Zooming Along

Hello! This is Si.
Today I want show you a ramp that my brother, Chris, and I built. It is not the best, but after a lot of trial and error, we finely got it to work.
We first started out with Chris putting a thin piece of wood out for the kids to run their little cars down. Then I got out another piece to make a bigger ramp. Next we went around the house searching for ideal spots to place the ramp. We ended up deciding to nestle it in between the cushions of our living room couch. After several test runs and minor adjustments, it was finally completed. Viv and Sam had so much fun with us. They would run up into the kitchen, climb up on a chair placed by the wall overlooking our living room, and then send their car down the track. Here are some pictures.
Signing off,
Si (and Chris, too :)

Building Igloos

This week we received about four inches of snow so we decided to do some building - igloo building, that is! This is the igloo that Sim and I built.This next igloo was built by Chris and Gabe.


You can see the little addition on the side - this was built for Nate. We made these igloos out of the piles of snow shoveled from our driveway. Because it still wasn't quite enough snow, we shoveled our yard to get what we needed. The day after we built these we got some REALLY cold weather. It's amazing though, inside the igloos it is quite a bit warmer!

My Lincoln Log Fort

This is an overall view of Boonesburrow, my fort. The blue is supposed to represent a small stream running through the settlement. And there is alot more behind the tower.

This is the view out the front door.

And this is the gateway to the open prairie.

Happy Birthday, Si!

Wishing you a very happy birthday, Si! We are so thankful that the Lord has brought you into our lives. You bring much excitement, conversation, and joy to our family. With all our love,

The Captain, Maria, and the rest of the von Seven

Lego Land Continues

When we first started building the Lego sets, we had Lego pieces all over the family room floor.

We enjoyed building the Legos so much that I think it is even more fun to build them than to play with them (although that is a lot of fun, too!).

Gospel Coins

Today I would like to share with you about gospel coins. Gospel coins are about the size of a silver dollar and they look a lot like one, too. On them are written Bible verses such as John 3:16 or, it might say, “WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY?” Some of them have a cross behind a flag and around it it says, “Thousands died for my freedom... One died for my soul.” They also have gospel coins in Spanish. The purpose of gospel coins is to give them to people, or put them in places where they might find them. Personally, I have put them in places where people could find them. Once I balanced one on a parking meter in Dubuque, Iowa. One time I even put one on the floor in the library foyer when we arrived and when we left, it was gone. Another time, I was in the fabric store with my mom and put one on a shelf. As we went around the corner, a lady approached the shelf and we heard her say, “What is this?” The thing that is really neat about gospel coins is that they attract people’s attention and so they are a great way to tell people about Jesus. God Bless! Si

The Count Down Is On!

Hi, this is Si! I'm so excited because today, April 16th is exactly 1 month away from May 16th which is the opening day for the new Narnia movie, Prince Caspian.

This is the poster picture from the movie. I can hardly wait!

In Memory

We are sorry that there haven't been any new posts but this past month we have been very busy. I have been visiting my out-of-town grandparents and they have been visiting us. Of course we have also been busy with school but the most difficult thing of all is that our lovable puppy dog, Toby has died. On Monday, February 25th, our Toby was hit by a car and immediately died. The day that we got Toby was on August 25th and just the other day I realized that we had had him for exactly 6 months. For me, those 6 months were the best of my life. We all loved him very much and miss him very much. We are thankful that God brings us comfort even in the midst of heartbreaking circumstances.

We've Been Tagged!

We have been tagged by Miss Rebecca, one of our blogger friends. Part of the game is to give six random facts about ourselves. We thought we would give one for each of us.
No. 1 walks the dog while riding her bike in 6 inches of snow,
No. 2 taught himself how to knit with orange yarn and 2 pens,
No. 3 has seen President Bush in person,
No. 4 loves to sing boisterously,
No. 5 insists that the only way she will eat toast is if it is burnt,
and No. 6 prays every day that her hair will grow long!

