Ironman '09

This is the video of daddy's Ironman race finish. It's really loud because we're all screaming our lungs out for him. I lost my voice yelling for him.

Favorite Pictures

I have finally gone through all my pictures from the past year and picked out my favorites. A lot of them are of Claire because she is my main model (and she's a very good one...good pictures rely on the model more than the photographer, in my opinion). Emma doesn't like pictures and dislikes being my model. I took all of them (except for the one's I'm in, of course). Here is a link for anyone interested in looking.

*The very first one is my absolute favorite picture. Possibly ever.*

Kate's Favorite Pictures

ACT

I took the ACT in mid-September. Daddy wants me to take it as many times as I can. It wasn't as hard or scary as I thought it would be. I was scared because I'm only on a ninth/tenth grade level for science and math.

Daddy drove me to Greene County High School early that morning. He dropped me off and went to visit with Mam and Uncle Will. The testing room was a very boring classroom. The teacher was kind and he let me sit in the first desk on the first row (that's always been my favorite seat). There were a few people I recognized from George County High School. I made friendly small talk until the tests were handed out.

The English test was first. I opened it and got right to work. It was easy. I breezed through it.

The Math test was harder, but not as hard as I had feared. I gave it my best shot, but I had to guess on some that I couldn't even begin to work out.

The Reading test was next. I expected it to be even easier than the English test, but I found out quickly that it wasn't. I had to Re-read passages more than once, which I've never done before. The questions were hard and I raced to finish before time was called.

I bombed the Science test. It was awful. I couldn't understand the passages, no matter how many times I read them. I tried to make educated guesses on about 20% of the questions, but I was running out of time. I only had ten minutes left. What the heck, I thought, and just started filling in circles.

Daddy took me to lunch after the test, and I told him all about it. "I'm betting on a 24. What do you think?" Daddy asked me. "I don't know...I think I'll be happy with anything above a 16." I replied.

I got my scores back today. And I'm pretty happy with them. Happy enough to post them here.

I'm very pleased. =)

The Sweetest Little Monsters In The World

*This is a long post. I'm venting.*

I'm talking about Claire. (And Emma, but to a lesser extent...)

Momma goes into work after lunch everyday and has started sending Emma to Nana's house most afternoons. I have a hard time watching her because she thinks that:
1) I'm "just the big sister" and "can't tell her anything"
2) I am always on Claire's side
3) I'm "mean all the time and hate her"
4) She can do things like hit Claire and then announce that I can't send her to her room.

Truth:
1) Momma has made it very clear that I am the authority when she is gone. And, because I'm the first-born and I know I'm bossy, I have worked very hard to learn not to abuse my power.
2) I'm very fair. I listen to everyone. But Emma is usually the instigator.
3) Do I even need to defend myself from such a childish accusation?
4) She's not allowed to hit Claire, and I can send her to her room so it's really a silly thing to say.

Most people can sympathize.

And I can sort of understand Emma's reactions and attitude. I am just her big sister, only 6 years older than her.

But Claire's a different story. There is more than 10 years age difference between us. She thinks I'm an adult, and that's perfectly alright with me. She complies to my rules better because "Kate's an ADULT." (In her mind, once you hit five feet you're an official adult).

I've had a particularly bad week with Claire. I feel like I haven't done anything but reprimand her for a solid week. Apparently being an adult wasn't enough this week.

She started out this week being only slightly defiant and mean. By Wednesday she was ignoring all commands. Thursday she was listening again. The drawback to that was that all her answers were rude and snappy, but only to me. Friday she a was little better. She still kept giving me the Narrowed-Eyes-And-Pursed-Lips glare though.

Our real troubles started on Saturday.

Daddy had left early to go to Aunt Ruby's funeral. Austin (He's my Dad's friend and roommate) was cooking breakfast when I got up. He had fixed Ily, Bailee (his two little girls) and Claire a plate of eggs and bacon. I tried to persuade Claire to eat some, but she wouldn't. She claimed that her "tummy was only hungry for gummies and candies".

After breakfast we all went to Wal-mart for groceries. Claire hung on the cart, screamed, ran up and down the aisles, and whined to go to the toy section. When we got home I made lunch (which she did eat).

