a tutorial of how not to get a bolo ball out of a tree

We recently purchased the game Ladder Ball. Up until the day that we bought it I had never played this game...and it showed! :)

After playing for a while, Ana (go to her blog and read her post on this. It's absolutely hilarious!) decided to throw the bolo ball with her feet...at me mind you! After obviously failing her assault on me she decided, instead of throwing them with her hands she would chuck them with her toes. :) Attempting to hit the ladders, which were positioned on the ground, she actually accidentally got them stuck in one of the tallest trees in our yard. One might think "What would possess one to do that?" Well, that is exactly what I was thinking...but thankfully she wasn't thinking the same thing and now we have footage of it for the whole world to see. :) So, here is a tutorial of how NOT to get a bolo ball out of a tree.

The bolo ball up in the tree.

1. Never try throwing ladder balls at the ladder thing-y, or at younger sisters, with your feet. :)

This is where it all started....

2. Never throw a softball straight up in the air in an attempt to get it the bolo ball out of the tree. :) Or, if you do, make sure that there is enough room for you to flee when it comes back down. :)

Ahem...yea... me throwing it up in the air...and running from it because I couldn't see where it was going because of my hat. :)

3. Never try throwing a massively large board up in the air at the bolo ball in the tree. Or, if you do, refer to rule # 2..... run!

Ethan attempting to get it down with a board. :)

Hm... she must not have read my tutorial.... ;)

4. Never throw an oddly shaped stick up in the air at the bolo ball in the tree for fear of squishing the poor and helpless little cantaloupe plants.

Ana throwing a stick at it and successfully not hitting my cantaloupe. Ana, you are amazing!

The softball in the tree.


5. Never doubt Ana's aim....unless of course she is throwing it with her toes. :) Oh! Never shoot soft pellets in the general direction of poor innocent little victims...such as myself.


Ana throwing the stick at the tree and getting the softball and the stick back down! And again, not hitting my cantaloupe!


6. Never try climbing a tree in hopes of getting it down. It doesn't work! Plus, If you can't see it when you are up in the tree...you're probably doomed.


Ana climbed the tree in hopes of "reaching" it. Well that didn't go so swell. :) She couldn't even see it! I am really sorry about the camera trying to focus itself! Kinda makes you squint a bit hu?

Ana and her antlers.

7. Never step in the way of Ana's antlers. Or you'll find out why not to the hard way. Also, always make sure you get a good view of what you are trying to get down before you start throw objects at it.


Me attempting to get it down.

Ethan setting up the ladder. Notice, it is as tall as he is!


8. Never try forcing a bolo ball out of a tree with an extremely long downspout unless you weigh enough to keep yourself balanced on the extra tall ladder you are stationed on. Or else, just find somebody that weighs enough.


Ethan trying to "poke" it down.

Ethan and me climbing the ladder.

9. Never doubt downspouts. They're fabulous things wouldn't you say? :)

Hurahh it's down! O yea! Like my strategy?

And that, dear peeps, is a tutorial of how not to get a bolo ball out of a tree.

Just Returning the Favor

When Grandma S. left Ana had to move into my room because our other Grandparents were coming to stay with us. So she got to sleep in my room. Although it wasn't for as along as Ana hosted me it was a very pleasant 2 days. :)

Update

Hello!
Just thought I'd update ya'll here. My Grandma left this morning to go back to her home and so she'll be living by herself now. Praise the Lord for my Grandma getting better so fast!

My other Grandparents are going to be getting here this afternoon so we are in the process of moving all of my stuff and Ana's stuff out of Ana's room, since I moved down there exactly 2 weeks ago, up into my room so they can sleep in Ana's room. We've got to wash my sheets and Ana's sheets...and clean...and.....all that stuff you do in a couple of hours to get a house in order for people come over. I like it. It's fun. :) So I am really happy to have my room back. I missed it a lot. But I'm also going to miss my Grandam. But God knows all things and He will work everything out for good. So I don't have to worry. Isn't that fabulous! :) My Grandparents will leave maybe on Friday.. I think... :)
Oh! We get our countertops on Thursday! I'm really excited about it. When we get our countertops then we'll be all done remodeling our kitchen! Happy thought indeed.


I auditioned for the Wizard of Oz last week and then they had recalls on Monday and now I won't get to know anything until Friday. It's so hard to wait! :) This is the first time I've ever auditioned for anything! I tried out for Dorothy, 'cause I figured I probably couldn't be a munchkin. *chuckle* So that also leaves another thing that I've got to depend upon God for. And it will teach me patience. :) Isn't it so cool how God puts situations into your life that will help you deal with things...like patience, and learning not worry and depending upon Him for everything etc. What an awesome God we serve! :)

Well, I'm gonna go listen, and probably end up dancing to, some music while I clean my room. No one ever dances to their music while they clean. Right? :) *Wink* Until next time folks! :)

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

a little bit of creativity

A new decoration for the kitchen/dinning room and also the first nail put into the newly painted walls. Mom was kind of hesitant at first but she finally decided to let me. Now she is very happy! I am absolutely pleased with it. I had seen the same thing at Katie's parents house and so I figured it would look pretty good in our new kitchen. And it does. I love it!

