Bed, Bread, and Jane Eyre

So, today we are going to go in alphabetical order, starting with bed. Last night, I got a queen sized bed. Bye bye to the twin! My sister gets bunk beds now, so when friends or family come over, we have more room. The queen sized bed will make the grandmas happy too and maybe they will come and stay more often. A queen sized bed made me sleep better last night except for the fact that I am scared that there may be bed bugs. I got the bed from a neighbor and I'm sure that it is clean, but I'm still kinda scared about it. I saw a very frightening TV show about it. Who wants bed bugs crawling in their ears? YUCK. I'm hoping Christmas comes quickly because the bed isn't all that cute. Right now, it has a quilt on it with no dust ruffle or matching pillows. Boys would say "So what!", but it's not so what. I want things to look nice and not kinda nice or sorta nice, but really nice. I guess I COULD be happy with some matching pillows. Honestly, I would really like it to have a red canopy, a white dust ruffle, a red comforter, and white pillows. If that's too much, I would really just like a canopy. My mom had one when she was my age and I want to follow in her footsteps. Wink, wink (ok, maybe that's not so sincere.) I just really want the canopy. Maybe the grandmas could team up on that?

Now to bread. I helped my mom make my first bread today. We made homemade yeast buns. We like to eat these with honey and butter or use them for sandwiches. I thought it was fun, but you have to be a little daring in the middle of it. You have to pour a sticky mess of batter on the counter and use the paddles to mix it with the flour. Right now it's rising and then we will cut it into sections to make the rolls. My mom likes to weigh each bun to make sure that they are all the same. (It's a great math lesson in disguise!) When my dad and sister come home, our house will smell, not heavenly, but super heavenly! Tonight we are going to have hot turkey sandwiches on them. Turkey is nice, but honey is even better. Oh well!

Jane Eyre! I am reading the fiction classic Jane Eyre. My dad had to find it for me in the adult section of the library. Shocking, since it says it's a children's book. I guess the library doesn't think so. I guess children in 1847 were better readers than they are now. Random thoughts run through my head like natives sometimes. Everyone has that, right? Hopefully for me, I'm not the only one. I wonder if I'm crazy...oh, back to the topic. (Sorry!) So I was randomly thinking about Jane Eyre and I asked my mom if I could read it. She said it was a chunky sad book, but she agreed I could read it if I finished the entire story since there is redemption at the end. My mom loves the book and has seen all of the movie editions (I think). My dad doesn't get why she has to see every single re-version of the movie. She thinks they are all better than the last one, but my dad somehow didn't let her see the last version. Mystery? yes. Coincidence, NO! My dad is sneaky sneaky. When I finish the book, my mom will get what she wants. She will get to see the newest movie. I will too! Yipppeee! Girls win, girls rule! Hmmmm, lets see if my dad notices this. Does he actually read my blog like he says he does? We will see. Detective Gracie is on the case. My last thought about Jane Eyre is that it does seem kinda dark. I am hoping to finish the book soon so that I will get to the redemptive part. It's the kinda book that you have to force yourself to read at the beginning because it's hard. I'm really not lying,it is HARD. But, I will carry on to the end!

If my moms computer decides that it's a lucky day, you will get to see pictures. If not, I hope that we can add them later. Sorry about the missing picture from my last post. They were ready to go, but it just kept telling us that they were loading. I'm concluding with a blessing instead of a curse this week. I hope that it actually comes true for you.

May you eat fresh, delicious warm bread until your heart's content!

Gracie

Exercising the brain, snoozing and other homeschooling thoughts

Today I had a wonderful time doing math. Math isn't always easy while you are homeschooling. Occasionally my teachers (Mrs. Wright, mom, and dad), think that I am part Einstein. You should look at my math (see picture!). A genuis could do it in 10 seconds flat, but I am nowhere near that. I am learning about factors and multiples with large numbers. They take a lot of time and get confusing and take a whole lot of exercising of my brain. It's like a marathon going on in my brain. "What is the lowest multiple of 12,10,and 6?" "What are the factors of this or that?" It's like the biggest workout for my brain! Will I even have a brain left after all of this workout? By the end of the year will the blood have disintegrated my brain and I'll be left with a brain the size of a pea? Or will I have an enormous brain, like big bulging muscles, from all of this working out? I'll go with option number 2. I will have to remind myself that I am choosing this option. I'm hoping that it will make a difference when I don't feel like trying.

