Aurora's Awesome Adventures
Thursday, January 19, 2012
open mouth, insert foot
Friday, December 23, 2011
nearly Christmas!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
a short wish list
- things for my head, like hats, headbands from LizzieBee (I really like the new silver, gold & white ones!), or flower clips
- some sort of rainbow decoration for my room, either like, six origami cranes (like, one each of roygbp) or maybe a pennant banner
- jewelry (I don't have my ears pierced yet but I like wearing necklaces & bracelets (& I hope to get my ears pierced soon))
- gauntlet/arm warmers (t-shirt type material)
- apples to apples (in my size)
- Elephant Calico Critters
- art books (like, drawing technique, or watercolor)
- a rainbow (roygbp) afghan
- a rainbow quilt (roygbp too)
- handmade things and art!
I think I'm doing something wrong: blogspot help?
Sunday, December 4, 2011
tagged for Christmas meme
Aurora: so many baked goods!
Aedon: time off school
Xander: getting to see family
2) Who do you celebrate Christmas with?
Aurora: my grandmother, and other family come over for dinner
Aedon: sometimes we stay in the states, sometimes we go to England, so it depends
Xander: my parents, my brother and I go visiting my grandparents.
3) What is your favorite gift you have ever received?
Aurora: my drafting table
Aedon: my american girl dolls
Xander: a racing video game
4) What are your favorite Christmas Carols?
Aurora: We Three Kings
Aedon: Partridge in a Pear Tree, particularly how silly people get with five goooooolden rings, and then they can't remember all the verses and start making things up
Xander: In The Bleak Mid-Winter
5) What is your favorite Christmas food?
Aurora: all the baked goods! and also jellied cranberry sauce
Aedon: ham!
Xander: Christmas cake
6) Can you sleep on Christmas Eve?
Aurora: My grandmother and I exchange gifts on Christmas Eve and stay up late wrapping everyone else's, so by the time I get into bed (in my new jammies) I'm normally really ready to sleep.
Aedon: I never believed in Santa, so it's not like I stay up trying to listen for him or anything. We don't even have a fireplace.
Xander: no, but I get up at 5am on Christmas Day!
7) When do you wake up on Christmas morning?
Aurora: I normally get up around 9 or 10 to carry the gifts down and put them under the tree, and to help Grandma start the cooking.
Aedon: Normally around 8 because the kitties never let me sleep much later because they want to be fed.
Xander: oh, I answered that already, whoops!
8) What is your most memorable memory?
Aurora: I once burned the rolls I was making and set off the fire alarm :(
Aedon: the one time it actually snowed on Christmas
Xander: opening presents at my grandmother's house
9) What are you Christmas traditions?
Aurora: we always make a bunch of these cookies that the recipe is from my grandma's grandma's cookbook. and like I sad, Grandma and me exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, after we get home from church services.
Aedon: my parents and I trade gifts on Christmas Eve too.
Xander: watching the Queen's Speech before we open our presents
10) Do you have a real tree or an artificial tree?
Aurora: a really fake tree, like, super fake silver tinsel
Aedon: a fake tree, but it looks real. we have to have a fake tree because otherwise the kitties climb and eat it.
Xander: a real tree. every year we get a real tree, and my father tries to plant it in the yard, and every year it dies.
Tagging:
Friday, December 2, 2011
cleaning for holiday party
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
meh
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
etsy treasury: autumn looks
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
whether weather
Monday, August 15, 2011
Alejandro and preparing to go back to school
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
new dolls and old lovies
Thursday, July 14, 2011
my new green corset
Sunday, July 10, 2011
fireworks and memes
There have been a fair amount of trips too, sometimes for the whole weekend, sometimes just for a day. This weekend we want to a carnival, last night they had an 'all you can ride one price' night, you just had to buy bracelets and show the people the bracelets to get on the rides. The carnival breaks down on Sundays though, so that it can move on and be somewhere else tomorrow, so today is just a lazy day, which is good because after so many trips in a row, it seems like we've a lot of wash to do (I'm old enough to do my own laundry).
My online-friend, Sabine gave me the idea to do a meme, so I figured that while I was waiting on that load to finish before I could hang it up. I'll get a few of the others to answer, too - we'll do a short one since multiple of us doing it will make it seem much longer for anyone reading it.
