Teachers & Helpers BBQ

Yesterday afternoon at three thirty Mom,Jamie,Dad,Mark and I went to the S's house in Powatan for the Teachers & Helpers BBQ. It took a long time to get there because Powatan is a rural area. We had to stop at a gas station because we were almost out and because my Mom was worry warting over if we would get there and back without enough gas. When we finally got there I saw the S's and some other S's. While we waited for people to arrive Dad and I decorated the four wheeler and the wagon hooked on the back with red,white and blue streamer thingies. After a while a TON of people showed up at one time. These are the people who were there the M's,S's,S's,VDH's and a lot more whose names I don't know.Right away a bunch of boys started playing kick ball in the S's very BIG front yard with nice beautiful green grass.I myself hung out with Kendall,Charlotte,Katie,Sara,Aleisha and a few more girls. Soon the hay "ride" started. Mr. S's drove us down the road and into a cul-da-sec and then drove us back down right into their driveway.It was pretty fun.I tried to play kick ball but I never got to kick the ball because the kids who were thought I was bad at kick or doing anything as a matter of fact. I HATE when they do that,I am not a complete wimp like Adam. I do take dance and work out sometimes for crying out loud!!! Anyway,after a few minutes it was time to eat. Mr. S blessed the food then everyone there digged in. I got some yummy pork BBQ chips and some noodle salad junk. For desert I had a red,white and blue cupcake,delicious chocolate fudge. All of it was pretty good. Soon after eating I saw Ali playing Barbie's on the S's front porch. I walked over there and saw Andrew R playing too. I started showing Ali dresses for the Barbie to see if she wanted to put them it. Andrew R jammed his finger so that is why he was sitting there. After playing with Ali I went over and tried to make bubbles with big wands but most of the solution was gone. Soon the party was over and people were leaving. I went inside to help Mrs. S. I got to see Katie's room which is SO CUTE!!! The S's have a hamster named John,who has the coolest cage for him. It is basically a BIG hamster wheel inclosed. It is pretty neat. Mark was dying to go home so I hurriedly walked to the car. After that we al went home.

AI (No it doesn't mean Alan Iverson)

So ya,Carrie Underwood won American Idol I screamed really loud when Seacrest announced it. My Mom and I have been hoping Carrie would win all season and she did!!! Underwood is a way better singer than Bo Bice any day. Personally I think Vonzell should have been in the top two but whateva. When I watched Carrie Underwood sing "Independence Day" I got goosebumps on the spot on the back of my head when I hear someone sing really good.I told my Mom when Carrie's CD comes out we are going to have to get two of them because my Mom will want to listen to it ALL the time so we should have our separate CDs.

Star Wars:Revenge of the Sith

This afternoon my family and I saw the latest saga of Star Wars. The WHOLE movie was nothing but high intense fighting scenes except for the end when things were quiet and solemn. Most of the stuff that was revealed was stuff that I already knew was going to happen. Most of the scenes I couldn't stand to watch. Personally the rating should have been more than PG 13 due to VERY graphic violence. It wasn't that awful,just a little nasty and scary in a few parts.I am not going to expose any of the discoveries that happened in the movie incase anyone reading this Blog hasn't seen it yet. Other than a lot of intense fight scenes the movie was well made with so wicked awesome backdrops,great sound affects and to mention the neat costumes. All and all they wrapped up the whole giant saga of Star Wars. My Dad believes that they need to make three more movies because "When did The Sith die?". I guess everyone will have to see if they are going to make anymore.

Dance Recital 2005

Today at five fifteen Mom,Dad Jamie and I went to the school for down the road for my Dance Recital. My Dad dropped Mom and I off at the door. We took the makeup bag,costume bag,shoes bag and my backpack filled with books and my CD player. Anyway when we got in the school there was a humonngous line to get in the auditorium. Then we went in the dressing room which is called "The Commens". I hate where they put us to change because convienatly there is a BIG window right where that area is!!! My class and a few others were smart enough to change in the bathroom.Our first dance was "Blue Satin". I was a little nervous but we did quite well and nothing went wrong this time. Next came Pointe. Apon which when I went to do the last esshapay I wasn't able to because my ankle felt like it was going to collapse again. Other than that Pointe was ok. Along came Ballet. Our WHOLE class was backstage the WHOLE time of "Sleeping Beauty" except when we FINALlY danced at the end. While we were standing there I noticed that there was sparkles on the steps backstage from where Patrick dumped some by accident. I showed Amanda,she had the great idea of putting the sparkles on her hands and the rubbing her hand on her arms. Next thing I new we all had sparkles on. Another thing that happened was Bianca said she was sorry for being to mean to me during Pointe. I was speechless but then I regained and said "o ok thanks". One bad thing that happened during "Sleeping Beauty" was the girl who played both head Faerie and a girlfriend tripped and tore the bottom half of her dress. When she came off she looked down the ribbon piece was gone at the bottom. Almost the whole rest of the production she cried. She even cried while dancing, yes she thought it was that bad. Everyone I talked to said they didn't see her fall. When she came off of the stage Mrs. Mary told her how unprofessional it was to be crying even when you messed up. Another not so good yet funny thing happened: one girl who was a girlfriend danced with her outfit on backwards!!! She was laughing and so was every one else. Ok back to our dance, we did very well. Next came Jazz. We ROCKED!!! All of us did so wicked awesome. It was the BEST we have EVERY done!!! I was very confident in doing it along with every other dance. Soon came the end where they play "We Are Family",gove JEMS awards and we all go home. I went home with Mom,Jaime and Ellen (my Mom;'s friend who came to watch me dance" because my Dad had already went to work.

