Oh No, Not Another Life Lesson!

Hi everyone! Merry Christmas! I hope everybody's holidays were merry, bright, and filled with cookies and chocolate covered pretzels. Mine was! Thank you to everyone who sent us Christmas cards, and special thanks to friends and family for their cool & generous gifts.

      Guess what? I finally have my iPhone! No, I didn't get it as a Christmas gift. My parents have these things that they like to "teach" me called "life lessons", :( Darn! I had saved up enough money to buy my dad's iPhone after he upgraded it last month, and he had agreed to sell it to me. However, there's a catch: I could buy it for FULL price right then and there, or I could wait until Christmas and get a HUGE discount. I don't have that kind of money to waste so I chose to wait until Christmas! Why are parents always trying to teach kids lessons about patience and all that other stuff???!!!! Anyway, I'm glad I waited! Now, I can use the leftover money for other things I want. 

For Christmas, I got a bunch of cool doodads from my family, friends, and our neighbors. Daddy got me this really cool minion case, so I had a fantabulous holiday!

Look who's on my screen saver!

Minions!!!!

I have also been busy making Rainbow Loom pouches to go with my new iPhone and earbuds.

     I hope everyone had as great of a holiday as I did, and enjoy the rest of winter break. Tis' the season and be jolly! Happy New Year!

My First Portrait

In the past few weeks, I have been working on a big charcoal project; my first portrait! It took me about 3 ¼ art  sessions to finish, which adds up to a total of 6½ hours! Below are some pictures of the finished product. I hope you like it! :)

Family Values: Being Grateful

          In my Social Studies class, we were all given an assignment to write about a family value and what it means to us. I chose being grateful. Check it out below:

          My family has many values, but being grateful is probably one of the most important. Being grateful means appreciating what you have, and not constantly wanting more. There are many things to be thankful for, and we should be able to recognize how well off we have it. One reason why being grateful is important is because there will almost always be a time in your life when things could be worse. My mom had to escape from a communist country when she was a little girl, and my dad was put in an orphanage at a very young age. Both my parents had pretty bad childhoods, but eventually, everything worked out fine. This brings me to my next reason; things will always work out, so just be grateful that it could be worse, but isn’t. After my mom escaped, she was sponsored by a church and reunited with her family. A nice couple that loves him and cares for him adopted my dad. They both ended up in America and fell in love, so don't you see? It will get better, so just be glad that it isn’t getting worse. Last but not least, being grateful is important because greed is the thing that drives people apart. Always wanting more than someone else, or even what you already have can cause fights, betrayal, carelessness, and corruption. For example, if someone was greatly obsessed with money, their thirst for more, more, more could drive them apart from family and friends, and make them very unpleasant to be around. It is better to appreciate what you have. My family uses this value daily, because we have so much to be grateful for. Food, friends, running water, a household, clean clothing, and a loving family are just a few of the many things to be thankful for. So, next time your parents say “NO” to that shirt that looks exactly like the one you already have, think about everything you have to be grateful for, and realize just how good you really have it.

Jazz Band, Here I Come! Revised 11/9/14 (See new link at bottom of post)

     Hi everybody! Do you all remember how I picked up the saxophone during the summer? Well guess what? I tried out for jazz band last week, and I made it!

    Before I explain this further, you are going to need some background knowledge.

     Jazz Fords: Jazz band for all instruments, not just the main jazz instruments. Easier to get in than Jazz Ensemble.

     Jazz Ensemble: Jazz band for only the main jazz instruments. Much harder to get in, and usually 6th graders don't make it.

     Both jazz bands are pretty competitive and hard to get in. It is especially competitive for the alto sax spot. There are only 3 available spots for each band.

     Now that you know which band is which........ I MADE JAZZ ENSEMBLE!!!!! SQUEEEEE!!!!!

I was jumping for joy when I got the results. I am so happy, because this is my first year of sax, so I wasn't even sure if I would make Jazz Fords!

