I biked to the library yesterday. There is one path you need to follow and it takes me straight to the community center. Behind it is the library and a beautiful lake that has a bike path around it. Next to the library is a mall. Dad picked me up at three thirty and took me to gymnastics. I plan to go today to.

At gymnastics I improved my free hip. A free hip is basically a move in which you spin backwards around the low bar without your hips touching. If your hips touch it's a back hip circle. You also have to push out of the free hip into a push away kip. A push away kip is a skill where you cast off of the low bar and swing around, bring your feet to the bar and with straight arms pull up. I can do the kip where you start on the ground but my feet always touch on the push away and I have trouble doing one out of a free hip.

Joey lost a tooth! He got the new wii game Super Mario Galaxy 2.

I was doing a SAT test. Dad got me a SAT practice test from Barnes and Noble. I did one of the math segments. I only answered eight of the twenty questions because a lot of them I didn't understand. Now I now about tenths and squared and math sequences. It is very interesting.

We visited the local library yesterday. It has a lot of chairs and even a study area (which looks like a glass box with people studying with them) but not enough books. No shelves are higher then five feet and they are not fully stocks. I hope they with get more books.

I got a new BIKE! I ribbonfied it. I put ribbon in the back wheel and tied some onto the handle. It is a mountain bike. I also bought a seat cover and a back pack like thing to put stuff in it. I can bike to the rec center so that should be fun. I might do some crafts to and other things offered at the community center. The have a very big playground and an indoor one two. They have a pool and a skating rink. I can't go to the skating rink without an adult so that is not an option. Every thing else is fine. I probably will go swimming once a week if the weather is fine. What I'm not sure about is if I can bike to the library. Joey went on a Land of Lakes Choir Boys tour. He came back two days ago. If you look at the links you will see Joey's tour. That is a blog set up by the LOLCB to let us know about the tour. You can read it if you like. Also, on my polls do not use the dictionary.

I only speak in direct simple sentences. I only type in direct, simple sentences. The girls at gymnastics are DEFINETLY going to make fun of me. I do not care.

On Saturday I went to the rec center. Mom dropped me off. I explored the rec center. I swam in the pool. I can bike to the rec center. I will try it sometime. There is a pool at the rec center. There is a skating rink at the rec center. There is an indoor play set at the rec center. There is an outdoor play set at the rec center. There is a teen center at the rec center. I can not go in the teen center. I am disappointed by the teen center. I found out that the teen center has a pool tables. It has video games. I consider the teen center boring. I can not skate by myself in the skating rink. I must be accompanied by an adult.

Yesterday I made a big accomplishment. I jumped to the high bar nine times in a row! That is really big because I usually lean over when I am on top of the low bar so much that I fall off. Well I did it. Finally! B-)


We had Mrs. A yesterday and She had us set up three big blue blocks, each with a mini tramp and a mat behind it. She told us to do three cast like movements off of the mini tramp with our hands on the block. We had to go up to a handstand. She also said that unless we went up to vertical we could not do a back tuck off of the mini tramp. I went up to vertical on my first turn. On my second turn I went over handstand. Marydonna and Gabby were supposed to hold the block down and to push me back if I go over. When I was over handstand and at the point when they should push me back, they screamed and performed duck and cover. Now going over is all ready pretty scary and uncomfortable but when girls are screaming it is terrifying. This happened again and then Marydonna and Gabby brought over the mushroom that the boys use to practice pommel horse and they stood on it so they could be closer to me. Well it happened again and they did duck and cover. THAT HURT. Then Marydonna asked me why I always went up to vertical. Gabby asked me why I go so hard. Oh well.

:-) (-: Today, this post will be my one hundredth post!!! :-) (-:

I was chosen to write the Olympic Times by Mrs. A. She wants me to write it, send it to her so she can show it to Katica and it will be a real newsletter. I need to write two gymnast profiles. One on a girl in the upper levels (my class) and one on a girl in one of the lower classes. I can do one story on anything I want. We also do a column featuring girls who have done a new skill. I am very excited for the newsletter.

Mom gave me a new hair cut. It is a short haircut. It's a summertime hair cut. It's too short to put in a pony tale so I will use clips.

Dark day: behind the scenes.

Well I'm not sleeping in the basement. It's cold down there. I also like to be a particular temperature to fall asleep. I fall asleep quickly but it's harder to get out of the bed! To warm and cozy : -) They'll be sleeping down there for a long time.

Dark Day

Dark, cloudy and all together miserable. It was the type of day that makes you wake up, snuggle up and go back to sleep. Well, that's what one would LIKE to do, but the Leibig kids had school to do. It went on like most sunny days would for Theresa. She got school done quickly. It was not rainy YET so she played with her friends, Kimberly and Eliana. Eliana told her it would there might be a tornado. At the dinner table when Dad commented on the clouds Theresa said there might be a tornado tonight. Joey and Julie freaked out and decided to sleep in the basement. Theresa decided to sleep in her room and slept well. The younger children slept in. They decided to sleep in the basement until Theresa joined them. They never slept in their beds again.

I shocked the girls at gymnastics on Monday night. I put a napkin on my lap :-O Gergely said "Did you just put that napkin on your lap. Should I get another napkin and put it under my chin?"
"No I don't do that." Said I.

Brynn said. "I might do that at a restaurant." (Many other comments like that)

Then I couldn't find my knife and I brought a bagel. So I asked the girls if any had a spare knife.
Rachel said "You use your finger."

I ended up using the back of my spoon. I also got a little bit of cream cheese on my face so I dabbed it off with my napkin.

Mary Donna "Theresa, like this." And she wiped her mouth on her forearm.

I am hoping to inspire. The explorers take the arrows.

If you saw it, there was a poll for the definition of xyster. The answers were a South American Monkey, The point of time between being a star and being a black hole, The last name of a European sientist and a surgery tool. One person said it was a black hole and one person said it was a surgery tool. Surgery tool is correct!

I also asked how to pronounce xyster. The options were zister, wister, wistar and zisty. One person said zister and one said zisty. Zister is the correct pronunciation.

I was a (assistant) camera man at Joey's spring concert. *It was his biggest concert ever. A problem they have is that I just went to a concert with his choir and the †Nordic choir. They didn't change songs. I complained to Mom and she said I could help her with the video taping of The spring concert. She had told the LOLCB that she would. She manned one camera and got shots from the sides while I had one camera and it was in the middle. It has legs so I just moved it side to side when people moved and I zoomed in and out. I also took pictures for the cover of the CD and the menu.






* He's in the Land Of Lakes Choir Boys.

†Their are five diffrent choirs. The prep choir is where boys go when they're new. The Voyager choir, Joey's choir, is the choir after the prep choir. They get to go on tours so they can get experience for the next up choir. The Nordic choir is the national touring choir. The Viking choir is the international touring choir. The Schola Cantorum choir or the Alumni choir is for boys whose voices have changed.

I am going to decorate my cubbie at gymnastics. I am going to put some card stock on the three sides of my cubbie. I have one that is like the bottom of a pool. It will go on the back. I have a piece that is purple and one that is green to go on the sides. I also have a furry piece of fabric that will be used as a rug. I will use a blue piece of card stock for the top. I also have a awesome piece of fabric that will be used as curtains for the outside of the cubbie. I will get some pictures of it once it is done.


I went to sell raffle tickets with Joey. He is in the Land Of Lakes Choir Boys (aka. the LOLCB)* They are selling raffle tickets for the spring concert. They are raffling

1. One thousand dollars.
2. Five hundred dollars.
3. A Sony game station three.
   

They are five dollars each. We went door to door selling raffle tickets. It worked surprizingly well. The LOLCB has an impressive way to get boys to sell raffle tickets, they give each boy one dollar for every house you sell to.


*Personally, I think they need to get a LOLCG! The Land Of Lakes Choir Girls.

Happy birthday Joey!

OK, Joey's birthday was yesterday but what the heck.


We spent most of the day on the computer, DSI and television with the occasional break outside. Then we did presents.

1. He got this awesome nerf gun. It's like a machine gun. You pull the trigger and twenty five bullets come out. You load it up again and you wait for someone to walk by. JOey went to the bathroom during geology and Dad greeted him with the gun. Grandma Leibig gave us the killer gun.
2. He got hex bug. It's a little micro bug that crawls around a course you set up. It's like the modern Thomas the train set. You set up these pieces and the robot crawls through it.
3. I got him a hear through walls kit. It can hear through walls and I had to sacrifice my private talks with friends. I also got him a book called "The real spy's guide to being a spy".
4. Julir got him a fake bow and arrow kit and bubbles that you can touch.
5. Joey got two squirt guns from Thomas.
6. He got a game called thunderstone.
7. He got a refill pack for his gun from Grandma Liebig.
   
8. He got a DSI game from Grandma Liebig.
9. He got a Calvin and Hobbes book.
   

Hello,

I got an A plus on my spelling test. I had the words: masculine, medley, uninterrupted, ravenous, harassed, uninterrupted, massive, amiss, elevation, energetic, hostile, procession, corruption, prohibited, lucid, incentive, deliberate, dilation and inquiry. I got them all right.

Do you like the poll? I looked up a random word in the dictionary. Please do not look in the dictionary for pronunciation of xyster or the definition.

Thomas has learned a new word yesterday, jitterbug. We were watching dancing with the stars*. We were watching this dance the quickstep but it looked more like a jitterbug. So I said it was a good jitterbug and Thomas caught on to it.






*We record so we are amazingly far behind. We just watch when the three stars align (bath, bed and instruments) we watch.

Hello,
I am going to my first summer camp, this year. I will sleep in a cabin with my friends; Eliana, Kimberly and Lauren. There is a lake to swim in, and crafts. I am looking forward to it.

While am typing I am talking to Katie Gislason. She is a friend from Texas that is about to move to California.

Katie: Hi!

Theresa: Today we are going talk about babysitting and share tactics. So Katie, how do you get the kids to bed?

Katie: First, I have them pick out some books and I read them some stories. This calms them down and then they can get ready for bed easily. I tuck them in and they fall asleep.

Theresa: That sounds like a good strategy. What I do is tell that in fifteen minutes we will get ready for bed. This lets them prepare for bed. If you say "It's for bed right now!" they might freak out. Then they get ready for bed and I give them rewards for their behavior. There is the sweetie award the ready for bed award, the great kid award, the helper award and the clean plate award.

Katie: what do the awards mean?

Theresa: The sweetie award goes to kids when they are good and it usually goes to younger children. The the ready bed award is what it sounds like. the great kid award goes for children who are particularly obedient. The helper award goes to kids who help a lot. and the clean plate award goes to whoever eats his or her dinner.

Katie: What kind of awards are they.

Theresa: stickers.

Katie: I use treats like candy. Because it gets their attention.

Theresa: I use stickers because they are easy to get and you don't have to get them an extra snack. I find that kids like any award.

Katie: I agree with that, but stickers, once you put them on you have to take them off.

Theresa: But they eat the candy and it's gone.

Katie: I agree with that. I often use stickers myself. But the kids can get stickers easily.

Theresa: Yes but these come from an American girl babysitting kit and they show special pictures.

Katie: that's good and all but they're still stickers and if you get them every week they are not exciting

Theresa: Maybe if you can get a certain of the same award and you get a treat like a candy or even a toy car.

Katie: That's a good idea.

Theresa: I'll give them a piece of paper to hold their stickers and let them decorate it.

Katie: Some kids will not want to cover up their art work.

Theresa: I'll ask them to leave a place for their stickers. That's all for now, stay tuned.



Super stroller! Have you ever been lugging a heavy stroller around in the mall? If you have you need Super stroller. Lot's of space, lots of room! its light weight too! Go Super stroller.


Theresa: Welcome back! We are going to talk about dinner! Katie what do you make the kids for dinner?

Katie: Macaroni cheese or a peanut butter and jelly meal.

Theresa: I'm not an expert in this area. I've never had to cook dinner. My parents always have left something for the kids to eat.

Katie: That's not the big thing I normally have to handle "Ew! I don't like that." is the sort of thing I have trouble with.

Theresa I'm not an expert in this either. My parents always leave something that the kids like.

Katie: I just say if you don't eat up I'm not giving you desert.

Theresa: I've never had to do that but I think I would pretend to be a waiter or have a indoor picnic so the kids want to like it.

Katie: Eventually you will run out of themes and it will teach them to complain.

Theresa: That's why I do it at the very first meal so they don't have a chance to complain.

Katie: What if you were sick and you could not take care of the kids and they would have high expectations for the baby sitter.

Theresa: I need to make sure they to eat they eat dinner.

Katie The other sitter would have whining crying kids.

Theresa: Then she would pull out your strategy. Besides, I don't think most kids would do that. I think the tecnique would work because it makes food seem exciting. The kids would only be served that way once or twice a month. I don't think it would cause a problem. Well, that's all folks!

Hello,
Last Saturday I did one hundred kips. We have a pit bar which is a single bar above a bunch of mats. I got out a blue block and put it a few feet away from the bar. I jumped from the block to the bar and did a kip. Then I did an under swing* and dropped down onto the block. I did one hundred of those. My knee was hurting so that's what my coach had me do.

† We took out the fire pit last night and roasted some marshmallows. On my second marshmallow I was putting it close to the base of the fire, the part where everything glows bright red, and my marshmallow caught on fire. I freaked out and asked mom what to do. She told me to blow it out. After I blew it out I really didn't know what to do with it. I normally don't eat burned marshmallows. This time I tried it and I like it. Because when you burn marshmallows you don't get the middle gushy I like to cook it a little then throw it into the fire. I continue to burn the marshmallow until it is completely black. For those of you without a fire pit, Marshmallows in the microwave taste just like camp fire marshmallow. When you put it in the microwave you need to watch it until it gets big. I wait until I think it might explode. You need to eat it with a spoon.


* An under swing is where you are on top of the bar and you let your hips come under the bar and you swing under the bar.

† Dad got a fire pit last Christmas.

Hello,

I have started waking up early. I had one day where I woke up early on accident but I've been taking advantage of it. I can't really just sleep in one day and get up early the next. I need to have a day where I wake up naturally. If this happens I can go to sleep early that night and wake up early again the next day. I set my alarm clock to six thirty because I have a thing that no matter how late I sleep in I need to have at least five minutes of just being half awake and in bed. Normally I just lay in bed for fifteen minutes, preferably a half an hour but I have school*. Anyway, I wake up at six thirty and just hit the snooze button three times (until 7:00) and then I clean up a little in my room and make my bed. I go downstairs and get myself breakfast. Sometimes I feel like doing the work and I make myself scrambled eggs but usually it's just cereal. Then I go upstairs and get dressed brush my teeth and comb my hair. I might play around a little then do some school work. Official school starts at 9:30 and ends whenever you get done or when we have to go to gymnastics, whichever comes first. I only have to play flute and do the dishes next. I like our strategy of whenever you finish school you get to do what you want. You don't end up stalling school so it ends when we get in the car. If you do that when you get home you have to do the school and then it's to dark to play outside : -( You also don't have to wait for other students to finish : -)

* Sometimes on Saturday, when Mom wakes me up to go to gymnastics I just go into Julie's bed or into the guest bed and rest a little, then my conscience gets me out of bed.

Hello,

Wednesday is never that exciting at the Leibig house. I don't have gymnastics and nobody has to go anywhere.

I've been studying logic recently. It's called the fallacy detective. On Tuesday we have go to bible school. It is not the best bible school in the world. It makes faith seem complicated. Anyway, we were playing jeopardy with cards that ask a question so it isn't really jeopardy. Our really pay much attention to how much attention to how much points each one is worth. The other team had to say one beatitude so they ran to the back of the classroom where a sign with all the beatitudes was kept and they memorized one. It was very unjust. Every time someone complained she committed the red herring fallacy by saying "It's supposed to be fun." She kept on changing the subject on us.

Hello,

For Christmas Joey got a thing called "planet frog, live frog habitat". It sends you a tadpole but they had to wait so the tadpole wouldn't die in the mail. It came yesterday and Joey put it into the frog habitat. The frog habitat has a few plastic plants and a little canyon of which you fill with water. It also has a little cave for the frog to hide in. He put the little tadpole into the habitat and it seems happy. It looks like a little frog body with a long tail. Joey is very happy with his tadpole.

I don't know if I've mentioned this but three weeks ago I got some betta fish. They are in a spare five gallon tank Mom used to put baby angelfish in. I got five female betta fish that I let Julie choose. I don't understand why people always say they're ugly. They have nice little fins, they aren't as big as the boys and they don't have the fins but they are very pretty. Their names are: Alpha (she is pink with purple fins), Beta and Gamma (they are both tan with red fins), Delta, (she is dark purple with red fins), Epsilon (she is gray and when any light hits the scales on her body she shines blue, she has blue and yellow fins). My Male betta fish (his name is Aragon) has a dark purple body (like delta) with light blue at the base of his fins and then the are a beautiful dark red. I've been feeding them blood worms with the occasional flake food. I can't feed them a whole cube of blood worms because they are to small. I have to melt the cube so some of the blood worms can fall off. I feed the betta fish what comes of of the cube and I feed my mom's discus fish the rest of the cube. I found out that the male betta fish at least is sick, he has a disease called rot fin. We have a sponge filter in the tank and we put it inside my moms discus filter so that it could get some of the benevolent bacteria. Unfortunately, we did not keep it in long enough and that the bacteria needs to settle.

I had a pleasant Easter. I got an Easter lily, a Johnny Quest movie, Water balloons and a water balloon pump. I had a water balloon fight with Joey. We had Veil for dinner.

I alter served at all two of the triduum masses and at the good Friday service. The holy Thursday went very well. My favorite part was definitely the washing of the feet. My job as an alter server was to refill the jars with water from the non-working sacristy (where they wash the dishes). When I wasn't doing that I sat by the bowl that people were washing feet with and clean up any water that spilled on the ground. We also had to dump the water out of the bowl into a bin. At the beginning I didn't dump out the water every time because I was told to dump it out when it started to look full. I realized that to keep people's feet from touching the dirty water you need to dump out the dirty water into the bin every time. I also began to move the bowl so people could sit down more easily and get up more easily.


My favorite part of good Friday was when they did the gospel. They had four lectors stand next to the alter. They said the lines of charactors like Peter, the priests and the people of Jerusalem. One lector played Pilate (he was definetly the best) and one said the narrative. The priest played Jesus. They did a really good job of it.


The Easter vigil was really good and I will speak of it in another blog.

Dear readers,
I am blogging during the morning therefore nothing out of the ordinary has occurred. Joey is doing wii fit for his physical education. Julie is watching him. Thomas is playing with the pieces of mouse trap. I am blogging. Yesterday I went to gymnastics and had once again a standard day. I worked on the level six low bar and did ok. I did three level six beam routines without the level six dismount and the backwalkover. Then I worked on those on low beams. I think I will try a level six dismount on the high beam next practice. They are very good.

I had a pretty standard day at gymnastics yesterday.
When I came in the other girls were standing by the window. I do not know why. Then we ran around and jumped on the trampoline and tumble track. My new thing during "free time" is to stand on the vault and do things off of it. I do things like lean back and just let myself fall, front flips, and cart wheels. I am still not couragous enough to do a back flip of the vault. Any way after we stretched we did floor. I did all the skills in the floor routine. then we did vault. I did some god ones and made some improvements. Then I did beam and made five rountines. I got to skip the back walkover and the dismount. Then Gergely gave us free time and I did more vaults. The vault is really a wonderful event. It's quick so when you only have two minutes of free time it is the even to choose. Floor is ok but it takes some time to warm up for diffucult skills. Beam also takes some time to warm up for. It takes to long to put grips on for bar. On vault warming up is unnecessary if you have done it before that same day. So I did some vault and Kristina joined me.

Joey had a friend over today. Dad gave me permission to play with my friend Eliana. We played around a bit out side and we practiced a game of ours, swinging and jumping off. The goal is to go as far as possible. We make a mark for our landings in the sand. Every once and a while we jump off and try to be as graceful as possible.

I was outside enjoying spring a minute or two ago and I came across some interesting thoughts and have made a list of things I am thankful for. Of course, I was on the trampoline so all my thoughts were on gymnastics

1. I am thankful for Friction (because without It vault, beam floor would be impossible and bar would be changed a lot)
2. I am thankful for gravity (because without Gymnastics would be way to hard).
3. I am thankful for my Dad (because without him I would not understand any physics witch helps me do gymnastics)
4. I am thankful for spring floors (because floor would be harder without the extra BOING)
5. I am thankful for gymnastics.

I recently started to do calligraphy (pronounce Call-ig-ruffy not Cally-a-gruffy as I am figuring out). Dad found my kit yesterday while cleaning out the last frontier (our "cave" the room in our basement with no windows). Yesterday I just did cursive with the fountain pen but today I did the letter 'a' and 'b' in italic style. I want to learn Italic, Gothic and Sheffer (Sheffer is a style made for the certain type of book I have.). It is were entertaining.

At our local Barns and Noble they have a "turnoff week". The idea is to get kids to do something other than screen time. It is from April 19-25 and they have a poem contest and I 'm going to enter it. You have to bring it to Barnes and Noble by Apil 12. Come to the poetry reading on Thursday April 22 at 6:30 to hear the finalist' poems (Finalist will be notified on the 16). If you win get a prize!

