Wow...

...so I'm 17 now-almost an adult, as Khyrstyn had to point out in her post wishing me a happy birthday. I need to take a picture of the card she gave me. One word: Hysterical!! (It doesn't have anything to do with my age)

I'm going to be all sugared up this summer. Sharyssa baked me a cake, and Khyrstyn and Kylee gave me Dunkin' Donuts gift cards. COFFEE!!!!!

Yesterday, we had raspberry danish for my birthday. Then we went to church, and afterwards all the girls stayed for Mariah Lewis' bridal shower. She is marrying Aaron Bentz this summer. We're invited to the wedding; I can't wait! :)

We came back home and I read some books and drew a lot in a fashion sketch notebook of Anna's. We had a late supper (because none of us were hungry after the shower) of hamburgers, watermelon and cantaloupe. Mom made a tasty kidney bean salad.

Before having ice cream dessert (with mint chocolate chip ice cream!), the older kids watched Saving Mr. Banks. It's the story behind the movie Mary Poppins. It was good, and it made me cry hard.

Summer Reading List

Since our library is having a summer reading program, I thought it would be fun to write a post about what I've been reading this summer. Along with a "_ out-of-5-hearts" rating system. :)

• To Have and To Hold - ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ - A great book. I laughed, I sighed, I cried (and cried). I've read it before, but it was better the second time.
• Weight of a Flame: The Passion of Olympia Morata - ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ - A biography of sorts.
• Kingdom Series - ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 1/2 - Allegory of the Bible. Some of the books were better than others, but overall, pretty good. (I'm talking about the series, not the Bible. I hope that's clear. :) )
• Viking Quest Series - ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ - I've read these before (6-8 years ago?), but now Katherine's reading them, and they're definitely worth a second (and third and fourth) round.
• The Horse and His Boy - ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ - Of the Chronicles of Narnia, my favorite besides The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I could read it a million times and still love it.
• Widows and Orphans - ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 1/2 - A Christian mystery. I'm on the sequel now, Sticks and Stones.
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ - A Newbery award book. Deep sigh at the end. Good book.
• Julie of the Wolves - ♥ ♥ ♥ - Another Newbery book. It was OK. I thought it was pretty mature for a children's book.
• Second Fiddle - ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ - It's about three 8th graders (all girls) in 1990 in Germany after the Berlin Wall came down. They save the life of a Soviet soldier and (secretly) take him with them to Paris for a musical competition. It is very good! I laughed and cried.

I'm also in the middle of ...Tom Sawyer, and I have Caddie Woodlawn (another Newbery book) from the library waiting next (probably after Sticks and Stones, if not in the middle!).

Worldview in a (Rather Large) Nutshell

What Was So Great About Worldview Academy:

• I got to meet a bunch of kids who are a lot like me and who are really like-minded (For some reason, I don't feel like those are the same thing). Namely, Seairra, Margaret, Diane, and Abby, who were in my small group (I already knew Khyrstyn :). From the get-go we were all best friends, and I felt so comfortable with them. Really I felt comfortable all the time (except for the stomach ache and the day I cut my legs real bad while I was shaving...); I felt like I could really be and act myself. And I was and I did!
• I was roommates with one of my best friends, Khyrstyn. We stayed up past lights out talking every night, until 2:30 on Sunday night. We got to know each other better, and it was a blast!
• The food was pretty tasty.
• The staff was awesome!!! Especially Amy and Rebekah...
• The boys opened doors and cleared dishes for the girls. They also let us go first in line at meals, which was kind of awkward. "Oh! You go first!" No, really, I can wait...Oh well!
• I talked to boys and it wasn't awkward. Nobody can convince me that that's not pretty great.
• Even if we were in lectures half the time, the speakers were really engaging. And hilarious. They made great sound effects. (I'm serious!)
• In the Staff vs. Students Ultimate Frisbee game, the students scored a point while I was on the field. I actually had the Frisbee at one point. I think I assisted the assist of the assist...or something like that. :)
• I didn't want to leave. I still wish I was there; though the feeling is gradually subsiding. Which is good, I guess.

What I Learned:

• I can survive without my family for a whole week (and probably longer). To be honest, I was having too much fun to miss them.
• Everyone's a leader, everyone has influence. Worldview Academy isn't just for kids who want to change the world, (Though that's great too!) it's also for others, like me, who want to live their life in a quiet way, influencing the relatively few people around them.
• I shared what I believed (the Gospel) with three random strangers at Millennium Park in Chicago. It was SO easy!!!!! I was pretty shocked. But I know that it's because God was putting the words in my mouth.
• By accident, I found out that tater tots and yogurt actually taste good together. It's OK, you don't have to agree with me. (But herb roasted potatoes and maple syrup DO NOT! That was an accident, too.)

Worldview!!!

I'm back from Worldview, and I'm sad about it too. I miss camp and everybody so much. But I had a blast, and I'm hoping to go again next year.

My small group was/is awesome! We're all homeschooled and love to read. We bonded instantly; it was amazing.

I don't have the brain power to write a big what-happened post, but I'll post some pictures. Khyrstyn has/is going to write some posts on her blog; we did a lot of the same things :) :

Abby, Seairra, and Diane

Khyrstyn (we were roommates!), Abby, Seairra, and Margaret. I think one of our leaders, Amy, is at the end, but you can't see her very well.

Me and Rebekah, our other small group leader (besides Amy). She's the oldest of 11 kids and her last name starts with a 'W'. How cool is that?!?!?!?

Seairra (in yellow shirt, moving), Abby, and Margaret

Me and a frappuccino. :)

Rebekah, Khyrstyn, and I. I look really weird in this picture.

Me and Margaret.

Seairra, Diane, Me, and Margaret

Amy, Khyrstyn, Me, and Rebekah. (Man, it is so weird to type that when it's not me!)

"Squirrel!"

Khyrstyn and I attacking Seairra before she leaves.

Well...

I finished packing a few hours ago; except for my toothbrush, hairbrush, etc. which I will need before church tomorrow. To think, by this time tomorrow, camp will be underway. I'm very excited by now, and only slightly nervous.

Most of us kids, as well as Mom, joined our library's summer reading program today. There are prizes, and... If you read 5 books, you get a free scoop of custard from Culver's, plus a free kid's meal if you read 10. This should be easy for some of us. It ends July 12, so I'm thinking after it's over, I'll start War and Peace. It's too long to be worthwhile in this program. Now if it was one that was counting pages...

Friday the 13th

How has your day been? Anything horrible happened? Or suspicious?

That's OK. I don't believe in 'Friday the 13th' myths either.

Most of you probably know, but I'm going to Worldview Academy camp on Sunday. I'm feeling a lot better about it, but I'm still somewhat nervous. I've started my packing; OK, so I've been thinking about what I'm going to pack, and doing laundry. I'm pretty sure Josiah packed his bag late Saturday night when he went. Well, I'm not Josiah, and I'll either finish packing today or tomorrow afternoon. :)

Special Day!

Happy 5th Birthday Julia!!!!

We had a lovely day at the zoo for Julia's birthday. We watched the keepers feed the seals and the sea lions, which was very entertaining. We also enjoyed the dolphin show. But my favorite part was the carousel. I was very, very excited that we got to ride on it. My animal was a lion. A very good choice to ride on.

It's Over!

Driver's Ed is over! Done. No more. Wa-hooo!

I am so glad to have it over. But glad as well for things I learned and went through.

• I got used to having to be somewhere every day. And it didn't "ruin my life", as I melodramatically thought it would during the first week or so.
• Mr. Windy was my first male teacher. So it was good to have that experience.
• I survived being in a class with more than ten people!
• I actually talked to people in my class. Part of me wanted to just be ignored, but I thought better of it, and tried to be friendly. Alas, I didn't get to say goodbye to the girl who sat behind me. Or thank her for dealing with my public-school-ignorance and spacey-ness. 
• I took my first scan-tron tests. I didn't have a problem with them, thankfully.
• I talked to my teacher once or twice as well, which was an extraordinary accomplishment.

Oh, I learned about driving as well! LOL