Blog

One event that changed my life and is still changing my life is corona virus AKA covid19, that came from China. It started in 2020. Halfway through the month of March our whole State of Illinois shut down accept for hospitals, pharmcies, and grocery stores. I couldn’t go to church, Awana, Trail Life, the park, the mall, the library, the zoo, or restaurants. It was a terrible summer. We also did school all summer. For 2 months we had to watch school on the computer. When stores did finally open up again, you could only get inside by wearing a mask, which are not comfortable. In September we finally got to go back to Awana and Trail Life. A few months later my grandparents got covid, but they were totally fine. Our household never got it though. I don’t think people should be reacting this badly. The flu is much worse than covid. Some people aren’t even scared of it. The government makes people scared of it so they will get more power.

During covid my uncle Alex moved away to Virginia to be a police officer because he couldn’t be one in Illinois. My dad’s uncle Tarek helped him get accepted into the police Academy in Virginia. I felt really sad and I wanted him to come back immediately. It was lonely without him and even more because he came to my house a lot. We talked on the phone a lot with him but it wasn’t the same. He visited us during Christmas though. While in Virginia he met Rachel and they are now engaged. We got to go to Virginia in March for his graduation from Police Academy. We could not attend the actual graduation in person because of covid, but we were able to watch in online at Alex’s apartment. We all, my family, my grandparents, aunt Erin, her kids (my cousins), Alex and Rachel, went to Mount Vernon. We caught a lizard while we were there and my sister, Liberty, accidently pulled off its tail! Alex and Rachel got to come visit us this summer for the 4th of July. We went to a park to see fireworks and while we were waiting we went to the playground. My little cousin Addy who was 3, pooped in her pants and went down a slide. Poop got all over the slide. Because it was dark, we didn’t know that it had happened and so we went down the same slide and got poop all over us. It was disgusting! We also visited Grant’s Farm and Raging Rivers. We had a really fun visit! I still miss him, but I’m glad that he met Rachel and is now getting married this November!

This summer, 2021, my parents decided to start looking for a new house. We found a new house that was 3 times as big as our old house and it was right near our land, The Shire! We spent all summer packing boxes and fixing up our old house. People finally wanted to buy our house. So Owen and I helped move a third of the heavy stuff when it came time to move into our new house. I love our new house but I miss our old one.

     The Lion of the North begins when Malcolm Graeme rescues and leads Captain Hume and Colonel Munro and their men to safety. They were trying to get to Nigel Graeme, Malcolm’s uncle. They were in Scotland to gather 3,000 to 4,000 men for a Scottish army, to join Sweden in fighting against Germany. The Germans were persecuting the Protestants in Germany. Nigel joins the fight and brings his nephew, Malcolm, along with him.

