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Musings of Violet

Saturday, December 26, 2009

How to Help a Messy Sibling

First. Before we go any farther, let me make something clear. This is not a degrading post on my sister. She is a dear, sweet girl. She loves to come up to me and give me lots of hugs and kisses throughout the day. She loves spending time with people and doing things with them. She has very beautiful eyes and a sweet smile. And she is very musically talented. While it is true that she is a bit unorganized, she has many other sweet qualities.

However...

My sister Emily is quite messy. A trail follows her through the house, and, left to herself, her room would be a disaster. In fact, I have proof of this for you. This is a picture of my sister's bed when she was three years old (she slept on the floor every night, hee hee):

And this is what her room looked like last week, at six years old now:

She and I spent a while cleaning and organizing this wreck. Because... she was moving into my room! And there was no way we were going to move all that stuff into my room and dump it on my floor. She moved in the next day (Elisabeth moved in with Amy). And ever since then, the room has stayed nice and clean! True, I have not allowed a day to go by without getting any mess be straightened out, but that is the point of this post. I would like to share some things I have learned about helping a messy little sibling keep his/her room clean.

First of all, be kind. Emily does not want to listen to me if I am yelling at her and telling her to "pick this up, now pick that up! Come on Emily, move faster!" No, I have to do it gently and kindly, with a smile in my voice (and on my face, too!).

Secondly, work with your sibling. Don't be a slave driver. I help Emily clean. Perhaps she will put her clothes away while I make her bed, or vise-versa. True, she was the one who made the mess, so it is not my responsibility to clean it up for her. But in a family, we have to work together. And it really is a lot more encouraging to have someone working with you, not just telling you what to do.

Thank and praise your sibling when he or she finishes. Give a hug. Emily loves hugs.

Don't say things like "You are such a mess." "Come on, I have other things to do today than watch you clean." "Won't you ever learn to be neat and tidy?"

Do say things like "Good job!" "Isn't this a lot better?" "You're a good worker." "I love you."

Remember to work with them daily otherwise the task will become gargantuan, discouraging both you and your sibling. And your parents.

I also just realized something yesterday. I need to train her to recognize the mess, and then clean it up on her own without me telling her what needs to be done. It will take a little longer, maybe, but I will have to stick with it until she can clean her room quickly and effeciently. Better yet, I'm hoping eventually she'll just keep it clean, and then we won't have to keep cleaning it again every day!

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12.26.2009

Winter's Footprints

We had our first snowfall of the season, right on Christmas!!
It looks very delightful outside.
Here's one picture of my dog, Terra, while she is exploring her new backyard. She definitely liked being in the snow.

Also, for this blog post, here is a short poem that I thought was suitable for this time. I wrote it, about a couple years ago :-D

"Winter's Footprints"

Early before dawn,
Winter left its footprints here,
Twinkling on the ground.

Clothed in crystal ice,
The aspen's branches tremble,
Leaves flitting about.

The icicles droop,
And wind breathes li'l flurries past,
In harsh frigid bursts.

Late into dusk,
Winter left its footprints here,
Twinkling on the ground.

P.S. Oh yes! I forgot to mention... that I just pulled out my new Winter blog template. Eh?

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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Pillowcase

Yesterday I got out my rotary cutter, my mat, my square ruler, and a bunch of fabric scraps. The plan was to make a doll quilt. I didn't know what I'd do with it, but I wanted to make something... Soon I had a nice stack of 3 inch squares. Some were old nighty fabrics, some from jackets mom had made, left overs from dresses we had made and a few more.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_LAJWbZZ0dTk/SzZZCTJlOUI/AAAAAAAAAU8/xlkxT3vtp3c/quilt1.jpg

I arranged them into strips and sewed them together. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures... Then I decided that it was a little too small so I took some left over fabric from a dress we had made for Emily and cut out a border. I Alison what I had done so far and she said, "You should make that a pillowcase!" I did need a new pillowcase and I thought it would be a cute one so I decided that there would be no doll blanket after all. After asking mom what she thought, we decided that it would be best to sew it on to the top of a pillowcase we already had. After ripping out the seams in the pillowcase and sewing and sewing and doing more sewing, we had this:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LAJWbZZ0dTk/SzZZCj-RLQI/AAAAAAAAAVA/TEBUE-8dTI8/quilt%202.jpg

Mom gave me a green pillowcase we had sitting around (we bought it because we needed the sheet to back a quilt) to sew it onto. I asked her if I could have the other pillowcase in the set too so my pillows would match and she said yes. It's too bad that the other sheet in the set is too big for my bed... I might attempt to make it fit anyway... :-) This is my favorite square on it. The fabric was a leftover from this year's summer nighty.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LAJWbZZ0dTk/SzZZCu5hDLI/AAAAAAAAAVE/0fPqEoKRvnA/quilt%203.jpg

The only problem is that I have two more pillows that don't match... My next project is... Well, I haven't decided but I'm hoping I'll find something soon.

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Dec. 26, 2009

Christmas!!!!

Hey!!!!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. I sure did

I'll start with the best:

Yesterday morning (Christmas morning) I woke up and grabbed my stocking and brought it upstairs to open with my parents. long story short I got to the bottom and pulled out a cellphone!!!!!! I was speechless because I had been asking my parents for a cellphone all year! and I also got a $15 iTunes card from my parents and yet another one from my sister

Then my family came for breakfast and I opened the rest of my presents.........I got two pairs of skinny jeans 4 shirts and 3 coats/jackets. and lots more.

I was kinda sad because my oldest brother was in Oregon with Sabrina's (his wife)family for christmas and guess what!?? It was so warm I wore flipflops when we went on a walk outside.LOL where did the 'I'm dreaming of a white christmas' go???
Well I have to eat breakfast

So....

Candy kisses

Skittlez

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Dec. 26, 2009

Christmas Is The Most Fun Time Of Year! :)

Hey,guys! I hope you all had a great Christmas! I sure did! The Characters and I (Including my family and friends) got up at 6:46 AM and opened all our presents!! I loved seeing everyone's faces when they opened up their presents. After we opened them and ate French Toast (Typical family tradition),we spent the day with our new stuff. Well,Sakura had made too many cookies. And so,she asked Sonic,Cloony,Bowser and I if we could eat them all. *Rolls eyes*

_________________________________

"Ugh! I can't eat another bite!" Sonic complained,as he wobbled up,licking his fingers. "My tongue hurts!" I whined. "We need to get some groceries!" Sonic added. "My tongue hurts!" I whined again. "And we also need to do some serious gaming!" "My tongue hurts!" Sonic looked at me. "Is that all you can say?" "I just want everyone to know that it hurts..." I let it roll out of my mouth and I continued to lay there on the ground. I peeked down at my tongue when I noticed it was a mix of green,blue,purple and red. Sonic and I laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I hate making cookies..." Sephiroth grumbled,as he rolled the dough with the rolling pin. I peeked over at what he was doing and I was soon on the floor,laughing. He stopped and looked down at me,strangely. "What are you laughing about?!" He barked. I continued to laugh. "YOU ROLLING DOUGH FOR COOKIES!!!!" And I continued on. He growled,slightly and went back to his rolling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A little to the left,Amy." Jim (Hawkins) called out. I was just passing by. "Wat up,Jimmy?" Jim turned his head. "Just doing some skating pratice. You?" "Just passing through.." I mumbled and walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later,we watched Sonic X and iCarly,plus V and had tons of popcorn and candy!! I enjoyed it all ever quite so. :)

_______________________

Sarah and The Characters

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Hey,folks!

