hello

we are still here, and alive too;) We have had a amazing summer! Here is what we have done                         



*went on a amazing trip to Mexico and had fun with G-ma Hart and Aunt Robin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*went on another amazing trip this time to Utah and Idaho and played with a ton of fun people that we love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*played at home(finally) and had our own amazing adventures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, that was how our summer went. It went fast!And its school now . Bleah! But,exiting things are coming! So stay tuned ! 





Jane                    Have a good school year!!: )










    

Answers for Contest

Comment your answers for the contest under my CCIRA story in the Stories page. Did I mention a prize? No, I didn't! The prize is to be determined at a later date. It will be awesome, I promise you!

Wonderful!

And by wonderful, I mean wonderful! Yup, I'm talking about something none of you have probably heard of.

CCIRA.
You see, CCIRA stands for Cecil Council International Reading Association. Every year they hold an... event? I don't know what the "event" was called, but Eve, Jane, and I all have been invited. Mom forgot though, and Jane was unable to go, but I think it's an honor to be recognized anyway. There are kids from 1st grade to 12th grade, and there is a Literacy Lotto where you can buy raffle tickets for books. There is a writing workshop and a little thing where you bring a piece of writing and share it. And there is a real author there! The author was Allison Whittenberg, who writes wonderful YA romance novels. And by wonderful, here I mean really weird. Like in one, where a fifteen-year-old girl falls in love with a seventy-two-year-old. And the "modern Romeo and Juliet story set in Philadelphia", Tutored (Random House, 2010). She told us to come up with an "elevator summary" for a story. Mine was, "Good and bad race through the galaxy to save the world." The evil aliens would try to do it so that everyone would call them heroes and they could brainwash them. The good humans are trying to stop them.

Needless to say, she didn't like it at all.

Still, it was fun, and I just wanted to tell you about it. I guess this is the end of this post, unless you want to read the story I brought there, which I put into the Story page. See ya!

The Adevntures of the Time-Traveling Trio!

Surprise!!! Jane + Michael + Eve = THE TIME TRAVELING TRIO! Pretty nice, huh? Jane got a new camera and we are making a new show called The Adventures of the Time Traveling Trio! You're gonna love it. It is about how this girl (Jane Austin) discovers an amazing awesome amazingly awesome discovery. Time travel! In Episodes 1 and 2 it is called The Adventures of Jane Austin, The Time-Traveler. Also, the other character in the first episode is the cameraman (Michael Austin). He isn't very important yet, but maybe he'll be more important later on. There is a glitch with the Time Machine in Episode 2, when it takes the two and Jane's best friend (Eve Austin) to the wrong time. Instead of taking taking them to ?????????, it takes them to??????????

               Soon when we learn how to plug in Jane's camera we'll post movies !
                                       until then stay  tuned !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE ARE STILL HERE!!!

Sorry we haven't posted about ourselves lately. We aren't very good blogger's! We've been meaning to do it but things have been happening we ask Mom she is very, very busy & does it a few minutes later when we forgot why we wanted to get on so we go on P.B.S. kids!
News...
EVE IS EIGHT! And is babtised! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JANE IS TEN!  Double Didgets! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MICHAEL IS TURNING 12 on Feb. 20! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VALENTINES DAY IS COMING SOON! YIPPIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NEW WARD IS FUN! MOM IS PRIMARY CHORISTER!


VALENTINE'S DAY AND HOW IT BEGAN
St. Valentine was marrying soldiers in secret under the rule of Claudius the "Cruel". He was imprisoned and he fell in love with the jailer's blind daughter. Legend has it that he wrote her a note to tell her how he felt, and suddenly she could see to read, "From your Valentine." That is the story of St. Valentine and Valentine's Day.


Jane is getting glasses! Michael got new glasses!