     I'd like to thank the academy, and my amazing professors....... Oh, wait. I didn't go to an academy. Luckily though, I do have a great music teacher. Thank you Mr. Peters for going through that audition piece with me over and over again, and making me an accompaniment to practice with.  Also, thank you Mr. P2 (Mr. Peters' son, Dan) for going out of your way to give me a little extra help with my embouchure and staccato. I DEFINITELY would not have made it without both of your help. Finally, thank you Mommy and Daddy for allowing me to take private lessons and for supporting me in the sax. You guys rock!

This is a little taste of my audition piece, please check it out below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0guP59v_5Y&feature=youtu.be

11/9/14  Due to popular demand, here is the full version, hope you like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcSMseYWUos

Busy as a Bee

     Guess what everybody?! I made Chamber Choir!!! Chamber Choir is basically like the 6th grade version of district chorus (a special select choir for 4th and 5th graders). My friends, Colleen and Amy made it too, so I know we will have some very fun rehearsals. 

     Also, I'm on my school's cross country team. I have been doing pretty well so far (3rd and 4th place) in the first 2 meets, but it is pretty hard going against 7th and 8th graders too.

     For those of you who are wondering, yes, I'm still swimming and taking art class every week. 

     I'm also trying out for Jazz band (sax) and Woodwind Ensemble (French horn). Auditions are at the end of this month, so wish me luck!

Birthday Cards Galore

    My friend's mom recently placed an order for an assortment of twelve birthday cards, so I decided to add a few new birthday designs. Check them out below!

For more one of a kind, original KGBDesigns greeting cards, please see link below.

http://activegirlcc.blogspot.com/p/original-greeting-cards-designed-by-cc.html

13th Anniversary of 911

        This afternoon, my mom showed me a video of a reporter interviewing 30 college students about a significant event that happened this week, and only 6 knew that she was talking about 911. See link below:

http://www.hannity.com/articles/war-on-terror-487284/college-students-clueless-on-911-isis-12751339

     Fortunately, our teachers want us to know about it, because 911 was the main subject of every conversation in school on Thursday, and we learned just how significant it is!

      We learned how on September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four American airplanes. They crashed two planes into the twin towers (AKA The World Trade Center). There were hundreds of unsuspecting passengers on the planes that were killed as the planes hit the towers. Over 340 firemen gave their lives trying to save others. It was the deadliest day in firefighter history.

      The third hijacked plane crashed into the pentagon. 125 servicemen and civilians were killed along with 64 passengers on that plane.

      The fourth plane carried over 40 passengers, but luckily the plane never made its destination. When some passengers in first-class saw terrorists go into the cockpit, they knew something was off. They fought the terrorists and managed to force the plane to crash land in a rural field in western Pennsylvania. Investigators suspect the destination was the Capitol building, but thanks to these heroes and their sacrifice, the plane never hit its target or more people would have been killed.

     I wasn't born yet, but my parents remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when this terrible tragedy happened. What about you? Do you remember where you were?

Another One Off the Bucket List

     Over the weekend, I did my first - drum roll please..........100 mile bike ride aka a century ride!!!!!!! We headed to Delaware to do the Amish Country Bike Tour on Friday night, and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. Our hotel was next to a Mcdonalds, so we just relaxed for the night, and got soft serves.

     The next morning, we woke up at 5:40 to get ready for the ride, and arrived at the starting line pretty early, so it was not too packed. 

Getting ready for the long ride

It was an incredibly hot and humid ride, and all of us were sweating like pigs. Throughout the ride, we spotted a lot of animals, including: 3 turkeys that laughed like old ladies, Cohorses (horses with black and white spots like cows), a rooster (we also heard 2 other roosters going cock-a-doodle-doo), some goats, and numerous dead birds and other road kill. 

     At about mile 50, we took a break at the popular pie stop. This is the only bike ride that we've been on where they have delicious homemade apple, peach, shoofly, and pumpkin pies. I got a slice of apple pie, and it was absolutely heavenly!  If you look closely at the pie stop section of the video link below, you can spot my dad holding Doggy.

     By about mile 84, it was getting hotter than bacon in a frying pan. We were running out of water, riding at a slight uphill, and the wind was blowing directly against us! Mommy and I went way ahead of my dad, because he was slowing down a lot. This stretch seemed to go on forever and ever. Finally, we saw a man loading his bike into a support van, so we asked the driver how far was it until the next rest stop. You can't imagine how relieved we looked when she said, "one mile". After filling up on water and taking a quick break at the rest stop, we headed out again, hurrying to finish before 4PM. 

     We started out averaging 15mph but eventually slowed down to less than 10 mph due to the extreme heat. Our actual riding time was 7 hrs. and 45 min. Of course Doggy slept through the entire ride in daddy's bike trunk. Well, except at the pie stop.

Yummy!

      When we finally arrived at the finish line, we were pretty pooped. I immediately dropped my bike and sped towards the food tent.  Pulled pork never tasted so good. While we were eating our lunch, Daddy gave me 5 prizes, and Mommy gave me two. (When I do well on really hard tests, swim meets, races, or other special things, I earn prizes, which are basically rain checks that I can use to redeem for things I want later on. One prize is worth up to $5 in value.) My mom said that Daddy was probably suffering from heat exhaustion which is why he gave me so many prizes. Maybe I should go turn the heater on and ask for a puppy! 

   Below is a link to the video of the ride my dad's co-worker's wife, Mary created using her Gopro camera. The Speedy Gonzales in the video is her husband, Mike. Thank you Mike & Mary for sharing your video.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152661539954266&l=6315161068928363385

Also, you can check out Mary's blog at: http://www.venividivelo.com

     After that, we headed back to the hotel to relax. We wanted to call the grandparents to tell them about the ride, but the phone was way over on the other side of the bed, and we were nice and comfy in bed, so we just stayed put.

     After a great night's rest, we woke up early the next morning to enjoy the breakfast bar at the hotel. Doggy & I had bacon, sausage, eggs, juice, and even a donut! Then, we went right back to bed.

    When 12:00 came, and we had to check out of the hotel, we decided not to leave Delaware just yet, and set out to take advantage of the no tax policy. We stopped at this outdoor store called Cabela's. They had amazing displays of stuffed animals, and aquariums. When I say stuffed animals, I don't mean the cute cuddly ones like Doggy, I mean real animals that were stuffed by a taxidermist. After Cabela's, we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for linner and also to watch the Eagles game. Everyone screamed so loudly when the Eagles won, that I had to cover my ears! 

Doggy not happy to be near the stuffed animal display at Cabela's

     When we got home, I was very surprised to find a new pair of headphone waiting for me in my bed. Attached was a note from my Uncle Vin and Aunt Katie congratulating me for finishing the bike ride. Thanks Jeero Vin & Katie, I could really use a new pair too!

     Also, thank you Mommy and Daddy for a fun and unusual weekend. I guess I can cross that one off my bucket list now! http://activegirlcc.blogspot.com/p/my-bucket-list.html
    

Wawa is Number One! :)

     About 3 weeks ago, I wrote a letter to the CEO of Wawa, and today, he wrote back! I was so excited! Besides a letter, Mr. Gheysens also sent me a really cool Goose Pride t-shirt and some coupons for free drinks! Check out both letters below!

August 15, 2014

Wawa Headquarters

CEO: Chris Gheysens

260 W. Baltimore Pike
Wawa, Pennsylvania 19063

Dear Mr. Gheysens,

    

            Hi, my name is K_ _ _ _ and I am 11 years old, and I think Wawa rocks! My dad and I go for runs and walks a lot, but somehow, we always end up at our neighborhood Wawa! I always get an Icee or a F’real, and my dad gets a coffee or raspberry tea. My mom used to come with us all the time, but ever since (last October) you took English Toffee off the menu and replaced it with pumpkin spice, she stopped joining us.

            According to my mom, it is an absolutely delicious drink, and different from anything else you sell and no one else sells it. If you add this back on, I am sure you will get a lot of customers back (like my mom) who love this drink! Please add the English Toffee back on your menu so we can run/walk together as a family again, because lately, it’s just been Daddy & me on these Wawa runs!

     We also love your hoagies, and my dad thinks your gas prices are great, and goes to Wawa for gas whenever he can!

            Thank you for taking the time to read my letter, and please think about my suggestion.

Sincerely,

KB