Book Squirt

Category Archives: For Fun

Happy Birthday, Kristen Jett! (Birthday Scavenger Hunt, Stop #2)

Yes, that’s right, I signed up to help celebrate someone’s birthday.

But that’s because it’s someone very special – the fabulous Kristen Jett! It’s her birthday!

Now that I’ve gotten to use that GIF, on to the fun stuff. 😉

My Favorite Things About Kristen:

  • She’s awesome. Really. Awesome.
  • She’ll talk about pretty much anything.
  • She runs an awesome website with her equally awesome friend, Jolene.
  • Did I mention that she’s awesome?
  • She has threatened to send me books more than once.
  • She is great at giving people advice.
  • She’s awesome.

You know, when I was thinking about writing this post while I was getting ready for bed, I had about thirty things I was going to write down. Now I can’t think of them. *sigh*

Oh well. You’re the best, Kristen. Thank you for being my friend!

 And I hope you have a wooooonderful birthday!

(To be honest, I’m not really sure how you’ll top this when Jolene’s birthday rolls around, but I can’t wait to see it! :D)

Now without further ado, here’s your clue to get to the next stop:

She’s one of a kind and quite the great writer,

She’s first to jump in and help us pull an all nighter.

She’s part of the P&M team (and she rocks),

And the amount of scheduling she does knocks your socks off.

While you’re off searching for your next clue, I’ll be over here having a little dance party by myself. Until you get back, and then we can look ridiculous together. *hugs*

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The Posture Games

Sorry for my absence, everyone, but I’ve had tons of guests staying with us the past couple of weeks and I haven’t made the time to get away to write.

But I had to come back to share this. We were doing this tonight, and it’s been absolutely hysterical.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning To Drive Stick Shift

I was cleaning up the breakroom after dinner one night when Dad came in and told me to hurry.  “If you get that done soon enough, we’ll go out in the field and you can practice driving stick shift.” We’d brought the old truck up to Scottsburg months ago for that, but the field had been too wet every time we checked. “It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so this might be the last time the field is dry enough for a while.”

Jade and Indigo still had dishes to do, but I was done with everything I needed to do. I ran to find Dad and told him “I’m done!”
We went out to the truck and he got in the drivers side. “I’ll drive it out there and you can watch me.” We drove around the front of the building and then went to the higher ground behind it.
“The ground’s not too bad here – if we stay in this high spot, we should be fine. Here’s how this works.”
He explained how to drive with the clutch, and then we switched spots. “Um, tell me how to do this again?” He told me again and I tried to push the clutch all the way down. My foot couldn’t reach that far. I sighed and started feeling around for the lever that moves the seat forward. Dad showed me where it was, and we spent a couple of minutes trying to adjust it properly.
After I’d been driving around for a couple of minutes, stopping and starting (and only stalling twice!), Dad said “Okay, let’s try to go in reverse.”
Now, the truck is very old. It’s older than I am. And the only reason we still have it is so the kids can learn to drive stick shift in our field. So we haven’t taken care of a couple of things – the passenger side mirror is completely gone, and the driver’s side mirror is cracked. Which isn’t a problem when you’re just driving around in a field.
But remember how we needed to stay on the high ground? Right behind me was a slope, leading down to some of the lowest ground in the field. So I was looking all around, trying to see where the slope was. I eventually gave up and decided that I was just going to go for it. It took me a couple of times – I kept stalling because I didn’t want to give it so much gas that we sped right into the low ground.
When I finally got it right, the car wouldn’t move. It wouldn’t move and it wouldn’t move. “Try rocking the car.” Dad showed me how to rock the car and when that didn’t work, we hopped out to see what was wrong.
The tires were sunk three inches deep in mud.
My brothers cam out from the barn and started laughing. “Look – Brett got the truck stuck!”
“It wasn’t my fault – Dad said so. Right, Dad?”
“It wasn’t Brett’s fault. Can you go get me boards?”
The boys dropped off the boards and ran, hoping that Dad wouldn’t send them for more. Thankfully, they’d brought enough for the tire. We jacked it up and put boards under it. But then the other back tire had sunk too much. So Dad called them back and made them get more boards.
Once we had boards under both of them, we tried to move the truck. But the front tires had been standing there for too long – they were sunk in about two inches. The back of the truck moved slightly, but just enough to slide sideways off of the boards.
So I went to get boards for the front of the truck, groaning as I picked them up.
As I walked through the pasture I realized that I’d chosen the path that went right through the freshest straw from the barn. That was great – not only was I having to carry these dirty boards, I was having to walk through a lot of goat poop too!
 
