Tag Archives: Grace

May22

My Day as an M&M

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My Day as an M&M

Okay, just one more thing from our chocolate study, I promise. :)   Grace’s assignment for this one was to write a short story about waking up to discover she had been transformed into an M&M.  Here’s what she came up with:

 

“I’m falling!” I shouted, thrusting my arms out and pulling myself out of sleep.

“I’m not falling,” I mumbled.  I reached up to wipe my eyes, but found I could no longer move my arms.  I frowned, trying to pull my arms out from under the covers.  I soon realized that I didn’t have any arms!  I started panicking, flailing any limbs I had.  Suddenly, the smell of melting chocolate filled my head.

I tried turning my head, but instead moved my entire body.  A warm, gooey substance trickled down my back.  Slowly, I realized the chocolate-like aroma was me.  I was made entirely of chocolate!  Better yet, I was really fat with a big “M” printed on me.  I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t pass it on they said,” I hissed.  “No one can turn you into chocolate through the Internet.”  I flipped myself over so my back wouldn’t melt.  I then noticed it was very dark.  Looking around, I saw dozens of other M&Ms around me.  Strangely, I was the only green one.

The walls around me looked like they were cracked and falling until I saw they were made of paper.  Suddenly the ceiling ripped away, and a huge hand reached in.  It grabbed me, pulling me toward my gruesome death.  I squeezed my eyes shut.  I felt myself get closer and closer when, finally, I opened my eyes.

I was back in my bed, limbs attached and candy shell gone.  I passed my palms against my forehead.

“Okay,” I groaned.  “No more chocolate before bed.”

Apr29

Face Cream Ads: Comparing and Contrasting

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Grace’s most recent writing assignment was to find two ads for similar products in a magazine and then write a short essay comparing and contrasting them.  She found these two ads for face creams that will supposedly help you look younger.  (I could easily go into a rant about how much I despise our society’s love for this sort of thing, but I’ll spare you.) ;)

So, here’s what Grace had to say about the two ads she chose:

The brands OLAY and Origins each have an ad for anti-aging cream in a magazine. Both of these ads make their products sound scientifically advanced, using micro-sculpting technology for OLAY and raspberry plant stem cells for Origins. Also, they both have the bottle of cream in the picture to let you know what to look for in the store.

 

Origins seems to lean toward a bright, natural feel, telling you that nothing can actually erase wrinkles, but their cream uses natural ingredients to help your skin stay healthy while making you feel good about yourself. OLAY presents a flashy, modern feel, telling you that their cream uses the latest technology and ingredients to make you look younger fast.

 

Also, OLAY focuses your attention on a model, practically telling you that if you buy their cream, you will end up looking beautifully young, like her. They don’t have very many words, so that they won’t distract you from the picture-perfect user. Origins has no model, and focuses your attention toward the small paragraph they have about the cream. They use statistics to tell you that lots of people use their cream. They also tell you, honestly, that their product won’t erase your wrinkles right away. They say that their cream actually protects your skin, making you look and feel younger.

 

In conclusion, OLAY says their cream makes you look younger, and Origins says their cream makes you feel younger. Which cream would you choose?

 

-Grace<3

Apr2

Painting Birdhouses: A Descriptive Essay

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Grace has been working hard on her descriptive writing.  Her most recent assignment was to write about an outing or experience with family or friends.  She chose to write about purchasing and painting our birdhouses last week. :)   Here’s what she had to say…in all of its descriptive, detailed glory. :D

 

Gravel crunched underfoot. I pushed the heavy glass door aside as the smell of cinnamon and cheap air freshener filled my nose. Emily and I walked through the craft store, trying to spot the birdhouses. We came to a halt in a narrow aisle with woodworking supplies on either side. Emily scanned the houses, ruling out the expensive or ugly ones.

 

“Which ones do you want?” she asked, nodding toward the birdhouses.

 

“Ummm, how about these two?” I suggested, picking up two rough wooden houses. One was rounded, and the other had windows and a fake door. Emily nodded.

 

“Alrighty, one more,” she said. She knelt down and plucked up a house with two holes for the birds to sit in. I smiled. We walked over to the paint, picking only a few shades of blue, yellow, brown, and white with two packs of brushes. We were quick to get them home.

 

As soon as we opened the door, the soft sound of clicking claws echoed throughout the house. Frank circled our legs like a shark, his shredded raccoon toy in his mouth and his tail wagging like crazy. Emily draped a huge black trash bag over the table, laying out all the houses and paint. As she lay the paper plates out, I sat down and pulled up a house. Emily sat down across from me. We each picked our paint and squeezed out the colors we wanted.

 

I dipped my sponge brush into the thick puddle of brown paint, getting way more than I needed. Not sure what to do, I pressed the side of the brush against the plate until some of the paint seeped out. I leaned in closer, the paint fumes filling my head. I applied a sloppy layer of paint onto the roof, trying to make as few mistakes as possible. In no time, the entire house was covered in brown and white. I looked up. Emily had both of her birdhouses finished and had left the table. I laughed. Maybe I hadn’t finished that fast after all.

 

-Grace<3

Mar27

The Music Box

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Grace is practicing her monster-fighting writing. :D   We hope you enjoy this little tale of twisty-time and vampire slaying…among other things…

The song was still playing in the back my of my head. The music box had looked so innocent. How was I supposed to know it was a prison that held some of the most terrifying demons in all of creation?

 

I held tight to my scythe, ready to pounce on anything that moved. My best friends, Eli and Jaxon, followed at my heels. Jaxon held a pointed staff, one notch carved for nearly every day in the prison. His neon green hair shone in the pale light of my watch. Eli appeared to have no weapon, but secretly kept a stake up his sleeve. His crooked glasses were missing a lens.

 

We had been stuck here for at least three months, maybe more. Jaxon lost count at 82 days. We had climbed at least 99 flights of stairs, and we had heard from a starving vamp that there were only 100. Our only hope was that we would be released on the last level.

 

Eli put a hand on my shoulder. “Alice, maybe you should rest.” I looked down at my leg. It had been bitten by an Archion, a flesh-eating demon. I had managed to pull it off before it could inject any poison, but it took a great chunk of leg with it. I nodded.

 

This place looked like a huge Victorian mansion, so finding a place to crash wasn’t hard. We set up camp in a music room, nestled behind a row of guitars. Eli plopped down beside me. He studied my face, taking in every detail. I self-consciously raised my hand to my cheek. I knew I hadn’t brushed my hair in a while, but I wasn’t that hideous.

 

“What?” I asked, blushing. “do I have an eye booger or something?” Eli laughed. I blushed harder.

 

“No, but I think you broke your face,” he joked.

 

“How did I do that?”

 

“You smiled.” I looked down. Eli cleared his throat.

 

“Alice, what if there is no way out? I mean, why would there be?” he whispered, picking at a scab. I sighed.

 

“If this is a prison, than there must be police. They need some way out, and we’re going to find it,” I said, trying to make him feel better.

 

“I should probably keep watch,” Eli said, pushing his glasses up his nose. I smiled.

 

As he walked away, I thought about our life before the prison. We would go to Bert’s Ice Cream and sit on the roof. Eli would tell me to get my nose out of a book and live a little. Jaxon would pretend to push him off. I sighed. Even if we got out of here, we could never go back to that. We’d seen too much. I rested my head against a drum. We had to get out of here.

 

***

 

One flight later, we were on the last level. It looked like a long hallway, with only one door all the way on the other end. Jaxon ran ahead. Eli soon followed, but I kept my steady pace. When I got there, I put my hand on the door handle, but a sharp sting shot through my arm. I jerked my hand away. Eli frowned.

 

“That’s not good,” he mumbled. “This must be the last test. We have to find a way to open it.” We thought about that.

 

“What about Galdren blood, it’ll burn a hole through the door,” Jaxon said. I shook my head.

 

“I have a feeling we need to open the door, not burn through it.”

 

“If we coated the handle with a vampire dust, we might be able to hold it just long enough to open it,” Jaxon suggested. I frowned.

