Dude, church ROCKS! (well, not litterally...)

Okay, in church, we've been doing a study of Joshua, and it's been really cool. Today, some of the people actually got to move around. :D I'll tell it in "story version" because I find it easier to describe things that way.

The sanctuary was a large, rectangular room with pews down the two long sides. The pulpit was at the front of the room, so it could be seen by everyone. The pews were full, but not to the point of breaking. The pastor was behind the pulpit, speaking to the congregation.

"Today, we're going to do things a bit differently." He said with a smile. He took his Bible and walked out from behind the pulpit. He had a small stack of papers in his hands as well as the Bible. He looked around and began picking people from the congregation, some children and some grown adults. He began putting them in different areas according to the piece of paper he had given them.

"Gilgal," he began, pointing to a boy with that written on his piece of paper, "you go into the back, okay? I need the Israelite army" he motioned to three people with numbers on their papers "to go back to Gilgal, where the army is stationed. And Joshua," he pointed to a tall man with a paper that said "Joshua" on it, "you can head back there too." All of the designated people went back to where they were supposed to go, some with more flare than others. Laughter was heard as "Joshua" began walking like an army man, looking rather ridiculous doing it.

"All right, Bethel, you go up to the front with your army," he pointed to two men holding papers with "Bethel" and "Bethel's army" written on them and the two men walked up to the pulpit. "And Ai and Ai's army, you can come over here." He pointed to a pew near the front of the church and two men went and stood there. He had another person hold two pieces of paper with a picture of the sun on one, and the moon on the other, to remind us all what time it was in the story.

The story began, of a great fight with the Israelites against Ai. Joshua sent a legion of men from Gilgal to hide in the rocky mountains behind the city of Ai late at night. (At that time in the story, a young boy designated as the correct amount of the army hid behind a pew behind the city of Ai and it's army) Next, Joshua sent more of his army to ambush Ai. Joshua then followed with the main army, situated on the mountain opposite of Ai, and they prepared for battle.

The next day, all of the army of Ai went to confront the main army of Israel. (At this time, all of the designated people were in their designated spots.) Joshua and the main army of Israel faked defeat and began to retreat, then God told Joshua to stretch out his spear towards the city of Ai. (At this point, Ai's army and the main army of Israel and Joshua are in the isle between the two rows of pews and "Joshua" pretended to hold out a spear in the direction of "Ai") At that time, the rest of the army that was in hiding attacked the city and set in on fire, to show the army of Ai that they had nowhere to run. Joshua and the main army of Israel attacked and defeated the army of Ai, and the army of Bethel, which had come to help Ai's army. They then returned to the city of Ai and set it on fire once again, and it fell to the hands of the Israelites.

Okay, didn't that sound like fun to watch? (Not the real thing, the thing we did in church.) It was really cool, and it helped you visualize the story better. God had told Joshua some of the stuff to do, but other parts were from Joshua's knowledge of battle and from things God told them in the book of Deuteronomy. There were three points to the message which I will tell ya in a different post, once we're done with the book of Joshua. If you haven't read that book, and like adventure, then I would say READ IT!!! I mean, the Bible has everything! Adventure, prophecy, romance, all of it. (Ruth, I will tell you right now, [even though I haven't read the other book I'm about to mention] kicks Twilight's toosh.) It's the greatest book ever written, and can really change your life, for the better. So read it, and you'll won't regret it, promise.

"The First Monday"

God made the heavens, the earth and the sea,
He made the creatures of the sky, land and sea.
He then made a man,
From the dust of the earth,
That's the only time man was given that sort of birth.

God watched as the man took care of the garden,
But soon saw that the man needed another human.
So when the man fell asleep,
God took from him a rib,
And made a person only slightly different from him.

Adam called her "woman",
And named her "Eve",
And the couple lived together happily.
Until one day a serpent,
(Who was the devil disguised)
Came before Eve's very eyes.

He said, in his manipulative tone,
"Woman, I see that you have a nice home.
And every plant here,
You're allowed to eat?"
The woman replied,
"What you have said is true,
Except for in the middle, none of that fruit."

