Monday, February 25, 2013

Hello everyone!  Just wanted to tell you all that I am really excited for May.  Why you ask?  Because Google is going to release the new Android os (operating system) 5.0, called:  Key Lime Pie, and the new phone to go with it, the Motorola X!  I have a Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet that I have rooted (jailbroken) and currently have on that, Android 4.1, Jelly Bean.  I'm sure that new hacks will be out for me to put Key Lime Pie on my Nook around June.  I can't wait to see what new features Google will show in Key Lime Pie!


And now for the verse of the day:


"Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" Matthew 22:37-39


Have a great night everyone!  God bless you!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Sorry I haven't been on lately!  It was my younger brother 's birthday as well as mine, and we have been very busy!  I wanted to tell you all, for my eleventh birthday, I received, a dirt bike!  And, a new room! I am so blessed by my family!  (Right now, I may sound a little weird, because I am just trying a new thing on my nook, gesture typing!  It takes a little while to get used to)

Since I am on my nook, I will post a link to Bible Gateway. Com.  Here it is:  WWW.biblegateway.com.

Bye Everyone!  Have a great day!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

I'M 11!"Happy Birthday to me, I live in a tree (no I don't) I look like a monkey, (I do not!) and I smell like one too! (absolutely not!)

Here's the verse of the day!


"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:11-12.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Hello everyone!  It's been busy at our house lately.  We have been: painting rooms, switching items from rooms to other rooms, dusting, putting in celling lighting, etc.  This is all about, me, and my brother's birthday!  Tomorrow, is my birthday, and on the 22, is my brother's birthday!  We are all crazy excited!  Well, today I will share the verse of the day, but tomorrow, I won't be on until later - if at all.


Here's the verse of the day!  

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39



Now, before I leave, some of you, might be wondering why this blog, is called, "Play The Keys."  The name means, that I play piano, and like it soooo much, that I named this blog, "Play The Keys."  Buh Bye then!  Have a great day!  God bless you!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Hello everyone!  I finally got around to edit my papers and get them on my blog!  I have three new ones out there.  Oh and by the way,HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Here's the verse of the day!  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

Lovely verse.  Have a nice day!  God bless you!
(2-13-13)  (Here I am again, my indents don't work on blogger...)



Stonewall Farm

Yesterday, we woke up bright and early to get ready to go to Stonewall Farm, to learn about ice harvesting.
Stonewall Farm is in Keene NH.  The drive to there from New Boston took about an hour and seven minutes.  I helped mom set up the new GPS app on her phone, and then, we were on our way.
Finally, when we arrived there, we brought in our backpacks full of snow clothes for later.  Then we came out to get the rest of our stuff.  Guess who we saw then?  Yep, the Riehls.  So, we brought the rest of our stuff into the classroom together, and sat down together.
The teacher cleared her throat and told all of us to quiet down, and take a seat.  When all of the kids did, she started telling us about ice harvesting, and when people did it most, and why.  When that part was over, she introduced us to some of the tools that we would use, to ice harvest.  There was the Pike, for moving the ice, an Ice Saw for cutting the sides of the ice, the Ice Breaker for breaking it off of the bigger mass of ice, and the Ice Tongs for carrying the ice.
When she was finished, she told us to get our snow clothes on, and head outside to start harvesting some ice!  After we used the bathroom, and got our snow stuff on, we headed outside, following the teacher.  When we got to the pond that we were going to harvest on, we got in lines to ice harvest.  I was second to last in the line, the last, being my friend Mitchell.
Finally, when it was my turn, I picked up the Ice Saw, and started cutting.  The teacher also held the saw to help.  After I finished cutting with the saw, I picked up the Ice Breaker, and pushed at the ice block until the block broke off of the bigger mass of ice.  Then, the teacher took the Ice Tongs, and lifted the ice block out of the water.  After that, with the Pike, I pushed the ice up to the Ice Tongs, which were clipped on to the ice, with a string attached to the tongs, to be pulled up, by the ice pulling crew.  When the block was pulled up, I took another pair of Ice Tongs, and picked up the ice block, and weighed it on a scale.  My block was thirty-five pounds, which meant that my block was the third heaviest block out of all the kids.  I tied with one of the other boys, who also had a thirty-five pound block.
That part was fun, but there was more!  We did an experiment, on how sawdust, can insulate ice.  The teacher gave us two cups.  One with no sawdust, one with.  My team, Nathan, Camden, and myself, buried the ice cube the the teacher gave us, into the sawdust.  The other ice cube went into the other cup, with no insulation.  The teacher told us to put the cups on a heater.  After we did, she told us, to go get some snowshoes from the closet if you didn’t bring any, and put them on.  We were going for a snowshoe hike.
After a few frustrating minutes of trying to get my snowshoes on, we left.  Following the teacher, we snowshoed up the driveway, and near a greenhouse, where there was a little field.  The teacher told us to keep following her, as she made a circle of foot prints.  She also made lines of footprints across the circle.  At this point, we still didn’t know what we were playing.  After the playing field was finished, she told us that we were going to play a game of snowshoe line tag.  Sofia, (Mitchell’s younger sister) was “It”.  She was chasing us around for awhile, not being able to tag anyone, until, she got Camden.  After Cam was tagged, he cried and never wanted to come into the circle and play again (he was embarrassed because he didn’t know what to do).
After the game of tag, (and my snowshoe falling off a couple of times) we were ready to hike.  The teacher lead us through the woods.  I was pretty much last in the line because my snowshoe fell off again.  But that didn’t worry me.  I took a shortcut through a little bit of weeds and caught up to them.  Now it was only Eli, who was behind.  We all waited for him for a little while, and finally, he caught up.  We walked back down the driveway, took off our snowshoes, and came into the classroom once more.
We checked on our experiments.  The one in the sawdust, wasn’t as melted as the one in the empty cup. (which was all melted) It proved that sawdust did insulate ice.
I had a most wonderful time at Stonewall Farm, and I can’t wait to go back!
(again, sorry my indents don't show on blogger...)





The Water Project
MCC Church invited us to help raise money for a well in Africa for people who don’t have water, by participating in The Fortress Snowball Effect Water Challenge. (a.k.a. The Water Project)
The Water Project is an organization that helps provide water for the people who really need it.   This particular project, is called, The Snowball Effect.  We decided, that we would try it!  For 2 weeks, we were going to try to drink only water, and the money that we would be spending on other drinks, would go, to The Water Project, to help raise enough, to build a well, in Africa.
My mom received a Water Project kit that had inside, a Snowball Effect Devotional, Water Project bracelets, and a can to collect money in, over the length of the Snowball Effect, which was, 2 weeks.
We would do the Devotional in the morning right before school.  I liked my mom reading about water, and us all looking up, and reading the corresponding verses.  One time, my mom was reading about how many people need water, and how we, just take it for granted.  She told us to count how many things use water, to complete and action.  We had, the dishwasher, washing machine and dryer, three sinks, bathtub and shower, two toilets, and three humidifiers.
One day, the devotional told us to go to The Water Project website, to see a video of what Africa is like with clean water, and without.  When I was watching, I saw how much, people need water to survive.
The devotional had fun activities to do.  My favorite one, was to see how many drops of water could fit on a penny.  We each took turns with a water dropper, dropping water onto the penny.  Are maximum amount was, 11 drops.
After the two weeks of trying to replace water, with as many drinks as we could, The Water Project was over.  We had raised, $40. (but my mom and dad donated another $60, giving us a total of $100)
The day after we had finished, MCC was hosting a celebration at the Manchester Campus.  When we were there, one of the helpers showed us what we were going to do.  She had us put on a top hat, and put a water bottle on top, and try to balance it to the edge of the room, and back, to demonstrate what it would be like to carry water on your head, like the people without water close to them have to do.  I made it to the edge of the room and back, but no one else in my family did. (except for dad, who refused to even try)
The helper gave us a card, and told us that we could trade it in for, a turn in the bounce- house, a drink, a snow cone, or a little cup of candy.  After we did that for a little while, we were all called to sit down and watch a video.  The sound for the video wasn’t working, so, the kids were called to the front to sit down on the floor, to listen to a helper explain about The Water Project.  She told us that we were all an answer to prayer, for doing The Snowball Effect Water Challenge.
Finally, the video sound was working, so we all sat to watch.  When the video had finished, we were aloud to get more cards, to do more things.  My favorite thing that I did there was, I filled a gas jug with dirty water, carried it to a bucket of rags, picked out a rag, dumped it out into another bucket, washed the rag, and hung it up to dry.
After quite a long time, we were getting ready to leave.  I ate my candy and finished my drink, right before we left.  We said, thank you to the  helpers, and left.  It was time to go get dinner.
My favorite part of doing The Fortress Snowball Effect Water Challenge, was reading the devotional, in the morning with my mom and brothers.
(2-7-13)  (Sorry...my indents don't show on blogger...thanks for viewing!)



The Squam Lake Science Center


Yesterday, at 7:20 am, it was time to get up, to get ready to go to up north to the Squam Lake Science Center to learn some new things about birds.
We were up, (except for Logan) and eating breakfast, brushing teeth, getting dressed, and packing backpacks.  At about 8:15, we were all ready to go.  We were driving up north to Holderness.
An hour and a half later, at 9:45, we arrived there.  We walked over to the check-in booth, and my mom, signed us in.  The man who was working at the check-in booth showed us the trail that we needed to walk on, to get to the class building.
We walked quickly on the trail to the building in the very cold air.  When we got to the building, we rushed in, used the restroom, put our backpacks down, and some of us took our coat off.
Before class started, we got to touch bird bones, bird feathers, and look at bird skulls and stuffed birds.  We saw a stuffed Goldfinch, a Tree Swallow, and tree small stuffed Owls.  We also got to watch some (real) fish in a fish tank.  At 10:00 the class started.
The class teacher, Mr. Dave, lead us into the room.  He told us, the basics about birds.  He told us that birds are warm-blooded, have feathers, have beaks, and lay eggs, and that the study of birds is called, Ornithology.  After that, he led us outside to see some bird traps.  In one of the traps, a Chickadee was hopping around, trying to get out.  Of course, the cage door was closed, so it couldn’t get out.  Mr. Dave brought his cotton sack that he put the Chickadee in to bring it into the room.  He asked one of the kids to carry the sack in for him.
When we were back in, Mr. Dave took the sack away, and reached his hand in.  He took the Chickadee out and held it out, for everyone  to see.  He told us that, people band birds to keep track of where they are, and where they have been.  He showed us what a band was.  It was a tiny ring with numbers on it.
Mr. Dave checked if the Chickadee had a band, but he did not.  So, he showed us the band that would be put on him and put it into some pliers.  He picked a kid to put the band on.  That kid, was me!  I felt kind of scared as I took the pliers from Mr. Dave’s hand.  He held the little Chickadee closer to me, to put the band on it’s leg.  He told me to squeeze the pliers, so I did.  And then, I released on the pliers, and the little Chickadee, was banded.
Mr. Dave told us that 1,000,000 (one million) birds get banded a year!  Then, he weighed, and measured the bird.  He asked another kid, to write down, the information about the bird.  Then, Mr. Dave asked another kid to release the bird.  The boy stepped outside, and we all counted to three, and on three, the boy let go, and the Chickadee flew away.
We found two more Chickadees.  One with a band, and one without.  We banded the one without, wrote down the information about them, and let them go.  Cam got to release one of them.
After that, we found a female Downey Woodpecker trapped in one of the cages.  Mr. Dave put her in the the sack, and brought her into the classroom.  Logan banded this one.  After the info was written down, we were getting ready to release her.  Mr. Dave picked a girl to let this one go.  However, that didn’t go so well.  When we were still in the building, she let go by accident.  The bird flew down the hall.  Mom told us to stay, while Mr. Dave and all of the other kids went chasing after it.  Finally, after Mr. Dave caught the bird, he gave it to the girl, and she let it go outside.
Mr. Dave led us back into the classroom, and showed us, the Squam Lake Science Center’s Peregrine Falcon.  He brought it out.  It was standing on Mr. Dave’s gloved hand.  He told us about the falcon.  He told us that is was the fastest kind of bird in the world!  Actually, it’s the fastest animal in the world!
Birds of prey get banded too.  Mr. Dave told us to call or go online if we ever see a banded bird in the future.
Class had ended and we ran back down the path to the van, said bye to the man who worked at the check-in, and got into the van.
I had a great time at the Squam Lake Science Center, and I can’t wait to go back!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

What do you think about the new theme on my blog?  Do you like it?  I have to leave soon for a field trip about ice harvesting!  I thought before I left I should try a new theme!

Here's the verse of the day, from Bible Gateway!


For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16


HOOHOO look at that!  It's John 3:16!  Have a great day everyone!  God bless you!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Hello everyone!  You want to know why I haven't been on my blog lately?  Well, we've had a busy week...and a fun one!  Tomorrow, I will post my paper that I wrote a couple of days ago.

Here is the verse of the day!  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3


Have a good day everyone!  God bless you all!