 

“Where are we going to get vampire dust?” I asked.

 

Eli shrugged. “I guess we go looking.” We turned away from the door and started walking, kicking open doors in our wake. After about 10 minutes, I heard a snarl. We turned, and three vamps jumped us. Jaxon, Eli and I sprang into action. A vamp swung at me, and I ducked right on time. I hurled my scythe at his head, but he kicked it out of the way, pushing me backward. I kicked him in the face, and he stumbled. I swung my scythe again, chopping off his head. The body turned to dust before it could hit the floor. I looked over to my friends. Eli had already staked his vamp, and Jaxon was kicking his vampire’s butt. He kicked him in the face and did a flip over the vamp’s weak attempt to bite him. When he was still trying figure out where Jaxon was, Eli staked the vamp, instantly turning him to dust.

 

Jaxon ducked down and grabbed a handful of dust, dumping it on the handle. He looked over to me, and for the first time, fear filled his eyes. I nodded. He turned back to the door. Taking a deep breath, he yanked it open. A bright light filled the room, temporarily blinding us. As soon as we could see again, we ran for door. A loud bang filled our ears, and we were blinded again. Only this time, when we opened our eyes, we were standing in an alley.

 

I looked around, shielding my eyes from the harsh glare of the sun. I knew this street. This was the same place we were when we disappeared. I glanced down at my watch. 7:02, 3/25/2013. Not a single day had passed. I heard Jaxon’s staff hit the ground.

 

“Where are we?” asked Eli. I smiled. Really smiled.

 

“Home.”

 

-Grace<3

Mar15

Tear Away the Sky

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We’re currently studying ancient Greece, and one of Grace’s recent assignments was to write a “mixed up” myth.  She randomly picked two Greek gods, a setting, and a problem…then she was off into myth writing.  I think she’s done a splendid job with it. :)  Enjoy!

Tear Away the Sky

One day, the great god Apollo sat atop Acropolis staring into the blank night. He had finished his flight across the sky, and the Earth was shrouded in darkness. He sighed, wishing for some form of light that would allow him to gaze upon the lush fields and smooth lakes. He knew that Mother Earth, or Gaea, had sewn the night sky to protect her people from being burned by the blinding light of the heavens, but Apollo didn’t care. He wanted to see. Suddenly, an idea appeared in his head. He called for his sister, Artemis. A single deer trotted to him. Her fur was a shimmering gold, and a thin silver band was snugly fitted to her head. Apollo smiled.

-Grace<3

“Sister, you do not need to wear such costumes. No human dwells here.” The deer glowed a blinding silver, and the Goddess of the Hunt took its place, the silver band still on her head. Artemis frowned.

“Why have you called me here?” she asked. Apollo pointed at the sky.

“I need you to tear the night from the sky; it makes my only free time dark and dreary.”

Artemis tensed. “ I cannot help you; even my arrows cannot pull the blanket away.” Apollo stood.

“Maybe one of your immortal maidens can. They have immense power,” Apollo suggested. Artemis sighed.

“If you wish. ”She called out to her huntresses, and a huge group of girls ran to their goddess’s aid.

“What do you need?” the maidens asked, and Artemis pointed to the sky.

“Whoever can pull away the night will be crowned Leader of the Hunt!” the goddess shouted. The maidens gasped. A tall girl with spiky hair shoved her way forward. She pointed her bow at the sky, pulling her fingers to her temple. Her arrow shot upward, ripping a small hole in the night. A thin stream of light burst from the heavens, but the blanket still hovered. Several other girls tried, but only few even reached the sky. Apollo stepped forward.

“Sister, get all of your huntresses to shoot at once. Maybe then the blanket will fall.” Artemis smiled. She gathered her bow and pointed it at the sky. The huntresses did the same. She released, and 1,000 arrows shot forward, each piercing the sky. Tiny lights littered the night, with a gaping hole where the goddess’s arrow had gone. The land was filled with light. Ever since then, Apollo would sit on Acropolis and gaze at the fields with the newly formed stars lighting the land.

