Saturday 30 April 2016

April Highlights // Exciting News


It's that time of the month again! How did April go by so fast? Time really does seem to fly!


Life 

Where oh where to start? April's been busy - but then when isn't life busy? ;)

As you might have guessed by the cover photo, I got my G1 license!!! I was super nervous, but there really wasn't anything to worry about. The questions were super easy; studying well works well ;) But  just the same, I was very happy when I found out that I'd passed! :D
That day, I had to take my picture a couple of times too. Once for the licence, another for my health card. Dad gave me warning before we left to "go get ready; you'll have these pictures for a long time!" I had to tell him there wasn't really much that I could do to "get ready". He was like "Oh, right" -_- I don't wear make-up, so the only thing I could really do was brush my hair. Which was what I had already done :P

First time driving down the country roads was fun, but nerve-racking too. We were approaching a stop sign and Dad said "Okay, now ease slowly on the brakes. That's it. . .  Now ST- . . . op"
Yep, I eased. Yep, I went slowly. Yep, I all of a sudden slammed on the brake. Oops ;)
But it's gotten a little tiny bit better. I'm able to drive around the block without jerking so much anymore. I'm so glad we're in the country though. The roads are so nice and empty, I don't have to worry about cars - for now ;) Dad just taught me how to do a 3 point turn today. On a narrow road with ditches on both sides. Not THE best place to learn, just to let you know. But we didn't fall in :P

Oh, another exciting thing that happened! Snow White got her new doll, Saila!





She's been very happy with her new doll. Been doing a lot of things together! Including flower dissections, which you'll see later :-)

We watched Woodlawn yesterday night and today I was looking at the cast. I like to do that for some random reason. Don't you find it fun if you recognize characters from another movie? Anyway, there was this one particular man who had played a coach in Woodlawn, and I was wondering which other movie I had seen him in before. I was at the point where the name was on the tip of my tongue, yet it just. wasn't. coming. Then Tiger Lily came in. Conversation went something like this:
Me: Doesn't this man look familiar?
Tiger Lily: YES!!
Me: Which movie did he come from?!?
Tiger Lily: Woodlawn!

Baking
Not too much baking done this month. Just two chocolate layer cakes :) One for Dad's birthday and one for my English assignment. Which cake do you like the best?

Couple posts ago, I mentioned that I was baking something, and I left you all with a hint. Rebekah guessed a cupcake, which was pretty close! That picture was actually the imprint of these red flowers on the top of this cake!


My English project was to create something that had to do with one of the books that we had read that year. I chose The Scarlet Pimpernel. 


I might do a separate post on this cake with more specific details :D We'll have to see!  

OH, and then with the scraps left over from the scarlet pimpernel cake, Tiger Lily and I constructed a mini "garden" cake. I was practicing with my piping tips and made a tiny little rose and leaves. 

Tiger Lily made a beautiful piece of wood with brown frosting. Doesn't it look amazing?  


Tiger Lily and I have also taken over a major part of the cooking. One of the meals we concocted: Shepherd's Pie! 



School

TIGER LILY AND I GOT GOLD MEDALS FOR OUR NATIONAL LATIN EXAM!!!! And I got an absolute 100% perfect paper on the NLE!! It was sooooo exciting to hear Mrs. Barr (my Latin teacher) announce the results *does the happy dance*

I also did a frog dissection last night. It smelled - BAD. *shudders*

I'm taking a live virtual biology course, so my teacher is on my computer. But she used her camera so that everyone could see what she was doing. It was kind of gross watching her do it. She didn't use gloves. She moved her thumb and fingers over and under and into the frog's guts. Down its mouth. Under the liver. Through the intestines. It was gross.

Whilst cutting it, I apologized multiple times to the poor frog. Went something like this:
Teacher: Cut through the skin and muscle tissue
Snip
"Sorry frog!"
Teacher: Now use your scissors, insert above the sternum and close until you hear a crack. That's the bone
Crack
"SO sorry, frog!"


It was a girl. 


Snow White and DareDevil are also doing a botany course with me. We're using Apologia and it's been super fun!

Drawing plants. 




And we also did a dissection! (But a MUCH nicer one than the frog :D)
Ripping off Peeling off the petals


Removing the corona

Snow White: Queen Saila! 

Gluing on the stamen!
Snow White also had her first test! She was really interested and excited about taking tests, so I came up with some questions and made up a test for her. (playing school and pretending to be teacher when I was younger all of a sudden came in handy ;))
100% on her first one! YAHOO!!!


Books Read

  1. The Scarlet Pimpernel
  2. The Return of the Indian
  3. The Secret of the Indian
  4. The Disappearing Stranger
  5. The Hidden Message
  6. The Creeping Shadows
  7. The Vanishing Footprints
  8. Trouble at Wild River
  9. The Mysterious Hideaway
  10. Grandpa's Stolen Treasure
  11. The Runaway Clown
  12. Mystery of the Missing Map
  13. Disaster on Windy Hill
  14. Not Regina
  15. The Chosen
  16. Mockingjay
  17. Persuasion
  18. Philippians 
  19. Colossians
  20. Hebrews (first half)

Books Bought (15 total)

The Disappearing Stranger
The Hidden Message
The Creeping Shadows
The Vanishing Footprints
Trouble at Wild River
The Mysterious Hideaway
Grandpa's Stolen Treasure
The Runaway Clown
Mystery of the Missing Map
Disaster on Windy Hill

Town Thrift Store ($8 total)
Return of the Indian
Secret of the Indian
Mockingjay
The Upstairs Room
The Golden Road


Music 
I have listened to sooo many songs this month, but I think my absolute favourite would be All This Time by the Willis Clan! 
Ever since the song came out, I've listened to it every. single. day. 

Here's a question for all of you: Can you listen to music and still concentrate on school/work? If yes, what kind of music? Classical, contemporary? 

Movies
These would have to be my two favourite movies from this month! 

The Scarlet Pimpernel
You're all probably tired of hearing me saying this, but IT'S AMAZING! It's so much FUN! I get shivers of delight just thinking about it! The costumes, though some of the women's are rather low, are so beautiful! The disguises, the acting, the balls, the accents, the poems, that drawl, the escapades, and THE DUEL!! It was hilarious! I love the whole movie to bits!! :D Seriously, if you haven't watched it before, you really should!!! 

 Woodlawn
Just watched this movie last night. Thanks to Dad for finding it! I'm not really into football movies - all that head crashing and body crashing and everything crashing :P, but I actually didn't mind this one too much. The story went so much deeper than just playing football. It's an amazing and really inspiring movie. And it's a Christian one, which is a big bonus! :D 



Oh, and you remember last month I said that there was some big news? A wonderful surprise? Something SUPER EXCITING?

Well...I get to tell you all now! :D

We're having another...


24 comments:

  1. How exciting! When you first mentioned some exciting news, that was my first thought. :)
    That cake was amazing! You did an incredible job on those flowers! How could you stand to cut and eat it? :)
    Oh, am I thankful that I never had to dissect anything! We never did much along those lines in school. I love nature, but am not too fond of cutting creatures up.
    Anyway, enjoyed this look at the month of April.

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    1. Thanks, Rebekah!
      Cutting into the cake was a little hard - but it was either that or let it turn blue and green with mould ;) And besides, watching my family's delighted faces while eating it was worth ruining it :D

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  2. SO EXCITED ABOUT YOUR NEW LITTLE BROTHER/SISTER TO BE!!!! :D :D :D I remember getting SO excited every time Mom announced she was pregnant! We would sort of forget about it...then remember it again and the excitement would get bigger the closer the due date came!
    Oohh the frog. Ick. I did that dissection with my younger brother last year for Biology. Talk about gross! XP < That was the face I made after completing it. ;)
    Thanks for the post!

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    1. Aww, thank you, Rebekah! Haha, yes SO excited. Like the screaming "I don't believe it!!!" kind of excited? ;) Dad showed my sister and I the test and I pretty much flew down the stairs to find Mom. We were screaming quietly, since it was 10 at night and everyone else was still sleeping! But we didn't sleep that well that night :D

      Yep - that frog. Hehe, I think I saw a picture of your face somewhere on your blog ;) I probably made that face too ;)

