X Factor

I am hooked.
This is way better than American Idol. The singers are awesome, I love the competition between the judges, I like how the singers get mentors, the host is better than Ryan, although he is starting to get annoying. Paula or one of the other judges tries to make a comment and he cuts them off because they are running out of time.

"I just want you to know that I love you both, but I can only pick one, you both are so great and you have definitely grown over time-" (Paula)
"I need a name, Paula." (Host)

Earlier . . .

"And now you can vote on Twitter! You can vote for your favorite contestant and which judge you agree with tonight! Oh and look at that, over 3,000,235 people have tweeted about X Factor! That's 913 tweets a minutes. And it looks like most people disagree with Simon Cowell. Most people agree with L.A. . . ." (Host)

I hate fluff.

Personally, I think Simon has the best group. Three amazingly talented girls. Here's what I think of each contestant:

Rachel Crow: SO SO SO CUTE! :D Thirteen and she can sing like that?!?! She's so serious when she sings and then she's all smiles at the end of the song! :D Bubbly, happy, polite, all the personality traits a singer should have.

Drew: So unique. Again, fourteen but seems way older when she sings. She is also very cute and happy. Simon seems starstruck by her. (She is one of my mom's favorites).

Melanie Amaro: Very very good, but she doesn't sound very different. I am glad that Simon had the sense to bring her back. I'd much rather have her than Thia or Simone. (Simone is pronounced Si-mon-ee to Simon).

Lakoda Rayne: Off key sometimes, but an all girl group that sings country-pop? They could definitely improve and go places.

Stacey Francis: Great voice, stupid song choices. I agree with Simon though, she sounds very good when she's singing more gospel music.

Leroy Bell: He seems like Nicole's favorite. I still can't believe he's 60. He looks and sounds much, much younger. He's awesome.

Josh Krajcik: He's so cool. Normal guy that used to sling burritos. He's rough around the edges and I like that. (So does my mom). He's unique and has a great voice.

Astro: I don't like rap. It's just not my kind of music. But this kid makes me enjoy it when he sings. He writes and memorizes his own music in a week, then he has to perform it. He's so talented for his age. (Did I mention he's 14)?

Chris Rene: I feel like he's up and down. Some weeks he's good, others he's just off. Not my favorite contestant, but he isn't bad.

Marcus: He's awesome! :D He dances and sings and I think it's cool that his mom gave him two years and this was his last chance, and he made it! :D So cool.

I love this show and look forward to it every week! :D

Randomness . . . AGAIN! :D

-I'm doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the THIRD year in a row! :D My word goal is 35,000 words. Last year was 20,000 (but I wrote a 40,000 word sequel) and the year before that was 10,000. Right now I am at 16,262 words! :D
-My BFF just had a birthday on Friday. She turned twelve. If you want to check out what she did and wish her a happy birthday, go to her blog, Tacos, Dolphins, and Friends.
-My first thought when I woke up a couple days ago: It's 9:00 in the morning and I haven't even gotten up yet. Most kids would be in their first or second class by now in public school. Ah, I love homeschooling! :D
-Speaking of homeschooling, I'm sitting here in my pajamas at 9:50 in the morning. I haven't even had breakfast yet! :D But I have spent the past hour and a half writing my NaNoWriMo novel! :D I'll post an excerpt on here later.
-Ok, I lied. I'll put an excerpt on here now! :D My book is called "A Cherry Pie, an Iguana, a Silver Dollar, and a Spitball Fight". Here's the first chapter.