 

Mar14

How To…Write a Goal

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Grace has finished up her writing unit on how-to writing.  For her final paper, she chose to write about creating goals (another skill we’ve been working on).  Here’s what she had to say:

Setting a Goal

The first step in setting a goal is gathering your supplies. You will need paper and a pencil. Then, think of something you want to accomplish, like writing a short story. After you have the idea of what you are going to do, write down how long it will take you to accomplish. For writing a short story, you might want to stick to three weeks.

After that, write the first thing you need to do to complete your goal. After writing the first step of your goal, write (on the same line) how long that step will take. You might think that creating the main plot for your story will take two days, so you would write that down. After that, write down the date you would finish that step. This is so you know when you complete each step. Use this method to write down all steps.

After you have finished writing your steps, calculate when you will finish completely. If you didn’t give yourself enough time to finish, you might want to rethink your time limit. If you finish early, then you have plenty of wiggle room, or time to make mistakes. If you start your goal on April 1st, your paper should look like this:

Writing a Short Story

(three weeks)

1. Create main plot (two days) 4/2/13

2. Create characters (three days) 4/5/13

3. Write chapter 1 (three days) 4/8/13

4. Write chapter 2 (three days) 4/11/13

5. Write chapters 3 (three days) 4/13/13

6. Proofread (1 day) 4/14/13

Wiggle Room: 1 week

Check up on your goal every time you finish a step to make sure your timing is correct. If not, think about what you are doing that is causing you to take longer than you had planned. Are you slacking off? Did you not give yourself enough time? If you are early, you know you gave yourself plenty of time and can use that information for future goals.

Have fun!

-Grace<3

Mar6

Homeschool Persuasion

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While studying ancient Greece, Grace is learning about the value of a good speech.  One of her assignments today was to write a persuasive speech to sway all of the land to her way of thinking. ;)  Of all the things in the world to write about, she chose to convince the people to homeschool their children. :D  Here’s what she had to say:

Every parent wants their children to have a good education, but some children have problems with the public school system. Maybe they don’t get along with their classmates? Perhaps they’re having problems, but the teacher never gets to help? It may be as simple as they don’t study. If public school just isn’t working, there is something you could try…homeschool!

 

Homeschooling is a fun way to teach your child what they need to know in a way just right for them. It allows each child to have one-on-one time with their teacher, making problems with their work easier to solve. Homeschool also gives your family more time together and can build up parent-child bonds. But the best part about homeschool is it creates independent thinkers.

 

Some families may say that they don’t want their children sitting at home all day, want their kids to socialize more, or simply can’t afford homeschool, but there is a solution…join a homeschool group! This allows your child to meet with other homeschoolers away from the house, and you don’t have to pay for the supplies! Also, you don’t have to quit any current job to homeschool your child; the schedules are extremely flexible.

 

From a current homeschool student, I must say that it has been a great improvement to my life. I am getting much better grades, bonding with my family, and enjoying every second of it! Maybe homeschooling is right for you?

 

-Grace<3

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The planning stages of Grace’s speech.

Feb19

Weekly Braaaaiins: Zombie Parkour Runner Review

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Grace chose to do a game review for Weekly Braaaaiins this week…check it out:

Zombie Parkour Runner, or ZP Runner, is a free game for your iPhone, iPad, or apple device. The best part is, it’s free! You can download the app by clicking here.

Oh, no! Zombies have taken all your stuff! Play as the mysterious character Kara through 36 incredibly challenging (and fun!) levels to get it back. As you run, you pick up coins and perform amazing stunts by swinging, sliding, and jumping. If you can spot one, you can pick up items the zombies have dropped and learn about Kara’s past.

This game has great, smooth graphics and a catchy, techno theme. The zombies have a unique look to them. I especially like the zombie themed billboards in the background. I could totally see Zombi-E instead of Wall-E.

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If you want, you can purchase items that can get you farther in the game, like a trampoline that automatically bounces you to the next checkpoint if you get stuck. Warning, these items do cost actual money.