I did a successful back handspring back tuck on floor last Saturday (most of you probably know that due to my Mom's face-booking )-:<. Unfortunately muscle memory is not in my favor because I couldn't do any on Monday )-: so there is a five day gap between me and the back-tuck. I was sure I was going to do the back - tuck on Monday but Gergely was sick and Gabor had us do tumble track almost the whole time, despite push back from the whole team. I am frustrated and I 'm sick so I'm sure it will be almost a week between me and my back tuck )-:<. My new favorite thing to do is to invision the hardest gymnastics moves and sticking them. Eg, round off back handspring back tuck, back-handsprings on the beam, Back walkovers on the beam, level six bar routines, front handspring half twists on the vault, front handspring front tucks on floor, etc.......... ='.'= )-: )-:<

Today I did something really funny. Dad gave me a math problem, he wanted me to convert 1/3 x + 3/4 y = 3/8 into slope intercept form. Once I got it I put my head to the table. A sign that I was having trouble. It was really funny. I didn't know I had it. I thought you had to get rid of the number in front of X.

I found out that I have a genetic defect. Joey, Julie and I have a short connection from the roof of our mouths to our tongues. That's why Julie has a lateral lisp and I had one. Joey's is the shortest of all but he seemed to manage.

I started to take notes during our Geology lesson. We were studying volcanoes here is what I wrote;

Hawaiian volcanoes don't explode. Except when water hits the magma chamber and you know because it will steam up.

Stromboli volcanoes erupt frequently but with mild or no explosion. Stromboli (the volcano) erupts every twenty minutes. Basaltic lava and andesitic lava mix (in this type of volcano).

Volcanian volcanoes explode violently and every 100 years, approximately.

Pelean volcanoes are (the most) violent. Mt. Pele erupted and covered the whole town of St. Pierre. The whole chamber comes up and flows down (for miles, usually).

In plinean volcanoes it comes up and is pushed 4000 feet in the air and then it goes down like a pelean volcano.

A crater is the hole at the top of a volcano.
If the magma chamber is low in magma the volcano collapses and a hole is formed and that is a caldara.

A hot spring is made of the presence of lava under ground water but some so called hot springs don't have anything to do with lava.

This was slightly altered so you can better understand it. I will explain more things about it.

For the first six paragraphs I was learning about the different types of volcanoes. Hawaiian volcanoes are named after the volcanoes on the big island of Hawaii. If the magma hits the ocean it is called pillow lava. Stromboli volcanoes are not very dangerous and they erupt frequently and with mild or no explosion. Stromboli the volcano has a town built around it and if you aren't insane it will not hurt you. The Volcanian volcanoes explode violently and are the types you usually hear about on the news. Pelean volcanoes are rare but the most violent. So are Plinean volcanoes. They spew lava everywhere. Craters are just what they sound like. Crater lake is a caldara and it was filled with water. a little mound is in the middle of it and it was like a little bit of lava trying to come back. It formed a shape but it doesn't errupt.

Wii are fit

Wii fit has made it's way into the Leibig school regimen. Wii fit has exercises and they are divided into five groups, Yoga, strength, Aerobics, Balance games and Favorites. Yoga is just a bunch of different yoga poses. You stand on the special wii fit board that senses your movements. You get scored higher for less movement. Strength is just push ups, v-ups etc. you do them on the wii fit board so it can make sure your doing it. I always get one hundred because I do my whole workout. You can challenge your trainer to push-up contests but he always quits at ten. He is weak. I am strong. Aerobics is running but it throws in a few odballs here and there like boxing, marching, hula hooping and some others that I forgot. Balance games are just things to test your balance, like tightrope. Favorites are just the ones that you do the most. I do long distance running on the wii. Then I do streching on my one. I do squat jumps and wall sit and then I get back to the wii. I do yoga streches for my balance beam. I do one round of deep breathing to start out. I do two rounds of tree and knee hold. I do one round of squat or something I forget what its called. I do two rounds of the dance pose. and then some ab things in strength. Then I do a balance game.

The problem with only blogging once a week. You always end up blogging about meets! But first let's get down to the none tragic events.

Ω Subject one Ω

We moved gyms on Sunday. I still compete for Olympic but Olympic Gymnastics Academy (aka OGA) moved locations. Dad and I went to help get all the equipment to the new building. I didn't think we had so many foam blocks until we had to move them all. The gym we are in now is humongous but it is only the temporary gym. In a month we will move to another building next to it. the temporary gym is huge but there is a problem with it, it does not have a drinking fountain. I bring a bottle of water which I refrigerate during the day. We also have to much room. I know that may sound weird but we don't have enough equipment for the gym. We are constantly running over cement. The bars are a little lower than preferred and the vault runway is short. It only goes to fifty-nine feet. Fortunately, I start at fifty-nine feet away from the vault. For other girls who start in the sixties this poses as a major problem. The run is so crucial that at meets you can run to the vault, miss a step, run to the side and it doesn't count as a vault. You can only do that once, though. you get three runs to the vault. You need to vault twice. I also decided I'm not leaving any one of my things in my cubby. I'm going to bring a gym bag and fill it with everything I need. It's much neater.

The meet was a bad one.
On bars I didn't jump to the bar once in warmups but I did it in the real thing :-) 7. something
On beam I did pretty well in warmups but in the routine the judges run the bell (which means I was over time on the routines) 6.875
I think the judging was tough on floor. 7.7 if you look back on my winterfest meet you'll notice that I got a seven from the same judge.
On vault I got 7.8 i think. On my second vault I did a weird run. I should have just gone to the side but how clearly can one think when they are sprinting towards a peace of padded wood.

Sincerly,
Theresa Leibig

I must always blog about meets. I think Julie should set up a blog when she starts to compete. It could be a tradition. My knee has occasional pains and such but it's really doing much better. I notice a pattern. Example; I go to gymnastics on Thursday and it is fine. The next day it is worked hard and I get tired more easily. On Saturday the knee hurts on vaulting and tumbling. I probably suffered on vault because of this.

The meet was called the Sweetheart meet. Gym-nation hosted it*. The meet was in the capital cup format†. I like it so much more! You are prepared to compete much more than in the traditional format!

We started on bars. So the rotation was bar, beam, floor, vault. I usually have trouble with this format but I did O.K. I jumped to the high bar three out of three. When I competed I had very bent legs but I got a 7.85

Beam warm ups were fine but I messed up a step before the leap and that messed me up. My handstand was puny but I didn't fall at all. I got an 8.OO. that is my high score. Those were some nice judges.

Floor began normally. I asked Katica if the judges were nice and she said they were tight. I did my SMILE and did my thing. B-) I got an 8.175. Later, when Katica put the meet results up on a billboard in the cubby room, I found out that only three girls got 8s on floor and I was second. This is a huge achievement.

I hit my back on the back of the horse on friday and at the meet I hit the back of my legs against the horse. Katica lowered the horse√ and I was fine. I got an 8.2


*Gyms and USA gymnastics can host meets. This means they hire the judges, decide how medals and awards will be given and what format it is in. I think the three state qualifiers are hosted by gyms (the state qualifiers are the meets that if you get a thirty two all around at it you get to go to the state meet) but I'm not sure.