Who knew that a cherry pie, an iguana, a silver dollar, and a spitball fight could change the fate of the world?
My name is Stephanie Finkle, and yes, I am the reason that the world is now doomed. Well, unless my best friend, Ivy, and I do something about it.
Ivy and I were walking home from school (we’re neighbors and the school is only a couple blocks from home).
“Hey,” Ivy said. “Want to come to my house? My mom just baked a cherry pie. We could each have a slice and watch a movie or something.”
“Didn’t you buy Tangled on DVD?” I asked. Tangled was one of my favorite movies, but my mom said we couldn’t afford ‘extras’ right now.
“Yes!” Ivy said excitedly. She bounced up and down slightly, showing her enthusiasm. “We just got it, like, two days ago. It’s still in the plastic, we’d be the first to watch it!”
“Ok,” I said. “My mom doesn’t get home till nine. But I should get back home around five so I could eat dinner.” My mom works as a real estate agent, and she’s been needing to stay later than usual recently.
“You could stay for dinner,” Ivy said, waving a hand. “My mom always makes more than she needs to whenever she cooks, and she loves you. You’re like a second daughter to her.”
She’s like a second mom to me. I thought. But I didn’t say it out loud. I didn’t want to embarrass Ivy.
“Thanks!” I said. “What are your brothers up to?”
“Max and Charlie? Who knows what they’re up to. Max is probably playing some RPG computer game and Charlie is probably playing with his Star Wars doll collection.”
They were really Star Wars action figures, but Ivy loved to make fun of his collection. She was just jealous because he collected something and she didn’t.
We came to the big farmhouse that Ivy lived in. Ivy turned the doorknob and walked in. The Smith’s always leave their door unlocked. I don’t know why.
“I’m home, Mom!” Ivy called. I followed her into the living room.
“Hi, Sweetie!” I heard Mrs. Smith’s voice coming from the kitchen. “I’m making enchilada soup.”
I did a silent cheer inside my head. Enchilada soup was one of my favorite foods.
We walked into the kitchen.
“Awesome!” Ivy said. “That’s Stephanie’s favorite.”
Mrs. Smith was dumping multiple chicken pieces into a pot of boiling hot water. She turned her head at the mention of my name.
“Oh, Stephanie!” She said excitedly. “How are you?”
She came over and gave me a hug. We were very comfortable with each other. Ivy’s family was practically part of my family.
“Good. Thanks.”
“Did Ivy tell you we just got Tangled on DVD?” She asked.
I smiled.
“Yeah, she did. I can’t wait to see it again.”
“I can’t believe you’re not sick of it yet!” Ivy said. “You’ve been to it in the movies about five times.”
That was partly true. I had seen it three maybe four times. But I did keep spending my allowance to see it over and over.
“I made a cherry pie last night,” She said. “Feel free to have a slice.”
“Thanks,” I said.
Ivy was already getting out two plates and two forks.
“You can go ahead to my room,” Ivy said. “You know it’s down the hall, right?” She joked. I had been going to her house since I was in preschool.
I started down the hall. Each kid had their own room right next to each other. Charlie’s room was across from Max’s room and Ivy’s room was next to Charlie’s.
I couldn’t resist peeking into Max’s room. The door was slightly opened. I peered into the crack.
Max was talking into a walkie-talkie. There was a straw lying next to him on the hardwood flooring.
“So, a spitball fight in an hour?” Max said. Charlie’s voice came out a second later.
“Yeah,” Charlie said. “That’ll give us time to train and find paper to use.”
“Roger that.”
Max stood up and walked towards the door. I walked quickly into Ivy’s room and leaned the door shut.
“Hey, Iggy,” I said in a baby voice. Iggy was Ivy’s pet iguana. He was currently in his tank, but I lifted the lid to pet him. Iggy didn’t do much, but Ivy loved him just the same.
The door banged open. I turned around, thinking it was Max trying to make as much noise as possible, but it was Ivy. She had kicked the door open with her foot since she wasn’t able to, with her hands full.
“Pie’s ready!"
I replaced Iggy’s tank lid and Ivy handed me my slice of warm cherry pie with whipped cream. I took a bit and sighed. Ivy’s mom was such a good cook. I wished my mom had that sort of time. Instead, I was stuck eating TV dinners. That’s why I loved dinner at Ivy’s house so much.
Ivy popped in the disc and the movie started. We watched for about an hour, and then we heard nails scratching on wood flooring and the fork on my plate being moved.
I turned around and gave a squeal.
“How-tank-Iggy?”
Iggy was on the ground, eating the remains of my cherry pie. Ivy had noticed too. We were both too stunned to do anything. Iggy had never gotten out of his tank before. He must’ve smelled the pie and wanted to eat it. But how he got out was a mystery.
“How did he get out?” Ivy’s voice was high pitched and nervous. “We need to figure this out. Because if he can get out, that’s not good. He could hurt himself!”
I could imagine someone switching a light bulb on in my brain.
“I was petting Iggy earlier,” I said. “Before you got the pie. Maybe I didn’t put the lid back on right.”
Ivy let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness. That’s probably how he got out.”
“Um, we should probably chase him now,” I suggested as Iggy took off down the hallway.
“Right.”
Ivy jumped up and I followed her. Iggy was already in the kitchen. Man, could that iguana move! Ivy slipped on one of Max’s socks on the kitchen floor (he was such a slob) but got right back up. Iggy was out of sight.
“Iggy,” I called. “Iggy, where are you?”
Max and Charlie ran out of their rooms, each armed with a straw and a handful of small paper balls. They started sucking them and loading them into the straw, shooting them at each other. The spitball fight had begun.
“There’s Iggy!” Ivy said. Iggy had tried to hide under the table in the living room, where Max and Charlie were mercilessly shooting spitballs at each other.
Ivy ran and dived for Iggy, but tripped over a book that Max left out. (Max!) The whole scene slowed down to slow motion right before my very eyes. Ivy fell sideways, toppling into Charlie. Charlie fell backwards into the bookshelf behind him and their mom’s special silver dollar resting on the top shelf rocked back and forth on the edge of the shelf procariously. There was a sharp intake of breath. It stopped rocking and we let out a breath. Then it fell.
The silver dollar fell and hit the ground, at the exact moment Mrs. Smith walked in the room, and broke in two.
Four heads (including mine) swiveled to face Mrs. Smith. Her face was frozen in a look of shock, her mouth hanging open.
“I’m so sorry, Mom!” Ivy said. “It was my fault. I know that silver dollar was special to you.” Ivy’s great-grandmother had given the silver dollar to Mrs. Smith when she was a little girl.
“I’m sure you didn’t do it on purpose, Honey,” Mrs. Smith said. “But it’s not just a special token I got from my grandmother.”
Ivy looked puzzled. I was definitely confused. It was just an ordinary silver dollar.
“What do you mean?” Ivy asked.
Mrs. Smith walked over and sat down on the couch.
“Everyone sit down,” She said. “This is going to take a while.”
I sat down on the chair next to the couch. Ivy sat next to her mom while Charlie and Max sat down on the couch opposite of Mrs. Smith.
“There’s really no other way to explain this,” She said. “So I’ll just come right out with it.” She took a deep breath and said. “I’m a wizard.”
“What?” Ivy, Charlie, Max, and I said at the same time.
“I am a wizard,” She repeated.
“Why didn’t you ever tell us?” Ivy asked.
“Well, kids aren’t normally supposed to know if their parents are wizards, because it’s easier to let the secret slip to someone else when you’re younger. And you can’t let a secret like this slip to anyone outside the family.”
I blushed and shrank back in my seat.
“Oh no!” She said hurriedly. “It’s ok for you to know, I trust you.”
I didn’t say anything but I smiled.
“Anyway,” She said. “That silver dollar was entrusted to me by my grandmother. My grandmother was also a wizard. I got the magic from her. A long time ago, back when my grandmother was a little girl, there was an evil wizard named Wizatar. His plan was to take over the world. But one day, he was defeated by another wizard by the name of Merlin.”
“What?” Charlie exclaimed. “He exists?”
“Existed,” Mrs. Smith corrected him. “He was very old when he defeated Wizatar. 612 to be exact. Wizards can live to be very old since they are magical, but look not a day older than 40. I myself am a 150.”
“No wonder you look so good,” I blurted out. I immediately wished I hadn’t. That was a little embarrassing.
Mrs. Smith smiled.
“You flatter me,” She said honestly. “But we are getting off the subject. Anyway, Merlin defeated Wizatar. Wizatar didn’t die, but his powers were sealed away in this silver dollar. It has been passed down for generations, and I was the most recent one to get it.”
“So, you’re related to Merlin?” Max asked.
“Yes,” She said.
“Sweet!” Charlie pumped his fist in the air. “I’m related to Merlin!”
“Does this mean we’re wizards?” Ivy asked excitedly.
“I don’t know for sure,” Mrs. Smith said. “But it is always possible for the children of a wizard to have magical powers, too.”
“I still don’t understand everything,” I said. “Why is it such a big deal that the silver dollar broke?”
“Well, since Wizatar’s powers were being stored in there, and it broke, the powers have been returned back to him.”
Ivy gasped.
“So that means-?”
Mrs. Smith nodded.
“Wizatar is going to try to take over the world again.”
“Is there any way we can stop it?” I asked hopefully.
“There is one way,” She said. “The only way it can be fixed is to get the magic glue. But that is nearly impossible. Even though Merlin put a spell on it so Wizatar wouldn’t be able to destroy it, it’s going to be very hard for anyone to get it.”
“Where is it?” Max asked.
“On the top of the empire state building.”
“In New York?” Max asked with a strained look on his face as though he was thinking hard.
“No, Max,” Ivy said. “It’s in Minnesota. Of course it’s in New York!”
“Why is it going to be so hard to get?” I wondered.
“Because Wizatar has hundreds of wizard servants working for him. They will know immediately that some wizard is going to try and get it.”
“Couldn’t we get it?” I asked. “Ivy and I could try and get it. If Ivy is possibly a wizard, it would be really easy. She’d have magical powers and everything!”
Mrs. Smith laughed.
“You underestimate our abilities,” She said. “Learning spells and using magic takes years of training and practice. Ivy has had no experience whatsoever in magic. Even if she was a wizard, she wouldn’t know how to cast any spells.”
I hung my head in disappointment.
“But,” Mrs. Smith second-guessed herself. “Wizatar would never guess that two thirteen-year-old girls would go and try to get the magic glue. And I have to alert the wizard world anyway. I could have different wizards meet you along the way.”
She looked back and forth between Ivy and me.
“Ok,” She said. “You two can go and get the glue.”
“Yes!” I cheered.
“What about us?” Charlie demanded, standing up. Max copied him and stood up, his arms crossed.
“Yeah. What about us?”
“You’re too young,” Mrs. Smith said. “Even if you are possibly wizards.”
“How am I going to figure out if I’m a wizard or not?” Ivy asked.
“At some point in your life if you are a wizard, magic will show itself,” Mrs. Smith said.
“You said you would get different wizards to meet us along the way,” I said to Mrs. Smith.
“Yes?”
“How are you going to do that, how are the wizards going to know what we look like, and how will we know if different people we see are wizards or not?”
“Very good questions,” She said. “There’s a website online that only wizards can access by typing in a password in on the computer. I’ll put a post there explaining the situation and I’ll put pictures of both of you on there so wizards will know what you look like. Then, if a wizard sees you, they’ll do the special wizard sign for ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’.”
“What’s the wizard sign?” Ivy asked.
Mrs. Smith held up three fingers.
“That’s it?” Max said. “I was expecting something more exciting.”
“Well if it were very exciting, it would be very obvious, and wizards need to be subtle so the secret doesn’t spread. That could be a disaster. You can’t have too many non-magical folk meddling in magic. Anyway, if a wizard sees you, they’ll do the wizard sign. Then they can give you some advice, or help you along your journey.”
“How are we going to get to New York?” I asked.
“I’ll give you two my credit card. You can use it to get cab rides, hotel rooms, and food. Nothing more,” She said with finality in her voice, eyeing Ivy’s malicious grin.
The microwave timer beeped.
“Oh!” Mrs. Smith jumped up from the couch. “The soup is ready. Ivy, go get your father. He’s taking a nap in our room.”


