Monday, December 17, 2012

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . .

Only seven days until Christmas! :D (Well, for us, since we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. It's so much more fun that way. We get to open presents early and stay up late)! :D Our house is decorated for Christmas. Is your house decorated? Here are some pictures of our decorations.

A pretty wreath on our door

Scout wants to help!

So cute

A Deathly Hallows ornament from Harry Potter World!!!! This is our first year that we have gotten to use it.

Looking cute

Ornaments

Ornaments from places we've visited all over the country.

Boy, all of this not helping to decorate sure makes me tired.

Our tree full of memories.

Snuggling on our new blanket.

Posing for the picture.

Our pretty Christmas tree.

The village.

Home made Christmas presents made by yours truly.

(Sorry about the picture being sideways). I made snowflakes and put them on the windows in my bedroom.
Another snowflake.


A post about Percy, our Elf on the Shelf, is coming soon! :D

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

12/12/12

Today is December 12, 2012 or 12/12/12. Today will be the last day where the date is the same three numbers until the year 3001 (1/1/01). Just a random thought I had. :D

Saturday, December 8, 2012

OPERATION: HELP THE ELF!

A writing blog I follow called "The Bookshelf Muse" had this great idea to create this sort of contest where you help out one of Santa's elves and put a post on your blog about why a certain person you know should be on the nice list. So I decided to do it and the person I think should be on the nice list is my brother, Maxim. Read on to find out why.



Why should Maxim be on the nice list? There are a hundred reasons why, but I'll narrow it down to just a few reasons, for now.

My brother is nine and just three years younger than me and is probably my best friend. I'm probably his best friend, too. He wants to do everything with me. He constantly follows me around and wants to play with me. He'd probably play Yu-Gi-Oh! with me all day long, if he could. If something exciting happens he rushes straight for me to tell me. He randomly comes up to me, Mommy, Daddy, or even our dog, Scout, and gives them hugs and says, "I love you."

Maxim is very giving and empathetic. When someone is crying or upset, he immediately comes over to see what's the matter and tries to make goofy faces and uses funny voices to make us laugh and cheer us up. He makes gifts and cards for people and always wants to show me, Mommy, and Daddy a new Lego creation he made or a song he wrote.

Sometimes Maxim is so giving, he makes me feel selfish. If I'm playing a game with him I'll be the first one to ask, "Can I go first?" And he doesn't object at all. He just say, "Okay, Kate. You can go first." Whenever he does this I make a mental note to be more like him.

Ever since Maxim was little he has stuck up for me. If he thought anyone was being mean or unfair to me he would immediately jump in and say, "Hey, be nice to my sister!" And I've always done the same for him.

One time we were playing a game and we were on the same team. After we won he turned to me with a big smile on his face and said, "Hey, we make a good team!"

Yes we do, Maxim. Yes we do.

I hope you enjoyed my post! :D Who do you think should be on the nice list this year?

PS: Just as I finished writing this post Maxim came up to me and said, "Hey, Kate, look at this! It's this new Lego creation I built!"

Monday, December 3, 2012

A B See Photo Challenge- A is for Apple


According to my poll on the side of my blog, most of you wanted more posts with pictures, so today I'm continuing my A B See Photo Challenge! :D Between NaNoWriMo and the Gratitude posts in November I didn't have much time to continue the challenge. (If you didn't read the first post, click HERE). But I did do this one. Please comment and tell me which picture you liked best! :D


Name: Black and White Spots. Where I took the photo: The Kitchen (Which is where I took all of these photos) What I like about the photo: I like the clarity of the spots and the simpleness of it all.
Name: Spotted Green. What I like about the photo: I like the contrast of the brown spots and the green apple. I also like the lighting.
Name: White Beacon in a Black World. What I like about the photo: I like how all of the apple's surroundings are dark and shadowy and the apple is very bright. It reminds me of a ghost in a haunted mansion.
Name: Shadow. What I like about the photo: I like how the apple's shadow is very obvious and large.
Name: Tower. What I like about the photo: I like how the photo makes it looks as if you are looking up at the tower of apples.
Name: Crumbling Pillar. What I like about the photo: I like how the photo looks like a pillar that is falling apart.
Name: Crumbling Pillar In Color. What I like about the photo: I like this photo just as much as the other crumbling pillar, but this one is in color.
Name: Alone. What I like about the photo: I like how this photo tells a story about a lonely apple.
Name: Hi. What I like about the photo: I like how the apples spell a word.
Name: Bright spot. What I like about the photo: I like how the apple's surroundings are dark and the apple seems to be creating a circle of light.
Name: Speckles. What I like about the photo: I like how you can see the apple's white speckles really well and I also like the shadow it's creating.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Winner!!!!! :D

(PSST! Be sure to read the last gratitude post below).

Today is the last day of NaNoWriMo and this morning I tried to get up before anybody else so I could come downstairs and finish my word count goal. And it worked.

I now officially am a winner of NaNoWriMo 2012! :D I reached my word count goal of 40,000 words and next year I'll be shooting for 50,000.

