food

Hi it is madi.do you ever think your food is bad. well it is .but it may be gross but it is healthy.if you never eat it you will be weak .maybe cut the candy.

food

Hi it is Madi.

food

Hi it is Madi.

my new one

Hi i am madi i have not done much becuaes i have school .abby is gone so i was lonly for a while but tis girl named abby moved next door so she is my friend now.i have been raeding the direy of a wimpekied.

books

Hi it is Madi .  I like books.  Do you like books.  Books are fun.i have a Book named Fox and Socks.  Do you have Fox and Socks? My sister reads big long chapter books.  What's your favorite book?  My favorite book is Skippy John Jones.

If you were trapped on an island, what book would you have with you?

Thank you Grandma-iPhone

My Sister

Hey all you web bloggers!  My sister...she's about 10 years old.  She's an awesome swimmer.  Soon she'll be in the Olympics.  I'm really excited for her.  My sister...you know how all sisters are.  We fight with one another, but we forgive eachother.  We really get along most of the time.  She gives me all her cool clothes.  She gave me this cool green sweater I am wearing today.   I love my sister.

My Mom

Hi it's me again.  I'm going to tell you about my mom.  She is growing up to be a very good nurse.  Her nursing friends are very nice.  Mom practices on me sometimes.  She puts her medal round thing on my chest and tells me to breathe in and out.  Do you know what that round thing is called?  What does you mom do?  My mom used to work at [a large soul-less corporation] like my dad.  My mom is so cool.  She looks young and beautiful.  My mom makes awesome dinners!

My Dad

I love my dad.  He is very handsome.  What does your dad look like?  My dad like playing games with me.  He is teaching me chess.  My dad sometimes knows everything.  But sometimes he can be koo-koo.   Is your dad crazy too?  What's your dad's favorite drink?  My dad's favorite drink is rootbeer.  What's your dad's favorite food?  My dad's favorite food is steak.  My dad has been to Hawaii.  He used to live in Hawaii.  Now he lives here with me and my mama. 

Madi's Thoughts

To Grandpa:

Hi grandpa, I opened up my piggy bank like you said, but I don't have any money.  Give me a thousand dollars.

I can't wait till you get here.  I can't wait to see bolt.

I helped Lexi by helping her write the word "like."  And I had a good time at my acting.  Dad will post the show and you can watch.

Hi, it's Madi again. At school, I have been doing somethings.  I will tell you if you like.  Anyway...I've been really good.  At math we are learning to add.  We are putting marbles in a cup.  At lunch, the lunch ladies are doing great.  I love the lunch they make.  What type of candy did you get for Halloween.  I got eyeballs and gummies.  My lunch lady was dressed as ketchup.  How are you doing at school?  What subject do you like the best in school?  I like math.

I school I helped Lexi, by helping her with her numbers.  I helped her write them.  I helped Jordon cut his words out.  I like to color.  Do you like to color?  My favorite color is pink and white and blue.  What are your favorite colors?  Do you sleep with a toy?  I sleep with a toy. 

How old are you?  I used to have a fish.  It's name was Dory.  Do you have a pet fish?  I used to have lots and lots of fish.  This one was the only one that lasted a long time.

Madi's Thoughts

Hi, I'm Madi.  i have two gerbils. their names are carmel and Jasmin.  I'm a first grader.  I have lots of work at my school.  I have one sister.  Her name is Hannah.  I have no brothers.  If I had a little baby brother, I would probably call him little Tommy.  I am a good student.  When I grow up, I would like to be a nurse or a vet.  I also like to help other kids with special needs.  I would like you to read my log and see what I have done with kids with special needs.  My friend Lexi is a special needs person.  She was scared to go into the haunted house at school.  I helped her by holding her hand and taking her through.  I have another friend Jordon.  He is hard to understand, but he is still my friend.  I care for him and everyone in my family.

 I have a little problem that I would like you to figure out and write me back.  What these problems are.  I will now tell you these problems.  4 + 100; 2 + 4,000.  These are pretty hard questions.  I have been doing some great things.  I hope you will too.

I have some special needs people in my family.  His name is Paul.  He has autism.  I very much care for him.  I hope he gets better.  I have a new baby in the family.  Her name is Emma Claire. I got to hold her the other day.  She is very cute.  I hope you will send me a picture of your family.  Hope you have a great night.  Christmas is almost coming.  Happy Christmas.  Send me pictures of your presents.  

Scenes from Hawaii

photos of hawaii

Boarding in Shark waters

Michael having too much fun!

A first time for everything

Earthquake

Yes, what you've heard is true. Central Illinios was rocked with a 5.4 earthquake last night. It woke all of us up. The bed was rockin' and I thought Aaron was trying to get frisky. After a few confused comments to each other we realized it was not either of us, a thunderstorm, or a low flying plane.

Madi is convinced her bed flew into the air. She came running into our room a little after 4 am scared out of her wits. Luckily, no damage to the house and I haven't read about any injuries in IL. This is big news for us. I have lived here all of my life and only remember one other very minor earthquake when I was in elementary school.

Nursing School

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers regarding my admission to nursing school. After a long, painful wait, I found out this week that I was admitted to the ADN program at Heartland Community College.

For all of you out there wondering why I am so happy to be going to a community college for nursing school - there were over 200 applicants for 30 seats. You needed to have above a 3 pt GPA and have all of the prerequisites done (Anatomy I & II, Microbiology, Psychology, Chemistry, Nutrition etc.) plus score well on the entrance exam to have a prayer. I was already rejected by Mennonite (ISU's nursing school) where admitted students this year had an average GPA of 3.77 on a 4.0 scale - an all time high. My 3.45 didn't cut it there.

The blessing behind my admission to Heartland is that my two year program will only cost around $4,000. Compare that to around $18,000 for ISU or about $40,000 for U of I. And, although it isn't a Bachelors (BSN), I will be qualified to become a Registered Nurse (RN). So, I guess it's a pretty good deal. If you want to see where I will be going to school - here's a link.

http://www.heartland.edu/hhs/nurs/adn/

Hannah Regional Placement

Hannah did well this weekend in Quincy IL for the regional swim competition. Here's what she swam and where she placed. The time to the left is how fast she swam the event. The time to the right is how many seconds she took off of her best time. She has another year to swim in this bracket so coming in in the top 10 in all these events is great.(yes, she did beat her best 500 by 47 seconds). On March 14th/15th she will go to state as part of 2 relay teams: medley(backstroke) and freestyle.


6:51.16Y Women 10 & Under 500 Free 7 th--- -47.09
39.02Y Women 10 & Under 50 Back 10th --- -0.31
3:03.63Y Women 10 & Under 200 IM 9th --- -1.63
2:36.45YWomen 10 & Under 200 Free 4th --- -1.61
1:11.90Y Women 10 & Under 100 Free 8th --- -2.69

Sad Conversation with Hannah

We were sitting at the table Monday morning having breakfast. I had the Today show on in the background, getting the latest news on the NIU tragedy (my nephew attends there and praise the lord was not involved.) An article came on about Lindsey Lohan posing as Marilyn Monroe.

I asked Hannah, "Do you even know who Marilyn Monroe was?"
"Yeah, she was like the most beautiful woman in the world when she was alive."
"Do you know how she died?"
"No."
"She was so unhappy with her life that she killed herself."
"Oh."
"Do you think that's a good person to be imitating and immortalizing today?"
"No. It's stupid."
"Do you know who Mother Theresa was?"
"No."
"She devoted her entire life to bettering the lives of the poorest of the poor in India. She lived to a ripe old age and died of natural causes. Do you think she was a beautiful person?"
"Yeah."
"Seems like that would be a better choice for a role model and for the cover of a magazine."
"Yeah."

Hannah

I haven't updated you on Hannah for awhile so I thought it was time. I have to get better about taking pictures of this one because she is always on the move!

She is taking piano now and just started the level C book. We all love to hear her play. She also made the honor roll this quarter.

Next weekend is her last chance to improve her swimming times. So far she has made 3 regional times and may go to state as part of her relay team.