Our Easter Family Traditions

Every year we do some of the same things. We decorate the house a little. We have fun dying a ton of Easter Eggs. Some of them we dye when they are hardboiled and some of them we blow out, so we can keep them for awhile. I like blowing the eggs out.

On the night before Easter we make resurrection cookies. Mom tells us the story of Jesus as she goes along and we have to taste the vinegar. Yuck! When we wake up the next morning we have empty tombs. That is cool.

On Easter morning we normally have something yummy to eat like cinnamon rolls or hot cross buns. Sometimes we have a sunrise service where we read the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection from the Bible. We sing some songs like He is Risen and then we do the resurrection Easter eggs. I like to do the eggs a lot.

We spend a few days doing some type of unit study about Easter or about Jesus for school. It is good to learn more abut Him every year.

I love the plastic eggs that mom fills up with candy. I like to play with them for egg hunts.  

Some of my favorite Easter treats are: Marshmallow Peeps, Reese’s Eggs and Cadbury Eggs.  

We play a hard boiled “egg crash” game on Easter Sunday. You take a hardboiled egg and roll it across the table into someone else’s egg and whoever has the egg that doesn’t crack is the winner.

I love Easter. I love the books that we read and the time to remember Jesus dieing for our sins and his rising from death, for my sins and that I am His.

I am in a new book writing club. Each month we write  chapter in a book and send it to the next name on the list. This is our first month so I get to write the first chapter of my book. Next month I will be writing the second chapter in someone’s book. It should be fun. Our group is called The Tea Party Book Writers. It will be interesting to get my book back at the end of the year to see what direction the story has gone.

Here is my front cover:

Here is my first chapter:

Chapter 1

Felicity Blank

              Once there was a girl named Felicity. She had a father who was always playing with her, when he wasn’t away or at work, a beautiful mother who was always laughing at her jokes, and a loyal husky, Trotsky, who followed her to school each morning, patiently waited, then went home with her each afternoon. She didn’t have any brothers or sisters, but she desperately wanted a brother to have adventures with and was always daydreaming about the fun she would have. Felicity was a complete tomboy.

            Her teacher, Mr. Leaman, was a very strict, harsh teacher and all his pupils feared him, except for Feliss; or so everyone thought. Feliss really wasn’t afraid of teacher Leaman until…

            “Felicity…. FEL-ICITY!” Slap.

All of a sudden Felicity felt an agonizing pain on her hand. She realized she had been daydreaming and teacher had wanted her. Four more slaps came rapidly and she was at full attention holding back the tears in her sky blue eyes and cradling a rose-red hand while listening to teacher’s scolding.

            “Felicity, why have you not been paying attention to your studies? You shall stay after class and miss your recess. You shall have extra school work to take home. Now, take your slate to the corner and fill in every answer correctly and make sure you speak your replies immediately. Do I make myself clear?” Seeing Felicity’s nod he started slowly, “then… go... to… the…. CORNER!” Felicity jumped as he roared the last word, grabbed her slate and ran white-faced to the chair in the corner where she started to study.

Recess was called and as Felicity watched her classmates file out, she saw the smile that her best friend, Bobby, gave her in encouragement. When she was finally released from school, Trotsky was still waiting to walk home with her. Felicity started to run as fast as she could. When Felicity ran fast, no one could catch her. She could easily outdistance all of her classmates and even father could not match her speed. Trotsky could beat her though and he easily pulled ahead in the race for home.

The teacher only kept her a few minutes after class and when she arrived at home supper was not yet ready.  “Oh Feliss, you’re home already? Well, go round up and feed the animals.” said mother. “By the time you finish washing up supper will be ready for you.”

Felicity started her chores straight away. Father had five hounds that he used for racing- Grip, Fang, Wolf, Spike and Cody. Occasionally, Felicity raced Trotsky and he always won, giving her a little pocket money.  But she didn’t like to use him like that very often. Her mother had a coop full of chickens. The milk cow, Betsy, was gentle and never kicked the milking bucket. The family also had five horses, one for each of them, plus two extras. Feliss had Socks, mother had Mary, father had Benny and the others were Bill and Pat.

Felicity had taken care of the animals and washed up. She was just about to go inside when father came home. Feliss ran and jumped into her father’s arms. She received a large hug and they walked inside for supper. They ate chicken, corn-on-the-cob, mashed potatoes, peas and had a fresh glass of milk to drink.

“Tomorrow is Saturday, dearest.” Father was saying to mother “And I do believe it’s somebody’s birthday but I can’t remember whose it was, do you think you could help me remember, Margaret.”

            “Oh, I can’t think of whose it would be Howard…but I just can’t keep from thinking it was someone in the family.” said mother

            “Whose could it be?” said father “Aunt Rebecca’s?”

“Cousin Bailey’s?”

“Uncle Joe’s?”

“Grandpa Billy’s?”

“Excuse me, but I do believe I know whose it is.” said Feliss in a rather loud, posh kind of tone.

            “Whose?” asked mother and father with surprised, amused faces, but they just couldn’t hold the smile in any longer. “MINE!” shouted Feliss.

“Oh, it couldn’t be.” said father. “Yours is July 17^th.”

“No, that’s Aunt Rebecca’s.”

“Well, September 3^rd then.”

“But that’s Cousin Bailey’s.”

“May 8^th!”

“Uncle Joe’s.”

“August 12^th.”

“Grandpa Billy’s.”

“Well, I guess it was yours then, you win!”

“What shall we do tomorrow, Howard? It must be something special.” said mother.

“I think we should have a picnic by the lake so Feliss and whoever she invites can go swimming and swing on the rope swing.” Father suggested.