     These same four men boarded a ship and were shipwrecked during a storm. Out of the wreckage they built a raft. A nearby castle sent them supplies. There was a small battle at the castle but, they won. After another battle, the men of higher ranks realized how brave and calm Malcolm was while fighting.
     Malcolm survived another battle in New Brandenburg but, all his troops were killed. A kind family disguised him as a servant. While disguised he heard the enemy’s secret battle plans, the Imperialists. He knew the King of Sweden needed to know these plans so he decided to make his way back to camp which was halfway across the country.
     On the way back to Sweden Malcolm encountered the enemy. They thought he was a young German boy looking for work. Instead of letting him go they took him to their camp and made him their cook. He escaped that same night and made his way towards Glaglu, which supported Scotland and Sweden. The village of Glaglu was attacked, but the villagers won with Malcolm’s help. Malcolm then made his way to his outfit and reported to Colonel Munro what he had learned. Colonel Munro immediately took Malcolm to see the King, Gustavus. Gustavus gave Malcolm a promotion because of his modesty, prudence, and forethought. 
     Malcolm came down with a fever and went to a quiet village to recover. While there he got word that the village of Mansfield would be attacked, so he gathered men and went to Mansfield. The count of Mansfield accepted Malcolm’s help and introduced Malcolm to the countess and his daughter. The enemy came and told the count to surrender. He didn’t and Malcolm and his men slaughtered them all. The count and countess gave him gifts to say thank you. Malcolm and his men met up with Colonel Munro and he was pleased. In another battle, the Saxons joined up with the Swedish and Scottish armies and together they beat the Imperialists.
     During another battle, while Malcolm was bandaging a friend who had been wounded, he got shot in the leg. Thankfully he recovered. King Gustavus wanted to capture the city of Oppenheim, but it was on the other side of the Rhine River. Malcolm found a boat, took some men and sailed across the Rhine at midnight. They defeated the Spaniards who were supposed to have been guarding the shoreline. Because of this victory, the King was able to take the castle and city of Oppenheim. 
     Malcolm was given some time off from fighting. He spent his time with the Count and Countess of Mansfield. While investigating a fire a peasant woman struck him on the head with a mallet. Malcolm escaped, freed four other Scottish men, stole food, and was forced to hide in a church tower because the peasants wanted to burn them. The next day Malcolm looked out the window and saw men and women with farming equipment to attack them with. The peasants tried to get in the church tower, but nothing they tried worked. Their next plan was to blow up the door, but before they could the Swedish armies came and rescued them.
     In between battles, Malcolm learned the trade of clockmaking. At the Siege of Nuremberg, King Gustavus fell into a trap. Half of his army fell because of this. Colonel Munro was severely wounded during this battle. Malcolm was not injured in this battle and was still trying to help the King. Malcolm, the King, and an entire army went to help the city of Saxony, Germany because it was under attack. During this battle, King Gustavus was killed! The king was shot in the shoulder, then the back, and finally the head. Both sides lost around 9,000 men.
     The next morning, Malcolm returned to the battlefield and was shot and left in the cold all day and all night.  Some soldier friends found him and carried him to the surgeon. He pulled the bullet out of Malcolm but told the soldiers that he wouldn’t survive. Miraculously Malcolm did survive! The Count and Countess of Mansfield came to the camp to visit Malcolm and to offer to take him to their castle for the spring to recuperate. He had two happy months in Mansfield with his friends. He then rejoined the army.
     After Malcolm left, the Imperialists took the city and castle of Mansfield. They took the count, countess, and their daughter as prisoners. The countess sent word to Malcolm that they needed help. Malcolm left immediately to rescue them. When he found the countess, she asked him what his plans were to rescue her daughter, Thelka. Malcolm told the count and countess his plan, and they agreed. Thelka dressed up as a boy while Malcolm used his skills of clockmaking to change all of the clocks in the castle. He did this so the enemy guard wouldn’t know what time to take Thelka out for fresh air. He tricked two people, bought a wagon, covered Thelka with straw and sacks, and drove away. He was stopped by enemy soldiers and asked if he knew anything about the escape of Thelka. He lied, and said, “No”, then successfully escaped with Thelka. He went to another village, rented two rooms, and got a job working with clocks.
     Wallenstein, a high ranking German officer, hired Malcolm to fix the clocks in his home. Wallenstein was impressed with Malcolm’s work and invites him to live in his home with him. He did not know that this clockmaker was Malcolm Graeme from the Scottish army. While there, Malcolm overheard a plot to overthrow Wallenstein. Malcolm revealed his true identity to Wallenstein and told him about the plot made by his own men. He thanked Malcolm and allowed him to take Thelka and get help.  Malcolm found Colonel Munro and told him all that had happened. He left Thelka with Munro and went to find the Swedish Chancellor, Oxenstein. Oxenstein told Malcolm to return to Wallenstein and tell him that they were sending aid. Sadly, help did not arrive in time and Wallenstein was killed.
     During Wallenstein’s attack, Malcolm was also captured. He managed to escape and made his way towards the Scottish army and told them about Wallenstein’s murder. He then went with his troops to fight against the Spanish. This was the final battle. The Scottish and Swedish army won and the Protestants of Germany were safe. After Malcolm recovered from the final battle, he and Thelka got married and lived a long and happy life together.
     

One day I woke up. Owen and Liam were at school, Dad took Thain and Libby to a party then went to work, and Mom was sick. I fed my animals and Thain’s fish. After that, I ate breakfast then started my homework. Mom got up at ten o’clock and I had one more pace left. Mom asked me to clean the house because some people were going to check the house for termites. I finished my pace in fifteen minutes then started to clean the living room. Half an hour later, I started on the dining room. I finished at eleven o’clock then cleaned the bathroom just in case.

I was making mom lunch at twelve, then someone knocked. I answered the door and a man asked me where my mom was. I told him she was sick and he said he would just start. I shut the door, finished making mom’s lunch, then gave it to her. I made my lunch and while I was eating, I saw the truck drive away. At two-thirty, mom told me to ride my bike to school and bring Owen’s and Liam’s bikes too. I rode with them to school and brought Owen and Liam home. They started their homework while I went to check on mom and found out she was fine. At four-thirty, dad brought Thain and Libby home. We had an early dinner, and I went to bed early.

One day Hank got hit in the head with a club. When he woke up, he didn’t know where he was. He saw a young girl and a castle. He followed her into the castle and gt sent to jail. The King, King aurther said he was going to be burned two days later. Hank knew the next day was the eclipse, so he asked to be burned the next day. The next day they put him on a post and he pretended he was a magician and pretended to block out the sun. They were scared and asked him to let the sun shine, so awhile later he said he would and the eclipse was over. They soon named him The Boss.

A couple days later, a woman named Sandy came to the castle and said she was going to free some princes and princesses. She said they were at an orge’s castle. The king told Hank to go with her and when they got there, Hank found out they were pigs and went back to the castle with them. Sandy and Hank got married and had a daughter and named her Hello-Central.

The King and Hank disguised themselves as peasants to see what the phesents’ life was like. They found a house with a disease, met some children, and almost got hanged. They went home and found out some people were going to attack them. Hank set up an electric fence and killed some people. At the end of the battle, Hank got sick and slept for a few days and when he woke up, he was with Dandy. He was about to die, so he held Hello-Central one last time.

One day I was playing in my backyard. I was swinging, then I jumped off. I landed on the ground, but instead of seeing my house, I saw the Ark!

It was strange. Did I get sent back in time? I saw animals going into the ark and I saw Noah preaching. I also saw people laughing at Noah and the Ark. None of them would go on the ark because there had never been rain. I was the only one who did.

Noah’s family, the animals, and I got on the Ark and then it started to rain. God shut the door of the Ark, so no water would get in. All the people were sorry that they didn’t believe, but it was too late. Everyone drowned and the rest of the animals did too. The sea animals did not go on the boat because they could swim. In the Ark, I worked. I fed the animals, I watered the animals, and I helped cooking the food. It rained for forty days and forty nights. When it stopped raining, Noah sent out a dove, but it came back with nothing. the next day, he sent the dove out again and it came back with the branch of an olive tree, so Noah knew there was land. The next day, he sent out the dove one more time and it did not come back. Then Noah knew the dove made a nest. A while later, they were on a hill. God opened the door, and Noah and his family made an alter. I was thirsty so I got a drink, then in front of me, I saw my house. I was home! I went inside and told them the story, but I don’t think they believed.