† The formats are determined by how you warm up. If you warm up all the events and then compete on them it's called traditional. Capital cup is if you warm up on one event and then you compete. Example warm up on bars and compete on bars & then you warm up on beam and then you compete on beam etc etc...............

√ Gymnast call the vault the "horse"

Time for the chapter of the day! bum bum bum bum ba badam badam badam badam bum bum bum ba dum badum.
Chapter six

“The cross is done.” Timothy announced, showing the cross to his wife.

“Good, the cake is done, too.” Mrs. Winters said.

“It’s one ‘o’ clock, so let’s have lunch then we will put the cross into the ground and then we will do the Miller traditions.” Emily said.

“What would you like for lunch, ladies.” Said Timothy

“I would like a ham sandwich.” Answered Emily.

“That sounds delectable.” Agreed Mrs. Winters.

“And you, Lily dear?” asked Timothy

“I would like a sandwich.”

“Then we’ll have a big, sandwich buffet!” exclaimed Timothy

Timothy laid out some ham, roast beef, turkey and some leftover chicken breast. He chopped up some lettuce (originally to be used in the salad for Lily’s birthday dinner). He got out some American, Swedish and Parmesan cheese. Last but not least he got out the bread. Then he started to cook some hardboiled eggs. Emily and Lily went outside to get some marigolds, carnations and day lilies to eat. They knew that these flowers are edible and loved to use them. They put them on a plate (that Emily painted with flowers two years ago) by the sandwiches.

“I was thinking honey, that we could have an herb garden. I remember in my youth, my mother had a wonderful herb garden and every day I would run out and eat some of them. My mother’s rule was ‘only take as much as you will eat’ and we had to eat them one at a time. I loved it and they made very fine dinners.” Said Timothy to his wife.

“What a good idea! I think we should have it in that little corner in the back of the yard.” Emily replied as she took little Andrew out of Mrs. Winter’s arms. “Lily why don’t you make something for lunch. I love your cinnamon cones.”

“And I’ll help her!” announced Mrs. Winters.

Lily and Mrs. Winters got to work. Lily’s cinnamon cones were made by a store bought sugar cookie mix. She would roll out the dough and then she would sprinkle it with cinnamon. Lily would pick up the end of the sheet of dough and she would fan fold it and put it in the oven. It was the dessert of the day.

“Mom, Lily, lunch is ready.” Said Emily. Mrs. Winters came out of the kitchen to the little buffet in the dining room. In the Miller household the kitchen was next to the dining room. Their was a door way but their wasn’t a door. The Millers put a fancy curtain in the doorway. The buffet was on a counter in the dining room. The dining room itself was a dark blue room with a counter attached to one side and a small fish tank on the other with five angelfish in it. There was a window across from the doorway with a nice scene. Emily had designed that area of the garden for the dining room window. There was a cherry tree in the left hand side of the window and a bunch of petunias around the trunk. Beneath the limbs of the tree there was a white, concrete bench with two legs, shaped like ocean waves. It was designed with butterflies on the sides. On the right-hand side there was a jasmine plant that made the area smell lovely. Since the weather was nice, Emily opened window, the jasmine made the room smell lovely, too.

“Emily darling, it was pure genius planting the jasmine right next to the house! It makes the room smell as though we were walking through a garden.” Mrs. Winters told her daughter, as she made herself a ham and roast beef sandwich. “What a banquet for such a small group.”

Meanwhile, Lily made herself a ham sandwich when she heard a timer go off. “Grandmother Winters, the timer is beeping.”

“I’ll get it, dear.” Replied Mrs. Winters. She went into the kitchen to get the cone and it smelled almost as good as the jasmine plant. Mrs. Winters brought it into the house and said. “I see why you had Lily make this cinnamon cone. It smells scrumptious”

The lunch went on without much event. They talked about gardening methods, Timothy’s job as a secretary, the economy, other births and the parties after them and about preschools and which ones Lily should go to. Once the meal was over and the conversations had died they did the Miller traditions.

“In my family we decorate front door with blue streamers and put up a sign that says ‘It’s a Boy!’” Said Timothy.

“Yay!” Said Lily. They decorated the front porch beautifully. The ‘it’s a boy’ sign was above the doorway. There were blue streamers hanging down from the sign, gracefully curving down to the ground. They had streamers from the top of the doorway down to Lily’s hips in a way that anyone who walked in would be walking through the blue.

“Next we take a picture of Andrew on the couch. We take a picture of Andrew every year. Lily, we have pictures of you from every year. Do you want to see them?” said Timothy

“Yes! Yes, yes!”

“Here they are.” He said, handing them to Lily.

“Cool” Said Lily. They looked like one picture of a bald baby in pink and one of a baby that looked like a girl and another baby that looked like her. The last one looked really like her.

“Lily can you sit on this couch?” Asked Emily. “Smile!” The camera went click.

“Good. Now it’s Andrew turn.” Said Timothy. Andrew had to be laid on the couch so he didn’t fall over.

“He’s so cute.” Said Mrs. Winters, crooning over her grandson.

“Your family traditions are really quick.” Said Lily to her father.

“It’s how my family does it. And there’s no link to past. It’s just how we celebrate. Now it’s time for cake!

I would appreciate comments on my story. My birthday was very nice. We went to the original pancake house and ate breakfast there. Then Mom and I went shopping for clothes so that I did not get clothes I do not like. I have five fashion rules.

1. No monkeys.
2. No peace signs
3. NO UNFASHIONABLE ITEMS
4. Must be able to do full splits in all pants
5. No excuses.
   

I have some very good rules.

Thomas got me a balloon twisting kit and I can make a wiener dog, a dog, a girrafe, a snake, a poodle, a sword, a frog, a teddy bear and a duck. My frog, teddy bear and duck are just heads with a stick of balloon to hold them up. Our balloons are below the average size so there is no room to make their bodies.

Well it's that time of season again. My birthday is coming up! In January Dad asked me what type of party I wanted to have. I had nothing to say. I didn't have any ideas at all. The thing I'm in is gymnastics but I can't have a gymnastics party. I wanted to invite the ladies of the gym but then I have two friends who are not as physically active and I don't want them to feel left out. I didn't really want to have a gymnastics party either. So Dad suggested that I have a mystery party. I agreed with happiness. The only thing that bugs me is that I can't know exactly what's going to happen or I can't join the fun! Dad's going to make characters for everyone. Gergely Borsos is a really mean gymnastics coach and Olympic gold medalist and he's opening a gym in Plymouth. I, Barbra Brilliana Blackwell of Lincolnshire (from England) have invited gymnast and judges and daughters of gymnast from other countries to my party to celebrate the coming of the gymnast. I am making newspapers and such so everyone gets into the mojo of the party. I would tell you more but I invited my fellow gymnast to my blog and I don't want to spoil the surprises no matter how little I know. I had the invitations to the party all ready and I was going to bring them to gymnastics but the schools were canceled and so was gymnastics so I didn't give them to the girls yet. I will deliver them on Thursday.

I'm back from WISCONSIN! Before I blog I need to put in the story chapter.

