My Invention by Kelsie

This week in Social Studies, we are learning about inventions. If I could invent anything, it would be a foot massage/hand massage/nail painting/wash my hair machine. (I hate to wash my hair.) It would basically be my beauty machine. It would be my morning routine machine.  It would also be my best friend. This is how my morning routine would be with my machine: I would wake up and quickly make my bed because my bed right now is really easy to make. Then, when I get to the bathroom, my robot would have my toothbrush ready to brush my teeth. After I brushed my teeth, I would go to my room and call my robot to help me pick out my clothes for the day. They would be very fashionable clothes. Then, I would go downstairs to a wonderful breakfast. It would be delicious. Then, I would go back upstairs so it could fix my hair. It would do any hairdo I wanted. After that, it would paint finger and toenails any color I wanted with 15 second drying nail polish.  Finally, it would wish me a good day. I would push a button and it would turn off. After that, it would turn small and I would put in my drawer for tomorrow. So, that’s how my morning routine would go with my robot.

Scooby-Doo by Caleb

Scooby-Doo is my best friend. Scooby is my dog. Scooby loves to play fetch.

One day Mom was playing fetch with him. Then Mom said, “No more fetch” to Scooby. So, he started to get his own toy and throw it down the stairs himself!

Scooby-Doo loves bones. He could eat bones all day.  He is also neater eater than Snowflake. He is a very playful dog. He loves to lick my feet. One of the reasons that we named him Scooby-Doo is because I love the show Scooby-Doo. His favorite show is also Scooby-Doo. Scooby has tried Scooby snacks and he loves them.

I love to play with him. He loves to play with Sowflake.

The History of the Pekingese by Kelsie

Katie, Caleb, and I own two Pekingese puppies, Scooby and Snowflake. They are a man’s best friend (also a girl's best friend). Scooby is two years old. He is a golden-brown color with a little gray on his back. Snowflake is one and a half years old. She is black with white paws and a white chest. I think it is sort of rare to have a black Pekingese puppy. Now, I am going to tell you about the history about Pekingese puppies and a few other things--five to be exact.  (All facts are copied from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pekingese)
 

#1 Innumerable portraits of the Pekingese have been done, over the Centuries, in any number of media, including Oils, watercolors, acrylics, drawing, pastels, etc...

#2 The Pekingese breed is over 2000 years old and has hardly changed in all that time.

#3 The Pekingese's flat face and large eyes are some of the breed's most obvious characteristics. The body is compact and low to the ground. Pekingese also have a muscular and durable body. The legs are noticeably bowed and restrict the Pekingese's movement. The breed's unusual rolling gait may have been deliberately developed by breeding to prevent the court dogs from wandering in ancient times.

#4 Around the turn of the century, Pekingese dogs became popular in Western countries. They were owned by such arbiters of fashion as Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, and Elsie de Wolfe, popular American interior decorator.

#5 The breed originated in China in antiquity. Recent DNA analysis confirms that the Pekingese breed is one of the oldest breeds of dog, one of the least genetically diverged from the wolf. For centuries, they could be owned by members of the Chinese Imperial Palace only.

Those are my five facts. Obviously, the Pekingese breed is very old. Maybe that’s why they’re so obedient because they’ve had years of practice. Well, that’s all I have for today. Have a good day.

My dog Snowflake by Katie

My dog Snowflake is the best dog in the world! She is a Pekingese. She is the best lap dog in the world. She is the cutest dog in the world, too. Snowflake is about 1and a half years old. She is black with brown eyes and white paws.  We bought her a pink collar. She also has a smashed face. She loves us to dress her up. When we pray she closes her eyes. My dad doesn’t like her because the first day we had her she peed on him. Ever since, my dad hasn’t liked Snowflake. However, one thing for sure is that Snowflake loves Dad. I hope someday Dad will learn to love her. So when you come to my house, you can meet the best dog in the world--Snowflake!!!!

Father Daughter Bake-Off by Katie

Last week we had a father-daughter bake off. We first made our dessert. Dad and I made Ooey Gooey Cake. We will tell you how to make it at the end. Kelsie and dad also made a cake. They put stuff on the cake to make it pretty. The big day came! That night we went to the place at church where we needed to register the cake.  I registered my cake in the gooiest category. Kelsie put hers in the prettiest category. We started the evening by singing some songs. Then my Dad talked for a while. While my Dad was talking, people were tasting the desserts.  When Dad finally finished, it was time to eat. We first looked at the cakes. Then we got to eat them. Then when everybody got their desserts, it was time to announce who won the contest. You know what?  Kelsie and I both won first place.  Kelise won the pretty category and I won the gooey category.   And that’s what happened at the father-daughter bake off.

Ingredients

Cake:
1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer.  Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. 

Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well.  Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.  Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.

 

A Special Sunday by Kelsie

March 24, 2013 was a very special day. We celebrated Palm Sunday. So this is how our Sunday went. We had to wake up at 6:00 because we had to get to church early to practice for our children’s choir. Children’s choir is a group of kids practicing a song then every month we perform at a church service. We barely made it to the church in time to practice. Once we got through practicing, we had to rush to the lobby for our Sunday school choir practice. We were going to sing at the beginning of the service. We had to wait out their quietly forever. Just before we were going to start the kids who were in the children’s choir had to rush over to the other side of the lobby to get our costumes on because we were singing another song right after we sang with our Sunday school choir. But the bad part was that there were a lot of people there and it was really crowded. But we made it just in time. We had our palm branches and we marched inside. Then we sang ‘’sing hosanna’’. When we were done, our music teacher had prepared a lovely breakfast for us because we didn’t have time to have breakfast that morning. We had a yummy breakfast! My mom picked us up to go back up to listen to the rest of my dad’s sermon. There were so many people there that we had to sit in a room that lead out of the sanctuary to listen to my dad’s sermon. After church we went to Sunday school and then had to do everything all over again for the second service. But I won’t write about the same thing all over again.

That night we went back to church for the Easter Cantata. It was a very powerful story about Jesus dying on the cross and coming back alive. The choir, orchestra and actors were great too.  It was a wonderful musical.  Palm Sunday was a great day. I hope you had a good Palm Sunday too. Bye.

Getting Stuck in Pennsylvania by Caleb

Last week, we decided to go to Hobby Lobby because my sisters needed some “things” for a bake-off.  We went to the Hobby Lobby in Easton, PA.  We went into Hobby lobby and it took my sisters forever! Finally after the shopping was finished, we came out and guess what?  It was snowing.  We left the store and started home.  It was snowing hard.  We ended up getting stuck in the snow in the hills of Pennsylvania.  We didn’t know how we were going to get home.  I started feeling a little scared.  My Dad said, “Don’t be scared.”  How can you not be scared?  We decided we were not going to make it home, so we needed to try to find a hotel.  After finally making it back to Easton, it took us a while to find a hotel that had rooms available.  Finally, we found one.  We went up to our room, then I discovered that my bed was very uncomfortable.  After we got in, we decided to watch “The Bible” on the History Channel.  After that, we went to bed.  When we woke up, we went downstairs for breakfast and then decided to try to find our way back to New Jersey.  Thank goodness the roads were cleared.  So here are three things I learned from this adventure.  1.  ALWAYS CHECK THE WEATHER BEFORE YOU LEAVE.  2.  ALWAYS KEEP FOOD WITH YOU.  3.  IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE SNOW DAYS, EVEN WHEN YOU HOMESCHOOL.  Yee-haw!!!