The Ottoman Empire

So there was this nomads that ran away where they lived because the Mongols were coming to get them. So they ran away and they found a good place in the Byzantine empire to settle. So they started building buildings and started growing crops. Then one day one of the shepherds went away and then got very thirsty. He fell on the ground and said "Allah If you give me some water then I will sacrifice seven of my best sheep to you." Suddenly a fountain of pure water appeared and he and his sheep started drinking from it until they quenched their thirst. Then he thought I don't have to sacrifice seven of my best sheep but I will sacrifice the insects on the sheep. So he picked seven insects from the sheep's wool and he set them on the ground and stepped on each one of them and said "This is my sacrifice to you." Then they all turned to stone. Some of the other shepherds were looking for him and his sheep but all they could find were a lot of rocks and a fountain of water.

Then the Sultan (the empire of the Ottomans) started to conquer some of the city's in the Byzantine empire. Then he conquered all of the city's but Constantinople. Then the Sultan died in the Ottoman empire and there was a new Sultan. They now had the largest empire in the world. So they attacked from the western wall with cannons but it wasn't enough. Some of the people in Constantinople said they wont conquer the city until the moon turns dark. And then suddenly the moon started to get dark. It was eclipse but none of the people knew that. They were terrified. And they  got there army and went to fight the invaders, but they were to many and soon they were destroyed. They called the place Istanbul. It is still called that today.                                              

Playing soccer at Latitude

So Yesterday my family went to Latitude It was the best part of the day. So I first got my new cleats on then I stretched then we did some one touch passing then some two touch, and i found something I loved about the Magista Obra cleats. They had such good touch, so like if there was a bouncing ball then it would just die under my feet. It was incredible. Then I tried some shots and almost every one was perfect, besides the ones that hit the posts or went over the soccer net. Then I did some one touch shots and they were pretty good. Then I tried out a new move that I learned on YouTube. So you get a pass and then you flick it up behind you then you do a Ronaldo chop in the air. Then we played one on one on one. I started out as keeper and then they scored on me and I scored a free kick because my dad fouled me. My brother was playing keeper. Then I shot another free kick on my dad and I scored because it hit the post. Then me and my dad played a game which you tried to kick the ball into the other net and if the other keeper saved it then he got to shot even if it went in or off target.

The Elephant clock

So Al-Jazar was a famous inventer and one day he wanted to invent something called the elephant clock. It works like this. There was a hole in a bowl to make it sink in a tankard of water. So it slowly sank which made some pulleys make a pen move to write minutes. After half an hour the bowl fell to the bottom of the tankard of water. That made a rope attached to a seesaw mechanism in the clock. That made a ball fall out of the serpents mouth which made the guy on the elephant hit something to make a clang and also made the bowl reset and making the bird turn around in circles. The hours were written at the top of the clock.

Julius Cesear

So Julius Ceaser was a guy who wanted to be king of Rome. So he got an army and he wanted to go and fight Britain. The people there were called Scotts. But the first time he went there he didn't have a big enough army to conquer them. So he came back to Britain with a bigger army and this time he conquered them. The Scotts didn't wear anything but a metal collar and blue paint all over them, they believed that it would protect them from arrows and from swords. But it didn't and hey got killed. But the Senate of Rome didn't like Julius Ceaser he was becoming to popular and they were worried that he would become king of Rome. So they told Pompey that he should send him a letter that when he got back they would imprison him. He was mad and he went back to Rome and he got to the Rubicon river and he crossed it. He went into Rome and Pompey's army all ran away at the sight of Julius Ceaser. Pompey ran away too. He was happy now but then he knew that Pompey was in Egypt and he would build an army to attack Julius Ceaser again. So he went to Egypt. The king and Queen of Egypt at this that time were Cleopatra and her brother. They always fought because they both wanted to rule Egypt but they couldn't, but then they heard that Julius Ceaser was coming so they got scared and stopped fighting. They needed to make Julius Ceaser like them and be friends. So they said that they should cut off Pompey's head and give it to Julius Ceaser because he was an enemy of his. So they did that and he got his head delivered in a bag. He was sad because they had once been good friends, he didn't want his head cut off he just wanted to have him in prison so he couldn't do anything bad. But then he arrived at Egypt. Cleopatra thought if she could get Julius Ceaser to like her then he could kill her brother. So she arranged a night when only she and him would meet. Julius Ceaser went there and fell in love with her. She told him that he should fight her brother and all the people that were with him and kill them. Julius Ceaser obeyed and he told his army to fight them, Cleopatra's brother died in the battle. Then the Senate thought this is our chance we need to kill him now. So they found some people that liked the senate to fight Julius Ceaser. They went to Egypt. But Julius Ceaser hadn't forgotten how to fight. He defeated them and he went back to Rome with Cleopatra. But soon after they were in Rome and Cleopatra had a dream that Julius Ceaser would get killed by the senate in a meeting with the senate. When Julius Ceaser was going to the meeting she tried to stop him but he went and got killed by the senate.

First Snow

So this I think is practically the first snow that we have had here. We had another one but it wasn't actually like making a bile of snow like two inches. This snow was about three inches. We played a lot of snow soccer which is really fun for the keeper but it does make your technique worse when you play in the snow because you wear boots and those have very bad touch they only hit the toe. But sometimes you have really good top corner shot which feels really good because you rarely get those. I really like playing one on one on one which is basically three people playing soccer with one net. So there is one attacker, one defender, and one keeper. The attacker tries to dribble and score, if he scores then he goes into the net and the keeper would play defense and the defense would play attacker. But if he doesn't get past the defender and the defender gets the ball then the defender has to clear it and then he is attacking and the attacker is now on defense. It is really fun and perfect for are family because we have three boys, me my brother and my dad. Sometimes it gets really hard to dribble. Sometimes the keeper makes the perfect dive in the snow and saves it and then lands on the fluffy snow. The boots might not have good touch but they have good power. Sometimes you are right in front of the net but you hit it bad because you are sliding and it hits off your foot and goes off target.

Christmas

So Christmas just passed and I got a lot of good presents. The first one I opened was an ice cream scoop to get perfect cookies. Then I got a sifter which helps with the flour. Then I got an Ex Box controller. That helped a lot to play PES 2016 which is a soccer game on the computer or  play-station. I also got a calligraphy pen set with ink and a book. I also got some pens, scissors and some 90% chocolate bar which was delicious. I also goit Pes 2016 the whole game. And ata last which I was so amazed to see was MY SOCCER CLEATS!!! They are the best soccer cleats ever they are called Magista Obra cleats and the y have such good touch and they are amazing they are royal orange and the best of all I didn't think I was going to get them so it was a big surprise I am so glad i got them. This Christmas was awesome!!

Playing soccer with the high school

SO today i got my new cleats on Christmas and I wanted to try them out. So I went and played with my dad at the high school. My cleats were called Magista Obra cleats. They are so awesome. They have such good touch. There was another kid named Brenden he was from GPS as well. I was all orange, orange shoes, orange socks, orange shorts and orange shirt. I was on the dark team which was all dark and the other team was the white team. We won are team and I played really well. My dad played good too he was the best on the other team. After that we played with some friends and saw who had the fastest shot. I had the fastest shot which was 60 mph. We also did a pro challenge which you had to hit it over the wall and around the wall. My best was three and a half stars out of five. The other guys had three stars and two and a half stars so I also won in that. I was also the best in the other thing. We were hoping for another guy who was good at soccer to come but unfortunately he did not come. We brought a little net but we had to make it bigger because it did not work for them. We didn't play full field because none of the adults were in shape. I once dribbled around a lot of people and scored.

Caroling

So yesterday night we went caroling to family's with some friends. Me and my bother and are friends played a game which went like this. So me and my teammate had a ball and we tried to keep it and throw it to one another while the other guys try to get it from you and if they do get it from you then we try to get it from them. We also sang songs named Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, O Come all Ye Faithful, Silent Night, and maybe some other songs that I don't remember :). It was really fun, we weren't the best group but we did pretty well. We also brought some people some treats. We first made some homemade chocolate chip cookies but them are neighbors brought us some sweets so we used those to give to the other people and we could keep the delicious cookies. Are friends brought some treats and they gave them out too. I think we did something good. I think we made them happy. We also went to a restaurant called Leo's. We gave them flowers and they gave us some drinks. I picked water but my friends picked some Soda and Sprite. They went crazy after, but in the end it all worked out well and we went to our homes and went to sleep.

My Christmas gift

Jesus is my Christmas gift. He if the gift of love and kindness. He wants us to be kind to others and help them with what they need. I am going to give my friend Christian a present which is tongue dispensers, he wants to make stick bombs out of them. This Christmas there is no snow yet which is kind of crazy. I think it is because of global warming because last year we had 7 ft of snow. We didn't have to use a ladder to get on top of the roof we could just jump on top of it. I hope we can think of Jesus this year.

Chocolate chip cookies

So I needed to make chocolate chip cookies for the caroling we are doing tonight with some friends. The first batch I made turned out pretty good but I forgot to put baking powder and salt. So I did the next batch and they turned out a lot better. I hope to make another batch of them because I only have ten cookies. But I don't have butter so I have to get some at the store. The batch tastes really good, it is amazing what a little salt can do to cookies. Way back when they bought stuff with salt. I hope that the people who try the cookies like them because I didn't use sugar. I used honey and 100% whole wheat flour which I grinded my self in the blend-tec. That is why I don't have to use brown sugar. I also use 86% cocoa bar of chocolate instead of milk chocolate bar, which is very sweet. I hope to make twenty more cookies so there will be some left over so I can eat them ;). For Christmas I want to make my brother and sister a giant cookie for each of them. I hope they will like it. I am going to make them in the cake pans that I have. But I still need to get butter for them.

Birthday party

So my brother had a birthday party today. We invited some friends but some of them had to leave really early and some didn't even come. But luckily we had a lot of people. We first played some gubs which is a game of wit and luck. Then we went and ate and then we played capture the flag outside. We hid the flag in the umbrella but they found it and beat us. Then we put it by the tree and they found it again but it was still really fun. Then we went in and we ate cake that I made (you can see the cake in my other blog). It tasted good. Christmas is coming up it is in 6 days. YAY!! There were 14 kids in all and 8 adults. Are yard is very big so we can play capture really good. I decorated the cake so it said heart Ian 13 I also decorated the sides of it. But once my dad cut the cake up then it didn't look that good but it tasted good.

Birthday cake

So I made my brother a pineapple upside down cake. It is perfect not to sweet and not to not sweet :). It looks amazing and I am going to cover it with whipped cream. It has four pineapple slices on the top. My brother had a great birthday and I made croissants and bagels, we also watched the hobbit The Desolation of Smaug. We are going to watch the new Star Wars today. This is the first time I have ever made a Pineapple upside down cake. So I hope everyone at his party will like it. Christmas is in a week, so close. I put some melted blueberries and pineapple in the cream. I made it myself.

Crossiants

So my brothers birthday is tomorrow so I need to make him croissants because he asked for them. They are not hard to make but they take a lot of time to make them. And to get them really flaky then you have to do what I am doing. So you first make the dough then you knead it then you put it in the fridge over night so it can rise. Then you have to roll it out the put a whole butter layer on it. Then you wrap it around then you roll it out to 48". That is pretty far but then to make it flaky you fold it then put it in the fridge for a minimum of half an hour. Then you repeat this process over and over and over again. I have done it about ten or eleven times now. On a video on how to make crossiants they only do it four times but I am making them for my brothers birthday. So I want them to be extra special. Every time I cut them precise then I have some left over so I make a croissant out of that. I hope he likes the crossiant I make for his Birthday.

Mary did you know and the First Noel

So I played Mary Did You Know in church today. I have been practicing the song for a long time. I used to play it pretty good but it didn't sound that good because it was the same arpeggio over and over and over again. So I wanted to change it up a little. I started it with one key then octave then arpeggio. I really like the Mary did you know by Pentatonix and Peter Hollens. I played it good and everybody said good job. Someone made me play it again. They felt the spirit when I played the song. I also learned how to play the First Noel. It is the same background arpeggio as Pachebal which makes it easier because I already know the left hand to Pachabel so all I had to learn is the right hand. It sounds really good. We just got a new piano which is a baby grand so it is amazing. It makes it sound so much better. I also play Pachabel and it is a very hard song.

Futsal

  So I play a lot of soccer but most of it is like on turf or on real grass. But then I had a futsal tournament. It is played on a basketball court made out of wood. It is a really small field and the ball is very small too. It is pretty fun. Our team plays a 1 2 1. So one center back to midfielders and one striker. There is also a keeper of course. The center back (which I play) gets the ball the most. So he has to think fast and do strong passes so the defenders do not steel it from him. I am having another tournament in a month or so. The nets are smaller so it is harder to score. Also when you try to roll the ball you sometimes get stuck because the ball stops. The best shot is low in the corner on the ground because the keeper doesn't really want to dive on the wood. Also it is a lot better to work the ball close to the net and just place it then just shooting from half field. The ball is also heavier and is harder to shoot high and will not bounce as much as a regular soccer ball and not even close to a basketball:). I have a practice today on turf and it is going to be a bust day because my brother and grandma have stuff right before my soccer practice so I have to b e ready for them to come then we go. I only hope we make it on time. Personally my favorite is still on real grass.:)

Nitrotype

So Nitrotype is a game that you have to type fast on. They keep track of how many races you do and if you got first place, second place, and third place. They also tell you which keys you type good on and some that you are having trouble with. You can also get new cars in the dealership. You can paint them too. You can also buy nitro's which are stuff that can make you skip words if they are tricky. They also keep track of how fast you type in words per minute. So far my fastest is 74 wpm. It used to be about 20 when I was starting. I got a lot better. You can also get cool cars is you unlock cool achievements. Some of the people cheat on there and it is kind of unfair because the computer is doing it for them. They usually get around 100 wpm. My sister is trying it and she is getting better. They do something that a lot of other websites do they get a lot of people on their website and then they make them buy stuff. It costs like $12 for a cool car and some money in the game but it is not worth it, it also blocks ads, so they put ads on first then they make people but their thing to block the ads. I have trouble with the lower keys on the keyboard. Like Z, X, C, V, B, N, M but i am getting better at them. I am also bad with the numbers. You can also do practice races just by yourself so you can practice without trying to race. There is always 5 people in one race. If there isn't enough people then the computer acts like someone and then they race. But the good thing is that they usually type the same speed that you are at. Some cars in the achievements are insane to get. you have to type like 600 times in a single sessions, that means nonstop. And some cars you have to use 600 nitro's which is a lot of nitro's. Sometimes I am around 80 wpm but then I get nervous and I go down to 70, that is how i get to 74 wpm.

Playmobile story

So me and my sister went upstairs to play toys with are imagination. We played with are playmobile toys. We both made an empire. Mine had two vikings, three knights, three farmers, one Giant Troll, one scout, and one king. I don't know what she had because I did not count her Guys. Well then we both made bad guys called barbarians. We made them split and attack are guys. First they attacked my sisters place. It was very strong but they destroyed some of it with a catapult. My guys helped her after they defeated the other guys. My barbarians had spears and pikes and just threw them. But my giant troll destroyed them quite easily.