1) Name/Nickname:
Aurora
Aedon
Xander
December/Ember
2) From:
Aurora: Pennsylvania
Aedon: Pennsylvania/England
Xander: Colchester, England
Ember: Oregon
3) Age/Grade:
Aurora: 11, 6th
Aedon: 10, 5th
Xander: 12, we've a different grading system in the UK, I'm in year 8
Ember: 11, our schooling co-op doesn't really have formalized grades
4) Hair/Eye Color:
Aurora: warm medium brown, brown
Aedon: dark brown, dark brown
Xander: brown, hazel/brown
Ember: brown, hazel-brown
5) Family/Siblings:
Aurora: only child, mom, grandmom
Aedon: only child, mum, & two dads
Xander: younger brother, mum, dad
Ember: an older brother, a younger sister, mom & dad
6) Religious Affiliation:
Aurora: nothing really, though I do to church with my grandmom
Aedon: Atheist
Xander: CoE
Ember: eclectic neo-pagan, a bit toward the secular side
7) Pets:
Aurora: two dogs, Omicron and Epsilon
Aedon: three cats- Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Bach
Xander: none
Ember: a few fish
8) Special Talent/Know For:
Aurora: artsy stuff!
Aedon: music stuff, the blowing stuff up kind of science!
Xander: violin, piano
Ember: being unflinching in the face of frogs, bugs, and other things of that nature
9) Favorite Color:
Aurora: bright secondary colors
Aedon: black, fuscshia, and red
Xander: red
Ember: pink
10) Favorite Food:
Aurora: mm, spaghetti
Aedon: grilled cheese
Xander: chocolate
Ember: tomatoes and peaches
Monday, June 20, 2011
summer starts
argh, such a bad photo, I know. It's just so bright and hot out! It seems like we went from a reasonably chilly and exceptionally wet Spring right smack into Summer in full tilt! After lunch, Iona and Mili went for a walk to get some frozen treats, and brought me one back, too. Aww <3
The last week of school was pretty hectic - Aedon and Myfanwy had chorus/choir concerts, Aedon, Xander, Song had band/orchestra concerts, I stayed after school a few days helping the art teacher tidy up the room, and brought home oodles of supplies, too! - but now that most of us are out, it's pretty boring. Not all of us signed up for camps or activities, so a fair portion of us have just been sitting around wasting time. Aedon keeps IMing me links to lolcats. That sort of thing.
What's everyone else doing for the summer?
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Spritely Moon purse
You can find Spritely Moon on FaceBook at the link above or at their website: http://www.spritelymoon.com
For those curious, Victoria would like me to add that, as for the rest of her ensemble:
- the white puffed sleeve top is from Camelot Treasures,
- the black flared skirt is from Suzy M Studio,
- the black vest and black sling-back kitten heels are authentic American Girl.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Memorial Day plans?
We always use this time for a combination of yard work, picnics and day trips, so when the non-Americans in our group asked us what was Memorial day about, a bunch of us largely chimed in with things like cook-outs with hamburgers, some of us who've lived close enough to the shore said going to the beach, the first time the pools open for the summer season, things like that. I knew that wasn't why the day existed though (because it would be called Grillin' Day if it were, not Memorial Day, right?) so we looked it up. It's to honor all the Americans who have died in all of our wars. Victoria said that sounded a lot like their Remembrance Day (you know, except not Americans then).
Yesterday after school we went grocery shopping for things for the weekend, and in the evening after it had cooled down some, we did some yardwork. This morning we did some more yardwork (we've a big yard!) and right now we're inside cooling off again and having lunch. Then we're heading to the Mütter Museum for the afternoon, and having dinner in the city, which is neat because there's more different kinds of food to choose from than out in the middle of no where, where we live. Tomorrow we're going to go to the beach - it's a pretty far drive for us so that'll be most of the day, so we've no other plans. Monday we're staying home and having a cook-out party, that a bunch of friends are coming over for, which is why we've been doing so much yard work!
The weather is funny, it went from kinda cold and rainy, to really hot pretty quick, so we've been working in our bathingsuits so that we can take breaks and hose off or run around in the sprinkler. I'm afraid to take my camera out and take photos with the water going, but here's a photo Fin took earlier or Aedon, Joy, and Joy's little sister Grace, cooling off in the sprinkler.
Do you have any plans for this weekend?
Thursday, May 19, 2011
rainy day packages
After we were done our homework, Fin said that we had some packages. They were some clothing that she'd bought for us, so of course we had to go and put things on and take photos. They're not great photos because Fin said it was "too wet for that nonsense" but that we could do it ourselves if we needed it done right then, but that if we wanted better photos later, she'd do it the next day it was reasonably dry. heh, so we waited until it was just drizzling, and quick ran out and took photos all ninja like. I took the one of Song, Song took the one of Joy, and Joy took the one of me.
Song is wearing a babydoll top made by PattiKuz and knit capris by DollCloset. Her hat and boat shoes are AG brand.
Joy is wearing a puffed sleeve tee by Katie J. Designs and a shift dress by MissSissy. Her hat and flip-flops are AG brand. Her necklace was made by Lizziebee Designs.
Me! I'm wearing a puffed sleeve tee also by Katie J Designs, a patchwork skirt made for me by PattiKutz, and a crochet shrug from Lavenderlore. Fin made m necklace, and both my hat and shoes are AG brand.
Around this time of year, and around then again in August or September is when we usually get some new things (summer outgrown stuff now, and then nicer/warmer stuff at the start of school - though of course people always seem to get a few things around the holidays as well). Have you gotten anything new lately?
Sunday, May 15, 2011
dry spell
Is there anything that if you suddenly couldn't stop doing, you'd feel less like you? I asked some of the others here that, and this is what they said:
Llinos: write code
Zora: dance
Xander: play violin
Joy: bake
Aedon: read
Joy said when she has trouble baking, like if things keep messing up, that she'll make a recipe that she knows by heart, and try to make something completely different out of it; she said that's how she turned oatmeal cookies into the cranberry granola that Riley's so crazy about, so maybe I could take a medium I know and do something really different with it-- but I can't think of any way to do that! Llinos said that sometimes if she's come to a rough spot where she can't make any code, she goes for a walk to clear her head. I've been walking so much this week! I even went out jogging with Niamh and Riley a few times. Zora said that if she doesn't feel like dancing, that sometimes it's because she's tired, so she listens to bouncy music that'll make her feel like getting up again. There was an artist who was really into combining music and art, named Kadinksy, but he was an abstract painter, and that's not really my thing.
I'll brainstorm some ideas, I guess, but if you have any ideas, feel free to suggest them!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
new post, but no new pictures
See, I'm so visual, I feel like each post must have at *the vey least* one photo, and so if I can't get out and take photos, or have photos taken of me, I feel like I can't really post, because no one'll be interested in just me talking. For awhile I couldn't find my micro-USB to upload photos off my camera, and also it's off and on been really windy and/or rainy, and really, not a whole lot has been going on.
But the other girls said that that's not really true that people only want to read things with pictures, and also that they'll help me out with writing more, too, if I'd want. I think that sounds like a great idea, and we're coming up with some sort of rota with them brainstorming what they'll post. Song and Xander thought maybe they might post music, and Mili thought maybe she'll write a story she can post as serial, or maybe just review her favorite books. The others are still thinking, though, but it got me all excited!
I also figured that I could probably draw sometimes and show you that, but I'd have to ask Fin to get the scanner hooked up to this machine again. If I drew something to post, what would you like me to draw?
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Happy Spring!
I've never celebrated Spring before. I mean, I guess everyone sorta celebrates it, they acknowledge that winter is over, the days are now equal with the nights and will soon be longer. They move their clocks back. But I've never really celebrated it before.
Ember is Pagan and celebrates the seasons, and invited those that wanted to to celebrate with her. She was careful to point out that not all Pagans do the same things to celebrate, just like different Christian families have different traditions for their holidays, and so that what we did with her today wouldn't be necessarily what other Pagans did. She said that her family didn't always even do exactly the same thing year to year, and that this year we were going to do something a bit different.
She said that she doesn't do so much "woo woo magic" type stuff, that for her personally, that the scientific aspects of nature was the focus of her belief. It's a lunar holiday, and this year there was something called a "super moon", which Ember explained was when the full (in this case) or new moon happens at the same time when the moon is really close to the earth making it seem really big and low. She said the next time that happens won't be until 2016! In order to see it, we got to camp outside in the back yard, and we didn't have a bedtime! It has been warming up lately, but it was definitely pretty chilly, even with a bunch of girls stuffed into a little tent. Good thing that we had a small campfire to keep us warmer!
