Mars Perseverance Stories

 From Logan:

When the robot landed on Mars it started to collect rocks. Then an alien kid came up and snatched the rock from the robot and said,” That's my Mom's favorite rock! He walked off and the robot turned around and there was a huge city of aliens flying cars everywhere and the alien was giving the rock back to its mom. 

The people who sent him were still at home sleeping so they had no idea that there was life on Mars. Since he couldn't be told to do anything  he was not taking pictures. 

The robot went after the rock. He climbed into the house and looked around. There were five other robots just like him, but they were acting like puppies. Then the robot fell in through the window. 

Then the boy said, “Feeding time puppies!” and the other robots went over to their bowls. The robot went to a bowl where there were rocks in it. He started to collect them, he looked over and the other robots were eating the rocks he had collected all the rocks in his bowl so he started taking them from the other robots but he did not know they were like robot dogs. The other robot that he was taking rocks from growled but the robot kept going. The robot dog knocked him over and growled the robot got up and ran away until he ran until the city was out of sight. 

The people that sent him there woke up and said it looks like He hasn't found anything yet besides rocks. That is SO boring. 

                                                   THE END

From Sheridan: 

  As the new rover was driving around Mars picking up rocks and recording the scene live to NASA and the world she heard a voice.

  “HEY!!! That’s my mommy’s special rock, give it back!” 

The rover turned to see an alien and a whole city right by him. The alien looked pretty close to a human. 

  “Well…” the little alien said with her arms crossed and tapping her foot. The rover set the rock down and the little alien grabbed it and ran off.  Everyone on earth just stared and stared.

  Then the little alien came back but this time there was a group of other aliens with her. They oohed and aahed and eeked and screamed and went to change their pants… 

  The little girl that had discovered the robot first picked it up and said, “Mommy can I keep it please please please!!!” 

“uh I guess?” said her mom. 

“YAY We are gonna have so much fun!” she said as she ran off carrying the rover in her hands. 

While she was at her house playing with the rover, everyone on earth was still staring, wondering what the heck just happened. The little girl on Mars was dressing up the rover. “You are such a cute little puppy! I am gonna name you Flarfy! BTW my name is Felicia. This city you are in is called Carclosafludose. My mom says it’s a mouthful to say but it would be a lot more than a mouthful if someone tried to eat the sign that says what our city is called, so I don’t know why Mommy said that ''.

Adventures of Mo and Jo and Other Short Stories by Sheridan Jones

One day Mo and Jo were up in the attic right after their mother told them not to go up there. They found their mother's old dress-ups. They put them on and went outside. They knew their mother would kill them, especially because it was muddy and snowy.

After a while of playing they saw their mother with a knife. She chased after them and caught them because they were slow and she slit their throats and ate them for supper and lunch.

The end.

One day as a lady was walking past a jelly bean shop she went into labor and gave birth to a baby. It was snowing outside so to keep the baby warm she stuffed the baby in her jacket and walked home just like that.

One day a little boy and his grandpa went camping. That night when the grandpa was asleep the little boy took the grandpa's tobacco! He had so much of it that he got very very sick and passed on.

A Boy, a Frog and...an Alligator?

Mercer Mayer they ain't.

One of our school-at-home activities involves me picking two pictures from my picture file at random, and the kids have all day to choose one picture and write a story to go with it. (Yes, fellow Mt. Vernon Education students: I still have the picture file we were assigned to create our sophomore year!)

Today Sheridan and Christopher both chose this picture:

Christopher's story:

There was a boy called Mo. 

He always said Mo.

One day he was walking down a road then he heard a croak and another and another.

He looked around and found a frog and looked at it.

The frog ate him.

The end.

Points for brevity?? We'll work on fleshing his stories out a bit...

Sheridan's version:

One day, a little boy went to a swamp for a camping trip. There at the swamp the boy ran over to look for frogs so they could have frog legs for supper. After a while the boy caught a frog.

The frog was a magic frog and the frog knew what the boy wanted to do with him. The boy went down the side of the swamp to the deeper end to catch more frogs. 

Then the magic frog got an idea. He turned himself into a giant alligator and ate the boy in two giant bites.

***

I'm sensing a theme, are you?

Pet Themed Birthday Party

Is it me, or is Pinterest getting a little more 'real'? I mean, you still have those ridiculously expensive, meticulously decorated parties for one-year-olds who just want to chew on the streamers. I'm also seeing more my-budget-is-$50 posts, though, and that's where this Mom is headed! In that vein, here is what we did for Sheridan's tenth birthday - much of it stolen liberally from the latter Pinterest posts.

FOOD

Logan asked me what my favorite part of birthday parties was, and as this one was over and I was stuffing a third piece of pizza into my face, I answered "leftovers". Rule #1: don't make anything you don't mind eating for the next three days, but then make lots of it! Sheridan wanted pizza, and since there is no delivery here that meant cooking from frozen. I bought 8 or 10 and baked them this morning, cut them into slices, put the slices back on cookie sheets, and just warmed those up when people arrived.

For pet-themed treats we had:

Snakes!

The dog food bowls will go to our favorite local rescue after the party.

One of my friends won't come unless I make meatballs, so:

For her cake, Sheridan decided on a dog bowl. Daddy always does the decorating! The icing to write her name ended up too runny, so he did it in candy bits instead.

Lemon cupcakes for those who didn't want chocolate cake:

She liked it!

DO

When kids first came in we invited them to make dog toys for that same rescue. Plastic bottles (lids removed) in a sock, tie it shut and decorate it with markers. Jeans cut into strips and braided, some with a tennis ball added partway down.

With Valentine's Day coming up, it was easy to find a bajillion stuffed animals at the dollar store. But how do we decide who picks first? Let's have them draw numbers.

From the bottom of the litter box.

Many people thought this was one of those cakes made to look like kitty litter.

Nope, just kitty litter.

Once they drew their number and picked their pet (which kind of turned into a madhouse just because of the sheer number of kids we had here), they filled out an adoption certificate and made a collar for their pet.

Personally I think pinatas are weird, but Sheridan insisted, so we took turns beating the tar out of a cute dog and then scrambled for its guts.

Of course, baby cuddling is also a popular pastime! 

Make sure your bathroom is labeled - there's nothing like trying to find the toilet in a hurry in a strange house: 

And ours is certainly a strange house. Some of the gifts were strange, too!

Here, big sister apologized to Mom before she opened it.

MORE DUCKS! This may bring the total to 400. I've kind of lost track.

But, the best gift was for me. In three years I will have a 13-year-old daughter. Enough said.

Happy Tenth Birthday Sheridan!!!

Sheridan's Day

The best part of MY summer is the week I take off, because I get to spend one whole day with each of the kids. Sheridan was first up on Monday.

We had kind of a rough start. We slept in (hello, JAKES just happened!) and got going an hour late. Sheridan had an itchy allergic reaction to the sunscreen from the day before (which usually only happens when it is a spray-on). Then her stomach started getting upset. Then we forgot the rocks she painted to hide. Then we got to the place she had been planning on for breakfast for a MONTH...and it is closed on Mondays.

Crap crap crap. She was fighting back tears. Not how the special days are supposed to go.

Okay, rocks: I have a few rocks stashed at my desk at he library, we can run by there and I can sneak one out for her to 'find'. Fortunately, I didn't have to!

Whoever painted this gorgeous kitty and left it at the library, THANK-YOU!!! You saved our day!!!

Things got much better after that. We only had half an hour before her hair appointment and still no breakfast, so we grabbed some fruit kabobs at the grocery store across from the library. Just the thing for an upset stomach!

She rehid the rock here, by the way...

Next up, haircut!

Just a trim, and the hair stylist (our favorite, Michelle) put it in a pretty braid that was perfect for the hot day.

We just had time to hit the Blue Stone to pick up her summer reading prize and stop at one thrift shop before making our lunch reservations at the Friendship Tea House. We have seen pictures posted by all our friends, but this was our first visit.

The tea house is in a small house, every room decorated in antiques and all things pink. Several cozy tables throughout,

plus a few requisite creepy dolls.

Ignore La Llorona in the mirror.

There is an optional dress-up area, but Sheridan decided to pass. Despite telling me half an hour before that she didn't like Barbies any more, she spent some time playing with this house.

Mostly it bothered her sense of order that everyone didn't have matching shoes, so she had to fix that. Definitely my child.

When lunch came it dodn't look like a filling meal, but we were both stuffed by the end! And so good!

Sheridan's ham and cheese sandwich was in a butterfly shape, while I had fingers of turkey and cucumber sandwich. Open faced, flower shaped strawberry and banana sandwiches, deviled eggs, and three types of scones with the YUMMIEST Devonshire cream! Mango tea to wash it all down.

We opted to share a piece of cake (angel food - my favorite - with a lemon custard filling and rasberries on top.) SO good, but we barely squeezed it in!

A little more play, this time in the toy kitchen, where she found a complete tea set. She decided to serve me this time.

And thus begins the quest for the perfect tea set, because we obviously need one at home!

School shopping at Walmart, which was rather ridiculous - how can they not have ANY rulers? Or shoes her size that are not pink? And literally nobody in town that sells clothing carried socks that are NOT ankle socks, which she hates. 

We stopped for a drink at the McDonald's in Walmart, and she asked if she could give her last quarter to the older gentleman behind us in line. That sparked a lovely conversation, and when he learned that she earned her quarters taking care of our chickens, he shared that he had studied chicken husbandry 60 years ago. And then when he left he gave her a different quarter ;)

We toured the mall in quest of socks (no luck), and spent some time at Alamo Jump, where we ran into half my library patrons. Our last stop was a quick stroll through the zoo.

When you are hungry, but just too hot and tired to do anything but eat lying down.

 Mostly we visited the aviary.

Does anyone know what kind of plant this is??

As you can see, we lost the braid somewhere around Alamo Jump!

We picked up the other kids and headed home, but the special day wasn't over yet. Sheridan had planned a dinner of hamburgers, applesauce and cutie oranges. She also made a special dessert:

Mykela, you may recognize these glasses from your wedding!

She even took everyone's burger orders:

and served sparkling grape juice in the plastic tea set we found for temporary use. A fantastic meal at the end of a fantastic day! Followed by a night of just her and I in the camper...because, you know, we didn't JUST spend three days camping in it...

The Cheat, by Sheridan Jones: a story in installments. Chapter 3: I Lost My Best Friend

As soon as we got outside, Marvin started stomping down the street towards the candy shop (he likes to eat when he's mad.) I raced after him wondering if he'll ever forgive me!

When he got there he stopped and said, "What do you want?"

"Nothing," I said.

"You cheated, right?" he said.

Yes, I nodded my head.

"Then you lie and blame me!?"

I nod my head to it all. The candy man looks worried as he watches us. After a while I left.

The Cheat, by Sheridan Jones: a story in installments. Chapter 2: Telling Lies

The next day, I was so excited to see my grades, but when I got them I slumped down in my seat. I realized Marvin slumped down in his seat. My paper said, "See me." I leaned back in my chair. Marvin's paper said the same thing.

We had another test today, but this time I didn't look at Marvin's paper, I only looked at my paper.

When class was over, me and Marvin went over to our teacher, Mrs. Money. She said, "One of you must have been copying the other's paper, and I think it was you, Emma."

I gulped, but stayed frozen. "I think it was you, Emma, because you only get five or ten right. Marvin gets one hundred or a little bit less."

Then I spoke up. "Well, my parents have been teaching me at home after school and during the weekends, so that's how I know what the answers were, Mrs. Money."

"Okay, then that means Marvin was cheating! Marvin I am very disappointed in you. I'm afraid you will have detention tomorrow after school."

"But, Mrs. Money, I didn't cheat!"

"Marvin, please! Well. See you tomorrow, kids."

Tune in for Chapter 3: I Lost My Best Friend

The Cheat, by Sheridan Jones: a story in installments. Chapter 1: The Test

It all started on a Monday morning.Me and the other sixth graders were taking a test. Everyone always gets the tests wrong. Sometimes (if we're lucky) we got five or ten right. The only one who ever got one hundred or a little less was my best friend Marvin.

Everyone was working hard but me. Nope, I just sat there thinking. Then I had an idea!

I leaned back in my chair...a little bit farther...there! I could see Marvin's paper. Hmm, let's see...55, 102, triangle, true, true, true and false. There, done! Now I don't have to worry about getting bad grades and my parents yelling at me because I got bad grades!

Tune in soon for Chapter 2: Telling Lies.

Sheridan's Day

I took a week off before school started, to reacquaint myself with the kids. Sheridan got the first one-on-one day.

We started with breakfast at Mad Coffee, a newish place neither of us had been to.

She liked the danish, but wasn't too sure about the organic fruit and vegetable smoothie! She was philosophical about it: "It's anew day and we tried a new thing." Um...okay! Sheridan is never afraid to try new things - nor is she afraid to express her opinion about it!

From there we shopped for school supplies. She is very excited about school starting back up, and thinks it has taken way too long! Choosing the right notebooks and so forth was a matter that required much deliberation, but I think we are set. 

Next up was a trip to the Blue Stone, where she redeemed her prize certificate from summer reading.

and of course said hello to Ivan!

A quick stop to grab snacks for the library gecko, and to say hello to a few other critters,

then we dropped off the gecko treats at the library, where she found her first rock!

I love how freely she shows her excitement and joy. Of course, she freely expresses ALL her emotions, usually at top volume and with a great deal of flair. I see some theatre experiences in her future!

A trim of the bangs meant a stop at the fountain - she wouldn't tell me what she wished for. 

Then she got her nails did!

Did I really just pay someone $7 to do something I could do at the dining room table? h, well, she felt special.

We had lunch at the Waffle Shoppe, where Daddy and I met MANY years ago.

Then we started hitting thrift shops - her choice of activities! I guess if I'm going to have a daughter who likes to shop, I'm glad she also likes things cheap.

Did I mention how she likes to show how she feels about things?

Next stop was Alamo Jump. It was hard to get pictures of her that weren't a blur of legs and long hair flying!

She was literally yelling "Wahoooo!" as she bounced (or flung herself) off of things.

She slowed down for a couple minutes to eat a snack and watch a cartoon,

but then she was off again.

Last stop: Founder's Hall, another place new to us, for ice cream.

Unfortunately, about halfway through, the ice cream fell off the cone. She handled it well, though! Whew! You do NOT want to be around when that dramatic flair turns toward the tragic!

Thank-you for a fun day together, my funny, smart, goofy, free-spirited, beautiful 7-year-old!