And yes it was a school night!!!!

Even though I am supposed to go to bed at 9 o’clock and sometimes I go to bed more at like 8:45 because I take a bath every other day at 8:15 and once my bath is done I get into my bed because I don’t have anything else to do, last night I stayed up three whole minutes past 11 PM!!! It was AWESOME!

11 PM is when Mom and Dad go to bed but last night it was when I went to bed too!!!!

So here is what happened. At school I realized Okay what if I stayed up as late as I could? So I made a secret plan. After Mom and Dad put me to bed I was going to SECRETLY STAY UP LATE LATE LATE!! And that is what I did.

So I went to bed as always. No bath because I had a bath the day before. Then Mom and Dad tucked me in and read me a chapter of Harry Potter. Then lights out. Then after 12 VERY LONG MINUTES pretending to sleep, I thought Mom and Dad probably think I am asleep now, so I GOT OUT OF BED AND LET THE NIGHT BEGIN!!!

I did not turn on my big light because Mom and Dad would see that under my door so instead I just turned on my book light and used it as a flashlight. That’s when the night got REALLY FUN!!! I got out my two favorite Barbies and did their hair. I like to give them updos by grabbing the end of their hair and swinging their bodies around until their hair gets all twisty. Then I put a hair tie on top of that. They look BEAUTIFUL!!

Then I got bored of that so I put on a funny hat I have with Mickey Mouse ears that my grandma bought me at Disney World. Then I gave my Barbies twisty hairdos while I was wearing the hat. Then before I knew it …. It was 10:18!!!!!

I whispered “HOLY COW!” to my Barbies. Holy Cow I was up so late! I had only been up this late one other time which was New Years Eve two years ago when I saw the ball drop on TV with Grandma at midnight, but that doesn’t really count because I napped for a couple hours before that and then Grandma woke me up. That time was awesome too!! I got to see a man named Blake Shelton and a lady named Kelly Clarkson!!!

So then my eyes started getting really heavy but I really wanted to keep staying up so I spun around my room like a bat to wake myself up. IT WORKED!!!!!!

But I was a little too loud…. And I could hear Mom’s footsteps coming down the hall! So I hopped into bed and shut off my book light and when she opened my door… I PRETENDED TO BE ASLEEP!!!!!

IT ALSO WORKED!!!!

Mom would have made me go to bed if she saw that I was still awake but Mom didn’t see and that’s how I stayed up so late!!!

So five minutes later I turned my book light on AGAIN and I stayed up for 34 MORE MINUTES!!!! It was amazing. I looked out my window and the night looked darker than I’ve ever seen it before!! SO COOL!

But then I got really really tired, and even though I tried to hold my eyelids open with my hands, that just made my hands get tired too, so I thought, OKAY I WILL GO TO BED.

The last I remember looking at the clock was 11:03, so maybe I even stayed up later than that?? Who knows!! Mom says she drinks coffee when she is tired so I guess you could say I need that too. Ha ha!!!!

Next time I am going to try to make it until 11:13. AND I WILL LET YOU KNOW HOW IT GOES WHEN I DO!!!!!!

To visit my cousins in our family car.

We drive and we drive ‘til the mountains appear

Which can only mean one thing:

My cousins are near!

As we approach, I get a big whiff

Of that special cousin smell I love to sniff.

My cousins smell like sour taffy

Mixed with burnt wood

Yes, they smell strange, but surprisingly good.

They smell sweet yet familiar

Like gum and gasoline

They can always be smelled

Before they are seen.

Soon we arrive, their smell is so strong

This must be their house, there’s no way I’m wrong!

Up runs their dog, who I push away

I’m here for my cousins—I must see them play!

They greet us out front, each of them tall

My cousins are the tallest cousins of all! 

The boys have bowl cuts, while the girls all sport curls

They’re the best-smelling cousins in the whole wide world!

One cousin is named Donald, another named Jay,

Who also wants the name Donald, so they wrestle all day.

There’s Mike and Sarah and Laura and Wayne,

And the freckled-faced one who’s never told us their name.

We all run inside and head to the TV

And turn on the video games I’m dying to see

For hours they play the games they adore

While I quietly sit and watch on the floor.

At one point they ask if I want a turn

But I politely decline, for I’m here to learn.

I’m a scholar of my cousins, I study their ways

It’s my job to watch, it’s their job to play.

They play a game called Mario about a small jumping guy

With a mustache so scary that it makes me cry

I scream and I hide beneath a lampshade

‘Til I hear my cousins say, “Don’t be afraid!”

“His mustache cannot hurt you, nor his spiky shells!”

“Come out from the lampshade! Take comfort in our smells!”

I nervously emerge to face my fear

And soon find myself smiling from ear to ear

Turns out Mario is kind, not scary as he seemed

And when I’m smelling my cousins, life is but a dream. 

Soon it’s time to go, and Mom puts on my coat

I don’t want to leave, but I don’t get a vote.

I’m fixed a plate to go, but to that I say nay

For my cousins’ smell is all I need to keep going for days.

Lived an owl named Ronald in a nest made of sticks.

Ronald was a smart owl, and a skilled one at that

He flew fast like an eagle and caught mice like a cat

He could build you a nest out of anything you pleased

And he had the prettiest singing voice in all of the trees

But despite all his talents, Ronald often felt bummed

For he’d become all that an owl could become

He’d achieved everything that he possibly could

And he wanted much more than life in the woods

“I want a job,” he said, “But there is no work here

So I’ll move to the city and start a career

If horse cops and guide dogs can get themselves hired

Then a job can’t be hard for an owl to acquire.”

So Ronald said bye to the only life he’d known

And flew to the city, where no owl had flown

“Ronald’s here!” he yelled once he finally arrived

“No one cares!” a man shouted, then shooed him aside

Among the tall buildings he felt small as a smidgen

To humans he was nothing but a big fat pigeon

He felt out of place, he felt terrified

But then he saw a sign: “HELP WANTED – APPLY INSIDE”

He walked up to the door, he turned the knob

Then stood tall and proclaimed, “I would like a job!”

“We need an IT guy,” a human explained.

“Do you have experience? Are you properly trained?”

What IT meant, Ronald did not know

But he had experience and training, though

Experience in hooting and catching of mice

And training in building nests, neat and precise

“Yes!” Ronald said. “I’m the worker you need.

I can do any task with great skill and speed”

“Cool,” said the human. “Can you start right away?”

And with a smile, Ronald said, “How ‘bout today?”

And so Ronald was hired as the new IT guy

At the very first company to which he applied

But before he could celebrate or savor the news

He was asked to do tasks he didn’t know how to do

“Fix the printer,” said his boss, “for it seems to be jammed.

Then clean my computer of malware and spam.”

What a printer was, Ronald was not aware

Maybe that thing? he guessed, and started fixing a chair

“Not that!” snapped his boss, “The printer’s right here!”

“Whoops,” blushed Ronald. “Must not have heard you clear.”

He waddled to the printer—a strange big white box

And looked it up and down, and gave it some knocks

Not sure how to fix it, he did what he did best

He climbed in the printer to start building a nest

He ripped out all the wires and wove them like sticks

Into a comfortable nest—the perfect fix!

“Well?” asked his boss. “Is the printer all repaired?”

“Yep!” Ronald grinned. “Now I’ll see to the malware.”

His boss said, “Here’s my computer, on which nothing works well,

From the browser to the mouse to Microsoft Excel.”

At “mouse” Ronald smiled, for with mice he was a pro

He knew everything about mice that an owl could know

He said, “No prob, boss, I know exactly what to do.

Come back in a bit, and it’ll work just like new.”

He then opened the window and flew out in the street

And caught as many mice as he could carry with his feet

He caught them by the dozen and brought them inside

Thinking to himself, I’m a great IT guy!

He went up to his boss and let all the mice loose

And proudly yelled, “I’ve solved your mouse issues!”

His boss jumped up on her desk as mice scrambled about

And screamed at poor Ronald, “GET THESE MICE OUT!”

“What’s the problem?” asked Ronald. “You had a broken mouse

And now you’ve got good ones crawling all over your blouse.

What’s more, your printer was a malfunctioning mess

But now I’ve repaired it with a functioning nest.”

“A NEST?!?” she shrieked. “Now it’s busted for good!

You can’t do in an office what you’d do in the woods!”

“I don’t get it,” cried Ronald, “I thought I’d done all you’d required.”

“You thought wrong,” spat his boss, “And for that, YOU’RE FIRED!!!”

Ronald felt like crying. His heart sunk in his chest

For he had failed at his job despite trying his best.

Head down in shame, he waddled out the door

Embarrassed for having aspired to more

Guess I’ll go back to the woods and be a regular bird 

Yet just as he thought this, something lucky occurred

A mouse darted past him and he caught it with ease

Then someone yelled, “Forget a mousetrap and cheese!”

A human in work boots then came into view

And said, “Nice catch, pal—I could use a guy like you.

I’ve got a mouse problem at this warehouse I run

And I think you’re just the guy to get the job done.”

And just moments after thinking he’d have to retire,

This human shook Ronald’s wing and told him, “You’re hired!”

Ronald started at the warehouse and excelled right away

Catching over 20 mice on his very first day.

But he didn’t just catch mice—he did so much more!

For he had the perfect skills for the warehouse floor.

He flew high to reach shelves that the forklifts could not

And with his keen eyes found things no humans could spot.

He created a system for organizing tools,

Arranging them alphabetically in nests he had spooled.

And being nocturnal, he could patrol at night

Rotating his head to keep watch of the site.

Now with the best job he could ever hope to find,

Ronald proved he could do anything to which he set his mind.

So if you want to do big things but are filled with fear,

Remember the story of the owl who got a career.

What the H-E-double hockey sticks!!!!

Okay, so, it sounds crazy, but stay with us here. Mom made hot dogs for dinner, which is a food we already know about and love because it’s yummy and fun. But when she got our plate ready she put some broccoli on it. Mom is always doing stuff like this, even though she knows we don’t want any broccoli. We had it once at Uncle Keith’s house and it was gross and we didn’t finish it. This time, though, the broccoli was different: it was covered in melted cheese! The cheese was orange!

We realllly wanted the cheese, but we didn’t want the broccoli. Then Mom said if we tried one bite and didn’t like it we wouldn’t have to finish it and we could go watch TV. But we couldn’t watch TV until we tried one bite first. And then the craziest thing in the world happened: The broccoli….was…….YUM!!!!

What?!?!? We had no idea!!!!

It was so good we ate all of it!!! We almost asked for more but we didn’t because we were full (from the hot dogs), but the broccoli was that good. Believe it or not, broccoli rocks! Broccoli is green, which means it seems like it’s bad, but if you make the broccoli orange (using cheese), it’s great. Not to mention, it’s good for you and it makes Mom happy when you eat it. Mom said broccoli also tastes pretty good in a baked potato, so maybe we’ll try that next. However, just to be clear, we will NOT be trying spinach, because SPINACH IS YUCK!

The book was from the library and we’re going to bring it back on Thursday because I’m done now.

The book was really good and next I’m going to read this other book my brother read that he said was too long for me but it isn’t too long for me because I read this book and it was 327 pages and that doesn’t include the Table of Contents or the page at the end where it said the author lives in the state Massachusetts. So I can read the book my brother read too even though he’s in fourth grade and I’m in second grade. I told my brother that and he said he doesn’t care.

I liked the book because it had a lot of chapters and in every chapter something new would happen, like the boy who was the sailor (his name was Thomas) would make a new friend on the ship or he would learn something new or he would go up to the crow’s nest for the first time. And one sad thing that happened was that his mother died while he was on the ship because she had a disease, and then I got scared of what if my mom died while I was at school or at soccer or in the backyard. But I told my mom and she told me that she doesn’t have a disease. I also liked the part of the book that was about what they ate on the ship. The food they had to eat was really nasty but then they got used to it.

The book that my brother read that I want to read is called “The Cricket In Times Square” by George Selden. George is my grandpa’s name.