            “Oh, that’s a wonderful idea father!” said Feliss excitedly.

“Who do you want to invite Feliss?” asked mother.

“Ha!” father exclaimed “Isn’t it obvious she wants to invite Bobby and Peter?”

 “Ah yes.” said mother “Poor Bobby and Peter. With their father dead and their mother near death, if she dies the poor children will be put on an orphan train and sent away.”  At this Feliss dropped her fork “But if she does die we’ll adopt them won’t we? We have to!”

            “Feliss with the hounds, horses and chickens to feed we don’t have so much money” said mother.

            “Then sell the hounds and eat the chickens or better yet sell the chickens too. Then we’d have the money!” cried Feliss, burning with emotion.

            “Feliss please.” said father “The boys will want dogs and the family needs the chickens.”

            “Then keep one chicken and three hounds, the boys can have the spare horses too.” cried Feliss “Then we’ll sell four chickens and two racing hounds.”

            “No Feliss, we can’t.” said mother

            “We could!” said Feliss.

            “Felicity!” warned father “You’re arguing with mother.”

            “Oh.” said Feliss bowing her head in shame. She knew it was against the rules of the family to argue with one superior to you. “I’m sorry Mother.” she said quietly.

            “I forgive you.” said mother. “But try not to do it any more, alright?”

            “Yes, mother.” said Feliss, joyful and perky again now that all was forgiven. “But, where’s father?” she asked realizing that father had slipped away.

            Mother put on a huge smile.

            Feliss slowly looked behind her and then… POW!

            Father slapped her in the face with a pillow and their Friday night pillow fight began. Later that night, as she was drifting off to sleep Feliss said a little prayer for her best friend Bobby and his brother Peter and their dear, sweet ill mother. She knew she would see them at the lake tomorrow for her party and she fell asleep thinking of the fun they would have.

* I know how I want my story to end ... I will be waiting to see how my friends change my plans. Ü

What do you think will happen??

Love,
Addison

                 When I go on a train I like looking out the window and seeing everything whiz past like I’m in a missile, not a toy but a real one, or like a cheetah chasing it’s prey.

                 I like hearing the sound of the wheels against the tracks, "ch-ch-ch-ch" and the whistle,  "toot-toot".

                  I like the feeling when the train screeches to a stop or starts moving forward. I like the feeling of the train going "bumpity-bumpity-bumpity".

                I like when I ride in one with my Grandmama and she trades seats because she can’t ride backwards or she gets a headache. I can ride backwards.

                 I like going to sleep on a train and "rocking-rocking-rocking" all night long. I like waking up and seeing someplace new. I like the hot tea on the train and playing cards with my friends "shuffle-shuffle-shuffle". Lastly, I like hearing the conductor yelling, “All aboard.”

            I like all these things while I look out seeing everything whiz past like I’m in a missile.  

Officers:

Captain:           Bruce                                                   Cook:              Kellie

Mate:               Ian                                                       Engineer:         Trevor

Second Mate:  Martin                                                             Boatswain:      Sam

Crew:                                                              Watch Leaders:

Devon                         Mal                              Starboard watch leader:          Hugh

Joey                             Ralph                           Middle watch leader:              Hannah

Kane                                                                Port watch leader:                   Sam

Anthony

So…

          What ways has God blessed you today??

          Do tell! Thank him                     U

I Love you!

               Mom

4:12                                                                                         9/12/07

Just Got off of my first middle watch (24:00-4:00). It wasn’t so bad. Except the wind started backing to the Sough, which is the way we are heading. So it is slowing us down. Need More Sleep! We sailed past Jervis Bay.

8:30

            Ate breakfast. Going to have a crew meeting at 9:00. Had to clean below decks; mopping, sweeping, clean mirrors, &c.

9:20

            We are heading for Eden. Our speed has been between 3 and 6 kts. The skipper said we should be at Eden by 7:00 tomorrow morning.

16:13

            The wind doesn’t want to cooperate with us. It won’t let us go South; but luckily, it is swinging Eastwards. Now our ETA for Eden is 10:00. It is cold out on the ocean. We were 22nm offshore at 12:00, but we can still see it. There was a problem with one of the lights up the mast, so Sam had to climb up and fix it. I’ve only seen a couple of Birds, no sea life yet.

17:51

            Hurray! I saw a whale today,

            Around four thirty,

            He looked mighty purty,

            And then, he swam away!

The only problem I’ve had is the bilge stinks, and it permeates through the floor somewhere near my bunk, so that I have to sleep with my nose in my sleeping bag. I haven’t felt seasick yet, the Captain is impressed. I just felt a little queasy when I first tried to sleep. Tonight I’m on First watch (20:00-24:00), so I will get a solid eight hours of sleep instead of four watch four. Luckily we have a good cook on board.

Devon Scott-

          You are an amazing kid & I love you!

          Be good, a hard worker and a blessing today!

                   Love mom

7:29                                                                                                     9/13/07

            We are in Twofold Bay almost to Eden. The sails were taken in. So we are motoring or, as sailors say, sailing with the Iron Topsail.

9:16

            We are alongside the wharf at Eden. I was at the helm whilst we came in. We saw two seals in the bay. The fuel truck was here when we arrived, so we didn’t have to wait.

13:19

            We departed Eden at 10:35. I was again at the helm. The Captain called me the mud pilot which is the preferred helmsman when entering or leaving a river, bay, or what have you.

            I climbed to the lower topsail today.

            We are sailing with the wind astern and have set the main course, main and fore staysails, inner and outer jibs, and the upper and lower topsails.

            We just had muster, which means we run to our muster stations & await further orders, kind of like a fire drill. This muster was an abandon ship muster.

17:36

            We are sailing past Gabo Island down wind at a speed of 7.5 kts. with the wind from the North. We are on 2^nd Dog in 22 min. Sam bought a huge Boatswain knife in Eden at least a foot long. There is a huge chunk of beef for dinner. We are on starboard tack. There is a shipping lane East of us, lots of traffic there.

Hi sweetie!

          Prayers for a great day!

Be safe and have a fun time today!

          Don’t forget to journal Ü

I love you.

          mom

10:27                                                                                                   9/14/07

            We were towing a fishing line astern, because a few days ago we saw some birds swooping down which indicated their were fish, and we just now caught an Albatross who got his beak hooked thinking it the hook was food. We are sailing in the Bass Strait Eastwards of some oil rigs, which we must keep clear of. Saw an amazing and beautiful sunrise today. We are out of sight of land and the horizon is as straight as if it had been ruled. The days are long but laid back; they seem to blend together, it doesn’t help that we work 24/7 to sail the boat. The wind died out early this morning and then came from the SSW and swung Westwards. Before the wind died we were making 7 kts with the engine idling. Now after the wind has finished shifting we are making 7 kts again.

19:39

            The seas are pretty rough. We had duck for dinner and some of the oil spilled out of the bottom of the oven. Sam, Kane and I were sliding all over the Galley. I saw a seal in our wake when on 1^st Dog watch. A Gallah which somehow got out to sea landed onboard earlier, he looked worn out, Hannah tried to give it a Whet-bix but she accidentally scared him. Had a nap from 1:00 to 3:30 that I really needed. Had to furl sails because of a bad head wind.

Here is a list of watch times.

First Watch 2000-2400                                               Afternoon watch 1200-1600

Middle Watch 2400-0400                                           1^st Dog watch 1600-1800

Morning watch 1400-0800                                         2^nd Dog watch 1800-2000

Forenoon watch 0800-1200                                       

Hey Kiddo-

          Be the man God wants you to be!

                   Love mom

4:40                                                                                                     9/15/07

            The “bad” headwind turned into a 55kt wind. We had to heave to and drifted back something like 60nm, now we are at the place we were at 15:00 yesterday. We have hove to but have the main staysail hoisted to help balance us. We are moving at 2kts back East, NOT the way we want to go.

8:13

            The storm (if it is a storm, as I a lubber think) hasn’t abated yet, but at least it’s daylight. Last night, Sam had me scared almost to death, he was on the bowsprit trying to furl the flyer and outer; He yelled something (I couldn’t hear what) and I thought he had fallen overboard. But I knew he had his harness on, so it was possible for him only to fall over the side of the net not to fall in the water.) Last night before going to bed; I felt a little seasick. I had some water and a ginger pill and felt alright in the morning. I didn’t’ get much sleep last night. During First Watch I just rested I didn’t actually fall asleep, I don’t think, and after watch, I only slept for two hours. But, surprisingly, I feel just fine, not at all tire. The decks are all awash.

16:26

            I saw an albatross, a dolphin, and a seal today. The seas went down and are coming back up again. We are moving at 5 kts and are 67.5 nm offshore. It took hours for us to hoist the mainsail. On of the shackles broke so Sam had to improvise using rope. We had to tighten the tiller.

I am praying that you learn new things, see some amazing sights and make some great memories.

Love mom

10:08                                                                                                   9-16-07

            We are sailing past Wilson’s promontory, with a NE breeze.

All sails except the flyer are set.

10:30

            Called home.

20:27

            We are having another Westerly Gale. This time the winds should be only 25-35 kts. We are heaving to. Gotta get to bed. Only the main course is set. It rained on watch. My hands hurt from handling rope. Wilson’s promontory is steep sided mountains with a beach on the eastern side; it has a lighthouse on it. There is an island across from it forming a little channel that we sailed through. The island is named Rodondo Island, just like Rodondo rock in the Galapagos Islands; it basically looks like a large mountain from the North. There are other islands around the promontory on the Western side which I could see. Also there were some more island groups to the south.

            Now I really must get to bed if I don’t want to be late for watch. We have the morning watch. It’s nice to see the sunrise at sea. IT comes up heaps earlier then on land, and sets later too.

You Devon can do all things through Christ that strengthens you!

          Do something Great!       

                   Love mom

10:06                                                                                                               9-17-07

            Not much of a sunrise. The clouds covered it. This gale is worse than the last one. so much so that we are heading into a port to wait out the front and to refuel. This storm has slowed us down on our route to Adelaide. The waves are massive. If you try to walk and aren’t careful, you will slip and possibly get hurt. The compass fell out of the binnacle and was rolling around in the scuppers, luckily we found it before it went overboard, and we replaced it.

9:30

            We are in a river near a town called Hastings. It turned out to be lovely afternoon. Mal is going home tomorrow because he hurt his hand. Watches are broken because we are anchored; just on person needs to be up on a harbor watch to make sure we stay in one place rotating ever hour. The main is useless because a ring on the head got torn out in the gale, and the outer is losing its clew ring reinforcement as well. We are going to refuel tomorrow. We had to make the barky shipshape and Bristol fashion. We are holding the World Championship Sailing Chess match between Ralph, Martin, and me. So far martin has beaten me thrice and Ralph beat Martin twice. We plan on waiting here until the front moves through and then skipping up the coast.

Devon,

          Guard you heart, your words and your mind!

Keep yourself safe and journal. Ü

          Love mom

13:34                                                                                                   9-18-07

            Wow! I can’t believe that it has been eight days! We are along a wharf getting fuel and water. It’s been a laid back kind of day. We’ve been here since 12:00ish.

24:07

            Well, we left about, I don’t know, 12:30? And motored out of the river. ON the way Hugh was teaching Kane and I to splice, very easy, just remember one on bottom left two on top right, working end in you right hand, and then over ’n’ under thrice, than on twice over ’n’ under and on e once more over ’n’ under, and clean it up.

            A nice breeze from the North is helping us for now, MSS, and FS are set. Making 8 kts; we will be past Melbourne when I awaken (Finally!). Martins ETA for our arrival in Adelaide (with fair weather, and obliging winds) is 4, 4 ½ days. I think the gale(s) brought the crew closer together “Nothing like a storm or an action to bring the hands together.” as Jack Aubrey always says. We saluted one of H.M.A.V. on our way out the river. Good Night! Oh! We sailed past Phillip Island.

Remember Devon that a merry heart doeth good….

Go do some good today!

          Love mom

20:10                                                                                                               9-19-07

            Today it has been mildly rough. We are almost to Portland and Cape Nelson. Not much happened today, just stayed inside really. It’s Really weird when your sitting at the table having breakfast and you look out the porthole and only see sky, then water, sky, water, sky…, and then when you get up to put your dishes in the tub, and look out the door and all you can see is… water, sky, water, ….

            I can’t wait until it smoothens out so I can have a nice hot shower. Had to take in the staysails, due to a headwind. Making only 2-3kts. I’m drifting off. Good night.

Hey there-

Have you journaled about you shifts, what you enjoy, what stinks, what you’ve seen, where you’ve been, who you’ve met…

          Get busy on it Ü

                   Love mom

9:27                                                                                                                 9/20/07

            WE are almost in SA waters. Watched a beautiful sunrise. These big waves are really getting old.

            We had to brace the yards; and we almost fell overboard because they were being thrown around due to afore mentioned waves, also because of afore mentioned waves, everything outside is salt coated.

12:14

            We are now sailing past MacDonnell Bay, Stoney Point, Middle Point, Douglas Point and Cape Northumberland. Seas have gone down quite a bit. We are 6 ½ nm offshore with a speed of 5.4kts we are about 250 nm from the river leading to Adelaide.

19:22

            Had big waves, went back down a little.

Devon-

          Did you see that picture of me and President Bush? Ü

Have an amazing day today- look for your blessings and be one!

Be safe & say your prayers!

          I love you!

                   Mom

7:47                                                                                                                 9/21/07

            We are heading for the Backstairs Passage between Kangaroo Island and mainland Australia. Waves have gone down to a bearable swell. It’s really weird, when on watch, to look at the horizon and then have a wave come that is higher then the horizon and the deck of the ship come and lift you up: Sometimes on the opposite side o the swell the boat falls a little so for a few seconds you are weightless. I hate having the middle watch (which I had this morning) because you only get four hours of sleep and then you have to get up and go out on deck where it’s cold, windy, and sometimes the deck is awash with ice cold ocean water, then you have to go back to bed and sleep for only four more hours (which isn’t near enough) if you want to eat breakfast. Martin let me fix the position of the ship last night (well, this morning at 2:00).

9:35

            We are almost there! Adelaide is on the electronic chart!

17:02

            We had to get the ship ready for port by cleaning everywhere and polishing brass. While this was going on Captain Bruce decided that we should have a man overboard drill; the horn was right by my ear when the muster alarm was sounded.

            We have had a beautiful day today, nice easy swell, sunshine (I can’t believe it), hardly any wind to freeze us. Dolphins became our companions today from 3:00 and are still there now. So many Dolphins at one stage there was probably 1 and a half score dolphins, now there is around 15 swimming along with us. I think that they are Pacific White-sided Dolphins.

23:03

            We are anchored at a bay on Kangaroo Island. At a quarter to 12:00 we are hoisting the anchor to start heading for Adelaide.

PS: I love you! Smile and have a great day! I hope you see some whales… Did you see any penguins? Can’t wait to read the newest Jack Aubrey book- by Devon Lupton via his journal… get busy boy! Ü

  Be good- Do what you can be proud of… act like a man!

                   I love you,

                             Mom.

7:56                                                                                                                 9/22/07

            We are almost there. Gotta go on watch.

We berthed the One and All safely. And my Family was waiting for me. Little did I know what was to come in the next two days. But I’ll let my mom tell you about that.

 Me on the rigging

I am showing Dylan how to read the charts

This is my wet wetather gear that I was in for most of the trip!

I like going out in our backyard on warm sunny days in spring and summer. When the warm sun is beating on my face and when there’s a light cool breeze flowing through the air and when birds are singing their beautiful sweet harmonies.

I like hearing the birds wings flapping against the wind. I like seeing the butterflies fluttering and the flowers in bloom and hearing the bees buzzing.

I like seeing the leaves and the grass swaying from side to side in the breeze.

I like all of this while I’m sitting outside in my backyard with the warm sun beating on my face.

Last friday at our house, Mrs. Jocelyn had her boys working on thier art for the FIAR book The Gullywasher. She let me and Devon join in with the watercolors. I chose to draw the horse while Devon chose a background scene.  

(Dylans horse )

(Devons scene)

I didn't really care for the watercolor pencils and don't think I'll be using them again. I liked the way the colors blended but it was hard to get it to look right and stay in the lines. I thought it made it look a little sloppy and think colored pencils would have been much easier to use. I liked drawing the horse but I didn't  enjoy coloring it.

The Grand Canyon is a perfect example for creation vs. evolution. The Canyon is 445.6 Km long, 28.9 Km wide and over 1.6 Km deep. The rock layers in the canyon are made up of limestone, sandstone, shale, schist, and granite. It is one of the wonders of the natural world. And the Colorado River meanders along the bottom of the canyon on its way to the Pacific Ocean. The evidence of evolution for the formation of the Grand Canyon is faulty and I believe that the Biblical account of Noah’s flood is much more likely to have carved out the Grand Canyon.

The two pieces of evidence that evolutionist usually use to support their theory of how the Grand Canyon was formed are the rock strata and radiometric dating. They claim that slowly over billions of years layers of rock were laid down particle by particle until they formed the layers we now see, then over another billion or so years the Colorado River slowly eroded away the layers of the canyon until it became its present length, width, and depth. They also use radiometric dating to prove how old rocks in the Canyon are.

First of all, we know that rock strata do NOT have to be laid down over billions of years. We know this because of the Mt. St. Helens eruption in Washington State in 1980. We know what the surrounding terrain looked like before there was a whole landslide of mud and other debris which was caused by the eruption. After the mud drained out we found rock layers in the Canyon that, according to evolutionary theory, should have took a couple million years to form, but actually took less than a day. There has been an additional 183 m of sediment build up in the last 27 years.

Secondly, radiometric dating doesn’t work and there is plenty of evidence that it is not the infallible technique that most people are led to believe. There have been so many experiments where the dating was proven faulty that it should not even be considered as evidence. I don’t have the time to list all the examples here are a few though. There were Lava flows in New Zealand which were made in the 1960's I think it was and when tested the results were that they were 212 Million years old. They found some fossils and tested the Basalt rocks around the fossils layer and the results were 27 million years old but that was to old for their beliefs, so they tested some rocks further away from the fossils (which you shouldn't do anyway) and used only 17 out the 26 samples to get an acceptable maximum age of 4.4 Million years old. They also tested hats and shoes made of synthetic materiel and found them to be a couple of million years old. - trust me there are many more. 

It amazes me that schools and scientist still teach evolution to be true. They seem to over look the last word in the title THEORY that’s all evolution is a THEORY.

Creationists believe that the Biblical account of Noah’s flood laid down the layers in the Grand Canyon. Imagine what that much water could do to the earth!

Here is an eyewitness account of what could have caused the Grand Canyon to form: “….And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth…. on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened….. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. … The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth…. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered…. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered… And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days. Then God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. … And the waters receded continually from the earth. ….. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.” Personally, I’ll believe God’s word, he was there.

 And here is my evaluation by Gabriella:

Devon, I think you are very brave to talk about this subject. I definitely wouldn't have picked it.

Was the speech well prepared? Yes. I could follow what you were speaking about. I could tell you had studied the subject very well for you had a lot of statistics. You had a lot of good quotes, I liked the one from the bible.

Did the speech have a definite opening, body and conclusion? Yes you had a good opening and conclusion. You had a very informative body. I liked the 'punch line' at the end.

Was the speakers voice loud and clear? Yes. I could here you very well.

Did the speaker achieve his purpose? Very convinsing, but as it is a controversal subject some people might not agree.

What could the speaker have done differently to sttrengthen the presentation? You could move about a bit more, you got better as you went along though, and you need to look around more, but none of us can do that really well yet so I think you did a good job.

            In my house there has been one argument that has lasted longer then any other, it’s between my mom and me it usually pops up at least once a week if not more. I am going to bring this before you today for you to decide it once and for all, even though I know I’m right and you will all agree with me.

The subject I am going to tell you about is very important and is a very serious matter. I have done a lot of research on this subject; I am really an expert in this field. Yet, my mom constantly chooses to disagree and passionately argue her case. It always starts off, the same. My mom says “superman is the only true super hero.” And the super battle begins.

Like most people I liked super heroes when I was little and played super heroes with my brother and friends, but unlike most people I still like super heroes. I accumulated my facts and did my research in books that I own and from the library.  I have studied the books the First Ten Years of Batman, Batman and other DC characters, Spider-man and other Marvel characters, The JLA Characters; I also own the Super Friends and The Batman Hand Book.

My moms claim that, “Superman is the only true super hero” is so not true! Now, I can understand why she may think Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, the Punisher, Captain America, Iron-Man and Daredevil are not super heroes because they don’t have any super powers they just have really cool stuff. But I mean what about Flash, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, the X-men, the Silver Surfer, the Fantastic Four, Aquaman, Red Tornado, the Atom, the Wonder Twins, J’onn J’onzz, Hawk-Man, Hawk-Woman and the Ghost Rider, they all have super powers!

I believe that Batman, Green Lantern, Daredevil and the others are true super heroes. The definition of hero from my dictionary is: “A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life”. And the definition of Super is: “Superior to, surpassing, greater then others of its kind”. I ask you with those two definitions in mind, how can Batman and the others not be super heroes?! They all are noted for feats of courage and all risk their lives for the sake of others, and they are all superior to normal people because of the great toys they have. They defend the weak and meek. They are Super Heroes!

Batman has always been my favorite super hero. He is who I know most about, my grandfather was the one who got me started on super heroes in the first place and even he started to get annoyed with it all. Papa and I agree that Batman is our favorite super hero. Although Papa is older and was around when Batman first came out, I know more about Batman then Papa does. If I am playing super heroes with my cousin and his action figures, and I’m Batman, I can think of a way to take out any other super hero ever created, including Superman. I have seen most of the Batman cartoons and all of the movies, the first movie is the best as they usually are and the last one is the worst and I could go on and on but I think I’ve given enough information to prove my knowledge on the subject of Batman.

Now, it’s kind of ironic that my mom likes Superman and I like Batman. When they work together they are the best super hero team in the world, Batman being the world’s greatest detective and superman being almost invincible none can defeat them. So ladies and gentlemen of toastmasters I hope that you can help my mother to figure out that superman is not the only true super hero. Thank you.

Dylan and I are taking a Toastmasters class that one of the homeschool moms set up. Last night was our second meeting, and all those attending had a week to work on a speech and then present it on the night. I had a little problem though, working at the Embassy. Working takes a LOT of time out of your day, so I hardly had any time to work on my speech, but this I what I ended up with yesterday before we left, I was literately working on it until we scarfed down dinner so we wouldn't be late:

 Toastmaster's

Sailing: One of my hobbies

I like to sail in my free time. I like being out on the water when the wind’s blowing and the sun’s shining.

            I guess living in Uzbekistan for two years sparked my interest in sailing, it being one of two doubly landlocked countries, and our week long Blue Cruise during our family vacation to Turkey probably influenced me as well.

            When we went to visit our family on our mothers’ side in California for six months before coming down under, I got as many sailing books as possible from the library. Books that tell you how to sail, novels about sailing, books on building your own boat, books about racing rules and tactics, and many more.

            Well, it’s no surprise that my family found out that I love boats. So for our first Christmas here in Australia, my parents signed me up for sailing lessons at the local YMCA SC. It was a five day course, every weekday from nine to five.

            Dan, former sail training instructor at the SC, taught us; the different parts of the boat, how to sail, sailing theory, how to execute a man overboard recovery, how to recover from a capsize, tactics to help you sail faster, how to come ashore, and much more. I finished the course and received my Small Boat level two certificate.

            After I graduated from my course, I started attending the Tuesday Twilight learn to race days at the SC; where Dan taught you how to sail faster, and racing tactics. I also came to race day on Saturdays.

            Dan then invited me to be his crew for the Bateman’s Bay Regatta, and although we didn’t win it was a great learning experience for me, because it was the first time I had actually raced on a catamaran bar the three or four practice races we had on the lake, but the best part was on day two when we had dolphins ride our bow-waves all the way from the beach to the start line.

            At the end of the season during the awards ceremony I was awarded the Trainee of the year award for the ’05-’06 season.

            Dan called me up before the next season started, and asked me if I would like to be a volunteer sail training instructor. I jumped at the chance knowing that it would look good on a collage application but it would also be a learning experience and I would enjoy it. I took a course so as I could drive the powerboats and help out.

            I showed up each day at 8:00 and helped get the SC opened, all the powerboats in the water, and made sure everything was ready for the morning. Then the kids showed up, and we did some classroom time for an hour or so depending on the wind (the wind can be a harsh dictator), and then we would head out on the water until 12:00 or so, take an hour for lunch (to keep the kids out of the sun, because skin cancer is not fun), and then we would have some more classroom time (sometimes longer, sometimes shorter depending on what day it was), head back out, and then pack up at 4:00-4:30 and then just chill with the kids until their parents turned up to take them home. One week we had a kid who was left with us until 6:00 because her dad thought she was at the CYC not the YMCA, and he didn’t bother calling to see where she was. Dan finally called him at 6:00 and asked him where he was, the guy said he was at the club at 4:30 and waited until 5:00 but no one was there, so he left without his kid. Then Dan told him that we were on the shore at 4:00 and there was no one around. So he apologized and came to pick his kid up. Can you believe it?

            Well, that’s my hobby. I can’t wait until the sailing season starts back up.

And here  is what my Evaluation was:

Toastmasters International

Youth Leadership Program

EVALUATION GUIDE.

Name of Speaker..................Devon............................

Title.............................Sailing: one of my hobbies........

Evaluator.......................Barry Blight...........................

Date...................................6/8/07............................

Was the speech well prepared?

Excellent. Thank you Devon for an infomative presentation.

Did the speech have a definite opening, body and conclusion?

Yes.

Was the speaker's voice lud and clear?

You are very confident and positive. Definite powerful voice, kept audience interested. Keep up with this and I can see you becoming a top presenter.

Ded the speaker use words that were simple, concrete and vivid?

I like the phrases like "The wind can be a Harsh Dictator"

Did the speaker achieve his purpose?

Yes

What could the speaker have don differently to strengthen the presentation?

Voice variation. Eye contact with all in audience or attempt to. With a large audience pick several spots around the room.

Well done!! Congratulations Barry Blight

In Toastmasters, when you are being evaluated, they have a system they like to use. It goes like this. First you praise the speech, then you suggest something the speaker could have done better, then you praise the speech. It works pretty well, that way you know what they thought of your speech and then they tell you things that they think would have made the speech better, you don't have to use their advice, but they are there to help you so why not.

We packed up and were on the move again; this time north to Colorado Springs, home of Focus on the Family. This was the first time we bought a house and we got our room painted with a bright blue and chalkboard paint roads that we could write on. I have a lot of memories from Colorado Springs; I liked the snow and the mountains.

Next we moved east to Washington D.C. where we lived for a short 8 months, while my dad was in school for his next assignment which moved us to Uzbekistan for about two years. I really loved it there; we had a great house and good friends. It was hard to say good-bye but we were heading off to another cool place which brings me here, literally, to Canberra.

Not only do we move a lot but we travel a lot as well. I sure have put in the car time on road trips. I have been in 46 out of the 50 US states, including Alaska and we have done the East coast of Australia from Cape Tribulation down to the 12 apostles. I have also spent a little time in different countries: Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, Turkey, and Russia & New Zealand.

I like this quote from Bilbo Baggins, in J.R.R.Tolkens’ Fellowship of the Rings.  “"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door, you step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to. I like being able to travel and see new places. This way or that it is always an adventure!

Here is my letter for this months book- Little House in the Big Woods

We are doing an Around the World Night with our homeschool group. We have done these everywhere we have lived. Each family chooses a country to study, they prepare a report and a display board with information. On the night of the presentations you cook foods from your country and we get to eat our way around the world.  

This year we are doing Russia. There are 21 families giving presentations, so the time limit that mom gave everyone for speechs is 4 minutes. That means that me, Dylan & Devon each get 1 minute and 20 seconds to tell the things we thought were cool about Russia. We had to leave out a lot of good stuff to get our speeches down to that time, but we did it. If only we could all talk as fast as Mommy we could share a lot of information!! .

I get to go first and here is my speech:  

 Let’s plan a trip to MOTHER RUSSIA.  

First thing to do is check out our map. Russia is this huge country way up here in the northern hemisphere. It is actually the largest country in the world. Parts of Russia reach so far north that you can see the Northern Lights. The Northern lights are when solar particles collide with molecules in our atmosphere, the energy is released as light.

When packing for a trip to Russia, you should bring along some warm clothes! Parts of Russia are covered in snow for 10 months of the year with temperatures dropping to 30 degrees below Celsius!  Of course it is not always that cold in Russia and some parts reach the mid 40’s in summer.

Before landing in Russia it is a good idea to exchange dollars for Rubles. And you’ll need a lot of them. Moscow is currently the most expensive city in the world!! I’ll be brining along enough Rubles to buy a few Matryoshkas, the wooden nesting dolls that Russia is known for. They are made out of cured wood and painted by hand, with different designs from each region. Traditionally, there are 7 dolls per set but some go much higher.

Let’s hear what Dylan has to add:

I like to know what type of food I’ll be eating

Most Russian families go to the out door market daily to buy their fruits,  vegetables & meat.  Some well known foods come from Russia like caviar, stroganoff, vodka, Borscht, bilinis, and Australia’s favorite dessert, pavlova. During the winter months many families lack fresh fruits & vegetables, although that is improving all the time.     

I like to check out the wildlife

Besides it’s famous fur-bearing animals, I found this really cool fish that lives in the worlds deepest lake, Lake Baikal, which is home to over 1100 types of plants and 550 types of animals. The golomyanka, is a transparent fish that’s body is mostly fat & it lives about 1 ½ kilometers down, at night it comes to the surface to feed on plankton. If it stays up for too long & the sun comes out, the fat will melt and the fish will turn in to a blob of fat floating on the surface!

Here are a few interesting facts about Russians:

* They are very loyal to their friends, often friends were childhood playmates. Most likely from the USSR when you had to know who you could trust.

* It’s bad luck to shake hands over a threshold.

* If you accidentally step on someone’s toe, you have to have them step on yours also.

* Russians are very generous & they will go “all out” for guests putting on a wonderful meal, Be sure to not compliment anything in the house too much or the hostess may insist you take the thing with you when you leave.

* May 9- victory day- is a very important holiday to Russians. It is to remember their victory over Nazi Germany where Russia lost 20 million people, far more people than any other country. This may be when Babushkas (grandmothers) became so important- there were so many men killed that the women had to raise a generation.

What about you Devon?

[Russian] Hello my friends, how are you today?

Language: It’s always good to learn a little of the local language before you head off on an adventure. Russian is a hard language for us to learn because it is so different from the languages derived from Latin. The Russians use the Cyrillic alphabet. It was invented by a monk named Cyril who was sent to Moravia. Back then, Mass was conducted only in Latin, but the people of Moravia only spoke Slavonic; they were upset because they didn’t understand what was being said. So Mass started to be conducted in Slav. People had been trying for a long time to match an alphabet with the sounds of the Slavic language. Cyril invented just such an alphabet so the Moravians could read and understand God’s word.

Arts: Russians love the fine arts. From a young age they go to ballets, museums, concerts & theatres. Russians take art very seriously. And because of strict training regimes they excel in music, ballet, and certain sporting exhibitions- namely ice skating and gymnastics.

Govt: At first Russia was ruled by local princes. Then came the Mongols, who conquered Russia, the Mongol Khans ruled for 145 years until Prince Dmitri stood up to them. Russia was again ruled by princes for a time, until a Prince known as Ivan the Terrible called himself Tsar after the Russian word for Caesar. Tsars ruled until the Russian revolution took place in 1917 and the Communist era began. Communist ruled until the U.S.S.R. collapsed due to a reformation in the system. That’s when Russia declared independence and elected her first President, Vladimir Putin.

We enjoyed learning more about Russia and we hope you did too.

Dear Morgan, Riley & Micah,

I like the book Black Beauty because horses are my favorite animal. My favorite part of your book is at the end when Black Beauty gets a good home, good food, good masters and most importantly good friends. I do not like it when Black Beauty is treated badly. I think it is very sad when Ginger dies. It is also sad when Black Beauties brother brakes his leg and gets shot. But it ends really good!

Thanks for sharing your book with me from your new friend,

 Addison Lupton

* a note from mom* Addison is working her way through Early Reading Comprehension in varied subject matter.  Yesterday, as I was reading through her notebook I was surprised to see the length of her creative writing exercises. I told her to share one on here, for Papa to enjoy one morning.

I am in a long distance book club. A lot of us picked our favorite book and wrote why we liked it in a letter. We sent the book to the next name and it will come abck to us with a lot of letters in it, someday. I have had 4 books so far, including mine. This months book was Ella Enchanted. Here is my letter:

Dear Kate and fellow readers,

            I really liked the book Ella Enchanted. I thought the entire book was cool and I couldn’t get my nose out of it.

            My favorite character was the main character, Ella. I liked that she was funny and charming.

            I would have preferred if the book was not like Cinderella. I thought that was a little unoriginal.

            I thought the funniest part was when Ella stole Hattie’s wig. Olive’s spelling was funny too. I also enjoyed the letters to prince Char and how they said, “I am too young” or “old to love today.”

            Thanks for sharing this book with me Kate, I really enjoyed it.

            From you friend,

                        Addison Lupton

My first day at the Embassy (Devon)

I have been working at the Embassy for three weeks now as part of their summer hire program. I spent 20 hours a week working in GSO for the first two weeks and then 40 hours working at the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) conference held here in Canberra. I worked in the control room for the American delegates. It was a sweet job and I really enjoyed my first summer hire experience.

Heading in to the YMCASC ( Yep, me again.)

I have also been an assistant volunteer sailing instructor this summer. I worked 20 hours per week (in the afternoons) following the Embassy gig. Now I am back to 40 hours per week on the water. This week we had 15 students in the class every day. It was a busy week but I really enjoyed it. It has been a great learning experience. I also took a motor boat course early this spring and that has come in handy during the summer courses. This next week is our last course for the summer.  

Here is Devon's poem that is in the book.

Do you remember…

I remember when I was Zero,

I knew you would be my Hero

Do you remember when I was 1?

You knew we’d have lots of fun,

Because I was your first Grandson.

Do you remember when I was 2?

We went to Dollywood with you,

And saw the Smokey Mountain view.

You’ve always been there for me,

Do you remember when I was 3?

We went to the lake to catch a fishy.

When I was 4 you gave me your hand,

Said “There’s a secret that I have planned,

Let Grandmama show you ‘round Disneyland.”

When I was 5 we moved again,

We went to California every now and then,

And told you all about where we’d been.

A few days after my 6^th birthday,

We all went over to Morro Bay,

And had a lovely summer’s day.

Do you remember when I was 7?

You’d climb in your bed and call “Dylan! Devon!”

“Off to Neverland with Pan and Tink and on the way we’ll fly through Heaven.”

When I was 8 you came to San Antonio,

We had lots of fun like always, you know,

And you finally got into the Alamo.

Do you remember when I was 9?

Mom and Dad ran to the Hawaiian Sunshine,

But together we all had a grand ole time and everything turned out fine.

When I was 10 I learned to play the Violin,

I knew it would take hard work and lots of discipline,

But now every time I play, on your face it puts a grin.

You come to visit us when we live here and there,

When I was 11 we went to the Renaissance Fair,

We had ton’s of fun and got lot’s of fresh air.

12 was I when you came to D.C.

Mom said “No Junk Food” but you laughed with glee,

And said “Kids, why don’t you come to the store with me.”

You weren’t there for my 13^th year,

We went to explore a new frontier,

But we talked to you on the phone and our conversations were loud and clear.

When I was 14 we thought we’d take you by surprise,

My Dad, some white lies he had to devise,

Then when we showed up you ‘bout cried out your eyes.

In California were we for my 15^th year,

You found out I wanted to be a Buccaneer,

But with my plans you said you’d not interfere.

I must end now this very long poem,

I’m 16 and Canberra’s my Home,

But I’ll Love you wherever I roam.

For Christmas we gave our Grandmama a book we made for her. Dylan, Devon & I wrote things about her and mom added a bunch of pictures of her with us. Here are the things I wrote. ( you can see the book here  share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AYsmLhw1at2Md but it is hard to read in the book online.)

Learning how to sew

Once my mom told me she was going to teach me how to sew, but she never did. Then one day we went to California and I told Grandmama that I wanted to learn how to sew and she said “Well let’s learn then.” And I said “Okay.” So she taught me. We sewed a cute little bunny. A little while after that I was sewing clothes for my Barbie’s, and now I love sewing, and thanks to Grandmama, my sewing gets better and better every day.

Teddy

Once Grandmama took Devon and I to Build-A-Bear work shop and I got to choose a toy, I chose a bear and I gave her to a lady who helped me make her. I stuffed her, gave her a bath, kissed her heart and made a wish. Grandmama helped me pick out some clothes for her. We picked out a pink shirt and overalls, and I named her Teddy. I have treasured her ever since. I’m lucky that Grandmama is my Grandmama or I would never have got Teddy. Teddy is one of my favorite toys and I am glad that Grandmama took Devon and I for that Special treat.

Thread and a Needle

We are like thread and a needle, if the needle doesn’t have the thread, how will it make a lovely design? If the thread doesn’t have the needle how will it get through the fabric to make a truly lovely design?

My Grandmama

My Grandmama is the BEST Grandmama in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. She is FUNNY, NICE, LOVING, CARING, and BEAUTIFUL, is always there to help us and likes helping us, she always gives us HUGS N’ KISSES, and always welcomes us into her house.

I am working on our families Christmas newsletter, I am the editor and chief this year. Anyways I am adding in this funny Jingle Bells song and thought y'all would get a kick out of it. It is so much better if you have spent anytime down here in AU. Sing to the regular Jingle Bells tune.

Aussie Jingle Bells

Dashing through the bush, in a rusty Holden ute, Kicking up the dust, esky in the boot. Kelpie by my side, singing Christmas songs, It’s summertime and I am in my singlet, shorts and thongs.

Chorus: Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Christmas in Australia on a scorching summer’s day, Hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut! Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden ute.

Engine’s getting hot, we dodge the kangaroos, The swaggie climbs aboard—he is welcome too. All the family’s there, sitting by the pool, Christmas Day the Aussie way, by the barbecue.

Chorus:

Come the afternoon, Grandpa has a doze, The kids and Uncle Bruce are swimming in their clothes. The time comes ‘round to go; we take a family snap, Pack the car and all shoot through, before the washing-up.

Chorus: