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9.28.2012

The Fun and Fantastical Dictionary and The Versatile Blogger Award!

Hello!

Thank you so much to my 5 new friends!  Thank you Michelina, Eriko, Taro, Natsuko, and Brea!  I now have 28 friends!  Thank you so much everyone!  Only 2 more friends to go to by October 1st, so I can meet my goal and host a giveaway!

Today, my family and I came up with a fantastical idea!  I've made a new page that is called "The Fun and Fantastical Dictionary," and it's a dictionary of fun and fantastical words that YOU come up with!  So, if you want a word entered in the "Fun and Fantastical Dictionary," then just comment on my page with your word and definition, and I will check it out!

Now, on to the "Versatile Blogger Award!"


I was awarded the "Versatile Blogger Award" by Storyteller!  Thank you so much!

Rules:

1. Must state the rules.

2. Thank the person who awarded you.

Thanks, Storyteller!

3. Pass the award on to 5 other bloggers.

4. List their names with links to their award winning blogs.

5. Notify the awarded bloggers by commenting on their blogs.

6. Share 7 unusual things about yourself.  Something that not many people can say about themselves.

Seven Unusual Things About Me:

1. I love to eat avocados plain!
2. I am homeschooled.
3. I still sleep with stuffed animals!
4. I wear summer pajamas all year round!
5. I tell my dog Kooper that he is cute at least 100 times a day! (Not exaggerating!  Ask my sister!)
6. I love dresses from the 50's!
7. Today is my doll, Audrey's, birthday!

I am awarding:

2. Hannah from The Writings of Hannah
3. Jess from Rosalyn's Blog
4. Sayoko from Truly Tomoko

Congratulations, and don't forget to send in your fun and fantastical words for the "Fun and Fantastical Dictionary!"

~Grace

9.27.2012

Something Funny!

Hello!

Thanks you so, so much to my 3 new friends!  Thank you Jessie, Hannah, and Sarah!  Thank you everyone for leaving me comments with the links to your blogs!  I read and followed every one of them, and I really enjoyed all of them!  Also, thank you Mysti for featuring me on your Link Love Post!

While I was reading "A Hairtastical Adventure" on The Dragonmaster Blog, I noticed that Storyteller (the author of The Dragonmaster Blog) used the word "fantastical."  A couple months ago, I started using this word ALL the time (I still do!), and I thought I had come up with this fantastical (haha!) word that I was going to get in the dictionary one day.  Well, over the past couple of weeks, I think I have seen this word in 3 different places.  The first time I saw it was on an ad for a video game on Pandora.  I was soooo upset!!!  I mean, I had really thought that this was MY word!!!  But, as unfortunate as it is, fantastical is NOT my word. :o(  It must have entered my subconscience somehow, and I didn't realize it.  I just thought this was kind of funny, and it's always good to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes, so I wanted to share that with all of you.  Thanks Storyteller for using such a fantastical word!  Have a fantastical night!

~Grace

9.26.2012

Thank You!!!

Hi!

Thank you so, so much to my 3 (yes, 3!!!) new friends!  Thank you Danielle, Storyteller, and Mysti!!! I now have 20 (yes, 20!!!) friends!  Thank you so much!  I am so close to 30 friends!  I only need 10 more by October 1st to host my giveaway!

I just want to say thank you to all of my friends, and to everyone that reads my blog!  I just love it when I get notes from you, and you are making this experience so much fun for me!  Also, please remember that I love to read blogs, too!  So, if you have a blog, please leave a comment with a link so that I can go check it out!  Have a nice night, and once again, thank you so much!

~Grace

9.25.2012

My Guest Post!

Hi!

First, thank you so much to my new friend, Emma!  I have 17 friends now!!!

I did a really fun guest post on Jess's blog, so please go check it out!  Also, make sure to follow her blog, because when she gets 75 followers, she will host a giveaway!  She only needs 24 more followers, so go follow her, please!  Here is the link to my guest post on Jess's blog: 


Have a great night!

~Grace

9.24.2012

My New Banner and The Artsy Award!

Hello!

Thank you to my new follower, Samantha!

I hope everyone had a great day!  How do you like my new banner?  I've admired all of the collage banners on other people's blogs, but I never knew how to do it.  So, I asked Rawan from Viviness and AG how to do it; thank you so much Rawan for telling me how to do it!  Make sure to go check out Viviness and AG!  I'm really happy with my new banner, and it was a lot of fun to make!  I made it using a website called PicMonkey.  It was really simple, and a lot of fun.  If you would like to make your own banner, go to PicMonkey, and click the "Create A Collage" button on the left.  Then, choose your layout (I used "FB Cover") and start uploading pictures.  Once you've finished putting your pictures it the collage, you can round corners, change your background color (or make your background transparent like I did), and space the pictures differently.  When you are finished, click the "Save" button at the top, and save it to your computer.  After you've saved your project, go to "Layout" on your blog, click "Header," add an image from your computer, and click save!  It is so much fun to design a collage, and I love having pictures on my header!

Ok, now onto the "Artsy Award!"



I was awarded the "Artsy Award" by Jess from Rosalyn's Blog!

The Rules:

1. Normally this is where it says "thank the person who gave the award and leave a link to their blog etc. etc."  Well, you can do that if you want.  I mean, if you like the award and you're glad you got it then you can do that.  Or you can just copy this and have people listen to me rambling. :)

Thank you Jess!

2. Answer the 5 questions set out for you and make the next five questions for the people you nominate.  So, if you get awarded, here are your 5 questions:

The 5 questions Storyteller set:

1. What is your idea of the perfect book?

That's so hard!!!  I read so many different books!  I don't think I have an answer for this one.

2. What would be your ideal home?

A simple, but beautiful home that was comfy and cozy.  It would be in the mountains.

3. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Australia and Paris!

4. Elves or pixies?

Pixies!

5. Pegasus' or unicorns?

Pegasus'!  Who wouldn't want a flying horse?

My questions for you:

1. What is your favorite animal?
2. Why do you like to blog?
3. Cake or ice cream?
4. What is your favorite birthday memory?
5. Ballet flats or high heels?

3. Ok, so usually there's a "NO TAGBACKS" rule.  I'm here to say that in #3 of this award you can tag or not tag or whatever you want to do.  Agreed?

Agreed! :)

4. Award 5 people (at the least) or as many as you like.

I am awarding:

1. Rawan from Viviness and AG
2. Madeline from Instantly British
4. Lissy from I'll Never Grow Up
5. McKenna from McKenna's Purple Sky

Congratulations!

~Grace

9.22.2012

Welcome, Autumn!

Hello!

Happy Autumn!  How do you like my new blog design?  I love it!  I'm really excited that Autumn is officially here!  I love the weather, plus, my birthday is coming up!  I love the pretty colors also!  Our pine trees are starting to get the little bit of yellow and orange like they do, the pine needles are coming off the trees, and the deciduous plants are turning colors!  I can feel the crisp air, and I'm so excited for snow!  I hope you are excited, too!  Have a great night!

~Grace

9.18.2012

Delightful Desserts with Elizabeth!

Hi Everyone!

Thank you to my new friend, Meg!!!  I now have 14 friends!  Remember, if I get 30 friends by October 1st, I will have a giveaway!  So, please spread the word!

I had a lot of fun making this little photo story, and I hope you all enjoy it!

Hello!  Welcome to Delightful Desserts With Elizabeth!  Today, we're going to make Confetti Cupcakes. 

To make the batter, we're going to need flour, sugar, and salt. Add the flour,  
the sugar, and the salt...

...then stir! 

 To make our cupcakes confetti cupcakes, we're going to add some rainbow sprinkles!  Make sure to put in a lot of sprinkles! 

Then mix it all together. 

It should look like this. 

Add milk, oil, and eggs... 

...and stir again! 

 Put your cupcake liners in your pan...

...and make sure not to put too much batter in.  Put your cupcakes in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Now, for the frosting!  You're going to need powdered sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla extract.  Start with your powdered sugar and butter... 

...add some milk and vanilla extract... 

...and mix well. 

If you would like, you can now add some coloring to your frosting.  I'm going to make mine a pretty yellow color.  

Then put your frosting in your frosting bag, and frost your cupcakes when they are cool. 

Here is the finished product! 

Bon Appetit!  Thanks for watching! 

Don't they look delightful?

What do you think?  I had a lot of fun making this, and in case you were wondering, Elizabeth had flour on her face from baking!

~Grace

9.13.2012

The Liebster Award!



What is the Liebster Award?  Well, the word 'Liebster' is German; literally meaning "dearest or favorite."  The award recognizes new and upcoming bloggers with less than 200 followers who deserve some kind of recognition and support for their contribution. (Thanks Madeline!)


The Rules...

1. Each person must list 11 things about themselves
2. Answer the 11 questions the tagger has set for you PLUS you MUST create 11 questions of your own for the 11 people you will nominate with this award
3. Choose up to 11 bloggers linking them to your post
4. Go to their page and inform them of the nomination
5. Absolutely NO tag backs
6. Remember to ONLY tag bloggers with less that 200 followers


11 Things About Me:

1. I have 2 dogs
2. I love taking photos
3. I love baking cupcakes
4. I LOVE hiking
5. I love science
6. I just finished reading "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peal Pie Society"
7. I eat a TON of watermelon during the summer
8. Ballet is my favorite style of dance
9. I sing in the shower (who doesn't :)
10. I am homeschooled
11. I play the piano


Madeline's Questions for Me:

1. Are you the average height for your age?

No.  I'm shorter than normal.

2. England or Paris?

Paris!!

3. If you could change how you look, what would you look like?

I don't know, but I would definitely have straight hair!!

4. What's your best school subject?

My 'best' school subject for grades is math, but I enjoy science the most.

5. Tomboy or girly?

A little bit of both.

6. Cupcakes or cake?

Cupcakes!!!

7. What's your favorite type of music?

I don't know.  I like a lot of different music.

8. Are you tired now?

Kind of.

9. What is your current mood?

Calm/Happy

10. Have you started school yet?

Yes.

11. What do you say when you mess up?

Yikes!



My Questions for You:

1. What's your favorite season?
2. What do you like to do with your spare time?
3. Do you have any siblings?  If so, how many?
4. What's your favorite TV show?
5. What's your favorite song?
6. What's your favorite vacation spot?
7. What are you most afraid of?
8. What's your favorite amusement park ride?
9. Fruit or vegetables?
10. What is your favorite word?
11. What's your favorite ice cream?

Here's the People I'm Awarding:

1. Katie from Katie In The Spotlight
2. McKenna from McKenna's Purple Sky
3. Jess from Rosalyn's Blog
5. Lexie from The Pink Dancer
6. Grace from We're Just Dolls
7. Inky from Super Inky
8. Lissy from I'll Never Grow Up
9. Pretty Lilly from Pretty Lilly An American Girl
10. Hannah and Emma from AG Fun
11. Rose and Jess from AG Market

Congratulations!

~Grace

P.S. Please spread the word about my blog so that I get 30 friends by October 1st!  I will host a giveaway if I get 30 friends by October 1st!

9.10.2012

My Interview with Jess!

Hi!

First, thank you so much to my new friend Hannah!

Second, I was interviewed by Jess from Rosalyn's Blog, and she posted it on her blog today!  Please click here to check it out!  

Please spread the word!  If I get 30 friends (followers) by October 1st, I will host a giveaway!  Also, when you go check out Jess's blog, please become a friend of hers too, because when she gets 75 friends, she will have a giveaway!

Have a nice rest of the day!

~Grace

9.07.2012

Where I've Been ~ Part 2

Hi Everyone!

I hope everybody had a nice Labor Day Weekend!

Now, for "Part 2:"

On the last night my aunt, uncle, and cousin were here, my 2 other cousins and my great aunt arrived.  We call our cousins "aunt" and "uncle" because they are adults.  We had a very nice time, and it was nice that everyone could be together for one night.

The next day, we went to the beach, and we had lots of fun!  We kayaked on the lake, and Lindsay and my "aunt" had an "intense" game of badminton!  

My "aunt," "uncle," and great aunt had to leave the following day, but my great aunt and cousin ("uncle") would be coming back in a few days.

The day my great aunt and cousin ("uncle") came back, they attended an annual Japanese festival that morning, and got sushi!  They came up in the afternoon, and that night we had a really yummy sushi dinner.  My favorite things were the "footballs" and the spicy tuna roll!

Whenever my "uncle" comes, we always cook together.  In the beginning of the trip, we made cupcakes.  They were Funfetti cupcakes with green frosting and rainbow sprinkles.  Lindsay "designed" them.  Later in the week, we made Peanut Butter Bars.  They tasted EXACTLY like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!  We found the recipe on this amazing blog called Let's Dish Recipes.  Click here to view the recipe.  If you love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (like I do :), then you should make these!  Plus, they are really quick and easy to make.

We have a local Farmer's Market in town, and my mom and I spontaneously decided to go to it after my dance class.  All of the produce was BEAUTIFUL, and we got a lot of food!  It was sooo yummy! I wish I had pictures of the market, but since it was spontaneous, I didn't have a camera with me.

We recently got Stand Up Paddle Boards (SUP's), and we have really been enjoying them!  If you don't know what an SUP is, it is basically a surfboard that you stand up on, and you have a single bladed paddle that you paddle with.  It has been pretty windy lately since fall is coming, and the wind makes it more challenging to paddle!

Some of our friends were camping up here, so we got together at the beach.  It was a nice day, and we had lots of fun!  Some of the boys were diving for crawdads, and they found little teeny tiny baby crawdads.  It's amazing they were able to catch them!  We paddle boarded a lot that day, and one of our friends really enjoyed it!  We had a lot of fun!

Just this last weekend, we had some other friends up.  We went fishing, on a bike ride, and we also went on a hike.  After our hike, we went paddle boarding.  While we were at the beach, they were telling us about this thing they like to do at home called "Chopped."  Have you ever heard of the show on Food Network called "Chopped?"  Basically, there are 4 chefs that compete, and they are given a basket of 4 mystery ingredients for each round.  They have to make something using all the required ingredients from the mystery basket, plus they can incorporate other items from the pantry or refrigerator, but the concept is that they must include the mystery ingredients.  At least one or two of the items are always something unusual that don't seem to easily go with the other items.  The rounds are timed; they are appetizer, entree, and dessert.  One person gets eliminated on each round, until there are only 2 left for the desert round, when they reveal the winner.  

My friends' version of "Chopped" is a little bit different.  There is only one round, and it is usually desert. :o)  We did breakfast.  We were given 45 minutes to make something out of our basket ingredients.  The basket ingredients were eggs, oranges, and leftover roasted zucchini from dinner the night before.  Lindsay and the younger one were teamed up, and the older one and I were teamed up.  

My team made an egg scramble with chopped zucchini, chopped bacon, a fruit salad with oranges, apples, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries with a blueberry yogurt "dressing," and pancakes with strawberry sauce.  Everything turned out great, and it was really yummy!

Lindsay's team made a frittata with zucchini chunks, mushrooms, and pancetta with a leaf of basil for "presentation," a slice of bacon, fresh fruit with chocolate syrup drizzled on top, and fresh lemonade with a raspberry in it.  Their food was very yummy also!

Lindsay is now kind of obsessed with making this lemonade.  She squeezes half of a lemon into a glass, adds water and sugar, and stirs.  She then can make strawberry or raspberry, and to make it extra fancy, she even puts a little lime juice in there!  It actually tastes REALLY good!  She likes to make the strawberry lemonade for me, and it is pretty tasty!

We recently went and visited our friends that were staying at a local resort.  We got to hang out at their beach, swim in the pool, and sit in the hot tub.  Their beach is really, really nice, because it's very sandy, and the sand is really soft.  Where we live, we have rocks instead of sand, which is kind of a bummer, because the rocks really hurt your feet.  We got to go on a paddle-boat, and that was really fun, but the paddle-boat didn't have very good steering!  When we were on the paddle-boat, I saw the sand that was underneath us (it was only 4 feet deep), and it had ripples from the waves on it, so I got in, and it felt like a foot massage!  The water is a lot warmer on that side of the lake, so it felt really nice.  We also got to swim in the pool, and hang out in the hot tub.  While we were sitting in the hot tub, two little squirrels ran out of a bush, and one landed on a slippery spot, and fell in the hot tub!  It was scrambling on Lindsay's shoulder to get out, and when it got out, it ran away very quickly!  Poor little guy!  He looked pretty terrified.  Lindsay was definitely startled, but she didn't realize what was happening until it was over; the whole thing was pretty funny! 

Here are some pictures:

Kayaking on the Lake with my dad.

Lindsay and my "aunt" with their rackets and birdies.

Lindsay playing.

Kooper looking super cute!

As you can see, this bed is way too small for him!  This was his puppy bed, and we had it out the other day, so he decided to take a nap.

Our super yummy sushi dinner!

Our spoils from the Farmer's Market.

From the Farmer's Market:  Lots of yummy fruit...

...and veggies!

Beautiful colors!

Gorgeous tomatoes!  Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of them before they were sliced.

Lindsay with the crazy straw my "uncle" brought us!  Pretty funny, right?

A crawdad the boys caught.

These are the miniature baby crawdads.  Aren't they tiny?

Lindsay paddle boarding.

A beautiful sunset!  This is rare where we live (the sun sets behind the mountain range so we don't have a daily sunset in our area unless we have the right combination of clouds, lighting, and timing); it was a special treat!  It was right after a rain storm.

Looking at the basket ingredients for "Chopped."

 Lindsay's team's meal.

My team's meal.

We saw a little bunny when we were visiting our friends at the resort.  Isn't it adorable?

That's all for the "Where I've Been" series!  Now you know many of my summer highlights!

~Grace

9.04.2012

My First Day of 7th Grade!

Hello!

So, today was my first official day of 7th grade!  I am pretty proud of myself, because I started around 8:30, and finished at 1:45 P.M. on my first day!!!  Yes, 1:45!  Super happy about that.  I'm happy with most of my curriculum this year, and I am hoping that I will be able to have good days like this all year long!  Here's the rundown on my curriculum:

Math: Saxon Algebra 1.  I've been doing Saxon for a long time now, so that's nothing new and exciting. :o)

Science: Bob Jones University Press 7th Grade Life Science.  I love, love, love this science program!  I have the online video lessons with Mrs. Vick, and I love science!

Grammar and Writing: Saxon Grammar and Writing 7.  I have been doing Saxon Grammar for a couple years, so, once again, nothing new!

Literature: Life Pac American Literature.  I haven't done this yet, because it's not assigned to me on Tuesdays.  It's on the schedule for tomorrow.

Reading Comprehension: Reading Detective B1.  This book is good for reinforcing reading comprehension, but it's kind of boring.

Vocabulary: Wordly Wise 3000 Book 7.  I find this book to be very educational, and I really like the layout of it.

Handwriting: Universal Publishing Handwriting: A Self-Improvement Workbook: Book H.  My cursive isn't very nice, so I do this a couple times a week to improve it.  I usually write in print anyway, but my mom wants me to have good cursive.

History:  All American History: Volume II.  This is a pretty good program.  Volume II is going to be waaaaay more interesting than Volume I, because I will be learning about the time period during/after the Industrial Revolution!

Geography: Discovering the World of Geography: Grades 5&6.  I am in the 5&6 book because I didn't do geography one year, but I'm going to catch up this year.

Second Language: Rosetta Stone Homeschool: Latin.  I'm not sure how I like this.  I had an immersion program for Spanish in 1st Grade, and I didn't really like it.  I'm hoping this program will be better!

Congratulations if you got all the way through that!!!  I just put it out there for fellow homeschoolers who might be interested, and anyone else who's interested in what a 7th grade homeschooler does.  I always like to see what other homeschooler's curriculum looks like, so if you have anything you love to do, please comment and share!  I hope you had a nice weekend, and I wish everyone a fantastic school year!

~Grace
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