The Piano

     All five of the Davis kids play the piano.  It is a very loud and grand instrument that I personally love to play.  When I play, I feel so proud that I am able to play songs that were written by musical geniuses such as Bach and Beethoven.  The piano helps the children in my family to bond.  We all play duets and listen to each other improve each day.  We all started in either first or second grade.  Katie started in second, I started in first, Nick started in second, Natalie started in first, and Brigitte started in second.  Although Nick and Brigitte have yet to find a lot of passion for the piano, Natalie, Katie, and I have found a passion for the instrument.  It's sound is so lovely, and you can make it do pretty much anything.  From pianissimo to fortissimo, from playing andante to allegro, it is beautiful.  My piano is a grand piano crafted by Schimmel.  It is black and shiny.  When I walk into the room that it's in, I can't help but stare at the majestic piano.  The only time I don't want to look at it is when I know that I have to dust it that day.  Since it's so big, and I like it to be nice and shiny, I take about thirty-five minutes to clean my piano.

Part of a keyboard of a Schimmel piano

     I try to practice every day so that I will improve.  I like to practice for around forty-five minutes to an hour, but depending on my schedule, it is either a lot less or a lot more.  Generally on the weekends, it is more because I don't have to deal with school and tests and homework.  On the weekdays, though, I usually get around twenty to thirty minutes of practicing in before I have to do my homework and study.  The teachers that my family has had are also what helps us to stay on track.
     The teacher we all started with is Elaine Archer.  She is amazing.  Not only did she get our technique to be practically flawless, but she challenged us to memorize countless pieces for recitals, festivals, and competitions.  We did a program called Guild, which is where we memorize seven to ten pieces to perform in front of a judge.  If you get C's, it's good.  A's are not a good thing to get in piano.  We also did a program called Certificate of Merit (CM).  It was a theory test, technique test, three piece performance, and sight-reading program.  CM was my favorite program because I love to do theory and sight-reading.  Unfortunately, when we moved from California to Utah, we had to switch teachers.  It's not so bad though.  Now we are taught by Sally Sanders.  She is also a great teacher.  Since we have all been taught the technique from Elaine Archer, Sally Sanders is now just expanding our repertoire and our musicality.  Here, we do a program called AIM which is kind of like a combination of CM and Guild, but you also have to do a presentation on a composer from one of the four periods.  The four periods are Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary.  I did my report on Johannes Sebastian Bach, who is a Baroque composer.  He is one of my favorite composers of all time.  I also enjoy the music of Chopin and Burgmüller.  They are fantastic composers as well from the Romantic period.
     All in all, my family is very musical, and we love listening and playing a bunch of instruments.  I hope that our whole family continues, and we can play with each other as we progress with our lives.  Music is one of the things that binds my family together.  It is something we all love.  It is part of lives, and it will be forever.

The End of the School Year

   I have survived the first year of high school.  The ninth grade is over in eight days.  Ninth grade has been an adventure, and my family has been in Utah for almost an entire year now.  It seemed like just yesterday when I walked into this English Honors class.  I was so scared because I didn't know anyone, and I didn't know if my summer essay was as good as everyone else thought theirs was.  My English teacher, Mr. Parker, has been amazing.  English has been one of the best classes for me this year.  We have done very fun things from seeing Mr. Parker rap, to reciting parts of the play Romeo and Juliet. One of the things that I loved though, was being able to write on a blog.  I was able to share stories and just have fun.  It was one of the only times that I can remember that a homework assignment due EVERY Friday at 11:59 p.m. was fun.  

     The blog made me step out of my usual "no first person" essays that I feel much more comfortable writing.  It allowed me to focus on myself instead of a topic assigned.  Before the blog, I had a harder time writing just about me and my interests.  I always had a topic to follow, and it worked for me.  This blog brought me out of my bubble of structure, and it got me to loosen up and just have fun when I wrote.  

     I love that I have been able to write down stories about my siblings and family, because now, I have a way of remembering all of those things.  This blog is a little bit like a journal that I can record my life experiences in.  It keeps track of all of the things that I found noticeable and fun.  Later in life, I'll be able to remember these things and share them with all of my family at reunions.  Blogging has been a great reminder to me of how great my life is.  I have so many great experiences that cover up all of the bad ones. Writing about some of the good ones has allowed me to stay focused on the positive things in life instead of the negative.  

     Before this blog, I was really reserved and I didn't like sharing about my life.  I kept all the stories to myself.  This blog brought me out of my shell.  Although I am still pretty reserved and quiet, I can share more of my stories with my friends.  The blog has made me remember what I can share, and it makes me talk more to everyone.   

Me at the beginning of this year

Me now.  I am more confident and a little bit less of a geek. 

     All in all, this blog has been so fun.  School hasn't been so bad, especially with English to look forward to every other day.  It has been so fun, and I will be continuing my blog so that I can keep sharing the memories of my life. 

The Future

     Recently, in English class, we have been talking a lot about marriage.  It really gets me to think about my future and what's in store for me.  There are tons of questions that I ask myself.  "When will I get married?" "Will I ever get married?" "Will I find the right guy?" All of these questions are a little bit scary.  The future is really scary because it's a surprise.  Your future is unpredictable.  What I love about having little sisters, though, is that they aren't scared... yet.  They are so positive about life.  

Marriage: What We Have Been Talking About

     My little sister, Brigitte, is the most positive. Her outlook on life is that there are good things happening now, and there will be good things happening in the future.  She told me once that her life is 99.9% good and 0.1% bad.  She then went on to say how she just gets through the bad and goes back to the good.  Her words are so wise even though she's only nine years old.  I always ask Brigitte if she's scared for her future.  Every single time I ask her, she responds, "Nope.  It's gonna be good."  

     My other little sister, Natalie, isn't worried for the future either.  She always tells us that the future is every second ahead of us, so if you just take it a second at a time, you'll be fine.  Natalie, as you can probably tell from that last comment, is a smart aleck.  She also believes that life is such a party, and she will be able to conquer anything bad that happens.  

     My brother is starting to become more scared of the future.  He's going to junior high in the coming school year, and he is scared of how the classes will be and what high school will be like. He's scared that he won't do as well.  Nick is such a proud guy, so he usually doesn't show his more sensitive side.  I love when he shows that he's afraid too.  It makes me feel like I'm not the only one who is scared of what's to come.  I like knowing what's going to happen.  The future is scary to me, and I like knowing it's scary to others. 

     My older sister, Katie, is  not scared for the future either.  She is always in a good mood, and she knows that whatever is in store for her is going to be good.  Katie is amazing.  She's always helping me fix my problems and conquer my fears. Next year, she'll be going to college.  She won't be there to help me.  I'll be the oldest one in the house, and I'll have to be the strong one for my little siblings.  I know that I won't be as strong because I have so many fears.  Katie has fears, but she doesn't show them as much as I do.   That's what I love about her.  

     To me, the future is scary.  To the majority of my family, it's not.  My siblings' views on life help me to get rid of some of that fear.  They comfort me.  I love my siblings so much.  They help me to get through everything.  If you are scared of something, check out what it's called using this website. 

Sleep Walking, Talking, Singing, and More

     My family is very talented when we sleep.  Not only do we sleep walk, but we talk, sing, and hum.  Sometimes, the events that occur are funny, and sometimes they are scary.  What the events aren't is normal.  We'll start with my older sister Katie.
     Katie doesn't do anything when she sleeps.  She just doesn't know how to get up.  My dad was in the shower one time, and the fire alarm went off from the steam.  I woke up immediately and freaked out because I thought there was a fire in our house.  Katie, however, slept right through the fire alarm.  I shook her awake, and when she woke up, Katie had no idea what was happening.  It was funny, but after I thought about it, I thought about what would happen if she was alone in the future and there actually was a fire.  Then, Katie might end up dying because she didn't wake up to the alarm.
     Me.  I don't sleep walk, but I do sleep sing.  My sisters have videotaped me singing in my sleep the day before a big performance.  The performance was at the Tabernacle in Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and I was singing the two songs that Katie and I were going to sing. The singing was a mumbling singing, but you could tell what song it was and hear all of the words.  Other than singing, I don't do anything weird in my sleep.
     Nick sleep walks.  On several occasions, we have caught him walking through the house while sleeping.  There are two stories that stick out though.  The first story was when he was five years old. He was sleeping on the top of a bunk bed, and he walked off the top of it, landing with a thud on the wood floor.  He didn't actually wake up, which worried all of my family.  We thought that he got knocked out when he hit his head, but there was no bump or problem with his head the next morning.  The other story was when Nick was eight years old.  My parents were talking with their friends in the living room, when my brother walked into the room and asked for a drink of water.  He got the water, and walked away.  A few seconds later, my parents heard the door slam.  They thought it was just the wind.  A couple of minutes later, they noticed that they hadn't left the door open.  My parents and their friends ran outside, and there was Nick.  He was lying down in the middle of our cul-de-sac with his water cup on the curb.  My parents woke him up, he freaked out, and then Nick went to his actual room to sleep.
     Natalie and Brigitte hum, talk, and kick.  Natalie is the biggest sleep talker.  On several occasions, I have heard her voice while she was asleep saying things like, "I love you, too" or "Stop! Don't do that!"  I always find it comical.  You can also whisper a question in her ear, and she'll answer it out loud when she's asleep.  Brigitte kicks you whenever you are near her in a bed.  We had to share a hotel bedroom once, and she kicked me off the bed completely.
     Here is a link to another blog with stories about sleeping.  I only read a couple, but there are ten.

Natalie about to go to bed

Brigitte's Book Reports

     Every month, my littlest sister, Brigitte, has a book report that is due.  They have to be colorful, artistic, and academic all at the same time. Brigitte's got the academic and colorful thing down, but as for the artistic part, it doesn't go so well for her. That's why she recruits me.  At the end of every month Brigitte comes to me.  Our conversation goes like this:

Brigitte: Maddie, I love you so much.

Maddie: Brigitte, what do you want?

Brigitte: Can you draw a picture for me for my book report?

Maddie: I guess.  Are you sure it's just ONE picture?

Brigitte: Okay, it's actually four, but don't worry they are small.

Maddie: Okay.  Let's go.

     After I agree to help Brigitte draw some pictures for her book report, we go downstairs to complete the job.  As soon as we get down there, Brigitte and I have another conversation.  It goes like this:

Brigitte: I'm sorry, Maddie, but I lied to you.

Maddie: About what? (even though I already know what's coming)

Brigitte: This month, we have to make a board game and each piece has to have a picture that goes with            the book. I have about twenty spaces.  (Then Brigitte laughs and says "Sorry").

Maddie: Okay, I'll help you, but you have to tell me what to draw, where to draw it, and all about what piece I'm drawing because I need to know that you actually read the book.

Brigitte: Fine.  Hurry up! It's due on Friday.  (It's usually Monday that she comes to me).

Brigitte and me smiling for the camera.  I am on the left, Brigitte is on the right.

     I then draw all of the pictures that Brigitte needs me to, and in return, Brigitte usually voluntarily helps me with the dinner dishes.  Sometimes I get annoyed that she asks me to help her, but it's my job as an older sister to help her siblings that are in need.  I love my job and will never give it up.

Here's a link to my favorite place to look for inspiration for my drawings. 

Family History

Family is really important in my family. We try to find out as much family history as possible. 

