Jacob Van Antwerp                                                                                                              12/17/13

My Blog about Winter 

Winter is my favorite season! You know why? Because some wintery days it snows down blizzards and pours down soft snowflakes and creates snow drifts! I love the cold winter snow because my parents say that I'm a polar bear! Polar bears sometimes live in the Arctic! The Arctic is probably colder than OUR winter season. I love being in the cold because I'm a polar bear! Sometimes it sprinkles down snowflakes under my little pinky toes! Snow also falls from trees and roofs of buildings! It'd be so cold you can see my breath, so cold that icicles clung to building and houses and apartment buildings and HUGE icicles clung to the KDL (Kent District Library) Library! Yesterday I was pulling them off and then dropping them to the ground--crack! crack! crack! I sometimes want to sit in the cold without freezing and getting hypothermia and freezing to death. Last evening I made a little Snow Jacob, you know, a snowman that looks like me, only I made the eyes out of raisins, a carrot for my nose, a sugar snap pea leaf for the mouth, and also, the buttons out of raisins! Mmm-mmm! Delicious! On Sunday night, Sierra, Dad, Dad's friend, Lori and her kids, and I went to Richmond Hill to go SLEDDING! I probably went at an average speed of 20 miles per hour down the hill! Wow! That's fast! I went down a little gap in the snow hill then back out to form a sled jump! I could feel the cold wind go towards my cold red face! It's just cold. The pond kind of has thin ice when it freezes. The first few times I went sledding, I read a sign in front of a bare bush. It said: "DANGER: THIN ICE" The skies in winter turn grey and let it snow! Last night I had a dream that I crossed the frozen pond in the snow-covered ditch at Grandma's neighborhood, Green Ridge. Dad, Sierra, Grandma, and I were playing in the snow when Dad noticed something. He said, "I just thought of something! It's the newest joke. Here it is: Why did the..." I was looking at a blizzard twister. Dad said, "You're not listening, Jacob." I said, "Oh, sorry." Dad continued, "OK, here it is: Why did the boy...cross the frozen pond?" We were all silent, without saying anything. He said, "Well? It's a joke. You know what it is: I ask a question, and you guess the answer." Grandma, Sierra and I said at the same moment, "Oh, OK." I said to Sierra, "Why did the boy cross the frozen pond?" We were all chattering to know the punchline: "Why did he cross the frozen pond? Jacob, do you know? Do you know this joke?" Finally, Sierra said, "OK!... We have no idea." A half hour later we were thinking over the punchline to the newest joke. Sierra told Dad, "Who told you that joke anyway?" Dad thought and thought and thought. He said sadly, "I don't remember that either!" Sierra said, "Oh, brother." I suggested to them, "I know, I'm a boy, so if the pond is frozen solid in the ditch, I can cross the ice, and you'll know how I crossed it!" Grandma said, "Wow, good idea, Jacob!" Dad said, "You're an astrocagenius!! Let's go!" Then we went down to the ditch and to the frozen-solid pond. Ducks weren't there to walk on there. Dad stomped on the ice and said, "It is frozen solid... Are you sure about it?" I nodded yes and said, "Are you ready? Get your camera ready, Grandma! Here I go!" Grandma started recording me crossing. I started crossing the ice. Five seconds later, I called out, "I'm crossing it!" They all said, "Be careful, Jacob!" Then I continued crossing it. I saw a dark part on the ice, and I knew it was thin ice, so I ran around it to avoid cracking it and getting hypothermia. I ran past the parts where the fountains were shut off for the season so the flowing water won't freeze. Ten seconds later I reached the other side of the pond! I yelled out to them, "There! I crossed it!" And I saw a baby chicken in the snow. He looked so cold and sad, so I snuggled him close to my heart to warm him up, then I went back across the pond to the group. Grandma stopped recording. You won't believe what happened BEFORE I found him!

Jacob Van Antwerp                                                                                                        12/3/2013

My Blog about Thanksgiving


This Thanksgiving was the best Thanksgiving ever! I had two dinners: one on Thanksgiving Day, and the other on the day after Thanksgiving. I had the first one with Sierra and Dad and other people, even Aunt Lou at her house. For my dinner, I had tiny pieces of turkey, mashed potatoes, biscuit roll, green bean casserole, stuffing, pork steak, and corn. I have a Thanksgiving prayer I say every year on Thanksgiving when we say grace. I said it before eating. It goes like this: "In the year 1621, the Pilgrims held their first Thanksgiving feast. They invited the great Indian Chief Massasoit who brought 90 of his brave Indians, and a great abundance of food. Elder William Bradford and Captain Miles Standish were honored guests. Elder William Brewster, who was a minister, said a prayer that went something like this: We thank God for our homes and our food and our safety in the new land. We thank God for the opportunity to create a new world for freedom and justice. Amen." Everybody thought that it was great! A while before we left, Aunt Lou had something in her left hand. When I guessed that hand, she showed me a wishbone! Dad said I had to let it dry for a few days before me and him break it in half. Sometimes, when you dig into a real turkey/chicken with a knife, you find a wishbone! November 28 was the Thanksgiving I saw the second wishbone in my entire life! It was put in a plastic baggie to dry. The next day, Mom took me and Sierra to Aunt Linda's for the second dinner. All I had was just a little pizza pie Aunt Linda made for me. Trust me, it was DELICIOUS! It was also delectable and scrumptious! It was hot and crispy and gooey and cheesy and dotted with six little pepperoni dots, and they made the pizza more yummy and tasty! I even had a can of soda about an hour later. The dinner at Aunt Linda's was an "After Thanksgiving" dinner. Uncle Larry put out a huge real turkey/chicken with bones in it for you to eat, and its skin on its inside and outside was like meat for you to eat also! I've never seen those turkeys before. I love Thanksgiving because it's my favorite holiday for Thanksgivings our families will always remember!

11/19/2013

Jacob Van Antwerp                                                                                                          11/19/13



My Blog about Pizza Nights

OK, now this is my favorite part of the night! For that part of the night, Dad, Sierra, and I order pizza from Little Caesar's! Last night, I had a pizza night with Dad, Sierra, Grandma, and her boyfriend, Jude, after I ordered it with Grandma! I had pepperoni pizza because Little Caesar's was out of cheese pizza. Overall, both types of pizza are my favorite! At some point, I might get used to trying a pizza with pieces of sausage put in it. It's called a sausage pizza! Pizza is my FAVORITE! I love the goopy, gooey, greasy goodness on the cheesy pizzas! I ate the pizza at Grandma's dinner table! I had this soda along with it called 7-Up! I also had a piece of Crazy Bread! Crazy Bread will only come with pizza if Dad, Grandma, Sierra, or I order it. I even peeled the pepperoni points off some of the slices, so it'd look like cheese pizza, while I ate other slices with its pepperoni on it. While we were all eating, I told Dad that when we got home, we could set up one of our big blankets, and spread it out on the grass after bringing it out to the "front" yard, then we'd lie on it, and see the black/dark blue night sky! One time at Dad's friend Lori's, she had big boxes of Papa John's pizza, and pizza bread sticks, and maybe in one of them was a container of red tomato sauce! And we also had Sierra Mist for drinks! I LOVE pizza! It's like a solid. It's like a liquid. The crust is a solid, the cheese and sauce are both a liquid, but they taste good! The cheese is so yummy and steamy! They're a little elastic, but they can go apart, and you can slurp it up! (Kids, probably don't try this at home.) Pizza is one of my weaknesses, and it's my specialty! I'm really great at it by eating it and devouring it all up! The pizza time at Lori's was a pizza DAY. I love pizza at any time of day and night! I love cheese pizza and pepperoni pizza! One night at Lori's, Dad, Lori, and I lay on the trampoline and we saw millions of stars! I saw one shape that's a triangle, the shape of a pizza slice!

Jacob Van Antwerp                                                                                                 10/9/13


My Blog About My Mouse and getting a Pet Rabbit  Part 1


Yesterday, at V.I. Pets, my favorite pet store, I bought a mouse with my own money! I bought him a safe container for him to sleep in, and eat in. I soon figured that mice love cheese. The first food me and Dad fed him was basically cutting green grapes or apples and sprinkling them all around him. He's brown and I named him Squeak. Squeak looked totally cute whenever I look at him because he has a tiny, cute face, and cute, tiny ears. Dad told me that the guy from the pet store said the mouse doesn't bite. Whenever I want to hold him I grab him by the tail and hold him in my palms. My kitty, Luna, seems curious when she looks at Squeak. (Sierra, Dad, and I should always wash our hands before and after handling Squeak.) I'm really, really sure he's going to love cheese, as all mice do. I'd feed cheese to him for Squeak's snack, Squeak's lunch, Squeak's dinner, and Squeak's supper! It'd all be Squeak's cheese! Whenever I imagine hearing Squeak squeak "Tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet!", I say "Uh oh! The mouse is hungry! Let's feed him!". Maybe I could make feeding Squeak a game during his snack, lunch, dinner, and supper with cheese! I gave Squeak a nickname: Mouse. You know why? Because he's a mouse! The game, Mouse's Snack, helps Squeak know Spanish! The game, Mouse's Lunch, helps Squeak know words! The game, Mouse's Dinner, helps Squeak know math! The game, Mouse's Supper, helps Squeak know other words in science! Finally, the game, Mouse's Cheese, helps Squeak know social studies in with words! Squeak Sr. died three days later, so I had to go back to V.I. Pets and get a new mouse. That Squeak is Squeak Jr. He lives in a habitat with a bottle of water and a tiny bin of REAL mouse food. It has holes for fun-nels and accesories! The fun-nels make Squeak's trails look like a maze to another habitat! He also has a wheel! He's my new best pet pal! Whenever he looks at me, I say, "Awww, such a cutie mouse!"! I took pictures of both mice with my iPod. They all look so cute when I look at them!

Jacob Van Antwerp                                                                                                   9/25/2013


My Blog About the Fall and Making New Cookies 

First, I'm going to tell about the fall. Ahhh! I love the chilly fall air, but I always need to put on some clothes so I don't get cold! First, I need to put something on my chest and arms. For instance, my sweatshirt, my jacket with lots of pockets, and my flannel shirt. I love plaid! Next, I need to wear something on my legs. For instance, my favorite jeans, my cargo pants with big pockets to put things in, and my corduroys. I like the sound they make when I walk: zip, zip, zip, zip! He-he! I'd still not be ready yet; I still need to wear something on my feet and head. For instance, a baseball cap and my sneakers, a warming hat and my brown shoes, and my hiking boots and hat. I could play all day wearing any of them! I could go for a hayride with Dad and Sierra around Grand Rapids, go apple picking, and going for a hike! Yay! If it's a beautiful fall day where you are, you should dress warmly and go play outside too, like me! Every fall day would be a beautiful fall day! I'd have fun outside! You know, sometimes on crisp fall days, people would love racing leaves down a stream. Sometimes for leaf races you can use alike-looking leaves, and sometimes for leaf races, you can use different-looking leaves! When using alike-looking leaves, look REALLY closely at YOUR leaf. If you don't look at your leaf closely, you'd think your OPPONENT's leaf is YOURS; be careful! Now I'm gonna tell you about making shaped and colored cookies! The shapes and colors are: yellow moon, orange star, purple circle, red square, blue music note, pink flower, brown triangle, and green man. Stir the batter, roll the cookie batter with a rolling pin, pick out five cookies, put them in the oven, close the door, bake the cookies for 10 minutes, then open the door, take them out,--Be careful; they will be hot!--and eat them when they completely cool! Yay! Well, that's my blog!

9/20

Jacob Van Antwerp                                                                                 9-19-13



 My Blog About Christmas and Colors in Holidays and Seasons

This is about my favorite thing for a blog. Christmas is my favorite holiday that starts on December 25, because the real colors are red and green! Also, I love the snow and Christmas trees and Santa Claus and Gingerbread cookies and Gingerbread houses and carols and reindeer at Santa's sliegh and presents! I love spring that starts on March 21 because I love flowers and trees and the birdies singing, the wormies squirming, and guess what? People can help the flowers grow! Plants in spring are green, yellow, red, pink, and purple! There are other colors and flowers like roses, petunias, violets, daisies, marigolds, cherry blossoms, sunflowers, and dandelions! Also orange and blue flowers! The holidays in spring are St. Patrick's Day, Easter,--Easter starts every first Sunday of April.-- and April Fools Day! Trees will grow new leaves! I love the spring! It'd rain in spring and the other seasons. After spring, it's summer. It gets really warm out, and guess what? We can play all day long! It'd start on June 21. It'd be warm and sunny, and the grass would be so high! You know why? Because people would mow the lawns. The times in summer are when we'd go swimming at the pool or the beach, playing outside, having summer anniversaries, light fireworks, and riding boats out to water! Guess what? On the 4th of July, other people light fireworks, and see their explosions, depending on the colors, and how loud they'd be when the explode! Guess what? When summer is over, it gets colder out, and the leaves fall off the trees! That's why they call it fall, which starts on September 21! And will you also look at all the leaves on the ground!? That means people can rake up all those dead leaves. Then they can rake them all into a big pile of leaves to jump in! BURST! go the leaves in the pile when we jump in! The leaves will be turning pretty colors, the air will be chilly, and we'll be wearing warm jackets in the cool weather! We can also wear warming hats to keep our heads nice and toasty all day playing outside in the leaves! Some big leaves could turn red and orange and gold, you name it! We'll love fall/autumn! The leaves will turn green, yellow, red, orange, and gold! The green leaves are very floppy in the wind, but the red, orange, and gold leaves are pretty stiff in the wind! The holidays in fall are Halloween and Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is a peaceful holiday! You know, in the winter it gets colder. But hey, it also snows! Woohh! It'd be wonderful winter days, and will you look at all the snow?! Do you think people can shovel snow shaping it, building and playing with the snow? I know it's cold. People can do lots of stuff in the winter like going sledding, building snowmen, having snowball fights, and building snow mazes and igloos! An igloo may be cold, but it's a comfortable place to rest! You can put your own stuff with you and bring them to your igloo, and sleeping equipment. Now you're ready to sleep in your igloo on a cold winter night! You can zoooooooooom and sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide down a hill by sledding down a hill, like a hill in Richmond Park, Richmond Hill. Sometimes you can call it [deep voice] Snow Hill! [normal voice] You really CAN sometimes call it Snow Hill. We can even make our own snow/ice forts, and we can stay "cool" in them when hanging out in them! We can even make ice sculptures of ourselves! The holidays in winter are Christmas, New Year's Day, and Valentine's Day! Valentine's Day is a lovely loving holiday! Guess what? After winter comes to spring. Yaaay! I love the spring! I love all the seasons because of the weather chilly, warm, hot, and cold, it's GREAT!