I made chocolate cupcakes for dessert and, of course, all the girls wanted a taste of the batter. I gave them each a scoop and sent them on their way so I could light the oven. Claire wouldn't leave the kitchen though, and kept sneaking around the batter bowl. "Don't touch that batter, Claire. You can have a cupcake when they're done. Understand?" I warned her in my stern voice. She nodded, and looked mad. I continued trying to light the oven. When I looked up, I saw Claire shoving a spoon dripping with chocolate in her mouth. "Claire! What are you doing?" I all but screeched. "Eating dis chocolate," She replied unabashedly. I was furious. "You need to go back to Daddy's room until you can apologize for being so disobedient. Right Now." (This wouldn't work with most kids. They would just mumble an apology and dash away. It works with Claire because she likes to cry a little first. She has always preferred apologizing through tears.) She started sobbing and shuffled back to Daddy's room.

She showed back up in the kitchen about ten minutes later. "Do you know what you did wrong?" I asked her. "Yes Ma'am...I ate the chocolate and you said no." (she says Ma'am to me when she has been really bad and is trying to make up for it). "That's correct. Don't disobey me like that again, alright? I forgive you. Now go play with Bailee and Ily." She gave me a hug and left the room sniffling.

We went to the South Alabama football game that afternoon, but Claire didn't want to come. She stayed to play with Austin's girls.

We got home around dinner, which I rushed to get ready. While I was cooking, Claire kept yelling at Bailee and then tattle-telling to Austin about her. I realized that she had been a little disrespectful to him all weekend. I took her aside and talked to her, but she just crossed her arms and looked defiant.

After dinner Claire showed up in the living room with her Ariel barbie. She had washed the barbie's hair and was flinging it so the water splashed all over us. "Stop that, Claire." Daddy said. She ignored him, continuing to flick the hair in Emma's direction. Emma was working up a screech so I grabbed Claire and hauled her to the bathroom. "Give me your barbie. I'm taking her because you didn't listen to Daddy the first time. You can come get her when her hair's dry." I said as calmly as I could, putting the barbie on the back of the toilet. She huffed and started tearing up. I talked to her for a few minutes about listening to directions the first time, and then let her escape to the kid's room. She started crying as loud as she could (to get Daddy's sympathy, no doubt.) and after a few minutes Daddy went in to cheer her up. It worked a little. She still wasn't being very sweet to me.

I spent the rest of that evening organizing the kid's room at Daddy's new house. I killed my back cleaning up their mess and sorting toys and clothes.

I woke up this morning to find all the toy boxes missing. The girls had taken them into Austin's room and dumped them onto his bed. All of the toys I had spent at least an hour sorting into boxes had been un-sorted in less than two minutes. I made two unsuccessful attempts to round up the girls and make them clean up.

We ate at Mam's for lunch. Claire was better there. But she relapsed as soon as we got home. Emma and Claire spent most of the afternoon and evening sitting on opposite couches and yelling at each other, sticking out their tongues, and calling each other names. Daddy and I were on the verge of locking them in a closet together. We separated them temporarily a few times, but it didn't work. I took Claire out of the room completely in the end. She was considering being upset with me because she thought I was putting her in timeout. She changed her attitude completely when I asked her to play barbies.

By time to go home she was my best friend again. She gave me the first kiss for a week as she was leaving (three kisses actually) and said, "I'll miss you Kate...See you tomorrow...I love you. I'm still you Sweetsenpop?". I told her yes.

And she's over her bad week.

There are days when I'm fed up with Claire's attitude and her disobedience. There are days when I feel like begging Emma to help me and be nice to me. There are days when I feel like screaming at both of them. But, right when I'm at breaking point, they do something funny or sweet. Saves them every time...=)

Want A Hat?

I'd really like to sell some of my hats. I will take special orders. You can buy them for yourself, or for someone else as a birthday or Christmas gift.

If you've seen anything you like in the past few posts send me a e-mail or leave a comment. If you work with my Mom (I know she's told some of you about the hats) then you can send a note with her.

If you're family and you think you'd like me to make you a hat for Christmas then you'd better tell me now, so I'll have time to make it.