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  3. So excited for your new sibiling!!! Does your family usually wait until he/she is born before finding out the gender or not? My family has always waited, it was fun to guess what it would be!. When I saw you had exciting news, a baby was my first guess!
    Do you enjoy driving? I don't want to learn how to drive.:)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Rebekah! Yes, my family usually waits until he/she is born before finding out the gender. My parents also take a rather long time finding a name for it too ;) And then when they finally decide on a name, they go through EVERYONE'S name and its meaning from oldest to youngest before they say what the new addition's name is. And since everyone has 3 names, it gets longer and longer every time! This next time, they're going to have to go through 21 names and their meanings before we get to learn the baby's name! -_-
      Yes, I do enjoy driving! But I'm also really nervous when I'm driving too. I'll be glad once I can start a driving course so that I get more comfortable with it all :D Oh, why don't you want to learn? It IS nerve-racking at times, but it's all worth it in the end! :)

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  4. Congratulations, Blessing!!!! That is so exciting that you guys are going to have another baby! I'm so happy for you! :D
    Dissecting a frog sounds so disgusting! I would definitely prefer doing the flowers. ;)
    All of those cakes you made are so beautiful! You're really talented at cake decorating. :)
    I have never seen The Scarlet Pimpernel or Woodlawn. You're and Tiger Lily's conversation about the actor from Woodlawn was so funny. :)
    I had a lot of fun reading about your highlights from this past month. :D

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    1. Thank you, Rebekah! :)
      Haha, yes, flowers are so much nicer. They smell soooo much better and they aren't - slimy ;)
      Oh, thank you so much! Glad you liked them! :)

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  5. Oh, that is so exciting!!!! I remember whenever mom (or dad) would announce a new sibling was coming, we would be so excited!! And we always wanted to go shopping that day and find a whole bunch of baby stuff, but then mom would remind us we had nine months to wait. So .. yeah. ;)
    But congratulations! That is sooo super exciting!!

    I've never had to dissect anything, but I'm going to have to take a lab class at our local community college. I'm really not excited about that. :P
    That cake was so beautiful!!! You guys did an amazing job!
    Oh, and isn't Woodlawn amazing?!?! :D We watched it a couple weeks ago and it was sooo good!!

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    1. Hehe, yes, that is exactly what I wanted to do to! We actually had a lot of baby clothes, but then after Toblerone outgrew them, Mom started giving them away because she was so sure that he would be the last! Turns out he wasn't ;)
      Thank you so much, Jesseca!
      Oh, good luck at the lab class! Is it kind of like a lab intensive sort of thing? My friend did something like that two years ago, and my sister and I did one last September. It actually wasn't toooo bad - but I still feel sorry for the fetal pig. It was too cute to be dissected :(
      Yes, Woodlawn IS amazing! Did you recognize any characters from other movies? ;)

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  6. Your Scarlet Pimpernel cake is gorgeous! Wow. You did a really nice job on that! :D And that piece of wood that your sister made is impressive!

    Oooh! I don't think I could EVER dissect a frog! The way you described the bone cracking...*shivers* :/

    THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL! Oh my, yes! That is SUCH a fun movie! I'm glad you enjoyed it! "T'would seem your friend is in distress. To the rescue!" (Haha. My siblings and I used to quote that line as we pushed each other off the dock into our grandparents' pond. *sigh* Happy memories. :))

    OH MY GOODNESS!! ANOTHER BABY!!! I'm SO excited for you!! :D That's the bestest news ever!!!

    ~Miss March

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    1. Thank you, Miss March!

      Haha, yes, that scene is just hilarious! Oh, you did? That sounds like fun! Do you still do it now? :D And the duel with Chauvelin - oh goodness, it was just TOO funny! When his buttons were cut off, I didn't realize at first what was dropping on the floor. And then I replayed it and was like "Oh - are those - hehe - are those HIS BUTTONS??"

      Thank you so much, Miss March!!! :D It IS very good news :-)

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    2. Haha. No. We still quote that line, but we haven't any pond to push each other into anymore. My grandparents moved from their farm years ago. :( Oh, yes! The duel! That part is hilarious!! And how Percy comes back after being shot! Hahaha! "I shall return, my dear Chauvelin. I shall return to haunt you." :D

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    3. Yes, and then:
      "No, no, no, my dear Chauvelin, you are not looking upon a ghost" XD

