Story time

Space missions

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Nerf wars

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:22:00 +0000

I just got new nerf gun with a laser sight - it is so awesome! It comes with 3 bullets. You can adjust the sight so that if you are bad at shooting, you can make yourself good.

Mom asked if having nerf guns to play with makes me more violent. I don't think it does. In fact, when we're shooting each other with nerf guns we're not hitting each other.

The Adventures of Sir Gavilant

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:39:00 +0000

View Project at Shutterfly

Rock Monster Quiz

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:46:00 +0000

E took a rock monster quiz. How about you?

First acting gig

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:32:00 +0000

Whiteboard Animation

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:51:00 +0000

The Indianapolis Central Library has great kids activities. Check out the Learning Curve Schedule for more info and upcoming events.

featured http://curve.imcpl.org/gallery/index/asset_id/1304

Elliot's education plan

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:22:00 +0000

Elliot sketched this plan yesterday for his education and future employment as a game designer.

6 things that make me happy

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:21:00 +0000

E's list:

Bionicles
Dogs
Drawing
Making stories
Being alone to relax
Being on my own schedule

O's list:

Bionicles
Dogs
Drawing
Elliot
Mama
Richard

This post is in response to a blog meme 6 things that make me happy.

Gingerbread fortresses

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Instead of building quaint little gingerbread houses, we have fortresses.

E's fortress

Licorice missilles- people seeking missiles that zap an enemy when it hits them
Skittles bombs- are flying bombs that hit things and blow them up.
Marshmellow sensors- sense an enemy and alert the poison dispensers inside the fort.
Tree nets- are net throwers that fly nets and wrap around the enemy.
Tootsie logs- sense an enemy and roll on the enemy and crush him
Wafer wheel- make scary faces and scare the enemy
Roof rampage- throw the roof on the enemy quick

Creator comments: I like my fortress because I really like houses. If somebody comes inside, it protects them. If their enemy came near it would shoot them with a licorice missile and it would hit them with skittle bombs.

O's Fortress

Coffee trees-- spray piping hot coffee at intruders
Candy cane careful climbing objects-- person has to jump over them because if they try to go through them a doordoor comes down from the top and traps them in
Whopper Boulders-- when they sense motion, they roll onto the path to try to crush a person; after they crush the person, they roll back into place
Flame Rod--has to be dodged so it won't burn the feet
Love spikes-- make intruder trip and fall onto M&M bomb
M&M bomb-- blow up as someone passes
Chocolate missile kisses-- shoot up and hit their target
Little smackers-- chocolate morsels which can only turn twice to follow a person, after that they self-destruct
Ooey-gooey wall-- if a person tries to get through, they get stuck
Heat sensor boom flame rods-- shoot up fire balls that follow an enemy until he's eliminated; when eliminated, the fire retracts
Junk walls-- (2) move so as to meet and crush the enemy in between them
Gotcha good graham walls-- fall and activate M&M bombs
Demolition detonator

How to defeat the fortress

avoid all the pitfalls
move quickly
prize at end, eat the fortress

Thank you Jama for the assistance too!

The story of Yed

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:36:00 +0000

Once upon a time, there was an evil, evil man named Yed who was a notorious poisoner. He was hired as an assassin by many unscrupulous persons but over time each had hired him in turn and had managed to kill one another through his nefarious potions. Once he had no further employment, he took to poisoning his neighbors and townspeople in the area.

Fortunately, these people had long experience with Yed and were wise to his ways. They knew just which antidote to use, and could quickly administer whatever was needed to purge one of Yed's victims of his terrible, noxious toxins. However, this was very frustrating to them and also a waste of their time. The townsfolk had so many other, better things to be doing rather than curing Yed's victims. They became so annoyed with Yed that they assigned the town's most sagacious mage and the strictest cleric to approach Yed about his misdeeds and set him right.

Yed was captured and taken to a special escape-proof room with none of his secret mixtures, and no help for him. These neighbors and townspeople knew just where to catch him at his most vulnerable. For a year and a day, the cleric and the mage took it in turns to reform Yed. They lectured, they scolded, they pleaded, they cajoled, they threatened. Finally, they told him he had a choice: change or die.

After that year and a day, Yed was ashamed at what he had done and repented of his poisoning ways. He agreed to set his life of crime behind and become a changed man. The mage and the cleric were skeptical, but Yed reassured them: "That life was wicked, but all that I, Yed, had known. I will set that life aside and take on a new name, one that is untainted by such evil deeds, and I will be a new person."

The mage and the cleric agreed. They made an announcement to the townsfolk, celebrating the reformation of the poisoner and welcoming him to his new life. "This poisoner is gone and reformed!" they cried aloud to their fellows and neighbors. "We shall purge that name as if it were one of the poisons which so tormented his victims! Never again after this will the name of Yed be allowed! From now on, his name is Ied and in no word or deed shall his former name be remembered." That is why to this day we do not use "Yed" in words, we change the spelling to "Ied."

Ied set aside his poisons, and went into the bomb-making business.

This is the story of Yed. This is how one mom explains to her son why it is to this day that when a word ends in Y, that letter must be changed to I before adding ed. This is the story that helped my son ace his 3rd grade spelling test, with words including carried, applied, tried.

More reading on suffix rule induction and morpohology is available from the folks at OKstate.edu.

Photo credit to Grumbler %-|.

part B

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:02:00 +0000

They had a round head with huge tusks that came out from the bottom, under their chins. Gimil was amazed and he threw his hammer at one of the monsters and it split his leg off. The enemy rolled back into the cave wounded while two others came out. The hammer came back to Gimil, and he threw it agai - but missed.

Part A

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:19:00 +0000

Okay. Once there was someone named - I can't tell you that right now. But I will tell you later. And this person lived in a house and his friend worked in a lock shop, making locks and keys. He was a dwarf and his friend's name was Lightfingers. The person who this story is about is Gimil.

Once they were adventuring and they found a cave. They found a huge nest of enemies they had never seen before. They had a spiked tail and a big body.

Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:18:00 +0000

What! I'm supposed to write a story? That's weird. At least it is a story, not a pile of junk.

Once there was a person who fell into a garbage chute and never came out again. Then finally he came out with a grappling hook. And that was me! Whoa, a sea monster came out of a little pond.

E watercolor

noreply@blogger.com (eva lyford) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:42:00 +0000