Dance Dress Rehearsal 2005

This afternoon around four o'clock Mom and I went to the school down the road for Dance Dress Rehearsal. When we got there we saw no one we knew. So we sat down and waited. A few minutes later came Elizabeth. A little while later came Kaylyn,Laura and Amanda. Soon everyone filed into the auditorium where the recital is. After a few dances came Tap. Laura was very nervous so was Kaylyn. I was nervous but not so much I was shaking or anything. Tap went well but towards the end of the song it messed up to we kept on dancing without any music. Afterward Mr. Chris was like "It is al my fault". He was joking though. Next came Pointe. It was AWFUL!!! I went to do esshapay and my left ankle did the "roll out number". I thought I sprained it but when I started walking on it I noticed it felt alright. Next bad thing that happened was when we were doing another esshapay my shoes on my right foot came half way off. Then after those sorta bad incidence came our Ballet. The Ballet went well except that we couldn't hear our music very well. At the end of the Ballet my hand started shaking and wouldn't stop like when you are nervous (which I was). Next was Jazz. Jazz is the dance I am most comfortable with. I know what I need to do and I do it well. We all did AWESOME. Then came comments from the teachers. Our class didn't get hardly any. Sooner than it seemed we all went home. Tomorrow is The Recital!!!

Ballet Rehearsal 2005

Yesterday afternoon around three o'clock my Mom took me to the school down the road again for my Ballet rehearsal of Sleeping Beauty. My classes number is close to the last dance seen in the story. We are nymphs who lead Prince Charming to Sleeping Beauty along with the Head Fairy as a guide while we dance. The funniest part was when the people in the music thingie ma bob couldn't get our music right so we had to walk off and on stage about three times. Finally we were able to our dance!!! The worst part is that we only have a little bit of stage to dance on because the backdrop for all of the other acts are in the palace. So we all found out that we are dancing in a space like the one in the studio. It isn't horrible but it looks weird and we can't see the X in the middle of the stage due to the fact the curtain is covering it up. Mrs. Jessica said that she going to make a new X that we can see thank goodness!!! So we did the curtain call,bowed etc.. Then teachers commented on some stuff. After a few minutes everyone went home

Car Wash

Last Saturday my church Youth Group had a car wash in the Wal-Mart parking lot. When I got there,there was already kid and some adults there from the morning shift of the car wash. Right away I got a rag and started washing a car. I soon found out that you had to rinse the car with water,clean the car with the soap,so the tires and then rinse all that off. A while later I started to get the routine of things. Mrs. F was always telling someone to get something or clean something. So I playfully started calling her Sergeant F. A hour later the seventh grade boys started playing around by taking sponges fully loaded with suds and water and flinging them at the kids working There was two older girls who were helping,they were wearing jeans. I mean who in the world wears jeans to a car wash?!?! I guess they didn't know that jeans soak up water and then they stick to you. Eric for some odd reason decided to put suds on his face so he would look like Santa Clause. I asked him if he knew where those suds had been "He said in the bucket". I was thinking more on the alines of "In dirty water where germs are floating but whateva". Also I was thinking sooner or later one of these boy s are going to get some soap in their eyes because they are messing around. It was funny when Eric started complaining to his Mom that he had soap in his eye. Eric's Mom said "I have no sympathy at all to you because you got soap in your eyes due to the fact That you put suds on your face". I was sing that song called "I Told You So Nany-Nany-Boo,Boo". A little while later John gave some of those mischevious boys a bucket to go "beg" at the front of Wal-Mart. It technically wasn't begging,just standing there asking for donations so we can go to M-Fuge. The "begging" boys raked in about fifty bucks. Those of us who were washing cars made about 1,000 some buckaroos.

