Mansion Kids Update

I finally finished the sketches for my Mansion Kids book!! Here's a few of my favorites:

The Kids

The Villian

The Rope Swing Room

Responsibly calling the police

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Super Saturday Sneak Peek

I spent today working on these crafts for our upcoming Super Saturday activity!

Sunday Cans- we originally got the idea from this article, although this article that came out recently was good incentive to keep it!

New Sew Baby Bows- we got the idea for bow ties from this tutorial, and the baby girl bows from this tutorial. Both are way easy, and I was able to make all 6 fairly quickly.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

When Things Don't Go As Planned

Have you ever had your plans blow up in your face? To the point where you seriously have to re-evaluate what you should be doing with your life? That happened to me today. I'm still trying to figure things out. I had this vision of what life would be like, and it's not going to happen anymore. At least not right now.

I feel like Derice at the beginning of the movie "Cool Runnings" when he fails to qualify for the Olympics because a fellow runner trips and knocks him over.

Derice knew he could have qualified. But he's told that he'll just have to wait four more years. To come so close to fulfilling a dream and then being told to wait is a hard pill to swallow. So Derice figures out a way to get to the Olympics earlier--by forming the first Jamacan Bobsled team to compete in the Winter Olympics.

I guess I'll just have to figure out what my "bobsled" will be.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Movies

Matt and I have watched a variety of movies this summer, and I thought I'd post about the one's I've liked.

 The BoxTrolls- I wasn't sure what to think of this movie at first, and I was kind of worried that it would give me nightmares. But it was completely different than what I expected. I really liked the social message of this movie, and felt like it comically taught several different principles, including the importance of fatherhood, the willingness not to believe every rumor you hear, and accepting those who may look and act differently than you. 

Hugo- an visually artistic movie, I really felt the message hit home with this quote: "I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too." Hugo has a great message of healing, and I loved the imagery and foreshadowing throughout.




Penguins- Other than being a "valued and important member of the team" message (and I suppose the message that revenge doesn't make you feel better), I mostly liked this movie for the classic penguin comedy. I also loved how the script writers worked in famous actor's names into the dialogue. Examples: "Nicholas! Cage them!" or  "Kevin! Bake on!"

Mall Cop 2- Admittedly not my favorite of the summer, but I did appreciate how clean it was- very little swearing or sexual scenes.

I loved Inside Out! It had some characters I wasn't expecting, and a great message about valuing all feelings. As far as criticism for the movie goes, I'll let this clip speak for me. 

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Recent Reads # 2

I just finished the Ascendence Trilogy by Jennifer A Nielson.  While the castle was the draw for me in the Castle Glower series, the Sage/Jaron was what kept me reading this trilogy. Sage/Jaron is sassy (for lack of a better word) and smart, and keeps the reader on their toes as they try to figure out just what is going on in his mind and why he does the things he does. I also loved the dialogue in the books. I don't have a favorite in the series, as they all built so well upon each other.

Here's the teaser for the first book:
In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king’s long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner’s motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword’s point — he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage’s rivals have their own agendas as well.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Dear Dash: Eight Months

Dear Dash,
You are soooo close to crawling. You can get on your hands and knees now, but have yet to figure out how to coordinate them. This frustrates you, which means you hate tummy time once again.

You've branched out and tried lots of new foods, including some that Mommy doesn't approve of, like napkins, cardboard, other people's hair, and grass.

You have officially learned how to pull yourself up from sitting to standing position, and you love it. You would rather be standing than doing anything else.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Recent Reads

Now that I'm out of school, I have time to read for fun again!  I just finished the "Castle Glower" series by Jessica Day George.

Here's a quick synopsis of the first book: "Tuesdays at Castle Glower are Princess Celie's favorite days. That's because on Tuesdays the castle adds a new room, a turret, or sometimes even an entire wing. No one ever knows what the castle will do next, and no one-other than Celie, that is-takes the time to map out the new additions. But when King and Queen Glower are ambushed and their fate is unknown, it's up to Celie, with her secret knowledge of the castle's never-ending twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom. This delightful book from a fan- and bookseller-favorite kicks off a brand-new series sure to become a modern classic."

I liked all of the books, but the first in the series was by far my favorite. I loved learning more about the quirks and secrets of the castle, and cheering the children on as they defended it. (This is probably because of my love for magical settings like the Mansion Kids.)

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Mansion Kids

I'm writing a book!! Finally! 

So this is based off of stories I used to tell my brother and sister when we were kids. I've included the text of the book below for your enjoyment (just typed, not in book form yet). I'm working on illustrations right now, and since I'm not the best artist, it will probably take me a month to finish. 

Rebekah, Robby, and Angela lived in a mansion on the top of a mountain. Instead of their own rooms, each had their own floor. Rebekah had a room to play with her cat, Angela had a room to play with her dog, and Robby had a room to play his trombone. The mansion also had a firepole, a robot cook, and a roller coaster down the mountain. Besides that, the mountain was hollowed out and there were even more rooms inside. There was a ball pit room, a rope course room, and an antigravity room. Because the mansion was so wonderful, the kids had to be careful not to let strangers inside because they might try to steal things. One night, the mansion kid’s parents were out on a date and the doorbell rang. On the porch was a man with an egg shaped head. “Hi, Kids! I’m Bill the Inspector,” he said, “I’ve come to inspect your fire alarms.” “I’m sorry, we can’t let strangers inside,” they said politely, and shut the door. “I don’t think he was telling the truth,” Rebekah said, “I think he is trying to steal something.” The mansion kids waited for a few minutes, and then peeked through the curtains of the front window. Bill hadn’t left. He was sneaking around the side of the house with a crowbar, trying to get inside. “What are we going to do?” Angela cried. “Let’s trick him into going downstairs and get him stuck in one of the rooms,” Robby suggested. “Great idea,” Rebekah exclaimed. Soon the kids heard Bill come through the back door, using a crowbar to break the lock. “Let’s go downstairs to the money room and count the dollar bills,” Robby suggested loudly. “Okay,” Rebekah and Angela replied. Bill fell for their trap and quietly followed the mansion kids downstairs, underneath the mountain. Suddenly, the kids began to run down the hall and into the last door on the left. Bill ran, too, because he really wanted to find the money room. But the kids had shut the door. Bill shouted, “Hey kids, it’s Bill the inspector. I’ve come into the house and you can’t stop me now! Tell me where the money room is.” “We’ll never tell, Bill.” The kids shouted back. “We’re not afraid of you.” That made Bill angry so he broke through the door and rushed in the room, only to fall face first into a ball pit. The mansion kids were already on the other side of the room, where there was another door. “You can’t catch us, Bill.” They teased as they ran through the door. Bill stood and tried to follow them, but he tripped on all the balls and finally had to crawl to the door. The next room was not the money room, but a rope course. The floor was actually a trampoline, so if you fell off the ropes, you wouldn’t get hurt. The kids swung like moneys across the room to the door in the middle of the wall, but Bill fell after the second rope. After bouncing and bouncing, Bill finally was able to grab onto a rope again and swing his way to the next door. By this time he was very tired. But the last room was the anti gravity room! The second door was by the ceiling. The kids had been in the room many times before, and they had learned to swim through the air anywhere they wanted. But Bill was so far behind he did not see the kids and he could not figure out how to move forward. So he floated straight up, and was stuck at the top. “Help, help, let me down,” he yelled. “Oh, we will let the police do that,” the kids said.  So Bill was arrested for breaking into the house, and the mansion was safe once again.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah