King Breadius III

by Orville

In the land of Persia, a poor bread salesman, who wore a plastic sweet roll on his head, earned just enough money daily to pay his rent and buy food for his family, but nothing more.  One day, his life drastically changed.  Bandits, disguised as tourists, appeared out of nowhere and began stealing priceless items, such as shiny gems, glittering statues, and gigantic books.  Following their spiteful plan, they ravaged the city until they were so hungry they were incapable of any more thievery.  They spied out a place to eat: the baker's shop.  Before the baker was aware of the bandits' presence, they stealthily snuck inside the shop.  To the salesman's shock, they aimed sharp arrows at the man's plastic sweet roll and demanded they be given bread or his sweet roll would be decimated.  The salesman ran down the road as fast as he could as the bandits chased him and shot flaming arrows at his head.  What was he to do?

Finally, he discovered a cave where he could hide from his pursuers.  As he ducked inside, the thieves darted past him.  After they had passed, he foolishly advanced further into the cave without thinking of the potential dangers.  The cave's interior was gigantic!  He located many gleaming, gargantuan jewels within the mountain's core.  Surprisingly, instead of overfilling his tiny pockets with diamonds, he noticed a dusty, old lamp and grabbed it for his wife.  He feared he would be cursed for stealing the diamonds, but knew his wife, who was afraid of the dark, would put the lamp, which had obviously been thrown away, to good use.  Zooming out of the cave, he left the diamonds behind and dashed for home before he could be spotted by the villains.

While he was running, he inspected the rusty lamp.  After he was safely home alone, the bread salesman blew on the lamp and polished it to make it eye-catching for his meticulous wife.  Suddenly, a monstrous, dull cloud exited from it.  He was astonished.  Growing in fear, he started to run, but a voice called to him, "STOP!"

"Who-oo are y-you?" asked the baker.

"I am the Great Genie.  I am extremely grateful for your assistance in releasing me from this nearly inescapable prison.  Therefore, I shall  bestow upon you great wealth.  When you wake up tomorrow, you will be as rich as the king."

The baker ran away, not knowing whether to be happy or frightened.  The next morning, he did not just awaken with the riches of the king, he was coronated as king.  He never had to sell bread again because, for the rest of his days, he reigned as King Breadius III!

The Hummingbird

by Orville

Recently, Nohnie, my grandmother, was going to water her plants in the backyard.  When she opened the door from her house to the screened-in back porch, there was a humminbird trapped in the porch. It could not figure out how to get free.  She startled it, and it flew everywhere, running into things.  Eventually, it ran into the siding and got stuck between two pieces.  Nohnie carefully freed the bird from the siding.  She held it in her hands and checked it carefully to make sure it was okay.  It was not moving at all, and she thought it was dead.  She went into the house to get a cup of water.  She took it back out onto the porch with the water and rubbed a little dab of it on the bird's forehead.  Then she gently blew on it.  Its eyes opened and its wings began to flap.  She knew it was alright and took it to the back yard.  The hummingbird flew away feeling fine.

This was based on a true story.

Backyard Bird Count List 2010

During the Backyard Bird Count, These are the birds we saw and heard


1 Great Blue Heron

4 Mallard Ducks

2 Snow Geese

2 Muscovy Ducks

22 Pine Warblers

31 Dark-Eyed Juncos

2 Lark Buntings

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 Brown-Headed Nuthatch

26 Eastern Towhees

1 Belted Kingfisher

2 Yellow-Rumped Warblers

1 Northern Mockingbird

15 American Robins

3 Ducks Unidentified Species

2 Red-Bellied Woodpeckers

1 Loggerhead Shrike

3 Blue Jays

1 Tufted Titmouse

4 Eastern Bluebirds

2 Northern Cardinals

Circus Ad

Come see the circus

The crazy, cool circus show

There are games galore

And animals all around

The lions are loud

Like a big fireworks show

The elephants are

As big and tall as oak trees

It's amazing and

It's spectacularly great

The July fourth show

You do not want to miss it

by Orville

Our Camping Trip

Last week we went camping. When we first got there, Mom and Dad set up the tent, canopy, and storage containers. Wilbur and I played soccer. We used two trees as the goal.

Playing Soccer

Wilbur and I helped Dad set up the canopy.

