Siena Says

This weekend I was in a St. Patrick’s Day Parade. I got to ride my scooter and do a couple of wheelies and Jumps. At one of the streets, I did one wheelie and a group of people started cheering. So, I started doing them over and over again and finished it with a jump.





Every once in awhile, there would be poop on the road from the horses that were ahead of us. It’s funny because on the way driving to the parade there was a green jeep in front of us and in the parade they were were ahead of us. Then an even funnier thing happened! My friend, Grace, ended up right behind us! She was dressed as Betsy Ross, while her brother was dressed as an ARMY man and her friend as the Statue of Liberty.





The parade was really fun! My favorite part was when I listened to the San Diego Firefighters Emerald Society Pipe and Drums Band play bagpipes! It was loud but entertaining at the same time. Here’s a picture of me with some of the band and a video of them playing.

Bagpipes are Awesome!



Here are a few more pictures from the parade:


Here’s me with some friends and some roller derby girls.





Clowning Around…





Getting ready to start the parade.





I had a really great time and finished the day climbing a tree.





By the end of day I was super tired. Next year I’m bringing a wagon so my Dad can pull me!

My Chocolate Year




Author: Charlotte Herman Illustrator: LeUyen Pham
Main character: Dorrie Meyers Background(s): Sidewalk, school, house, backyard, and store





Favorite part:
When the flour went all over the kitchen when she was trying to make brownies, because the flour went everywhere and I enjoyed thinking about the way it would look.
Another favorite part was when Dorrie and her friend, Sunny, tried unsuccessfully to make chocolate gum.


“My Chocolate Year” is a book about a 10-year-old Jewish girl,Dorrie, who in 1946 was looking for a recipe for a cooking/essay contest called “Sweet Semester”. The event is held at school every year by the Fifth Grade teacher, Miss Fitzgerald. She tells the class at the beginning of the year, so that they have all year to plan a dessert that they make themselves. They also will need to include the recipe and an essay about why they decided to make it. This year was special, because it was the first year that it would be photographed and written about in the Chicago Daily News paper!


All that Dorrie knew was that she wanted to make something chocolate. However, after many failed attempts, she put the project aside for a while. Her Jewish cousin, which they thought was lost in the war in Europe against the Germans, arrives and she forgets all about planning for “Sweet Semester”. Then, one day, her mother asks her what she is going to make. She has no idea what recipe to choose. Her long-lost cousin, Victor, hears about this and gives her just the right recipe to use which he used to make at his family’s bakery before the war. It is a recipe for peppermint chocolate sticks and they have great fun crushing up the peppermint.


After inspiration from a movie, Dorrie has an idea to help the orphans in Germany. She asks her teacher if it would be okay to have a jar where guests of the Sweet Semester event can make cash donations to help the children that need food and clothing. Her teacher agrees.


Finally, the contest day arrives! She sees Melvin’s Superman cookies all decorated in red and blue and believes that she now has no chance of winning. When they announce him as the winning recipe, she is not surprised. Each person reads their essay and when it is Dorrie’s turn, she talks about her cousin, Victor, and how he gave her the recipe from his favorite candy before the Germans took him and his family away. She wrote about him hiding and living in a camp and being the only one in his family to survive. She hoped that the fun they had making the peppermint sticks this year had helped create happy memories to replace the sad ones. At the end of the contest, they announce that she is the essay winner and she is so happy that she jumps for joy! Everyone is there to celebrate with her, including her cousin Victor. As the photographer takes her photo, she pulls Victor into the picture with her.


I hope that when people read this book they are inspired to help others the way Dorrie did.

“My Life in Dog Years” by Gary Paulsen
Book Review

“My Life in Dog Years” is a book about a man named Gary and many of the incredible dogs he has rescued throughout his life. Each chapter is dedicated to the special memories he has for each of his “best friends”.
My favorite story was about a dog named “Josh”, a Border Collie with a black-and-white shiny coat. Josh was very smart and seemed to think like a person. He liked to herd people as well as animals! He was still living out his 18 years at the side of the author as he finished writing this book.


The toughest dog was a mix of just about everything and Gary named him “Dirk”, after a tough guy he saw in a movie. Gary first met Dirk when he was a young man being chased in an alley by bullies. Gary had climbed down a fire escape and heard a mean growl. He was carrying his dinner, so he threw half of his hamburger towards the noise and ran. The bullies caught up with him and, just as they were about to beat him up, Dirk bit the biggest bully and they all ran off. After that day, Dirk followed Gary everywhere they went, although he walked about five feet behind him, and Gary was never bullied again.


The funniest dog was an enormous Great Dane named “Caesar” who was as big as a car! He would play “get the kitty” in the house when Gary’s wife was gone, knocking over furniture and anything in his path. One morning, Gary took him out and, all of a sudden, the kitty ran past! Caesar dragged Gary through his neighbor’s yard and down the street and halfway through town trying to “get the kitty” when Gary realized that he was still in his robe and underwear!


Caesar also had a lack of control around hot dogs. Once, he broke out of a parked car he was in, and hovered over a little, tiny girl holding a hot dog. As Gary watched from far away, fearing the little girls entire arm would be slobbered, Caesar delicately took the hot dog and moved on to the next person. From that moment on, Caesar was loved by the entire neighborhood.
Some of these stories will warm your heart and make you laugh, while others might make you cry with joy or sadness. Either way, you will want to read this book over and over again.


Here is a poster I made to go a long with this book report.