The Boxcar Children, Henry, Jesse, Violet, and Benny, went to visit their Aunt and Uncle in San Francisco, California. In San Francisco, they met a fisherman named Charlie. They found out Charlie was having trouble. They also saw a mysterious man. Charlie had a helper. Her name was Kate. Charlie also had two fisherman friends named Tony and Joe. Charlie fished for a man named Vito. Vito owned a restaurant. Kate invited the children to stay with her in her houseboat for a night. Aunt Jane said yes, so they got warm clothes and spent the night. In the night they heard a noise and looked out the window and saw someone. In the morning, they went with Charlie to go fishing. They suddenly stopped and found out somebody let all the gas out so Kate checked on the radio while Charlie and the children fished. They didn’t catch anything because the nets were cut. Kate came back and said one of the radio wires were cut but just then they saw Tony and Joe take the children to shore and brought Charlie gas. Onshore, Vito did not want to buy fish from Charlie anymore and decided to buy some from Joe. Joe asked for his lantern and Henry remembered the broken lamp he saw. He gt the lamp and the piece of broken glass and figured out Joe did everything. They also found out Kate had a sister Jan. The last thing they found out was that the mysterious man was an investigator. The Boxcar Children were glad they helped Charlie.

The Latin word for a family run by a father is Paterfamilias. That is a strange word, do you not think? I would of never made up that word.

The purpose of children in Rome was to serve the state. A bulla is a charm that baby boys get to keep away evil spirits. A bulla is a strong name. I would never name it that. Would you?

Children started school at the age of seven and ended at age eleven. If the parents were rich, they could go on farther. Roman girls married at age 12, even though it was more common at age 14. They married young because it was motivated for the family. Boys married at age 20. When a boy became 14, there was a ceremony for him to become a man. He had to shave and give up his bulla.

A difference in gender relations in Greece and Rome are girls are not treated equally with boys in Rome, but they were treated equally with boys in Greece. Rome is mean to girls. Greece is nice to girls.

Hadrian was born in 76 A.D. in the country of Spain. Hadrian became a ward of Emperor Trogan when his parents died. As a kid, he loved studying Greek. He got the nickname Graeculus and made a word, Philhellenism.

Traveling was the different way that Hadrian ruled from the other emperors. Hadrian ruled 21 years and all 21 years he supported the Senate and the army. Hadrian was famous for building Hadrian’s Wall in England.

There were five good emperors. Their names were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, and Marcus. If you were an emperor, do you think you would be a good one or a bad one? I do not know if I would be a good emporer or a bad Emporer.

Before Jesus died, His followers were called disciples, which means learners. After Jesus’ Resurrection, they were apostles which means, one who is sent out. No matter what name they were given, they were still His followers.

Simon Peter was then the preacher after the time of Pentecost. The one who died of old age peacefully was John. All the others died of being persecuted. Philip preached the gospel to the king Ethiopian and the Ethiopian preached the gospel to the city.

One day, Saul the chief persecutor was on the road to Jerusalem. God called down from Heaven. He was blind for three days and neither ate or drank when his eyes opened he became Paul and preached the gospel and he sometimes went to jail.

The purpose of the Council of Jerusalem was to help people come to Jesus and to help churches. The religion that had the most influence on Europe and Western Civilization was Christianity. Christianity was important, do you not think?

The Jews were being ruled by Rome right before Jesus was born and were looking for someone to free them. One day, an angel came to a young Jewish girl named Mary. He told her that she was going to have a baby king of the Jews named Jesus. She was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. There was a decree that every man should go to the place where their family used to live. Joseph’s family lived in Bethlehem, so he went there with Mary and had Jesus. Angels told shepherds about Jesus and they saw Him and told everyone. about a year later, wise men went and saw Him. There was a decree that every child two and under should be killed, but God saved Jesus.

When Jesus was thirty, He began HIs ministry. The first thing that happened to Him was that He was baptized by John the Baptist. The two most powerful things He did were miracles and preaching. The first miracle He did was changing water into wine at a wedding. He brought many people to God by HIs preaching.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode on a donkey through Jerusalem. The people cried out Hosanna, blessed be the Son of God. The Last super replaced the Passover. One of His Disciples named Judas Iscariet betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. The Romans made a crown of thorns and gave Him a sign that said, “King of the Jews”. They made Him carry his own cross up a fill. The Roman governor naed Pilate told them to do what they wanted. They buried Him and three days later, He arose from the dead. Seventy days later, He went into Heaven.