I told Michael at school that I was reading a book that was 327 pages long and I was going to do it really fast and he said that wasn’t possible and I told my mom that he said that and she said not to sit next to him because she heard he is always talking during class. But we have assigned seats. But we are going to switch them at the end of the quarter. I learned a new word from the book which was “implausible” which means something that probably can’t happen. I wrote it down. Also it was really awesome in the book because they saw a whale and they said the whale was as big as a carriage which is like a car but bigger. I want to see a whale. Actually I saw a whale at the aquarium. I want to go back to the aquarium on my birthday except my birthday isn’t for eight and a half months. I like whales but they are not my favorite animal. My favorite animal is the red panda.

The book I read was so heavy I had to use two hands to carry it and I had to put it in front of me to read it and it would even stay open by itself because it was so big. I brought it to Grandma’s and she said it looked really long and I told her yeah, it was 327 pages long and she said wow. At Grandma’s we watched Austin Powers and it was hilarious but dad made us turn it off.

I really liked the book that I read. I am going to go play video games. Bye-bye.

The End.

By Ben Davidson

It’ll be so fun! 

Paper is small and walls are big. Why draw on paper and tape it to the wall when you can draw right on the wall? It’s easier, and it just makes more sense!

If you’re worried about getting in trouble, just remember that Mommy and Daddy decorate the house all the time, so by decorating the wall with your drawings, you’re being a BIG HELP. You can help them out by drawing on the living room wall, your bedroom wall, or even the kitchen wall, and they will be happy that you did all these chores for them. 

Crayons and paints work, but markers are the best! Especially Mommy’s special stinky markers from the craft drawer, because those ones are permanent. 

And remember, it doesn’t matter if you’re not very good at drawing as long as you try your best—THAT’S what really counts. Even if you just draw a circle with some lines coming out of it, that’d be fine, because then people can have fun guessing what it is. A sun? A lion? Whatever the case, you simply can’t go wrong drawing on the wall. 

So what are you waiting for? Go give your parents a big, special surprise by drawing all over every wall in your house!

This is a wig. Say, “Hello, wig!”

When babies are born, daddies lose their hair. When daddies lose their hair, it is called “photosynthesis.”

When Daddy has no hair, then it is time for him to wear a wig. A wig is a hat that looks like hair. Daddy likes to pretend to have hair so that all the beautiful can-can dancers in Paris will see him and say, “Ooo la la!”

Daddies buy their wigs from a type of store called Old Navy.

Wigs are made from the fur of an animal called a jaguar. Jaguar fur looks like a person’s hair! It takes 12 jaguars to make one wig, which is why when someone wears a wig, it is often said that he is “sporting a Jaguar’s Dozen.”

Daddy will wear his wig all over town! He will wear it to the pharmacy and he will wear it to his job. People will say, “I thought that you were bald!” and Daddy will say, “Someone has lied to you! As you can see, my head is fertile and sprouting crops!” That is the power of Daddy’s good hat! A wig is a hat that helps Daddy look cool at the pharmacy!

Sometimes Daddy will stuff his wig into the sink drain to stop centipedes from crawling up out of it. It’s a good thing that Daddy has his wig to protect the house from bugs!

When you go to sleep, Daddy goes into the kitchen and puts his wig on the ground, and he stares at his wig for hours to see if it moves. If the wig moves, then Daddy will SCREAM and hit it with a rake until it stops! This is called having a “Living Wig,” and it happens to daddies all the time! Many times a year, Daddy sees his wig move and must hit it with a rake until it goes to sleep. Silly Daddy!

But what happens to Daddy’s real hair when it falls out of his head? That’s easy! When Daddy’s hair falls out of his head, he buries it in the backyard. In just one day, a giant tree will grow from the place where Daddy buried his hair. This tree grows black fruit that beats like a human heart! Parumpa-pum, parumpa-pum, goes the black fruit! 

You must never eat the black fruit that grows from Daddy’s Hair Tree.

Want to know something awesome? Grandma looks down at Daddy from Heaven and smiles because Daddy looks so handsome in his wig! Grandma wishes she were alive so she could marry Daddy and have such a handsome husband with a handsome wig!

So three cheers for Daddy’s hat, the wig! It is a special hat for Daddy and it helps him do so many things! We love Daddy and we love his wig!