~Break-Time~

*sigh*
i am very excited to say that i will be getting a month's break at the end of this week.  i am so excited! :D  now, some of u may be wondering why i am getting a month's break.  the answer? ... YEAR-ROUND HOMESCHOOLING.  yes, i homeschool with my mom & dad & sibs year-round and we take breaks whenever we feel it is necessary or permitting.  see, with year-round homeschooling u don't have to take breaks from such and such month until another such and such month.  u can take breaks as u please. so, consider this... while public or private school have certain times of the year u are free from school, u are restricted to those ONLY times for vacays or anything else u want to do.  if u want to go see a movie on a weekday without it being busy...homeschooling is a great way to avoid it, because if u go year-round (now, not everyone does) then u can take a day off of school here-and-there and go see a movie w/out it being crowded, or u can go -for example- bowling or something of that sort w/out there being 50,000 other people there too! (now, i know 50,000 is an over-exageration, but oh well...)
NOW...considering i've been working all summer on my school, along with volunteering at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium my mom(teacher) and dad(principal) have decided to let me have a one month's break from school! yayayayayayayayayayayayayaya! lol i am soooooooo excited!
do u know what's weird tho?  i have no idea what i'm going to do!  i'm so used to having to do school and stuff all day that when i have free-time i don't know what to do with myself! :P haha. funny, i know! (:
=)

~Days Spent with the Miller Family!~

Before my mom & sibs left this morning to return to North Dakota, we spent a lot of time with the Miller family this past week!  We have had an amazing time with them & I can't wait to do things with them over the summer!

Erin, Lindy (my mini-me), & me...

Lindy (my mini-me-) & me...

We don't even wear matching socks!!!  =D

Erin & me. . .  isn't she just ADORE-able!!!

Kenzie, Lindy, & me. . .

After eating subs from Subway & hanging out, we decided to go upstairs & I let the girls do hair styles on me.  Let's just say in the end my head was sore from all the pulling & tugging to get my hair to go the way they wanted it to. . .

Lindy did this one on her own. . .

Then it was on to me. . . joy!  :P

The back of the first hair style.  Good job, Lindy! lol!  =)

Start of the second hair style. . . nothing major, right ? ? ?

. . . . . THINK AGAIN!  I have been told it's the modern 'Pippy Longstocking' look! hahahaha!  Good job, Paige, Kenzie, & Lindy!

Third hair style.  Lindy did a balet bun.  It looked really good!

Paige did the 'cute & colorful' look!  It was very cute & fun!  Great job, Paige! =D

Since Lindy helped with so many hairstyles on me, I did one on her!  You look cute, adoptive-little-sis!

Since we love hanging out with the Millers, we wanted to get together another time.  So we met up at a park in Westerville (I can't remember the name of it at all!).

From front to back: Erin, Lindy, Paige, & Kenzie

Erin did a balancing act while holding her mommy's hand!

So pretty!

. . . unless you're me & you 'accidentally' drop a water bottle on the other side & have to go get it because you don't want to litter!  DUH! ;)

From left to right: Erin, Lindy, Kenzie, Paige, & me. . .

Paige & I ;)  <3

The boys: Ethan & Zack. . . they were looking at fish & doing other boy stuff!

We had an awesome week hanging out with you guys!

=)

~Friends Hanging Out~

Mrs. Miller (and Mr. Miller) graciously opened their home to several kids last night.  Since Zack, Kenzie, and I weren't going to be around for the next teen/tween night that our co-op was having, Mrs. Miller told us to make a guest list of who we would like to see and spend the night (the littler kids have a sleep over) with.  We made our guest list, and Mrs. Miller distributed the invitations.  Most everyone was able to make it.  I had a great time spending time with everyone!

Holly and I...

Cynthia and I...

Lindy was so gracious to take this picture, and it is apparentally what an 8 year old sees when they look at Cynthia and me.  Yes, Cynthia is short (and we all tease her lovingly about it) and I am kinda tall...  I should have squatted for this picture. lol

Alyssa and I...

We thought this picture looked cool!

Jenna and I...

Spazzing out.  lol

Cynthia and Alyssa... 

Don't they look lovely? lol!

Katie...

Kyle and I...

Poor Kyle wanted to be taller than me when we came back for a visit.  He's only like an inch and a half/two inches shorter than me.  I think he said he's 5' 6".  He'll catch up.  He's also a year and a half or so younger than me. 

"DAB DON'T RUB!" 

It's a long story, but for us who know it, it's HILARIOUS!

We had an awesome time seeing everyone and spending time with them!

=)

~Liberty, Justice, Freedom, and No-Name~

This is a picture (screen shot) of the bald eagle nest we've been watching...

Mom -Liberty- has been sitting on the nest and today the second egg hatched.  The first one hatched a day or two ago, and they took a name vote.  The name Freedom won.  The second one has yet to be named, so I have dubbed him/her No-Name until then...

The dad -Justice- came to the nest for a brief moment and I took the shot.  I was hoping mom would get up so we could see the babies, but she didn't.  =( 

They are so neat to watch!

=)

~Bird Update~

As I'm sure most of you know, we have been watching Molly the Barn Owl and her little owlets.  We have also been keeping and eye on Liberty the Bald Eagle and her two babies.  Molly still only has three owlets -Max, Pattison, and Austin, and it looks like there is a pipping hole in another egg.  Well, Liberty (female) and Justice (male) are two Bald Eagles, also in California, sitting on a nest of two eggs.  Today they had their first egg hatch.  The eaglet blends in with the nest, but if the momma gets up, you can see him/her squirming around.  Mom put a picture up on her blog of the baby.  People post them under the feed attatched to comments, so we have been using those pictures. (meaning, we didn't take that picture).  Check the links out!

=)

~BABIES!~

Well, as I was awake at 2:00 or so in the morning and watching Molly, two of the three hatched owlets were wriggling and squirmy.  I don't know which two these are, but they are right there poking out of their mommy's chest.  Two tiny heads.  I'm upset that this picture isn't in color, but the night cam doesn't show color.   ): 

The third egg hatched Thurs. night, and they named it Austin.

So now we have: McGee (dad), Molly (mom), Max (1st egg), Pattison (2nd egg), and Austin (3rd egg).  We can't wait for the other two eggs to hatch. 

Click here to see Molly and the clan...or clutch, as the babies are called. lol

=)

~The Most Famous Barn Owl Family~

As I had posted in a previous post, we have been watching Molly the Barn Owl's LIVE feed cam.  Well, this morning Mom got on and snapped a picture of the now two owlets.  Max hatched Sunday night, and Pattison just hatched last night.  If you go to Mom's blog, you can see the picture.  Also, click here if you still want to go see Molly, Max, Pattison, and the three eggs to hatch.  The dad, McGee usually shows up after dark between 9:30 and 10:00 or so our time here in ND.  He's mainly white and just plain gorgeous.  You can see Molly's markings and feathers clearly during the day when the day cam is on. 

I warn you, once you go to the site, you may become an owlchoholic. lol

=)

~A Chance to Watch the LifeCycle at Work~

OK, for those of you who enjoy animals or just want to see a Mother Barn Owl nesting, this is so cool!  It's so neat to be able to watch her and the eggs! I can't wait until the baby owls hatch and we then get to watch them grow!

=)

~Is School Photogenic?~

Can school be photogenic? 

Yes, I was working on my assignments and wanted to try a setting on my camera - which, of course, I had next to me).  I thought it came out looking kinda neat!

=)

~I am Home-Schooled and So Were.....~

I love this shirt!  It's SO true!!!