Benjamin's account of Field day, his first race a story and a report

Mixed up senses

I woke up one morning and my senses were all mixed up. I could smell with my ears and see with my mawth and herre with my nose and tast with my hanse. Wen I tried to pike up my fode I gist ate it. I opineed my mawth so I could see howe my hans loked. They had mine mowse. I was sprist. I cindov liked haveing my sensen like this. After a wil I wanted to chang my senses back withawt a sawnd it chaged back to nrmle. The end

Standardized:
I woke up one morning and my senses were all mixed up. I could smell with my ears and see with my mouth and hear with my nose and taste with my hands. When I tried to pick up my food I just ate it. I opened my mouth so I could see how my hands looked. They had mini mouths. I was surprised. I kind of liked having my senses like this. After a while I wanted to change my senses back. Without a sound it changed back to normal. The end.
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Field Day
5-6-14

My favrite part about feld day was the watr bloon toss because my bloon hrdle ever poped. Then it finle poped. I did not get a frte, segined or trde plas ridin. I awsle likeed the cupcakes. I got a choclit blue one. It was taste. Jaylien got a blue one. He got a blue tage. Thuts what my favrit pat about fied day was. The end

Standardized:
My favorite part about field day was the water balloon toss because my balloon hardly ever popped. Then in finally popped. I did not get a first, second, or third place ribbon. I also liked the cupcakes. I got a chocolate blue one. It was tasty. Jaylen got a blue one He got a blue tongue. That's what my favorite part about field day was. The end.

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Book Report

The store was abawt chees. A rat fand the chees and standing ulon in the modo. The rat wonted to eat the chees. Then the cat jumed out of the tree and sed the chees staned olon sed the cat the rat sed give me one resin becuse the cat fot the soge the soge ses the chees stans olon sed the cat. That's sile sed the rat. Even the cat dided have time to rgyou abat the chees so thay sedof to get the chees then win thay slid unde but who shwd thay see

Standardized:
The story was about cheese. A rat found the cheese and standing alone in the meadow. The rat wanted to eat the cheese. Then the cat jumped out of the tree and said "The cheese stands alone" said the cat. The rat said "Give me one reason..." because the cat thought the song. "The song says, 'The cheese stands alone'" said the cat. "That's silly," said the rat. Even the cat didn't have time to argue about the cheese so they set off to get the cheese. Then when they slid under but who should they see [unfinished]
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Tucker Road Race

Over the weekend I went to the tucre roed rase. I got fived plas. I got a green ribin, I oso got one plan bagl. Then my dad sed have one with crem chees I got one and pit crem chess on it. It was good I had a noder one. Then it was time to go home. I trned on mreo crte Wii®. I was just abat to play wen my mom or dad (I can't rmebr ) came in and one of them sed tr the wii. I tred it off. (O I frgot to tell you , I got a bag. I wont to tell you wot wse in it.) Thar was a T-stre, a pen, some food and medsin. Then I ate brecfisd. The end.

Standardized:
Over the weekend, I went to the Tucker Road Race. I got fifth place. I got a green ribbon. I also got one plain bagel. Then my dad said, "Have one with cream cheese." I got one and put cream cheese on it. It was good. I had another one. Then it was time to go home. I turned on Mario Kart Wii®. I was just about to play when my mom or dad (I can't remember) came in and one of them said, "Turn the Wii." I turned it off. (Oh, I forgot to tell you, I got a bag. I want to tell you what was in it.) There was a T-shirt, a pen, some food and medicine. Then I ate breakfast. The end.

Cant resist a closeup of the registered trademark symbol. :D

running in the Tucker Road Race

One mile in 10:42. Go Benjamin!

 Benjamin and Jacob before the race

 stretching before the race

The weekend - by Benjamin

4-24-14
Over the weeked I am going to whch pokemon with dad. Then I'm going to run uroud the hose like I'm crazze. Then I am going to play slter with my broter. Then after that I'm going to help swih the beds (if thay rnt all rete swihed.) Then I'm going to play shlter with my broter agen. Then I'm going to eat dinre.