Chapter five

There are two parts that I could write about in this chapter, Timothy Miller making the cross for the garden or the cake that Jane Walters Winters and Lily Miller baked. I think I will write about the cake that Mrs. Winters and Lily baked because it will be more interesting with Mrs. Winters and Lily working together. Besides, Timothy’s story would be more of details of his artistry and the problems he faces with the machinery and the wood’s quality, etcetera, etcetera and so forth. You’ll see why I chose this side of the story.

“Why does Mommy have to feed Andrew by herself. Why can’t he feed himself? Doesn’t she know that Grandma and I don’t get along?” Lily thought as she baked a cake, from a mix, with her grandmother. All she had to do was measure out the ingredients.

Her grandmother cheerfully said. “Alright sweetheart! It’s time to bake a cake! You need to get one and one third cups of water. That’s up to here” Grandmother Winters (as Lily decided to refer her as) told Lily, holding a measuring cup and pointing to the one and one thirds mark.

“Okay” said Lily, following Grandmother Winters instructions while Grandmother Winters hummed and preset the oven to three hundred and fifty degrees.

Still humming and smiling as she greased the pans, Lily walked over to her Grandmother and said. “Here you go, one and one thirds cup of water.”

Grandmother Winters examined the measuring cup and exclaimed. “Wonderful job Lily! Splendid!” Now I’ll need one third of a cup of vegetable oil. That’s up to here.” She said as she dumped the water into the mixing bowl. She held the measuring cup upright and pointed to the mark on the measuring cup.

Soon Lily had fetched all the ingredients for her grandmother and was standing on a stepstool, leaning over her grandmother’s work. Grandmother Winters was not worried about salmonella poisoning and Lily got to lick the spoon. When the Cake was in the oven. The two chefs sat in front of the oven as the cake was being made. Grandmother Winters knitted while Lily watched her.

“Grandmother Winters, why are you so happy? I mean, you know, hmm.”

“Ha ha! Grandmother Winters, I like that. I know what you mean. You remind me of little Emily. I forgot to tell you about my favorite part of our tradition, silly old me. It’s optional but many people do it, after the baby’s born and after the lily’s planted, you bake the cake. At your mother’s cousin’s birth the baby was born at home so we planted the lily and your mother was four years old and six years behind her juvenile relatives. The other women didn’t want to bake a cake and left that to me. Emily was the only one who wanted to bake a cake, the other children didn’t want to bake one either. So Emily and I baked the cake and Emily did the same job that you did. It so reminded me of the old days, what we just did.” Grandmother Winters said, getting the cake out of the oven. “It looks marvelous! Help me frost it, Lily.” Lily and Grandmother Winters frosted the cake completely blue.

“Why do you need to make the cake after the lily is planted?” Lily asked.

“Because back then the baby didn’t always live after the lily was planted. Cake was really hard to make because it was hard to get the ingredients for it. If the baby died the Easter lily was killed. There, done” Grandmother Winters answered. “Lily the cake is done.” Let’s go see how your mother is doing.”

I don't know if I've kept everyone well enough informed but on Saturday, January 30 I left to WISCONSIN with my friend, Mara. The meet wasn't until Sunday but it's kind of nice to be there on Sunday and play around with the other girls. It's a four hour ride to WISCONSIN DELLS and it's very nice to spend it with a friend. Mom, Dad and the young ones went to the Lemire household and spent the night there and arrived in WISCONSIN DELLS on Saturday. After Mara and I arrived (Mara competed too) we went into the huge hotel room that we shared with three other girls on our team (all of which we know well). The room was a living room, a jacuzzi, a bedroom with a king bed with a three quarter bathroom, a bedroom with two twin beds and a three-quarter bathroom. All of the rooms had a TV and a holographic fire (that didn't produce any heat). Mara and I shared the king bed. The other three girls slept in the twin bedroom. The original plan was to go bowling at six 'o' clock but we found out that a illusion show was at Chula Vista (the hotel we were staying at) and we decided to go to it. It was very good. One of my favorites was when the magician painted a picture of a dove and he turned it into a real dove. Another was when he drew a face and it started to talk and it's eye's started to move (he complained that his ears were to small and he couldn't here anything).

Abbie and I (the two level fives) watched the entire level six meet. Unfortunetly all the level sixes except Mara abbandoned us to the water park. Mara is such a good teammate. She came onto the floor with us and helped us in every way she could. My thanks to Mara. The meet was my best ever. The rotation for it was vault, bar, beam, floor. I like that rotation. The meets are different in WISCONSIN and the group was of five so we actually talked and cheered for the girls on the other team. I am going to try to do that in Minnesota. In Minnesota girls only talk and cheer for girls on their team. The other teams don't insult your team, you simply don't interact.

I got an 8.35 on vault. My record was 8.2. My record is now 8.35.

Bar was awesome. We did something we don't normally do in Minnesota. Karen took us to bar and asked us to jump to the bar. She chose the best bar setting and we jumped at that in performance. It clearly helped. I got an 8.15 on bar. My first kip was great so that set me off for a good low bar routine. I find that it all matters on the kip. there are to kips in my bar routine. One for the high bar and one for the low bar. if there is a good first kip my low bar will be good. If my last kip is good my high bar will be good. My high bar kip was ok and so was my high bar. My record was 7.7. My record now is 8.15.

During beam warm ups my knee started to hurt. That was my worst night mare. The more I did the more it hurt. I cried half the time out of pain and the other half in fear. I only did two cart wheels on the beam and one leap. I did a beam routine in tears. I got a 7.65. My record is 7.85. My record is now 7.85.

I didn't do a single warm up for floor. I took an Advil pill. I went and did a floor routine. I got an 8.525. My record is an 8.575. My all around score was 32.575 it is my high score.

I am writing a poem book. Dad is having us write poems for grammar. These following poems must have one subject and one predicate. We may only use two words. But in Teddy Bear I use teddy bear but that doesn't count.

Day one, poem one, February 3, 2010

Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear smiles.

Teddy Bear giggles.

Teddy Bear laughs.

Teddy Bear sits.

Teddy Bear hugs.

Teddy Bear loves.

Day one, poem two, February 3, 2010

Magic Show

Steam rises.

Magician appears.

Pictures talk.

Women float.

Magic happens.

Audience applauds.

Performance complete.

Day one, poem three, February 3, 2010

The Diaper

Air stinks.

Baby kicks.

Thomas cries.

He whines.

Dad wrestles.

Diaper fastened.

Aroma freshened.

Thee blog of the day

The story chapter of the post.

Chapter Four

After the visit to the hospital Lily and her grandma went home and the next day they woke up early and went back to the hospital. Lily’s Mom could now leave the hospital.

Lily rode home in Mommy’s car. The Miller’s owned two cars. They had two sedans; a blue one and a white one. They called the white car Daddy’s car because it was the one that Timothy used to get to the office. Mommy’s car was the blue one and it was used for errands and for doctor’s appointments and anything else Emily, Lily and now Andrew, did while Timothy was at the office.

Lily asked her parents. “Mommy what are we going to do when we get home.

“Grandma will help us decorate for the family party.” Timothy replied

“Weren’t we supposed to decorate before you got home?” Lily asked

“When you were born grandma did some decorating before we got home but we did streamers and things as a family.” Emily said.

“We will put up the ‘It’s a Boy’ sign and blue streamers and do our traditions when we get home.” Timothy added. “Why look. We’re there!” Emily got out of the car while her husband got Andrew out and handed him to her. Timothy then moved on to getting Lily out of the car. Lily’s grandmother was at home already and Lily ran around into the back yard and let herself in her house. Emily swaddled Andrew in a blue blanket and covered his face in her shoulder. Emily, Timothy and Andrew walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. Lily and her grandmother answered it and led them, silently, into the living room.

Emily suddenly said. “It’s a Boy! It’s a beautiful baby boy!” Everyone leaned over and looked at the baby.

Lily’s grandmother asked Emily. “What is his name, weight and length?”

Emily replied. “Andrew Timothy Miller, Six pounds, five ounces and he is eighteen inches long.” Lily’s grandmother wrote the information on a piece of paper. Lily then ran out of the room and came back with a morning glory. She handed it to her mother and Emily smiled. Emily walked into Andrew’s room with Timothy, their eyes down. Emily placed the morning glory into the vase. She and her husband looked up and smiled.

Timothy exclaimed. “What a marvelous room!”

Emily said gracefully. “I would like to thank all the children and women who so graciously helped with this baby’s room.” She continued. “Would the oldest woman of the Walter’s generation please step forward and explain to the children who helped, the origin of our tradition.”

Lily’s grandmother stepped forward and said. “Children gather round. I married Mr. Charlie Winters (of whom died ten years ago) and I took on the name Mrs. Jane Mary Walters Winters. My daughter, Emily Mary Winters, who married Mr. Timothy Miller, took on the name Mrs. Emily Miller. Yesterday, she gave birth to Andrew Timothy Miller. You have helped build his room and deserve to know the history of our traditions. Long ago, there were no hospitals for babies to be born. Instead there were midwives, who birthed the babies at the mother’s house. The babies were born in a special room of the house and none were allowed in the room while the baby was being born except, lest the midwives’ secrets be revealed. After the baby was born the father was let in. He helped the midwife and cut the cord attaching the baby to his mother. After the baby was cleaned and the mother was cleaned and her hair combed and she was in a new garment they would knock on the door. Birthing babies is a very messy business and sometimes it took a very long time before the mother and child were ready. Anyway, they knocked on the door and the grandmother of the child would open the door. The baby would be swaddled like Andrew was, with his face in his mother’s shoulder. The midwife, mother, father and infant would be led into the middle of the room in silence. The midwife would shout ‘The child is born’ and then she would leave. After the midwife leaves the mother would shout ‘It’s a boy’ or ‘It’s a girl’. Everyone would lean over and look at the baby. The Grandmother of the child would ask the weight, length and name of the baby. The time was unimportant because none would ever know the time the baby was born and only the midwife would know. This was another thing that Walter’s consider information only the midwife would know, it was another thing to keep midwifes sacred and important to the family. Anyhow, the grandmother of the infant (On the Walter side) would write this information down on piece of paper tucked away in the first page of Mathew. The page would list all the names of people in the family (on the Walter side, if the other family side had a peace of paper like it, their family tree would go next to the Walter family tree). Once the information was written in the family tree the oldest sibling would go pick a flower to give to her mother. She or he would pick blue for a boy and pink for a girl. If the infant had no siblings (like you) the father would pick the flower. The rule was that the flower must be picked by a member of the infant’s immediate family. After the flower was handed to the mother, she and her husband would walk to the infants room with their eyes down and the mother would place the flower in the vase and she would look up. Before the baby was born the children and women of the family would build the room for the baby. The mother and the father of the infant could not see the room. The women and children could not use anything that belonged to the mother and father. After the mother and father have seen the room the mother would call the oldest woman in the Walters generation to explain our tradition. After this is done the family would go and plant an Easter lily for the baby. There are no special rules for planting the Easter lily except that it must be planted next to the plant that the infant’s flower was picked. The plant that the infant’s flower was picked from is the infant’s plant. Once the Easter lily has bloomed the child is baptized and the lily is placed in the same vase as the flower the infant got on his birthday. Another blue or pink flower from the same plant is added every month until the baby is a year old. When the baby is six months old the older sibling is told how her or his birth went out. If a child doesn’t have any siblings before his six birthday he or she is told how his or her birth went out. That is our tradition. Our tradition is modified to suit the mother and child. My mother’s good friend was a nurse and she helped birth me at my father’s house. She couldn’t leave my mother and I until the next day so she didn’t leave but she went back into the birthing room. She was very good about our traditions and obeyed them all. My room was even made by my two elder sisters and my aunt. My mother was given a pink tulip that was growing in our garden. My second eldest sister was so dramatic that she brought a pink rose with swollen hands but my grandmother, strict as she was, sent her back to pick a tulip.”

Emily said. “Thank you Mother. Lily that Easter lily in your room is your baptism lily. Now let’s go plant Andrew’s Easter lily.”

The little family walked out side to the yard.

Emily asked Lily. “Lily, where did you pick Andrew’s morning glory?”

“By the bunch right next to the slide.” Lily replied.

“Than we shall plant the lily next to the morning glories.” Emily announced.

Timothy spoke up. “Darling you and the baby should sit and watch while we dig in the dirt and plant the seed.”

“Alright, I guess the baby shouldn’t get dirty but I didn’t get to plant Lily’s seed either. Honey can’t I help plant the seed.”

“(Sigh) Are you up to it?”

“Of course.”

“Alright. But who will hold the baby?”

“Mother can.”

Mrs. Winters spoke up against her daughter’s idea. “I think I should be able to help, too!”

“Well who will hold the baby? Lily’s only four and she would want to help plant the seed too.” Said Emily. Soon this argument increased in volume and everyone kept on pointing fingers at each other and telling them to hold the baby.

Lily quiet and observing said softly. “Why can’t we take turns?”

Timothy, in the midst of the argument said. “We have been fighting like children while the child has said something very wise.”

“What did she say?” Emily asked

“Why can’t we take turns.” Lily repeated.

“Ugh, you’ve raised Lily this far and yet you don’t realize that the baby would get dirty when we hold him.”

“Where gardening gloves.” Emily said.

Soon they were planting the Easter lily. Emily was sitting near the group of gardeners holding Andrew. Lily noted that Andrew slept a lot, now was one of the few times when he was awake. Emily was showing him the seeds.

Emily whispered to Andrew. “These are your lily’s seeds. When these grow into flowers you will be baptized and join the Christian church. You will have a happy life here. I think I’ve done a pretty good job with your big sister. Look at her, all happy and smiling. Look at the wonderland your father and I have built for you. Yes you will be very happy.”

Timothy said to his wife. “Honey we’re done with the hole. Let me hold the angel while you can plant his seeds.”

“Alright.” Emily replied. She passed Andrew to her husband and then walked over and put the seeds into the hole. The group started to bury the lily seeds in the ground.

Emily said. “I have a very good idea. Why not we start a new tradition and place a wooden cross into the ground - just a small one that will mark the spot where the lilies are planted.”

Mrs. Winters frowned at this idea but Mr. Miller loved it.

“I think that’s a great idea!” Timothy exclaimed. “But, where will we get wood for it?”

“Don’t you have some wood in the garage?” Emily asked.

“Hmm” Said Timothy, pondering the idea. “I think that will work.”

“Wonderful, when should we make it?”

“If I may step in, I would suggest that Timothy would make the cross while the rest of us bake a cake”. Mrs. Winters said. Andrew started to cry.

“That’s a good idea but you and Lily will have to bake the cake yourselves. I think that Andrew’s hungry.”

I really enjoyed writing this chapter and making up all the traditions. Joey and Julie have asked me if I'm going to get the book published:-) I told them that I would try. If I can't I will go to the public library and see if I can get them to let me start a club where kids would bring in their stories and their would be a 'by kids' section and people could read our stories.

Today I am going to do something amazing. Joey has piano lessons and we have to leave at three thirty to get him there. He always arrives early and has to wait for the other kids classes to be done. The reason he has to come early is so that we have time to drop me off at gymnastics. five to ten minutes after we leave joey discovers he left his books at home. We have to drive all the way back to our house to get Joeys books and I'm always ten or five minutes late for class. Joey is distracted by his DSI (which he brings for amusement while he waits for his piano lesson). So today I am going to remind him to bring his books. I have written this so I will remember to remind him.

with love to my loving readers,

Theresa

Hello followers. I am in a good mood, today. I am getting everything done so that I can spend the rest of the day writing my story. Dad said that if I get really into my story the only other things I would have to do is math, biology, spanish and flute. He said this a while ago and I have twelve pages in less than a month. Here is chapter three of my story.

Chapter Three

Lily’s grandmother answered the phone. It was Mr. and Mrs. Miller! The baby had been born successfully! Emily was fine and the baby was healthy. He was a beautiful baby boy! Timothy told all this to his mother in law over the phone, he wanted Lily to come to the hospital immediately!

Her grandmother, a smile on her face, rushed Lily into the car. Lily was deeply troubled. She saw no reason for the rush. Did something bad happen? After they were in the car, Lily’s grandmother regained her composure and said. “Honey the baby is here! He’s a baby boy! He and your mother are fine!”

“Yay! When will we see him?” Said Lily, too worried and excited to talk like a toddler. Fortunately, her grandmother was to excited to notice.

“Hmm, Now all the trouble begins. I’m excited and worried. Will the baby take my place? What are babies like? Will he be mean to me?” Lily immediately realized that the last question was silly, remembering the size of the baby’s socks. “Okay, he probably won’t beat me up. What do babies do anyway?”

“Lily we’re there! We’re at the hospital!”

“Once again, time flies when you think” Thought Lily as she climbed out of her grandmother’s car.

Once they walked into the hospital Lily’s grandmother checked in. The nurse gave Lily a pink sticker that said “I am a big sister”. Lily and her grandmother rode the elevator up to the twentieth floor.

They went into room forty-four. Room forty four was a white room with a blue loveseat and a white table, along the wall there was a blue couch. On the wall there were pictures of blue jay. Lily’s eye’s rested on her mother lying in a bed with blue covers storks on it. Lily immediately forgot about the baby and ran towards her mother and climbed into the bed. She was amazed when she saw a small pink baby cuddling with her mom. “What! This is my little brother! He’s so pink! And he’s so small. In a way he’s cute but he’s in my spot.”

“ Happy birthday! Here’s your little brother. Do you like him” Emily whispered.

“He’s so small” Replied Lily.

Emily laughed and said. “Yes. He is very small. His name is Andrew.” Timothy, sitting on the edge of his wife said. “Happy birthday, Lily! We have a present for you.” Two nurses came in with a little plastic crib with a baby doll in it. They put it next to another plastic crib by Emily’s bedside.

“This is the bed hospital’s have for baby’s. They are light and easy to move around so if they need to move the baby from one place to the other it’s easy. We decided to give you your own baby to take care of.” Timothy said. Lily picked up the baby doll and said. “Thank you, Mommy and Daddy.”

“There’s another present.” Emily said. “Look under the crib and there’s a little platform and there’s another present.”

Lily got off of the bed and found the present right where here mother said it was. She unwrapped it. It was a book titled “Fun With Baby”, “Green Eggs and Ham” “The Vet” and “One to Ten Pop-up Surprises”.

Emily said. “Even though you are four your father and I are going to teach you how to read. You will love reading, Lily! You can read books to Andrew. We are also going to sign you up for preschool. You will go to preschool twice a week.”

“Mommy, I can read! Watch”. Lily read “The Vet” to her little brother. “Wow, this big sister thing is kind of fun. Boy, am I doing a great job at this reading! Mom and Dad are smiling. They are so proud at me.” Lily finished the book but you got some and looked up. Her Dad said. “Good job Lily!”

Lily asked. “I keep on reading the word ‘teh’ T-H-E what does that mean?”

“You were reading the word ‘The’.” Lily was confused. She had followed all the rules and had said all of the words sounds. Her father continued. “The English language is tricky and there are complications to the letter’s sounds. Let me show you. This word is zoo. You said zah. Two O’s together make the sound ooh. We are very impressed that you can read simple words. However, there are hard words like zoo and that’s what we will teach you. Soon you will be able to read pneumonia.” Lily blushed, she realized that she had messed up. She hadn’t realized how tricky words were.

“The book, one to ten book doesn’t have any words. Emily said opening the book. “You see the numbers? You pull them open and they show a colorful animal.” Lily opened up number one. A frog was revealed!

“Mommy look! It isn’t a picture on flat paper. It pops out and you can touch it!”

“Yes honey, these types of books are called pop-up books.”

“Cool! Thank you Mommy and Daddy!” Lily had relaxed now. “The baby isn’t taking my place. I think Mom and Dad want me to play with the baby. I wish I could hold him.” As though she was reading her thoughts, Emily asked her daughter. “Would you like to hold him?”

“Yes please!” Lily exclaimed.

“Sit down on the couch Lily and hold him like this.” Timothy instructed, while holding his son. He then passed Andrew to Lily. Lily cradled her little brother and thought. “He’s so small and adorable! I wonder why he’s all curled up. He’s warm too.” Then she whispered to Andrew. “We are going to be best friends.” And she was right.

I am having trouble keeping up with blogging entire chapters. Chapter four is one of the longer ones . I had fun writing it though. On some days I can throw down entire chapters but on others I am really slow to write. I don't really think ahead for the story either. It feels like I am reading the book myself. I don't even have to disagree with what the author is writing either! My freind Abbie is the opposite in writing stories. I relax and just write, while she looks up things for her stories and plans ahead. She also has a lot of adventure in her story too. She was the one who inspired me to write stories. Abbie already has a critic! Her brother, Louis, keeps on telling her "more action, more action!". While talking on the phone to her last night, I told her that. "Brothers can be very helpful or they can lead you to misery. You should just write what you want to write."

I am giving my birthday party some thought. I want to have a lot of people to the day party and a small selected group of friends to a sleepover party. I was thinking of themes and most of the guest are the "Ladies of the gym" as I call them but My freind Eliana is not so athletic and I don't want her to feel left out. Suggestions are welcomed.