··········

After eating dinner with the Smith’s, Ivy and I talked in her room and made matching necklaces. We finished our movie, and before we knew it, it was time for me to go home.
“Thanks for dinner, Mrs. Smith,” I said as I walked out the door, lifting my backpack higher.
“My pleasure,” She assured us. “By the way, let your mom know that you’re going to go on vacation with us in New York for about a week.”
She winked at me. I winked back.
“See you tomorrow, Ivy,” I called.
I waved an Ivy waved back. I walked five steps down the sidewalk and up the front walk of my house. My mom wasn’t home yet, so I used my spare key.
Exhausted, I trudged down the hall into my room, flopped down onto my bed fully clothed, and fell asleep.

-I'm taking a six week horse class! :D I know how to ride a horse all by myself. I can steer it, walk it, trot it, stop it, groom it, and tack it! :D Kirsten (my BFF) is my horse partner. We both ride a brown and white horse called Rain. She's a trouble maker, but she's SUPER sweet! :D Next week is the last week. :( But we get to go on a trail ride! :D
-I'm trying to turn my NaNoWriMo book from last year, "Fantasya: A Giant Problem", into a play. SUPER tricky! I'm used to dialogue and detail, not shortening a book. Plus, I have a LOT of characters.
-I dressed up as Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter for Halloween. Hermione's my favorite character, but I already dressed up as her. I had spectra specs, a wig, radish earrings, robes, a wand, a tote bag, a Quibbler magazine (I made it! :D ), a butterbeer cork necklace, and I even had new sneakers that looked sort of like the Converse they wear in the movies! :D
-Our home school group has an art class we take every two weeks. A month ago I painted a scene with trees in it that can go in and out of a plastic mug. Yesterday, I painted a leaf on a coaster to go with it! :D
-I've been working on drawing Anime. None of them have turned out half as well as the ones my friend, Emily, has drawn.
-Oh yeah, my brother Maxim has been trying too. :)
-We have 20 Things Club tonight. It's research club my mom set up for our home school group. We pick a topic (sometimes it's a certain topic, like an animal or an author), then we look up 20 facts about that topic. Sometimes we share five or ten facts with the group, sometimes all of the facts! :D The topic for this month is a place we'd like to visit. (My friend Jake was going to do 20 things about a street we drive on to get to the park, but he's not sure if he'll be able to pull it off). I have to do a report on Italy for a Cultural Studies project I'm doing with my BFF, Kirsten, and her sister, Avery, so I'm doing 20 things on Italy! :D I do want to go there. All that yummy food . . . *drools*. I'm also making Pesto Pasta for the food to share and Kirsten and Avery are making Ziti.

Tacos, Dolphins, and Friends and Greenhorse101

Hi Everyone!
Two of my friends recently got blogs! Here are the links:
Tacos, Dolphins, and Friends (This is my best friend's blog). :D
Greenhorse101 (This is my best friend's sister's blog).
Have fun! :D

Funny Videos

My brother and I have been making funny videos on my camera. Using a tripod, we've acted out action adventures, a talk show, and two "Space Wars"! :D They're hilarious. Here they are!

This first one isn't perfect, but it's still pretty funny! It's called "The Swamp King". (Our heads get cut off in the video).




This is our second attempt at "The Swamp King". It's a lot better.





And finally, our last attempt at "The Swamp King". This one is the best in my opinion!






"Kate's Talk Show" starring Steve McCool, the main actor in the new adventure movie "Action Overload".






"Space Wars: An Old Hope". (A spoof on Star Wars).






"Space Wars: Dart Trooper vs. Luke Piewalker".

Names

Have you ever wondered what your name or another person's name means and looked it up? My name means pure hearted, which is very true. These are some of my favorite girl names that have cool meanings. I plan to use them in my books.

Audrey-Noble Strength
Bella, Arabella-Beautiful
Bertha-Bright
Bridget-Strength or "The High One"
Callixta-Most Beautiful
Calliope-Lovely Voice
Catherine, Katherine, Kathryn, Catharine, Kathleen, Caitlyn, Cait, Katrina, Katie, Kate, etc.-Pure Hearted
Clara-Bright, Shining
Clelia-Victorious
Delphine-Dolphin
Diana-Divine
Edna-Enjoyment, Pleasure
Eleanor-Light
Electra-Beaming Sun
Esmerelda-Emerald
Estella-Star
Esther-Star
Eve-Life
Faith-Belief
Flora-Flower
Gloriana-Glory
Grace-Grace (That's one's kind of obvious). ;)
Helen-Light
Hester-Star
Hyppolyta-Horses
Irene-Peace
Iris-Rainbow
Jemima-Dove
Joyce, Joy-Joy (That one's also very obvious).
Lily-Lily (Same with this one).
Lucy-Light
Mabel-Lovable
Margaret-Pearl
Morgan-Great, Bright
Nadya-Hope
Nancy-Grace
Narsissa-Daffodil (This seems strange to me. Narcissa Malfoy isn't a very pleasant woman). :/
Nora-Light
Pansy-Pansy
Pearl-Pearl
Peggy-Pearl
Phoebe-Bright, Shining
Rose-Rose
Serena-Calm
Selena-Moon
Shirley-Bright, Clearing
Sophia-Wisdom
Stella-Star
Susan-Lily
Thea-Goddess
Victorine-Victroy
Violet-Purple
Winifred-Blessed, Peacemaking
Zoe-Life

I also have a list (that is still growing) of names for horses. I write lots of books with horses in it (they're my second favorite animal) so I need to have a list handy. (My first favorite animal is a dog).

Chocolate-Girl-Brown Horse
Cocoa-Girl-Brown Horse
Misty-Girl-Gray Horse
Dream-Girl-Brown Horse (Just a little fun fact, Bay is another word for brown when talking about horses).
Storm-Boy-Gray Horse
Wonder-Girl-Bay Horse
Pride-Boy-Bay Horse (Another fun fact, Bays are my favorite color on horses. They're so pretty)! :D
Glory-Boy-Gray Horse
Sterling-Boy-Gray Horse
Pirate-Boy-Black Horse
Tribulation (or Trib for short)-Boy-Gray Horse
Perfection-Boy-Bay Horse
Stone-Boy-Gray Horse
Bella-Girl-White Horse
Sweet Daisy-Girl-Bay Horse
Jewel-Girl-White Horse
Shining-Girl-Bay Horse
Cinnamon (or Cinny for short)-Girl-Bay Horse
Buckshot-Boy-Bay Horse
Nizzy-Boy-Gray Horse
Peanut-Girl-Brown and White Horse
Sea Breeze-Girl-Gray Horse
Milky Way-Girl-Black and White Horse
Thunder-Boy-Black Horse
Lightning-Boy-White Horse
Faith-Girl-Bay Horse Horse
Hope-Girl-Bay Horse
Star-Girl-Bay Horse with a Diamond or Star Shape on her Head
Spindleberry (or Spindle for short)-Boy-Gray Horse
Sundance-Girl-White Horse
Butterball-Boy-Chestnut Horse (Chestnut is almost a skin color on horses).
Liberty-Girl-Gray Horse
Snow White (or Snow for short)-Girl-White Horse (Of course). ;)
Beauty-Girl-Bay Horse
Blackie-Girl-Black Horse (Again. Obvious).
Summer-Girl-Chestnut Horse
Autumn-Girl-Bay Horse
Winter-Girl-White Horse
Spring-Girl-White Horse
Merrylegs-Boy-Gray Horse
Ginger-Girl-White Horse
Blackbird-Boy-Black Horse
Pegasus-Girl-White Horse
Flora-Girl-Bay Horse
Frisky-Boy-Black Horse
Celia-Girl-White Horse
Rose-Girl-Bay Horse
Ruby-Girl-Bay Horse
Diamond-Girl-White Horse
Jade-Girl-Gray Horse
Sapphire-Girl-White Horse
Jet-Boy-Black Horse
Magic-Girl-Bay Horse

Like I told you, the list is still growing. :D I've also started reading Black Beauty. I can't believe I've never read it with how obsessed with horses I am. Anyway, that's it. Bye! :D

Random Thoughts and an Ode to Sandals

Hi!
I have some random thoughts. Here they are!

