Picture Album 2011

Here is a photo album of some of our experiences.  The cover is of us in Tahoe... snow in the middle of summer!  It was a spectacular year!

This free digital scrapbooking design made with Smilebox

Selling Birdhouses and Watching Robots Fight!

I recently finished selling birdhouses at the Vineyard of Faith Church.  They were having a Holiday Sale.  I was one of the vendors.  I was selling birdhouses and picture frames that I painted myself (with my family's help, too).  I made about $150!  I sold almost my entire collection.  I have another sale this Saturday in Rohnert Park, at the University of Sports Holiday Craft Fair.

The money I am earning is set aside for traveling in the United States.  We will be going back on the trip when we go to see my mom's friend, Mr. Ty, get married.  From Texas, we will then explore the rest of the South and hopefully, go towards New York.  But going to the East will depend on if we raise enough money with fundraising.  I plan to give inspirational speeches about overcoming challenges to achieve your goals.

Here are some pictures of me making birdhouses with my sister and then later of me selling them at the Vineyard of Faith Holiday Fair.

I still have quite a few birdhouses available for sale and you can see the selection on my new website.  It's not live yet, but it will be soon... soon!

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I recently attended a Robotics Event in San Mateo.  It was a really cool event because we saw a bunch of robots fight and my favorites were Sewer Snake and Texas Heat. Here is Sewer Snake.

Here is Texas Heat.

These robots fought other robots but not each other.

I am now making plans with my friend, Riley, to make a robot.  One of the parents in our Boy Scout troop is an engineer who is helping us with this project.  I'm excited.  My mother already donated a computer monitor for parts.

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Tonight, I'm setting up my Christmas decorations and the fake tree.  That will be fun!  

Scouting, Gaming and Beyond!

So, another year is another opportunity to be a Boy Scout.  I'm a Lone Scout, actually, which is a special kind of Boy Scout that travels or lives far away from other scouts.  But at the same time, I'm lucky.  I'm a welcome member when I'm in town of our local Windsor troop.  So, I get the best of both worlds!  This year, my scout goals are to achieve the Tenderfoot Rank, the Golf Merit Badge (shout out to all golfers!) and to achieve my Religious Emblem Award, which is a special award for those who take great study of their religion.  It will be awarded to me during service, in front of everyone.  It's a real honor.  One of the great things about scouting is that some of what I do in scouting counts as schoolwork!  For example, I am studying Robotics with my host troop and will create a robot, as well as attend a robotics event in the South Bay.  It's super fun to learn about mechanical engineering - that's what robotics is!

Here I am in my uniform.

The latest and greatest in my gaming life is that I have a new game for Wii.  It is DJ Hero 2.  I haven't played it yet, but I will tonight!  It lets you act like a real DJ.

My latest project (and part of my schooling) is my creation of an online website for my business.  I am excited to report that we are very close to a launch date.  Stay tuned!  I will definitely let you all know when my website is live... just in time for Christmas!  I'm using it as a way to finance some of the travels I will be doing for school and also a way to save up for college.  Since I am halfway through my Business Math class, the new skills I've learned in it will really help me when it comes to running my new web business.

Returning To... Mendocino Junior College

I am back at Mendocino Junior College.  It's an hour away in Ukiah and it's much, much hotter there!  This week, I spent hours trying to get into my classes.  Today, I'm on my way back for another couple of hours to finish up my enrollment.  I have to take my placement exam also, but not today.  Today, I'm just getting my enrollment done.

At the college, they are helping people learn in the tutoring center.  They also have a bus that comes from Willits or Santa Rosa.  Here are pictures of the college.

 

What I like about Mendocino College is that there's a lot of independence and there's a great view of the mountains.  I can study on my own time and my classes are online so I don't even have to go to the campus.  There is a lot of work to do but my classes are transferable to a four year university.

This semester, I am taking English and Business Math.  I'm thinking of taking one more class, too.

I'll keep you posted!