That was exactly,
What the serpent wanted to hear,
So he brought himself closer to Eve's ear.
"Now, dear woman," he said with a smile,
If you eat of that fruit, it will make it worthwhile!
So take it, and eat it! Enjoy for awhile!"
And to the serpent's delight,
Eve didn't do what was right,
And ate from the tree in the middle.

But then, what was worse,
She gave some to her husband of unusual birth.
The two saw their sin,
And hid within,
The garden where they hoped God couldn't find them.
But God saw their way,
And had to curse them that day,
Although it saddened him.

So then the both had to work,
To make food come from the earth,
And woman was given pain in childbirth.
But what day was it when,
Sin first entered the land?
Was it Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday?
May be it was the day,
(The dreadfullest day)
The day we now know as Monday.

Okay, I don't know if that's true or not, but I thought it would be kinda funny if it was, since everyone pretty much hates Monday. After all, during the school year, it's the first day of the week that you go back to school. For us, it's the day mom goes back to work after Sunday off. Nobody really likes Mondays, so I thought that it would be interesting if that was the day that sin first entered the earth.

Enjoy! :D

Ugh. Blech. :(. Sick face here.

Okay, so we (we meaing my family and I) went to the doctor's on Wednesday. I have been transfered from the pediatric doc, to the big doc. We went in and had the most thorough doctor's visit EVER which was acctually good. Becuase they didn't just say "Oh, you have a tummy ache? Well, here, take this new pill and let's see what it does. Bye bye!" He acctually asked about, like, everything. And it was pretty cool. We have more tests scheduled, but until then, we don't know what's wrong with mii. And, to boot, we're pretty sure that I'm having reacurring ovarian cysts. So I get pills for that too. (They're orange, in case you cared) And, as an even better bonus, last night I woke up at about 4:00 a.m. (so it was really early this morning) and went into the bathroom. I woke up becuase I had a tummy ache...then I threw-up. First I threw-up in the toilet, but the second time was on the floor. Oops. I went back to bed for...I don't know for how long, but I didn't really fall asleep, then I got back up, went back into the bathroom, and puked again. Basically, it was just phlem. (Or however you spell it) I went back to bed...again, but didn't sleep. Instead, I got up once more and...you guessed it, I threw-up again. That was the last time, but I'm not feeling very good today. I had a piece of toast for breakfast, and I feel like I have a cold. COULDN'T I JUST HAVE ONE THING WRONG WITH ME?!? Sorry, just a question I've been asking. Oh well, pain builds character. :P Well, I'm sure this will come in handy one day. Until then, keep praying for me, please. I keep on praying for you.

Sketches

And this is my cousin Hannah.
These are pics of my cousin, Rachel. If it looks like you, Rae, you can pretend it's you if you want. :P

Two sketches of mii, both edited but in different ways.

Who doesn't love Alvin?

I'll have colored versions up later, but I wanted to post the sketches. Rae, if you could try paintshop on 'em, I'd really appreciate it. :) Enjoy! :D

Fireworks, movies, a commercial, and something you wouldn't expect to glow...

Wow...that's a long title. Okay, first part of this post is...FIREWORKS! (And not that bad imitation that I did in the "Independence!" post) Aren't they cool! But wait, there's more!

This is a video of some of the fireworks. I have more, but I don't wanna put them all up right now. Maybe later. Now, onto the next subject of this topic!

Movies: Mii's top pics for the moment: Wall-E, totally cute, and very sweet. And even though the characters don't talk very much, there are still some funny lines. Definitely a good movie. Nanny McPhee: AWESOME! Sure, she looks really creepy, but it's a really great movie none the less. Chronicles of Narnia and Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: Both very good, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat movies. If you want a romantic, relaxing movie, DO NOT SEE THESE ONES. These are the action movies, definitely get your adrenaline going. (DON'T WATCH THEM BEFORE BED!!! BAD MISTAKE!! [we saw it at the drive in...not good for going to sleep to...]) Mii's LEAST FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME: And the winner is....*drum roll* Happy Feet! That is the worst movie ever. Bad environmental message, and not even a cute enough movie to forget that stuff! I wanted to watch NEWS afterwards to cheer me up. It was that bad. But, next subject!

