When Hurricane Ike Hit

 Lesson 25 Essay

       It was just an ordinary day in September 2008. My siblings and I were watching a movie when we heard thunder and really loud wind. It got dark and all of a sudden it was pouring rain. Mom said this storm was the remnants of Hurricane Ike that came up from Texas. The winds were going up to more than 70 miles per hour!

        We live on a farm in Ohio, and we have a silo. When we moved to this farm, the silo had a little piece missing from the top, and when the storm hit, the wind blew the rest of the top off. I remember that it was dangerous to go outside because the metal pieces of the silo top were flying around. In fact, some of the pieces actually sliced into our pool that we had in the yard.

        The terrible winds cut out the electricity for five days straight. We carried buckets of the pool water to feed our animals, wash hands and dishes, and to flush toilets. Mom made trips to town to fill gallon tanks of water for cooking and drinking. Dad borrowed a generator from a friend to power the refrigerator and some lights. He also put heavy blankets around our box freezers to keep the food from spoiling.

        It was very terrifying because of the deadly pieces of flying metal that could've hit something less replaceable than a pool. We are very thankful to God for keeping us safe.

  

The Life and Works of Muhammad

  Lesson 25 Essay

       Islam is one of the biggest religions in the world and it's only second to Christianity. I'm going to tell you how Islam came to be one of the most popular religions to practice.

         It all started with a man named Muhammad. Muhammad was born in 570, in a city called Mecca, just three years after the treaty between Byzantium and Persia was signed. Mecca was located near the ancient shrine called Ka'ba. This shrine was said to have been built by Abraham, whom the Muslims claim as the “father of Islam”. Anyway, Muhammad's father died shortly after his birth and his mother died by the time he was six. Muhammad's uncle took him in and raised him. At the age of 24 Muhammad married a wealthy widow and became a successful merchant.

       In the year 610, at the age of 40, Muhammad had his first revelation. These messages told him he was the prophet of a new religion and that he needed to prophecy to the world. These first proclamations make up the first few passages of Islam's holy book, the Qu'ran. Muhammad started preaching to the people of Mecca and tried to convert them to his new religion. But his family shunned him and some people tried to assassinate him because of his strange, new message.

       In 622, Muhammad moved Mecca to a city called Medina for safety and began witnessing there. This new city welcomed Muhammad and his religion and soon became the first Islamic community. He became the leader of Medina shortly after. Not long after Muhammad came to Medina, wars broke out between the two cities. Muhammad eventually captured Mecca, banned the idolatry, and set up Islam as the new religion there.

         Later, in 632, Muhammad led the first Islamic pilgrimage as he walked from Medina to Mecca to visit the Ka'ba shrine. This shrine is the holiest place in Islam and is today located inside of a mosque in Mecca for protection. At the end of the pilgrimage, Muhammad gave his famous farewell sermon. Muhammad fell ill and died several months after.

        By the time of Muhammad's death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam and he had united Arabia into a single Muslim religious nation.

        To conclude this essay, Muhammad had no idea how famous he would become and how quickly Islam would catch on. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions to this day.

 

Burning Nails

Here I'm going to show you how create "fire" on your fingernails.

I had this idea to see how I was with delicate designs on my nails, so this is a first try.

You can try for yourself!

To create this nail art you will need the following:

 What you need

-Yellow nail polish

-Red nail polish

-Orange nail polish (optional)

-Clear top coat

-Very fine tip Sharpie marker

Step One: Give your nails 1 coat of yellow polish

Step 1

Step Two (optional-depends on type of polish): Give nails another coat of yellow. This color I'm using in Sheer so I put two coats on. You might not have to if your polish is thicker.

 Step 2

Step Three: Draw flame waves on nails with Sharpie marker

  Step 3

Step Four: Paint under drawn flames with red nail polish. After this step you can splotch the orange polish on the red coat if you want. It's totally optional.

Step 4

Step Five: Use clear top coat to protect your nails

Step 5

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial and you can make your own designs in the future! :D 

Justinian the Great

  Lesson 20 Essay

        Ok first off, I'm gonna say that Justinian is an epic name. Now that that is out, I'm going to tell you about Justinian's life and how he rose to power.

       Justinian began his life as a shepard boy in the Eastern Roman Empire in 482 AD. He lived a mostly calm life but at the age of sixteen he walked all the way to Constantinople (the capital of the empire), where he met his uncle, Justin, who the commander of the emperor's guard. Justinian's uncle received him well (unlike other uncles I've read about), and gave him a good education. Justinian was a relatively good looking young man and he quickly became well known throughout the empire.

        The emperor at this time was Emperor Anastasius. When Anastasius died, Justinian's uncle Justin became the new emperor with much help from his nephew. As Emperor Justin grew older, Justinian started co-ruling the empire with him. Eventually, Justin appointed Justinian as Co-Emperor just a few months before Justin died. Justinian became the sole emperor in 527 and he ruled for the next 40 years. He became known as Justinian the Great through his impressive accomplishments .

        Justinian was an exceptional ruler and often appointed efficient officials to government positions; some of these were unpopular because they were too efficient. The people of Constantinople revolted in 532 and much of the city burned and 30,000 citizens died. These revolts are known as the Nika Revolts.

        Justinian had two generals named Belisarius and Narses. Belisarius oversaw the expanding the empire to include North Africa. Justinian made improvements to Constantinople and the general culture while the military was reclaiming parts of Italy from the Ostrogoths in 552. This was the beginning of what is known as the Byzantium Empire and it lasted for 1,000 years.

        One of the things Justinian is known for is the Hagia Sophia, a magnificent cathedral, in 537. It remains mostly intact to this day. He worked on at least 34 other churches.

        The first certified Roman Law was organized by Justinian and it became known as the Code of Justinian. This code laid out the basis of imperial law in Byzantium until 1453 AD. During his reign, Justinian encouraged new industries and education; he began silk production and factories were started.

        Justinian remained a strong and active emperor until his death in 565AD, at the age of 83. His legacy in the empire lasted 1,000 years. However, after his death, the empire did not last that long and began weakening shortly after his death.

        To conclude this essay, Justinian the Great was the best emperor in the Eastern Roman Empire, and is largely responsible for bringing Byzantium to it's peak.

My Family

  Lesson 15 Essay

        My name is SadieAnn Romeo and I'm 15. I have the most wonderful family I could ever ask for. With 9 siblings and a mom and dad, I'm never without anything to do!

        Mom and Dad are the best parents ever and have helped me so much over my life. Mom is so supportive and she's always there when I need to talk to her, especially when times get really tough. Having Mom just upstairs is a joy. Her being our homeschool teacher is a huge blessing. Dad is a self-employed woodworker, which means that he's always close by in his workshop at our house. Every morning dad wakes us up at 7:30 and then does our daily Bible study. Every day I can hear him praising God for everything we have.

        My 5 sisters are amazing. My older sister Natalie, who is 17, is so fun to talk to even though she can be a little irritating. We like most of the same stuff so we're rarely without anything talk about.

        My younger sisters Olivia, Hannah, Ariel, and Lucy are great siblings. Olivia (12) is my go to person when I need to talk. Hannah (10), Ariel (6), and Lucy (3), get really close when they play dress up and that makes me smile.

        Benjamin (16), Jacob (13), and Calvin (8), are my brothers. Ben and Jake are always making sure the daily chores get done. Everyday Ben has a new tidbit of something to say and Jacob is so interesting to play with.

        All in all, our family is always there for each other. Getting through this year has been hard after my brother Max (19), died last year in a car crash. Max's girlfriend, Chelsey, has become part of our family and she's a great friend. My church family has been super supportive in all that's happened and I know I can trust my friends to help me in my life.

State Fair Worthy

 This picture was drawn with mostly charcoal. I took this to the county fair and won Best Creative Art Project. I then took this to the state fair.

 I drew this with red colored pencils. I took this to the county fair and won Best Creative Art Project. I then took this to the state fair.

This is drawn with regular graphite. I took this to the county fair and won Best Creative Art Project. I then took this to the state fair.

Pencil Horse

I drew this from a lesson book on drawing.

Summer of Suspense: Review

Lesson 10 Essay

 

When Phil, Abbey, Andy, and Tom Baker hear that their cousin Millie will visit their farm for the summer, little do they imagine what a dreary time they will have with the snobbish girl. But when Millie disappears, life quickly becomes anything but dreary.

         A Summer of Suspense, by C.R. Hedgcock, is just one of the many books in the Baker Family Adventures. This is a very good book about family and friendship.

        The exposition, or introduction to this book happens in the first chapter. This chapter introduces you to the Baker family and their customs. You learn that the family loves horseback riding and often competes in county fairs.

        The rising action begins in the second chapter and continues to build tension until the climax in chapter nineteen. Here's a quick recap of what happened in those chapters.

        Millie Drake, the Baker's cousin, arrives and is immediately wanting to go home. Then the horses start getting out and the Baker kids accuse Millie of letting them out. Calvin, Millie's horse disappears and Millie leaves to go find him. She doesn't come back and the kids get worried. They go to the fairgrounds thinking Millie has gone there. Instead, Abbey Baker is kidnapped. Millie's dad, Uncle Clive, hires a detective to find her. Abbey is brought to a house where she is locked in a dark room. She discovers that Millie has been kidnapped and is in the same room with her. By now the detective has realized that the kidnapper is Miss Trina Verton, a famous jewel thief. Abbey and Millie unlock the door by using Abbey's braces and escape by riding the kidnapper's horses. Phil Baker and Detective Jones find Miss Verton's lair and make a plan to capture her but end up being discovered by Verton's bodyguards. Meanwhile, Abbey and Millie somehow end up at the lair. They are found out by an employee named Jigson who helps them find Phil and Detective Jones. Jigson gets a plan together to rescue Phil and Detective Jones by knocking out Miss Verton and calling the police. All they have to do now is get out without being caught.

        As I said before, the climax happens very quickly in the nineteenth chapter. Here, Abbey, Millie, Phil, Jigson, and Detective Jones all work together to get out safely and unnoticed. While the girls hide in the kidnapper's car trunk, Detective Jones and Phil tackle the guards stationed at the door. Jigson opens up the door of the lair to let in the police cars. The police quickly handcuff the guards. That pretty much wraps up the climax, so now we'll move onto the resolution.

        The resolution finishes up this book from the twentieth chapter to the last chapter. The Baker kids and Millie Drake arrive back safely at the farm. Jigson and Jones explain what happened and how they captured the jewel thieves. And then, two days later, the Baker family competes in the county fair.

I think this was an excellent book. During Abbey's and Millie's time imprisoned together, they became fast friends. All throughout this book, everyone always found time to pray to God.