My homemade gel

So I wanted to have my own hair style and I wanted to use gel, so I asked my dad "do we have any gel?" Then he said that we were all out. I felt like I couldn't have my own hairstyle now but because I had been making stuff from scratch then I thought couldn't I make my own gel? Of course I could, so I went on the computer and I saw how to make your own hair gel. It was called flax seed hair gel. Basically there were two ingredients Flax seeds and Water. So I am going to tell you what you have to do.

The ingredients are 1/4 of a cup of flax seeds and 2 cups of water.

So what you have to do is put the water into a saucepan and put it to a boil. 

Once it has come to a boil add the flax seeds. Turn the heat down to medium and leave it there for about 7-8 minutes or until it turns into a thick gel. 

So once it turns into a thick gel then drain it into a container. 

The gel is ready now and you can apply it to your hair.

Pes 2016

So I learned that Ajern Robben a famous soccer player, has a very good long shot on Pes 2016. Today I played and I at least scored 2 or 3 long shot goals with him. I think the way to actually shoot a long shot in real life is basically with accuracy and power. So let's say that you were just outside of the 18 yard box. If you were on the left side then you would want to aim for the far post because the keeper has to dive farther and longer so if you played it high in the top corner then you would surely score. If you were in the middle then you could choose either way, left or right because they are both the same distance. And the right side is the same as the left side you would shoot for the far post in my opinion. Now in Pes 2016 you would go toward the net then go to the left or the right then you would shoot. Now the power in the shot on Pes 2016 is just a little below the full strength then it will go top corner and the keeper will have no chance.

My Christmas list

So I am getting only a few stuff for Christmas. They are these things.

A calligraphy pen ink and book, 20$

Pes 2016 38$

Pes controller 35$

Some awesome socks 15$

I was wanting to get Magista Obra cleats for Christmas but I thought it would be better to get them for my birthday because that is when soccer season starts. 

The Pes 2016 is 25% off so it is on a good deal it used to be 50$

The socks are to keep me warm during the winter.

And the Pes controller is to do tricks easier and dribble faster.

And the calligraphy pen is for good handwriting, my favorite kind of calligraphy is called copperplate. It is very fancy. The calligraphy pen will help me write better and because I am a beginner I will need the book and the ink comes in little tablets which will be very good. I am very happy with my Christmas list and I hope I have a good Christmas.

My Cakes

So I love baking and this time I wanted to try something new like Cake :). Well I thought that chocolate cake would be good. So I got a recipe on chocolate cake and I made it. I baked it I let it cool. Then I made the ganache for the cake. Me and my brother ran to the farm and got some cream for the ganache. I put some store bought chocolate and put it in a bowl but it asked for one pound of chocolate and that is a lot. So I had to make my own chocolate. But it still wasn't enough so I just thought I would half the recipe and only add one cup of heavy cream. But I messed up and I added two cups of heavy cream, how could I be so stupid :(. But then I thought of something brilliant. I would beat the heavy cream and chocolate into CHOCOLATE CREAM:). So I did that and it worked. I put it on the cake and I was so excited I had just saved my Chocolate cake:).
In the end it tasted really good.



So my brother is a real health freak, so he wanted me to make Kale Cake. Wow. So I made it the same as the chocolate recipe but instead of cocoa powder I added Kale puree which is just oil and kale blended together. I put it in the oven But i forgot that I had to put honey so quickly took it out of the oven and I scraped it back in to the bowl and added a lot of honey and put it back into the oven and let it bake, I had just saved another cake:). Well when it was baking I saw how to make a frosting but I couldn't find a recipe that didn't call for Sugar!!! But then at last I saw a page that told you how to make a egg white frosting. I was scared that we would get salmonella, It said that you would put really hot honey but I didn't want to put 1 1/4 cups of honey. I researched and I read that out of every 30,000 eggs one of them has salmonella in it but I still had a bad feeling about it. Well in the ending when I put it on the cake and I tried a piece it didn't taste thad bad but it was very sweet because of all of that honey I put inside of the kale cake, but it was good.

George Lucas

When George was young he love to explore and imagine. This did not make his dad very happy he wanted George to work hard and get good grades in school. He did not get good grades in school but he did mow the lawn. He had to do it with a manual lawn mower though. He saved up his money and got a new one though. His dad was mad at first but then he saw how good it was mowing his lawn he was very happy. When he got older he loved to race cars. He got his drivers license and his dad got him a car for himself. He loved speeding. One time he was speeding down the road and there was another car speeding to and it hit his car and it made a few flips and uprooted a big tree. Luckily though he had fallen out of the car when his seat belt unbuckled and he was on the ground drenched with blood. When the ambulance came they could barely hear a heartbeat.

Thanksgiving

So this year for thanksgiving we are going to have some friends over. I am responsible for making the pies. So far I have chosen to make three. They are Pecan, Pumpkin, and Apple. I have made the Pecan and Pumpkin pie so far now I just need to make the Apple pie now. So I am making a pie everyday. I made the Pecan pie yesterday I made the pumpkin today and I will make the apple tomorrow. I have a soccer tournament on Friday right after thanksgiving. We are going to play a lot of soccer with the people who are coming. My grandpa is going to make all of the other food for thanksgiving. There are going to be 13 people for thanksgiving so we made one table for the adults and one table for the kids. I can't wait to have the feast for thanksgiving. :)

How to make yummy muffins

So I love this muffin recipe it is sweet and has bits of granola oh it is so good. So let me show you the ingredients.

1/3 of a cup honey

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 a teaspoon of  baking powder

1 tablespoon of  pumpkin pie spice

1 cup of pumpkin puree

1/4 of a teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract 

2 medium size eggs

1/4 of a cup of olive oil

1/4 of a cup of full fat milk

2 cups of your favorite granola

(1) preheat your oven to 350 degrees, line you baking sheet with parchment paper and muffin cups

(2) So mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a bowl

(3) in another bowl mix pumpkin puree, olive oil, vanilla extract, and eggs

(4) mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients with the milk and granola until it all comes together

(5) put the mixture in the muffin cups and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes or until they look ready. Your room will smell delicious  

My first interview

Well I just had my first interview and I am only ten years old. It was about soccer. He asked me some questions and I answered them. Some of the time I couldn't hear him, but it worked out good. I told him my favorite soccer player is Cristiano Ronaldo. He asked me if I played like him and I said that I sometimes did. It was intense and I was nervous. His name was Drew. Sometimes I didn't know what to say. But I think I did good.

Juggling

So I love juggling a soccer ball. When I was eight my record for juggling a soccer ball was 52. Then I got a new record when I got a bit older 111. It was pretty cool one one one. Then I got 198 only two away from 200! Then I started juggling in Sams Club. Now I will tell you a story inside of Sams Club.

Well I was juggling and I got one hundred something then I started juggling following my dad so I was walking and juggling at the same time. I was around 134 Then I started to get nearer to the Alcohol one of the people who work there at Sams Club started saying "SIR, SIR, SIR," I wanted to keep going but I stopped juggling and my dad said "On his way to 200."

I was astonishingly mad and I wanted to punt the soccer ball at him the next time I saw him.

But then another day far away from that one at Sams Club I went outside on a day that it was drizzling and went to juggle some more. I was in Rhythm and I got 198 again, It was so hard when you dropped it because then you had to start all over again from zero! But then I finally got 202! I was so excited but sad at the same time because I could have gotten more than that. Then the next day I was on fire again and I got 554! Then I got 404 and 356 and 304. Now I am on my way to 1000 if I really try hard I know I can do it.

Obstacle course

So my sister got a go cart. It was really fun. Sometimes when we turned to strong then we skidded. We sometimes went down the little hill and we nearly fell off skidding so much. But then we had a good a good idea and got another smaller go cart for are sister and the bigger one for us. We made a race track and we raced with the to go carts. Then we made it so that only one of us went and we could see how fast he could go. My fastest was 11 seconds. Then we made an obstacle course and we sometimes really skidded trying to get through the next obstacle. My  fastest in the obstacle course was 12 seconds. We had fun but sometimes are backs got really ouchy on are spine and are tail bone so we put a pillow there.

Soccer cleats

Nike Hypervenom
The Nike Hypervenom Phantom 2 Is good because It does not have a stiff heel and they have good touch.
They are not good because they make a fake kind and sometimes trick people.



Nike Mercurial Superfly
They have very good touch but the have a stiff heel and cause blisters



Nike Vapor 10
They are good at everything

My Pies

I wanted to make pie and I learned how to make a pie crust but it was not flaky and the filling didn't work out that good. But It tried again and the next time I put a lattice on top and it tasted better but still not that good. Then I made a chocolate pie but it froze and it didn't taste that good. Then I made another apple pie and this time it turned out delicious the crust was flaky and I put egg yolk on the top crust so it looked even more beautiful. Then I made a Pumpkin one. It turned out good but I shouldn't have put lemon because are yogurt was already sour. Then I made a pecan pie and it was good and it was a little sweet. But it turned out great and the crust was flaky. Then I made a berry one and it turned out way to sweet and no one liked it. Then I made a savory pie called Quiche. It turned out great but it overflowed a little. None of my pies are perfect but the more you make the better you get. Sometimes if they don't turn out you should not give up and you should keep on going maybe add a little more water. I will give you the Recipe for the pie crust.

So the ingredients are 1 cup and 1/3 of a cup of flour

1/2 a teaspoon of salt

1/2 a teaspoon baking powder (optional)

1 teaspoon acid vinegar

2 and a half tablespoons ice cold water to 3 and a half

8 tablespoons butter

Now how to make it first cut the butter into two thirds and one third. Cut them into cubes and put them in bowls. But the larger amount of butter cubes in the fridge and the smaller amount in the freezer.  Now put the flour, salt, and optional baking powder in a bag and put it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Now after 30 minutes take the flour mixture and mix it up in a food processor until combined. Now add the larger amount of butter cubes and pulse it until it resembles a coarse meal, add the smaller amount of frozen butter cubes and pulse it until there are pieces of butter no larger than a pea. Now add the smallest amount of ice water and vinegar. Pulse a few times. Pinch it if it holds together then it is ready, if it is crumbling in your hand add the rest of the water and vinegar. Now this is very important because if you don't put enough water and vinegar then it will crumble when you roll it out but if you add to much water and vinegar then it will shrink. So now put this on a plastic wrap and with the plastic wrap use your knuckles to compress it until it turns  into a disc or discs. Put it in the fridge for at least an hour. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Take it out in an hour and flour you surface, rolling pin, and the top of the pie crust. Roll it out into 12" now put it in the pie plate and cut of the excess until there is about 1/2 an inch of dough hanging off the sides. Now roll it up into the pie crust and then crimp the edges however you want. Put it in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes so the crimped edges stay. Take it out and put the filling in. Put it in the oven for 15 minutes then change it to 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

The Great Wall of China

The Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang made almost everyone in china to make a wall that would stop intruders and China would be safe. But the people said some parts of the land don't have any stone. But the emperor said figure it out. So they thought and at at last they had an idea, They would you dirt and pound it with their feet until it got solid. The emperor was happy and said that they should get started with the wall. So they built it for a long time and the emperor died and another emperor came and he ordered them to finish the Great Wall and build watch towers every few miles. And so they did and soon it was finished. It still stands today.

Augustus Ceaser

Augustus Ceaser was Julies Ceasers adopted son. He was better than Julies Ceaser and he was kind to the people and he conquered a few of the near by places then made peace with everyone. The people loved him and wanted him to be king. He arranged a meeting with the senate and he said that he had made them strong and made them healthy and there was peace. He said that they could rule. The senate didn't want him to be king because they thought that Rome would fall apart so they said that Rome would fall apart. So he became king and they lived good.

China

So it was tricky to write in Chinese. They almost drew pictures of stuff, but the pictures did not look like the thing it meant like this
樹 This meant tree. Does it look like a tree to you?
When they wrote the used hairs to write. For instance they used mouse hairs to make thin strokes, Rabbit hairs to make meduim strokes, and wolf or sheep hair to make bit strokes.
The oldest printed book was name Diamond Sutra.
In china there were six places ruled by warlords.
But there were these people called Qin pronounced Chin they had nearly 1,000,000 soldiers and took over all of the warlords and ruled all of china. He was not a good ruler. He executed all who were going against him, he burned all of the books so know one would learn, and he melted all of the weapons and made towers out of them.

George's Adventure

                         Chapter 1 The Book

So one day George a ten year old boy woke up and went down to breakfast. He ate it fast and burped. Then went out side to go play tennis with his friend Alex. They warmed up, (he had a Wilson racket and his friend had a Head racket.) They started playing and Alex was winning 30-15. But George came back and made it 40-40. They played back and forth for some time but then Alex took the game and they played a few more. But in the end George won and did a handshake with Alex.

Later he went out to the park and he met Alex there. Alex told George that he was good at tennis and he would be good at ping pong to. So the next morning he went down to ask his grandpa if he could play some ping pong with him "hey Stan you want to come play some ping pong with me?"
"Yeah sure George." so they went to the park and found a table "hey you want to serve first." said George
 "OK." said Stan so Stan served first and they started playing George played a top spin but it hit the net, "I suck at this." said George "no you don't ." said Stan " you just need to keep practicing." So they practiced some more and he started to get better then went to the library to go find a book on ping pong "excuse me, do you have a book on table tennis or ping pong?" he asked
"I am sorry but we don't have a book on table tennis or ping pong but you can go look at other sports" she replied
"Well ok thank you" and he went up to the sports section to look for table tennis. He found tennis, basketball, soccer, golf, wrestling, and then he found a book about ping pong! it was incredible it was so old 1832 he hurried downstairs to the librarian. "Here I found one" he said slapping the book on the desk
"oh be a little quieter please," then she looked down at the book "wow you found one" she said then she checked it out and he took it home.


 He read that you had to go down to the forest and find the paddle there. It would always make you hit it over the net onto the other side, even if  your opponent did a giant slam. So he told his friend Alex about this and in a week or so they said they would go and look for it. The days past slowly as George kept on searching on where, and how to find it. The book said that you would find some fairies there and you would have to answer them a riddle. But the next page was torn out. He looked everywhere for it, under his bed, on the shelves, under the couches, but couldn't find it.He went over to Alex's house, "hey Alex I can't find the page that has the riddle on it." So they looked but couldn't find it in Alex's house either. So they now wanted to go on the hike and look for the paddle and the riddle.

                              

Chapter 2 Getting Ready

But first they went outside to the park to play some ping pong.
so Alex served first and it was low to the net making it hard for George to get it, but George returned it with some top spin to the right corner Alex swung with his backhand over the net but he sliced it and it hit George's paddle and flew of it over his head. "Nice play" said George. "Thanks you too" said Alex.
Alex served again the same hard serve but this time George sliced it to the left corner, Alex caught it but he had to loft it, it went really high, George slammed it to the line and Alex had no chance, now George served it but it didn't go in, "Argh come on only if i had that magic paddle." said George " Yeah that would sure help" said Alex. They played some more but in the end Alex won, " When we find that paddle I'am going to have it" said George.

So later they went in for lunch they had pasta with meat balls. They went up to read the book after it said it would take two days to get there and two days to get back. They went in their backyard to pick some blackberries and dewberries.

"These are really good" said George "

Yeah they are" said Alex.

So later that day he said bye to Alex and went to bed. The next morning he went out to go to he sit-ups push-ups and pull-ups. he ate his break fast, it was eggs, and bacon, he looked around, it was hard to think that he was going to go on a big journey with his friend for four days! But anyway he went to Alex's house "hey Alex do you have a tent?" he asked

"I don't know i'll go ask my dad." he replied

"OK" said George

He thought how they were going to find the riddle to find the paddle and if they would but right then Alex came running back.

"Hey my dad has a tent and a mattress", said Alex

"Oh good well let's go then" replied George

"Wait we need to tell your parents" said Alex "I already told mine"

"Oh yeah", said George.

So they went to George's house.

"Hey dad, hi mom I am going on an adventure for a few days with Alex love you", said George.

"Wait honey I need to get you two some food, wait one minute", she said she prepared them with Peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

"Here you go darling now be safe", she said.

"Bye", said George.

Chapter 3 Slygon

So they went into the backyard and they started walking. "You think we will find the riddle?" asked Alex 

"Eh I really don't know, we might not even find the paddle." replied George " But I hope we do"

Then all of a sudden he tripped over a root and dropped everything he was carrying. 

"Are you ok" asked Alex

"Yeah", he said brushing himself off, then he looked up horror filled his face he was looking at a full grown python!

"Run" He yelled picking up the tent and running 

Alex was following at full speed, Alex was faster than he was so he was ahead and he also wasn't carrying the tent.

He looked over his shoulder, there was nothing to be seen.

"Stop" he called to Alex. Alex stopped.

"There - there's nothing there", he said sounding astonished but still breathing very fast.

"Do you think he is hiding?", asked Alex sounding alarmed.

"No...", something slithered behind them "I am right here"

They turned there it was the full grown python.

"Why are you here" slithered the snake

"U-um we-were here to f-f-find a m-m-m-magical p-p-paddle" George stuttered.

"Oh I can sss...certainly help you find it. Who are you?", asked ths snake.

"I am George and this is my friend Alex", he said pointing at his friend. "What is your name?"

"I am Sssslygon the python. I can tell you the forest riddle that may help you find the paddle you sssseek." 

High up

In a bed of needles

With cones of sssseeds

Where a sssly thief

Loving shiny treasure

Hid ssssomething that you need

George looked at Alex. He wasn't sure what the riddle meant, but he thought that they could figure it out later. It was getting dark and they needed to set up camp now.

"Thank you", called George to Slygon and the snake slithered away.

Chapter 4 Camping

Alex and George set up their camp quickly and started discussing the riddle. 

"Do you think it's in a tree?", asked Alex.

"Maybe, but what kind of thief has a bed of needles in a tree?"

"What if it's not a regular thief. What if it's a bird. Do you know any birds who like shiny treasure."

"There's this one bird it's all black and white. I think it's called a Magpie. Maybe it stole the paddle."

"I have a feeling that you are right.", said Alex. "Let's sleep on it and go search in the morning."

As they laid down in their tent a howling sound came from outside.

"A wolf", cried Alex, "let's close the tent door and howl back at him."

"Wouldn't that make him think there's a wolf in here. What if he thinks you're some kind of cute girl wolf and tries to tear down the tent."

"Very funny", said Alex, "well at least he will eat you first since you smell so much." 

"Do not," said George 

The howling came again closer this time. 

"We still have a fire outside, maybe we can make torches with branches and scare him away"

George and Alex grabbed some sticks and put them in the fire til they were burning. 

When the wolf came close they threw flaming branches at it and it ran off.

"Well we're safe for now", said George.

"Yeah, but we'll need to keep the fire going all night. Maybe we can take turns guarding the fire."

"I can go first", offered George as he sat down next to the fire. 

George kept on hearing howls throughout the night which woke him up whenever he started to fall asleep. He thought of the riddle and where they might find the magpie with the magic paddle. He looked at the fire and slowly his eyes started to close. The next thing he knew it it was morning and he was laying outside the tent.

Chapter 5 the pine

He went inside to wake up Alex. 

"Alex. Alex. Wake up. Wake up!"

"Uhhhh", said Alex "No no don't kill me! I am innocent! Help help!"

"Wake up!!" yelled George 

"Wha' oh it's just you. Good morning."

"What was happening there", said George "you were screaming for help".

"Oh it was the magpie it was trying to kill me, it was ginormous"

"the magpie! the one in the riddle that that's awesome" 

"Yeah it was in a pine tree"

"Well let's go and get it from the nest, but how are we supposed to get up the tree?" 

"Well I think we should try to make a ladder out of sticks and branches"

"yeah but how do we connect them?"

"We use the vines of course"

"the vines?"said George "oh yeah, the vines, you are right but couldn't we just use the vines and make a lasso and climb up?"

"That" said Alex "sounds so much better"

So they started to make a lasso and then went to look for a pine tree. They found a giant pine tree They lassoed it and George started climbing up.
"Woah this is awesome" he said "I feel like a monkey."

"do you see a nest?" asked Alex

"yes." replied George
"I see one ring, and a piece of paper," he called to Alex while picking them up "I also see a chest" He started climbing back down and then looked up and saw the magpie coming down at him. he climbed down faster"Help Help Alex!"

"Drop the stuff George I will catch them" called Alex
George dropped them and Alex caught them.
Alex started running, the magpie was after him now.
"SSSTOP." cried a familiar vioce
It was Slygon! The magpie looked at him.
"You, you want me to stop" said the magpie "I can eat you if I wanted to you know."

"Yesss I know that but you wouldn't try would you?" said Slygon

"Yes I would" said the magpie.
He flew at him, but the snake bit his heart and the magpie screamed and then layed down on the ground dead.

Chapter 6 The Changing paddle

"You saved us." cried Alex

"Well I sssee that you sssolved the riddle."

"Yes we have." said George

"Well open the chest." said Slygon
Alex opened the chest and took the paddle out.
It was amazing it was the best thing he had ever seen in his life.

"Say change to the paddle" said Slygon

"What?" said Alex

"Say change to the paddle." Slygon repeated

"Ok if you say so." said Alex "Change."
The paddle changed into a bow and an arrow.

"Wow, that is amazing." cried George

"Say change again." said Slygon

"Change again." said Alex
It changed into a sword a shining sword and a dagger.

"Woah, that is incredible" said Alex

"You can make it duplicate to you know." said Slygon

"Duplicate." said Alex to the Sword
It made a bow and arrows. George took the quiver with the arrows and the bow while Alex took the sword and the dagger

"Now that I have helped you, you need to help me."

Chapter 7 The Goblins

"I need you to help me fight the goblins." said Slygon

"We will help you to fight, now that we have these weapons." said George and Alex together

"Ok thank you very much." said Slygon "We need to go to the west, that is where the goblin base is, once we destroy them you can go back home." said Slygon

"How will we destroy the goblins when there are only three of us and like 50 of them?" asked George

"Ooh that is a good question, you will destroy the goblins with the magical powers of your weapons." replied Slygon

"Awesome, that is so cool, but how do we use the powers?" Asked George

"For the bow say fire and then say how many arrows you want to shoot, the arrows will always find a spot, the maximum arrows you can shoot is ten, you will never run out of arrows, but the sword and the dagger is different, you just swing it and it slices someone in half even through the steel, the knife you throw it and it hits him through the metal and he will
die then say come back knife." said Slygon

"Cool that is awesome." said George

"Let's go and have some fun." said Alex

"Ok follow me." said Slygon
They followed him for a long time into the forest until there was a clearing and a big fortress, there were to guards at the front door. They were really ugly with only a piece of clothing around the waist.
"George shoot them." said Slygon

"Fire two." said George
They both found there mark and they fell down with a grunt.
"Let's go forward." he said
They went and they took the goblins clubs and slammed at the door. Then ran backward.

"Who is that." said a low voice

"It's us." said Slygon in the same voice "Let us in."
The goblins opened the door and George yelled "FIRE TEN!"
Ten goblins fell down with arrows in their hearts.
"WHAT IS THIS!?" Screamed the goblin leader
Alex threw the knife and it hit the goblin leader. He screamed and then fell down.
"Come back knife." and it came back to him, around twenty more goblins came with raised clubs.
"Fire seven." said George
Seven goblins fell down but there were still 13 left.
George dropped back and Alex stepped forward. He threw his knife once more and another goblin fell. Then he slashed with his sword threw two and then did an overhead strike and sliced a goblin in two. Alex was fighting bravely but there were sitill al lot of goblins left so now Slygon stepped forward and started shooting shots of vemon at the goblins and the fell down holding their eyes while George shot eight more and Alex killed two more, and then they were all on the ground. At the ending Alex sliced up the last few goblins with poison in their eyes and everyone was finished.
"WE DID IT!" cried George and Alex together

"Thank you very much." said Slygon "You have helped me dearly, these goblins have always been fighting me but now they are dead."

"But won't there be more of them in their castle?" asked George

"Oh yes but they won't come this was." replied Slygon
Suddenly there was a rustle in the bushes and they saw a goblin on a horse riding quickly.
"It's a messenger!" yelled Alex "Shoot him George."

"Fire one." said George
The arrow shot through the air and hit a tree instead of the goblin.
"FIRE TEN!" yelled George
This time ten arrows went toward the goblin and only one of them hit him, this goblin was wearing armor so the arrow didn't penetrate as bad as it would have if he did not have armor on, it hurt him but he kept on riding.

"We have to get him, don't let him get away." said Alex

"Wait we will not be able to catch up with him on foot we will have to look in the fortress for some horses." said Slygon

"Ok but how do you keep up with us?" asked George

"Oh yes I forgot to tell you that I can keep up with you with my power speed I can slither faster than your horses." replied Slygon "So let's go and find some horses."

Chapter 8 The chase

They found some good horses and fast horses, George got a black stallion and Alex got a Secretariat horse. They got on their horses and they started riding while Slygon was up ahead slithering faster than the horses which was pretty incredible.
"Where do you think he is heading?" asked George

"I am guessing that he is going toward the goblin castle to tell them that the fortress was taken over." Slygon replied

"Is he faster than us?" asked Alex

"Well I can't answer that, but I am guessing that we might be going a little faster." said Slyon

"But if we do find him then we will go to the right and find the king George and tell him and he will bring his army and we will get them." said Slygon

"Hey that's my name!" cried George

"How much longer 'till the goblin castle." asked Alex

"Probably in about half a mile." said Slygon

"Hey look up ahead that's the goblin rider on the horse." said George "Should I shoot him."

"YES." shouted Alex

"Fire ten." said George
The goblin heard him and swerved to the right behind a tree and stopped his horse. The arrows swerved and they hit the horse.
"Darnit." said George

"Hey at least you killed the horse now we can catch up with him." said Alex

"Yeah but the castle is in sight right there and his horse might be able to ride for a few more minutes." said George

"Ok but his horse will go slower." pointed out Alex

"Ok let's go try to get him."

He was only about 100 meters away, they started to trot then they were galloping they were almost there.

"Don't shoot him we need to question him on how to get into the castle, that will be useful for the kinds army." said Slygon

"Ok I won't shoot him again." said George

They were right behind him now and all they could hear was the galloping of the horses hoof beats.

"HEY STOP OTHER WISE I WILL SHOOT YOU!" yelled George
The goblin rider started to slow down and then stopped.
He turned around and looked at the bow and the sword and knife.

"You found the magical paddle." said the goblin

"Ah whatever let's ride to the kings castle." said Slygon "Get on George's horse."

The goblin got on George's horse and they started riding to the right and they started to gallop through the forest and the horses kept on crunching twigs and making footsteps in the undergrowth. It was weird to have a goblin sitting behind you on the horse but in a while he got used to it. In a while they could see the castle and they saw the two guards at the drawbridge.

"Look up ahead the castle." said George

"Let me talk to the guardsss I will make them let us in." said Slygon
"Hello I am Ssslygon, these are friends of mine and I want to tell the king about something."

"What about that goblin there he is not aloud in the castle." said the castle guard firmly

"Oh he has information that is vital to the success against the goblin castle." replied Slygon

"Ok come in I will lead you to the king." said the guard

They went into the castle and saw many guards and many statues. Soon they went up this big spiral staircase it was about 200 steps!
Then there was this big door and George thought the king was behind it.
He was right the castle guards opened the big door and the king was sitting on his golden throne.

"Hello your majesty visitors." said the guard

"Ah and what brought you here Slygon." said king George

"Oh I have brought a goblin in to tell you the weaknesses of the castle." replied Slygon

"Oh you have done good, and who are those two." asked king George

"Oh these are young fellows that have found the magic paddle and will be willing to help your army in the war." replied Slygon

"YOU FOUND THE MAGIC PADDLE!?" cried the king in surprise

"yes we have m' lord." said George and Alex together speaking for the first time "But we could not have done it if Slygon did not kill the Magpie sir."

"Oh my gosh, that is crazy,ok let me calm down you said you had vital information against the goblin castle."

Chapter 9 the information

"Ok goblin what is your name." questioned the king

"My name is Graphigor," replied the goblin

"Ok now what is the biggest weakness to the castle." asked king George roughly

"I will never tell you the weaknesses of the castle." said Graphigor

"It is ok I will calm him down." said Slygon
Slygon started to hypnotize him.

"Tell me the weaknesses of the castle." said Slygon

"The goblins most fear cavalry, if you get a big party of cavalry then you will be able to take down the goblins, another weakness is archery if you get a lot of archers then the goblins will get hit easy because they have very little armor and all stay in a group with only clubs." said Graphigor

"There you go your majesty those are the weaknesses." said Slyglon

"Oh very good Slygon we will take them down easy now." said King George "Sir Alexander get the cavalry ready, and Sir Tarin get the archers ready we will go to battle."

Chapter 10 the battle

So after when all of the archers and cavalry were ready then they set off on a journey to the goblins castle.
George and Alex were riding on horses with Slygon and the king George at the front of the army.
George was caring his magic bow and arrows whale Alex was caring his sword and dagger.
They could see the castle now and the goblin guards saw them coming.
"THE KING AND HIS ARMY ARE COMING!" he screamed

"Hey do you think we can make siege and make everyone starve." asked George

"No the goblins cannot starve they are never hungry." replied Slygon

"Should I shoot the guards." asked George

"Yes you should." replied Slygon
George said "Fire two." he muttered
The goblins fell down with grunts.

"Cavalry charge." yelled the king

"Fire in the castle." yelled Sir Tiran
The archers had longbows and fired into the castle and a lot of screams were heard.
The cavalry started galloping at the gates but before they got there a giant troll just opened the gates.
Now the cavalry started charging faster and with their long lances they stabbed the troll. The troll screamed with pain he grabbed one of the horses and threw him as far as he could. Now that the horses were not moving the  riders urged them on without fear of getting thrown away. Then the archers shot at the troll and he screamed again. The lances were showing at the other end of the troll now and the troll had thrown five more riders.
At last the troll fell down and the riders pulled out the lances and galloped into the gates.
The goblins screamed with terror and they put up the white flag. They had surrendered. They had won.
"Yay we took over the goblins."

"Don't talk to fast they might start attacking after we force them out of the castle." said king George

"What do you mean they can't attack I thought they were afraid of the horsemen." said George

"They might be but still we should always be on are guard."
Suddenly they saw another of those big trolls with a big club.
This time the cavalry were not charging and had to run away to charge at him again.
The long bowmen fired again and with such speed from their big bows the arrows flew deep into the big trolls flesh.
The Troll screamed and hit a few of the cavalry and they went flying.
This was not going good but the Long bowmen now shot for the trolls eyes and then the troll could not see and he swished around with his club wildly and hit a few more knights.
But after this last fire of the long bowmen the troll fell down and squashed about ten knights.
The knights now started to gallop away and were out of range from the big trolls clubs.
Now the long bowmen shot at the other troll and he could not see and fell down dead on all of the little goblins.
"Hey now all of the goblins are dead and all of the trolls can we go back home now." asked George

"Hey you really want to go back home even though you are unbeatable with those weapons." replied king George

"Well there isn't much else to do is there." asked George

"Well you could go back home, but just don't let anyone get that bow from you and Alex don't let anyone get that sword and dagger." replied the king

"Ok we wont let anyone take these we will keep them safe." said George and Alex together."

"Ok I will send you back home with my magic." said the king
He started mumbling words that neither George or Alex could here but before they new it they were back in George's house.

Sir Francis Drake

After Christopher Colombus found the new world (the america's,) the Spanish wanted to go get the gold there. They got a lot of gold there and they became rich. The English also wanted gold so they went out to intercept the Spanish ships and get gold. They started intercepting them and the Spanish got mad.

Later though there was a man called Francis Drake.

He went with five ships to intercept the Spanish and he with his ship The Golden hind.

No English ship had been on the pacific ocean so when the Spanish ships saw it the welcomed them but Francis Drake fired and took the gold.

He took so much it was 20 tons of gold, silver, and gems.

Then when he got back Queen Elizabeth knighted him and he was called Sir Francis Drake. 

The Rangers apprentice book: 1 the ruins of gorlan

So I just started these series they are the rangers apprentice series.

It starts with these orphans in the castle of redmont. and there was the choosing everyone but him got chosen and he was mad but the ranger halt chose him as his apprentice.

He had to do the house work and he practiced hard at archery and at throwing knives.

Soon they went to the gathering of the rangers.

But before that Will got a pony to ride on a rangers pony. His name was tug.

Ranger ponies and horses don't let other people ride them unless they ask them the way the horse likes it, for tug it was may I.

Later they went to the rangers gathering and Halt and Will met Halts old apprentice.

The gathering stopped because of the Kalkara they were bad beasts that followed lord Morgarath if  he gave them silver and their mission was to kill Halt. They went to the ruins of gorlan and haHalt followed and told Will to go get Sir rodney and the Baron. They came and almost got killed but then will likt his arrow on fire and shot it and killed the kalkara the end.

Surfing

I love surfing. I started last year and I had a nine foot board.It was all mad out of fiberglass. It is easier with a bigger board to not nose dive.I liked it but i didn't want to get hurt by the big board.But then this year I started again and I wanted more of a challenge so I got a six foot board that is foam on the top and on the bottom is fiberglass. It is harder but the secret is to stand up faster. The biggest wave I have ridden is 6-7 feet. It was awesome I was at the top of the wave I stood up and then I was going so fast it was hard to keep balance but the secret to balance is to have you feet farther apart and then I was ahead of the wave and then the wave came again and I went close to the shore and I jumped off. I have a wet suit it helps a lot, it lets a little water in and then the water gets warm inside of you.

This Past Year

This has been a great year. I turned 10 this year and got into a few new things that I really loved.

I'm still playing club soccer for GPS North Shore and Stefano Franciosa is my coach. He is really good and I keep working to get better. This year I got 198 juggles, just 2 away from 200. This summer I am going to get to 200.

I also started playing tennis which I really like. I have been watching it too and I think Djokavic is my favorite player.

My grandpa just built us a ping pong table in our yard so now I am playing that too and I have a really good forehand. I can beat my dad and my grandpa, but my mom is still the best.

Our family went to Europe this year and I got to see England where I was born which was great. I really liked Scotland and France though.  While there we traveled a lot so I read a lot of my book Harry Potter. Now I am on book 6 The Half Blood Prince. JK Rowling is a really good author.

My other favorite author is Brandon Mull. He is writing the Five Kingdoms series and I read the first three. He is also working on a sequel for Fablehaven which I can't wait to read next year.

I memorized the periodic table this year and my brother has been teaching me some chemistry. I also did a lot of cooking and baking this year trying different recipes.

I am pretty good at math and finished 6th grade math and got most of the way through 7th grade math on Khan Academy this year. Once I understand how something works I can solve it pretty fast.

I also got really into Origami this year and spent three months learning and practicing folding. I even made a whole Origami Castle with dragons and pigs and bunnies and flowers and trees. I entered the castle in the Newburyport Art Association Kids Show and I won $25. I think I was the youngest kid who won. I have some of my Origami on my DIY portfolio here: diy.org/sandman7

Other that than I still really like the Middle Ages and both learning about knights and castles and also playing stories with my toys. I got a real trebuchet and crossbow at a castle in France and now I am reading a book on how to make different catapults and trebuchets and things which is cool.

I am still playing the piano and I discovered the band Pentatonix. I really like A Capella music and think it's amazing how people can do those things with their voices. I learned Mary did You Know on the piano recently and Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel with appregios.

Now that it's summer I am learning to Boogie Board. The waves aren't as big as the ones in Australia but it's still a lot of fun.

Africa

here is a cool fact: Africa has the most modern day countries 54 or so.

plant science book volume : 3

So i started reading this book my dad got for me. It was a science book about plants. Its about these twins Tracey and Blaine and their uncle Cecil. They have this zip-line that takes them to different places like the Amazon. They go to the Amazon in this book. They have this friend named Arrio. Arrio taught them about this flower. It's name is Moth Orchid. There is more than 20 thousand species of Moth Orchid in the Amazon rainforest. Orchids are emphytes. Emphytes means that they grow on tree branches. They get a lot of sun because they are high up there. They do not hurt the trees. They manage to get their sunlight and water from the air and the rain that falls from the canopy. A lot of people around the globe know about this flower because of its beauty and fragrance.

Fastest car in the world

I love fast cars. The fastest one I think is the Hennessey Venom. It can go 270 mph (434.5 Kilometers per hour).

The periodic table

Recently I memorized the periodic table. It is full of elements. We are made up of hydrogen the first element in the periodic table, also nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon. There is 118 elements in the periodic table and I can say all of them without looking in under 2 minutes

The Good Samaritan

So a lawyer asked Jesus one day how to gain eternal life and Jesus said you must know the law what does it tell you the lawyer said you must love god with all your heart and you must love you neighbor as much as you love yourself and then Jesus said you have answered right, the lawyer then said who is my neighbor, and Jesus replied in a story.
So a man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. But then on the way some thieves came and they tore his clothes, took his money and beat him, then they ran away leaving the man on the side of the road nearly dead. And then a little while later a Priest came and saw the man but walked quickly on the other side of the road. The next man that came was a Levite a man that assisted the Priests in the temples. And then a third man came by he was a Samaritan he saw the man and healed his wounds an bandaged them then sent him to the nearest inn and looked after him for the night and then gave the innkeeper money to take care of the man.
Then Jesus asked the lawyer which of these three men was a true neighbor, the lawyer answered the samaritan. Then Jesus told the man to remember this story and be like the Samaritan.

Jesus feeds the five thousand

So the parable is like this these people were hungry and it was lunch time the disciples told Jesus that they should just go to the market and buy some food but Jesus told them to go and see if anyone had brought food, so the disciples went and found a boy that had a basket of two loafs of  bread and five fish and then Jesus makes it enough for more than five thousand people. There were even 12 baskets left that they saved for later.

Adventure at Europe

So we planned a trip to Europe. We went to Ireland, Scotland, Edinburgh, London, the Isle of Skye, Beynac, and Then Paris to Ireland back home. 

So the trip started with going on a bus to the airport. But when we got of the bus we couldn't find one of are bags, someone else had taken it. But we went on the plane to Ireland and then we went so Scotland, In the Isle of Skye There were lots of sheep and lamb. We went up this hill had a little picnic and went up two more bigger hills and then we came down we were tired after that. After we went to the fairy pools and we went off the path up the waterfalls, I found one that we went under. We found a heart rock and a fern. After that we went to Edinburgh and saw some of its castles and then we took a plane to London where I bought a soccer ball and a wallet. Then we went to Beynac where I got a trebuchet and a crossbow up in one of the castles. It was hard to speak there because nearly everyone spoke french. When we were in Paris I ate a chocolate Croissant every where we went in Paris. I got and Eiffel tower there and we went under the Eiffel tower. Me and my brother both touched it but we didn't climb up because it was a 2 hour wait. Then we went to Ireland and back home.:D   

Table Tennis/Ping Pong

Well recently I have been playing tennis but after I got some Ping Pong balls I wanted to make some paddles so I took a tongue depressor and I taped it to a paper plate and did the same thing again and I taped them together and then i mad another one. So then I went and played withe my brother on are table. but I didn't like that they weren't that strong so I asked my grandpa to make some from wood so he did and we played with those for a while and then my grandma got some real paddles and I practiced with my grandpa, dad, and mom and then after a while my dad said I had the best forehand in the family. The difference from table tennis and ping pong is the extra bounce on your side of the table each point otherwise the rules are mostly the same.

Five Kingdoms book:3

Well some of my favorite parts are when they destroy the giant robot Roxie and get Constance the princess to safety. I also like when they get battle suits and when Cole goes to the meeting to get information from the bad guys.

The battle suits are really cool. You can jump twice as high and run twice as fast. There is also this stuff called freeze foam. When you spray it it freezes the person. Well there is this robot called Sidekick he is a good robot but he was the one who destroyed Roxie he was the bomb. But they had a copy so Cole wasn't to sad. Another part I like is when Cole finds out that the hunter is his brother. He couldn't remember him but he soon became friends. There are these bad troops called enforcers they have weird magic that can turn people into stone. But after they have to go help honor and another of Miracles sisters that is going to be in the fourth book but it doesn't come out until next year.

Five Kingdoms :book 2

So Brandon Mull writes great books and one of the series is called the Five Kingdoms he is still writing the other books but so far he has writen 3. i am on  the second one. It is called the Rogue Knight. It starts with these kids named Cole, Jace, Joe, Twitch, and Mira. They are in an autocoach and were riding from Sambria to Eloweer to kingdoms of the five kingdoms. but on there way there were some Enforcers trying to get them but Jace luckily had his golden rope and Mira and Cole had there jumping swords. They got past the enforcers and met a person named Skye Ryland she helped them get Cole's friend Dalton. they went and found the Rogue knight who helped them get to Trillians place and get Honor Miracle's sister. and that is how far I have read and i hope to finish it and find out what happens. I just love Brandon's books :D.

three types of tears

So there is a part of the eye called the iris.It cries all of the time. It cries around ten ounces per day, that is about 30 gallons of tears per year!! It has special glands. One of them is called the Lacrimal glands, they make new tears for the iris. She also has special tubes called Lacrimal puncta, they take out the old tears. So you know when you look at onion, well it smells pretty good right? Well when you take the first layer off a chemical reaction happens converting the suffoxides that make is smell so greatinto sulfenic acid which then becomes an awful substance with a very, very long name, syn-Propanethial s-oxide it stings your iris and it starts crying like crazy. And there is also emotional tears like if someone died that you loved or some one you love is going away.

Iris usually cries basal tears it is surrounded by a thin coating of three layers. That protect it from dirt a debris.

Mindstorms

So my brother got a Mindstorms for Christmas. He made EV3 and we tried to make him go from the dining room to the kitchen but there were to many bumps and he could not go over them.
But when we introduced him to Sophie are dog we made him try to shoot her so she was afraid of him and always ran away from him. After a while we took him apart and me and my dad made the R3PTAR. He could strike with his fangs, move backwards, move forwards, and he could rattle. When we introduced him to Sophie she remembered the EV3 and she was a little afraid but she sometimes went close by him. But we made him strike at her and she was Terrified! Then she always ran away from him because she knew what was coming. Then we made the TRACK3R we made him go close by her and she remembered all of the other robots and she always ran away.

We programmed the EV3 to count to ten and sing angels we have heard on high. We programmed the TRACK3R to go around the house, but we didn't program the R3PTAR. The R3PTAR is controlled using a touch senser, The EV3 is controlled by touching the buttons to go forward backwards and to shoot. The TRACK3R is cool you push up on the tracks on your i touch on all of them. You just need to know that I love MINDSTORMS!

Big snowstorm

There was a big snowstorm this week there is about 5 ft of snow out in my backyard. We shovel it and throw it in big mounds of snow and it grows to about 7 ft of snow!
We tried playing soccer in the snow but it was very deep and we could barely walk in it, the snow almost reached the cross bar of out soccer goal!
We sometimes went on top of the roof and shoveled it off. i went on the garage roof by putting the a sled on top of the big mounds of snow on the back of the garage and stood up on the sled and pulled myself on top of the roof! Me and my brother shoveled the garage roof. (It was fun jumping off the roofs). Me and my dad threw my dog (Sophie) her tennis ball in the big mound of snow and she did a running jump and got the tennis ball. My grandpa went with his snow-blower and helped put it on top of the big mounds.
Most of the day though we stay inside by the warm fire and learn:)

How to make a origami Water bomb

So the origami water bomb is a hard difficulty.

Tip try not to you to big of a paper because later you wont be able to blow it up.

Step 1 Start with a square piece of paper and the colored side on the back

Step 2 Fold it in half diagonally to make a crease and unfold.

Step 3 Fold it in half diagonally the other way to make a crease and unfold.

Step 4 Now your piece of paper should look like this.

Step 5 Fold it in half into a rectangle the other was to make a crease and unfold.

Step 6 Now fold it in half to make a rectangle and unfold.

Step 7 Fold it in half to make a rectangle the other way and unfold.

Step 8 Fold it in half diagonally.

Step 9 Take the middle line crease and fold it to the edge.

Step 10 Fold the crease pointing to the top right and fold it to the bottom.

Step 11 Your piece of paper should now look like a triangle.

Step 12 Fold the bottom right flap to the top.

Step 13 Do the same on the left side.

Step 14 Do the same thing on the back of the triangle.

Step 15 Your paper should now look like this.

Step 16 Fold the right flap to the middle.

Step 17  Fold the left flap the same way. 

Step 18 Do the same thing on the back.

Step 19 Fold the top right flap to the right. Do the same thing on the left side.

Step 20 Do the same thing on the back.

Step 21 Unfold those four folds you just made.

Step 22 Fold the top flaps on both sides into the other flaps.

Step 23 Blow into the hole in the bottom.

Step 24 The water bomb is done, you can fill it up with water and play like a snow ball fight but with water bombs!

Cool Facts

So you would think how a toucan could fly with such a big beak. So this is how he does it, basically he has air pockets in his beak so it makes his beak lighter.

So which is the longest river and the deepest lake well the longest ricer is the Nile, it reaches from Egypt to Sudan. It's around 4, 165 miles!The deepest lake is in the region of Russia it is called the Baikal it reaches 5,320 feet!

Is there a rainbow at night? Yes there is it is caused bu the moon it is called a moonbow, it is not as bright as the rainbow. They usually form in Kentucky.