      Ohh, Percy is just hilarious! :D

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  7. Congrats on driving, Blessing!!! Your experiences sound much like my own. :D
    Cute doll, Snow White!! :-)
    Oh, I've been wanting to see "Woodlawn"!! Glad to hear it's good. :) The coach is played by the same guy as the ER doctor from "Do You Believe?". Don't know if you've seen that movie, but I thought I'd mention it. ;)
    The cake with the red flowers is sooo pretty!! So are the others. :) Great job, girls!
    Congrats on gold medals for the Latin exam!!! Ah, the poor froggie... Dissections sound disgusting. >_<
    Oh, I did Apologia botany one year!! :D Cool!!!
    Awesome – lots of books. ;) Ooo, I LOVE Thriftbooks. :)
    Yes, I can listen to music and still concentrate on school/writing/reading. :) Usually Christian contemporary. :P
    I'm not much into the 'head crashing' football movies either, but I do love "23 Blast". ;) "Rudy" is pretty good too! (Btw, same actor in <<that one as "Do You Believe?" and "Woodlawn"...just younger. ;))
    Congrats on a new addition to the family!!! :D Honestly, when you mentioned it last month, that's what came to mind. B-) Love the GIF. :)

    Long, rambling-y comment over. Great highlights post, Blessing! ^_^

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    1. Thanks, Faith! Oh, same for you too, huh? Has driving gotten any easier yet? :D
      No, actually, I've never seen Do You Believe! Is it a good movie?
      Yes, same here. Christian contemporary is what I usually turn on too. Believe it or not, it actually helps me to concentrate more. My parents didn't believe it at first, (and dad still thinks that classical is way better) but since my grades have been coming out well, I think they decided it was fine ;)
      Thanks so much, Faith! Haha, yeah, I guess with having a big family and all, "exciting news" usually means a new baby ;)

      And thank you for the long ramble-y comment! XD

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    2. Yes, driving has gotten much easier. :) I've been driving (with a parent) for about 8 months now. I don't have to 'focus' so much now, and I can safely carry on a conversation while driving. :P Without, ya know, running stop signs and all that... I'm kidding, I'm kidding!!

      Yes, "Do You Believe?" is a great movie!! Well, I'm sure that guy has played in many, many other things. ;)
      Haha, yep! I have the Christian radio station in right now. ;)

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    3. Oh, that's good! Hehe, yeah, I still really need to focus :D "Gripping the wheel like my life depends on it" is how Tiger Lily expressed it yesterday :P Dad got me to do 3 3-point-turns yesterday, on the same road with ditches. I was doing fairly well, but then on the last one, I got overconfident and nearly reversed into the ditch *sigh* Still got a lot of work ;)

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    4. Haha, that sounds like something my brother would say. :D Yikes! The only three-point turn I've made was during Driver's Ed., but I have to do it with the DMV guy before I can get my license. Sooo. >_<
      I think there's always room for improvement. ;P

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    5. Oh yes, TONS of room for improvement on yours truly :P

      Just wondering, how does the driving system work in the US? For us Canadians, we can get our G1 license at 16 if we pass a written, then after a full year of driving, we take am actual driving test to get a G2. And then after you turn 20, you pretty much have all driving privileges. There MIGHT be another driving test that you have to take to get a G license, I'm not too sure.

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    6. Oh, wow! That's a lot of changing this and thats. ;)
      In the US it differs by state. Here in North Carolina you can take the Drivers Ed. class and/or study the manual and then take the written test when you're 14 1/2 (it has to be without 6 months of your 15th birthday). Once you're 15, have did all the above, and have proved that you're 'actively seeking your diploma', AKA you're not a high-school dropout, you can go to the Department of Motor Vehicles office and take another test to get your permit. (I failed that test the first time and had to go back the next day which, apparently, is very common.) With your permit you can drive with a licensed adult who's over 21 and has had their license at least 5 years. (It doesn't have to be a parent, but that's usually who it is. ;)) You can't drive after certain times for the first 6 months, but now I can drive anytime – with an adult. You also have to log 60 hours of driving, 10 of which have to be in the dark. After I turn 16 this summer (and it's been a year since I got my permit) I can go take another test, drive with the DMV guy, and get my license. :) There will be restrictions for two more years then, but I don't know them yet. :) There's been a lot of talk about changing it to 18 for licenses, but nothing has happening yet.

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    7. Were you nervous taking the test?

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  8. Congratulations to your family!! That is so exciting!! :D

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Finally, brothers (and sisters!), whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things
~ Philippians 4: 8