NorthBay Educational Adventure Camp Review...well, that's what it was supposed to be : )

Last week I went to an educational adventure camp along the Chesapeake Bay. Oh, wait, I have just had a great idea, let me record it very quickly. Okay, back to describing the "adventure of a lifetime". I can't help but think that this is inaccurate. Will a week doing awesome things ever outshine being baptized, being married, or becoming a parent? This is simply my opinion though it may be false. After all I have not done the latter two things, and will not for a very long time. Am I waxing too philosophical? Sorry if I am being confusing (which is very improbable), but I have just finished Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox. That is the best series I have ever read. Alvor would beat it if it was a series. Believe me, if it is going to be, I cannot wait! I am straying off topic though. It is most likely because of the fact I went there a week ago and, er, may have forgotten some unimportant details. In other words, this might be the worst review you have ever read on NorthBay, not to mention the first. But it is much better than it may sound. There are some pictures of me on the ropes course 50-60 ft. up! Snap, I just revealed part of it. Well, there is at least a virtual tour on the website right here. They have a gourmet chef there, and they serve dessert after every lunch and dinner. There is a zipline I went on, but the camera wasn't allowed. ; )  Don't worry it wasn't scary, it was the most exciting thing I have done where I hang from a wire and zoom above the swimming pool at 80 mph. I wish. More like the fastest speed on the fastest bike, unless that's as fast as a car, in which case I might have gone as fast as the slowest speed of that same bike, but that's probably stopped. So middle speed. Moving on. They are on the Bay, so once we went kayaking. Let's see, that's one...two...three...four! Four people who "fell" out. More like jumped. Anyway then- We interrupt this message for an important bulletin! I just checked my Aunt Laura's blog and learned the release date of Alvor 2, WINGS OF LIGHT, February 11. I can't WAIT!!!!! Back to our originally scheduled sentence! -we did a ropes course and these are the pictures.

 Believe me, it is up high. First you are on a log that looks rotten, then you are on a thin wire that has ropes hanging down, then just a wire, then a tippety canoe that sways from side to side, and finally those wooden boards that you can see.
Scariest thing I've ever done? A ginormous swing that goes higher than the ropes course, where you go up to the top slowly, then one kids chops the line and you think you are plummeting to your doom. I would not have gone on it at all if not for the desire to do something completely terrifying and this weird part of puberty that has to do with feelings! For the most part that's over though. Anyway, that's pretty much the whole week- Oh yeah! There is one thing. Two comedians came once and sung dumb songs that were really hilarious. Their link is here. OK, that's a whole review of NorthBay. Please check out that link to the virtual tour so you can see the place better
 .
Now that's a satisfied customer right there. Not to mention handsome. I have to be a little conceited, correct? After all, I got to go to an amazing place for four days. Awesome, huh?

Moms Review:

When Michael walked up the driveway after being gone all week I could have sworn he was 3 inches taller. And tanner, and  cuter!  I'm so proud of him.  This truly was an adventure.  We haven't done sleep overs so being away from home in itself was a big thing.  Michael told me about new foods (AMAZING grits!) and new friends and new adventures.  I love thinking of him trying new/hard things!  He also went clamming and learned a lot about the environment. For more amazing pictures go to here. (click on the photo album for Elkton/Cherry Hill Middle School) About 2/3 into the pictures you'll see kids on a giant swing. The middle blond haired girl is Julia. The pictures crack me up, you see pure terror in her face, then shock, then joy.  I love it!  I can't believe Michael did it!

One more thing,  Our scripture for the week was Joshua 1:9
Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Appropriate right? 

Exclusive! Extra! Extra! Read All About It! 2

Here's the second chapter of my book.

It was four years after the orphanage burned down. Everyone had pretty much forgotten about Adonis disappearing, and a grave stone in the cemetery proclaimed,

Here lies the coffin made in honor of

Adonis Abel Akbar,

who died in a fire in 2006

Rest In Peace

Twelve miles away, the dark forest surrounded a school that was not on the map. It was, in fact, the school that the Blue Knight had built for his descendants with three or less powers. Today was the fourth anniversary of the fire at the orphanage. Inside, things were going along like normal. Mean kids bullying the young kids, at one person in class turning into a frog, Astronomy going on during the day... The seven-year-olds were having Astronomy, and a kid with blue eyes and brown hair slicked forward was getting bored. This kid was Felix Alexander Tidro. His power was water. Anyway, he looked at his watch. It was 10:37 am, one minute before the fire had started. He looked through his telescope, when the minute ticked onto 10:38.