Of course, my novel isn't done yet, but I'm still working on it.

Here is the Prologue of my novel. Please tell me truthfully what you think! :D

Prologue

    For years, Glaewyn and Yojar lived peacefully as the best of friends. They were known as the best wizards in the entire kingdom of Zundra, and perhaps even the world.
    Yojar lived in his tower just beyond the Forest of Zundra. King Robert had it specially built for him. It was fifty feet tall, made of stone, and had a large wooden door with his name on it, written in silver. There were many windows with a perfect view of the castle and the Forest of Zundra. Yojar painted stripes on the stone in purple, for that was his favorite color.
    Glaewyn preferred life in the Forest of Zundra. King Robert made him a small, but cozy cottage in the exact middle of the Forest on request. He painted it gold and wrote his name on the wooden doors in bronze. There were a few windows where he could look out into the Forest at all of the magical creatures that lived there. All of the creatures lived in harmony, none wanting to upset the others. Unicorns, fairies, pixies, sprites, druids, centaurs, dwarves, elves, merpeople, and many other magical beings lived there.
    Yojar and Glaewyn each created magical spells that would be used for hundreds of years to come. They cheered each other on and complimented each other’s skills.
    But after a while, their friendship slowly began to fall apart. Glaewyn remained as gracious as ever, but Yojar grew more and more arrogant and bitter. Glaewyn kept on creating successful spells. Yojar tried and failed to best him. Glaewyn’s popularity began to shadow Yojar. Yojar would crumple pieces of parchment after failed spells. The stack of papers in Glaewyn’s cottage towered over him. His desk was covered in spells.
    One day, after another spell of Glaewyn’s took off, Yojar stormed out of his tower and headed for the woods. He muttered a spell and the wind picked up.
    The sky became dark and stormy. The trees bent lower and leaves flew everywhere.
    Lightning struck the ground, and with every strike a magical creature would appear. But not creatures that were like the ones that already lived there. No, these creatures were evil. Demons, banshees, devil dogs, gargoyles, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, ogres, orcs, werewolves, vampires, salamanders, mud monsters, and many other evil beings appeared. Yojar laughed and took off for his tower. He watched from his window. The evil creatures ran straight for Glaewyn’s cottage. The salamanders set the house on fire, and minutes later it was no more. His house was ash, and Glaewyn was dead.
    Very soon after Glaewyn was killed, King Robert’s best knights rode into the Forest and killed off as many evil creatures as they could. About half of the evil beings perished, but the other half ran and hid. It was obvious at once who had caused that great tragedy. Yojar had made the mistake of dropping his wand as he fled. No one else in the entire world had a wand like his. His wand was a deep purple and had decorative silver vines wrapped around it. Glaewyn’s had one almost exactly like it, but it was gold and had bronze vines.
    The door of Yojar’s tower burst open and twelve knights ran in and captured Yojar almost immediately.
    Yojar just laughed and did not fight them. He was taken away to the dungeons.
    The kingdom was in uproar. They pounded on the castle gates and screamed for Yojar’s blood. Glaewyn’s name was shrieked all throughout the day and late into the night. They wanted Yojar to be dead. They wanted him to suffer. One man yelled that he wanted Yojar’s head on a pole so he could put it in front of his house.
    Two days later, Yojar had a short trial. In the trial he said that his act was an act he would always be proud of. He was publicly executed minutes later by Glaewyn’s own brother, Fubeth. The axe that cut off Yojar’s head now hangs in King Robert’s great-great-grandaughter’s castle, Queen Talia Snowflower. She often says that the axe gives her nightmares and she wishes that she could remove it. But it has hung there for years, and it wouldn’t be very wise of her to get rid of it. The peasants that live in the Kingdom of Zundra are glad that it is there. It reminds them that they will never live in danger because the Queen and her knights will protect them.
    After Yojar was executed, people began to call the Forest of Zundra the Forest of Yojar. The name stuck and now very few dare to enter the Forest, for they fear that they will perish as Glaewyn had. If the most powerful wizard since Merlin couldn’t stand up against the creatures, they thought they most certainly could not fight them.
    But the kingdom of Zundra had not seen such utter evil since Yojar’s time, and now they live in peace, knowing that their kind queen will protect them if anything like that would ever happen again.

30 Days of Gratitude- Day 30

The last day! :D

Today I'm grateful for . . . homeschooling. Homeschooling is fun and gives us the flexibility to do what we want. For example, today we are going to a book signing where we are going to meet Harry Connick Junior! :D If I were in school, we wouldn't be able to do that. On some days, even, we get done with school before lunch. Mommy and Daddy really try to make homeschooling fun and it works!

Photo by pursuitoftitus2.com

Thursday, November 29, 2012

30 Days of Gratitude- Day 29

The last day of gratitude is tomorrow! :D Make sure you check it out!

