Rams' Corner

The Disappearing Socks

There was an old lady who lived in a little house in a small city in Mexico. Her name was Mrs. Guano. She owned a little Chihuahua named Miguel. She loved her little dog so much. One day she was home doing her laundry, and, as she was folding, she knew something was missing. Then she knew what it was--some of her socks were gone! For the pass week, her socks kept disappearing.

She thought she was going crazy. “I don’t know where they could have gone,” she said. She looked and looked but could not find them. Then it hit her. Miguel was always with her when she did the laundry. So she thought of a plan to see if Miguel was taking the socks.

That morning she did the laundry and left some of the socks out. Then she went to the store to buy some food. When she came back from the store, the socks were gone! She was so shocked that she dropped her food. She just stared at Miguel in a mad way. She grabbed her laundry and put it away. Then she cleaned up the food she dropped.

Then she went into the living room sat down and thought. So Miguel was taking the socks, but where was he hiding them? She said, “I guess I’m going to have to look everywhere.” Day after day after day she looked everywhere. She looked under the bed, looked by Miguel’s bed, and even looked outside, but couldn’t find her socks.

She gave up. She could not find her socks. Now, every time she does laundry, she has to put Miguel in a cage. She went into the living room and sat down on the couch. “This couch is getting very uncomfortable,” she said. Then she quickly looked under the couch cushions, and there were all of her socks! Miguel was hiding her socks in the couch! “That silly little puppy. He is in so much trouble.” Just then, Miguel walked into the room. She looked at him and laughed. “I need to buy you some of your own socks.“

By: Lauren B.

My Trip to California

In July of 2009, my mom and I visited California so I could compete at nationals for power tumbling. While we were there, we got to have some fun before I had to compete! On the first day we were there, we got settled in the hotel; then went to the march in. The march in is where all of the teams from all over the country will come and have a chance to meet each other! The most exciting part of the march in is finding out where the next nationals will be held! This year they will be held in Virginia Beach, West Virginia!

The next day we visited San Francisco. We were staying in San Jose, so it took us a while to get there. My mom and I went with my friend, Tori Sayles, who tumbles with me. We had to take a lot of trolleys to get to the train that would get us there. When we were finally on the right train, we realized it had taken us two hours to find the right train! It was all worth it, though, because, San Francisco is amazing! The best part was seeing the Golden Gate Bridge and the prison Alcatraz!

On the third day of our seven-day trip, we went to go see the amazing house that belonged to Mrs. Sarah Winchester. They call it the Winchester mansion! When you first get there, you have to walk thorough the gift shop to start the tour of the house! Once you are inside, you are already amazed! On the way through the house you see her bedroom, kitchen, and many other rooms! The best room is the 25,000 dollar storeroom! The room is full of Tiffany glass that is now worth 2.2 million dollars! After we got back to the hotel, we were in the elevator with the manager of the hotel. He asked us a question and said if we got it right he would give us free ice cream! He told my friend Grace the answer, and then she said it, and we got free ice cream! It was a good way to end a great day!

On the day that I competed, we had to get up at six o’clock in the morning so that my mom could do my hair and I could get in my competion leo. When you compete, you get to compete with people from all over the country! I competed against forty-nine girls! In tumbling there are flights of girls to compete against. At smaller meets, there may only be one or two flights, but at nationals there can be three or four. You compete by making two different passes. The passes are different for all of the different levels. After you have finished competing, you have to wait to get your award. It may take a while to get it though, because there are so many competitors and competitions!It was all worth it when I got to say I was fourth best for level six in the nation!

By: Bayley Driskell

My Cousin and Me

One morning I rode my bike up to my cousin’s house where we decided to walk in the woods behind her house. As we walked, we heard the woods stir with sound. We walked to our favorite place in the world, a tall hill where the sun shines on the perfect spot. It also has our favorite tree on it, which gives us shade and a place to climb to the perfect branch to sit on. It has a tire swing on one of the branches that we love to swing on. “ Race you up there!” my cousin Audrey shouts over her shoulder as she takes off.

But she was no match for me. I ran past her and up the hill. When she finally got up there, I was already lying down looking up at the sky. Then I sat up and turned to her and said, “What took you so long?” She didn’t answer. Instead she came over and tackled me. It ended up with us laughing and rolling in the grass together. After we had calmed down, we just sat there in silence looking up at the sky.

A few minutes later, Audrey got up and started climbing our tree. “Coming?” Audrey asked me. I didn’t say anything. I just laid there. She jumped back down to the ground. “ I said, ‘Are you coming?’” She was now only a couple feet away.

“Yeah I’ll be there in a minute.” Audrey went back to the tree. I got up and walk over to the tree and climb it, looking at the sky the whole time because I saw something. I don’t know what, but I saw something small and fiery fall out of the sky and land not even a hundred feet from here. “Hey Audrey I’ll be right back,” I said as I ran into the woods that were starting to get dark.

“Wait! Where are you going?” Audrey asked as she jumped down from the trees a second time. I just kept running I wasn’t going to lose the spot where the thing in the sky fell.

As we approached the smoking object, we started feeling strange. All I can remember is that we got really close, and then there was a flash of bright light, and then it went all dark. When I woke up I was lying on a white pillow. I looked more closely, and then I looked around, and there was nothing around except sky and a plane. Wait--a plane! I looked down and the ground was hundreds of feet below. “AAGG” I yelled.

Then I heard a moan in the distance. “Audrey, is that you?” I looked around, and, sure enough, I saw Audrey in the distance. I ran over to her. I was a little surprised that I could walk on the cloud. It’s harder than you would think, so it was more like I stumbled over to her. I knelt down beside her just as she was waking up. She got up, but, just like I did, she screamed when she looked down. “Audrey calm down. We have to find a way down from here.”

Just as I said that, a strong wind blew us right off the cloud. “Aaahhh!” we both screamed as we fell. Then I felt a surge of strongness come over my body, and soon we weren’t falling to the ground. We were flying! I looked over and saw that Audrey was still falling. I flew over to her and told her to try to fly. She gave me a look like I was crazy, but soon she was flying, too. We crash landed near are tree on our hill. When we pulled ourselves up, we promised each other we would never tell anyone about our new powers. So now, every time we see each other, we know exactly what to do.

By: Anna

Going to Tennessee

When I was little, I used to go to Tennessee with my family. We haven’t gone for a while, and I don’t know why, but, when we did go down there, my sister and I were very little. We got to go to an aquarium, a Jack Daniels Whiskey factory, and we even got to stay in a cabin and go hiking!

My dad was on dialysis because he had kidney failure. So one year we were driving down there, and we were about half way there when he got the phone call. They had a kidney for him, so we had to drive all the way back to Illinois and go to OSF St. Francis Hospital in Peoria.

I think God blessed my dad because he got his kidney then, and not when we were in Tennessee at the cabin unloading things. I can take that once but not two times! Hopefully, this year, nothing will go wrong!

This year we are going in May, and we are missing a week of school just to go there! I know this is going to be a special trip because we haven’t gone for 6 years! Plus, we don’t get a summer Florida vacation, so this is our only getaway until Christmas this year!

When we go to Tennessee. we go to Gatlinburg near Knoxville, Tennessee. My sister and I both adore going to Tennessee because we like the smell, nature, and hiking.

Instead of flying in an airplan,e we are going to drive because it is only 9-10 hours away from Pekin, Illinois. If we drive, we can bring more things, and we can relax in the back because we have a Honda mini-van.

By; Selena Goman

My Life

By: Fred

On July 24, 1997, I was born. I lived in Pekin for 4 years. Then my mom left me, my brother, Zach, and my dad. She went to Virginia for a while. Then she came back to take my brother and tried to take me, but my dad would not let me go with her. I stayed with my dad. He could not afford the house so we had to move in with my grandparents.

When we moved there, I had just had my 5th birthday. I would be going to kindergarten. When I when to kindergarten, I was very shy. Then I made some friend and played with them. That teacher didn’t like me, but another teacher liked me. She helped me with my homework. At the parent-teacher conference, she told my dad that I was failing school and wanted to hold me back in kindergarten. My dad said no. When the summer came, I had to go to my mom for the 6 weeks of the summer. I got to see my brother, Zach, and step-dad, Jason.

The next year of school came, and I went to 1 st grade. I was not doing well, I was failing. A kid in my class said I was cheating off of his paper, but I didn’t. I got help from my 1 st grade teacher, and my grades got better. My dad had me stay back in 1 st grade, and that’s when I got my new friends. I did better in 1 st grade the 2 nd time than the 1 st time. The summer came, and I had to stay at my mom’s house in West Virginia with my brother, Zach, and step-dad, Jason, and my mom, Holly.

When 2 nd grade came I had Miss Volmer. She was so much fun. She read stories to us. We played game when we had free time, and we could get on the computer and play games. One day her brother and boyfriend came to our class room, and we had fun with them.

Next was 3 rd grade. We had Mrs. Williams for our 3 rd grade teacher. She was so much fun. We made a bunch of crafts. In school my favorite thing to do was math, science, crafts, and p.e. At the end of the day, I had ice cream with my grandpa. Then I played ou-t side with my soccer ball. When summer came, I went to my moms’ house for a few weeks. When my birthday came, I had a Carebear cake. It was orange flavored. I had turned 9 years old.

Next was 4 th grade. I had Mrs. Hall. We did everything that you could do in 4 th grade. One day we went to Double D’s. Their ice cream is so good. I turned 10 that year.

Next was 5 th grade. I had Mrs. Speath. I loved doing p.e with her. She is so much fun. I loved school. When I went to my moms’ house, I had to stay in the house all day.

Now I am in 6 th grade, and I had Mrs. Williams for my teacher. I played volleyball and ran track this year. The school year is almost over.

My Last Christmas at Grandma’s

By Megan Stout

One day my Grandma and I were driving down the road to her house. I was looking out the window at the snow. We had just got done buying presents for my Dad and Tara. When we went into the driveway, Grandpa came to help get the presents. I went into my room to play with my toys. Grandpa came in and asked what I wanted for supper. I said, “I want pizza.”

He said, “Ok,” and went out of the room. After dinner I went to bed.

The next morning I went to the living room, and I asked where the presents were? Grandma told me Grandpa put them in the kitchen, so I went into the kitchen, but they were not there. We looked in my bedroom, their bedroom, down in the basement, and they weren’t there. Then the doorbell rang, Tara and my Dad were there. We asked them if they could help us find their presents. We went into the living room and looked in the closet, and they were there!

After we got them out, we opened presents. My Grandma got a picture of my dad, Tara, and me. My grandpa got a new shirt for church, my dad got a tool set, Tara got a dress, and I got a new game. After we opened presents, Grandma made breakfast. We had eggs, bacon, and biscuit and gravy with milk.

When we got done eating, I went home with my dad and Tara because Tara’s family was coming over. When we got there, Tara’s mom and sister were already there, so we went inside to get some chairs for lunch. By the time we got them into the kitchen, everybody was there, so we all opened our presents. Then we had lunch

After we ate, I went in my room to put my presents away. When I got there, I saw a TV on my dresser. My dad came in and said it was mine. He said he would plug it in tonight so Drew and I could watch TV later. After Tara’s family left, we heard a knock on the door. It was Grandma! She forgot to give me my presents. There were 20 of them. Drew got 21. After we all opened them, Grandma asked if Drew and I could spend the night. My dad said it was fine. I ran in my room to pack my bag. After I got packed, I went into the kitchen to get Drew’s bag. My dad went to get a garbage bag for Drew’s toys and got a plastic bag for some toys for me to play with. After we got every thing in grandma’s car, we said bye to my dad, and we went to her house to have popcorn, and then we went to bed.

The End

The Big Game

“Team, gather in,” coach commanded. Everyone looked at each other like each was a NBA star basketball player. Our coach had something important that he wanted to tell us at school today, but he said that he didn’t want to get us too excited. It was too late; we already were because we had been waiting the whole day to see what big news he had to tell the basketball team. “We are going to state, team!” Everyone yelled with excitement. ‘But we have to win our last game with Morton. They are also in the running for state, but only one team can go.”

“We will win for sure, coach,” said Nate, one of our rising stars on our team. (I had been helping him, ever since third grade, to learn how to play basketball with the right mechanics.)

“Your right, Nater,” said Nick.

“Then we need to practice as much as possible for the big game!” exclaimed coach.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” asked Nate.

“You bet I am!” I said. “We have been waiting for this the entire week! All of the grueling practices will pay off in the game.”

“Yeah, no kidding!” said Nate as he was trying not to remember those nights after school.

“Alright, we’ll see you at the big game tomorrow.”

“You, too.”

“Is everyone suited up for the big game guys?” said coach.

“Yes coach!” we all said.

“Well, good, so lets get out there team!”

The roar of the crowd and all the people in the stands watching the biggest game in a long time and the feel that you got when people clapped and yelled “Go, team!” sent chills down my back.

“The starting lineup was Nate, George, Brady, Nick, and Austin.” My coach went over, and as he said, “Nate,” Nate looked over to me with wide eyes, mouthing, “I’m in the lineup!” Then we headed out for the tip-off to start the game. I was the guy that jumps for our team to get the ball.

“Here come the refs. Be ready, George,” said Austin behind me.

“Ready” asked the ref that had the basketball.

“Yes” I said.

“Then jump ball!”

I got the jump, and we were playing like we have since 3 rd grade. In sync and ready to win, we played our hearts out and then, “RIPPP!” I felt pain run up my right leg, and I couldn’t move one bit. I fell to the ground with a thump, and everyone turned to me, the center on the court that couldn’t get up. I remember being helped off the court and the long trip to the hospital, but I couldn’t remember anything else until I woke up the next day. The person that woke me up was Nate, and the news he told me I would remember forever. “We won! We won!” Nate exclaimed. “We are going to state finals, and I was the person who made the winning shot!”

When I got out of the hospital, I had learned that I tore my hamstring and would be on crutches for a month but what made me so happy in the end was that our team was going to the finals. Finally!

By: George Andrae

The Record Breaking Kid

It’s the 2007 season and the last regular season game for the 15-0 New England Patriot’s all the way in New York against the Giants. The Pats had the lead the whole game until the 4 th quarter of action when a late Giants’ touchdown took away the Patriots lead, but no one was concerned, because they knew the quarterback with the 49 TDS, the quarterback who was just about to break the all time record for touchdown passes in one season, was going to win this game for his team. This quarterback’s name is Tom Brady.

As Tom stepped on the field, ready to take a stand and throw one of the best passes that would be remembered as long as when the first astronaut walked on the moon, you could feel the intensity brewing in your stomach, just waiting for that one important pass that could take away the game from the Giants.

The clock started. As Brady yelled out “Hike,” the offensive line shifted into action, trying as hard as they could to protect their only QB. The first pass went to Wes Welker, the Patriots slot receive. He ran down the field as hard as his legs could go, but he couldn’t get away from the Giants safety as Welker was brought down to the ground. The next play was a running play for Laurence Marony. It was a good gain of 10 yards. As the Pats huddled up Brady told his team that they were going deep to Randy Moss, the Patriots best receiver. It was the perfect play and pass but Moss dropped the wide-open pass from Brady.

“Don’t be discouraged yet,” said Tom to Randy. “We’re going to do the same play. Just catch it and fly.” The play developed perfectly as Moss was five feet from the Giants safety, Brady stepped up in the pocket and blasted a bomb to Moss for a huge touchdown. Tom Brady did it! He just threw 50 TDS in one season!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s not all. The Patriots went 16-0, the only team to do such a thing since 1977.

By: Bigfoot

Lost At Sea

One day Peter and James were going deep-sea fishing. They have always--their whole lives--wanted to go. Then things went badly! They were in the middle of the ocean, and there was a huge storm coming their way. There was no way they could get out of the way in time. They just got ready for the storm by getting the food supplies. They knew where their food was going to be when it hit, in case they had to abandon ship which would be the last thing they would want to do since there are huge sharks, and the waves can be massive. Who knows when they are going to find land?

The storm finally got to them. The boat was bouncing all around. They had no other choice but to abandon ship. Otherwise they would go down with the boat. They went to the back of the boat and took a leap. It seemed like the storm went on forever, and when they hit the water, it was ice cold. That did not help anyone. Now Peter and James were all alone in the middle of the ocean with no shelter, no food, or water.

Peter thought he saw an island, so they swam toward it. It was a miracle!! There was a lot of food on the island and a stream going through the middle. The bad thing was that they were stranded on an island with little shelter. No one knows how long that food has been there it could be rotten for all we know. They tried to get a fire going so a passing plane could see it and come get them. They gathered up all of the wood they could find on the island and tried to start a fire. they didn’t know how. They tried to rub sticks together, but it wouldn’t catching on fire! Peter finally remembered he brought a flare gun with him, just in case the boat would get stranded, which, unfortunately, it did.

Peter and James thought they would never get off this island, so, that night, they prayed to God, asking him to save them and get them of this island. The next morning Peter went searching for the flare, and he found it! The waves washed it up on shore. That gave him a little bit more faith that he was going to get off the island. Of course, there is a bad thing in all of this. They were hundreds of miles away from the shore, and he didn’t see a boat anywhere.

“Maybe some more things washed up on shore,” said Peter. So Peter and James went searching the water, and all they found was the weather radio, which won’t do them any good now, because it was all wet. They found one of their old water bottles from the supplies they set for the jump.

Peter went and searched for something that will help them off the island, and all he found was some wet soggy money from the boat. That night they decided to try the flare gun, and then they set it off and heard a boat coming. It was the lifeguards. They probably noticed that the guys were missing and saw are flare gun. Praying to Jesus helped them off the island, because God gave them the flare gun.

By: Jeff Clean

The Time I Spent At Neverland Ranch

By: Meloman

Day 1: One day I received the present of a lifetime. I got to go to Neverland Ranch for a whole weekend. I met Michael Jackson and his children: Prince Michael the 1 st, Paris, and Prince Michael the 2 nd, also known as Blanket. We had a lot of fun together; Michael is actually a kid himself. The five of us went to the zoo and amusement park on the ranch. Then we all went into Michael’s very own theater. We watched the movie Peter Pan and after that we watched Bug’s Life. By then it was dinnertime. We ordered some fried chicken from KFC, one of Michael’s favorite meals. I really enjoyed it. After dinner we all went to our rooms. (I got the guest room.)

Day 2: We had done a lot on the first day, but there was still plenty to do. When we got up, everyone had pancakes made by Michael’s personal chef. After that, we went to one of the many rooms in Michael’s mansion, where he showed me all of his albums that went platinum. Then we went to his movie theater again to watch The Wiz, a movie starring Diana Ross, and him as the scarecrow. By then it was lunchtime. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. After lunch, one of the greatest parts of my time there, Michael taught me how to do the moonwalk and how to do the anti-gravity move. It was amazing! We went outside and played hide and go seek. A lot of time passed, and we went to dinner. We had chicken breasts and soup. Now you must think I went to bed, right? WRONG! We went to the basement and played basketball with a Nerf basketball hoop. Then it was time for bed, and I was depressed that tomorrow I would be going back home. Yet I still put on my PJ’s and went to my room.

Day 3: The next morning we ate breakfast and went outside to say goodbye. Then Michael told me he was glad that I came. I was glad, too. He gave me an autographed Thriller CD that made my day. I considered myself one of the luckiest people alive.

The Super Heroes That Didn’t Save the Day

Once upon a time. there was a super hero group. Their names were Maria, Andrea, Linsey, Cody, Freddie, and Lou. Nobody knew them by those names other than his or her parents. Every one knew them as the Super Squad “saving lives before dinner time.” Their parents didn’t even know they where the Super Squad from New York.

One day they were sitting in their tree hut, and they got a call. It was from the president. He said, “Hello, Super Squad. I have a very important mission for you. just a few minuets ago the governor of Hawaii called and said that Maui is getting attacked by a vicious sea monster, and they need your help right away.”

Lou, the commander of the Super Squad, said, ” No way! That is half way around the world! We can fly, but still we will get tired after awhile!”

Then the president said, ” I will have Air Force One come and pick you up.”

Lou said, “Sure that sounds awesome enough. What do you guys think?”

Every one replied and said things like” sure” and “Why not?”

Soon they were at the airport waiting for Air Force One. Out of nowhere, a huge plane came down, almost right on top of them. Then a really big man stepped down. He said, “Hello. My name is Jestin, I am your driver today. Please come in. Buckle up, and order any thing on the menu that you please--my treat.”

Soon they were eating and arrived in San Francisco, California. Since Air Force One can bend time, they got there very fast, so they stopped for gas. Jestin said, “ We will have to stop for about an half an hour, so go inside and tell the front desk we are here.” The squad decided that the three girls would go in, and the boys would

stay for assistance.

When the girls came back, the plane was ready for flight again. so the Squad got inside and took off. Soon they were in Maui. The squad got out and immediately saw the sea monster. It was like a dragon, but its teeth were covered in poison. The body was covered in spikes, like a porcupine, and it didn’t blow fire or have wings. The monster was completely vicious. The Squad sprang to action. Andrea used her invisibility to sneak up behind it and grab its head. Then she realized the worst part. The scull was made of gold, a very hard thing to shatter. This was how they were going to kill him, but gold is the only thing in the universe that makes the Squad lose there powers.

Now the squad took a break and talked it over. “I promised the president that we would stop it, but we can’t,” said Lou.

“Well, we have to, We can’t just stop,” said Andrea.

“So, what if we get a fire hose and soak the Monster. Then we can tie it up with a Silver rope, and shatter its heads the old fashion way while it is unconscious.” said Maria.

“And what exactly is the old fashion way?” asked Freddie.

“Stone it with big heavy rocks like they did in the Bible to kill someone,” said Maria.

“Yeah! That’s way more fun then my idea,” said Cody.

And that is exactly what they did, but when they soaked the Monster it dodge the water and charged them. All of a sudden a huge flying machine came down. Lou said ”It’s a bird, It’s a dog, wait its………. Air Force One!” And, surely, Jestin had come to the rescue. He got the monster and saved the day.

By: LeeAnn