Later, after everything was set up, fireflies came out. I caught them in my hands. Wilbur looked at them and chased them. He did not want to catch them.

The Finished Camp

Didn't Dad do a great job?

We went on a walk. Some little creatures flew over our heads. We thought they were birds at first, but they were really bats! They were brown and had triangular wings. We also saw a rabbit, a frog, and lots more fireflies.

Wilbur, Dad, and Me

Looking for Birds

We returned to camp and enjoyed a family time. We sang a Psalm, prayed, and read chapters of Little Pilgrim's Progress. Then we went to bed and slept in sleeping bags.

Under the Canopy

Listening to Mom Read

The next day we went bird watching again. You won't believe this! We saw a summer tanager and an ovenbird.

On the Trail

Bird Watching

We had a great time camping!

Events Leading to the Civil War

by Orville

There were many events that led to the Civil War. But these three, the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, are very important. They all attempted to keep the North and South together and happy but failed.

The first compromise was the Missouri Compromise of 1820. When Missouri was to be admitted to the United States, there were many arguments in Congress about it. If it entered as a slave state, that would tip the balance of power in the Senate and give the South an advantage. Missouri was finally admitted as a slave state, and Maine was admitted as a free state. Also, slavery was banned from the territories north and west of Missouri. This kept the peace for some time.

The next compromise, the Compromise of 1850, allowed California to enter the Union as a free state. In exchange, the south received the Fugitive Slave Law. This law made it illegal to help a slave run away. If a person was caught helping a slave flee, he could be fined a lot of money and/or imprisoned. This angered some Northerners. Many had read Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and they had read the writings and heard the speeches of abolitionists, like Frederick Douglass. They were upset about slavery. This compromise did not really help at all. It actually made things worse because Northerners did not want to have to return runaway slaves to the South.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Steven A. Douglas said that there should be “popular sovereignty” in the territories of the USA. This meant that the people in the territories would be allowed to vote and decide for themselves on the issue of slavery. This repealed the Missouri Compromise.

After all these events, the North and South did not want to make any more compromises. As President Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. That meant the nation could not be half free and half slave any longer. They had to solve this problem the hard way. They had no choice but to go to war.

Orville's Bird Journal

This year the YBC held a new contest. It was a Bird Journal Contest. I entered it, and it was fun. I began my journal on March 1. On this first day, IT SNOWED! AND IN MARCH! I did not think I would find birds in the snow but I did. I heard a Tufted Titmouse. What a nice picture for my first page!

This was my first entry... a Tufted Titmouse on a snowy day.

I didn't just bird in my backyard, I birded in some different state parks and my grandma's subdivision. Each day I birded for 15-30 minutes. It took me until April 15 to finish it.

I drew this to show what birds like to visit our magnolia tree.

For each day I birded, I wrote in my journal the date, weather conditions, the birds I saw and the ones I heard. Then, I drew a picture of a bird seen or heard that day at the bottom of the page. I liked drawing the pictures at the bottom of the page because it helped me learn to pay better attention to what the birds look like.

I made sure to label my Downy Woodpecker and to write in "peck" for the sound I heard while I watched him that day.

I also added some extra pages like a graph showing the four birds I saw most often and mnemonics I use to remember bird calls.

Would you like to make a journal of your own? Here's how to make one:

1. Set aside a time to bird watch at least once per week. Bird for as long as you like each time.

2. Buy an unlined, spiral bound sketchbook. My mom found mine at Wal Mart for under $3.

3. Each day, watch your feeders at home, visit parks, or go for a walk around your neighborhood. Look carefully in trees, on power lines, in nesting boxes, along the ground, and in the air. Pay attention to bird behavior and habits.

A female cardinal that nests in our yard loves to look at herself in the mirror on our van.

Carolina wrens are in the habit of nesting behind our shed in the spring.

4. After you have bird watched for your set time, write down the weather conditions, the date, what time you started birding and when you finished as well as what you saw and heard. If you are not sure what a particular bird is that you saw or heard, write down a description of the bird. Include its shape, size, and colors. Or try to take a picture of it and use a field guide later to try to identify it.

I took the best notes I could each day, even if I had to write down that I had not seen or heard any birds. Notice on this page after "birds heard" that I wrote "none".

5. With crayons or colored pencils, draw a picture at the bottom of the page of the bird you saw or heard that you liked the best. Write in sounds that you hear also, like "Honk! Honk!" for geese.