Thankfully, the boys were done with their jobs and had come back, so they got to carry the rest of the boards. Dad put them under the front tires and told the boys to get in the back of the truck to weigh it down. I hopped into the passenger seat and prayed.
After a couple of agonizing seconds, the truck started moving. Dad gunned it and we went barreling across the field, heading for the fire department. Their parking lot wasn’t far from where we’d been stuck. I let out a cheer when the tires hit pavement – I was so glad it was over! I wanted to go home, and everyone was waiting on us.
So – that is the story of how I managed to get stuck on my first time driving a stick shift.

My YPII Video

One day our videographer was out at the farm, and he mentioned to Mom that he was filming a video that still needed two children to star in it, and he thought Emery and I would be perfect for the role.

Even though I don’t really like filming videos, I said I’d do it. I’m glad I did!

Emery and I were given a script to memorize and we worked on it all the time. We had to laugh at some of the stuff we’d be saying, and some of the stuff the other people in the video would be saying.

The day of filming arrived and Dad brought us to the studio. He dropped us off, telling us to call him when we were ready to go.

We knew a couple of the people in the room – Dustin, the videographer, Lincoln, his partner, and Lincoln’s granddaughter, Amiah. We didn’t know the others, but they introduced us. There were two ladies from YPII (the organization), and our “parents” in the video, Kelly and Tyler.

It was a fun afternoon, filled with laughter and donuts. 😀

In between takes I’d run lines with Amiah and Emery. I helped keep track of the props, and made sure Amiah knew what she was doing next. Dustin said at the end that he should hire me to help him. 🙂

A couple of months later, I was so happy to see the finished product!

 

A couple of fun facts:

  • The cards from the scene in the kitchen were green, and we were filming on a green screen. We had to be careful when we were holding them so they wouldn’t turn the same color as the background.
  • The steering wheel wasn’t attached to anything. After a couple of takes, Kelly’s arms were really tired. LOL
  • We had to make up our own ways to make the world a better place. I loved Emery’s. 😀
  • There were no seatbelts for the car scene. So they cut a ratchet strap and gave us each a piece.
  • My family doesn’t play video games. So hearing Emery talk about games was weird.
  • Tyler (the dad) was REALLY tall. And Emery and I are really short. LOL
  • We got to keep our real names, which made it easier.
  • They forgot to get flowers. Someone had to run to the store and get them, and then we pulled half of it out because it looked store bought. 😀

If you’re interested in the box, you can find out more about it here. The folks over at YPII are awesome, and y’all should check out their website. 🙂

Thanks for letting me be in the video, Dustin! I had lots of fun. 🙂

Liebster Award

A week or two ago, I was tagged by Elyse from Let’s Get Writeral, and she gave me the Liebster Award! I’ve never gotten a blog award before, so I was super excited to hear about it.

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Here’s how the Liebster Award works:

1. Tell 11 facts about yourself
2. Answer 11 questions from your tagger
3. Tag 11 people, and give them 11 questions

I sat down thinking, how hard can this be?

Well, it was very hard to come up with 11 facts about myself. It took me quite a while, but I finally thought of all of them.

  1. I can’t drink soda, juice, punch, or lemonade. They’re all too sweet for me, and I hate the bubbles in soda. Even if I’m sick, I can’t drink soda.
  2. I have really tiny feet – I wear a three or four in a kids size, and most woman’s shoes don’t have sizes that fit me.
  3. I read War and Peace when I was fourteen, and actually liked it.
  4. I’m a Disney freak. I’ve seen most of the movies and know all the songs.
  5. I can play both the piano and violin. I haven’t had lessons in years, but I still remember how to play.
  6. I’ve been homeschooled my whole life, and I wouldn’t ever change that. I love all of my homeschooled friends and the crazy things we do.
  7. I will sing anything, anywhere. Well, I don’t like singing in front of people. Something about having an audience scares me. But if no one’s around, I’ll start singing.
  8. I hate makeup. I only use it if Mom forces me to or if we have an interview. Unfortunately for me, we have interviews quite often.
  9. I love being with kids. I volunteer at my local library for their Story Hour, and I miss my kids when Story Hour isn’t in session. They love me, and I love them.
  10. I love the TV show Once Upon A Time. Just ask my siblings. 😀
  11. I spend my days working our family business. It’s a crazy life, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

Now the questions from Elyse:

What was the book that broke your BIG BOOKS fear?
Probably War And Peace. A friend of mine had been talking about it for forever, and he got it for his birthday. A month or two after that he asked me if I wanted to borrow it, saying that he didn’t have time to read it. Well, I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to read one of his books before he did. That never happens! So I borrowed it and read it in a month. No one ever believes me when I say that I’ve read it. LOL

What is the worst nickname you’ve ever had? The best?
I haven’t had very many nicknames. My Mom used to call me Munchkin, when I was under the age of ten. The one that I’ve had since childhood is Squirt, which is why my blog has the name it does. But my favorite nickname I’ve ever had was the one my crew gave me on my Outward Bound trip. They called me Dora, like Dora the Explorer. Their reason? I’m short, I wore a purple shirt, and I had a backpack. I was happy when they called me that. But if anyone else ever tried to call me Dora, I would get upset. I’m weird like that.

Who is your least favorite out of all your characters?
Dan, the bully from Maria’s school. I had so much fun letting Ricardo belittle him. It was awesome.

If you could have any pet in the world, what would it be and why?
I’d probably stick with the pet I have, my cat Ginger. She is the best cat ever, and I love her. 🙂

Do you have a name in any other language? (Sign names count!)
Nope!

Which book out of the last five you read was your favorite?
Oh, I have no idea. I don’t even remember which books were the last five I read!

Would you rather carry a purse, a backpack, or just a wallet?
One of those drawstring backpacks. I love them. I use them until they wear out, and then I get a new one!

Do you draw your characters?
Nope, since I can’t draw at all. I do have a mental image of them though.

What was the funniest thing that happened to you?
I honestly have no idea with this one. With seven younger siblings, there are a lot of funny things happening.

Can you or can you not do a back flip?
I can’t. I have trouble doing a cartwheel – there is no way I’d be able to do a back flip.

High heels, cute flats, or Converse?
None of those. I’ll stick with my sneakers and boots. But not cowboy boots – muck/rain boots or hiking boots. I’m not fancy with my clothes.

 

The people I’m tagging:

Amber from A Day Without Sushi

Breanna from DuskGate.com

Gina from Namaste By Day

Ilana from IlanaWaters.com

Kristen from KristenJett.com

Moni from Moni-Marie.blogspot.com

Murphy from Murphy’s Pub

Patricia from PatriciaLynne.com

Renee from Elsetime and Otherwhen

Skye from Skye’s Scribblings

Tui from Mental Mosaic

 

My questions for the people I tagged:

  1. What are three of your weirdest pet peeves?
  2. What is your favorite song? Do you have one?
  3. Have you ever gone camping? Where?
  4. If you could travel back in time, where and when would you go, and why?
  5. T-shirt and jeans or something fancier?
  6. Coffee, Tea, or Soda?
  7. Sweet or Salty snacks?
  8. Does everything have to be neat and clean for you to be happy, or is a mess ok?
  9. What do you do for a living?
  10. What would your dream job be?
  11. Why did you start your blog?

 

Thanks for tagging me, Elyse!