-I just had a bowl of Cookies and Cream ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles! Yum!
-Scout just threw up. :( Poor puppy.
-I found this awesome new blog that belongs to a girl in Australia! :D She's really cool, nerdy, funny, likes Harry Potter, and believes in fairies. It's called Redpunzel. (She has red hair).
-I have a bunch of cute pictures I want to post on here soon. A few of them are pictures of Scout when she got a haircut. (Her second haircut ever. It looked a LOT better than the first one).
-I want sushi . . .
-We're going to start school tomorrow! :D I'm so excited!
-Our school room looks really neat. We've spent the entire week cleaning it. (With some Modern Family episode, Catchphrase, and Taboo breaks). ;)
-I found this old writing notebook I wrote in last year in March. There are some pretty funny poems and other things in it. Here's one I wrote using my first name: Kate's A Tiger Eating.
-Here's a song I wrote (It's to the tune of Happy Birthday To You) called Eenky Tinky Tee Chee: Eenky Tinky Tee Chee! Eenky Tinky Tee Chee! Eenky Tinky Tee Cheeeeeeeeeee! Eenky Tinky Tee Chee!
-Our family watched some of the 9/11 memorials yesterday. It was so sad. :( I cried after finishing one of them.
-How can someone be so full of hate?
-The I.N.C.H planning meeting was yesterday. Park days are almost over. But the plan for this year looks like a lot of fun! :D
-I love to roller skate and ice skate.
-Lazer tag is also a lot of fun! :D
-Especially unlimited lazer tag.
-I like to make up my own smiley faces. Here are a couple: =) :D ;D :O) (That one is a clown). :oP (That one is a dog).
-I'm going to test for my high blue belt in Tae Kwon Do. Wish me luck! :D

Ok, that's enough random thoughts.

In that old writing notebook I was telling you about, my mom found something titled "An Ode to Sandals." I wrote about my sandals that didn't fit me anymore. Here it is:

Farewell, dear sandals,
You were a good friend to me. You got wet in the morning dew with me. We went to the pool together. We ran through sprinklers and got hit by water balloons. But soon you got too small. My feet got sweaty and my toes cramped. Now as my dog chews you, I bid adieu.
You will always be in my heart. Good bye, dear sandals. I will miss you.
Love, your dear friend forever,
Kate:) xoxo

I'll be sure to post those cute pictures I was telling you about. Bye! :D

Quizzes

Hi Everyone!
I recently discovered this new website called Quizilla. It's a site where you can get an account and make your own quizzes for the world to check out. So far I've made five quizzes and two tests. Have fun! :D

What Color Are You? (I'm yellow).

How Well Do You Know Harry Potter? (A Test) (I've gotten 100% on most of the Harry Potter quizzes I've taken).

Which Winx Club Fairy Are You? (Girls Only!) (Winx Club is a cartoon I watch. I'm Bloom).

What Animal Are You? (Girls Only!) (I know it says girls only, but boys can do it, too. It's just geared towards girls. I'm a puppy).

What is my Birth Date? (A Test) (This one will be pretty easy for most of you).

Fantasya A Giant Problem What Character Are You? (Fantasya is a book I wrote). (I'm Cassandra but I have some Cecilia in me).

What Scout Mood Are You In Right Now? (This one is great to take once a day to figure out what mood you're in each day. So far, I've been in the begging mood and the leave me alone mood).

Please comment your results for each quiz. Thanks! :)

Prologue of a Story I'm Working On (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Give Criticism)

Hello Everyone!
I'm working on a story called "Archers of the Sky". Here is the prologue. (PLEASE give criticism).

Prologue

Tarice was sitting cross-legged, hovering ever so slightly above the ground, eyes closed in deep thought.
Suddenly, an image burst clear into her head; A tall, skinny girl, with waist-length black hair running through the woods, panting.
Tarice opened her eyes and gasped. She fell over backwards, knocking over a chair. For a moment, she was so shocked, she couldn’t breathe.
Hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. Someone knocked.
“Tarice? Tarice! Are you ok?” the voice called.
Tarice sat up slowly and finally caught her breath. The door opened as she stood up and placed the chair back where it belonged.
“Tarice?” The girl walked in with a worried expression. “Are you ok?”
“I’m fine, Lydia,” Tarice said. “Just a little stunned, that’s all.”
“What is it?” She asked. She seemed curious.
“I haven’t sensed anything for some time. But now, I have.”
Lydia gasped and clapped her hand to her mouth.
“Are you sure?” She asked excitedly. “We haven’t had a trainee for ages. So many humans have lost the will to believe.”
Tarice nodded. “I’m sure. I was meditating when the image flashed in my mind. There is a girl in Virginia who deep down believes.”
Tarice looked straight into Lydia’s eyes.
“Lydia, I need you to alert the Queen right away. We can’t let the Storm Archers find this girl. Her power seems much stronger than other trainees in the past. Go.”
“Right away, Tarice.” Lydia hurried out of the room.
Tarice looked out the window into the stormy sky.
“She may be our only hope.”

X Factor: Semi Finals

It really is time to face the music now. ;)

Marcus Canty: He sang a Boyz to Men song. L.A. signed them.

Eh. He's been very boring and blah lately. He was off the whole time and just BORING. He needs to do something different. There isn't much to say except that (as far as I can tell) Nicole didn't forget her pants this time. She didn't stand up, so I couldn't really tell.

Simon called the dancers "Zombie Dancers" just like I did WAY earlier in the competition! :D Maybe he's been reading my reviews . . . ;)

Chris Rene: His song was fun and up tempo, but he was a little off. I liked his song better than Marcus's, though. It was also a little forgettable. I wrote this post a day later than the competition and I already forget what he sang!

TOO MANY DANCERS!!! :O One was definitely a clown . . .

The crowd keeps booing at Nicole, no matter WHAT she says. Everyone's mad at her because she made it a deadlock last week and America sent Rachel home. :P I feel bad for her . . .

Melanie Amaro: She's very good, but it was so boring and predictable. She's AMAZING, but boring. Powerful, but predictable. I wish Drew were still on the show . . . At least Josh and Chris will make things interesting.

Josh Krajcik: He sang a Beatles song again! :D I love the raspy part of his voice. He and Chris are the most unique and different singers in the competition. I didn't like the flames that would appear every so often, though. Nicole and Paula were dancing the whole time. It was like they were at a concert. He's AWESOME! :D

Marcus Canty: I can tell he felt badly about Rachel going home. I could also tell that he really loves his mom. ;)

Another slow song with a dance beat. :P It was really cheesy. Strobe lights, female dancers, fireworks, MORE confetti, and a dance beat all rolled into onee big block of CHEESE. And he didn't even sing it well! You would've thought he had just won the finale with all of those extra effects.

Chris Rene: HE PLAYS PIANO, TOO?!?!?!

He looked really cool singing in his suit at the piano. That was WAY better than his first song. He was really good. There weren't as many dancers, which was good. It was REALLY, REALLY good.