Notice that some of the arrows on this page point to pictures. Those are the birds I saw. Some of the arrows point to words, like "Jay! Jay!". Those represent the birds I heard.

6. Keep records of how many of each species you spot over a set time period or how many birds you see each day and create graphs.

This is a graph of the three birds I saw or heard most often during my journaling time. Mom told me I need to use a ruler next time I draw a graph!

7. Write mnemonics for birds sounds. My mom is going to write more about this on her blog later.

These are the mnemonics I use to remember the songs of the three birds pictured. The funniest one is the Killdeer. It's song sounds like the Hotpockets jingle!

Making the journal was so much fun. It was just great when I heard the birding competition coordinator announce, "First place in the Elementary Division... Orville!" He did not actually say "Orville", but I can't tell you my real name! But what I can tell you is "keep on birding. It is fun!"

Rainbow Haiku

Hey, Orville here.

Do you know what I like?

POEMS! Here is a haiku I just wrote.

Look up in the sky. It's a rainbow I tell you. Isn't it lovely?

I also have two rhyming poems. But I will save those for another time.

Until next time!

The Founding Of Mexico City

The city of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) was founded by the Aztecs in 1325. It was the capital city of the Aztec civilization. Now it's the capital city of Mexico, Mexico City. It grew to be the biggest and strongest city in Mesoamerica.

It was originally on an island in Lake Texcoco. Now it extends throughout the Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco has drained out and none of the waters have remained since the 17th century. It drained because of earthquakes. In the process, some parts of the city have sunk as much as nine meters. It is on saturated clay from the drainage of Lake Texcoco.

In 1519, Hernando Cortez came to Mexico and invaded the Aztecs. The Aztecs thought he was the god Quetzalcoatl and did not attack him. Cortez defeated the Aztecs and took over Tenochititlan and built a palace on the ruins. He even used some of the Aztec materials. Mexico became a Spanish colony.

Birds of Mexico

There are many kinds of birds in Mexico. There are city birds, mountain birds, desert birds and jungle birds.

One kind of city bird is the lesser goldfinch. They like to eat dropped bits of tortilla and vegetables. It is said to be the smallest bird in Mexico.

A mountain bird is the Inca dove. It eats whatever plants it finds. It is one of the most amazing bird tourists like to see. It is mostly gray and likes to fly.

A jungle bird is the ant bird. Can you guess why it's called that? That's right! It eats ants. It mostly lives in the rainforests where it is warm. It also likes living there because all the rain makes the worms come to the surface of the ground.

A desert bird is the cactus wren. It eats insects and cactus fruit. It's the largest North American wren that lives in Mexico.

Aren't there are a lot of different kinds of birds in Mexico?

Mexican Food

Hi, this is Orville and I want to write about the food in Mexico.

The early inhabitants of Mexico mostly were vegetarians. They planted corn, beans, potatoes and peppers. Then they started making tortillas.

After the bow and arrow were invented, early inhabitants of Mexico started hunting and ate meat more often than vegetables. They considered it important to teach their children how to fish.

Today Mexicans eat a lot of the same foods which includes beans, squash, tomatoes, fish, peppers, tacos and tortillas. My favorite Mexican food is tacos, with no lettuce!!

Here's how to make tortillas like the Aztecs*.

First you need: scales, 8oz of flour, 1tsp salt, 11/2 cup cold water, 11/2 oz butter, bowl, jug, spoon, rolling pin, pastry board, frying pan and oil for frying. Then, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Weigh your ingredients carefully.

Step 2: Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Rub in the butter (with your hands) and pour in the water.

Step 3: Mix it with your hands until you have a loose ball of dough.

Step 4: Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes until it is smooth.

Step 5: Move the dough to the pastry board and cut the dough into egg-sized balls.

Step 6: Sprinkle the board and rolling pin with some plain flour to stop the dough from sticking. Then roll out the balls into pancakes.

Step 7: Put oil in the non-stick frying pan and ask an adult to fry the tortillas one minute per side.

Make sure to join us next time when Wilber will write about the Mexican terrain. Until next time, this is Orville saying, "Adios Amigos!"

*from the book, Step into the Aztec and Maya Worlds by Fiona Macdonald, Lorenz Books, 1998