"OH SNAP!" Felix leapt backwards. "Some kid just materialized out of the forest!"

Indeed, a boy had appeared on the exact date of the fire, the exact time even! He had bright red short hair that stuck in many directions and eyes that flashed many different shades of green. As Felix and the others watched, the boy walked up to the main door of the school and knocked on it. Quickly, a kid named Quigley Ty used his power to produce a length of rope, which they then used to lower down Leo Lowdmowth who's power was to magnify whatever he heard. Mean while the door opened.

"WHO ARE YOU?" said Leo in the crispy strict voice of the Alchemy teacher Mrs. Ledd.

The young boy responded, and Leo magnified. "IF YOU HAVE THE CASUALTY LIST OF BLUE FAMILY MEMBERS, YOU WILL FIND ME FOUR YEARS AGO, ON THIS EXACT DATE AND TIME, IN THE NEARBY PLACE WHERE AN OLD STONE ORPHANAGE BURNED DOWN." The boy had a strong clear voice with a hint of a Southern accent.

Mrs. Ledd looked in a scroll she was holding and then gasped. Leo quickly magnified. "YOU MEAN, YOU'RE........ ADONIS ABEL AKBAR?!"

"IT'S NOT UH-DAWN-ISS, IT'S UH-DOUGH-NISS. BUT YES." Leo stifled a scream as the rope holders quickly recovered from dropping him. They hauled him back up. All of them except one. Felix Alexander Tidro. The one who's uncle had started the fire trying to end Adonis' life.

***

Adonis was sent to the town nearby to figure things out. He told the Alchemy teacher over and over, "I can't tell anyone. It's a dangerous secret. I'm not even sure what happened." On one such occasion, Adonis said instead, "I'm sorry I can't tell you. You've cared for me so much these past days, I so want to tell you. But you'd never believe me."

Mrs. Ledd sighed. "Then Adonis, can you tell me what your power is?"

"Oh yes. That's not a secret. But..."

"But what, Adonis?"

"Will you believe me?"

"Oh Adonis. I would believe you if you said you had all the powers in the world."

"Oh. Then this won't shock you. I have all the powers in the world."

"What?"

"Well, not technically. But I do have most of them. Only perfection and darkness, and who needs them?"

"Oliver Prectefe, I suppose, but then that's because perfection is his power. But then again, he's not exactly normal. He is impossible, being perfectly right and perfectly wrong at the same time. However, I believe you wholeheartedly. But we must change the subject. Do you know of any friends you can stay with until next marking period? That is when you will begin. I must go back to school and teach Alchemy. Even though Miss Shift is fine at transforming her lead into gold, she can't transform her teaching ability into my power, which is turning lead into gold. She still teaches Time at the same time. I'm so happy Mr. Clok got fired, but too bad he made it happen in a second instead of a year. He was so good at tick-tocking people off!"

Adonis laughed. "Well, I suppose my friend Samuel could take me in. His adopted parents were about to adopt me when the fire happened, so I guess they'll be fine."

***

A week later, Adonis was dropped off at the Streek house. Samuel raced out and hugged his old friend. "Oh Adonis! I never forgot you!"

"I didn't forget you either. C'mon Samuel, let's see your parents then go to wherever I'm staying. I've got a lot to tell you." The Streeks were a couple who had adopted Samuel and were about to adopt Adonis. Mrs. Ledd had called them, said she was the police, and told them a story about Adonis. They thought that Adonis had been kidnapped by the people who started the fire because he saw them. For four years, the kidnappers had kept him, making him terrified. He had escaped with a photo of the kidnappers and the police had captured them and sent them to Fort Knox, which they pretended was an incredibly guarded jail.

"Darn." said Mr. Streek. "I wanted to give him a piece of my mind."

So there you have it. Chapters 1 and 2. Soon coming... Chapter 3!

Michael