books!! (well sorry if it's a lame title, it's all I could come up with!)

Grace's birthday was a couple days ago. As it is Lent, we skipped cake and ice cream (we'll have that on Sunday) but she did get to unwrap her presents from various relatives not including Mom and Dad's (also being saved for tomorrow). A couple pretty necklace charms and a chain to put them on from Grandma D., and from everyone else...BOOKS! Here's the list:

• The Princess Bride (*shriek* I'm DYING to read it and Grace won't let me. meanie.)
• Dragonspell and Dragonquest (first two of a Christian fantasy series. I'm reading Dragonspell-with Grace's permission. It's not bad.)
• The Neverending Story (*sings* the neverending stoooooryyyyy.....)
• The Last Unicorn

The last two, I hear, are much better then their respective movies. Neverending Story 2= f-r-e-a-k-y. Apparently the book contains the plots for both movies and more. I peeked through it - under birthday girl's supervision - and I think I'll have to read that one too.

As you probably noticed, they're all fantasy, a genre she only recently learned to love. Before she read only horse novels (Black Stallion, Black Beauty, etc.), nature field guides and abridged classics such as 20,000 Leagues and Robin Hood. She got The Chronicles of Prydain for Christmas and absolutely loved them. Then Mom and I nudged her into reading The Belgarion by David Eddings. I'm a die-hard fan of those books and managed to pull Grace along with me.

So then for her birthday she requested fantasy books. And got them. She's very happy with them all and started reading the Last Unicorn right away. During her My Little Pony phase she loved that movie. Of late, she has scorned such a childish (and freaky...I'm telling you, it should be rated PG-13 for overall scary-ness. a kids' cartoon. seriously) film. But now she likes fantasy and it isn't a silly cartoon anymore, it's an intriguing book.

And as she unwrapped those books, oh how my hands itched to grab one- specifically a particular book concerning a beautiful farm girl and a man in black- and run away to read it. But Grace refuses to let me read it. Why? It's one of my all-time favorite movies, that never fails to make me laugh and I like it more every time I watch it. She even threatened to hide it.
"I'm going to put it in my secret vault!"
"You have a secret vault? Dude, I want a secret vault!"

*sigh* Buttercup, Westley, Inigo and all those other fantastic, lovable, hilarious characters will just have to wait.

Of Ellie, cameras and artistic attempts

The other day, who should be in the newspaper but our dear friend Ellie! Yes, because this Sunday she is going to be a featured soloist with the San Antonio Symphony. She is an AMAZING pianist and we are all very excited and proud. Mom, Emma, Grace and I are all going to the concert. Can't wait! I was going to dig up the article for you but 'tisn't working. I'll post it later.


I'm thinking of buying a camera. *strokes chin meditatively* If anybody has a suggestion for a good, affordable camera (emphasis on the "affordable"), please comment and tell me about it. Danke!


I am so artistic, really. Poems, avatars, doodles.... because photo-editing and computer graphics are really a modern art form and anybody who says doodling isn't art is being absolutely ridiculous. And poetry is considered artistic, right? At least, I thought so....anyways, back to the photo-editing, lookie at my latest avatar!




It is a bit big, sometime I'll shrink it a little.
The saying on it isn't mine, I saw it on a shirt at a homeschool event. Awesome, right? Can you read it OK?

TTFN!

Frick and Frack

Hello again! I'm posting for two reasons: 1. I just had to so I could use my pretty signature again! 2. I wanted to show you a poem that I finished yesterday. It's about our lovable pets Murphy the dog and Pumpkin the cat, whom Mom has nicknamed "Frick and Frack". Voila!

The cat came along with a purr in his throat,
Quietly padding about.
The dog came along with a friendly sniff,
Wanting his breakfast, no doubt.
Suddenly the cat leaped and bit the dog's ear
Whereupon the dog gave a yelp.
Said I to the cat, "Hey, no dirty fighting!"
But to the dog I offered no help.

Soon the cat found himself caught by the tail
And ungracefully yanked around.
He freed himself hastily and ran for the stair
But the dog was quick to gain ground.
The two of them raced throughout the house;
The cat's quick patter, the dog's thundering gait;
Stopping occasionally to tussle and fight
Before again taking up the chase.

I suppose they would be an alarming sight;
A stranger would watch in dismay.
But I enjoy their wild fights
For I know it's just best friends at play.
Eventually the fight abates
And away stalks the dignified cat.
The dog looks and me with victory in his eyes
And receives a friendly pat.

siggy!

Yay! I got an awesome new signature! Thank you to Katie for giving me the idea and telling me how to get it here! Isn't it pertyful?

rrrrandomnessss.....

Well, hello! My original readers have probably noticed that my blog is now public. Newcomers, welcome! When you tire of my ramblings (which could happen very quickly) scroll down until you see "Other blogs to check out" and read those blogs instead. :-)


Anyways....hm.... not much is new in my life except that Tristan is starting to walk (!!!) and I have begun taking TKD (thats cool people talk for tae kwon do). It's quite fun, and Jack is considering doing it as well after school ends.

I'm starting to think about my sweet sixteen (which is in June). Ideas, anybody? Nothing very expensive, just something extra fun to do with all my friends. It has to include Chinese food and possibly a sleepover. hmm....

Yesterday evening some the homeschoolers got together for a STAND meeting. STAND is a student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network. Find out if there's a chapter near you! Anyways, we are the first ever homeschool chapter. Yay us! Although there are several genocides taking place in the world right now (including abortion, although it's rarely thought of that way), we mostly want to focus on Darfur for the time being. Yesterday we made plans for a garage sale to raise funds and got an update on how things are going in Sudan right now. 16 aid agencies have been kicked out and now approximately one million Darfuris are now without necessities like food, water, and medical care. To read about the genocide in Darfur, what's been going on there for the past few years and what's happening now, go to http://standnow.org/learn/conflicts/darfur


Well.... that's all I can think of to post right now.
Toodles!
Katie :-)

Narnia - Christian Themes = !!!!!

DISCLAIMER: I did not write this. I found it on Serendipity's blog who found it on thelionscall.com


A few years back it was believed that HarperCollins, publishers of the Narnia books, meant to rewrite them and remove all evidence of Christian allegory. This was not true, but it does makes one think: What would the stories be like without the Christian influence?Here's my attempt:

Once there were four children whose names were Peter--oh, wait, he was a disciple. Keys to the kingdom and all that. Well, then: Once there were four children whose names were Percy, Susan--oops, that name's based on the Biblical Susanna. And wasn't there a Santa Lucia, too? So: Once there were four children whose names were Percy, Sybil, Edmund, and Lana. Moving right along, these four kids entered a magical land via armoire. There they became involved in an epic struggle of good versus evil--oh, wait, there's no such thing as absolutes. No one is all evil. The Witch is just misunderstood. She probably had an unhappy childhood. Oh, and we can't keep calling her the Witch. The implies censure. We'll call her pagan--no, that might remind people that there's an opposite to paganism, such as religion. Ah! We'll call her a Child of Nature. So, these four kids join forces with the local inhabitants and try to overthrow the Witch--er, Child of Nature (despite her very stable and mutually beneficial reign.) However, lacking any true leadership (That would mean Him, and we certainly can't include Him.), the children and other rebels soon are turned into overlarge paperweights. Huh, well, that won't sell. Let's try this: We'll include Him, but only after a fashion. So, the children go to meet Aslan and Edmund is rescued. Then Nature Girl comes to claim the traitor, according to ancient law. Aslan, not being a type of Christ, cannot die and be resurrected, so he has to give Edmund back, to fulfill the law. Nature Girl kills Edmund (but he had it coming, after all), and the four thrones are never filled. No, no. That won't do. Well, how about this: Nature Girl comes to claim Edmund, and Aslan says, "No, that's just tough. You can't have him. I don't have to honor the law my old man put into Narnia years ago."--wait, that implies creation. Can't have that. Aha!: The Witch, er, Child of Nature, comes for Edmund, and Aslan eats her (So what if it was supposed to be a parley? Getting to eat your enemies during a truce is one of the beauties of situational ethics.). Everybody else lives happily ever after, including the wolves, hags, efreets, etc. who are shown the error of their ways and reintegrated into society. The four children, not satisfied with the concept of "divine right of kings," hold elections to see who will be the new president of Narnia. Some dwarf, who was never given fair opportunity for advancement in Nature Girl's regime, gets the job. The kids go back through the wardrobe. Book sales plummet.
The End.

Discussing Theology With Ben and Emma

A couple weeks ago or so:

Mom and I are in the kitchen. Dinner is almost ready, and a few people are already seated at the table. This is what we hear.

*********

Ben (age 5): How come Jesus doesn't look like God?
Emma (age 8): Jesus IS God! Besides, no one knows what God looks like.
Ben: I know what He looks like!

(discussion continues for a minute or two until I hear:)

Emma (exasperated): Ben, God is in HEAVEN. People don't sit up there and sketch him!

I got in!

I've been accepted to a very cool summer program at the University of Dallas! WOOO!! I spent half the winter getting the application together, and have been waiting all of February to hear from them. Eventually we couldn't take it anymore so Mom emailed someone and they replied saying that they had the letter all ready to send except for such-and-such persons signature, and "I don't want to spoil the surprise, but Katie is going to have a very exciting summer!"
Well, surprise spoiled- I was reading over Mom's shoulder (normally this is considered impolite but this was obviously different). I'm so excited!