote 32 of them, I couldn't think of much other simple pleasures. So I thought of an idea for a book. Each chapter could be different kinds of haiku's. I didn't write ALL 32 of my haiku's on this post. That would be too much. So I just wrote 24 of them. You may think that "The Trees" haiku isn't a haiku at all. But it is. It's just a poem with 3 haiku's in it. Well, That's all I have to write about.

Silly Kenna

Kenna has been being very funny the last few days and I wanted to tell you what she's been up to.

A few days ago: "Ahhh! Buggy! Come to me, buggy. You want me, buggy? You want Kenna?"

This morning: Kenna walks out onto the back porch. Lucan is sitting in the shade. Her first words to him are: "Hi Bud."

This afternoon: Arden is drinking out of a water bottle. Kenna screams: "No! Dat mine!

When she plays with her dolls: "Waaa. Baby crying. Here baby. You need diaper change?"

When Mom finishes reading her a story: Kenna: "More, more." Mom: "Not right now." Kenna: "Awww."

Nap time: Mom puts Kenna down for a nap. If she or Dad is not lying on my bed she sneaks out, comes downstairs, and hides unless someone finds her, and then she goes back upstairs.

News about the Talent show

It was great! I had so much fun! I was near the middle, but what the other kids did went by so fast it was my turn in no time at all. My legs must have been shaking when I went up there, but once I sat down I forgot that there even was an audience. I played the piece perfectly with no mistakes, and when I finished bobbed a little curtsy that mama said was very nice. Daddy didn't put it in the video though. Here, you can watch the video that daddy took:

Talent Show

Tonight is the talent show. I'm playing piano in it. The two songs I'm playing are Praise to the Lord and Battle Hymn of the Republic. I'm a little nervous, but confident that I'll do all right. They're fun to play. I'll tell you how it went later. Bye

Collins School

A few weeks ago I went to Collins School. I had to dress up as I would have in 1879, and I found out what it was like to go to school back then. First we hung up our bonnets and lunches in the cloak room. Then we lined up on stage while the teachers showed us where we would sit. I got a seat in the front row.

When we were all seated the teacher showed us the school things children would have used back then. There was a history book, a slate, a slate pencil and eraser (a sock), a copybook, and the McGuffey reader. After we had all seen the things we said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang My Country 'Tis of Thee. After that we got out our McGuffey readers. The kids with a one on their name tag went on stage first. I was a one. We read the first few paragraphs together, then answered questions about them. Then it was the twos turn, after that the threes turn. Then we made a craft.

After the craft the teacher told us about the history of the school. It took awhile, maybe an hour. Then the teacher gave us sheets of paper and we copied out the letters from the copybook. After that it was lunch/recess time. I barely had time to eat my lunch (or maybe it was that big apple I had) before the teacher called for the kids to pack up their lunches in the cloak room. We played a short game of Ante Over, then we went back inside.

When we were all inside we had a math relay. First the ones, then the twos, then the threes. Guess who won the ones math relay? Me! I tied with another boy, but when the teacher said "Draw a line and add." the boy forgot to draw the plus sign. I remembered so I won. Before it was time to go we had a spelldown. It was easy. Each row stood up, one at a time, and the teacher gave them a word. The first person said the first letter, the second person the second letter and so on. No one spelled a word wrong. After that it was time to go.

Now I will tell you some facts about the school. It is the same brick building it was a hundred years ago, but the furniture had to be replaced. The old black stove and the floor in the cloak rooms are the same as it was a hundred years ago. When the school was being repainted and the blackboard was taken down one of the workers found some writing on the wall. When one of the teachers saw it she recognized her mothers name on the wall, along with the names of the people who were going to that school at the time. She can't ask her mother about it because she's dead, so it remains a mystery. Well, that's all I have to say. Here are some pictures so you can see my costume, the school, my desk, the old black stove, and the cloak room.

Easter

Yesterday was Easter. I did a lot of things that day. I'll go through it step-by-step. When I went downstairs I found a chocolate cross waiting for me at my plate and a small bunny hiding some chocolate. Mom offered me a Resurrection cookie. After breakfast we went to church. Lots of people said my dress looked pretty. First I watched a little video, then I sang some songs, then Pastor Rob played Egg Smash Hunt. He would ask a question, than he would choose a kid to answer. If the kid got the question right they got to go up on stage and choose a bowl. It was covered with a napkin, so they couldn't tell whether it was empty, had a hard-boiled egg in it, or had a raw egg in it. Any one who went on stage got a prize. I didn't. After that we sang some more songs. After that there were different activities to do. I went to the craft area, but instead ended up making an origami Easter lily. I didn't have time to make the stem. Then I watched a Easter carol until Dad picked me up.

[Mom is adding this: Charis started this post on Monday, and it is now Wednesday night, very late. I am taking my laptop to the homeschool convention tomorrow, so I am taking the liberty of posting this! Love you, Charis!]