Melanie Amaro: She did, "Feelling Good," which is really different for her. I love this song! :D And she did the Michael Bublé version, which I love even more! :D I'm glad she did something different. It was awesome. All the judges were on their feet.

Josh Krajcik: HALLELUJAH! :D I LOVE this song! Lee Dewyze (winner of American Idol) did an awesome version of this song, and Lee reminds me of Josh. Both underdogs, and both awesome. Josh is TOTALLY going to win. Paula was in tears. That was PHENOMENAL. Awesome close to the show.

Prediction: Marcus HAS to go home. He HAS to. He's stunk the past few weeks and he's been in the bottom two THREE times, already.

Comments: The Finale's next week! :D I'm SO excited! :D Josh is so going to win.

Even MORE comments: Marcus did go home. :D

A Lengthened Version of the Story In My Post Called "Short Story"

I'm going to try to put this story in a magazine. Please give me suggestions and comments. Thanks!

The ghost was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Well, it was just a jelly sandwich. The ghost, named Casper, had forgotten the peanut butter.
“Oh no!” Casper exclaimed. “I forgot something!”
“What did you forget, honey?” Casper’s mom, Catherine, floated in worriedly. She was in the middle of getting her makeup on. Only her top lip had red lipstick.
Casper frowned.
“I forgot the peanut butter on my sandwich. Do we have any left?”
Catherine shook her head.
“Sorry, sweetie. I used up all the peanut butter on the peanut butter cookies.”
Casper scowled at the cookies on the counter for ruining his sandwich.
Casper sighed as his mother floated back towards her bedroom. What was he going to do? He was very hungry, but all he wanted was a good old PB&J sandwich.
Casper suddenly had an idea. He grabbed one of his mother’s peanut butter cookies and spread the grape jelly on top of it. Then he put the cookie in between two slices of bread. But as soon as Casper tasted it, he spit it out into the sink.
“Bleck!” he sputtered. “Peanut butter cookies and grape jelly do not go well together!” Casper threw out the sandwich.
“What was that?” Catherine called from her bedroom. “Did you call me?”
“No, mom! I’m just trying to make my sandwich without using peanut butter!”
“Good luck with that.”
Casper tried again to make his sandwich.
Casper scooped up a handful of peanuts and dumped them into a bowl. He mashed them with a potato masher.
The peanuts had only mashed half way, but they would not mash any more. Casper put the partially mashed peanuts in between another two slices of bread spread with grape jelly. Casper tried the sandwich, but it just wasn’t the same as all the way mashed peanuts. So he threw out that sandwich, too.
Casper decided to try one last time to make his sandwich without peanut butter.
Casper took out his mother’s favorite kind of butter. Apple butter. He spread the apple butter and the grape jelly on another two slices of bread. He put the apple butter away and tried the sandwich.
“It’s just not the same,” Casper sighed. He threw out his sandwich.
“Casper!” Casper’s mom came floating down the stairs. “We’re going to the Ghostery Store.”
“Ok, mom.”
Casper went outside and got into the car. Not long after that, he and Catherine drove off.
Casper unbuckled his seat belt as Catherine parked the car in the parking lot. They floated inside.
“What’s on the Ghostery list?” Casper asked. He loved to help out with the shopping.
“We need apples, noodles, green beans, potatoes, and celery.”
“We also need peanut butter,” Casper reminded his mom.
“Right. Peanut butter.” She took a pen out of her purse and wrote it down on the list.
“How about I give you half the list and I take the other half. Ok?”
“Ok.”
Catherine tore the list in half and gave one half to Casper.
“I’ll meet you at the self-checkout counter.”
“Ok. Bye!”
So Casper went off to find the potatoes, celery, and peanut butter. The potatoes and celery were easy. There’s only one kind of those. But the peanut butter was harder. Should he go chunky or smooth? Skippy or Jif? Small jar or large jar?
Finally he decided to go with a large jar of smooth Skippy peanut butter. Casper floated off to the self-checkout counter where his mom was waiting.
Catherine took the food, scanned them, paid for them, and took the receipt.
“Let’s go home, now. It’s almost dinner time.”
“Yes! And now I can make my peanut butter and jelly sandwich!” Casper was excited.
Casper and Catherine drove to their house. Casper leaped out of the car and floated inside very fast.
“Uh-oh,” Casper said as he got out the peanut butter and the bread. “I’ve got a problem.”
“What’s the matter?” Catherine asked.
“I used up all the jelly.”

Pictures

This last picture I drew.
:)

Storm Crow

Hi everyone!
I'm writing a new book called Storm Crow. Here is the first chapter. Please post a comment afterward and tell me what you think. (I'm open to compliments, suggestions, and criticism of any kind. Please be honest. :) )

Chapter 1
Bubo’s Gift

Corvus flew into the chilly night air. His mother Corax had finally realized that Corvus was ready to discover his magic power hidden within.
Corvus dove straight down into the cornfield to find a bite to eat.
After he had eaten his fill, Corvus took to the skies again. He searched and searched for the king of his village, but could not find the hollow tree stump.
Bubo, the Great Gray owl lived in that poor, lost, hollow tree stump; the king of all birds in the land of Specianus.
Just then, a loud hoooooo pierced the silent night air. It was Bubo, the King of Specianus. But no matter how hard Corvus looked, he could not find the hollow tree stump. Corvus needed to find Bubo if Bubo was to give Corvus his magic power.
Hoooooooooo. The soft owl hoot was starting to crescendo. Corvus was getting nearer.
HOOOOOOOOOO. Now Corvus could see it. The hollow tree stump. He gracefully arched his back into a dive.
Corvus landed softly into the tall grass. He walked around the tree stump until he found a small hole just the right size for a Great Gray owl. Corvus stepped inside.
“Hello?” Corvus called. “Hello?” There was no answer. Just then, a small white mouse scurried out from behind a piece of bark. “Excuse me,” Corvus asked the mouse. “But do you speak my language?” Corvus had never seen a mouse before. The white mouse stared into Corvus’s black eyes.
“I guess not,” Corvus sighed. “Now how am I supposed to find Bubo?”
A puff of dust flew into the air as a coughing gray owl came into view.
“Sorry about that,” The owl said. “Allergies. I believe you were looking for me?”
“Bubo!” Corvus gasped. Corvus sank into a deep bow.
“Oh, pish posh!” Bubo waved an impatient wing. “Let’s get down to business.”
“My mother Corax advised that I search for my magic power,” Corvus explained. “She said I had ‘come of age.’ But I don’t know what that means.”
The old owl stared curiously into Corvus’s eyes.
“How old are you, Corvus?” he asked.
“Fifteen.”
“Yes,” Bubo said nodding. “Yes. Your mother would know.”
“Know what?” Corvus asked.
“Your mother knew that it wasn’t safe for you gain your magic power until you were fifteen. Most crows gain their magic powers at ten or eleven but you’re different.”
“How am I different?”
“You are a crow, not a raven. Most birds that live in Specianus are ravens. But when you hatched, everyone knew right away that you were different. Any crows born into Specianus have different magic powers. More powerful powers. That’s why you have to get your powers at fifteen instead of ten or eleven. If a crow gains their magic powers too early, it will eventually destroy them.”
“How come I have a more powerful magic power?” Corvus was interested.
“Long ago before even I existed, Specianus was much smaller and much more dangerous. At that time a crow named Maximus ruled Specianus. Maximus was a brilliant and powerful crow. The first crow ever to walk the lands. Maximus was also very kind. He used to be the only bird in Specianus that had magical powers. So ever since Maximus ruled Specianus, the magical powers have been passed down from leader to leader. Each bird has a magic power locked inside their heart. But they cannot use that power unless the current leader unlocks it. It’s almost as if the leader is a key that can be used to unlock a secret.”
“Can you unlock my power?” Corvus asked pleadingly.
Bubo nodded.
“Yes. We need more birds with magical powers to protect Specianus from the monstrous animals that walk these lands. They are well hidden. You must be on your guard.”
Corvus nodded.
“I will. I’d just be more useful if I had magic powers to protect others and myself. My mother Corax said that when she was eleven she searched for you, but met my father Caley along the way. They mated and had me but my father was killed by a fox. Now my mother needs protection and I’m the only person she’s got left.”
“I will unlock your magic power. But first you must swear upon the Sacred Oak Tree that you will use your powers for good and only good.”
Corvus nodded enthusiastically. “I swear.”
Bubo chuckled.
“I appreciate your energy. We need more hard working birds like you.” He shook his head, still laughing softly. “I guess that’s just the kind of energy you get when you’re a crow.”
Bubo closed his eyes and spread his wings. He began to chant in his owlish language. He spread out his wings towards Corvus and moved them around slowly, still chanting.
Corvus’s body began to glow, radiating a brilliant light that filled the hollow stump with a magical energy. And then all at once, it stopped.
Corvus teetered a little, dazed by recent events. Bubo steadied him.
“Whoa,” Corvus breathed. “That was awesome. What kind of power do I have, now?”
Bubo shrugged his wings.
“I can’t say for sure. I can never figure out the power that I unlock exactly, but I know one thing. Your power is, well, powerful. Using it could be very risky. It could end in harmony and peace, or destruction and disaster.”
Corvus shivered.
“Never use your power unless absolutely necessary. Using it non-stop will weaken it over time and make it harder to control. You should know what I mean by absolutely necessary.”
Corvus nodded slowly.
Bubo’s coughing fit returned.
“I’m sorry,” Bubo said apologetically. “My allergies are flaring up again.”
“I’ll leave then, sir,” Corvus said. He turned to go. “Thanks, again!”
Bubo waved. “No problem. Tell your mother hello!”
Corvus leaped into the air and flapped his jet-black wings and took off into the starry night.

A Poem for My Mom

This is a poem,
All about you.
You make me smile,
Even when I'm blue.
You make things special for our family,
Every night, every day,
And this is a poem where I want to say,
Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

I love you, Mommy. :)

A Short Story

I recently made a short story out of a writing exercise about a ghost. Here it is!

The ghost was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Well, it was just a jelly sandwich. The ghost, named Casper, had forgotten the peanut butter.

“Oh no!” Casper exclaimed. “I just realized something!”

“What did you just realize, honey?” Casper’s mom floated in worriedly.

“I just realized that I forgot the peanut butter for my sandwich,” Casper explained. “Do we have any peanut butter left?”

“Sorry, Casper. I used up the rest of the peanut butter for the peanut butter cookies.”

Casper sighed as his mother floated back towards her bedroom. What was he going to do? He was very hungry, but all he wanted was a good old PB&J sandwich.

Casper suddenly had an idea. He grabbed one of his mother’s peanut butter cookies and spread the grape jelly on top of it. Then he put the cookie in between two slices of bread. But as soon as Casper tasted it, he spit it out into the sink.

“Blech!” he sputtered. “Peanut butter cookies and grape jelly do not go well together!” Casper threw out the sandwich.

So Casper decided to try a new method of making a PB&J sandwich. He scooped up a handful of peanuts and put them into a bowl and started to mash them with a potato masher thing. Casper couldn’t remember the name of it. The peanuts had only mashed half way, but they would not mash any more. Casper put the partially mashed peanuts in between another two slices of bread spread with grape jelly. Casper tried the sandwich, but it just wasn’t the same as all the way mashed peanuts. So he threw out that sandwich, too.

Casper decided to try one last time to make his sandwich without peanut butter.

Casper took out his mother’s favorite kind of butter. Apple butter. He spread the apple butter and the grape jelly on another two slices of bread. He put the apple butter away and tried the sandwich.

“It’s just not the same,” Casper sighed. He threw out his sandwich.

Just then, his mother came home with a grocery bag.

“Guess what?” She said with a cheerful smile. “I bought some peanut butter for you!”

Casper’s frown slowly turned into a smile as she took out the jar.

“Yay!” He said with glee. “Thank you!” He hugged his mom but then frowned again.

“But, there’s only one problem,” Casper said. “I used up the jelly.”

:)

My "Artwork"

I decided to put some of my recent "artwork" on my blog. I didn't actually draw these pictures on paper, I drew them on this Microsoft program called Paint.


That's all for now! I'll be posting more pictures on here later on. :)

Wordle

Hello everyone!
Our family recently discovered this website called Wordle. It is SO much fun! You go to "Create" on the website, type in a bunch of words about a certain topic you choose and then it will make a cool "word cloud." After you type in the words, you can play with it as much as you want. Once you hit the "Submit" button, you type in your word cloud title, your "username" and (this is optional) you can type a comment about your word cloud. Then you submit it. About three people submit a word cloud every minute! It is SO much fun! Here are a couple of my "word clouds."

























You can click on each of the pictures to make them bigger. Click HERE to try out Wordle.

Have fun! :)

My Winning Poem

I can't believe I didn't post this, but I won last year's library poetry contest! Here is my winning poem.

Farm Animals

Dogs are yapping,
Cats a napping.
Horses neighing,
Also braying.
These are the sounds of the farm.

Chickens squawking,
Also walking.
They’re doing this in the barn.

Roosters crowing,
On the roof.
Acting like a bird alarm.
They’re doing this,
On the barn,
In the farm.

Bye!

Notice

Hi, everyone!
If anyone wants to read more of my story, Fantasya A Giant Problem, please post a comment and I will e-mail it to you.

Part 4 of My Story

Cassandra
Quintuplet Weirdoes

“Oof!” I landed on some grass. What had happened? All I did was poke that flower with my hoof.
“Ouch!” Cornelia had landed next to me. She whimpered in pain. I stood up and walked over.
She had a little bruise. Nothing big. She stood up and looked at me, a little annoyed.
“What’d I do?” I asked. “All I did was touch that flower and now we’re in some other place in Fantasya, or something.”
“Or something,” Cornelia said. “That was an earth flower! It sent us to earth!” She told me all about the earth flower and the magic rock.
“Whoa,” I said. “So, this is Earth?” I looked around. There were things that I had heard about in legends passed down from unicorns that had claimed they had been to Earth. There were cars, and supermarkets, and humans walking down something called a sidewalk.
“Yup,” said Cornelia. “Now what?”
I looked around at all the humans walking with their kids. It must’ve been summer here too. The kids weren’t in human school.
“I think we had better disguise ourselves as humans and start our search for the magic rock.” We both used disguising magic. I disguised myself as a tall, skinny, teenager that had light brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a something called a yellow tank top with blue shorts. I had heard Cornelia’s mom say something about the human clothes here.
Cornelia had disguised herself as a teenager too. She was tall and skinny, but her hair was red and her eyes were green. She had on a lime green skirt with a blue t-shirt. She looked very pretty.
“Let’s go,” she said. We walked down the street looking for a place with lots of rocks. According to Cornelia, the magic rock was boulder sized so we didn’t have to look very hard.
We were walking for a while in silence. I could tell that Cornelia was annoyed with me. Just then, there was a rustle through the hedges that we were passing. We both froze. We turned our heads slowly.
Five kids about the age of 12 jumped out through the bushes.
There were three girls that looked exactly the same. They all had long, straight red hair with blue eyes. Then the boys had the same straight, short black hair with the same dark, brown eyes.
They started doing a little jig right in the middle of the sidewalk.
“I’m Mary!”
“I’m Carrie!”
“I’m Terrie!”
“I’m Larry!”
“I’m Gary!”
They stopped dancing and said at the same time,
“We’re quintuplets!”
“Okay,” I said. “This is weird.”
“We’re not weird!” said Mary.
“Maybe we are!” said Carrie.
“I don’t smell weird,” said Terrie.
“Do you?” said Larry.
“No,” said Gary.
“We’re not weird!” they all said at once.
“Cassie,” said Cornelia.
I ignored her. She was just nervous because they kept acting weird.
“Do you know where we are?” I asked. Maybe even if they acted weird we could get some answers as to where we were.
“Sanfransico of course!” said Mary.
“In California!” said Carrie.
“In the USA!” said Terrie.
“Which is located in the world!” said Larry.
“Which is located in space!” said Gary.
“Cassie,” said Cornelia again. “Can’t you smell them?”
I hadn’t really paid much attention to the smell. I just paid attention to the dancing and the weird answers.
I sniffed.
“Eww!” I said covering my nose.
I stopped.
“Trolls!” I whispered.
“In disguise!” said Cornelia.
“Run?” I said.
“Definitely!” answered Cornelia.
We turned and ran in the opposite direction. The trolls came after us. The trolls weren’t that smart, but they weren’t that slow disguised as humans. It’s a good thing that disguises didn’t change their intelligence.
“Corny!” I said as we ran past passerby staring at us.
“What?” she hissed.
“Let climb up that tree ahead.”
“What!”
“Trust me on this one!”
We ran for the tree and climbed up as fast as we could. The trolls obviously didn’t notice and ran right by.
Cornelia looked at me with a surprised look.
“Weirdoes,” I said. We both laughed.