It usually takes me about two hours to crochet an adult hat, and a hour and a half for a child's hat. I'll need to go to the yarn shop in Fairhope to get the yarns. It should take about a week for your hat to be made (I have to do school...).

-KR

Kid Hat

I love this pattern! I have made one for both my sisters. I can make it big enough for a 10 year old, or small enough for a 2 year old.



This hat is made with three different color yarns, or just one color. It has ear flaps and braided ties.

This is Emma wearing her hat. She normally leaves the ties hanging, but I expect she'll start to tie them more in the winter to keep warm.

Thicker Hats

These are some of the thicker, warmer hats. This yarn is thick, and extremely soft. I hate scratchy yarns.



My camera made this hat look a little bit of a brighter blue than it is in real life.

This, believe it or not, is the same hat, just up close. It's not nearly this dark of a blue, it's just a shadow.

I have to admit that I didn't make this hat. My Aunt Sara made it for me. But I have made ones just like it. Her stitches are slightly larger than mine, but, other than that, there is no difference in this hat from the ones I have made. I posted this one because I like the colors.

Lacy Crochet Hats

In the next few posts I'll be putting up pictures of some of the hats I've made in the last few months. These are some lacy ones. They aren't for winter wear. They wouldn't keep your head very warm, because the yarn is thin. The yarns I use for these hats are beautiful, but they can get pretty expensive.


This hat is a simmery light gold. It's a thin yarn, but not string-like.

This is a closer look at the color and stitches.

This is the thinnest yarn I use. It's a beautiful blue and the yarn changes tone every couple of feet.

This is another close look at the silvery-blue color and the thin stitches.

My Gracie

This is Gracie Mia Roberts. I got her about three years ago, when she was small enough to fit in my cupped hands. She's the prettiest dog I know. She's also the sweetest. Even when Claire was little and thought that pulling her ears and squeezing her was funny Gracie never snapped or even growled. She has a cold little black nose and the biggest, most intelligent, sparkling black eyes. Her snow white hair is silky (when she's clean...if she's not then she turns a dirty brown color and her hair matts, but we won't talk about that.), and it curls and waves. Her tail is long enough to brush the floor, and makes a swishing noise when she wags it. She loves being outside where she can play with the other dogs and cats. She's very quiet. She never yaps unless she is sure it's a burglar (well, there have been a few false alarms...). She always picks up her ears when I talk. Sometimes I really believe she understands me perfectly. I pat the sofa and she hops onto it, curls up right beside me, and falls asleep. Just like she is doing right now. She's an outstanding dog with the sweetest disposition ever. I love my Gracie-girl.

Starting School

School has officially started for the Roberts Family. We waited very impatiently all last Wednesday for the fed-ex truck, and when it arrived I ran outside to offer the driver assistance with the large boxes. It turned out that the boxes were much too heavy for me to carry. The man laughed at me and said, "So...You're a teacher? These your textbooks?" I shook my head and told him that I was the student, we were homeschooled, and I was only fifteen. "Well, I've never seen a kid so happy to get some school books," He replied. Then he drove away, leaving me and Momma to haul the boxes inside. We immediately began the sorting and shuffling of more that one hundred books and papers. It took all night to finish the project, and after we were done the books were forgotten. We still had a few weeks of summer right?

Yesterday I was woken up at eight (Yes, I'm complaining. This will probably make all those people who have to get up at six want to throw things at me.). Momma told me that school started today. We were pretty excited, but felt like summer shouldn't be over quite yet (Again, I shouldn't complain. Most of my friends started back weeks ago.). Emma and Claire got through their first day with no fits.

Today was a different story. Emma woke up in a bad mood, and it all went downhill from there. Momma tried persuading, and, when that didn't work, spanking. Momma has no tolerance for nonsense when it comes to school work. Emma ended up having to do all of her work in the office, under the supervision of Momma. Claire seemed fine all morning until I started school with her. I tried to stay calm, but I regret to say that I failed. She flopped on the floor, screeched her chair on the tiles, and wailed over me so she couldn't hear my instructions. After ten minutes of this I had completely lost my cool. Claire had ten minutes of time out. And, yes, she did come back and do the school work. Did you really think I would let her have her way just because she screamed a lot?