The Art of Gaming

What I like about gaming is that in every game you can do things you can't do in real life.  In Modern Warfare, you can shoot people but I can't do that in real life.  For those who don't know, the game is based on the War in Iraq and Afghanistan.  In racing games, you can break the speed limit and have cops chasing you but instead of pulling over (like you would in real life) you need to keep going or you'll get busted for pulling over.

Guess what?  My mother has a great idea for me to do some gaming for some of my homeschool work.  How would you like to game at school?!  Isn't that great?  So, she is buying me a game calls Sims.  Maybe you heard of it?  I have been wanting that game FOREVER!  I really want Sims 3 but of course, my mother insists on investigating ALL the Sims!  So, I don't know what she will decide on but I think it is totally cool that she is letting me game as part of my school work!  I only get to do this on Fridays, though.

The reason my mother is letting me game for some of my school work is because I just scored super sky high on a national standards test.  Apparently, I scored on the same level as a Senior who is finishing high school.  I was surprised myself.  But, she reminds me, that doesn't mean I know everything.  I still have to complete a lot of studies this fall. (Boo!)  No, actually, I do like to study history.  I'm also studying business, which I like, and government, which I don't know a lot about so I guess I'll let you know more about my thoughts on that later.  
Here is a game that I enjoy.

End of My Summer Job & Moving to a New Condo!

Hi Everyone,

So, if you didn't know, I had a summer job testing school curriculum.  I worked for Power Learning.  It was a cool job because all I had to do was work online.  I logged on the laptop every morning, put on my headset, and connected to the teleconference.  Then I gave feedback to one of the developers.  The work was easy, I made some online friends who are other teens and I got paid $120!  Too bad my job just ended but it was fun!

These days, I'm getting ready for the big move.  We are moving into a three story condo.  My mom says it's very nice but I haven't seen it yet.  I'm really excited though because I'm going to be near the Town Green, where everything is going on and a lot of teenagers hang out in the summer.  My room will be on the second floor, which is above the garage.  We are going to go all out in converting the garage this time into a serious gaming room.  The only thing that my mom won't buy for my gaming satisfaction is Modern Warfare (the game).  She says I can have that game when I move out.  That sucks!  But my mother is still cool because she does buy me a lot of games and accessories for me and my friends to play with.

What else is new?  I've been golfing a lot lately and I'm getting ready to play in tournaments this fall.  I even go when I don't have a lesson.  My goal is to golf every single day!  I'm looking for sponsors because golfing is really expensive.  I also want to invite anyone that wants to join me to golf with me or just hit balls at the driving range.  With enough practice, I will be totally awesome, ha ha... like Ben Hogan.  And check out this video of a 9 year old making a hole in one.

http://www.famousgolfshots.com/category/kids-golf-videos  

Just a few days ago, I went to the fair with my family and my mom made me go on the Shooting Star!  I'm a big chicken so I didn't want to go on that but I did.  It goes 40mph in the daytime but up to 60mph at night.  Crazy!  I went on the Cliffhanger and my poor mom got dizzy and couldn't go on rides after that.  After that I went on every ride at the fair, including Black Widow.  My sister got sick on the Black Widow and then SHE couldn't ride any more rides!  Now, I realize, I should have taken a friend because my whole family were too wimpy to handle the fast rides.  But that's okay.  We still had fun.

Civil War Days at Duncan Mills

Hi,

We went to the Civil War reenactment at Duncan Mills today and it was fun!

We saw The First Battle of Bull Run.  They used real guns and cannons loaded with powder but no bullets.  Here are some pictures I took.

By the way, I ran into my friend, Parker, there.  Hi Parker!

Enjoy the pics.

My New Job

I currently have a job testing school curriculum and materials. I will have this job for two weeks and at the end of these two weeks, I will be paid $120 and that is enough for my ticket to Disney Land.  We want to go there this fall.

After I get off work, I go to St. Eugene's and then to Huntington Learning Center.  The best part of the day is when I get to go golfing.  Sometimes I golf with my teacher, Mr. Damien, and sometimes I golf alone.  But this Monday, I'm golfing with my good friends, Nick and Shiel.  Shiel's family is from India.

Oh No, Mr. Bill! Summer School

I started St. Eugene's Summer School.  We worked on some math including finding perimeter and place value and we worked on less than or greater than with equations.  I thought that was easy.  The schoolwork is too easy but I had fun with my friends.  We also worked on Reader's Theater and picked out a play to perform.  It's based on the Grinch Who Stole Christmas except this time it's the Grinch Who Stole the Light.  I'm going to be Max - his dog!  Cindy Lou will be played by a boy named Marco and when she gets zapped, she will turn into the Green Lantern!  For PE, we played dodge ball and Ms. Carbelski let the girls cheat but not the boys - NO FAIR!  Here's a picture of St. Eugene's.

After St. Eugene's I'm going to ride my skateboard to Huntington Learning Center every day for two hours of tutoring, which is next door to my mother's office.  She and I will get done at the same time.  I am learning test taking skills there because I've never taken tests.  I'm going to take the Catholic High School Entrance Exam.  I'm also going to take the SAT.  There's a girl who took the SAT after eighth grade and just skipped high school and went straight to college because she scored so well.  I already know that I have to work on my vocabulary to do really well on the reading part so that is what I'm working on too.  I won't take those tests until the end of summer.  I just completed a national standards test and I scored really well on my knowledge base, so I could go to high school this fall but I'm not.  I  was thinking about going to Cardinal Newman High this fall but I'm taking this year to attend the junior college instead.  My dad was able to pay for my tuition to Newman High before but he's been sick and in bed and he had surgery so now he isn't working but my mom set aside money for college so I can go to the junior college for now.  I still plan to attend Newman next year and my goal is to work on my golfing and play the junior circuit instead this school year.  Newman offers scholarships for golfing so if I improve my game this year, I might be able to attend Newman on a partial or even maybe a full scholarship.  Then, my mother can pay for me to go to Newman, even if my dad isn't working.  I am working with my golf coach, Mr. Damien, who attended Newman and also he was on their golf team.  Mr. Damien knows what I need to learn to be on the golf team at Newman.  When I finish at Huntington, I go to my golf lessons during the weeknights. Here's a picture of Newman High and the Windsor Golf Club, where I play.  I once saw Mr. Hauth there!

It's going to be a busy summer.  I'm also completing Spanish IV by the end of summer and Latin studies on Rosetta Stone.  On Saturdays, I'm working from 10am to 2pm selling lemonade and cookies.  I can make about $60 on a good Saturday.  I want to save this up.  I want to go to Disneyland but I also want to buy a Nook from Barnes n Noble so I'm not sure what I'll spend the money on yet.  The Nook is really expensive! I'm still trying to think of a good online business.  So far, maybe I am going to sell birdhouses that I make myself but I'm not sure about that yet.  I have a lot of ideas!

Well, this is the reason that I won't be online that much this summer with the blog.  I will still blog about once a week and let you know what's new so remember to check back.
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Indian Valley is Busted By Rain!

Well, we were on our way north to Indian Valley last week but by the time we got to Ukiah, which is on the way, it was pouring rain!  Ugh.  Rain!  We couldn't go where we planned to go because there are dirt roads to that campsite and we are only driving a station wagon without all weather tires.  We didn't want to get stuck in the mud so far away so we had to go to Plan B.

We visited my good friend, Mikey, instead, and his mom, Ms. Pam, and his sister, Britney (hope I spelled her name right).  They live in Ukiah and we were there overnight.  Britney did my sisters' hair in curls.  That was cool.  She put feathers in their hair, too.  Mikey and I watched Harry Potter (without my sisters in his room) but he missed the ending because he fell asleep.  The movie was longer than we expected.  It was still a great time.  Here's a picture of me and Mikey from last year when I saw him play football in Cloverdale.