Park City Family Tree Center

My mother was born in France. Her parents moved to the United States with her when she was six years old. My mom is fluent in French, and she speaks it often with her parents. She doesn’t have an accent when she speaks English, but when she switches to French, you can tell that she originated from there.  

My mom has a lot of history in her family. My favorite story that my mom told us is about her aunt. Her aunt was one of the people who helped people travel to safety during World War II. My mom’s aunt was a very brave and smart person. This is her story.  

My mom’s aunt and uncle both worked to help people flee from the dangers of World War II. They traveled in small groups, and didn’t associate with each other at all during the trek. Every so often there was a check point where military men would strip the travelers of their clothes and search for maps and papers leading to safe houses. They would look in the lining and pockets of everything. My mom’s aunt, Yvonne, saw many of her friends killed because they found the papers. Yvonne and some her other friends became smart. Instead of putting papers in the lining of their coats, they printed a map with a secret code on silk scarves. That way, when the guards asked them to take off their clothing, they would take off the scarf and the guards would not even take a second glance. Only the women wore the scarves, and one day, Yvonne’s husband was caught. He was shot dead right before her eyes. She couldn’t cry out or react at all because if she had, the soldiers would have killed her too. All she could do was say a silent prayer, and continue on her journey. Yvonne never got caught, and my mom has her scarf framed in our house.  

Another story my mom told us is of another woman in her family. This woman was also her aunt. This aunt was Jewish, but the rest of her family was Catholic. One night, a neighbor turned her in. The soldiers came by my mom’s aunt’s house, and her husband protected her. He told the soldiers that he was the Jewish man, not his wife. He was taken to a concentration camp where he spent the rest of the war. Luckily, he survived the concentration camp and went home safely at the end of the war.  

My grandma, Catherine, was alive during this time as well. She was only a little girl, but she remembers the war very well. My grandma said that whenever there were bombings, her mom would take her to the basement and tell her that there were fireworks going off in a nearby area. My grandma also told me that soldiers would come into her house seeking shelter at night. They would sleep in the attic. Other soldiers from the other side would come in later and poke the ceiling with their bayonets. She said that some of the soldiers came down and some she never saw again.  

There are many other stories that are also amazing. Somewhere in my family line, there is a line of royals. My mom’s cousin owns a castle in France where people can visit. If family visits, they can stay in the servants’ quarter of the castle which is really cool. My older sister, my mom, and I are going to France and staying there in the summer of 2014. I am very proud of my ancestors, and I hope to do something great too, so that the future generations of my family will hear my story and be proud.  

         My church has a website in which you can do some of your family history.  It is really cool to see all of the relatives that you had, where they lived, and what they did.  

Ready, Aim, Fire

     On Friday, April 4, 2013, my dad took my sister, Katie, and me to a shooting range with Katie’s friend, Lexi, and her dad. Our moms also came along. It was mandatory that we all shot at least one gun. I’m okay with that. I’ve shot guns before, and it doesn’t bother me. What does bother me though, is the noise. Guns are really loud, and I don’t like it. My ears mean a lot to me because I am a singer, and without my ears, it would be really hard to sing. So, whenever I shoot I wear a pair of sound proof headphones. When I’m done shooting, I get in the car, shut all of the doors, and keep the headphones on. The headphones aren’t sound proof though because I can still hear the boom of the guns.  

A 9 millimeter pistol like the one that we shot

Another problem that I face with shooting guns is how small I am. Guns with little  kick have a lot of kick for me. When I first went to shoot some guns with my dad, brother, uncles, and boy cousins, my dad told me the gun I was about to shoot had very little kick. Well, my dad was lying.  I shot the gun, and the next thing I knew, I was staring at the sky, and my arm was bleeding. The kick from the gun had knocked me to the ground, and I had dropped the gun on my arm, which is what made it bleed. Luckily, it was just a scratch. After that first shot, I was considered “dangerous” and had to go sit in the car all alone.  I watched everyone else shoot.  

The next time I shot, I couldn’t aim the gun very well, and I kept missing the target. That same summer, my extended family went on a camping trip together. Again, all of the boys and I went shooting. That time I could actually hit the target, but that was after a couple shots. The first shot, I shot a branch off of a tree. The second was very far from hitting the target. Finally, the third shot made it onto the target, and after that, I could hit the target somewhere all of the time. That’s when all of the boy cousins decided that I was cool and could be a part of their “gang.” I was honored because none of the other girls could be a part of their gang. We had a secret handshake and everything. It was cool. I was their double agent because I could get in and hear gossip with the girls and then tell the boys. That was a couple years ago, and now I’m more of a girly girl. Back then, I was a tomboy.  

The most recent time that I went shooting was with my neighbor, Brayton, and my dad. It was really fun. We shot at cans and targets, and that day, I felt good because I was finally better than a boy. Brayton was having a hard time hitting the target, and since he’s like a brother to me, I made fun of him. I brought up what had happened the last time he went shooting with my dad. They made a detour on their way to a campout for church. Brayton shot my dad’s 30 yat 6 with his eye still on the scope, and the kick pounded the scope onto his face, and he had to get six stitches. They then went to a campout with all of the boys from my church.  

The shooting with my sister, Lexi, and our parents was really fun. The sound wasn't too bad either. I wore a pair of ear plugs and sound proof headphones. Lexi's dad taught us about gun safety and how to protect ourselves by using them.  We went to dinner afterwards and got to talk and mess around. It was also really fun to watch Lexi and Katie shoot their first gun. Their faces were priceless. They closed their eyes and scrunched up their faces. They didn’t even look at the target, so they completely missed. It was a great day. I felt experienced and proud of myself.  

Natalie's Birthday Surprise

      On April 3, 2013, my little sister, Natalie, turned eleven years old.  She was so excited about this because when the kids in our family are eleven or in fifth grade, we get our first cell phone.  Natalie started the countdown until her birthday in January, and when the week before finally arrived, she was overjoyed.  Natalie looked online at all the possible phone choices for her. My family doesn’t let any of the kids have iPhones, so Natalie was looking at all of the other possiblilities.  She knew that she wanted either a blue or a black phone, and she wanted a full keyboard.  

Natalie’s birthday finally arrived on Wednesday, and Natalie was super excited.  Before school, Natalie went to get a bagel with my dad.  When she got home from school, all she wanted was her present.  Being the older sister, it’s one of my many talents to pester my little siblings.  I told Natalie that since I had been home sick from school, I knew what her present was. I then went on to tell her not to get her hopes up because it wasn’t a phone.  Natalie knew I was trying to mess with her, but she also began to believe my words as the night went on.  At around five o’clock that night, we all went out to dinner at Panda Express because Natalie really likes that place.  Then, we went to Coldstone Creamery to get ice cream. It was there that we gave Natalie her present.  

Natalie's new phone

Natalie was getting a phone.  My mom had it in her purse, and when we were about to give it to her, my mom had her best friend from California call her on it.  The phone started to ring, and my mom took it out of her purse and gave it to Natalie.  Natalie was so excited especially when she answered the phone and her best friend sang the song “Happy Birthday” to her.  After dinner, my parents, my brother, and my older sister went to mutual where they played dodgeball.  I stayed home because I wasn’t feeling good, and my little sisters and I watched a Barbie movie.  My youngest sister, Brigitte, loves them, and Natalie said that even though it was her birthday, she would let Brigitte watch it. 

Every night before my little sisters go to bed, I read them a book and sing them a song. On Natalie’s birthday, I read her the end of the book The BFG written by Roald Dahl. I then sang her two songs. The first was an original song of mine, and the second was a lullaby my grandma always sang. The lyrics are:

How I love my little (insert name here)

Sweet and tender little (insert name here)

How I love my little (insert name here)

Honest and truly I do.

Sleep tight, Sandman’s a comin’ 

And he’ll be here mighty, mighty soon

And if you don’t cry,

He’ll be coming by,

with the great, big yellow balloon.  

After I sang that song, Natalie looked at me and said, “This is the best birthday ever.”  When I went back to my room upstairs, I texted Natalie. She responded very quickly with a “Thx.”  The last thing I thought before I went to sleep was, “My little sister is growing up.” 

Easter

     My little sisters love Easter.  Since they were born, the tradition of the Easter Bunny has been present.  This year, there is only one more of us Davis kids that still believe in the magical bunny that visits children every Easter bringing them eggs and little toys.  Easter isn't just about a bunny for my family though. It is about family and recognizing the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  
     Just like Christmas, my little sisters have an Easter Eve. Easter Eve means that all of the kids have to sleep in one bedroom.  My little sisters make us sleep in one room because they think that we older kids will sneak out early and see the surprise awaiting before we are supposed to.  It's always crowded with three of us on the floor.  The people on the floor are Natalie, Nick, and me.  
     In the morning, my little sisters wake my parents up at seven a.m. so that they can see their Easter Bunny surprise before church.  At eleven a.m., we go to church for three hours. Usually on Easter Sundays, we learn about what we, as members of the LDS church, believe happened on Easter.  We believe that on Easter, Jesus Christ was resurrected.  After church, we have an Easter egg hunt.  The eggs contain candy and little toys.  Every one gets one of each color so we know that it is fair in the end.  Then, we play with the things that the Easter Bunny brought.  Usually it's a movie for the older kids and a Barbie for my little sisters.  
     That night, we eat dinner as a family.  My mom was born in France, and so she carries the traditions of her family with her. For Easter dinner, our family has lamb, French beans, and really yummy French potatoes.  For dessert, my mom makes mousse du chocolat or dessert crepes. It is always a really good meal, and I love being able to eat dinner with my extended family too.  
     After dinner, we sit around the table as a family and read the New Testament version of Jesus Christ's resurrection.  We take turns reading, and it always teaches me something that I don't know.  Then, we play more and have fun with our extended family.  All in all Easter is both a fun and spiritual day that my family loves to participate in. 

Mary Magdalene seeing Jesus Christ as a resurrected being for the first time

The Most Embarrassing of Them All: Part 2

     Every day, is a new adventure in my family, and Natalie is the entertainer.  She is a drama queen and very embarrassing.  None of my family are looking forward to the day when Natalie becomes a teenager.  We all believe that it will be much worse when she reaches the lovely age of thirteen and the years to follow until maturity strikes.
     I have some more stories about Natalie that show how embarrassing she is.  The first one has to do with nursery.  Nursery is a place for little kids ages one and a half to three years old for our church.  Well, my mom came to pick up Natalie from nursery after her church meetings, and Natalie said, "Mom, see that woman over there? She is fat. If you look over there, that woman is pregnant so technically she's not fat, but has a giant baby growing inside of her."

The Most Embarrassing of Them All

Just look at her innocent face 

     Another time was around Christmas.  Natalie wanted to know if Santa Claus was real or not.  She wanted a doll that could eat real food and then go to the bathroom to get rid of it.  Natalie looked online, and she found that all of the dolls she wanted were sold out of every single store.  The next Sunday, in Natalie's Sunday School class, Natalie announced, "Guess what? I'm finding out if Santa's real or not, and I will tell all of you the results.  My doll is out of stock in every store, so only Santa can bring it to me.  If I get it, Santa's real.  If I don't, Santa's not real."  My mom had already bought the doll, but Natalie's comment caused many of the other girls and boys there to worry whether or not Santa Claus was real, too.  They decided to also test their parents.  In the end, a couple of the kids ended up not believing in Santa Claus.  Whoops!
     As you can see, Natalie is one of the most embarrassing kids on the face of this planet.  No matter how many times we ask her to think before she speaks, the statement goes in one ear and out the other. Not only does she say embarrassing things, but she does embarrassing things.
     One time, we were in the grocery store, and Natalie decided it would be fun to run around screaming, "Clean up on aisle four!"  Eventually, my family was asked to leave the grocery store and not come back with Natalie.  It was so embarrassing.  Then next time we went to the grocery store, we had to bribe Natalie to keep her from doing the same thing.
     There are many other stories, but I couldn't possibly fit them on a blog post. She has gotten better, but Natalie is still the most embarrassing of them all.  Watch out, Utah, Natalie's embarrassing words and actions are here.

     For other embarrassing stories click on the link.

The Most Embarrassing of Them All Part 1

      When my house is quiet, there's a problem. It usually means that Natalie is up to something.  Natalie does a lot of things well, but her best talent is saying embarrassing things, and doing naughty stuff.  Natalie doesn't always like being characterized as the naughty one, but she is the only one of the five kids who does some questionable activities.    

Natalie is on the very left.

      Natalie does a lot of embarrassing things because she doesn't have a filter.  During a family reunion two summers ago, Natalie asked my cousin if she was pregnant.  It was a day before she got married, and I can tell you that she wasn't pregnant.  My cousin, Courtney, told Natalie that it was just her shirt because it was really puffy.  Natalie responded, "Honey, it's not the shirt." Then, Natalie walked away leaving me to awkwardly apologize and walk away myself.

     Another time, my mom was cleaning a shelf, and she took one of her antique dolls off of it.  When my mom finished dusting and turned around, her doll's silk ballet shoes were all cut up.  My mom got mad because Natalie was standing right there, scissors in hand.  When my mom stopped yelling at Natalie, Natalie calmly said, "Mom, it's your fault.  You shouldn't have left the scissors out where I could get them."  At the time, Natalie was three.  We all knew that she was going to be the crazy child.

     Natalie has always had an obsession with boys.  If there were thirty girls in a room, and one boy, she would find the boy and stay with him.  Well, my dad owned a physical therapy practice, and one of his employees was single and male.  Natalie developed a crush on him when she was only two years old.  Whenever he came, she would sit by him and just smile.  One day, my dad's employee got married.  He came over to our house with his wife, and when Natalie saw her, she wasn't happy.  The couple sat next to each other on the couch, and Natalie got even more angry.  She went to the couch and squeezed her way in between the two.  Then, she looked at the wife and smiled.

     One Christmas Natalie got some paints.  She had recently watched Princess Diaries, and really wanted to put paints in a balloon and pop it on a piece of paper.  That night, Natalie snuck out of bed and went to her bathroom.  She shut the door and locked it.  All of a sudden, we heard a pop, and when we went to the bathroom, paint was spilled everywhere, and it was all over Natalie's face.  When she saw us, she smiled and said, "That was awesome!"  Two Christmases later, Natalie received a baby doll that you could feed and it would go to the bathroom.  Natalie was told not to feed it unless she had a diaper on it.  Well, Natalie didn't listen, and she fed her baby doll.  A couple of minutes later, Natalie was running all over the house screaming, "It's peeing and it won't stop!"  My mom grabbed the doll and put in the sink, but it was too late.  Baby doll food was all over the floor throughout the whole house.  Natalie's only comment was, "Well, I won't be doing that again."

     Whenever Natalie does something that lacks manners, we teach her the manners that she should have used in that situation.  Natalie has gotten better now that she's ten, but she still has little slips every now and then.  Natalie keeps life entertaining.  Everyday is something new. 

   
       

Never Counting Sheep

    Bed time is a disaster at my home EVERY night.  Every child in my house, including myself, is a  professional staller.  Our excuses include getting water, needing to shower, needing to finish some homework, wanting to shower that night, etc.  Name an excuse not to go to bed, and my siblings and I have probably used it.

Counting sheep never occurs in my house

     My brother is the best at stalling.  Every night, he has a routine that prevents him from going to bed at 9:00 p.m.  Instead, Nick ends up going to bed at 10:00 p.m. His bedtime routine starts at about 8:30 p.m. First, he goes upstairs to brush his teeth and shower.  His showers last about twenty minutes, which is long for a guy, and brushing his teeth takes between five and ten minutes.  By now it's about 9:00 p.m. when he should be going to bed.  Well, it doesn't happen.  Nick sneaks into our family room, and sits behind the couch so that he can watch the T.V. show that my parents are watching.  When he finally gets caught, Nick usually whines and complains that he's not tired until it's around 10:00 p.m. and my dad forces him to go downstairs.  
     My little sisters are really good at stalling too.  Every night they make their ten minute routine about an hour.  Instead of going to bed at 8:00 p.m., it's usually around 9:00 p.m.  The first thing they do is say that they need to finish some math homework.  It is ALWAYS math.  Then they decide that they need to take a shower and brush their teeth for half an hour.  After showering, my little sisters sit in their bed, but they don't actually go to sleep.  They read to each other for another half an hour until they fall asleep holding their books.  As you can see, bedtime is nonexistent in my house.
     I am the next best staller.  I don't pretend that I have homework or have to shower, but I do do the dishes VERY slowly.  My older sister, Katie, and I switch off weeks doing the dishes.  When it's my week for dishes, I make sure that I go very slowly so that I can watch some T.V. shows before going to bed.  When I watch T.V., it makes me feel more relaxed, and it is easier for me to go to bed especially when I am stressed out.  
     Finally there is Katie.  Katie doesn't do anything to stall.  She's learned that stalling just gets her in trouble, and it's not worth it.  As for the rest of us, we haven't learned that lesson quite yet.  I look up to Katie. Not only does she go to bed on time, but she obeys everything that my parents say.  Katie is also NEVER mean to anyone.
     All in all, my family doesn't ever count sheep.  We just stall until we are so tired that we fall asleep with our books, homework, or iPads in hand.  If you ever need to stall, here are some excuses from the best stallers. Toddlers. 

Wednesday Nights

     My family is LDS.  We go to church every Sunday, and live our daily lives according to our religion.  The LDS church also has week night activities.  The ward or group that I go to church with have our week day activities on Wednesdays.  Every one of my family members have an activity on Wednesdays or every other Wednesday.

     My mom is the leader of all the Young Women.  The Young Women are girls ages twelve to eighteen.  My mom plans the activities and has to go to all of them. She also has to get there early to set up all of the different crafts and games that we play.  Wednesday nights are crazy for my mom because she has to make dinner and make sure we are all ready to go by 6:15 p.m.  Then we all pack in the car and leave.

     My dad is also a leader, but of all of the Young Men.  The Young Men are boys ages twelve to eighteen.  He helps plan the activities and has to attend all of them.  My dad doesn't have to get there early, so if some of the kids are running late, he drives another car to get there by 7:00 p.m., when the activity actually starts. 

     My older sister, my younger brother, and myself all go to the activities every Wednesday night.  We mostly leave with our dad, but sometimes we leave with my mom.  We have so much fun playing games and doing different activities.  For example, on Wednesday, February 27, 2013, we played Iron Chef.  It's like the show on Food Network, but we all get into groups instead of an individual contest.  We are then judged and win prizes based on taste, appearance, etc.  Another one of the things we do annually is a jello fight.  We all bring some jello, and have a food fight with it.  It's really fun, even though it is really messy.  To clean ourselves up, we play Water Balloon Battleship.   

     Finally are my younger sisters.  Since they are ten and nine, they can't go to Young Women's.  Instead they go to Activity Days for girls ages eight to eleven.  Unfortunately, their activities are only every other week.  Every other Wednesday night, they have to stay home alone.  Usually when we get home, the house is a disaster, every light is on, and they are fighting.  This gets my mom and dad a little upset, and the little girls are told that if they can't behave, they'll have to get a babysitter.

    All in all, though, my family looks forward to Wednesday night activities where we all get to have fun with the people in our church.  The activities always are entertaining, and we learn more about our religion.

Wednesday nights are reserved on our calendars. 

   

Heading Home

     Vacation.  It's such a lovely word.  Vacation is a synonym for relaxing, fun, adventure, relief, and enjoyment.  Fortunately for all students living in Park City, the time has come.  Vacation is upon us.  February break starts this Friday as soon as school ends.
   
     On most school vacations, my family would all do something together, whether it be a road trip or skiing.  This vacation happens to be different.  Next week, my grandparents are taking my older sister and myself back home.  Home for us is California.  The drive will be very relaxing.  Usually I sit in between my two little sisters to help them stay entertained.  This time, I actually will get to sit with a whole seat separating me from the next person.  This time, the drive will be quiet.  Usually, the drive consists of my little sisters asking repeatedly, "Are we there yet?"

     I'm so excited for the moment that we will be arriving at.  Friday night will be our estimated time of arrival.  As soon as we get there, Katie and I have planned to eat dinner at one of our favorite spots, and then settle in for a nice night's sleep because the rest of the week won't include that.  Here's a rough outline of how the week is going to go.

Friday: Arrive, eat dinner, sleep

Saturday: Eat lunch with very much missed friends, go to our old choir's show

Sunday: Go to church and see our church friends, have Sunday dinner with all of our family

Monday: Swim in my grandparents' pool, visit my mom's side of the family in Huntington Beach

Tuesday: Youth Activity with our church friends, eat dinner with old friends

Wednesday: Go to Seminary (a church class) at 5 am in the morning, go to school and shadow some of
                     our friends, go to the beach

Newport Beach Pier 

Thursday: Hang out with friends, go to Disneyland with friends

Friday: movie night with friends and family

Saturday: Get on a plane and head back to Utah

    Seeing my friends is going to be so fun.  Since I lived in California in the same house for my entire life, I have a lot of friends that I am dying to see.  As noted in my schedule for the week, most of my time will be spent hanging out with friends from church and school.  I also am getting to see my old choir perform which will be so fun because I get to see how much everyone's improved since we have been gone.
     I'm so glad that Katie and I are heading home, but there is a downside.  My grandparents live on the same street that we lived on before we moved.  That means that we have to see our old house.  It will be so weird to see my house with other people living in it.
     This vacation might be the best one yet.  I'll be able to see my friends and my family that I left behind. It will be so fun to hang out with  everyone and catch up on the things that I've missed out on.  California's in for a treat because here I come!


If you ever find yourself needing to do something on a long road trip... look at this website.

Ouch...

    My family is accident prone.  Everyone with the exception of myself and my mom have had many injuries. The most recent one occurred on Super Bowl Sunday 2013.  Let's just say, Brigitte didn't go to school on Monday. We'll get back to that story, but for now, here's the list of injuries from oldest to youngest excluding my mom and myself since we've had none. 

Dad:  My dad is very outgoing.  With adventure and danger comes injury.  My dad has done several things while skiing including, breaking his shoulder and breaking a finger.  He is a leader at my church too.  My dad works with the boys ages 12-18.  When we lived in California, my dad went on a boating trip for a week with all the boys.  On the first day, he was wake boarding, and he broke his femur.  That night, he went into surgery, and he couldn't put any weight on his leg for six whole months.  It was awful.

Katie:  Katie is very clumsy.  Most of her accidents occurred a while ago, but they will never be forgotten because they are kind of funny.  Her first injury occurred when she was three years old.  My dad, mom, Katie, and myself were all taking a walk in the mountains.  Katie tripped and fell.  You need to know that when Katie was young, her head was too big for her body.  She caught herself with her hands, and then Katie's head hit the ground because it was too heavy.  A couple of Christmases later, she tripped over a bouncy ball and broke her arm.  In third grade, she fell off the jungle gym and broke her arm again.  Most recently, on an outing with our church, we went sledding, and she slid off the sled and broke her arm for the third time.

Nick:  Nick also started his injuries very young.  The first one was when he was one.  Katie, Nick, and I were playing "Ring Around the Rosies", and he tripped over his toy and landed on the corner of the table. That night, he got his first set of stitches.  Since then, Nick has gotten stitches seven times. One included our new puppy grabbing his lip instead of the chew toy. Whoops! 

Natalie:  Natalie got her first set of stitches when she was really young.  She fell off of a bench and cut her eyelid.  That was not a good day for her.  The next time she received stitches was at Walmart.  Natalie was hiding under a metal clothing rack, and she fell and hit her head on the metal.  That led to around twenty stitches.  The cut went all the way to her skull.  Her latest injury was during our house remodel. Brigitte and she were throwing bricks (bad idea) around.  Brigitte, being three years old at the time, threw one really far and hit Natalie in the eye.  Natalie had stitches again on the same eyelid.  

Brigitte: Finally we get to Brigitte.  Brigitte has had many injuries.  Her worst one happened on her second birthday.  Nick was messing around with Brigitte a chair.  Brigitte was sitting on the arm of the chair, and my mom told them to stop messing around because someone was going to get hurt.  Right as she said that, Brigitte fell off of the chair and hit a table.  Part of her ear was ripped off and had to get sewn back on by a plastic surgeon.  Another time, Nick was pretending to jump on Brigitte's stomach.  All of a sudden, Brigitte turned blue, and my mom thought that Nick had actually sat on her and was stopping her breathing.  When she saw Nick was pretending, my mom did the heimlich maneuver and out fell 3 quarters.  Now to Superbowl Sunday 2013.  Brigitte was walking up the driveway to help Nick take out the trash, when she slipped on ice and fell flat on her face.  She ripped her lip open and received five stitches that night.  They put half of her face to sleep.  The next day, Brigitte did not go to school.  

Brigitte's latest injury. 

If you ever experience an emergency, here's a link to a website with the phone numbers of the police, fire, and other departments in Utah by county.  I also added an emergency contact template. 

Bountiful... Here We Come

     Every Friday, my sister, Katie, and I go to Bountiful for singing lessons.  Unfortunately, we don't  have good luck when we are driving back.  Katie is really bad with directions, and so when it's dark, and we can't see any signs, we get lost.  Getting lost is not the only factor in our trips to Bountiful.

     The first time that we went alone, something bad happened.  Katie was driving alone for the very first time, and she didn't know where everything was.  Well, that day we were driving home from singing, and we noticed that there were a lot of cops on every street.  The cops were blocking all of the entrances to the streets that we knew led to the freeway. Little did we know that there was a light show going on.  We called my parents, and were able to navigate our way to the freeway.  We learned that night that we could have used this new thing called Google Maps. 

     The second time that we went, Katie had to be back really quickly for a piano recital. Unfortunately, that night it was snowing, and the freeway was very busy.  The traffic was unbearable, and I became very frustrated.  Katie had to cancel her plans, which she didn't appreciate.  Luckily, I was prepared and had a movie that I could play on my computer.  Unfortunately, the traffic lasted three hours before we were even out of Salt Lake City.  It was a long trip, and when we got home, both of us were too frustrated to talk and have fun for the rest of our Friday night.

Bountiful

     The next time that we had to go to Bountiful, we had to get gas.  Unfortunately, Katie had never gotten gas in a car before.  My dad called us and tried to talk her step by step through the entire process because it's really not that hard.  Katie was very angry at him for not teaching her before, so she got back in the car and handed the phone to me without a word.  I said hello to my dad, and he made me go out into the cold and do it myself.  That day, which just so happened to be today, I realized how much more mature I was than Katie in some situations.

     The good thing that comes out of Bountiful is visiting my grandparents.  Before I moved here, I lived across the street from my grandparents.  My grandparents also have a house here in Park City, so whenever they are in town, we go visit them after singing.  We vent about the events that happened to us in the car, and we also make sure that my grandparents know EVERYTHING about our lives such as what we did every second of that week and who Katie wanted to ask on a date. We also play cards and watch movies.  That is the only thing that comes out of going to Bountiful that is really good.  It's very fun to visit my grandparents.

      Lesson learned, if you have somewhere to be on a Friday night, don't visit Bountiful in the afternoon.  The traffic and the events that occur will stop you from even getting close to accomplishing what you need to.

Interruptions Galore

     If you have siblings, you know it is impossible to practice an instrument, speech, or anything else without interruptions.  Each one of us plays piano.  Katie, Nick, and Brigitte started when they were in second grade, while Natalie and I started in first.  We all have to practice piano as one of our chores.  Since we don't have a set time to practice, it's a race to the piano.  Once someone gets on, they have many interruptions.  Each one of us has something that we do to get one of our siblings off the piano.  

Katie: Katie can play for hours.  She just sits there on the bench and makes it so that the rest of us can't do our piano.  Her way of keeping everyone off the piano is to just keep playing.  However, in most cases, Katie doesn't make it to the piano first because she doesn't wake up early enough.  This makes it so that she has to come up with something to get us off.  Katie comes into our piano room, and tells whoever is on the piano that we are needed immediately by our mom or dad.  When we go, she gets on.  The rest of us picked up on this really quickly.  The problem is when our parents actually do need us, we don't listen to her.  It's like the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."  

Nick: Nick plays for the minimum time possible, so the rest of us don't have to try getting him off the piano.  However, Nick does a lot with his friends, and he can't do anything until his piano is done.  That means that he has to get us off the piano.  Nick plays lots of computer games and video games.  If you've ever heard the music for them, you'll understand how annoying it is because of the loudness and repetitiveness.  To get us off the piano, Nick gets on one of his computer games and turns the music all the way up.  We can barely hear ourselves play, so we leave, and he gets on.  

Natalie: Natalie is the crazy sibling of mine.  She does a lot of things to get us off the piano, but she has a favorite. Natalie comes in crawling so that we don't notice her.  Then, she quickly jumps into our laps and starts playing her pieces over us.  Natalie eventually pushes us off the bench with her bottom, and she continues to play her songs.   

Brigitte: Brigitte knows how to fake cry her way out of everything. The only thing she really can't cry her way out of is practicing the piano.  To get the rest of us off the piano, she goes to my dad or mom and cries until they tell her that she can play the piano before any of the rest of us do.   

My piano

Helping with Homework

     Homework... it's an awful thing that we all have to do.  You have math problems, essays, worksheets, reading, etc.  The list can go on forever.  Sometimes my siblings gets lazy and decide not to do their homework until last minute.  This laziness is a disease called procrastination.  I think that once in a while, we all procrastinate.
     My brother loves math.  He is in an advanced class, and he does really well.  Unfortunately, Nick doesn't like the homework problems that come along with it.  Every Sunday night, Nick comes to me and asks me to help him with ONE problem.  Then he turns in the homework to Canvas.  His math teacher allows them to redo the assignment until they get 100%.  Well, Nick usually misses three or four, and when he does, he comes crawling into my bedroom to "help" him with it.  I put help in quotes because help in his mind is doing it for him.  I don't put up with that.  I help him work it out, and sit with him until he gets 100% on all of his assignments.  Nick thanks me and then goes to bed. When my brother doesn't do his homework, he uses a dumb homework excuse. 

Homework

     Then there is my little sister Natalie. She doesn't procrastinate that much, but she gets stressed out a lot.  Every week on Tuesday, Natalie comes to me with 20 vocabulary words that she has a test on on Friday.  I help Natalie study by making her write the word and then say the definition.  The problem is, when she gets one wrong, she starts sobbing because she thinks she's going to fail her test because of one wrong answer during a study session.  Then, she gets so flustered that she gets all of the rest of the words wrong.  It takes forever to calm her down, and when you do, she has a mini panic attack.  Natalie finally finishes her panic attack, and she lets me help her finish the vocabulary words.  We go through this same problem every day, and on Friday, we go through the process a billion times.  Natalie repeats the study process until she repeats the definitions word for word.  On Friday, before school, we study some more.  Finally, on Friday afternoon, Natalie comes home from school smiling and telling me that she got 100%.  I think in my mind, "I told you so!"
     Brigitte is the youngest of the five kids in my family.  That means that she hasn't gone through as many years of school, and she has really easy homework.  It's hard for Brigitte, though.  She doesn't like math, and every day, she cries when she can't figure out a problem.  It doesn't help that everyone tells her that it is easy and she should figure it out.  My mom has me help her because apparently I'm good at math, and I try to be very patient. I don't tell her it's too easy because I know she's only in third grade.
     Luckily, I have an older sister.  I don't help her with her homework, she helps me with mine.  That is a plus of being a middle child.  You have older siblings that help you do things, but get the opportunity to serve others because of your younger siblings. 
   

The New Year

     New Years, in my opinion, is a time to make resolutions for yourself that you don’t

follow through on. Last year, I tried to not complain when my parents asked me to do chores, which didn’t happen. You have to make resolutions that are possible, and in my family no one creates ones that are possible.

     My little sister, Natalie, made a New Year’s resolution to not get scared at night and stay in her bed. That resolution failed on January 1, 2013. You see, my parents did not to tell my little sisters about the shooting in Connecticut. Unfortunately, my sisters know how to use this thing called the Internet, and were able to discover the misfortune on their own. Ever since they discovered that a man went into a school and shot children, they couldn’t go to the bathroomalone, fall asleep with the light off, or fall asleep at all. This also occurred on December 21, 2012, when the world was going to “end”. To make it so that they weren’t scared, I showed them Emma Louden’s blog post called, “We Are Not Going to Die (At Least Not on December 21)”.

     Back to January 1. It was time for Natalie to go to bed. After any vacation she usually gets nervous for the first day back and totally freaks out. This time, it was more than freaking out.Natalie was sobbing and sweating. I was the lucky one that had to go down to her room andcalm her down. I got there, and told her that Connecticut was really far away, and no one woulddo that here, blah blah blah. I then gave her my phone to text my older sister Katie with if she got too scared. Ten minutes later, Katie had 21 new text messages.

Here is how the conversation went:

1. Still scared Maddie get down here

(No Response)

2. Please Quick

3. Now

(No Response)

4. I’m so scared <3 Nat

5. Maddie please come quick

(No Response)

6. MADDIE

7. Can’t sleep

8. Maddie

9. Maddie

10. Maddie

11. Please come quick <3 Natalie

(No Response)

12. I’m tired, but I can’t sleep

13. Please

14. I’m crying and can’t stop

15. I’m sweating like crazy please please

(No Response)

16. Come

17. I don’t want to go to school

18. Bring tissues now now now now

19. Maddie, you said you would come. Will you get mom if she doesn’t get mad?

(No Response)

20. Please

21. Bring mom

Black- me
Blue- Natalie

     You may think that I’m a bad sister for not responding, but in all fairness Katie got the text messages, not me, and she didn’t tell me that she got them. Anyway, the next thing I know Ihad a sobbing sister standing at my bedroom door, and she was asking to sleep in my room. I let her, but on the first day of the new year, Natalie had failed her resolution. The next morning, Igot up for school, and stepped on her head. Whoops! I had forgotten that she had come in. My family is awful at New Year’s Resolutions.

Brigitte painted this on my computer for Natalie when she found out that Natalie had been scared.