Now about snoozing. It wasn't me who was snoozing. I have been up since the crack of dawn (not really), but I have been working hard. My dog, on the other hand, decided last night to stay up and party in her kennel. Therefore, she has been snoozing all morning. Sleep, sleep, sleep with an occasional ear push up is all she does. Later, she may perk up and expect us to take her to the dog park. No way, Jose. Why does she get to sleep in when she wants to and I don't? Don't tell me that it's because she is a dog and I am a person. What's the point of having a dog if they don't do anything? I guess she is cute and cuddly occassionaly. But that's not the point. She loves to bask in the sun and sleep while I am slaving away, basking in my misery. Are dogs heartless? Of course they aren't, but sometimes it seems like it. Just like people. Dogs are sweet animals when they want to be. How are they supposed to know when it is the right time? When they were pups, perhaps they did too many math problems and their brain disintegrated to the size of a pea. That's my excuse for all of dogkind. But no more excuses. I want her to get up and at least patrol the house, maybe even do a little of my math for me. Dogs would get more treats if they did math or homework for their owners. Don't they know this?

It was great hearing from so many of my old blogging friends. I've missed you dearly. Why would someone blog without any followers? Thank you for being one of my followers? I'll try to post another recipe soon. My mom has been thinking about all things pumpkin, so that is a hint about my next recipe. Say hello to the pumpkin! I personally hate pumpkin seeds but that's another story. I'll save that one for Halloween.

May the Red Plague rid us all of math!
Gracie

PS I twisted a curse from the Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt for my closing.

PSS If you haven't read that book, you must! It will become a family favorite.

My blogs new name and lemons!

I thought I would tell you about my new blog name. It seems only fair. Why is the new name "The Cute Girl Who Pokes"? I earned that name with blood, guts, and glory. Too bad, I actually didn't. It would make such a nice story. Here is the real story. I was at a fencing tournament a few years ago, and I was stretching out with my mom. One of the other fencers walked up to me and said "I wish I had my mom to help me stretch". We talked a little bit and then she said "Hey, you are cute and small and I am going to squash you like a fly!" Then I said, "I am cute, but I poke." So she dubbed me, "The Cute Girl Who Pokes". Dunh dunh dunh! That's how it all came about. By the way she was kinda right. I almost beat her, but then her sword had a technical difficulty and she ended up with a longer sword. No fair!

Do you see the picture of me? Of course you do! This week I am going to make lavender lemonade for my class. I went to a concert and while I was there, I had a popsicle that was a lavender lemonade flavor. I liked it so much, I thought I must learn how to make it myself. So that is what I did. I only really like the best of the best, so I have to have fresh lemons and fresh lavender. Luckily, both are easy to find in my neighborhood. My mom and I went searching for lemons. At first, it wasn't going so well. Then we found a tree covered in lemons but the people who lived there weren't home to ask if we could pick them. Then I asked a neighbor who was outside, about the lemons and he showed me a better lemon tree in the backyard of a vacationing home he was taking care of. Could you imagine that forging could be so easy and fun? I think I saved a lot of money by just asking. Now, we are headed to San Luis Obispo (SLO) to forge for lavender. It's everywhere so I don't think anyone will mind if we take a few here and there. Below you will find my recipe for making the lavender lemonade. It is my first original recipe and I hope you like it too.

Gracie


Lavender Lemonade

To make the syrup:
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
8 heads of lavender

1 cup of fresh lemon juice.
3 cups of cold water and ice to taste

Boil water then add sugar. When dissolved add lavender. Steep for 10 minutes. Take out the lavender. I like to save this super sweet delicious treat to suck on like candy. YUM! Combine remaining ingredients and pour over ice. Drink it up and enjoy!

P.S. Be careful not to drink too much lemonade because it takes the enamel off of your teeth. I learned that from my uncle who is a dentist. Thanks Uncle Scott! (Scott Wathen DDS in case you need a great dentist!)