Easter Dress Fashion Show

Today my friends, Paige and Sunny are visiting. We decided to have an Easter dress fashion show, to show off the dresses we are going to wear tomorrow. We all love to dress up in fancy clothes for holidays.

This is me in my favorite Easter/Spring dress ever:

This is Paige in her pretty new dress:


This is Sunny. I think she looks very elegant:
What do you think of our fashion show?

Happy Spring, everyone!


Frankly,
Frankie

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day, Everyone!

Today is a very special day, to think about and celebrate the wide, wonderful, wild world we live in!

What are you doing for Earth Day? In honor of this most auspicious day, I "planted" a digital tree. As you can see, it's an apple tree!

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I also plan to do a few more simple things for the earth this year. There are so many things that even a kid like me can do for the planet! I can:

-Use less water. Try not to leave the water running when I brush my teeth.
-Turn the lights off when I am not in a room.
-Shut off the TV when I'm not watching it.
-Use both sides of my paper.
-Ask my teacher about starting a recycling program in my classroom or school.
-Put a bucket outside to collect rainwater in. I will use it for watering my garden or other plants.
-Always leave the outdoors neater than I found it.

Frankly,
Frankie

Weekend House guests!

This past weekend was great! I've been meaning to write about it. My good friends, Mischa and Alexis Evans, came to stay the weekend with their family! I haven't seen them in a while. They are nine year old identical twins. Anyway, when they came, they looked adorable as usual:

This is them when they first arrived. Alexis is wearing red, Mischa is wearing purple. Their mom and my mom were roommates in college. When they started reminiscing about the good old days, we ran off to start our weekend of fun :) .

Mischa and Alexis have three siblings. Lenny, who is 14, Angie, who is 16, and Lydia who is 5. Lydia is mostly a pest, but she is adorable anyway. You know what is very interesting, though? My brother Charlie has a major crush on Angie. So, the logical way to start our weekend fun was to hide and spy on our older siblings. It's way funny. Charlie doesn't even act like himself around Angie. He blushes, and can't think of anything to say to her. They eventually caught us spying, so we went outside to play on my tire swing. We took turns pushing each other on the swing. For lunch, we had an indoor picnic because it was still windy and blustery out, but still very Springy.

That night, the three of us (and Lydia) settled down to watch a new movie on Disney Channel called Lemonade Mouth. It was really, really good. It was about five kids who meet in detention and start a band (called Lemonade Mouth). My favorite character was Olivia. The music was really good too. I thought it was very inspiring. Then it was time for bed, so we all raced upstairs. Mischa and Alexis bunked with me for the weekend. My room isn't the biggest, so it was rather crowded. They slept on the big air mattress on the floor. We pretended like we were camping in the woods.

The next day, we had waffles for breakfast, and then I...wait for it...had to go to my piano lesson anyway :(. That was sort of a drag, but I didn't mind too much because I'm really improving on my recital piece. I really am (I've kept my promise to practice an hour a day). Maybe someday I'll be famous like Lemonade Mouth? After I got back, we played for the rest of the day. We had to play with Lydia. She is the sort of little kid who hangs onto the big kids, but it feels good to be admired so. That night, Angie did our hair for us. Mischa and Alexis have cute hair. She made French braided pigtails. She tried to style mine the same, and the twins and I pretended like we were triplets! But my hair doesn't hold styles well. It's too slippery and sleek! So, the braids loosened up and fell out.

Sunday was fun too, but kind of bittersweet, because they were going home that afternoon. We all went to church together, then my mom and Mrs. Evans finally cornered us to look at their old college albums. It was a very long trip down memory lane. But some of their memories were funny to hear. Apparently, my mother was a prankster back in the day! Then, for the rest of the day, we walked my dog and watched movies, just doing lazy things to make the day last longer. And then, they went home. I can't wait until they come to visit again!

