Thursday, November 3, 2016

Autobiographies of the first 12 years

Both boys have written autobiographies for English class.  Here's what they wrote:

COLBY:
Usually, an autobiography starts when the person was born. But not me! I start before I was born. SO, now that you know how this is going to start, let us begin.

Let me set the scene. There was me, in the dark, trapped in that tiny space known as the womb. But there was something different in that little space. Usually, people will tell you how they were all alone in the womb, but not me. I was a twin. "Oh." I hear you saying, "then that makes it better." Well, let me tell you first hand it doesn't. Remember how I said it was cramped? Well, having a twin makes it two times worse. I have FOOTAGE of me getting kicked around by that annoying little brat.  Wait!  Who is the "annoying little brat?" Well, that person is my twin/brother. His name is Quinn. 

"But how is he 'little,' if he's your identical twin?"

Technically, I am 5 minutes older than him, but that is not the point. Quinn was annoying even before he was born; he would take my food,kick me around, etc. But right as I was born, I decided to turn the tables and started hitting him in the face.

After that, I grew up and got some hobbies. One of the most memorable was video games.

December 25, 2010 (something along those lines), 1 am, yep, 1 am. I woke up and ran as fast as those little legs could take me.  I slammed open the door so hard it nearly broke. But, hey it was Christmas.  I ran down the stairs making booms as I ran. Boom! Boom! Boom!
In fact, it was so loud that it woke up my mom sleeping downstairs.  We will get to that later. My little kid self nearly broke the sound barrier  running into the living room, and there it was. A Wii.  

"A Wii!?!?!?!" little, tiny me screamed.  My scream of excitement woke everybody in the whole house. Then my mom walked up next to me and very groggily said "tell me, Colby, why are you up at 1 am in the morning?"

"Wait," I asked, "It is 1 am in the morning?"

 "Yes."

 "Huh, the more you know." So she let me sleep with her and said go to bed, but I said "are you serious?" She sighed and mumbled to herself, "Welp, I am certainly not going to sleep for a long, long time."  Yes, I agreed.  Not until you let me play that Wii.  Then we made a deal.  I would wait in her bed until 5 am, then I could wake everybody up. But I would never go to sleep during that period.

Okay, enough about video games (for now).  Let's talk about animation.

So, my teacher makes us write in our journal, and we have to write about our passion, and I am thinking  "Hmm, what should be my passion?  Hmm, I wonder what my logo says ( no, not the old one)? Hmm..."  Thus I pick animation. Let me tell you before you go running off to buy an expensive animation program; IT IS HARD. Not only that, it is time-consuming. It takes about 5 hours for a 1-minute clip by yourself. Oh, and by the way, if you do buy that "really expensive animation program" you will probably think "why the heck did I buy this?  This is a waste of my money."   But I have been naming off the bad stuff.   There is a lot of good stuff about it. It helps me to relax, and when you finish your animation, it feels rewarding. But most of all IT IS FUN.


Let's talk about pets.

Over the years (which is not many) I had five dogs that I can remember.

Their names were Gunner, Morgan, Fergie, Sammy, and Blue. I'm going to talk a little bit about them all.

Morgan:
By FAR Morgan was the bravest. She would protect you from anything. From criminals to dogs to even wolves, she was there to protect.  She had her own home behind the sauna. On the day of her death, she made a hole under the house and died.

Fergie:
Fergie was playful. I think Fergie was dad's favorite dog. She liked to play catch with the football. She liked to hide under the covers in the bed so nobody could find her.  She was a great dog.  When she died, we made a memorial for her and buried her, with a sign to remind us of that great dog.

Gunner:
Gunner is my current dog. Gunner is smart, in a mischevious sort of way. He is also a "playful, but rough" kind of dog.  He plays "catch me," which is a game where he runs around, and you have to catch him.  He jukes you out, and when you try to find him, he jumps right over your arm.

Sammy:
I never really knew Sammy, his death was unknown, and I don't remember him that much. But what I do know is that he was WILD, but not in a bad way. I remember that Sammy was alive when Morgan was around. And those two would play a lot.

Blue:
I don't remember Blue at all; I was tiny at the time. 
I don't even know Blue's gender.  But what I do know is that Blue was an excellent dog and that I THINK he was a beagle, so you know he was a great dog.

So, now you know a little bit about my life. But that is not even close to all of my life. I haven't even told you how I make music and post on Youtube and Soundcloud, or how I make video games, or even how I went to MEXICO! But I will tell you life is great so far. And I hope it will stay that way forever.


FROM QUINN:

Autobiography



            Welcome to my autobiography, where I will tell you about my life!  Even though I’m in 7th grade!   We’ll talk about where I live, to where I’ve been!  First, I will talk about my passion and then I will go on from there.            
            I am passionate about music, because I just like everything about it; from writing it, to playing it, and even listening to it! It's what motivates me, and helps me concentrate.   My favorite types of music are dance, EDM, and electronic.  I really like MUSIC!                                           

I also play three instruments: trumpet, keyboard/piano, and mandolin.  What I do in my spare time is make music on my phone and post it online. I post my music on a website called Soundcloud, which is a site where you can listen to music, like itunes.  My profile is called MrOpaze and I have currently made 16 songs!

 I currently have two pets. One of them is a dog named Gunner, and I know what you're thinking. You think since his name is Gunner,  he is a big ferocious dog with lots of teeth and will attack you at any moment.  Well, you would be wrong… besides the ferocious part! He is actually a small, energy-filled 100% Jack Russell Terrier puppy, and  trust me he is ferocious!   When he bites on my pant leg, he won’t let go! He is a cute little monster! The second pet I have is a fish that has lived for a whopping 7 years so far! I’m not sure what type of fish he is because we got him so long ago, but what I do know is that he is a determined fish.  My fish is orange, but he used to be black.  I don’t know if it is a natural thing or not, but I think I might know why: one day my sister put a perfume bottle over the fish tank, and I think you know what's next… she dropped it in the fish tank! And it is still alive. Those are my pets.
I've been to a lot of places;  Hawaii, Mexico, Florida, Honduras, Belize, the Cayman Islands,  Canada, and many more! One of my favorite vacations I’ve ever been on was the cruise.  It was a cruise that went from Florida to Mexico.  We didn't need a passport, because we started in Florida and ended in Florida. This was four years ago, but I remember that I was in a bus with my with my cousins heading to the docking bay, but once I got there, they wouldn't let me in! They didn't let me in because I didn't have my birth certificate, but my mom had it and she was on a different bus! I had to sit there in front of the door while a guard watched me! It was a mess! But eventually she came, and I got in.  Once I took a step in the boat, I was amazed. It was super fancy.  The cruise was called Carnival, and it was like everything was made of glass and I thought it was going to break!

I have four family members.  Their names are Reagan, Colby, Monica and Rob.  Monica and Rob are my parents.  Reagan is my little annoying sister.  Colby is my twin.  We are of Finnish descent and we go on a lot of vacations as I mentioned before.  We live in Chassell. 

Since I’m only 7th grade, I know this autobiography is not over yet.  There are a lot of things in store for me.  I hope you like my autobiography.

THE END!!



 









           







           

           










Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Dinner Conversation

Quinn was pouring himself a glass of cranberry juice at dinner tonight.  Everyone was watching, waiting for the inevitable spill.

Colby: "Don't spill.  If you do, they'll send you to the orphanage."
Quinn: "Geez, people!  So much pressure! You're all staring at me!   REALLY?"
Quinn poured.  Quinn spilled.
Colby: "ORPHANGE!"
Quinn: "They wouldn't ever send me to an orphanage."
Colby: "I remember the time I made a plan to run away."
Mom and Dad: "You did?"
Colby: "Yes.  I wrote it down and everything.  I was going to run away, and then stop at grandma and grandpa's house for food and money for a few days, until you noticed I was gone."
Mom: "You think it would take a few days for us to notice you were gone?"
Colby: "Yeah.  You'd see Quinn around, and think it was me and I'd have a few days.  Then you'd call the cops, and I would set out from grandma and grandpa's house."
Dad: "And where were you planning on going?"
Colby: "I don't remember that part.  I would just take the money they gave me for transportation and food.  I wrote it all down."
Mom: "HMMMMM.  And what was so terrible in your life that you wanted to run away?"
Colby: "It was a few years ago, when I accidentally broke the window at school.  That was the worst day of my life."


Glad he didn't run away.  But does he REALLY think we'd notice if he wasn't here??? 



Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Smart Aleck

Putting the boys to bed tonight, I gave Quinn a kiss on the forehead.

"I love you, buddy" I said.

"And I have strong regard for you as well, Mother". 


Sunday, September 4, 2016

Loopholes

Quinn: "Mom, you are the queen of loopholes."
Mom: "No I'm not!"
Quinn: "YES!  I come to you and ask if you can get electronics out of the safe, and you tell me 'go clean your room'.  I go clean my room, and come back and you say 'I never said I would get it out, I just told you to clean your room!'"
Mom: "True.  I cannot be held responsible for your assumptions."
Quinn: "That's a loophole."
Mom: "No.  That's precise wording."



Quintessential Quinn

This is how Quinn spent much of his summer - notebook on lap, tapping out a melody on the keyboard he bought with his birthday money.  Both boys are big into composing these days.  Obsessed really, which is nice because it gives Mom a "carrot" to hold over their heads to get chores done.  No music making until the dishwasher is emptied.  Which is a warped way of looking at things, but from a Mother's perspective... brutally honest. 

They're good, these boys.  They both have good ears, and creative ideas.  Quinn has switched from wanting to be a geologist to a music composer when he grows up.  Colby still wants to be a software engineer, but design, illustrate, and produce music for his own video games.  Soup to nuts, so to speak.  We will see.  We will see.


Saturday, September 3, 2016

She's Going To Blow

Conversation in the car on the way home tonight.  Reagan was pouting because she wanted to stay at grandma's house and play with a friend instead of going home.  It was 8:30 pm... bedtime. 

Reagan: "PLEEEEEEASEEEEEE Mom!  I really want to play with her!"
Mom: "Reagan, this conversation is over.  I gave you my answer.  We're going home."
Reagan: "But PLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEAAAAASEEE? ((whine whine whine))"
Quinn, putting his hand on  my shoulder from the back seat.  "It's okay, Mom.  Calm down.  Don't blow."
Mom: "I am calm!  I didn't blow up.  I didn't say anything!"
Quinn: "But you were about to.  I can totally tell when you're about to blow.  Reagan, you need to be quiet, because Mom is on the verge of blowing."
Mom: "How do you know that?"
Colby: "Because you're making your 'annoyed' face." 
Without even looking in a mirror, I can tell you... I most assuredly was making an annoyed face. 
Quinn: "I can totally read you, Mom, just like I can read Colby.  Like, for example, if I say 'Mom' too much, you blow.  Like the 10th time I say it... watch out.  You yell."
Colby: "And the 2nd time you ask us to do something.  You freak out."
Mom: "It's more like the 12th time I ask you to do something, but you ignore the first 11 times.  Then I blow."
Quinn:  "That's because Reagan keeps the t.v. up too loud."   (editor's note:  [[eye roll]])
Mom: "Well, Quinn, I would like you to teach Reagan that very valuable skill.  Teach her to read my cues and not push me to the point of blowing."
Colby: "Sometimes I do things just to see you lose it."   Thanks, Colby.

If they know what annoys me so well, why do they keep doing it???


Thursday, August 11, 2016

12 Year Old Well Child Stats: For the Record Book

At 12 years of age, the boys have the following stats:

Colby: height 5'0.25"  weight 77 pounds    BMI 14.99  (19th% for weight, 66th% for height, BMI in 5th%)
Quinn: height 5'.5"      weight 83 pounds    BMI 15.94  (32nd% for weight, 73rd% for height, BMI in 16th%)

Apparently, there's not a lot of good data out there about one kidney and football, so the doctor said if the boys wanted to play - go ahead.  With appropriate padding.  I guess we let them snowboard and ride a 4 wheeler, so... those are just as dangerous.  And they play all these sports with only one brain and we're fine with THAT, so I shouldn't be worried, right????  Something about football though.  Makes me nervous.  But the physical form has been sign, the shoes have been bought, and my beanpole 5th% BMI boys are all excited to tackle and be tackled. 

So be it.  Bring on 7th grade.