Standardized:
Over the weekend I am going to watch Pokemon with Dad. Then I'm going to run around the house like I'm crazy. Then I am going to play "Shelter" with my brother. Then after that I'm going to help switch the beds (if they are not already switched). Then I'm going to play "Shelter" with my brother again. Then I'm going to eat dinner.

4-28-14

Over the weeken I ran araond the haose like I was crazze. Aftre I ate dinrre. The nekst day it was clen day. I was woching tv. Then dad came in. He sed that I coed cepe waching if I was clening up the toy rome at the same time. I sed no. He toke the disk out. Then I made up a nuw game. I plaed it for a wile. Then I tokt with my broter ubaat a move clleed avtre the last air bender. We wre taking abaut what epusode we snu wach aftre we clened up the toy room. We clened up the toy room. we endid up waching woned pets.

Standardized:
Over the weekend I ran around the house like I was crazy. After, I ate dinner. The next day it was clean day. I was watching T.V. Then Dad came in. He said that I could keep watching if I was cleaning up the toy room at the same time. I said, "No." He took the disk out. Then I made up a new game. I played it for a while. Then I talked with my brother about a movie called Avatar: The Last Airbender. We were talking about what episode we should watch after we cleaned up the toy room. We cleaned up the toy room. We ended up watching Wonder Pets.

Benjamin also made me a flower, over this weekend.

And Levi did, too. :)

The kids played at the train table at Little Shop of Stories

And Levi drew circles on a lot of papers and placed them like this.

    Such is the life!

Kindergarten journal - by Benjamin

When it rains
4-15-14

When it rains, I like to get my swimsot on and go outside. Then my brutre may ask to get his swimsot on and then we both go outside. Then we run outside into the rain. Then we go in inside wer socing wet we get into a wome bath. Then mabe we will woch a sho. The End

Standardized:
When it rains, I like to get my swimsuit on and go outside. Then my brother may ask to get his swimsuit on and then we both go outside. Then we run outside into the rain. Then we go in inside. We're soaking wet. We get into a warm bath. Then maybe we will watch a show. The End
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 I Woke Up

I woke up in a strange place. The grass was red, the ske was yellow. The hawse that I woke up in was made of stikrs. Where I'm I, I yeled. The dorse wre opin. It semed if somebute was woching me. Is this a nitmare? I closed my iuse. Ii was a nitmaie! Hroay! The End.

Standardized:
I woke up in a strange place. The grass was red; the sky was yellow. The house that I woke up in was made of stickers.
"Where am I?" I yelled.
The doors were open. It seemed as if somebody was watching me.
"Is this a nightmare?" I closed my eyes.
It was a nightmare! Hooray!
The End
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Puzzles
4-22-14

The center I like best during "MAD" day was puslsses becuse I tried to finis a pussle but then Mrs. Jeksins came and piced me up. Sens it was "MAD" day we had a math qwise it was nomle. Then win I came bace my grop was in a drifrit center. The end.

Standardized:
The center I liked best during "MAD" day was puzzles, because I tried to finish a puzzle but then Mrs. Jenkins came and picked me up. Sense it was "MAD" day we had a math quiz. It was normal. Then, when I came back, my group was in a different center. The end.
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Recycling

I will help the earth by recycleing aluminum and glass and plastic and paper. I will reducs gas and wate I will reuse things that thing find urand the house. I will pland morm trees. I will not liter. I will pike up liter. I will yous safe mtnels.

Standardized:
I will help the earth by recycling aluminum and glass and plastic and paper. I will reduce gas and water. I will reuse things that I find around the house. I will plant more trees. I will not litter. I will pick up litter. I will use safe materials.
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If I had $3.00

If I had three dollars, I would by 1 dollar things so I cod by three things. The frst thing I would by a nou set of lagos. My secinte dollar I would by cake. My thrd dollar I would by a toey dump truk. Thats what I would by. The end

Standardized:
If I had three dollars, I would buy one dollar things, so I could buy three things. The first thing I would buy: a new set of Legos. My second dollar I would buy cake. My third dollar I would buy a toy dump truck. That's what I would buy. The end.

Spring Break according to Benjamin

I was absolutely gleeful when Benjamin's Kindergarten journal came home at the end of May this year. I didn't even know he had been doing a journal at school. Priceless. I vowed to digitize it.

As written: During my spring breeak I wohchet pokemon with dad( but he didet rele pay utench.) I ran yraned the hose all day long. Dad wasit home. I had a grat spring brak.

 Spelling standardized: During my spring break I watched Pokemon with dad (but he didn't really pay attention.) I ran around the house all day long. Dad wasn't home. I had a great spring break.

He really did spend most of spring break literally running around the house. :)

Missouri Trees

I came across this little list I made in a notebook. I want to toss (I mean recycle!) the paper that it is on, but save the list. So here it is. A list from the first time I drove through Missouri, on my way to Arkansas, to see my new nephew Thomas. I remember being like "what is up with these wacky trees?!?"

Missouri Trees 
fluffy green sticks
fake
a prop in a jr. high play
pole draped in a green boa
projections, hands, fingers.

Georgia! We have arrived!

After I got the following comment over on Everead I figured it was time for an update over here! 

Did you get there okay?
Is the house great?
Do you have a bed to sleep on?

1. Yes! We got here okay. We are very glad we took the 10 hour drive over 2 days. We didn't get off as early as we could have hoped, and road construction season slowed us down considerably. Add in our long bathroom breaks and we took about 8 hours to do 4 hours' worth of driving on the first day. Anyway, we made it eventually, and without accident or injury. We were very glad to not be driving our moving truck.

We did U-Pack with ABF and sent our stuff on its way the morning we left. It was supposed to take 3 business days to get to us, but it ended up taking 6. We were in our house for a looong time without our stuff. I was not very pleased the second time they called to push our delivery date back. <-- i="">understatement  
In hindsight, was it worth it to not have to drive my own moving truck? . . . Eh. . . Maybe. We had a much more positive (read: prompt) experience when we used them in 2008. However, we did not move the week of the 4th of July then, like we did this time. *shrug*
2. The house is great. I am still trying to figure it out -- where to put furniture, what furniture we need exactly,  how to make the place function. Right now the "laundry" function of home is hung up by the fact that we don't have enough dressers. We left two of them behind and haven't replaced them yet, so we don't quite know where to put clothes once they're clean. The beginning of the laundry cycle works great though! Oh man! Jacob and I now really appreciate just how bad our former washer and dryer were. Haha! The ones that came with this place are by no means brand-new or top-of-the-line, but they are amazingly better at doing laundry. It's so nice.

The most awesome unexpected perk of the place is the blueberry bushes! We are loving them! I don't actually know how many of them there are, but enough that I can pick blueberries every day. We have not been out of blueberries since the day we moved in. I feel like I'm living in paradise to be able to walk out my door and pick something off a tree (they're big bushes, rather) and just eat it. Plus: blueberry bushes do not have thorns! I had never picked blueberries until the day we moved in, but they're a dream to pick. I don't have to water them (it's been raining like crazy) I didn't have to plant them, I just showed up for the harvest.

Let me grab my journal and record some of the other perks I put in there... here it is. Additions in brackets.

July 3, 2013
Awesome things about our new house:

• Don't have to fold laundry on our bed where kids will jump on it! [The laundry is in the unfinished basement, and there is a nice sized table down there, right next to the dryer.]

• A bed! With no giant divot in the middle or spring poking through or torn edge that snags you when you walk.

• A lock on our bedroom door, bow chicka wow wow! [yes, I wrote that in my journal! ha! I crack myself up.]

• Washer and Dryer can be running and I can still hear myself thing/talk at the table!

• Carport! Today was rainy and as I unloaded groceries I was so excited to not be getting wet.

• Driveway! I was also excited to not have to walk down a long sidewalk or across squishy grass. Yay!

• Lots of doors! So it was kind of wierd to me at frist that the hallways have doors on them. But now I really like it. Boys running around yelling in an empty house make lots of noise (oh, it is so, so echo-ey) but that noise is damped by doors. Nice.

• Close to library! Like it is the closest thing to us other than people's houses. Totally a walkable distance. No sidewalk though, unfortunately. We got our cards today, yippee! [on July 3, that is] And checked out books and movies. I've been hungry for books since even before all of ours were packed away, and starving for reading since we've had no internet for 2 days. Jacob said "You looked so much happier nursing with a book to read." :) [except the smile is right side up in my journal] I devoured The Best Time to Do Everything. Fun little non-fiction book.

• Convenient to shopping -- today I want to Walmart (just past the library) and Aldi (just up the road the other way). Benjamin and I walked in and I said out loud, "I love Aldi." [tiny heart].

• Bathroom in my room! So nice. [This is a first for me and Jacob, and I must say it rocks. They call these en-suites in Canada, did you know that?]

So there you go! There are some things about the house! Also a sample of one of my recent journal entries. When I tell people I journal every day they sometimes ask for my secret and I say it's because I mix it up. Also I make myself laugh.

3. Yes we have a bed! (See above.) A nice guy in our ward, Jeff Wheatley, gave us a tip on a mattress sale he had heard about. Another nice guy in our ward with a truck, Donny Young, helped us get it from the store to our house. We would have had it delivered, except they couldn't do it until the next day, and we had just spent the previous night on a very flat air mattress. Seriously, I pumped it up 3 or 4 times. Ugh. So. We were super glad to have a real bed! Our old bed was so sunken in that my eyes seriously thought that our new bed was dome-shaped for the first couple of days. Ha!

Okay, so questions are helpful to me blogging. Thanks for asking Ashlee! What questions do y'all have for me next? (I get to say y'all now! Without fear of someone thinking I'm poking fun/being a poser. I'm so excited!)  

Big RS Activity

This one time I was in charge of a Relief Society activity and it just kept getting bigger and bigger with another ward coming too and lots of guests and all kinds of things happening all the time, like ordering catering and getting babysitters and forgetting that i had already asked someone else to conduct the meeting, but the good news is that the bigger it got the better it got and it really turned out awesome and beautiful and both very spiritual and quite yummy, and by the end of the night i was so wound up that all I wanted to do was the dishes and the mopping and such that come after these things which was so super lucky because that's what i got to do plus also sit and chat with a friend and then go veg on the internet while my husband watched a really awesome basketball game which made him very happy.

So we're all happy and tired around here.  Plus there is leftover orange chicken. Time for me to go to bed now.

Well, look what I found!

First of all, I said two posts ago that I would let you know how the presentation went. It was great, of course. High school students have a way of making things casual. :) Anyway, I went back to this workshop twice more and had a lovely time. The students ended up posting guest reviews on my book blog.  You can see them all by clicking on the TAP In label, over at Everead.  Enjoy! I'm sure they'd appreciate comments you have, as well.

Now. This is fun. On my recent (fantastic) visit to Arizona (to be with my sister in the LDS temple, before her mission to the Czech Republic), I found the key to my diary! This particular diary is the first one I remember keeping. It's hot pink and as soon as I had found the key I knew it, because it is heart shaped. Oh, how fun.

But even more fun has been reading the thoughts of 8-12 year old me. Behold! This awesome entry (spelling and punctuation preserved):

Dear Diary today is ElP day.  I havent rote to you for a month. I'm very sorry. We do lots of things in ElP. I know my hand writeing has changed. I havent got a chance to write in you. I got Some new scripturs. Im geting more muture. I'm 8 you know  It is 9:40 my bed time 7:30 I sould get going ceseal Dixy. goodby

Yes, that's right, I named my diary. I now know that Cecille is the conventional spelling of that name. Also I have only increased in maturity over the past 17 years. ELP stood for "extended learning program" -- the gifted education program in my elementary school which was held once a week.