Hoped you guys had the most awesome Christmas and got tons of great presents! I know I did! Ha! Anyway,I'm really looking forward to this next year cause there are alot of reasons; I will start making Mangas for my stories,I'm gonna save up for a new computer and a camcorder so I can start my movie making skills,I'll be writing tons of stories that'll help me boost up my Writing skills and I am also gonna be 15,which is closer to being 18 and then I can go and learn how to fulfill my dream. ^_^ I can't wait! Ya know,I really wanna catch up on these darn concerts! Cause I really wanna see Superchick LIVE!!! THEY ARE AWESOME!! And I am VERY eager to see Barlowgirl and Skillet!!!! WHOOT!!!! Ack,if only I could. =(

Speaking of which,I can't even began to tell all the presents I have received! But I will later,I promise. =) But anyway,I finished watching the second season,Vol 1,of iCarly. And I have finished the first 6 episodes of Sonic X. I have only 7 episodes left and then I shall watch..HEY! I'm tellin'! ;) Anyway,but yeah. I love my new CDs! Especially my new Superchick one!! Aww,man,the music on there is AWESOME! O_O I was really rocking what I got! ;) Hehe! I loved all the songs on there,they were totally awesome. I so wanna get their autograph! =D

Anyway,I wanna thank you all for your wonderful comments and your supporting friendship! You guys have been the best! I hope you all have a blessed Christmas and have lots of fun with your new loot! ^-^

---Love and Honor To YOur Lord---

~Sarah Cambell~

Dec. 25, 2009

To Test or Not to Test

Do not tell my Tests and Measurements class professor that I am not a proponent of achievement test taking. Why? Because it really does not test what a child is capable of. However, I have been curious as to how my children would do on a timed assessment of academic progress. Therefore, I was excited to receive ACT Explore and Plan assessments sent to me by the folks at Act Advantage to review. I was given the product in exchange for my honest opinion. These are the same people putting out the ACT taken by high schoolers as a college entrance exam. Find my thoughts on their Discover career planning program here.

Explore is to be used from late 7th grade to 9th grade to give a baseline idea of how ready the student is for high school and college. Plan is to be used by 10th graders. Both timed tests have separate English, Mathematics, Reading and Science tests lasting between 20 and 40 minutes each. An answer sheet is given to fill in the circles with the correct answer. Answer keys are given as well as information on scoring the tests at home.

These tests are indicators for how well the student will do in high school and college. Both tests can alert the parent to areas of weakness which can be strengthened sooner rather than later. For $22.95, the parent receives the test booklet, answer key, how to use results pamphlet and college readiness standards.

Both of my 8th graders took the Explore test. This is the first assessment they have taken since 3rd grade, so I was very surprised at how well they did and hope this is an indication of their future ACT scores. We are hoping for some scholarship money. I cannot testify how this compares to other standardized tests, however from what I remember they seem similiar. Fortunately, I was already aware of weaker areas in their schooling and have been working on those. I recommend testing students before entering high school, so that any weaknesses can be dealt with before it becomes an issue. However, testing every year would not be my recommendation.

http://actadvantage.org has these tests and also an online ACT preparation guide called The Real ACT Prep Guide costing $19.95.

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Dec. 25, 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! :D

Hey Ladies!! :D

I just wanted to say MERRY CHRISTMAS to y'all! I hope you are having a wonderful day celebrating Jesus' birth. :D

Please try to keap up and read our posts. Also, we love to hear what you have to say! :)

God Bless,

Elizabeth

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Dec. 25, 2009

~*News From A Land Far Far Away*~

Hello everyone!

I am sorry I have not kept up on posting. I've been kinda busy and just not had anything really to write about. But I think today is worth an entry! :)

OH BTW-

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!! :D

What are some things y'all got?

I got books, and mp3, swetshirt,AND AWESOME HAT, swetpants, a CD and some other lil stuff!! :D

I think we are so blessed! Don't you?

Anyways, I hope y'all have a wonderful day celebrating Jesus Christ's birth!!

God Bless,

Sheilla Kiwi

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Dec. 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Hey everyone!

Merry Christmas! We got a guineu pig for Christmas. She's sooooooooooooooo cute! She's only 12 weeks old!

Just want to say hi!

Your gumlovin friend,

Alicia

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