May 9, 2010

This morning Mama and I said good-bye to Baba (my grandmother) and head off to Hume. It is tradition in our family to take a family photo whenever we leave a relative, and this is the traditional picture for this visit.

(Baba is not crying, by the way, she's smiling.)

May 8, 2010

My mom, her mom, and I visited my grandmother's sister. I haven't seen her in a long time and I was surprised to see how tall I had grown. It seems that I am suddenly towering over everyone I know!

My grandmother is pictured on the left and her sister on the right. I was so tall that she wanted to stand on a patio step so she could be the same height as me.

May 6, 2010

Mama and I are going to visit my grandmother, who lives in Los Angeles, for a few days. After that, we're traveling up the mountain to Hume Lake to visit Seth and help get the camp ready for summer.
This picture was taken on the boring drive to L. A. Because it was shot in a moving car at night time, it understandably didn't come out clearly. *Sigh* Oh well.

I can call it modern art and sell it on Ebay.

May 5, 2010

Today was our co-op's last class for the school year. To celebrate, we went to In-N-Out (the student's favorite restaurant) for lunch. And, as you can see, we also took our end-of-the-year-group-picture in front of the crossed palm trees. I must admit I felt I was breaking the law as we stood in the planter bed.

We did not get arrested. (Thank God!)

May 4, 2010

One of my family's favorite places to exercise is the local lake near our house. There is a beautiful gravel walking path around it, and a group of Canadian geese live there during the warm seasons. We love coming during the spring and seeing the newborn goslings. Today, Mama and I visited them.

Here are some pictures of the trip.

(R) This one of many large geese families. The babies were so cute, small, and fuzzy; I wished I could cuddle one so bad.

(C) These are couple of the older goslings. But they're still as cute.

(L) This is an adorable group of ducklings that was feeding with their mother.

May 3, 2010

I have finally finished my pre-algebra math book! This morning Mama corrected my last test and I passed!

FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May 1, 2010 - Happy May!

My mom and I worked on our garden, again. This time, we turned the soil and planted the seeds. Let's hope they grow....

Behold! The courageous Garden Explorer surveys the wild wasteland before her. Literally.

April 30, 2010

This afternoon, my dad and brother Ethan left for a state-wide Boy Scout event. As I waited on the front porch while they made some last minute additions, I decided to practice my photography skills. This picture is of our flourishing rose bush. The blossoms are gorgeous and absolutely humongous. Too bad the plant itself can be so dangerous sometimes.

April 28, 2010

On this co-op day, we performed a science experiment about how sound waves travel in different substances. Two spoons were tied in the middle of a string so that they can clang together easily. Then, the silverware, the students, and their ears underwent a series of stages where we had to listen to the different tones of the ringing spoons under different conditions. I won't go into details, but one of these stages was to submerge our ears into a bucketful of water and listen to the also-submerged spoons tinkling. We were not looking forward to this part and kept the towels nearby.

What was not expected, however, was the temperature of the water. Do you know how shocking putting your tender and vulnerable ear under cold water can be?

April 24, 2010

Yesterday, a friend came over for a sleepover/play day. However, today turned out to be a workday instead. The reason? Ethan is still working on his Eagle Project, and his troop came to help him. Us women were in charge of lunch, and then my mother decided that we would assist the boys with our additional manual labor. I wasn't too thrilled about this decision, but the refreshments were a treat. After all, it's not everyday that one gets to have soda and Safeway donuts on the same day!


The girl on the left is my friend, Jenny (from co-op). I'm on the right, and my dad is in the middle. What we're doing is patting down the loose gravel so it makes a firm and even pathway.

April 19, 2010

One of my most favorite dishes in the whole wide world is chicken pot pie. And guess what my family had for dinner tonight?As one sees.....we really like chicken pot pie.

April 18, 2010

Today I 'helped' Mom weed our backyard garden, getting it ready for some late springtime planting. Below are some of the highlight pictures I took. (By the way,if you're wondering, as well, I do not know what kind of flowers these are.)

April 5, 2010

During the Easter holiday, Mom bought a humongous container of Jelly Belly jellybeans. This picture was taken at the end of the weekend. As you can see, nobody liked the black jellybeans.

April 4, 2010-(part two)

Today, we had to say good-bye to our brother Seth. Unfortunately, he was forced to leave if he was going to get up the mountain in time for the snow storm. *sigh* He will be missed. *sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff*
This is his last parting with 'his girl.' Sorry about the blurriness. It can be so hard to take good pictures with a dog.

April 4, 2010-Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!

It is another Bagdanov Easter tradition for the children to come home from church and find a small basket of goodies in their bedroom doorway. This year, however, it was different. This year, I found the treats on my bed. :)

April 3, 2010-Happy April!

It's becoming an Easter tradition in our house to make small edible birds nests coated with chocolate and two candy eggs to top them off. Today, Mama and I continued that delicious tradition. I'm really looking forward to eating these!

March 31, 2010

On a favorite TV show, my family witnessed the host tear a phone book apart with his bare hands. So, Ethan decided to try this out for himself and see if it is truly feasible.

