The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Mum has been reading me and Sophie a series about a family called the Penderwicks. The Penderwicks have lots of adventures with a boy called Jeffrey. They get into lots of trouble in their adventures, but they always manage to get out of it.

The Penderwicks are four sisters, Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty.

Rosalind is 12. She bakes brownies. She looks after her three sisters. She is the eldest.

Skye is 11. She likes to do maths. She also likes to play soccer and do archery. She isn't very patient and doesn't like looking after her sisters.

Jane is 10. She to like write books about a girl called Sabrina Starr. She likes to play soccer and do archery. She a bit dreamy.

Batty is 4. She likes to play games with Hound the dog. She always wears her butterfly wings. She's a bit shy.

Mr Penderwick talks in Latin. The girls can't understand what he says, but they're used to it.

We've read two Penderwick books. The first book is called The Penderwicks. The second book is called The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. We're reading the third book now. It is called The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.

We love hearing about the Penderwicks. My favourite characters are Skye and Jane.

The Bush Walk

Imogen was going to work. Mum suggested that we should go for a bush walk. We made some hot chocolate and put it in a flask. We all found our cameras to take with us.

We dropped Imogen off at work, then went to the shop to buy some marshmallows. When we got there, the shop didn't have any marshmallows. So we got some almond fingers instead. We also got some bubble bars, and some chocolate.

We went to the park, where the bush walk was. We walked along the track. Every two seconds we stopped to take photos of plants. Then we reached some big rocks. Mum took some photos of us sitting on the rocks.

After that, we had some chocolate before going back to the park. On the walk back we found some stripy rocks. Then we had our afternoon tea. Then it was time to pick Imogen up and go home.

I enjoyed going on the bush walk because we got to walk through the bush and take lots of photos. I would like to go on another one soon.

Daddy's Birthday

Daddy's birthday was on Sunday. Mummy and me wrapped the presents in the morning. We all signed our names in the birthday card. Then we had presents.

Daddy got a bike helmet. He put it on his head. He got two hoodies. Callum wanted the hoodies because they looked so nice.

After Mass we went out for morning tea/lunch (a munch?) We had sausage rolls. I spilt masses of tomato sauce on my cardigan. We also had donuts and hot chocolate. Mum and Dad had nice yoghurt.

In the evening Callum gave Dad his present. It was a black bag with licorice, chocolate covered almonds, nuts, and cheese and biscuits. I wanted to eat all the nuts.

Then it was time for cake. It was a coffee and chocolate cake. Imogen put in lots of coffee because Daddy loves coffee. Mummy put pink fairy sprinkles on top of the cake. We wanted to put lots and lots of candles on the cake but Mummy said we didn't have enough. So instead we put on two number candles.

We sang happy birthday and then Daddy blew out his candles. We all ate huge slices of cake. Daddy had a really good birthday. It wasn't actually Daddy's birthday on Sunday. We had it on Sunday because Daddy had to work on his birthday.

Going To See Our Cousins

On Monday we went to visit our cousins the Leaches. We got up really early and had pancakes and porridge for breakfast. Then we got in the car and went to the Leach's house. It was a very long drive. I got bored.

When we got there, we gave my cousin Megan her twenty and a half birthday presents. Then we went to the beach.

My cousin Melanie, who is the same age as me, and I made a sandcastle. We found some shells and put them on the sandcastle to make it look pretty. Sophie and Bethany made a sandcastle too.

We weren't allowed to get wet, but we did. We didn't mean to but the sea chased us up the beach and got us wet. So we had to go for a walk to get dry.

Then we went back to the Leach's house because it was lunchtime. After lunch we went and played in the Leach's caravan. I liked playing in it. After that with Melanie's Polly Dolls.

We had to go home. We were all tired. I fell asleep in the car. Sophie did too. I really enjoyed seeing Melanie. I don't see her very often.

How Many Hail Marys?

At dinner last night we were talking about confirmation sponsors and how they should do things together. Mum said that Charlotte should ask Callum, who is her sponsor, to say more prayers for her.

I said, "I'd like ten bottles of Hail Marys please."

"How many Hail Marys fit in a bottle?" Sophie asked.

"How big is the bottle?" someone asked.

"Are Hail Marys liquids, solids, or gases," someone else asked.

"I hope they're not gases," Mum said. "Or you won't fit many in a bottle."

What do you think? How many Hail Marys fit on a bottle? And are they a liquid, a solid, of a gas?

Tiny Teeth

A week and a half ago I lost one of my top front teeth. Today I got another one out. It is my other top front tooth. Now I have a big gap

Mum was reading me a story and I twisted my tooth round. Crack! It became really loose. Then we had lunch. It was hard to eat my lunch. I broke bits of food of with my hands and chewed with my back teeth.

Suddenly my tooth popped out. It was tiny. I gave it straight to Mum in exchange for two dollars. Then I went to the bathroom to look at my gap. It looked like someone had punched me in the mouth, except no one would punch me.

Cooking On My Own

Mum had a new cookbook: The Aldi Cookbook. She said, "Girls, go and choose a few recipes to cook."

So we looked in the cookbook. Imogen read out the dinner names. We all chose two recipes. I chose "Cream of Chicken Drumstick" and "Spaghetti with Ham and Mushrooms."

Mum, Charlotte and I went to Aldi to get all the ingredients we needed for our new dinners.

The next day it was my turn to cook. I was going to cook "Spaghetti with Ham and Mushrooms."

Imogen supervised, and read out the instructions.

I cut the ham up with a sharp knife. Then I cut up the mushrooms. I mixed some things together. Then I cut up the onion. It made my eyes water a little bit. I cooked the ham and the mushrooms and the onion on the stove. Charlotte cooked the spaghetti of me.

When the spaghetti was cooked Charlotte drained it. Then we added cream, cheese, eggs, the ham, mushrooms, and onion. Imogen stirred it together for me.

Then we had dinner. Imogen put the food on plates and I carried it to the table. Everyone loved it. We decided we had to have it again.

I really enjoyed cooking by myself because I got to do everything myself. I want to cook more on my own.