Part 3 of My Story

Gargamouth
Anger

I was sitting on my throne impatient with one of my troll helpers when a terrified looking troll walked in.
He bowed and stared at me looking very nervous.
“Well?” I growled. I was getting hungry and I was half tempted to gobble him up if he didn’t tell me why he was here. It was very rude to show up in my throne room without an invitation.
“Um, sir, the troll who was keeping an eye on Cassandra the unicorn, the one with the golden horn . . .”
“Yes?” I said. This couldn’t be good.
“Well, she has been accidentally sent to earth with the unicorn Cornelia from an earth flower. Now, well, the only way to reach her is to gather up more trolls and send them to earth by teleporting magic. And you know how trolls or unicorns can’t teleport anywhere without magic dust from a pixie . . .”
I roared. There was no way that I could get near a pixie to get magic dust. Pixies only like girls unless it’s a boy pixie. Now I needed to take control of a unicorn and that meant more work for me! I either had to get a troll to do it or I had to do it myself! Unless . . .
“Tell Gorgina I would like to see her,” I said to the scared looking troll. Gorgina, my wife and queen of Giants, was in a separate throne room giving orders to the girl trolls and elves. I was giving orders to the boy trolls or elves.
“Yes, sir!” said the troll, bowing out of the room and scuttling off.
I settled back into my seat smiling a little. Cassandra and Cornelia wouldn’t stand a chance. Not with me around. I closed my eyes for a little nap while I waited. Those trolls were so slow . . .

Part 2 of My Story

Here is part 2 of my story:

Cornelia
Summer and Secrets

“The first day of summer! Goodbye school, hello adulthood! I can’t believe we are finally adults! Now we can sign up for the war!” said Cassandra to me.
“I know!” I said. “I’m still kinda nervous though.”
“We’ll get used to whatever they tell us to do. It’ll be so exciting and cool to fight the trolls and elves!”
“Don’t forget the Giants!” I said.
“They don’t actually fight. Although you do know my lifelong dream is to defeat Gargamouth and Gorgina!”
“I thought your lifelong dream was to be the one to eat the most unicorn leaves in five minutes!”
“That too!”
We both cantered off laughing.
“Caroline said that you could come over for lunch if it’s okay with your mom. We’re having Unicorn Delight!” said Cassandra. She was smiling. Her eyes sparkled and her horn shimmered in the sun reflecting her pure white coat. She was very pretty.
“Sure! I’m sure that my mom would say it’s okay.”
We both walked over to where my mom was eating grass in a pasture for lunch.
“Hey, mom?” I said.
“Yes, sweetie?” she said looking up. She had a white horn. Very common, but I’m sure Cassandra told you already.
“Can I go over and eat lunch with Cassandra? They’re having Unicorn Delight!” Unicorn Delight is a hot soup with Unicorn Tree leaves and bark in it.
“Sure! You’re an adult now that you’ve left school. You can make most of your decisions now. I’ll see you at dinnertime! We’re having Unicorn Tree bark!” she said as we trotted away. She raised a hoof in farewell. Little did she know that she wouldn’t be seeing me at dinnertime.

··········

After we both ate lunch, we played outside for a while cantering and getting the neighbors to play tag with us using a sort of magic that makes your horn feel like a pillow so everyone could tag other people. Then we lay down for a while and watched the other unicorns graze or play or trying to get newborn unicorns to walk. It was a beautiful sight after years of terror. Of course, everyone still had to take precaution but it had been a month since the trolls last attacked. I looked over at Cassandra and saw her blushing. I was confused at first. Something hardly ever embarrassed her. Then I saw what she was looking at.
Caleb the unicorn was grazing and laughing with a couple of his friends.
“What’s with the red cheeks, Cassie?” I said smiling a little.
“What?” she said turning looking a little nervous. “Nothing! So, how’d you like lunch?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Lunch was two hours ago, Cassandra! I’d like to know what’s going on between you and him,” I said jerking my head towards Caleb.
“Oh, uh,” she said turning scarlet rapidly. “Nothing, really, nothing’s going on with me and him!” she said laughing nervously. “Why, why did you want to know? Heh, heh.” She was really looking red now.
“You like him don’t you?” I said grinning triumphantly now.
The color drained from her face. She looked scared now. She turned her head away from me and nodded slowly.
“Ha!” I laughed and stood up and pranced around in a circle. “I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!”
“Okay, okay!” she said now grinning a little. “You don’t have to announce it to the world! It’s just a little crush and Caleb doesn’t know so shush!” She stood up and we walked toward the flower field absentmindedly.
“I thought that there was something weird going on here!” I said.
“Okay, okay! You caught me!” She said. “Now let’s let this go, okay?”
“I am so going to remember this for the rest of my life!” I said grinning really big now.
“I said let’s let it go, okay?” she said sort of grinning. We both sat down. “Please, Corny?”
“Okay, I won’t talk about it but you can’t stop me thinking about it!” I said.
“Enough!” she said. We were in tears from laughing.
“Hey look at this,” I stood up and walked over through the field of Unicorn Flowers. Unicorn flowers are flowers with white stems and golden petals.
“What is it?” she said standing up.
I had noticed a peculiar flower. It had a blue stem and green petals.
“Whoa,” Cassandra said stepping back. “That is one creepy flower.”
“It’s strange.” I said. “I never noticed before.”
“We should look it up first,” Said Cassandra. “Before touching it.”
Just then the braniac Cecilia came over to us.
“What’s up?” she said smiling. She had a white horn too.
“We just noticed this flower,” I said turning to her. “We were wondering what it was.”
“Oh, that’s an earth flower. It’s the colors of the earth when you see it in space.”
“Cool!” said Cassandra. She looked at it more closely.
“Legends say that if a unicorn touches it, it will take it to earth and the only way to get back to Fantasya is to find the magic rock.”
“What is the magic rock and what does it look like?” I asked out of curiosity.
“The magic rock does the same thing. If a unicorn touches it, it takes them back to Fantasya. The Pegasi created both these things in case unicorns had to hide from the war in an emergency. But they are always disappearing and reappearing in a different place in Fantasya or the world. The magic rock is boulder sized with a big red circle in the middle,” Cecilia said.
I turned to look at Cassandra. She was staring at it. She raised her hoof. My stomach lurched. She hadn’t been listening.
“Cassandra! Don’t touch it!” I leaped forward to knock her out of the way. It was too late. She had touched it the exact moment I touched her. The last thing I saw was Cecilia staring at us worriedly. She was running forward. There was a flash of gold light and we disappeared. We were going to a different dimension.

My Story

Hi everyone!
I'm going to post my entire NaNoWriMo story on the blog. Here is the first chapter:

Cassandra
Meet Me

There is no “once upon a time” in this book. No. This book tells you the truth about unicorns. Not those myths and legends you humans talk about.
Hello! My name is Cassandra. And, yes, I’m a unicorn. My best friend Cornelia is a unicorn too. Let me tell you a little about unicorns.
Unicorns control the magic of wind. We can make ourselves fly, control the breeze, and many other things. We are hurt by fire and water magic. Fire is hurt by water and wind magic. Water is hurt by wind and fire magic.
Unicorns live for thirty years. When a unicorn reaches ten, they are an adult. If they are ten and they are a female, they are an adult and their horn is fully grown.
A unicorn’s horn is very sharp. They are as sharp as what you humans call knives. When a unicorn is an adult, they can produce magic, even without a horn. Unicorns cannot produce very strong magic until they are an adult. Only female unicorns have horns.
There are three different types of horns. There’s the common white horn that almost every single female unicorn has, there is the rare silver horn, which there is always one or two unicorns in a herd that has it, then there is the super, ultra, rare, golden horn, which, almost no other unicorn has. I have that horn. In legends, a unicorn who has a full grown, golden horn, is destined for greatness. I am the third unicorn in the world that has ever had that horn. The first unicorn in the world had that horn and so did my long lost sister, Cindy. (She disappeared in the war. Some say she died, some say she got taken hostage. Nobody really knows.) Golden horns can produce gold out of water. This can be very handy when trying to persuade someone to help you.
UNICORNS ARE NOT SHY! That is an old myth that humans still believe. They also like boys just as much as girls when it comes to humans.
Now about where unicorns live, they live in a land called Fantasya. It is hidden in a different dimension. No human will ever find it. And if they did, the magic would kill them as soon as they touch the ground.
There are three parts to Fantasya. There is the good side named “Prosperity Border”, the bad side named “Miserable Margin”, and the middle is named “Elf Interior”.
Pegasi rule Prosperity Border. Pegasi are royalty. Prosperity Border is currently ruled by the queen Aleena, the king Adam, and the princess Abigail. Prosperity Border is where all the unicorns and Pegasi live.
In Prosperity Border, the unicorns eat grass, Unicorn Tree bark, and Unicorn Tree leaves. They also drink water.
Miserable Margin is where the evil Giants rule. The Giants rule the Trolls and they plan to take over Fantasya. The unicorns are trained in magic where they can help stop the Giants. The Giants look like Cyclopes in human myths except they have two eyes. The king, Gargamouth and the queen Gorgina rule Miserable Margin. The trolls do whatever they say. The trolls and Giants control the magic of water.
Elf Interior is ruled by elves. All elves are equal there. Although, there is one elf named Edward who is the Treasurer. When an elf is named Treasurer, they are in charge of who they work for depending on the amount of gold that is offered. Elves are not good, nor, bad. They are only mischievous and will only help different creatures if they get gold in the deal. The Giants currently control the elves since they have stolen almost all the unicorn’s gold. They control the magic of Fire.
That sort of wraps it up about Fantasya. I will let you know of anything important if it comes up.
Now about me.
I’m Cassandra as you know. I am ten, tall, and I have a full grown golden horn. I am friendly, Cornelia says I’m very pretty, but I am also funny and quick-tempered. My temper is my bad point. I’m skinny and I have a long white mane. I’m good at running and flying in races and my favorite food are leaves from a Unicorn Tree. A Unicorn Tree is a tree that has white bark and gold leaves. I’m good at magic and plan to fight in the war. Bullies make me angry, and one of my quirks is I stamp my hoof when I’m angry or scared. My eyes are blue and Corny’s (that’s Cornelia’s nickname) is green. My bed is a bed of leaves and grass. My pet peeves are dirty hooves. I also bite my lip when I’m scared or angry without realizing it. My lip has a lot of small cuts. My deepest darkest secret is that I have a crush on this unicorn named Caleb. He has a dirtiesh whitish coat and a long flowing mane. Cornelia doesn’t know this so shh!
I’m an orphan since my parents died in the war when I was two. A friendly and kind unicorn named Caroline took me in. My best friend Cornelia’s mom is named Catherine. Cornelia is ten like me.
Now about Cornelia.
She has a grayish mane with a silver horn. She’s very pretty, tall, and friendly but shy. I know I said unicorns are not shy, but every once in a while you get one that is. She’s mostly shy because people pick on her for having a silver horn and she’s scared easily. I’m scared of one thing. Water creatures. Water can really hurt a unicorn if used in the right way. Most unicorns die because of water magic. Unicorns are getting scarcer because of water magic. Anyway, Cornelia is brave and friendly. Just shy. Her favorite food is Unicorn Tree bark and she is scared of the dark. She has her horn light up as a night-light when it gets dark out. She also lights her horn when angry or scared when she doesn’t notice it. She can get easily scared or upset. The dark, bullies, and yelling upsets her. Her deepest darkest secret is that she’s afraid of the dark. I’m the only one besides you who knows that. Both of our dream vacations are earth. I’d really like to see what it’s like there.
I think that’s everything. On with the story!

More Unjournaling

Here is another writing exercise:
What would "Blue" taste like if you could chew it?
Here is my answer:

Blue would taste delicious. It would be as fluffy as cotton candy, but not sticky, and it would taste like a mix of berries, a fruit slushy, and sunshine.

Here's another one:
Write a paragraph about winter by starting every sentence with the letter "W".
Here's my paragraph:

Winter is wonderful! Wonderful is winter! Wait, does that even make sense? Well, I love winter! Winter is a time for sledding, making snowmen, and snowball fights! Whoa, I almost forgot about drinking hot cocoa. Why, I just LOVE hot cocoa! Wheels of cars get stuck in the snow though, and that's not good. Well, I still love winter!
Post a comment on what blue tastes like and/or write the winter exercise if you want.
:)

Unjournaling

I have a book called, "Unjournaling" that I got for Christmas. Basically, it's a book with all these fun exercises that are challenging and make you write creatively. Here's a writing challenge that I'm doing:
What are the best reasons for doing nothing? List them.

Doing nothing makes you think, and thinking is good.
Doing nothing lets you notice interesting details you missed before when you were something.
Doing nothing lets you rest.
Doing nothing sometimes is good. After doing lots of something everyone needs to do nothing once in a while.
Doing nothing helps you realize that doing nothing can really be boring, sometimes, and helps you do something.

Here's another exercise:
Chris walks into the room. By describing only the reactions of others in the room, let us know something about him.

Chris walked into the room. Melanie flinched. Teressa whimpered. Cassie made big, puppy, dog eyes at him. You could almost see the hearts in her eyes. "Oh, brother," Sally mumbled, rolling her eyes.

What do you think Chris is like? Comment your answers please.

High Yellow!!!

Hi everyone!
I haven't posted in a while, but I am now!
I'm sure most of you know already, but I'm taking Tae Kwon Do. Maxim was the first to start, then, later, Daddy and I started. And guess what? Recently I got my High Yellow!!!!! It's my second belt I had to test for.
This is the order of belts:

White
Low Yellow
High Yellow
Low Green
High Green
Low Blue
High Blue
Low Brown
High Brown
Pre-Dan
Black Belt

Maxim is a low green and Daddy is High Yellow, too.

I'll post again later!
Love,
Kate:)