Tap,Point and Jazz Rehearsal 2005

Today around three o'clock my Mom dropped me off at the school down the road from us. When I stepped out of the car I saw Elizabeth and Emily immediately. I ran over to them both to find that Emily was going to call Amanda (her sister who is in our Ballet dance) to tell her that we weren't doing the "Big Ballet Production" and that it is going to be on Wednesday NOT today. When Amanda showed up Elizabeth and Emily told her the new she was said "O'well" and went home. After a few seconds Laura came and Kaylyn. By this time it was time to go in the auditorium. Our first number is "Satin Doll" which is Tap. It is an old song like the ones you hear in those old black and white movies. I did well but I kept looking at the teachers below the stage instead of out at the crowd. So it made me look like I was looking at the floor. Next came the Pointe which only Elizabeth,I and a bunch of other girls. I SERIOUSLY don't know what the song is called because Mr. Chris didn't tell us. Well I thought I did pretty well. Right after our Pointe Elizabeth and I had to hurriedly get our pointe shoes off because we literally have ONLY one song to change costumes and shoes. Our Jazz dance is "Rhythm Nation". Personally think I did ok but Mrs. Christy said we needed to be in the middle of the stage by looking at the star in the middle of the stage. Other than that we all did great. After a few more songs we all left to go home

It's Finally Over!!! 2005

Around two thirty Jamie,Mom,Dad and I went to Mrs. P's house for Jamie and I's BIG test. When we got there Jamie had to take his test first because he was going to see the Busch Race right afterward. I have vowed that I shall get to go first next year because since first grade it had been either Jamie or Mark going before . Then I would be stuck going last,which is quite gut wrenching since the BIG test is important. Jamie took about thirty minutes surprisingly enough because normally it is supposed to take an hour. Those thirty minutes went by very fast while Jamie was in there because I was spending my time reading my book. Anyway right when Jamie came out it was my turn. It actually wasn't too bad this. I wasn't nervous at all due to the fact I knew what I was confident. We did the normal Math first which was easy,spelling which was sort of easy,reading was VERY easy and some other stuff that was pretty easy too. After thirty minutes or so I was finished. Jamie,Dad and Mark left to go to the race after Mrs. P talked to Dad,Mom,Jamie and I. I graded well on everything and I am OFFICIALLY a eighth grader now!!! Since the "boys" are out tonight Mom and I have decided to do some partying ourselves. My Mom wanted to go out and shop and eat at resturaunt but I am one of those girls who likes hanging out and gorging myself on junkfood with her Mom. Anyway I ended up winning: Mom got Pizza Hut pizza,Coolers Ranch Doritos,Guacamole Doritos,Cheetos,Strawberry Propel Fitness water and MAYBE some Ben&Jerry ice cream. So when it becomes eight o'clock Mom and I are going to watch the race,eat lots of yummy food and maybe get to see my Dad and brothers on the TV if we are lucky!!!

Sewing Class & The Last Day Of Dance

Around twelve thirty Mom and I went to Mrs. L's for sewing class. We cut out the fabric and sewed the pockets. The WHOLE TIME lil'-miss Maggie was yelling her head off saying "Pick me up Mommy,pick me up". My loving Mother kept trying to help me cut or sew. It isn't like I don't appreciate her trying to help but I really want to do it by myself. I feel sorry for some of those kids in my Sewing group who have their Mothers yelling at them for not doing it right. I personally like doing it myself not with my Mom doing it for me, like some of the kids in the class. Anyway the WHOLE time Maggie was screaming and Maggie's Mom was yelling at her. Maggie was a LOAD of aggravation. I am the oldest in our group, I guess my maturity level is higher or their are lower. After a few hours it was time for dance And I got dressed in the L's bathroom. Mrs. L let my Mom and I have some cake. We took it with us so I could get to dance on time. While in the car I noticed that my reading glasses weren't in the car with us. I figured out I had left them at the L's. My Mother started giving me the "Annie,you REALLY need to wear those reading glasses All the time. That way you won't loose them!!!"

Anyway my Mom dropped me off and gave me the money to give to the Linda (The lady in Mrs. Jessica's office) the money for Ballet during the Summer. I am so happy due to the fact that the teacher is Mr. Chris. Mrs. Jessica was gone so Mrs. S taught our Ballet class. I REALLY like when Mrs. S substitutes because she makes Ballet way fun than Mrs. Jessica. After Ballet came Tap.In Tap we did our warm up,did our Tap dance twice and then we did a test kind of thing. We had to think of a step that only had one sound then two sounds etc... The came Jazz. My FAVORITE class of all (Mr. Chris's class is second). We did our Jazz dance twice and then did our Lyrical. I REALLY like Lyrical REALLY badly!!! I REALLY want to do it but I might not be able to do it due to the fact most of the people who do Lyrical are all JEMS. So I will just have to wait and see. Then we did our dance one more time. So ended our last day of dance and the last day of having Emily in it with us (*tear,tear,sniffle,sniffle*). We are all gonna miss her real bad.

Last Day Of Pointe Class & My Challenge

Today was the last day of Pointe. I was a little late but the wierdest thing of all is that when I walked in the studio Mr. Chris said "Hello Annie Cook". I was wondering why in the world he called me that because he calls another girl in my class "Cookie" because that is her last name "Cook". I never did figure out why he called me that almost the whole class time. Well first Trias got some paper towels and Mr. Chris put some water on the towels so we could put the tip of our shoes so we wouldn't slip. Then we did the normal sixth position,pleea,pleea,roll all the way up on your toe,pleea,pleea and roll all the way down. Of course we did a lot more barre work. I noticed that this girl named Bianca was glaring at me almost the whole time. She has been doing that for the past few weeks which I can't quite figure out why though. When we did groups at Barre Bianca was talking to Brittany G about something I was standing near where they were talking and after that Bianca said "Don't talk in on conversations you aren't invited to". O and to mention after she said that she blocked me off and kept talking. By then my blood was boiling but I cooled down. After a while we did our Pointe dance. We did it a few times. All apon which Mr. Chris told me I need to get up on Pointe. The last time Mr. Chris critiqued us he said "That was very good better that any other time we have done it today. Then Little-Miss-Thinks-She-Knows-It-All Bianca said "Some of us didn't *cough,cough". O ya now we are talking blood curdling wanting to scream kind of aggravation. Yes, I know that I have a bad habit of getting in on conversations that I wasn't a part of in the beginning but I don't think I did it all that much. Next year I might be able to do Lyrical instead of Pointe. So that was just the beginning of my aggravation.

Later at AWANA during handbook time Nicolas said "I have to go to the bathroom". So I said he could. Well unknown to my knowledge he took his book and went down the Fellowship Hall where he meets his Dad to be picked up. I started getting worried when he was gone for five minutes or so. Finally someone told me he was down at the Fellowship Hall. I told Mrs. S went down there and get Nicolas and bring him back and talk to him. So Nicolas said "I will not disobey my Dad,I am doing what he wants me to do". I responded with " You lied straight to my face". Nicolas didn't care. Nicolas continues with his Know-It-All personality. There is a pick up room right next to the room were we do our sections but his Dad said he wanted to pick him up at the Fellowship Hall because his brother Marco was there along with Sofia but Nicolas and his brother Chris are on the other side of the building. It gets me very angry because if I did what he did this afternoon when I was his age I would have gotten in deep trouble and gotten a spanking. I keep saying to myself "Two more weeks,two more weeks of this challenge" I will seriously doing a happy dance at the end of the AWANA.

Piano Recital and Last First Friday

Yesterday afternoon I had my Piano Recital.We got there a tad bit late because my Dad went a different way to get to the place where the recital was being held. Anyway we snuck in quietly and sat in the very back row. After a few pieces were played it was my turn to play. I played "Great Is The Lord" by Michael W. Smith. Normally I would have tried to play it a tad bit slower but something called agrenaline kicked in and I played it in like ten seconds. Then Mrs. M gave me a medal with "Music" with real music notes in the background with my name and year at the bottom. So then I sat down next to Jamie. Well that was a mistake Jamie started annoying me so I move Mom's purse and camera so I could sit by her instead of Jamie. Anyway after a few more pieces of music were played . Then came the best part "The reception". There was Chic-fl-a chicken nuggets,fruit,cake,cookies and chips and dip. It was all good!!! Then after we chatted with the some people we went to church for First Friday. I will probably will have to explain First Friday so here it goes: "First Friday is on the first Friday of the month,we play board games and stuff". Anyway this time no one shoed up so we packed up all the chips and soft drinks and went home. We might have First Friday during the Fall but since no one showed up and there wasn't much participants when there was people. Yesterday might have been our Last First Friday.

