Street Music

      You know how every once in a while, when you are walking down the street, you come across a musician jamming out on the side of the road? Well, last week on Christmas eve, I got to be that person! With a little encouragement from Mommy, I decided to set up shop in front of Starbucks, playing classic Christmas songs on my saxophone. I figured it would be a good way to spread some holiday cheer and earn a little extra "moolah" while I was at it. I got many smiles and... well, let's just say a bit more cash than originally expected.

     Thank you to the manager of Starbucks for letting me play in front of your store, the awesome Mr. Peters for getting me the sheet music so last minute, and as always, Mommy and Daddy for supporting me. Especially Daddy for waiting while I played for an hour! Last but not least, thank you to all of the generous shoppers who dropped a little piece of cheer into my case! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! As 2015 is coming to a close, also make sure to have an equally amazing new year! :)

Can you guess how much I made?

Reporting Live from the Kimmel Center

11/20/15 4:42 PM EST

By: Karen B*******

    On Friday, 12/11/15, shrieks of joy could be heard ringing through the halls of Haverford Middle School as the winner of the annual “More FM 101.1 Christmas Choir Competition” was announced. The school’s select singing ensemble, “Seventh Heaven” was awarded $5,000 and along with a chance to sing with the famous “Philly Pops.” They won the contest with their rendition of the classic Christmas carol, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” HMS has made it into the semi-finals for four years straight, but this is the first time that they have achieved first place. The choir’s director, the very talented (not to mention 8 months pregnant!) Mrs. Jacqueline Langley has reported that the winnings will be donated to the music programs of schools in the Philadelphia area who need it more than HMS.

    Seventh Heaven performed their hit song on the grand stage of the Kimmel Center last Wednesday in the “Philly Pops’ Christmas Spectacular,” a sold-out, must-see show for every Christmas-music lover.

However, before going up, the choir enticed lobby-dwellers with five acapella songs, gaining approval especially in their version of Straight No Chaser's ( a men's singing group),“12 Days of Christmas.”

     Afterwards, their much anticipated guest appearance earned a huge applause from the ginormous audience.    

    Congratulations to all of these fantastic middle schoolers and Happy Holidays to everyone!
 
You can also check out this video of 7th Heaven being featured on NBC10 News.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlhqMtW1TFc&feature=em-share_video_user

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday. Today, I completed my first official animation! It was done using my new Wacom Tablet (B-day gift) and took me the better part of the day. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uI3mtM1Mk4&feature=youtu.be

Joke of the Week - November 2, 2015

"Knock, Knock"

     Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Can you guess what my costume was this year? Here's a hint:

"Knock, knock"
"Who's there?"
"ME!!!"
    No, I wasn't a punchline for a joke. I was a door. Boo's door from the movie "Monster's Inc." to be exact. The project took about 6 hours and A LOT of paint. I decided that since I have to knock on doors in order to get candy every year, the bestowers should too. So, I put a "please knock" sign on my door and swung it open to say "trick-or-treat"! My guise was a hit! So much candy! :) 

      Mommy and I also carved an awesome "Perry the Platypus" (from the Disney show Phineas and Ferb) pumpkin. How was your Halloween?

    

THE PROS AND CONS OF RUNNING A HALF MARATHON

 Last weekend, I was able to cross another item off my bucket list. Can you guess which one? You can probably figure this out from the title that I did a half-marathon! We went down to Ocean City, New Jersey the night before and stayed at my parents' friend's beach house. Thanks again, Anna and Doug! Check out some of the ups and downs of this 13.1 mile feat below.

Pros

Cons

You get a lot of exercise from training. Yay! Health! You get to eat anything you want after your training run. You get to take an awesome car trip down to Ocean City, New Jersey! You get to enjoy the comforts of an amazingly cozy beach house for the night. You are within walking distance to the starting point of the race. One word- PEOPLE. So many new faces! Kind people and new friends (I met Katie & Maggie who happen to be from our neighborhood, who would have thought?). When you are light, the wind gives you a great boost, pushing you forward easily. You get a strong feeling of accomplishment when you finished. Also, your parents are super proud of you... Afterwards, you get to relax and do nothing the next day. Bragging rights and an awesome medal!

You have to wake up early almost every morning to train in the HOT SUMMER HEAT while other kids get to sleep in. Uggh. Health. Not eating the right thing before a training run may lead to diarrhea, cramps, queasiness, and nausea. You get to take a leg-numbing car trip down to Ocean City, New Jersey. You have to wake up early next morning to get ready for your race. That means that your mom will make you walk to the start of the race early in the morning. One word- PEOPLE. Soooo mannnyyyy peeeoooppppllleee!!!! It’s super duper, ooper, schmuper crowded! When you are light, the wind gives you a great boost, pushing you backwards easily. Even though your parents are super proud of you, they are still not proud enough to let you spend all of your money on souvenirs. Well, that's only true if you don’t have a cross-country practice the very next day. Bragging is rude, and people look at you like you are crazy if you wear a heavy medal around everywhere.