I woke up when Ember shifted out of the tent around 7am. I think she must've had a tiny alarm set or something because all of the other girls were out cold. I didn't get up until she left the tent though, and even then I stayed in my sleepbag and just watched, since I wasn't sure if she'd wanted to be alone. She relit the fire, and sat in front of it, writing in what looked like a journal. She tore the page out, stuck it on a stick, and put it into the fire until it had all burned up. She sat there for awhile, but I think I must've fallen back to sleep. I asked her about it later though and she said that she'd written down some things she wanted to start doing.
I woke back up again later, must've been closer to 9, when I heard the back door close, and Ember was carrying a big tray, so I rushed out to help her. She'd made us scrambled egg wraps, which is sort of like an omelette in whole wheat tortilla. Aedon and I had ham and cheese and Riley and Ember just had asparagus and mushrooms in theirs since they don't eat meat. Ember said that eggs, spring greens, and ham were all fairly traditional foods to eat for Spring celebrations. After we were done eating we packed up everything but the tent (because an adult had to break it down so that it could fit in it's case) and went back inside the house.
We made flowers from pipe cleaners and crepe and tissue paper, and little paper cones to hold them to give others, and after we had lunch, we went to a nearby park for a walk. On the walk Ember told us some of the things that her family had done in previous years, like egg hunts and egg races, but she said she thought she was a bit old for things like that. She said that one year her family stayed with another family who owned a non-working farm with a lot of land, and that they had an enormous bonfire that a bunch of people danced around, and that there was a basket of bells and other instruments, and that the children used those to make a lot of noise to "wake up the Earth". She said other years when it was too cold or snowy still for outside stuff, they had cleaning games inside. I told I was glad that she didn't make us do cleaning, even if she did make it into a game!
On the way home from the park, we picked up some stuff to plant a few things in pots, and we worked on those before dinner.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Hatshepsut!
While Hatshepsut was not the last, and posibly not even, as she was long-believed to be, the first, women to rule Ancient Egypt as pharaoh, her reign during the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty New Kingdom is frequently regarded as the most successful. Despite this, because deliberate erasures, vandalism and defacing of her accomplishments meant that information had been missing from histrical records until the early twentieth century, we may not have known the scope of her success.
Hatshepsut's father was Thutmose I, her mother was Queen Ahmose. Her husband and consort was Thutmose II, her half-brother. When their father died, Thutmose II became pharoah, and when he died, the next in line to become pharoah, Thutmose II's child with another wife, Thutmose III was next in line to become pharaoh (because Hatsepsut and Thutmose II had only one child, a daughter, Neferue). However, since he was just a child at the time, Hatshepsut became regent. It was not long before she identified herself as pharaoh rather than regent, and when he was of age, Thutmose III was co-regent, reversing the expected roles. Upon Hatshepsut's death, Thutmose III was made pharoah.
Hatshepsut's reign was the longest of all female rulers, twenty one to twenty two years long, as well as the most prosperous. While she experienced success with warfare early in her reign, she is general considered to have brought to her people a long peaceful and prosperous era due to reestablishing trading relationships. The wealth that this brought allowed or building projects that raised Ancient Egyptian architecture to a much higher standard, high enough that it would not be rivaled by any other culture for a thousand years.
One of her major accomplishments was reestablishing the trade networks that had been disrupted during foreign occupuption of Egypt. This allowed for a mission to the Land of Punt, where notably, the Egyptians returned baring thirty-one love myrrh trees, which were then replanted in the courts of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple-- the first recorded attempt to transplant foreign trees. The depiction of this expedition in relief is also famous for a realistic depiction of the Queen of the Land of Punt, who appears to have suffered from steatopygia. Hatshepsut was also one of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt, with hundres of building projects, ans so numerous was her statuary that almost every major museum in the world has some of it amongst their collections.
Many of her more public works of were willfully defaced, rather than eroded or broken due to weather or age, and it was once widely believed that this was an attempt by Thutmose III to erase the name of Hatshepsut from the history of Egypt, due to negative feelings of being reduced to co-regent and denied his place as pharaoh. However, all of this vandalism and rewriting of Hatshepsut's accomplishments only occurred during the end of Thutmose III's reign. When one considers that Thutmose was the head of Hatshepsut's army for over twenty years, that he had considerable power, and that he could have easily orchestrated a take-over had he been willing to, as well as more private depictions of Hatshepsut were left to remain, it makes the premise of a personal vendetta seem questionable. It is instead posited by many Egyptologists that Thutmose III's successor, and co-regent during his reign, Amenhotep II, would have had a motive to do this because his position in the royal lineage was not so strong as to assure his elevation to pharaoh. That he also usurped many of Hatshepsut's accomplishments as his own also supports this premise. Who did it, and their motives, have never been proven completely, however.
The erasure of Hatshepsut's name, whoever did it, and their motives, almost caused her to disappear from history. It is only when 19th century Egyptologists became confused when they started to interpret the texts on temple walls began to suggest that things did not add up. The 2006 discovery of nine cartouches bearing the names of Hatshepsut and Thurmose III in Karnak may shed additional light on the attempt to erase her from the record and correct the nature of their relationship, and her role as pharaoh.
Monday, March 7, 2011
gone to the dogs
Friday, March 4, 2011
Fashion Friday! (guest blogger Iona McKenzie)
Hi there, this is Iona here. Aurora was telling me how she needed more clothing which was appropriate for Spring, and we got to talking about what's "in" this coming season. I nattered on at her for a bit and she suggested that I make a blog post telling people my thoughts.
First thing: colours. The biggest colours this coming spring are pinks. Anything from carnation to coral to "honeysuckle pink", which is a slightly subdued hot pink. Other popular colours are neutrals like nude, beige, and white, and subtle femininely coloured versions of neutrals like bronzey rust, and mauve, particularly in pretty floral prints, which compliment the overall nostalgically sweet romanticisation of the the 50s, 60s, and a bit of the 70s styles that's also going on.
Some of the style elements being recycled and updated for this season are:
- sheer elements, lace, crochet and macramé
- wide legged trousers like bell bottoms, flared trousers
- nautical looks such as stripes, all-in-ones like jumpsuits/playsuits, and military inspired jackets and vests
- bohemian looks that pair seemingly-contrasting elements together; ex: a) 50s styled floral playsuit with a military vest and a pair of heavy-looking boots, or b) high-waisted wide leg trousers paired with a tucked-in billowy shirt w/ bishop sleeves. Remember to use sense when interpreting these look for your own closet, though. We're young ladies, no need to be vulgar. Here's some examples, because I know people like visuals:
-- Sadly, I couldn't find much in the warm pinks for sale that had good shape, but this peach top from The Dolly Stand is a great age-appropriate way to introduce the colour via a simple staple. I think it would be great with Julie's meet jeans.
-- However Lavenderlore's Crochet top can be ordered in a variety of colours, and 6, 8, 9, 10 & 11 would all be great colour choices. I think it would look fabulous worn over a simple tank with the pair of white trousers from AG's 2008 2-in-1 Beach Outfit.
-- The silhouette of this BunnyBear pattern, even though meant for historical Molly, is very up to the minute. It would look very now in a slightly oversized floral with a removable leather belt! For dressier occasions, you can't go wrong using AG's 2005 Gala Gown's shoes with this look.
-- This is a great non-fussy outfit for a more casual day. I'd pair this with a pair of lace leggins and a pair of boots like Nicki's meet boots.
-- The 2010 Pet Show Dress has a great silhouette but is rather dull on it's own. I'd probably bump up the colour drama by pairing it with the 2006 Petals and Plaid's jacket; that is such a hot hue and looks brilliant with navy!
-- Alternatively, if you crochet, you can make your own fashions. Crochet doll clothes can easily become tacky, so keep in mind to stay in scale - cotton thread works better than acrylic. Here are two great, and free! patterns; one for a top, and one for a dress.
Other AG bits that you may already have and could re-use with other bits to update them:
- the sheer/satin blouse from the 1998 snowflake Jumper
- navy jacket from 1998 Riding Outfit
- boot cut jeans from 1999 Blue Jeans Basic
- 2003 Beachside Outfit
- 2004 Garden Party Dress
- 2008 Sweet Kitten Heels