So Sore

My left ankle,both shoulder blades,the back of my neck,butt bone and the top of my head is soo sore!!! First of all my shoulders were already hurting due to the fact I slept the night before with my arms above my head for some odd reason. During Jazz class yesterday we did a Lyrical combination to the song of "The Voice Within". Anyway a part of the combo you have to arabesk and then roll into a tumble and end up on my rear end with your right leg extended with your left leg bent. We went over the move like a dozen times on the gym mats. Then when we did it without the mats. It wasn't too bad until this morning when almost my whole body hurt. I am hoping that my Mom will go to the Wal-Greens down the street and get me a Icey-Hot patch for my shoulders and ankle!!!

Hancock Fabric's

This afternoon Mom,Jamie and I picked up Sandra and Sarah from there house in our car. Then my Mom drove to Hancock Fabric's. When I stepped into the store all I saw was fabric apon fabric. There was cotton fabric,silk fabric,fluffy fabric,sparkly fabric,see through fabric and anymore fabric you can think of. Stephanie (our classes sewing teacher) was already there.By this time it was just Sandra,Sarah,Stephanie's sister and me. So we all went to the place where they had patterns. They had one whole table full of magazines with costumes patterns,aprons patterns,shirts ties patterns etc.. The Mrs. L and her daughter Chelsea arrives late along with another lady with three of her kids. So Stephanie showed us how to find the patterns. Then we went down to the one-hundred percent cotton area. This is where we found fabric to make our aprons. I got a light blue backround with clouds fabric,Sarah got black backround with rainbow stars and Sandra got a pink and silver dragon backround with Japanese anime girls with blond hair sitting in different positions with summer dresses on. After we found our fabric things started getting CRAZY. Some people wanted trim others didn't,a little girl by the name of Maggie started screaming her head off and running every where while her Mother was yelling at her to come back with Sandra ,Sarah and some of the other girls running after her none stop. I am the oldest girl in my sewing class. I personally all of the craziness was a tad bit immature. So this immatureness lasted about twenty minutes. I sat on a bench half the time because I finished so quickly and because my head was throbbing with pain. During all of this my Mom and Jamie were delivering a dinner to Mrs. M. who has cancer (please pray that she will get better!!!). Anyway finally when my Mom arrived I was about to scream so we paid what we needed to pay and left,dropped of Sandra & Sarah then we went home.

Scott Smith: The Bestest Speaker Dude

At 6:15 Jamie,Mom and I went to hear Scott Smith speak a sermon at SCBC. When we got there the place was already packed with people talking and laughing. On the way up to where we were sitting I saw Jesse or was it Josh(See they are identical twins and they are hard to tell apart)? I saw a bunch of other people but I probably wouldn't be able to name them all!!! Anyway we sat down where Mrs. O saved us some seats. Finally Mrs. O along with her daughter came and sat next to us. Lauren ( who is five) sat in my lap most of the time and I sat by my Mom while she was sitting next to me Mrs. O was sitting on her other side.Then the whole congregation sang three or more songs. Lauren stood up on the pew so she could see and so I think so she would be able to play with my hair. Soon after we sang we sat down and listened to the choir sing "Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord". If there was a contest between BPBC's choir and SCBC"s choir,SCBC would DEFINITELY blow us out of the water!!! I think my church's choir needs some lady's who aren't in the highest key you could hit. Personally I think most of the lady's in our choir except for a few here in there, have a seriously high pitched singing voice. Anyway after the choir sang the lead singer dude asked the people who are members of SCBC to stand just to see who was not so that SCBC people could greet them. I absolutely hate when they do stuff like that cause it makes me wish I was back there and not where I am but o'well God is in the details. Soon afterward we sang a song and sat down. Of course we prayed before we heard the preaching. Then Scott Smith started preaching. Normally I wouldn't enjoy listening to a preacher and just sit there and be bored but Scott Smith makes his sermon's funny and interesting!!! Mr. Smith spoke about giving of money to church. It was very good and it was pretty funny. Towards the last half hour Lauren's head ended up resting in my lap asleep. I seriously don't think I could sleep through Scott Smith's sermons. They are always so funny and awfully loud at times!!! So anyway when Mr. O needed to get out of the pew she had to climb over my legs because I couldn't move my legs from the bottom of the pew in front of me due to the fact that I didn't want to wake up Lauren. By the last song I was praying that we would finish soon because my butt was getting numb all to the fact I was sitting in a certain position for like a half hour. Although that happened I still enjoyed it all. After the service I saw Kimmie (My BFF). We talked together for a while, I met her Youth Pastor who was very nice. Sooner than it seemed I had to go home. I was sort of sad when I got home due to the fact that I missed "Extreme Home Makeover How'd They Do That" but I guess it is better to be at Church than to be vegetating in front of the TV.