   I ended up finishing first in the 14 and under age group (I'm 12) with a time of 1 hour and 55 minutes! 
Thanks again for all your support, Mommy and Daddy! I love you. :)

 

A crowded start. Can you find me?

On the boardwalk, Mile 7.

 

 Mommy cheering me on.

Mommy cheering me on. 

Photo finish!

Oooh! Pretty medal! Also, a cool certificate and an awesome pair of cushiony running socks which happen to match my sneakers!

Doggy! Why 'd you take a selfie in my medal!?!

Nuggies Coloring Contest

     A few weeks ago, I entered a coloring contest for a company called "Nuggies". Nuggies are adorable, little, playful puppies that love to have fun. They star in their own books, "Daddy Forgot my Dinner" and "All the Other Nuggies", both written by Jeff Minich and Illustrated by Renan Garcia. The contest was through Facebook, and judged based on 1) 50% creativity and 2) 50% the total number of likes. 

     Guess what? I won first prize!!!!! The prize package includes an iPad mini (WHOO HOO!), a set of Crayola Digitools (digital drawing tools for your iPad), and a signed, hardcover edition of "All the Other Nuggies".  As a bonus, I also got a stuffed Nuggie and 3 extra signed paperback editions of "All the Other Nuggies". I may be 12, but I still found the book cute and entertaining. It's teaches a nice lesson about how great it is to be different, and would be great for toddlers and babies!

     I want to thank everyone who gave me a "thumbs up" on my contest entry and Mr. Jeff Minich for the generous prize. Also, congrats to the other winners and runner ups. (check out my entry below):

If you want to adopt a stuffed Nuggie or purchase the books, go to:

http://www.getnuggies.com

Summertime Madness - Part Three

      

     A new school year is quickly approaching, and I'm almost an official 7th grader! However, before the summer ends, we had to go on one last trip: our annual family camping trip. 

     This year, we headed up to the campsite early on a Thursday. Upon arriving at Hickory Run State Park, we "partially" unloaded. By that, I mean we took the cooler out of the car and immediately started snacking. After stuffing our faces with jalapeno popcorn, we set up camp and went out to look for firewood. As you can see from the picture below, we were pretty successful!

Keeping myself busy while waiting for dinner.

    For the rest of the night, we just enjoyed the heat of the fire together before retiring early and heading to bed.

     The next morning, we slept in. Alright, alright, I slept in. Mommy and Daddy were up waaaayyyy before me! I woke up to A LOT of complaints about me stinking up the tent. If you don't want me to pass gas, why’d you feed me cheese the night before?

     That Friday, we decided to go on a loooooooonnnnnngggggg hike. Our family friends would be coming that night and we were hoping to get some exercise in before they arrived. So, off we went on a grueling, steep, rocky, blister-filled, annoying-horseflies-that-only-seemed-to-be-going-for-me, hike. Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic. We ended the trek at a distance of 8.5 miles in a little over 4 hours. After that, Mommy and Daddy went even further to go collect more firewood. Let’s just say I was absolutely NO help with that! J

Mommy taking a picture of Daddy taking a picture of me taking a picture of a giant spider.

     When we got back to the campsite, I napped in the car for a good hour before dragging my smelly, sweaty butt to the shower.

     We proceeded to set up the fire, waiting for Auntie Alice, Uncle Mike, and Aidan to arrive. After a few hours, we started making bets on when they would appear. Long story short, we didn't eat dinner until 8:30.

     When we finished stuffing our faces with hotdogs, bratwursts, pork chops and potatoes, it was bedtime. WARNING: SLEEPING BAGS ARE NOT SMELLPROOF!!! BEWARE ANGRY PARENTS WHO DO NOT APPRECIATE IT WHEN YOU FART IN THE TENT!!!!

Whitewater rafting on the Lehigh Gorge River

      Saturday morning, we got ready for a fun day ahead of whitewater rafting. The trip was great! Aidan was unanimously voted as our raft captain, and he did a great job! The rapids were absolutely thrilling (it was Class II/III rapids) and due to it being a dam release day, it was even more fun than usual! A fun twist to rafting; there were big, white buckets in our raft, used for the sole purpose of emptying out the water in our rafts. Of course, where you put that water is up to you… Let’s just say, that was the biggest splash fight I’ve ever been involved in. Some kids even brought their own water guns!!!!!! We paddled down the river until our arms were sore and our butts hurt. We witnessed at least 3 people fell overboard, but they all got pulled back into their raft safely. I can now cross whitewater rafting off my bucket list!