When the morning meltdowns were over, we had a good day. I finished all of my school work for the day in less than two hours. I now know what the words bipartisan, monolithic, and unilateral mean. The girls finished their work so they got to ride the four wheelers. Claire will do much better tomorrow, and Emma is excited about science.

Even after all the crying and fighting, I enjoyed today. I get to spend my days with three of the people I love most in the world. We learn new things, and, more importantly, we learn them sitting right beside each other. When we finish school we get to spend time together. I wouldn't trade that time with my family for anything. I'll be going to college in less than two years, and I won't ever get the chance for this kind of bonding with them again. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my days. Homeschooling is the most rewarding and wonderful thing I've ever experienced.

-Kate

Scarf Pictures

The yarn texture and design is really cool. It has a yellowish look in this picture, but it is really dark red with dark purple inside, and black lining.

The scarf is really, really long. It's almost as tall as me.

Instant Gratification Scarf

I am an avid crocheter and have spent a small fortune on pretty yarn. I have noticed recently that people make up patterns and put them on their blogs. These patterns are very cool and, of course, very unique. I never tried making up a pattern until today. I think my first attempt has been successful enough to make it on the blog. It's very thin, or skinny. It is a very easy and quick scarf. I hooked mine up in less than two hours. I never crochet things that take too long. If anyone is interested in this pattern they are welcome to use it. =)
(Pictures are in the next post.)

Yarn: I used a brand called ONline, Linie 87 Street. I would suggest using a this or another really frilly, thick yarn. It might be really boring with a plain, thin yarn.









Hooks: N/9.00mm

Ch 123 loosely.

Row 1: dc in third chain from hook, dc in each ch across, turn.

Row 2-3: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), dc in each st across. Fasten off.

I put some simple tassels on the ends of mine.

See, I told you it was easy.

Pictures

I haven't posted any pictures yet, so here's a few.


Fishing for tadpoles with Daddy.

Me (Kate), Emma, Claire, and Momma at our homeschool tea party.

Claire, looking very sweet.

Beautiful Emma Grace.

Staying Up Late

I have been reading one of Daddy's books lately, Microtrends: the small forces behind tomorrow's big changes. It's a book full of statistics and overviews that are called things like "Sun-Haters", "Young Knitters", and "Surgery Lovers". It my kind of book. All I had to do was read the title to get interested.

I was reading a part titled "30-Winkers". It's about people who get only 6 hours of sleep or less. I was reading that, Thanks to twenty-four-hour-a-day electronics and expectations, we're awake more than any Americans in recored history.

I really think this was the most interesting paragraph:
You've envied people who say they hardly sleep. If nothing else, in the race for more of everything, they have attained more time. An extra ninety minutes per day adds up- that's 10 percent more awake time per day- or an extra 8.2 years for someone who could expect to live to, say, 82. Through less sleep you could have the life experience of someone aged 91. Now that's tempting.

I read this article and looked at the statistics and found myself agreeing with the author. America needs to put down the remote and the laptop and go get 8 hours of sleep! Our health and happiness depends on it!

Putting down the book and yawning, I checked the clock on the stove. It said 12:49 a.m. I wonder if the author was writing this part and laughed because, when he looked up at his clock, it was after midnight, too.


P.S. Check the post time. It's not pretty.

Rock Band

We recently bought a Wii and one of the games we got for it is Rock Band. For those few people out of touch with the latest in the game world, Rock Band is a game where you play old and new rock songs on wireless guitars, drums, and sing in the microphone.
Us girls love playing it. It also got rave reviews from Daddy: "It's the least annoying game they own" and "It's the only game I know of that can enhance a party."
Normally, I sing, Emma plays the guitar, and Claire plays the drums. Lately though, Claire has taken to the microphone. Claire can only read a handful of words. When the lyrics roll across the screen at top speed she has to give it her best guess. Her guesses tend to be very entertaining. Here's a sample:

"Itsy...I have a Tiger in the nume of the night." (Eye of the Tiger- She really thinks these are the words.)

"Hewwo there wadies of gentelmen, hewwo there wadies of gents, are you ready to Wock?" (Hello There- She's trying to sing it in a British accent which enhances her use of W's.)

"We got the feet, Emma smells like feet, yeah, She smells like feet!" (We Got The Beat- This is her own creation. She knows the real words but this version makes Emma scream and mess up on the guitar.)

Book Meme

From "Visions of Arhyalon"

Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

1. To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee
2. Harry Potter Series- J.K. Rowling
3. A Little Princess- Frances Hodgson Burnett
4. The Secret Garden- Frances Hodgson Burnett
5. Chronicles of Narnia- C.S. Lewis
6. Little Women- Louisa May Alcott
7. Pride And Prejudice- Jane Austen
8. Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen
9. Howl's Moving Castle- Diana Wynne Jones
10. Ella Enchanted- Gail Carson Levine
11. Uglies Series- Scott Westerfeld
12. Little House On The Prairie Series- Laura Ingalls Wilder
13. After The Dancing Days- Margret Rostkowski
14. Hattie Big Sky- Kirby Larson
15. Twilight Series- Stephenie Meyer

Jackson Trip

Last week I went to Jackson, MS with my sisters and my mom for four days. You may think that I would have been excited because it is the capital. You may also think that we didn't have near enough time to do everything in four days. Well, if you did think those last two things, you would be wrong. There is nothing in Jackson but scorching heat, horses, staining red dirt, a large dusty stadium with an arena, and barrels for horses to run around.

Okay, maybe I'm leaving out the Art Museum and the Old Capitol building, but there is still so little to do in Jackson that you could see everything in half a day.

Now that I've vented a little, I can tell you about the good parts of the trip.

We had a nice hotel with a pool (even though we spent the majority of the time watching horses instead of swimming). I got to bring one of my best friends, Tara Roberts. We visited the Old Capitol, which was beautiful and very interesting. We also went to the Art Museum and saw the Mississippi exhibit. Emma ran her fastest time ever on Rope (15.911 seconds) and Claire had a blast riding her horse, Buckskin. One day we were feeding the horses when a guy driving by on the highway stuck his head out of his car and yelled, "FREE THE HORSES!". That made Tara and Momma laugh.

I had a good time, but I want to warn everyone else of something: Don't plan a trip to Jackson unless you like dirt, horses, and Taco Bell.

Rejected and Replaced

Yesterday, Emma and I were sitting on Daddy's couch discussing a book I was reading.
"Well the girl and guy got married," I explained, "and then the girl's friend was really mad."
Emma looked surprised and then said, "Well, why didn't the mad friend do something?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why didn't he just stand up in the church and yell 'I REJECT!' "

...

Bible School is next week. I signed up for a preschool teacher and was placed in Claire's class. Claire just sighed when I told her this.
"Why do you have to be my teacher?"
"Well, I thought you would want me to."
Emma, who had been watching TV, looked up and said, "I want you to be my teacher, Katie."
Claire ran over to Emma and threw her hand over Emma's mouth.
"No!" Claire yelled, "You can't have Katie! I want her!"
"But you just said you didn't!"
"I changed my mind."

...

We all went to Wal-mart Sunday night to stock up on food for Daddy's house.
"Do you want some of this, Claire," I said pointing to a big jar of peanut butter.
"No, I've replaced peanut butter" She said casually.
I figured that she had heard me say 'replaced' and didn't know what it meant.
"Replaced it?"
"Yes, with Ranch Dressing. I don't like peanut butter on bread anymore. I like Ranch."
Wow. She did know what it meant.
-KR

First Post

If there's one thing I've learned about blogging it's this: Bloggers are serious. They sometimes stay up until the wee hours of the morning to finish a post. Or they wake up really early to get in some blogging. I might be wrong (maybe it's just my Aunt Sara that's like this), but I have a feeling that there are quite a few people out there that are addicted to blogging.
I've started this blog because I need a writing outlet. I doubt my posts will be as regular as those serious bloggers. Most of my posts will be about my sisters, Emma (9), and Claire (4). I find them fascinating and hilarious. Maybe I can make blogging regular, and stop writing four stories a week just to get the need to write out of my system.
-KR