Today I'm grateful for . . . The Hunger Games. It's my second favorite books series. My favorite book in the series was the first book. It was the most exciting and had my favorite character (Rue). I also loved the movie, which I got to see at midnight with my dad in the theater! :D The Hunger Games (along with a dream I had one time) gave me an idea for a book I'm writing, The Maze of Doom.





















Wednesday, November 28, 2012

30 Days of Gratitude- Day 28

Today I'm grateful for . . . colors. Without colors, life would be so much more boring and depressing. I can't imagine looking up at the sky and seeing gray instead of blue. Some colors depress me, like black, but others I really like and make me happy! :D Here is a list of my favorite colors:

1. YELLOW!!!!! :D Yellow is so happy and bright. If I had to choose a color to describe my personality, it would be yellow.

Photo by earlystories.wordpress.com
Photo by paulbates.com



Photo by zazzle.com








 (I couldn't resist choosing a few pictures for this one).







2. Blue. Blue is calm and pretty and is a good opposite for yellow. Blue also happens to be my best friend's favorite color which is why it's perfect that my third favorite color is . . .

Photo by allaboutbirds.org












3. Green. Green is also a calm and pretty color. It reminds me of nature and flowers. Green is yellow and blue mixed together, so my BFF and I call it our 'Friendship Color.' Whenever we make cards or gifts for each other, we color it green.

Photo by public-domain-image.com














4. Purple. The name is fun and odd and so is the color. Purple reminds me of bubbles for some reason and is just a fun color.

Photo by ashtarcommandcrew.net


Hey, look! Purple bubbles! Photo by shutterstock.com

5. Pink. Not hot pink, but a softer pink that's very delicate and pretty. One that's so light, it's almost clear.

Photo by fanpop.com



Tuesday, November 27, 2012

30 Days of Gratitude- Days 23-27

Sorry for not posting in a while. November has been a crazy month for us so I haven't had much time to write up a post. Thanks for waiting so patiently! :D

Today I'm grateful for . . . Grandparents. I love it when Vavó or Grandma and Papa come to visit. It's always fun. I love spending time with them, cooking, playing games, and doing pretty much anything with them!
Papa, Grandma, Me, and Maxim
Vavô, Me, and Maxim

Vavó, Me, and Maxim
Today I'm grateful for . . . The Wii. Some of my favorite games to play on there are, Order Up! (a game where you have to cook in a restaurant and please your customers), Mario Kart (one of the best racing games I've ever played with interesting courses), Horse Life Adventures (a game where you create your own horse and train it to race and do different competitions), and Harry Potter Legos (another lego game where you play as a Harry Potter character and defeat evil with different spells).



Today I'm grateful for . . . Fantasya. Fantasya is my favorite book series that I have written. Well, I've written the first two books in the trilogy. It is a series about unicorns who live in a magical land called Fantasya. They live amongst elves, giants, trolls, pegasi, and other creatures. Some of the creatures are evil and some are good, and it's up to the main characters to defeat the evil creatures so Fantasya can be at peace again.

The cover of Fantasya. I had the idea for the cover and my best friend drew it beautifully! :D

Today I'm grateful for . . . creativity. Creativity creates ideas, and ideas create stories, so creativity is important for writers. ;) Creativity is good for anyone, though, because it allows you to be imaginative and have fun.

Photo by foxforag.com


Today I'm grateful for . . . the Civil Wars. No, not the actual wars, the band! It's my favorite band that I discovered through The Hunger Games movie soundtrack and Taylor Swift's song "Safe and Sound," which featured them. My favorite song by them is, "Kingdom Come." They have a really cool, unique sound and have awesome harmony!


 

Thursday, November 22, 2012

30 Days of Gratitude- Day 22

Today I am grateful for . . . the movies. Today for Thanksgiving, our family was going to watch the parade, go out to eat for sushi, and then go and see "Wreck-It Ralph" at the movies. It turns out that no restaurants around here are open, so we are getting enchiladas and a couple pies from the grocery store. We are still doing the parade and the movies though. ;) Some of my favorite movies are:
1. ALL of the "Harry Potter" movies.
2. "The Hunger Games."
3. "The King's Speech."
4. All of the "Back to the Future" movies.
5. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

Photo by shockya.com

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

30 Days of Gratitude- Day 21

Today I am grateful for . . . Butterbeer. The best drink in the universe (and the universe goes on for infinity). Butterbeer was originally invented in the Harry Potter series, so the people at Universal Studios who invented Harry Potter World (the best theme park EVER) decided to make up their own recipe for it. And it was a hit! It's a sweet, butterscotchy, fizzy drink. If you ever go there, be sure to get some!

Photo by jaunted.com

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

30 Days of Gratitude- Day 20

Today I'm grateful for . . . Art. I love to draw, even if I'm not very good at it. I love to be creative and use lots of color. I also love taking art classes with our home school group and seeing my friends' art. I've realized I'm pretty good at drawing things in nature and the heads of anime characters. Legs, arms, hands, and feet? Not so much.

A Picture I Drew Of My Wizard101 Character

Some Random Anime Doodles I Drew (With Flash)

The Same Random Anime Doodles I Drew (Without Flash)