     That night, we all stayed up late by the ginormous fire, enjoying our steaks and s'mores.

    Before heading back the next morning, we decided to go fishing at the beach. I mainly waded around catching tadpoles and frogs. The fish just weren’t biting! 

After a BIG lunch of hotdogs, hamburgers, and sausages. Mommy said she wasn't going to make dinner that night, so we’d better stuff our bellies. Also because we didn't want to take any leftovers home since we were running super low on ice. Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Hickory Run State Park!

Thanks for a great camping trip, Mommy and Daddy! 

Thank you Auntie Alice, Uncle Mike & Aidan for joining us and help make this another memorable end-of-the summer adventure!

Summertime Madness - Part Two

     I had tons of fun at Great Wolf Lodge, but lucky for me, the fun wasn't over yet! After a pretty uneventful Thursday and Friday, we got back on the road. This time, our destination was Lancaster, PA, the location of our annual family bike ride. 

     The Lancaster Covered Bridge Metric Century Ride (100km, 65miles) didn't actually take place until the next day, but it's our own little family tradition to head up a day early and stay at a hotel on Saturday. So, after arriving at the hotel early, we decided to occupy our wait time by enjoying a pre-packed picnic lunch at a provincial public park (try saying that 3 times fast!). YUM!

     Following our delicious healthy meal, we decided it was time for some... SHOPPING!!!! Lancaster outlets rock! :) I got myself this awesome hat from the Merrell store, called a Penelope hat (see below). Whoop whoop!

     For dinner, we had a delicious meal from Dickey's Barbecue Pit. There's nothing like a balanced diet of meat, mac and cheese, meat, onion rings, meat, buttered rolls, meat, and more meat drenched in bbq sauce (did I mention meat?)! 

     The next morning, we got up bright and early (5:30) and headed to Harrisburg Community College's Lancaster Campus.  The bike ride started out nicely, with cool, perfect weather. However, once we left the lunch stop at mile 38, it started getting searingly hot and blindingly bright. Around this time, Daddy started losing momentum and Mommy and I decided to finish the ride on our own (travel montage plays in background). In short, we ditched him (sorry Daddy). 

     Soon, my mom started lagging behind too, and I had to slow down and wait for her at the top of some of the hills. Now I know how my parents felt when I was a super slow 9-year old with a Barbie bike! :)

     Mommy and I completed the ride with a personal best time of approximately 5 hours, and my dad came in about 15 min. later. We enjoyed the post-ride snacks of Turkey Hill ice cream, grapes, cookies, and refreshingly chilled Turkey Hill iced tea. Daddy even bought the two of us really cool polarized biking shades! This is really turning out to be a great summer. :D

Stay tuned for Summertime Madness: Part 3!

Summertime Madness - Part One

     As a reward for a great report card, my parents let me pick a place to go on vacation. I chose Great Wolf Lodge, the indoor waterpark resort of FUN! Lisha (my plus one and favorite swim buddy) and I had a blast! 
     To start off the trip, we picked Lisha up, and drove for a while before arriving at Jacobsburg Environmental Educational Center near the resort. There, we had our picnic lunch under a pavilion and joked around, laughing over things so silly that if anybody had heard us, they would have thought that we were weirdos. :)

     Upon arrival at the Lodge, we checked in and each received a pair of wolf-ear headbands (yes, even my parents!). We headed up to our room, the "Wolf Den Suite", any kid's overnight-stay dream. It was a room, complete with an enclosed cave of bunkbeds and a mini TV! WHOOO HOOO!!!!!

     After unloading our bags, we immediately sped off to the waterpark for a few hours of nonstop, soaking wet, fun! Even my parents got on all the rides! When we finally started to get tired (hey, climbing staircases and waiting in line can be exhausting!), we retired to the hotel room and enjoyed the luxurious perks of being on vacation. 

Photobomb!

     Following our relaxation time, we all piled into the car and headed out for dinner at 'drumroll please'............. Friendly's (*cue catchy jingle*)! Lisha and I enjoyed an all American meal of mini cheeseburgers and fries. Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy took on a more British approach and ordered a dish of clam chowder and fish and chips. Pip pip and a cheerio! Of course, the highlight of our meal was the ice cream. Ahhhhh... yummy, yummy, ice cream.
     When we arrived back at the resort, my parents gave us a 12 o'clock curfew (*sniff* they grow up so fast!) and let us roam freely thoughout the resort. Lisha and I spent over an hour in the gift shop until finally going upstairs and enjoying the privacy of our little cave. We ended up turning the TV off at 12:10ish, and fell asleep almost immediately after. 

