Quiz Bowl Team Reunion

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Last week I had the teammates of my old quiz bowl team over before college starts in less than three weeks (oh my goodness, oh my goodness, OH MY GOODNESS!!!) Almost everybody was able to make it-except one teammate who fell down and injured himself running that morning.

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College creeps ever closer, so I was really happy to see my my high school friends again. They are all older than me, so they joined the collegiate ranks several years ago, and I’ve only seen them a few times since then.

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We sat around the campfire and roasted Smore’s. We had several nontraditional toppings including Andes mints, peanut butter, caramel, and strawberries. The strawberries were my favorite.

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Claire’s Three Month Session

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Well, I can tell you what Claire thinks of my photography quest:

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Ha, ha.

 

 I think she’s been getting a little bored of the process. I don’t blame her. I do believe that she has had more practice lifting her head on her belly than any of the other babies.IMG_7697

When I try to take her picture, she spends most of her time either trying to eat my new fabrics, or playing with her fingers.

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But she gave me a couple good expressions nevertheless.

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Best Yellow Birthday Cake

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Buttermilk makes this our staple for moist birthday cakes!

4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups  sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken

Preheat oven to 350°F. grease two 9-inch round cake pans or a 9×13 pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.

Prepare Yourself!

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I spent over TWO HOURS sorting though the craft store in town today, getting background fabrics for a three month old baby Claire photo shoot!

A Better Way to Learn Ride a Bike

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Young children everywhere have been cheated.

Little kids around the world have anticipated the removal of training wheels with unneeded dread and apprehension. They have unnecessarily suffered scraped knees and bruised elbows as they try to ride a big kid bike. There is a better way.

Why should we teach children on beginner bikes that they can lean left or right onto a training wheel? Will they not simply fall over the first time they mount a real bike? Wouldn’t it be better to train them to sit upright? The answer is yes, and the tiny Strider bike does this by giving children the experience of balancing on a bike without training wheels or pedals.

Daniel has been the first of the boys to use the Strider, and it didn’t take long for us to see how wonderful it was. All last year as he pushed himself forwards with his feet, he learned to balance, and soon he lifted his feet off the ground to glide short distances.

He is now too tall for the strider, so we brought him home a larger bike with pedals. He could balance on it immediately, and it only took him an hour to figure out the pedals, and he was riding all over in less than an afternoon. No falls, no injuries, no trauma. He only just turned four at the end of May, and he beat Johnathan’s record for learning to ride by almost a year. (John learned the summer he turned five.)

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Now it’s time to start Dominic on the Strider! Who knows, maybe he’ll be riding a bike by the time he’s three!

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Bee Sting: Check.

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One by one, I keep checking items off the list of life experiences. I took care of stitches last November, and now I have officially been stung by a bee. I really thought I was going to get away without one of those.

It happened while I was vanquishing thistles in my garden. Ironically, I had just glanced at my shasta daisies and coneflowers swarming with busy bees and thought to myself, “When I was little I was too scared of bees to stand this close to them. But now that I’m older I know they won’t hurt me, since I’m just minding my business and they are minding theirs.” Little did I know I had a furry bee sitting on my shirt by my elbow. As soon as I brushed my arm against it, it decided to complain.

What followed must have been quite a spectacle. I looked down to see what had bitten me, and when I saw the furry black and yellow creature, I screamed. Then I shook the bee off my shirt and ran as fast as I could. Landon reports that he knew something was wrong when I didn’t stop running till I had ran clear to the other side of the yard.

Fortunately, Mom thinks it was a pretty mild sting, as the stinger was not stuck in my arm. I still had a little red welt, though! I’m certainly glad it was a bee and not a wasp!

Garden Journal III

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Beets from the garden:

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The roots were scrumptious! I baked them in the oven, and they were very sweet (for a beet). They didn’t have much bitterness at all. I did not like the greens, however. Those were too strong tasting. I ate a few because they were good for me, but I didn’t care for them at all.

Garden Journal-II

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The snapdragons I planted from seed are doing very well, and are beginning to flower.

 

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The cosmos I grew from seed have normal sized flowers now that they are big:

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These lilies are some of my favorites, and they didn’t bloom last year because the weather was so odd. I’m excited for them to open.

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Coneflowers and shasta daisies:

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Pea vines cover the fence, and they have lot’s of pods on them.
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Banana pepper just before picking:

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The raspberries have a bumper crop, and Alexander has been my faithful raspberry picker.

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He is very proud of himself for being able to tell which ones are ripe.IMG_6952

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Photography

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The reason for the lack of posting is that I have been spending a lot of time working on portrait photography. I had the idea to attempt a professional venture, so several times a week, I’ve been taking some siblings, neighbors, or members of our homeschool group out to a park to practice. Then Dad and I have sat down every night and dissected each picture to find out what could have made it better.  I’ve learned a lot, and now Dad has helped me set up a website: www (dot) luminaphotos (dot) com!

Happy Independence Day!

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“I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”

 

~Written by John Adams on July 3, 1776