Driving Lessons and Babysitting by Madeleine

In this year's batch of Christmas cards, we received more than one request to update our blog. Elise has done her part, but I think a real person should also write something. It was a great Christmas, stuffed with Chinese food and presents. I got a camera, so I will try to put some of my lovely pictures on for ya'll to see. I have a video of me playing at a recital that I will hopefully get around to posting. One of our donors gave us a printer/scanner, a home computer, and a Mac laptop for Christmas so that we would not all be sharing one laptop. It has opened up new opportunities and we spend more time on the computer now than before (but that's really not saying much).
I turned fourteen in the beginning of December, so Daddy decided to take me and my across-the-hall friend Claire driving in empty parking lots more often. I backed out of a parking space yesterday for the first time in my life. I don't know how many of you over sixteen remember what your first time driving was like, but to those youngsters who have never driven, I will say that it is pretty terrifying (it's even worse when your friend who is even less experienced than you, if that's possible, is driving). We both hit the curb fairly often, frequently confused the gas and brake pedals, and sometimes turned on the windshield wipers instead of changing gears. To add to the stress, my dad enjoyed remarking about the imaginary Mercedes-Benz that I just totaled or the little old lady with a walker that I just ran over. But we still enjoyed it a lot (that is, Claire and I did-- I'm not sure about my dad).
Elise and I are babysitting a lot these days, and if we are any good at all, it is because all our former babysitters were so amazing. I sure hope my babysittees remember me the same way that all four of us remember our babysitters. I have realized that it is very easy to please small children--they are amazingly excited when I bring picture books from my house and love it when I play with them (that takes more skill than reading books, but it can be more fun--and tiring). That's all from me, I'll blog again next week.

Elise's Holiday

Hellooooooooo everyone!
Hope you had a good Christmas! I definitely did. I got lots of really fun stuff. Right now I'm trying out scratchboarding and sand art (all Christmas presents) and some paint-by-number. Also, I went to a four day running camp which started the day after Christmas. It was really fun, except for the fact that there was only one other seventh grader and he was a boy. Thankfully, even though everyone else in the camp were teenagers, I could keep up most of the time. After our daily run we would play Family Feud! Sort of a random game, I thought. (I had actually never heard of it until then.) Anyways, our team had to guess five types of facial hair, and by the time it was my turn, our team had two strikes and only one answer left! I couldn't think of anything (all the obvious ones like beard, sideburns, goatee, and mustache had already been said) and I was running out of time, so I said "fu man chu," just as a joke. It was the real answer!! :o That was my name for the rest of the camp. I guess it's my Chinese blood or something! The camp was lots of fun and they had really yummy lunches. I didn't get to know anyone really well, but it was still a neat experience!
Tinkertytonk:),
A lizard breath
(if you say it quickly, it sounds like Elizabeth)

Going Batty--by Madeleine

Paul, Thomas, and two other boys found a bat yesterday afternoon! Since it was out during the day, which was unusual, and it was acting sort of wierd, we called animal control. They didn't reach us till it was dark, so we couldn't join in the Great Bat Hunt, but they didn't find it anyway. Thomas and the other two boys still have to get shots, though, because there have been several reports of rabid bats throughout the country this year and they actually touched it (the bat). The boys seem to be really excited at the prospect of really having rabies, which is strange to me. I know that if it was me, I would definitely not be excited. The minds of small boys are often difficult to comprehend. Thomas likes to walk around the house trying to touch people with his finger, while screeching loudly, "This is the finger that touched the bat! This is the finger that has rabies!" Gage, one of the other boys, the one who actually caught the bat, thinks that it is really exciting. He takes it for granted that he has rabies even though we don't know for sure until the bat is caught and tested, but that might never happen.

Greetings from Madeleine--October 1, 2008

Hi, y'all. Our life has resumed an appearance of order after a wild, exciting summer. I guess it's a little late to be writing about summer since it is now October and fall officially started, like, almost half a month ago. I'm already eager for another vacation though.
I am still playing the piano and I will have a recital in November, so maybe we can take a video and put it on the blog.
We are really enjoying St. Louis. It has a lot of neato activities and places for free. If you come to visit us, we could take you to the Art Museum, the City Museum, Forest Park, the Shaw Nature Reserve, or to the downtown restaurants and shops.
Elise and I are going to the Homeschool Network again this year. It's lots of fun to be with other kids our ages, and doing homework is (possibly) good for us.
The other day (while i was[happily{I assume} and cheerfully]thinking [a dangerous pastime{I know}]) I played some tennis. Tennis is (lots of) fun. Since there is a tennis court nearby our house, we decided that we should start using it. I really enjoy it and I find it a lot more enjoyable and interesting than running.
ta ta and cheerio!!!:)