     The next morning, we slept in a little bit before heading down to the waterpark to get the most out of our last day there. We all got on our favorite rides again (including the "Double Barrel", "Bigfoot Crossing" and "Slideboarding") My dad even got some shots of us getting drenched by a GINORMOUS bucket of water. When we eventually began to get hungry, my parents, Lisha and I went outside and had some snacks, "tailgating" on the back of our Outback.

     Then we went back into the waterpark. After a few more hours of fun, we decided it was time to say goodbye to Great Wolf Lodge. For linner, we stopped at a county park and had Wawa hoagies, mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes. Lisha and I even treated ourselves to Starbucks frappuccinos!

Just hanging!

Rock shaped geocache infested with ants. YUCK!

     We discovered there were some caches within the park and had a blast introducing Lisha to geocaching.   Then, we completed the journey home and dropped Lisha off. This was a terrific trip that I will never forget!

To be continued...

Hall of Fame

Can I get a HALLER (holler)?!? Get it? Haller? Because I made it into our summer swim team's Hall of Fame! What, you may ask is this intriguing hall, and why is it so famous? Well, don' t get your whiskers in a twist, and let me explain...

You see, the Hall of Fame is a prestigious award given to a swimmer after they accomplish the difficult feat of earning 150 points for our team. Points are earned accordingly:

Individual Events

First Place: 5 Points

Second Place: 3 Points

Third Place: 1 Point

Relays

First Place: 7 Points 

It took me 6 years on the team to earn my 150 points, and now I have a plaque and a place on the wall among other "famers" at the swim club to prove it! :) Whoo hoo!!!!

Swim, Swim, Bike, Run, Walk (the dog), Celebrate

I just had one of those unforgettable weekends! To start it off...

Saturday

Saturday was the final regular meet of the summer swim season, LSC against SSC. The entire team started out by meeting up in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center.  The swimmers then proceeded (with parental permission, of course) to use car chalk to decorate our parents' vehicles, showing off our team spirit.

Following that, we "paraded" into the opposing team's pool, cheering the whole way. I had a good meet, placing first in IM, butterfly, and breaststroke, resulting in a "triple win". Yay!!! I haven't had a triple win in a while, so this was a very sweet victory for me. We ended up losing the meet by a mere 5 points, placing us 3rd in the league. 5 POINTS!!!!! However, this was our team's first year in the A division after winning the B division for the past 2 years, and we did a lot better than expected. Congrats to my teammates for a great season, and THANK YOU Coach Mike, Coach Joe, Coach Alex, and Coach Tara for your endless support and determination!

Saturday Part 2

After the meet, my mom surprised me by stopping off at her boss, Ms. Lisa's house to pick up Penny the Shih Tzu. I got to doggysit Penny for the whole afternoon while Ms. Lisa was away! Penny was a very calm dog, and it didn't take much to please her. When we brought her inside, she mainly just trotted behind and followed us as we walked around (mainly Mommy, much to my disappointment), chased her chew toy, or sat on her special "perch" by the windowsill. She did however, choose to be much more lively on our walks, in which she sniffed EVERYTHING possible, and pooped 3 times! THREE TIMES!!!! Ms. Lisa said Penny might not poop when she's nervous, but I guess we did a good job of making her feel at ease, because Mommy has photographic evidence of me picking up Penny's putrid poop (try saying that 3 times fast)! Luckily, this cute pup made up for it with her absolute cuteness, fluffiness, and masterful cuddling! Thank you Ms. Lisa for trusting me and letting me watch Penny! Also thanks to Mommy and Daddy for agreeing, and Penny for being a wonderful houseguest (you know, aside from the poop thing).

Sunday

 On Sunday, I competed in the Karakung Mini Triathlon. I placed second in the 14 and under age group (even though I'm 12, but thanks to the USTA rules, I am considered 13 and had to compete against 13 & 14 year olds as well). Part of my prize was a $5 Wawa gift card. MUH HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!

Monday
Well, it turns out, my splendid weekend is not over yet! Earlier today, I learned that I won a raffle at my local library! You see, summer reading at HTFL is actually a raffle. You fill out your "ticket" of each book you read, and can put it in the jar for a chance to win prizes! I was the lucky winner of a $10 gift card to a local pizza place, Cenzo's (BEST CRUST EVER).