Commercial: It's really bad, and it's not my fault. but can you guess which one is mii? :P it totally stinks, even to the point of sucky. But, hey, I'M ON A COMMERCIAL! :P (It won't come up one here, so I'll put it...somewhere else.

And last, but not least, what wouldn't you expect to glow? Come on, think hard now, I'll give you a hint: It's a common, everyday object, and you use it everyday. (or at least you should) Any more guesses? Here's the answer. (brace yourselves) A toilet seat. Yep, I saw one that was lit up, and the lights in it were blue. IT WAS SO WEIRD!!! Well, that's all for now.

Chapter 2, continued

"Wake up, Albus!" Albus opened his eyes and saw Peter shaking his bed. "You're gonna miss breakfast if you don't wake up!" Peter yelled. Albus rubbed his eyes and got up sleepily. He stretched then stood up and yawned. Derek wasn't in the room, and neither was Samantha, so Albus figured they were already up and ready. Albus got dressed then he and Peter went downstairs to the common room. Holly, Derek, Andrea, Samantha and James were all talking and waiting for them.

"Hello, boys!" Holly called to them as they walked over to the rest of the group. Peter smiled and nodded his head while Albus gave them a small wave.

"Did ya sleep well?" Samantha asked as they all walked towards the door.

"Yep." Albus replied simply.

"Nice hat, Samantha," Peter said, with a smile. Samantha smiled back and James chuckled. They walked down to the dinning hall, talking as they went. Albus was secretly very nervous about their first day, but he didn't let it show. They sat down at the Griffindor table, James, Samantha, Derek and Albus on one side and Peter, Andrea and Holly on the other side.

"Ah!" Peter said in shock as a small white mouse climbed onto the table. "Whose is that?" He asked, pointing to it.

"Mine." Andrea replied. "Dad said he caught it in a mouse trap, and that it could be my pet for school." She continued.

"Really?" James asked while shoveling food into his mouth. Andrea nodded as she watched the small rodent.

"What's his name?" Holly asked. Andrea thought for a moment before answering.

"Remus," the little mouse's ears perked up when she said that. Andrea gave him a little piece of bread and he began to nibble on it happily.

"Well, hello there!" They all turned to see who was talking to them. Percy put a hand on James's shoulder and the other on Samantha's. "How are you lot doing today?" He asked. They all said "Good" at roughly the same time. Percy saw the little mouse on the table and his brow creased. "Whose mouse?" He asked quickly. Andrea raised her hand. "May I see it?" Percy held out his hand and Andrea put the Remus in it. Percy pulled out his wand and swished it in a small circle. A small stream of light hit the rodent, but nothing happened. Percy put the mouse back down and smiled. "Sorry, I just get a bit...well, different around rodents." He said, trying to explain.

"That's alright." Andrea said quietly. Samantha reached up suddenly and took off her hat. All of the kids around her, and Percy, stared at her.

"What?" She asked.

"You're hair!" Derek said, gawking.

"Oh, the pink." Samantha mumbled. James chuckled and began to explain.

"She dies her hair at night when she has nothing else to do." The rest of the kids (and Percy) continued staring at her.

"Well, um, have a good day!" Percy said, quickly walking away. Samantha shrugged and began eating.

"Uh, Sam," James began.

"Yeah?"

"We're not the only ones staring..." James hissed and Samantha looked around. Pretty much everyone in the dinning hall was staring at her now. Samantha sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Come on, people! Just because I'm from America and have pink hair doesn't mean you have the right to stare!" She exclaimed. Some of the people looked away, but the majority of the eyes were still on her.

"Don't worry, they'll get used to you after awhile." James said. The others nodded and Samantha snorted.

"That or I'll have to get used to them." She said. Just then, a nice distraction flew in: The owls.

Chapter 2 continued

Samantha turned and glared at James then sat down in one of the chairs by the fireplace. "Come on, it won't be that bad!" James said, trying to cheer her up. Samantha sent him another glare and he quieted down. "But you won't really need to even be in there for very long. I mean, it's not like you really sleep that much..." James tried again. Samantha gave him the same look and he shut up.

"What does that mean?" Holly asked.

"That you don't sleep a lot." Derek completed the question for his sister. Samantha sighed and gazed into the fire.

"I have a sleeping disorder." Samantha replied shortly.

"Oh..." Holly said quietly.

"What do you do at night?" Peter asked. Samantha thought before answering.

"I just...walk around and stuff..." She replied. Albus looked down at his watch and realized that it was past his usual bedtime...not that he should care...but he was secretly afraid that his mother would somehow find out and send him a howler, so he decided to go to bed.

"Hey, guys, I'm gonna go to bed." He said. Peter nodded in agreement.

"Me too." Derek said with a yawn. "We woke up early this morning."

"Well, I'm not tired at all," Holly said through a yawn. Andrea giggled.

"I think we should all head up to bed." She said with a smile. The girls an boys went up their separate stairs and up to their rooms.

"This one's mine," Albus said, opening a door. He walked inside, Peter and Derek following close behind. Derek looked down at a piece of paper in his hand and smiled.

"Hey! This is my room too!" He said happily. He ran over to the bed closest to the door on the right side. He looked under the bed and gasped. "My stuff's already down there! How'd they know I was gonna chose this bed?" He asked more to himself then anyone else. Albus chose the bed farthest from the door on the left side and looked under the bed.

"Here's my trunk!" He said with a smile. Peter looked around, seeming almost lost. "If this is your room, then you can have the bed across from me." Albus offered. Peter nodded his head with a small smile and walked over to the bed. He looked at it with his back turned to Albus, and Albus could just sense the awe coming off of Peter.

"Thanks. This is my room." Peter said quietly.

"I figured as much." Albus said with a wide grin. The three boys began putting their belongings where they wanted them, talking to each other too. Suddenly, the door opened and Samantha came in. She flopped down on the bed closest to the door on the right side and glared around the room.

"Ground rules:" She started, "No one talks to me unless I talk to them, you don't look at my stuff, and you don't look in my bed, when I am here, or when I am not. Got it?" She asked as she looked at the faces in the room. The boys nodded and Samantha smiled. "Good." She said, then she got up and walked back out.

"Okay then..." Albus said. Peter and Derek chuckled then crawled into bed. "Goodnight, guys." Albus said as he laid down.

"Goodnight," Peter and Derek chorused at the same time. Albus turned on his light and fell asleep, thinking about what the next day would bring.

More of My Drawings

This is another one of my drawings, enjoy!

Okay, because I was notified that it was difficult to read, (blurriness do to the camera) I shall tell you what everyone is saying:

Frame 1: Simon: Alvin, we're supposed to be cleaning, not reading!

Frame 2: Alvin: I'll have you know that I got this at the Library-

Frame 3: (no one says anything...Alvin is just surprised.)

Frame 4: Theodore: I thought we were supposed to be cleaning. Simon: We are, but someone got distracted! Alvin: Hey, Simon, I think you should read this...

Frame 5: Simon reads: "Congrats on having taken a look, inside this very old guide book. You have now unlocked the key to save her royal majesty. Hurry, now, before it's to late to save her kingdom from a terrible fate."

Frame 6: Simon: Relax, Alvin! Some kid probably stuck this in there to freak out the next kid who checked this out! Theodore: It worked!

Frame 7: Alvin: Dave is NOT gonna be happy about this...

Well, that's it. More shall be coming soon! Enjoy! :D

P.S. It really isn't all that great...hopefully I'll get better.

Chapter 2

After dinner, the students all made their was to their different common rooms.

"That was awesome!" Samantha declared as the walked down the hallway. James nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it was great." Albus said. He looked over at Andrea, who was playing with the hem of her robe. "You okay?" Albus whispered to her. She nodded quickly then shrugged.

"I don't know what happened..." She said quietly.

"I say it's the hat." Peter piped in. "I mean, how could it really be you? Unless of course, you have multiple personalities..." He added. Albus glared at him as they walked.

"Don't worry about it." Samantha said reassuringly. "You're with us, and we're the coolest kids in school." She said with a smile. Peter, Andrea, Derek and Holly all raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we are." James said. Albus sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Who are your parents?" Albus asked Holly and Derek.

"Luna and Seamus Finnagan." Holly replied quickly.

"Hey! Our mum and dad know your mum and dad!" Albus exclaimed happily. He turned to Andrea.

"My mum and dad are Kelly and Joseph Fordison." She said. They turned to Peter who made himself even smaller then he already was.

"My mom and dad are-why do you guys say 'mum'?" Samantha cut in. James rolled his eyes.

"Here we go again..." He whispered. Samantha was about to say something back when they got to the common room.

"Alright, listen up, everyone!" The Prefect that the front of the crowd of kids called. "This years password is 'Dumbledore's Army'." He finished then turned to the door and said the password. The portrait opened and revealed a beautiful common room.

"Whoa." Holly breathed as they walked in.

"Everyone, especially first years, welcome to your new home for the school year." The Prefect said happily.

"I wanna go get something from my bag." Samantha said. She walked over to the staircase leading to the girls room and began climbing up it. Suddenly, the stairs flattened underneath her and she slid back down to the floor. Samantha stared at the stairs in bewilderment then looked back to the group. James shrugged.

"Maybe the stairs are going too..." Peter suggested. Holly went over to the stairs as they stood on the first step then began walking up them.

"They work for me..." She said slowly. Just then, the common room door opened and Professor Longbottom walked in.

"Yo, Professor Longbottom," Samantha yelled. Neville looked over at her and smiled.

"Yes, Samantha?" He said as he walked over to her.

"Wassup with the stairs?" She asked, pointing to them. Neville watched as Samantha tried to go up, then slid back down as the stairs flattened again. He watched as Holly went up and they worked perfectly fine.

"I'm not sure..." Neville said, reaching into a pocket on his robe. He pulled out a piece of paper and scanned over it. "Oh dear..." He said quietly.

"What?" Samantha asked, sounding worried.

"Well, it seems that your things aren't going to be up there..." Neville said slowly. Samantha raised an eyebrow at him. "They're going to be in a boys room..." He finished quietly.

"WHAT?!?" Samantha yelled. Everyone in the common room turned to look.

"Well, it seems that you were put down as 'Sam', not 'Samantha', so the intern doing the registration thought that you were a...boy." Neville replied quietly. Samantha stared at him with her mouth hanging open. James patted her on the back.

"Well, maybe we'll be in the same room..." He said, trying to help.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Samantha replied, removing his hand from her back. James nodded then took a step back.

"Well, this should be fun! Bye!" Neville said, quickly ducking into the crowd of students. Samantha glared after him as she spoke.

"I hate interns."

Independence!

"Give me liberty, or give me death!" Freedom rules. Deal with it. But on a more serious note: Freedom's never free. It has to be payed for someway. I guess in some countries, really rich people can use money to pay for their freedom. Here in America, it's a different payment system. People are attacking us, and the men and women that go to war are fighting to protect us and our freedom. The people who go out to protect us rock. Support our troops! And, don't misuse your freedom. We've been given these wonderful freedoms, the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, all that jazz. But some people abuse those freedoms. Don't be one of those people. So now, on this Fourth of July, go out and eat a hot dog, a hamburger, some apple pie, potato salad, whatever you can find that just screams American, and watch fireworks today. You won't regret it. (Unless of course you eat too much and get sick. But don't blame mii. I only suggested it.) So, HAPPY FOURTH OFJULY!!! .*.*.
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(Fireworks)

BOOM! :P