Most of the week, we visited my Tia Leslie, who is staying at my Nana's and Papa's in Sebastopol.  That was super fun because Ms. Maria is there with her boys so we had a great time together.  John is my cousin and my Tia's son.  He is out of school for the summer so he hung out with us, too.  I even got to talk to my Tio Adam about the Hubble Telescope.  Tio Adam normally is too busy or he is working and can't talk so it was nice to talk with him this time.  He knows a lot of stuff.

Here's my cousins Johnny (he's 15) and Mikey (he's 6).  Johnny's always joking and clowning around.

Well, it's Memorial Day Weekend and we are off to the coast unless the rain spoils our fun.  There is fishing, camping, and, of course, the beach!  My sister wants to spend her actual birthday at the beach, rain or shine!  (She's crazy.  She says we can use an umbrella if it rains!)  Well, it IS her birthday so I guess we will be at the beach on the 31st.)  My Mama found a great place to camp for free.  We will be near Bodega Bay.  I hope it's sunny!

The rest of next week, we are going to Tahoe, while our car is repaired in Santa Rosa.  We will get a loaner car from the shop that is brand new and drive it to Tahoe, unless it's storming or snowing badly.  It will be a short trip but if Mama can get a deal on the hotel, like she did last time, we will all go snowboarding!  The last time we went up there, we took an old, blue station wagon and we got a hotel for $34 a night during the summer.  Mama says that kind of deal is unheard of in Tahoe during the summer but my Mama can find all the deals.

We have to be back in town by Friday because Mama has a new job interview and needs to meet someone in Rohnert Park about it.  We also have an application for a new place that is getting processed and they said they won't be finished with it until the end of the week.  I hope we get the new place but I still want to keep traveling.  Mama says she thinks she can squeeze one more trip in this summer even though we are going to be at summer school and even if she gets the new job.  If she doesn't get the new job, she still has her old job waiting.  She is supposed to go back to work right after 4th of July at H&R Block.  She'll be there while we are at summer school.

Happy Memorial Day!  Remember the veterans you know who have fought in wars on Monday.

What I Do for School Work

Some people have been curious as to what I learn when I homeschool.  Well, it's not all fieldtrips and fishing!  We do a lot of driving (sometimes all day!) from one place to another.  So, each of us has a laptop to complete our work in.  We are trying to "go green" and become as paperless as possible.  A lot of our work is scanned if it's done on paper and then the paper is recycled.  We also save some work on SD cards through photography or video documentation.  We are really trying to keep our own carbon footprint as small as possible.

What I do on a normal day for school work is the following:

1. Algebra - We have a lesson of each day that is internet-based which is about twenty minutes long.  After our internet lesson, we do practice problems in our notebooks.  At first, I didn't like algebra because it seemed too hard but now it is getting easier and easier so I don't mind doing algebra anymore.  It's starting to make more sense to me.
2. US Constitution - This is a card game based on the Constitution and we got this game at The LBJ Library and Gallery in Texas. 
3. US History - For history, we watch videos and we go to museums and national landmarks, like the JFK Memorial or The Sixth Floor Museum (where the assassin shot from when he killed JFK).  We have also studied about Native Americans.  Before the trip, we completed reading three textbooks since September, with reading comprehension questions, on US History (two books was on World History and one book was on US History) and a video series on US History so we are not currently reading a text book.
4. Literature - This includes reading fiction, reading non-fiction, writing answers to the questions about the story that was read, and we listen to audio classics.  For example, we are currently listening to The Sign of the Beaver.  It is a very interesting story to me.  
5. Art - We study art by going to galleries and art museums, studying the sculptures and paintings.  One of my favorite paintings was in a gallery in Arizona and it was of a giant burger.  It looked pretty good to eat to me!  The art that I'm personally doing right now is photographic art.  Below are the burger and one of my own photographs I've taken recently of Mama.
6. Science - We recently completed studies on biology.  We completed a computer program on biology.  We almost finished a workbook before we left town, too, and we dissected a frog.  Did you know you can order a frog to dissect in the mail?  They keep it perfectly preserved for you - DISGUSTING!  To learn about possible careers in science and what science can lead to in real life, we can explore this website:  http://thefunworks.edc.org/SPT--homegraphic.php and you can too!  But, I still want to be an engineer.  When we are out of internet range for a few days, we end up having a 'science' day where we focus on science that day and usually do a science project.  
7. Handwriting - This is a little hard to learn but I am working on it.  This is one of my hardest subjects.  We work out of a handwriting workbook for this subject.
8. Typing - I use a computer software that teaches typing.  I actually took a typing class at the Mendocino Junior College so I already knew how to type but I was really, really slow so this software is fun and has games.  I am becoming a faster typer!
9. Business - I am starting a business and currently reading a lot of books on online businesses and how to start a business.  My Mama is a traveling notary and is getting her own business off the ground.  She does taxes, too, but not all the time.  I also read about successful businessmen such as Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.  Once I get my business started, I will learn how to use MSExcel so I can keep track of my expenses and income by myself.  Mama says Business Math is really important to understand if you want to be successful in business and I do.
10. PE - I really enjoy golf and taekwondo.  Those are sports I can practice even when I'm not at home.  But my new sport that I'm trying to learn is skateboarding.
11. Foreign Language - We study Latin and Spanish by using computer software.  We actually use Rosetta Stone and it is fun to use.  It makes learning language feel like playing a computer game but it also teaches reading and writing, in addition to speaking.  We are supposed to finish both softwares by the end of summer.  They come with headsets that you use to speak into in order to record yourself speaking the language.  Mama says that learning Latin will help me in other subjects.  Hmmm....

Here are some pictures I took recently.

In the summers, we go to summer school or summer camps.  We only go to academic ones.  These can be boring because I already know most of what they are teaching (my sister says she already knows everything they are teaching, too) but the best part is recess and lunch, when I can hang out with friends, or computer class.  Mama says it's good for us to go to summer school but we don't really want to.  The days are long and we already know what they are teaching but it's okay.  Mama says we always say that before we go and then we always have fun once we are there.  But Mama says she will try to get special permission for me to attend the high school classes at the junior college this year so I won't be so bored and I can hang out with other teenagers.  My sisters are probably going to go to the Catholic summer school nearby at St. Eugene's.  That's where one of my sisters went last year and I went there, too.  There is also a special summer school at Stanford for kids my age.  I am really interested in that program because I am really interested in going to Stanford.  Stanford was ranked as the number two school for engineering studies in the nation.  I want to go there when I am older!  Here's a picture of Stanford U.

Camping at Lake Mendocino

I have been offline for a few days because we were out of internet range, out fishing for trout and crappy fish on the lake.  I will be out of range again most of this week but please check in next weekend for an update on our outdoor adventures!

We camped at Lake Mendocino all last week. We  had a great time there. When we first got there, we set up and I had a "fist fight" with the tent, meaning that the tent was difficult to set up. We had hot dogs for dinner that night. We went into the tent and we told stories until Mama said that it was time to go to sleep. What I liked about camping at Lake Mendocino is when we went fishing on our last day. We were just putting our things into the car when we stumbled upon a lizard that did not want to leave the car. It was on Mama's seat and didn't want to leave.  We had to shoo it out of the car.  The picture above is a picture of that lizard outside of the car on a stump.

I am also working on attaining some merit badges in Boy Scouts.  Some of the requirements include that I must set up and break down the tent alone, pack my gear alone, including rolling up my sleeping bag.  That's isn't as easy as it looks!  I'm about 95% of the way towards my goals but still working on taming the tent!

I have some pictures of us fishing above and when we were fishing, we saw a fish jump up at the insects and we tried to catch  the fish but we failed. I wanted to stay longer, but we had to leave. We left in the morning. For breakfast, we went to Denny's. My sister had all you can eat pancakes and my other sister had the Track and Cheese meal. I had the Zesty Nachos and I ordered them without jalapeños.

This week, we are camping in Indian Valley and trying to hook the big one!

Remember the Alamo!

We went to the Alamo today and learned that there were a few survivors from the battle.  The survivors were the women and children and the only man who survived was the slave Joe who was injured but not killed.  They were given a blanket and two silver coins each and allowed to go home.  The story of the Alamo is about a battle between the Mexicans and the Texians.  They were not called Texans at that time.  The Texians wanted independence and the Mexicans wanted Texas to be a part of Mexico.  This led to the battle at the Alamo.  The Mexican forces had more than 3000 men and some believe up to 6000 men and there were only 150-200 men at the Alamo to defend the Texians.  Santa Ana was the leader of the Mexicans and the leader of the Texians was a junior officer named Travis.  Travis was only 26 years old and led the forces at the Alamo.

During the battle, the Mexicans cut off the Alamo's water supply. They climbed up the walls with a ladder and broke down some walls with cannon fire.  The Alamo was outnumbered and the Mexicans won the battle but the Alamo is remembered today because of the brave men who risked their lives for Texian independence.  They died for what they believed in.

Happy Mother's Day!

To Granny and Nana and all our Tias and our Mama's friends who are moms:

Sorry for the slight delay - we had technical problems. Hope to bring you more videos in the future!

I will blog again very soon!

Our Visit to the Elisabet Ney Sculpture Garden

We went to the Elisabet Ney Sculpture Garden yesterday. It was interesting and fun to learn about. We learned how the busts were made and then, we saw a statue of Lady Macbeth with blood on her hands. The reason she has blood on her hands is that she killed someone and she had her husband kill people and she was upset.  What I liked about the museum in there is that it has statues of people from stories. There was even a bust of Jesus Christ. I thought that she did a good job.

The Elisabet Ney Sculpture Garden and Museum is a must for people who like art or statues. We went to this place because my sister likes art.  

In 1907, Elisabet Ney suffered a heart attack. Dr.  Montgomery rushed to her side and stayed there until she died that June.  After she died, the house was sold to her friend and it was turned into a museum. Her sculptures are in the house today. The second floor in this building tells the history of her marriage, and her life.

Here is a picture of us outside the Sculpture garden, posing as statues.

Here is a picture of the dog park where we took Mickey.  He used to try to bite other dogs but after working with a trainer, he is nice to the other dogs now, even the little ones.  That's because the trainer said Mickey thought he was the only boyfriend Mama could have so he wouldn't let any other guy dogs around her.  Now, he knows how to behave and he doesn't try to eat the little dogs.

We are now on our way to San Antonio, where we will visit the Alamo. I will also ride the trains there too. The Austin Steam Train Association is also in San Antonio. I will blog about San Antonio later. San Antonio is only an hour away, but we had car trouble, and the car was not running well. We have only 15 minutes to drive it or else it will stall and all the lights will light up.  Luckily, everything in Austin is only about ten minutes away.  We have seen three mechanics and no one knows what is wrong with it.  So, we are seeing a Volvo specialist in San Antonio on Monday.  Hopefully they will be able to fix it then.  When we get to San Antonio, we will be walking all day on Mother's Day in the historic district after church and then the next day the car will be in the shop all day while we hope to ride the train so Mickey is going on vacation to the kennel on those days.  He is going to get a bath at the groomers while he is on his vacation.  I don't think he will like that.  He doesn't like to be wet - even on hot days.

Pictures of the LBJ Museum & Austin Nature Center

Here are some photos from the President LBJ Museum and Library

This is the same limo President Johnson was in with his wife the day President Kennedy was shot.

This rock came from the moon.

This is an exact replica of what President Johnson's office looked like.

This is what Lady Bird Johnson's office looked like.

The Austin Nature Center had a small zoo and hands on science center where we were allowed to hold real animal bones.

There was a cool dinosaur pit where we used some of the techniques paleontologists use to dig up fossils.

It was a fun time!