The only problems I could see were that it sucks up the battery and the reaction time is a little slow. I’d tap to jump, and Kara wouldn’t do it. Of course, that has only happened a few times, and it’s usually right after I double-tap. Another warning, if you don’t like to have to try a level ten times to finally get to the end, I suggest skipping this game.

Overall, I really enjoy it and recommend this game to any zombie lovers. Even if hard-headed Kara doesn’t jump once in a while, I think it’s anything but a waste of time. It’s the perfect game to occupy ourself during those long hours on a car trip!

-Grace<3

 

Grownup edit:  Grace says this game is appropriate for all ages…no blood or gore or anything scary.  It might be frustrating for the younger crowd because of difficulty.  Some reading required.

Feb13

Getting Into the FBI

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Yesterday as Grace and I were driving to her science class, we discussed several careers she is interested in.  She expressed an interest in becoming an FBI agent, but we weren’t sure how to go about entering that field…and so today’s language arts assignment became a bit of research about how to join up with the FBI.  Here’s what Grace found out:

FBI Special Agent Job Requirements

Not very many people who apply for the job of FBI agent are accepted. But, given the right personality traits and experience, you could have a fair chance.

First, you must be a twenty-three year-old American citizen to apply, but people above thirty-seven are not accepted. You will need to have at least a four-year degree and three years or more of work experience. You will also need a valid driver’s license.

To have any chance of getting in, your degree will have to be in one of the following:

  • accounting

  • computer science

  • language

  • law/law enforcement

  • engineering

  • finance

  • physical science (chemistry, physics, biology, etc.)

When you apply, the FBI will look through your past in a background investigation. They will look for a trustworthy, reliable character with a good attitude. They will also look at your reputation, financial responsibility, and ability to preform well under pressure. The FBI will look at your drug and alcohol history and may take a full medical exam, including vision and hearing tests. You will need to pass a written test and attend many in-person interviews.

If you are accepted, you will agree to be sent anywhere in the world and be assigned to one of the five career paths: intelligence, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber, or criminal investigation. Then, you are sent to a 20-week training course at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

At the Academy, students will be taught how to deal with the basic rules and skills of an FBI Special Agent. This includes:

  • the intelligence cycle

  • counterterrorism
  • counterintelligence
  • how to handle weapons of mass destruction
  • cyber fraud and intrusions
  • human behavior
  • communications and interviews
  • information development
  • physical fitness and defensive tactics
  • how to collect and handle evidence
  • firearms
  • practical problems

Fresh out of the Academy, agents are usually sent to small offices, working their way up to the larger, more complex offices. They work with given cases and assignments based on their career path. Most agents retire around the age of fifty-seven while some stay an extra year or two.

-Grace<3

Information sources:

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/facts-and-figures-2010-2011/working-for-the-fbi

https://www.fbijobs.gov/111.asp

Feb5

Weekly Braaaaiins: How To Survive the Zombie Apocalypse

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Grace is practicing her how-to writing, so she came up with this little step-by-step for how to deal with a zombie invasion.  Enjoy and be safe!  (By the way – Grace is planning to write a little about zombies each week to keep you safe and educated.  Look for her Weekly Braaaaiins features in the future.)

Surviving the zombie apocalypse is a key skill for all readers of Weekly Braaaaiins, so here are a few steps to help you stay alive.

First, you need to gather some supplies. You will need canned food, bottled water, blankets, flashlights, batteries (we suggest a lot), and a weapon. You can find all this at your local abandoned Wal-Mart®.

Next, you will need to find a safe place. Perhaps your basement or a warehouse? You want to find someplace sturdy with as few windows a possible, just in case the zombies get frisky.

Make sure to keep your weapon on you at all times. If you have children, keep them within reach. If a single zombie is coming to you, don’t panic. Zombies are slow and fall apart easily, but remember to aim at the head. Of course, chopping them into bite-sized pieces would work, too, but that may be a little too morbid. You should only panic if a large group of corpses start to come after you. If so, run for your life.

You might want to take this time spent cowering in the corner to devise a plan for the next time the world ends. What will you do? Where will you go? Just remember, if you follow these steps, your brains should be safe.

-Weekly Braaaaiins