Frankly,
Frankie

Book Review of the Month: April

In school, we have a monthly English project that I really like. My teacher, Mrs. Applebaum, makes school a lot of fun. We read one book each month, then we write a book review and make a project about the book (whatever we want, as long as it has to do with the book). We move our desks into a big circle, and go around the circle, each person sharing their review and project. I thought I'd share my book reviews here each month, since I enjoy reading the books and writing about them so much. This month, I read a great book!

Catherine, Called Birdy
By Karen Cushman (review by me- Frankie)

Summary:
Catherine, Called Birdy is about a spunky fourteen year old Medieval girl. The book is in diary form, so Catherine writes firsthand about her life in her father's manor. She writes about her family, friends, and ideas. But Medieval life isn't always easy. First, Catherine meddles in the lives of her uncle and best friend, which leads to trouble. Then, Catherine's greedy father decides to find her a husband. The richest husband possible. No matter what he looks like or how old he is! After discovering that she can't possibly become a monk, traveling minstrel, or run away and become a puppeteer to escape her fate, Catherine finds ways to repel her would-be husbands with trickery and sass. But unfortunately, the suitor Catherine dislikes the most proves to be not so easy to get rid of.

My thoughts:
Catherine, Called Birdy was a really good book. Karen Cushman is already one of my favorite authors. I liked that Catherine was not an ordinary Medieval girl. She was funny and feisty, but sometimes a "glass half empty" type. I sort of liked that about her though. A girl can't be funny and feisty all the time, can she? I liked reading about her daily life. I also liked reading about Medieval life in general, like the remedies people used to cure people, Medieval manners, religion, hygiene (not for the squeamish), and the holidays and celebrations. Catherine was a very entertaining character. I thought she was very clever.

My rating: 5/5 stars. I wouldn't change much about this book. I loved it!

See more about the book here, on Karen Cushman's website:
http://www.karencushman.com/books/catherine.html

So, if you're wondering what I did for my project on the book, I'll tell you all about it. I loved the fancy way the first letter of every chapter in Catherine, Called Birdy was written. The letters were inside of a rectangle, and had really beautiful designs all around them. Inspired, I decided to do something using that design. With a little help from the internet, I discovered that the fancy design was called "illuminated manuscript." So, for my project, I made a journal, by covering a mini composition notebook in grocery bag paper, so it would look old. Then, on the cover, I carefully drew an F for Frankie in my own illuminated manuscript design. In the first few pages of the journal, I wrote some journal entries about my life as if I were in Medieval times. I decorated those pages with illuminated manuscript designs too. I think it turned out well. I had a lot of fun making the project, and now I have a neat journal to remind me of this book!

Frankly,
Frankie

Chicken Bite!

As you know, I live on a farm. It's usually pretty fun. The animals become friends to me. Sometimes I pretend that I can talk to animals and they can talk to me. I talk to them, and imagine what funny or smart things they would say back. There is this one rooster we have that I really like. He's friendly and has the most beautiful feathers; black, with rusty orange and iridescent green. He has little, beady golden eyes. If any animal could ever talk to me, I bet it would be him. I can just tell he's intelligent.

Well, a few days ago, I was feeding the chickens. That rooster was following me around. I looked down at his smart little eyes. His glossy feathers were shining. I wanted to pet him.

"Don't pet him," I told myself. But the thought nagged at me. So, I threw caution to the wind and reached down to pet the rooster's back. But before my hand touched his feathers... chomp! He closed his beak around my index finger*. I jerked my hand back in surprise. I just been bitten by a chicken!

So, the moral of the story is, never try to pet poultry.

Frankly,
Frankie

* Don't worry. The bite didn't hurt. It just felt like a squeeze around my finger.