Desserts

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Cake:

1 C. butter or margarine
1 T. shortening

2 C. sugar

6 eggs, separated

3 C. flour
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 8 oz. container dairy sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 12-oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate pieces
1 4-oz. pkg. sweet baking chocolate, grated

Glaze:
1 C. powdered sugar
1 T. milk

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1) Preheat the oven to 325°. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Set aside.

2) To make the cake: In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter or margarine and shortening with an electric mixer. Gradually add 1½ cups of the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks. Beat on medium-high speed for 5 minutes.

3) In another mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt and baking soda.

4) Add the flour mixture and the sour cream to the butter mixture, alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until blended after each addition.

5) Stir in the vanilla, 1 1/3 cups of the chocolate pieces and all of the grated chocolate.

6) Using clean beaters and a clean medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the remaining ½ cup sugar to the egg whites, beating until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight).

7) Stir one third of the beaten egg white mixture into the batter to lighten it. Then, carefully fold in the remaining egg white mixture.

8) Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the 325° oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.

9) To make the glaze: combine the powdered sugar and milk. Add more milk if a thinner consistency is desired. Spoon the glaze over the warm cake. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate pieces over the glaze. Cool before serving.

Makes 16 Servings

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Fresh Orange Cake

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day we had Caleb, Katie, and Baby G come over, and Grandma was still here. We had a really yummy dinner of Turkey. Caleb and Katie had to leave in the mid afternoon. We started a fire in the evening and sat outside on our lawn chairs enjoying the beautiful night. I played our mandolin for a little bit and we all just sorta hummed along. Ana worked on... some scrapbook thing.. :) I don't know exactly what it was. Ethan chopped a piece of wood with his axe. And Grandma came out, bundled up in blankets, and watched the fire. Dad came out as well and picked away at the mandolin a little bit. And Mommy just sat there and enjoyed being a mommy. :) I love my Mommy soo much! :) Praise the Lord for Mommies! We even had some pink flowers bloom on Mother's Day. How appropriate! :)



*Flowers, and our fire.*




*My way-nedo-oh-so-comfortable-corduroy-pink-jumper, the sun and our bird houses, Ana and her clogs wrapped up in her blanket working on....her scrapbook thingy. :) *



*One of my favorite little plants. I don't know what it is, but it is soo little! It is a little bigger then my hand. :) *

Softball

Hello!
I am finally able to post!
At the Dome we won 9-0! wahoo!!!! I went 3-4 hitting wise and I got a home run! :)







About a week ago I hit a home run over the fence. Unfortunately we lost that game.



My Mommy, Ana, and Ethan are soo good to me by video taping me during the games. :) Aren't they just fabulous?!
Alas softball is over with. We had our last "season" game on Thursday. It was a double header and we won both of the games! hurrah! But then we had a Playoff game on Friday and since we were ranked 8th our of 9 we had to play a "pigtail" game where we play the 9th seeded team. And it turned out that we had to play the same team that we played the night before because they were the number 9 seed! We lost that game and so our season is officially over.
Summer softball should start here soon. So I'll just have to wait for that. But until then I should be able to post more often! You fortunate people!

busy...busy...dreadfully busy...

all right, all right, I won't sing that Veggi-Tales song, but it's what I'm thinking! I have been soo busy with everything that has been going on. My sister has been more faithful in posting on her blog then I have been. So if you go to my sisters blog you will pretty much know about everything that is going on in my life, since we live in the same house. So yea. My Grandma moved in with us because she can't live by herself due to health problems. I have been removed from my room for a time so my Grandma can live in my room. So I am living with my sister in the basement. Mmmm.... fun fun! My Grandma is doing much better, all though not fully up to speed. and...lets say... Ana is...pleased as punch to have me living in her room.... :) I'm sure that you will hear many stories about this later on. :) I apologize for not posting about the metro dome. I haven't quite figured out how to get the videos off of our camcorder so I can show some footage of the dome. Would you like me to spoil it and tell you what happened? Or....should I make you wait until I get around to posting about it? hmm........decisions decisions ....
Well until I decide...I shall talk about the beautiful spring that God has graciously and lovingly given us. It is warm but not too warm. The sun casts down green light as it shines through the new leaves on the trees. Um... I can go barefoot outside! hurrah! For it is May and any month that doesn't have an "r" in it is safe for you to go barefoot....did you know that? :)

Softball is coming to an end soon...and Summer softball will start up. I can't wait!
Saturday was cold and wet...and would have been absolutely delightful if I had been inside to enjoy the coziness of my home. But alas I was not. I was at a B-squad tournament. Yuppers. I got to the field at about 9:30 and was there until about....3:30. I was drenched like all the way through every layer of clothing that I had on... but it was worth it.
Monday we have a double-header, Tuesday we might have a double-header, Wednesday is practice, Thursday is a double-header, and then I don't know about Friday. Seedings are coming out on Wednesday and I have a feeling....well more like an educated guess....that we are going to be one of the last teams. Meaning that we have lost most of our games... have won VERY FEW of them.....you get the idea.
Well...when I get around to posting I shall post quite a few I think. For I have lots of posts just floating around in my head...notice how I said floating, for there is nothing else in there! :) hehe...just kidding. So, until my unscheduled, long expected, quite random posts, good bye and God bless you!