Okay, first about Estella. Maysen had a character dress up day in English class. They had to dress up like any character they had read about during high school. They were also supposed to bring a food that that character might have brought. Maysen chose Estella from Great Expectations. She wore one of my dresses and had me do her hair. I am horrible at hair; but it turned out not completely embarrassing, so that was good. Maysen did look beautiful.
Maysen/Estella
Maysen brought her fancy cupcakes and had to give a character toast. (Advice that their character would have given.) This is Maysen's:
I was blessed with all the practical and necessary comforts in the days of my youth, but they do not define who I am as a woman. Regardless of my upbringing, I have still endeavored to make my own way in life. I have but simple requests to make as I stand before you tonight. One must always, I think, heed the advice given to you by your parents, yet never allow them to select your fate for you and push you down their chosen path. Do as you are told, but make your own way in as much as you can, whenever the opportunity should arise. Let no one objectify you. Keep your pride around you and your head held loftily. Consider all of your actions, and act not without deliberate intentions. Lack of thought leads to rashness, which leads only to mistakes. They are beneath you
Above all, remember your own worth, and listen not to the comments of others about your appearance or state of mind, whether they come off as positive or negative in nature. To that, I raise my glass and make an end. You may applaud me now. ---Estella
Stockton has been working on his children's book project. He finished late last night. That is when he asked how to bind the book. What? We thought about several different things. We couldn't use a binder because of the way he drew the pictures. We thought about laminating them, but had no idea where our hole punch was. We had a fancy hole punch that was given to use when we made the diving badges, but we had already returned that. I told him to leave his book with me and I would figure it out and get it to him. Luckily his English class is the last period of the day. Once Mike got back from the temple I ran down to the Help U Mail store and waited outside until they opened. He was able to bind it for me and it looked really good. Too bad I got one of the pictures out of order. Stockton noticed and he and his friend were able to fix it. They took it out and laid another page over the top and stabbed the paper where the holes should be, then threaded the book back together. Whooops. I guess I should have been more careful, but at least it got done. Their book turned out really cute.
Two stories were chosen to be given to the teacher's cousin's elementary school class. Stockton's was one of them. He worked with a partner named Christopher and was happy with him. They dedicated the book to a guy named Steve in their class. It's kind of hard to read the words, so I'll type them above the picture they belong to.
One summer day when the sun was showing
and all of the grass in the yard was growing,
a boy named Shawn had his very last day
of school and came home, excited to play.
But just when he had pulled out a toy,
he heard his parents call for their boy.
"Shawn?" asked his mom, "Can you come here?
Something different is going to happen this year."
Shawn came upstairs, although he was grim
and found both his parents waiting for him.
His mother opened her mouth and said, "Shawn,
we think that you should start mowing the lawn."
No matter how hard he tried to protest,
his parents insisted this was for the best.
That's when his father decided to speak,
"I'll teach you how, and you'll start next week."
Shawn went to his room and waited there,
He didn't think that this job was fair.
He said, "I don't think I'm old enough
to learn how to do this lawn-mowing stuff."
Shawn stood still and didn't make noise.
He didn't feel like playing with toys.
Now that he had to mow the lawn,
all his excitement for summer was gone.
A week had passed and the day was here
for Shawn to mow his first lawn of the year.
"I guess I should get started," he said
as he pulled the lawnmower out of the shed.
But there was something not seen by the child:
the lawnmower opened its eyes and smiled.
Marty the Mower was shiny and new,
and this was going to be his first lawn too.
When Marty the Mower was taken outside,
he started moving, with Shawn as a guide.
Shawn walked him forward and pushed him around
and Marty cut all of the grass in the ground.
He kept on going, and running on gas,
he cleared the lawn of each blade of grass.
Marty the Mower thought it was fun,
he loved every minute until he was done.
It was a fun day that Marty had had,
but when he went back in the shed, he was sad.
Stewart the Shovel was wondering why,
"If you had fun, what's making you cry?"
Marty was quiet before he replied,
"I just can't wait to go back outside."
That was the only thing Marty would say
until it was finally lawn-mowing day.
Marty was very excited at first,
but a few minutes later, he gained a great thirst.
He felt the sun, and it seemed like his oil
was getting so hot it was going to boil.
Marty kept working, even though it was hard,
to cut up all of the grass in the yard.
After a while, he started to sweat,
but he knew he wouldn't be done quite yet.
When Marty was done, he was put in the shed.
"I don't want to do that again," he said.
Then Stewart the Shovel spoke out of the blue,
"When I started working, I thought that too.
But you know what got me out of the dumps?
I thought of the fun parts instead of the bumps.
Try to enjoy it whenever you mow."
So Marty decided to give it a go.
For the next few weeks, Marty was kind
and put the bad thoughts in the back of his mind.
He didn't whine and he didn't complain.
He even stayed strong when it started to rain.
And soon, he remembered why he had fun
when summer had started and his job had begun.
When Marty looked at his work with a smile,
that's when he got his old lawn-mowing style.
When another summer was under his belt,
Marty told Stewart how thankful he felt.
"At first, I thought that work wouldn't end.
But you got me through it. You're a good friend.
If you hadn't given me help on that day,
I don't think I would have made it okay."
Then Stewart said, with a tear in his eye,
"Thank you Marty, you're a good guy."
That was when Marty turned his head
and looked out the window on the side of the shed.
Marty showed Stewart, and they looked in awe
at the sudden change of the weather they saw.
The sun wasn't there to keep the grass growing.
Instead, they noticed the clouds that were snowing.
Stewart then spoke, with a voice filled with cheer,
"Summer is over, but winter is here."
Then Stewart watched the door open and grinned,
and in came Shawn and a cold blast of wind.
He started to walk, tracking snow on the floor,
making complaints about his new chore.
Now that Marty had no lawn to mow,
Shawn took Stewart to shovel the snow.
"I'll be back soon, but you did your best.
Now it's my turn to work and your turn to rest."