Piano Lessons

Every Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning, I have piano lessons with Ms. Basso. My mom thinks everyone should be educated in the arts, so my brothers took piano with Ms. Basso, and now the tradition has been passed on to me. We have a piano at home. It was my Mom's. Her father gave it to her for eighth birthday. Some of the keys stick, and the bottom is covered with marks from my brothers crashing their toy cars into it when they were little. But it is my Mom's prized possession. So, I've been taking piano since I was six. Sadly, I haven't improved much.

It finally stopped raining, and the sun is shining. Today after school, I headed to lessons. I found a long stick along the way, and a dragged it along the dirt road, dawdling my way to Ms. B's. When I got there, Beth was just leaving. Beth is my good friend, who also takes piano. She is truly talented at it. I waved to her. She waved back, and I let myself in.

Ms. Basso is an interesting lady. My brothers say she is eccentric. My Mom says she is gifted. She collects antique metronomes, and sometimes on my Saturday lesson, she eats a tuna sandwich. She was left at the alter by a postman fifteen years ago. She talks about it a lot. So, today I sat next to her on the piano bench.
She said; "Hello, Francesca. I trust you have been practicing?"
I nod my head. Ms. B. is the only person who calls me Francesca (besides my parents, when I'm in trouble). She's proper like that. She asked me to do my warm-ups, and I did.
" Wrists up, Francesca," she said. I lifted my wrists. After my warm-ups, I had to practice my latest piece. I have been practicing for a month now, but I still haven't mastered it. Ms. Basso says I am a sloppy player. As I pounded out the piece on the piano, my fingers began to sweat, and slid between two keys, pressing them both down at once. My neck burned red with embarrassment.
"Just keep going, dear." Ms. Basso said.
I did, and eventually finished the piece. Then I had to play it again. And Again. The last time I played it, the tune was actually close to what it should sound like. A personal best!
Ms. Basso seemed happy. "See now, if you'd just concentrate, Francesca. You could be my star pupil. I want you to practice this piece for no less than an hour a day at home."
"I will." I said.
She put a star sticker on my practice chart, and winked.

What is so special about this piece? I am playing it in Ms. Basso's Spring recital! When she asked me to be in the recital, Mom took me out and got me a special dress and everything. I picked the prettiest dress I could, thinking that if I have a really "wow" dress, my playing will sound better. Good thinking, right?

Here I am in my recital dress


Frankly,
Frankie

April Showers...

Today, it is sleeting and raining. The sky looks like one big, gray cloud. At school, I sat at my desk, watching the fat raindrops hitting the pavement, and drizzling down the window panes. It looked like the window was crying. Paige poked me from the next desk so I would pay attention to Mrs. Applebaum, our teacher. I was anxious to get out of school today. On the way home, I saw some small, purple and white flowers poking out of the ground, sprinkled with raindrops. April Showers bring May flowers....


After school, I quickly put on my rain boots and jumped in a few puddles in our driveway. I like to jump in them, and watch them cloud up with mud. But my nose started to get cold from the misty air, so I went inside, and kicked off my boots in the hall. I watched cartoons for a while and ate a snack, listening to the rain hitting the roof.

Frankly,
Frankie

Welcome to my blog!

Hello everyone!

My name is Frankie (that's short for Francesca, but Frankie is what everyone calls me). I am an American Girl doll (Just Like You #39 to be exact), and I am ten years old. I live on a farm, with my mom, dad, and two older brothers, Brad (age 17), and Charlie (age 15). I'm a pretty average girl. My brothers drive me crazy (most of the time), I have a dog named Fudge, and I take piano lessons. I also have a best friend, Paige. She lives next door to me, and we hang out a lot. I also have faraway best friends, named Tirya and Emily. I have a pretty good life.

My favorite color in the whole world is turquoise. Almost everything I own is turquoise. I just love it! Even my reading glasses are my favorite color. My favorite hobbies are drawing and reading. My friends say I'm a pretty good artist. My favorite books are ghost stories. In nice weather, I like to camp and hike with my family. What do you like to do for fun?

-Frankie



Me, with my favorite stuffed animal:













My best friend, Paige: