A Collection of Stories by Aaron

As promised....I have taken the time to sit down and copy Aaron's stories that he make up for creative writing. He placed 6 in UIL for one of them. He is such a great writer for being in the 2nd grade. They are given a piece of paper that has 5 pictures on it and they must write a story based on one or more of the pictures. I hope you enjoy them!
A Ghostly Tale

A ghost named billybob tried to scare me. This is what the ghost did. One night when I was trick or treating I went to A haunted house someone locked the door behind me. I went farther into the house. Then, liveingroom. He showed up!and then he said...BOO! and I fainted. He manged to wake me up whith slime. And then. I went home.

This is Aaron's first story....I am typing them just as he wrote them. You can really start to see how much better he gets with punctuation and spelling as he writes.

Accident With My Backpack

It all started on my way to school this mornig. Lane and I were sitting together the bus. The bus stopped at Meanie Jim's house. All the kid's were scared. As Meanie Jim got on the bus he was going down the isle knocking our backpacks on the floor. The bus driver didn't even notice what he was doing. My backpack was open and everythig spilled onto the floor. Land and I tried to pick up all my stuff but a little kid stepped on my waterbottle. The little kid hit her head and cried. We asked the bus driver for help. Meanie Jim had to go then princapal's office when we got to school.

Hard Math

Today at math class my math teaher "Mrs. Day" was handing out A hard math quiz. It was twenty-four plus, fourteen. I asked Mrs. Day what it eqals. Before I could ask her what it was it was time for lunch. I grabed my lunchbox and ran to get in line. When we got in the room I took a guss. It was thirty-eight. When we got to class the next morning she handed them out. I got it right!

Wizard Adventre

There once lived A teacher who lived in A cabin. Her school was small but big in heart. One day after school she walked outside. A talking owl spoke to her and said, Follow me you are in great danger. And so she followed the owl. When they got there the teacher said, "WOW! that is some castle you go there owl." Oh, that's not my house said the owl that's my owner's house, said the owl. Then an ugle old which swooped down on her broom and took the teacher. A wizard came up on a water brethig dragon. Up came the water and it hit the wich with A...SPLASH! Down went the which with a ....Plop! and when the which got up she said I'm melting I'm melting! And the which died.

Airport exspress

Jose V. and I went to the airport on Friday. We packed our bags and went. when we got there I asked Jose V. if he had the Astralia tickets. He looked in the pocket. And he said "Yes". And then we took off. When we got in the airplane we said "Hi" to the driver. We took our seats. And then we heard a thumping sound. THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! and then we took off. At seven o'clock the y gave us a bag of peanuts and two bottle of soda. They were delicus! Finlay Jose B. went to sleep. When he woke up we were at Astralia! We were so happy when we climbed up Ayers rock!

(For those of you who remember we did Boomerang Express this year at VBS and I know he remembered Ayers Rock from there!)

Ballon Bash

There once was a girl named Melody. Here mother's name was Zoe but they friends just called her Zo. One day Zoe went to drop off his son Mike. But on Mike's sholder was his pet inchworm named Smart Smity. Smart Smity could talk but nobody knew he could. One day his mom Zoe let him walk to school but on the way there a air ballon showed up right under them! They said YIKES! Mike tried to get down but it was to late. They were in the air. But in the basket was food. water.rope and a picnic quilt. Smart Smity had a idea. He told Mike to buld a paruchute and put him in his backpack. Together they made a paruchute. And when they got ubove the school they jumped off! Mike screamed AGGGGH! And landed on the roof. And they jumped again. And landed on the grass. And met his friend.

Fireman Raising

There once was a boy named Victor. Victor wanted a fire helmat for Cristmas. And Sristmas was almost there. It was December twenty-fourth. It was Victor's favorite time of year. Because he loved to see Santa Claus in the mall. that night before he got into bed his dad Brain brought him to the mall. Because Grampa Miller needed a presant from the familty to Victor got Grampa a poket knife. And a hug from Santa. It was three o'clock and it was time for bed. That day Victor woke up and saw a frie helmat. He was so happy he jumped up and down in his pajama's. He grew up to be twety-five. And became a fireman. But he was ingered. And quit his job. And he game his son the fire helmat and the air tank. And took his place in the fire department.