Winter Fortress

About two days ago I started to make a a snow fort. It started with just a tunnel that led out into the open air on top of the snow, piling snow balls on top to make a tower. Then, on Saturday, Sim, Gabe, Nate, Chris, and I built two more walls, and started to make two more towers and another wall. I was hoping to work on it some more today, but then it started raining.

Signing off, Si.

We Miss You, Daddy!

Right now our daddy is in a warm tropical region attending a church conference. The weather on the tropical island is sunny and hot; about 85 degrees. Boy, does that ever sound nice! Some of us wish we were there with him because right here, it's like Antartica! The high today is 12 degrees and the low for this evening will be 0 degrees!

We love you, daddy and miss you very much. We are counting the days until you get back!

The Results Are In!

Hello! Si, here.
Today I am bloging about my most recent survey on the greatest modern invention.
The results are in! The winner is:
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT BULB with 12 votes!

Next was the AUTOMOBILE with 6 votes.
Third, was the TELEPHONE with 5 votes.
Fourth place goes to the COMPUTER with 5 votes.
And last, but not least, the AIRPLANEwith 4 votes.
Thank you all for your participation in this survey!
Until next time, Si.

Greatest Invention Survey

This week in math, I have another survey assignment. Because my mom brought me home books from the library on inventions, I thought I would make my survey on the greatest modern invention. Please leave me your comments on which you think is the greatest. At the end of the week, I will give the results!

1) airplane

2) automobile

3) computer

4) telephone

5) electric light

6) other

Survey Says...

Last Friday in Math I was learning about taking surveys. My assignment for the weekend was to survey people on their favorite movie. Since we had a reception at church yesterday for Mr. and Mrs. Tim, it was the perfect time to get a lot of people's response. The results are in:

Facing the Giants won with a whopping 22 votes!

I'll tell you the rest of the movies and how many people voted for them:

The Chronicles of Narnia = 7 votes

The Sound of Music = 6

The Passion of Christ = 5

Princess Bride = 5

Fiddler on the Roof = 5

Pride and Prejudice = 2

Chariots of Fire = 1 (my good friend, Ike's favorite!)

Other = 7

If you didn't get a chance to vote on Sunday but would like to, leave me a note in the comments.

Baking Cookies

Yesterday Hanna and I made some cookies; she made chocolate chip and I made oatmeal scotchies. My sisters were watching Little Women and, I have to confess, half the time I was mixing the dough I was also watching the show. Mommy was a little worried that I would forget something, but in the end the cookies turned out pretty well (except for one batch that cooked a little too long :( Anyway, which kind of cookie is your favorite? Chocolate chip or oatmeal scotchie? Si

The Great Pumpkin

Yesterday we went on a field trip to an Amish community. They had a humongous pumpkin patch that has a corn maze and two mazes made out of hay bales. They also had a small petting zoo with pot bellied pigs, loop eared rabbits, regular rabbits, ducks, turkeys, and a whole bunch of varieties of chickens. Some of the chickens were very unique - several of them had feathers on their legs and feet. They looked really funny - not at all like the chickens we are used to. I collected 18 feathers and am planning on making a headdress out of them. At this farm they had lots of squash and pumpkins for sale. They grow all different kinds of varieties of pumpkins; green ones, gray ones, white ones, and even the traditional orange. Some were little, some big, some round, and some flat. They even had one pumpkin that weighed 440 pounds! I bought some gourds and a small pumpkin, along with some Indian corn to decorate our table. Mom bought a Jarrahdale pumpkin to make pie with - until she does, I get to use it with my other decorations. After that, we went to an Amish grocery store. It was so cool. They had all kinds of things there. Sim, Gabe, Nate, and I loved the knives. They also had two different sizes of double barreled rifles that were lighters. When we were leaving the store, we saw lots of Amish children on little carts drawn by horses. Because it was 3:30, we supposed that they were going home from school. I waved and said "Hi" to each one that passed.
So long for now, Si