Elise's Thoughts

:)Elise(:
This year we have been very busy. There are so many cool things to do here in St. Louis!
1. Races. I first got into running when our whole family decided to start training for a family 5k run, because you got a discount if the whole family ran. I liked running a lot so I kept on running with Mommy. Track, I am not very good at; I like crosscountry a lot better. So far I have ran in about 15 races. My best time for one mile is 7 minutes!
2. I really like the zoo. It has so many animals and buildings, like the Insect, Monkey, and Penguin(brrrrrr!)House. It is lots of fun, & it is all free.
3. St. Louis has different weather & wildlife than Norfolk. I was very excited when I found some deer tracks in the woods. None of the other kids were interested--they saw those every day. (I had never seen them before) There is a lot more snow here. I have really enjoyed that. Also, lots of cool birds live on or around campus: a hawk(we see him a lot), an owl, a woodpecker, & lots of other birds which I don't know the names of. Cottonwood trees grow here. When there is a breeze tons of little seeds with fluffy parachutes like dandelion seeds come floating down. It looks just like it's snowing. That looks weird, especially when it's summer!

Paul, unedited

This is Paul I don't know were to start so I will start with my surgery. One day I when I when't to the Orthodontist, he took an exray of my mouth and when the exry came out it showd an extra tooth in my uper gums that was pushing my two front teeth away from eachother. Meanwill the tooth that was inbeatween my canine tooth and my left front tooth got loos and fell out. [That all happend before the xrey] as soon as that tooth fell out my left front tooth moved over in that space so the new tooth came in pritty far back in my mouth. So that orthodontist sent me to an oral surgeon. In obout 1 week we whent to that surgeon and he said that I wood need surgery to take my super numerater tooth out. So on April 10th 2008 I sat in the wating room for what seemed like half an our. aftar the half our I herd someone say "Paul Gibson please come up". So I put down my book and follode the nurse into a meudium sise room with a chair in the midle of it. Obviosly this was THE SURGERY ROOM! The nurse sat me down in the chair and terned on the TV and started fliping thrue the channels ascing me wich channel I wanted to see. Then she hooced up a big toob with a hole the midle of it. She conecded it to my nose so that my nose was in the hole. And then she took a couple of wirs that had discse that were sticky on one side and stuck them in odd places on my body.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................the surgery was over I felt dizzy and tired. My mom and my littil brother walked in I tride to sit up but I couldent

THE END


Editor's note: Charlie asked me to post this without changes. While I find it highly amusing, it did solidify my commitment to change spelling curriculum next year!

Madeleine's Update

Hello, peeps! This is Madeleine. Mama said that I could put anything on the blog: events, babysitting experiences, thoughts on life, etc.; but the most interesting thing that has happened lately is our trip to the Botanical Gardens yesterday evening. It was Wednesday, so we were able to go for free. There was also a jazz band (playing jazz, of all things!) and an AWESOME fountain that you could get wet in. Since we (meaning the kids) had our swimsuits on, this was fun. We didn't take any pictures, but if we go next week, I will try to bring the camera, because the fountain was not the only way cool thing there!! (By the way, I don't actually say "way cool" or "awesome" in real life) After all, we were in the Botanical Gardens, so there were GARDENS!! And they were absolutely beautiful! There were lakes and ponds, flowers, shrubs, a boxwood maze and several fountains and also plants like beans and corn. We also had some KFC for our picnic dinner and played in the water. Then, we took a walk, saw the gardens while catching fireflies, and watched the sun set. We stayed for a loooooong time; it was dark and close to 10:00 when we finally left.

Random Note: Today,I did an entire load of laundry by myself.

Learning to Lose

So much to lose, and so much to be learned about loss.

Elise placed fourth in a series of races sponsored by the St. Louis Track Club. It was pretty competitive in her age group. She trained hard and diligently and set a new personal best by a significant margin. We were so proud of Elise, it was hard to watch her disappointment. She managed to regain a gracious composure by the end of the awards ceremony. After a few weeks she got out for a run and then a few weeks later asked me to sign her up for another race! She'll be running in two weeks.

Thomas has lost his two front upper teeth. He has my favorite grin now. The last snapshot of babyhood. He turned seven last week.

In two weeks the girls are also competing for a financial scholarship at the music school where we currently pay for their lessons. Both of their teachers have informed me that the scholarships are usually awarded to slightly older students, but then they signed us up anyways. I think the teachers figure it will be a beneficial experience. So we are practicing hard, but I am thinking we'll not win...

Paul and Madeleine are having teeth pulled this week. Our dentist back in Norfolk told us they needed pulling last summer and we're finally getting around to it. Paul's is an extra tooth embedded in the gum between his normal front upper teeth, keeping them apart and leaving less room for other incoming adult teeth. He'll have general anesthesia for his first surgery!

I am learning how much loss I feel in change and transition, even when I truly enjoy my new surroundings. Our dear empleada and amiga Lucia had her baby last week and made sure that we found out that same day... We had an evening with fellow students that I knew when we were all children. Remembering our church, our estranged friends who were once so close, and realizing that we are now as our parents were then... I had a wonderful, but quick, weekend in Norfolk, uanable to see enough of everyone. My six-year-old niece's sudden tears as I said goodbye... Charlie lost another uncle, his godfather Tom...