Night of the Raccoon

There once was a raccoon named Sly. Sly was nocternal so he could see in the dark. When he was walking around he saw a trashcan. He jumped on the lid into the trashcan. When he was in it he saw a bag of peanuts. Sly loved peanuts so he gobbled them up. But once he got out SPLASH! He went into the steam. And he hit a rock in the stream PLOP! He opened the lid into the tree stump and he went. Once he got in he climbed out. Then he noticed he climbed out of this house! And got back in. Then everyone jumped out of nowhere and scared him. They he fogot it was his birthday. So he got in and at some cake and played and played until it was day. And went to sleep. With his teddy raccoon Sly Junior.

Barnyard Bash

There once was a girl named Rosie. Rosie was four years old. One day at school Rosie went to the farm. Rosie met a farmer named Bob. bob owned the farm. "Framer Bob" Rosie yelled. Rosie was in the sandbox Farmer Bob owned to. Her freind Kelly and Jenna were making sand castles. Then Farmer bob yelled "over here" so they came over. Farmer Bob said "Were goint to play a game" in a whisper voice. "We have to find one thing" he said. "We have to find a toy helicopter" he said. So they set off to find the toy helicopter. First, they went past the cow pen then, they went in the barn. Rosie yelled "I found it!" she picked it up and took it. She retemered it. And rosie, Jenna and Kelly got a sticker that said "Good Work!" and they went home.


I hope you had fun reading these! He did a great job! I think Night of the Raccoon was the story that he entered in the competition. Hope you have a great new year!

Love,
The McGuire's

School is Out!

Yippee! Yahoo! School is out for 2009! Two whole weeks to play and do nothing....OK maybe not nothing but it's going to be good! What have we been up to since my last post in October?????? Blowing and going! Caleb rounded out his junior high football career and promptly started basketball. They only lost two games in football and did great! However, basketball is not going to be so lucky. They have one of three games so far. Caleb sits on the bench most of the time until someone gets in foul trouble. He is having fun but is starting to rethink all of the sports stuff. He is figuring out that he has to practice just as hard to sit on the bench as they guys who play. Anyway, he has already mentioned dropping everything in High school except for Band. Band was fun this year. He got to go to all of the football games and march, plus UIL competitions and all district try outs. Plus, their band director, Mr. Bro, has an annual Halloween party and Christmas party that are fun. Also, he got to go the the Sand Dunes of Monahans for a fun trip with the band. During the middle of all of this, Caleb also was in the junior high one act play and did a great job. They won a lot of point toward UIL competition. Caleb also, did UIL Science in Winters in December and placed 8th in district. We are very proud of him.
Jared has been busy with UIL also. This year he was a part of the Art Smart Team and placed 5th in District. He had to memorize 40 paintings and their authors plus know how to spell them. He worked on them every night and did great. However, I think next year he is going to try something different. Learning to spell, "Fantasy View with the Pantheon and Other Monuments of Ancient Rome" by Panini was pretty hard and that was only one of the 40! He also won the kids of Character Award for December for his 4th grade class and was on the "A" honor roll this whole semester!
Aaron was also able to do UIL competition in creative writing. He placed 6th in district! However, he didn't get to go to Winters because he was only in the 2nd grade so they write their story and sent it in. His teacher was so proud of him and let him call me from school to tell me the good news. I think he did awesome!
The boys are loving Miles and loving a small community. We love the fact that homework is so much easier out here. They don't have a lot of extra work and their AR points required are much less! They have loved being able to spend time outside and working with Brian on the pump house.
Brian has been working on home improvements around the new house and has just finished the new well house. It will protect it from the weather and keep my water from freezing! Our "town house" in San Angelo still has not sold. We are in need of a God miracle soon. Our loan is due on January 15th and we must have a contract on it before then. We had a contract for a month and a half but it fell through 6 days before closing because they could not get the loan. It was so disappointing! Now we are back to square one and we only have 26 to sell it. I know God can do this! Please, please join us in prayer that a buyer will step forward.
I have been busy with parents gifts, kids crafts and kids gifts to finish off the year at St. Luke. I have a great class this year and it's much easier than last year but, all the stress of the house and finding a new church is making life seem a little harder. I just try to rest in the fact that God will answer our prayers and that we just need to be still and listen. We have tried many churches since leaving Hillcrest and have even been back to Hillcrest a couple of times. I don't know what God has in store for us still but, will continue to seek him. I know he will never leave us or forsake us and that is enough for now. I hope you and your family has a very blessed and wonderful Christmas! We are blessed and I give thanks for my family and my friends! God Bless!

