Artichokes, by Faith Malek

Artichokes have green leaves all over. They have purple leaves inside, too. On the tips of the Artichokes, there are pointy thorns on it. There are a lot of leaves on it. The leaves are smooth and thick. In the middle, there are hairy things in it called a choke and they are very fuzzy. Artichokes smell like leaves. My mom says that artichoke hearts taste sweet. Those kind of plants are fascinating. (Descriptive Writing)

PLAYING WITH SAND: Descriptive Writing by Faith

I like to play in the sand at the beach. Sand is made of tiny pieces of rocks and shells. It sparkles in the sun. Dry sand feels hot when the sun shines on it. It feels light, loose, and falls through my fingers. Wet sand feels heavy, hard, and cool. Dry sand makes a swishy sound and wet sand makes a wet, crunchy, slapping sound when I play with it. One time sand got in my mouth. It did not taste like anything, but it did feel gritty. Playing with sand is fun!

Descriptive Writing: By Faith Malek

Our Dog, Lady

We have an adorable dog named Lady! She looks very cute all of the time. Lady looks like a large grizzly bear, but she acts more like a teddy bear! The color of Lady's fur is the color of brown sugar. Her fur is fluffy and thick. Sometimes she has stinky breath when she sticks her mouth in my face. Lady always smells like a dog. She is wonderful and we love her so much.

Kristie and CARE Pregnancy

www.carepregnancycenter.org

Because I know Kristie would never "toot her own horn" I felt I needed to make a well deserved plug for Kristie and her involvement as a volunteer trained counselor with Care Pregnancy. As you know, Kristie's heart drips with benevolence, kindness and compassion for any human being experiencing crisis or hardship. I have many times been on the receiving end of her mercies. Her chief aim is the Glory of God and a desire that His creation would humbly bow to His will, especially the preservation of life. Because I talk with her on a daily and sometimes hourly basis, I'm keenly aware of her kids, school and domestic packed schedule. She really has no time for volunteer work, and yet she gives it anyway. Women facing the monumental decision to keep or terminate their pregnancy need the proper knowledge of their options and realistic perspective on the consequences of the choices they make. This information needs to be conveyed with love and mercy and I don't know of anyone who holds these quality in as much abundance as Kristie. Shadie Hernandez is also volunteering at CARE where she can use many of the gifts God has so obviously bestowed on her. I have heard many stories of how CARE s involvement in the lives of these girls has saved many a life and healed many a hurt. It is my hope that all who love her will look a little closer into what CARE is all about and support it via prayer, service or finances.

The link above gives detailed information on how you can support the efforts of CARE Pregnancy Center.

It's Craft Time! Decorating Picture Frames, by Faith Malek

I love decorating picture frames. There are so many ways to decorate a frame. All you have to do is decide what you want it to look like and then have a lot of fun by decorating it!

Here is how to do it:

1. Go to a craft store and buy a wooden frame, paint brushes, acrylic paints that you like, Mod Podge, and stickers.

2. Paint the frame. Then wait for it to dry. If you want, you can paint glitter on top of the dry paint. Let it dry.

3. Next, put stickers on the frame.

4. Then paint Mod Podge on the whole frame. The Mod Podge makes everything stay.

You should try it, it's really fun! Maybe we could all decorate picture frames together sometime.
Click on the Title at the top to see a youtube link for more ideas on decorating frames.

Pony Boy and Soda Pop

One day my mom surprised us and told my brother and I that we were going to get another boxer puppy. We already have Marbles, a brindle boxer, and Tippy, a small mutt. Mom started searching the internet looking for a puppy. We were not having much luck finding a male boxer. We found a lady selling them in Traver. She called and we got ready as fast as we could. We got there and she showed us two terrified puppies. They were brothers, snuggled together in a corner of the cage. We were just going to get one but my mom couldn't handle taking one away from the other so we bought both. When we took them home they were scared but eventually they started to feel comfortable. We named them Soda Pop and Pony Boy from the Movie The Outsiders. We gave them their first bath and the didn't like it a bit. Pony Boy is the black brindle dog. He is always hungry. He is always getting into trouble. Soda Pop is the brown brindle boxer. He is always active and loves to bug Tippy. They are both so cute, cuddly and lots of fun. Marbles and Tippy get along good with them but Tippy gets irritated sometimes. One day my brother spilled maple syrup on the floor and Pony licked it up and in ten minutes Pony was bouncing off the walls. The puppies had their first trip at Potwisha campground. On the way there Pony was scared but Soda was calm. Once they got out of the car they loved it. I Took them exploring lots of times. During breakfast Pony jumped up on the table to get my food. These puppies are great dogs and I love them very much.

Camping with Family and Friends

By George Vogel

Late as usual, we headed up to Potwisha. The forty-five minute drive seemed to take forty-five hours. With the Newton's behind us, we pulled into the campground. I started getting dizzy from going around and around the sites because my dad couldn't decide where the best spot was to park our big old boat (it's actually a fifth wheel). The dogs, all four of them,were going nuts. Marbles (who isn't the brightest) whimpered the entire trip. It was so nice to be able to breathe without a panting "beast" suffocating me.

The first thing we did was hook the dogs to the back of the trailer. Then Marbles saw his first squirrel and had a panic attack. I really like our new trailer because it's like a cramped house. It's got a kitchen, two fold out beds and one large one at the front. The bathroom didn't work but that was OK because it was it was a short walk to the community restroom.

The first night, we had a big campfire. Everyone, including the adults, begged Uncle Dameon to go get the marshmallows. Melissa brought a bunch of pitch forks (they were huge) for us to roast them with. I didn't have the greatest luck with this. They always caught on fire but we all gave them to my mom (who loves burnt ones). I still like them better straight out of the bag. We stayed up late trying to wait for the bears but the stupid generator made enough noise to scare away Big Foot. No bears tonight.

When I woke and got out of my comfy bed I heard all the other kids paying tag. Uncle Dameon and Aunt Kristie were making breakfast. Uncle Dameon spilled some of the potatoes on the ground and Aunt Kristie made 800 thin pancakes. Everything was delicious! My dad allowed me to chop wood with an axe! It took about three or four swings to cut the wood in half, but I did it. We had a great day playing and taking walks with the dogs. We went on a small hike and saw a really neat waterfall. My mom and dad had the dogs back at the camp so Aunt Kristie was in charge of freaking out with us near the water (which is exactly what my mom would have been doing). We even saw deer on our way there.

Uncle Dameon did a neat experiment he had seen on Survivor Man. He boiled water in a plastic bottle. He used a stretched out hanger to hold it over the fire. It was awesome. When he set the wire down Clay touched it and burned his finger really bad. I felt really sorry for him. That's the only bad thing about the trip.

I love being with Jordan, Faith, Emma, Paige, Clay and Drew. Everyone had a graet time and I can't wait to go camping with them all again.