As you can see, he was successful in his quest.

March 30, 2010

Tonight was a Boy Scout Court of Honor. At this event, the scouts are awarded the merit badges they've earned recently. Their parents and siblings are encouraged to come, too. Although I would rather stay home, the reasons I come are: #1 I can't stay at home alone. #2 A friend or two will most likely be there, also. #3 For the refreshments at the end.

March 29, 2010

Our pear tree is getting even more blossoms! They are so beautiful and delicate, perfectly designed and reminding me of how great my God is. Now lets hope these flowers actually do their job and produce some fruit!!

March 28, 2010

Today Seth went skydiving for the first time. I was so glad the guy who went with him knew what he was doing!

(B) My brother's face clearly conveyed he enjoyed doing a crazy thing like jumping out of an airplane.

(You can't get a bigger smile than that!)

March 27, 2010

Tonight, our beloved brother Seth came home for an entire week of Easter break! This picture is of his reunion with 'his girl,' Maddie.

(B) She was obviously elated.

March 26, 2010

This is the Easter garden I made yesterday. The large rock represents the tomb Jesus was buried in. The stone path leading to it is flanked with two tea candles.

March 25, 2010

Two friends from our Awana club came over for a play day. We had so much fun with them: making/eating pancakes, playing with Lego's, and creating Easter gardens - small gardens duplicating the one Jesus was buried in. This is a photo of my family at our breakfast dinner with the guests Michael and his sister Olivia.

March 24, 2010

Today I noticed our dwarf pear tree (the one that's never bloomed) growing blossoms, not just buds! Hopefully, this year we might get fruit!

(B) Apparently our azalea trees are doing the same.

March 22, 2010

Although I truly should have been going to bed, I couldn't resist testing an idea for a hair-do. Here's the result (on my good side).

March 21, 2010

A double batch of chocolate chip cookies! Yum yum! Here are the yummies.... I mean beauties waiting to be baked.

March 20, 2010

I have now completely learned and almost mastered the calligraphic font Chancery Cursive.

Here's a sample.

March 19, 2010

I found a Tupperware lid at the bottom of the dishwasher. Is a surgeon nearby? We still might be able to save it!

March 17, 2010 - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lately, I've been teaching myself calligraphy. Right now, I am learning the Chancery Cursive font. This is a picture of one of my practice sheets.

March 16, 2010

It has been exciting to witness the first signs of spring burst into bloom: the fresh green grass in front of the houses, the trees putting out their new leaves one by one, the flowers slowly appearing in the bushes and planters, timidly poking their tender buds into the world before bursting forth and proclaiming the beauty of God.

This particular flower is from our azalea tree. I remember the first time my family saw these blossoms - we thought one of Ethan's tissues had blown into the leaves. When we took a closer look, however, we realized that it was quite the opposite. Ever since, these flowers have been called either the 'flowers on the azalea tree' or 'Ethan's tissues'!

(A) Probably the most thrilling additions to our property is this little bud. This comes from our dwarf pear tree which has never bloomed since we bought it. We were about to tear it up when we saw it almost covered in buds like this. I hope they actually bloom.

March 15, 2010

Our dear friend Mrs. L. gifted us with six gigantic home-grown lemons. They are so beautiful I think we'll have a hard time bringing ourselves to eat them!

March 13, 2010

Today our family did a major cleaning of our house. On this particular day Mom wheedled my dad into getting us donuts! Yummy!!

March 12, 2010

In preparation for our trip to Hume Lake, Ethan and I visited the library where he was successful in persuading me to checking out more than my limit of three books. Now, I'm slowly reading my way through the stack. I think I'm almost halfway done. *sigh* *picks up next book*

March 10, 2010

(L)During our Crew science class, we performed an experiment about the electromagnetic force involving balloons. This was the first balloon I've ever inflated myself. I think that's just sad.
(R) Mrs. C. should have known that when she gives three kids balloons and tries to teach them a science lesson, they don't listen very well.

After class, Mama treated Ethan and I to an In-N-Out lunch. She sure knows the way to her kids' hearts!

March 9, 2010

I've just taken a math test and is watching Mama correct it. I pray the results will be positive.

March 8, 2010

Our neighbor has a dogwood tree, and it's been exciting to watch it creep into bloom day by day. Here's one of it's gorgeous blossoms.

In my family, I'm famous for making tall towers of dishes in the dish rack when it's my turn to wash them. In fact, Mama forbade me from making my pillars too high. I guess one can see from this picture (L) why.

March 6, 2010

One of my favorite hobbies is baking. Specifically deserts. Knowing this, Mama asked me to make some cookies. My choice: Peanut Butter Blossoms! The whole family approved of these "cuties" (as Mom would say).

March 5, 2010

During school hours, my schedule allots me sixty minutes to read my math lesson and complete the problems. Usually, I finish the above requirements about ten minutes early. However, today I did the lesson and problems with twenty-five minutes and fourteen seconds to spare! YIPPEE!! That's a new record!