Actual Words

Wow! It's been a while since I sat and wrote actual words on my blog. Lately, I have been living thru pictures because that is all I have time to do. I take pictures, upload them and am off and running again. I knew when Caleb decided to do band and football that our lives were going to get crazy. That statement has been so true but, it's a good crazy. We love chasing him around and getting to spend time with Jared and Aaron while we are chasing. We have been to Christoval, Roby, Menard, Mertzon and Rotan so far. We ditched Albany on Friday night because #1 it's 2 hours away and #2 they are one of the top rated 1A teams and we didn't want to see the blood bath! Instead, we stayed home and had a great time chilling out until Caleb came home at 1:30 a.m.! Ok, we set the alarm and woke up to go and get him. Are you kidding me...who can stay up that late anymore! I figure with a cell phone on him I don't have a worry and set up all night. I can call him anytime I want to make sure he is OK. What did parents ever do before cell phones????? Caleb has only two more home football games on the 22 and then the 5th of November so if you want to see him play drop by. The games start at 5:30 on Thursday nights and are over around 7:30 or so. He marches with the band at home on the 16 and the 30th. The 16th is Homecoming. It should be fun. This next week is homecoming week and the kids get to dress up everyday. Tuesday is PJ day, Wednesday is Blast from the Past (wear retro clothes), Thursday is Nerd Day and Friday is Spirit Day. I will take lots of pictures of the kids dressed up. They are going to be too funny. Jared tells me that he is getting older and is now in 4th grade so he WON'T be doing PJ day because he is too old to wear PJ's to school. However, the same kid has his nerd outfit all picked out for nerd day! I ask you......how can you be too cool for PJ's but REALLY REALLY excited to dress like a nerd????? I think he is too funny!
Well, other than chasing Caleb we have been also battling the swine flu. Aaron came home from school on Monday with it. We went to the doctor on Monday afternoon and they did a flu test on him and it was positive for Type A...........so that meant the H1N1 virus. We declared war on the flu virus right after that and kept Aaron away from everyone and used Lysol and hand sanitizer every time we went in to take care of him. They started him on Tamiflu and we kept fluids and fever medicine in him. All in all, it was pretty mild. His fever was always run down with medicine and his cough was not very bad at all. He didn't have any body aches at all but did have an upset tummy for the first 24 hours. Apparently, that is one of the big signs of
H1N1! We really think that Caleb was sicker with the regular flu last year than Aaron was with the swine flu. So far, no one else has caught it. Caleb had a scare with a sore throat one day but, it was just the cold front that blew through. I was a weird thing. This is the first experience we have ever had where people would not come around us. People are so scared of this flu (and I don't blame them) but it was funny to see how people treated you when you told them you have a sick child at home. They didn't want to hang around you at all! Aaron was out of school from Monday to Friday but was able to go back on Friday. The only rule is now to be fever free for 24 hours. We kept him home an extra day really just to be sure. He loved staying home with Mom and Dad and loved being "home schooled" because his teacher sent all of his work home.
Speaking of school...the boys first report cards are out at Miles. Aaron had all A's including three 99 grades. Jared had all A's and Caleb had all A's except for the C in Math. However, believe me when I say that the "C" in Math is as welcome as the A's are. I was so worried that he was going to flunk. He just doesn't get Algebra and that is what they are doing right now. Have you ever tried to teach a dyslexic child Algebra????? He flips numbers, leaves off signs, and starts to randomly multiply numbers whenever he forgets what to do! It's sooooooooo hard for him! I just hope he is able to pass this year and pass the stinking TAKS test! I can't believe I am already worried about it! Yuck! The boys love Miles though and they are doing so great! Caleb loves going to school and love the extra things he gets to do.
Our "town house" still hasn't sold yet. Please keep it in your prayers. We are getting an extension on the bridge loan and really need it to sell. We have dropped the price like 4 times already. They have a lot of lookers but nobody with $$$'s! It would be driving us totally nuts if we had any control over it whatsoever. However, we know God is in control and we just have to pray and seek Him over it. I know we are were we are suppose to be and we will be patient and wait on Him.
Well, I need to wrap it up. I could go on forever really but, my fingers are cramping! I'll do my best to keep you up to date!

Love to all
JJ

More pictures of the Bulldog Band in Uniform!

Caleb on the move. He is the first row at the bottom right. He is really having fun moving and playing this year.


Caleb and the Bulldog band at competition at San Angelo Stadium this week. It was fun to wach them. I love the hats!!! Hee Hee He is the third one from the left!


Caleb 1st time in this band uniform. This is on Friday night.

The happenings...........

Jared goofing off at the first football game!



Aaron being goofy in the stands at his first Bulldog game.



Here is the sight that awaited us on Friday night as we headed to Roby to see Caleb march with the band on Friday night. The heavens opened up and dumped rain the WHOLE game. We sat in the car for the first 2 quarters and then decided that we didn't have to stay because Caleb and the band were not going to march or play in the rain. So we left and came home instead of induring the down pour. Caleb made it home two hours after us at 12:30 a.m. soaking wet and freezing!



Caleb's first band performance with Miles. The have 28 in the band which is a record number of band members for Miles.



Caleb's first play on defense. You can barely see him. He is playing nosetackle. He is lined up right across from the ball. He made the tackel on the running back on this play. In his words, "I ended up at the bottom of a big dog pile!"



Caleb walking at half time. He got in on three plays during this game. One kick off and two plays on denfense. Coach Wilson said he had planned to play him in the second half but the game was stopped.



Caleb's #73. I didn't get a picture of his face because I thought I would have time later in the game. However, the game was stopped in the 3rd quarter because of lightening and Caleb ran off the field before I snapped a picture of his face.



Caleb's First Junior High Football Game! They are about to run through the sign. He's in the pack somewhere. We were walking up late to the game because the two little ones were getting their homework done.

Football and other things

OK if I don't write this stuff down I know I will forget it. I always want to remember it because it is priceless. Caleb has started playing football this year. He is so funny. I love to hear the stories he comes home telling everyday! Ok on Monday they didn't do much except watch a UIL video on safety and get helmets. UIL requires them to wear helmets for 3 or 4 days before they can put on pads. So Caleb gets his helmet and says, "Mom, you always said I had a big head and really an X-Large helmet doesn't fit right. I guess you were right!". The next day, Tuesday they put on the helmets and worked out. He said, "they just told me to follow the guy in front of me and do what he was doing....I got so dizzy I almost fell down". I don't have a clue what the guy in front was doing but Caleb wasn't understanding it at all. I think they must have been doing drills, grapevines, and such. He said he keep crossing his feet and getting all mixed up. He cracked me up. My consolation to him was that, "Caleb honey you have size 10 1/2 men's feet, you are a big kid, and you are going to play on the line, kids your size DON'T grapevine very easy!" OK so today he comes home from the third practice and can hardly walk. His thighs are killing him! I just laughed and gave him some Motrin! He then reported he is getting better on the drills part and actually did them good today. He also said he got to hit the tackling pad today that a kid was holding up for him. I said well how did it feel. He said, "It was much more cushy than I thought!" He also said he knocked the kid backward so I guess he did OK for his first time hitting anything! I can't wait to see what the future holds for him. I think he may really like football. If not, then at lease he is having fun and meeting people. He also told me, as a wrap up of the day, "we did drills, hit the tackling dummy, learned plays, and THEN they made us run a WHOLE lap on the track! Three people threw up MOM!" I asked if he was one of them, he said no but he did drink 5 gallons of water after that!!!! He cracks me up. I wish you could see him tell about it!
Jared is doing very good after a rough little start. He is playing kick ball on the playground everyday and loves it. He is liking the whole "no homework" for the first week of school. I think he has always had it before.
Aaron is having fun but did get into the nurses office already. With a country school you get massive weeds. Well, the school cut the weeds down before school started but left the huge roots and stalks. Aaron fell right into a clump of dried weed stalks and poked holes all in both knees. He looks like he has a skin disease. He also fell off the seesaw! Oh well, what's a little blood when starting a new school! At least he is having fun!
Well, I'll run for now. More football posts to come! Caleb plays every Thursday night at 5:30 for the next two months starting on the 10th of September. Come check him out! It will be a hoot!

Love to all!
JJ

First Day of School at Miles!

The first day as Bulldogs!