On "Picking Apples," Part 2

Today, in our kitchen, we helped Mother with the party preparations. We made rainbow paper chains (and Grace got glue in her hair), wrote party invitations (and Pete accidentally blotted his envelope), and helped Mother bake the pie while the apples were still good (and Lauren forgot to wash her hands first). Then Pete wanted to soak some apples in maple syrup for party favors, but he found that we had none left so he decided to use just plain apples. "That's fine with me." I told him. "Grace can't really afford to get any stickier at the moment." We had to get some more apples, since we'd used the ones we got before to make the pie, so we did, and when we came back Grace had leaves sticking to her gluey hair, and Pete was trying not to laugh at the sight of poor Lauren who was covered with dirt. What a day, what a day!

On "Picking Apples" by Frederick Morgan

In the orchard, my younger siblings and I pick apples. Their names are Lauren, Pete, and Grace, and I am Sarah. We are picking the apples so Mother can make an apple pie for the party we're having on Saturday, for my 13th. birthday. Grace holds an apple and looks over her shoulder when Lauren and Pete call out "Sarah, there's a nice juicy one over here.'' I come over and pluck the apple. Then I place it into my basket. I do the same to several other apples, because Mother requires at least 20, and we only have 4. Lauren's sleeve catches on a twig. I run over and untangle it, and she picks the apple she was trying to reach. We now have 10 apples with 10 more to go. Grace picks an apple up of the ground, and places it in the basket. Pete jumps, and snatches 3 more of a very high up branch. Only 6 to go! "Good jump, Pete," I tell him. At last, 1 apple over 20, we walk to our front door so Mother can make my birthday pie.

On Picasso's "Child Holding a Dove"

In the garden, my little sister Lucia holds a white dove gently in her hands. The dove coos. Lucia is wearing a white dress and green sash. The dove softly pecks at the sleeve, and flies down to rest on the brightly-colored ball sitting on the grass next to her, and examines the fake daisies on Lucia's shoes. She giggles as it tries to peck one off. Frustrated, the dove flits to her shoulder and coos once again. She turns and waves to me. I wave back. The dove, seeing me, flies over and coos to me, too, before flitting back to Lucia. I realize what the dove is after, and run to the kitchen, returning with a handful of wheat. The dove flies over, and I pass a little to Lucia, so that she can help. She scatters a bit on the ground, and the dove flies down there, eager for its lunch. Speaking of lunch, Mother is calling us for ours. We leave the rest of the wheat on the windowsill, and run to the table for lunch.

On Da Vinci's "Lady with her Ermine," Part 2

This morning, Cecilia awoke me with a grape under my nose. ''Get up, silly, it's 9:00. Time for breakfast.'' I grab the grape and trot down the stairs before her. I make the mistake of stopping to take a bite of the grape on the last step and slide onto the floor, gripping the grape hard. I curl at a chair leg, chewing my grape, and waiting for Cecilia to stop fussing about how 'Prince could have been seriously injured' and carry me through the closed kitchen door. She finally does and I finish the grape. We go to the basement when she is done, and I leap onto her desk. Her father starts their algebra lesson. I watch him write strange symbols on the blackboard and Cecilia and her brothers raise their hands and call things like ''74!'' and ''180!'' I grow sleepy. I crawl under Cecilia's desk. When I wake again it will be lunch. I am hoping that there will be grapes.

On "Girl with Kitten" by Emily Farmer

In my kitchen, I pour a saucer of milk for my kitten, Shadow, out of an old chestnut-brown jug. I wear a cotton, yellow, dress, with small bits of lace at the neck. Shadow pokes her head out of her basket, sniffing the milk. Her large blue eyes watch the milk slide into the saucer. I set it down on the floor in front of her. She eagerly laps it up. She is very thirsty. Come to think of it, I'm hungry. I pour myself a bowl of porridge and a glass of milk. We both eat our breakfasts quickly, and I wash my hands before running upstairs. I hear my baby brother crying. Shadow tries to follow me, but cannot, because her little paws cannot reach the steps, and she is afraid of heights. I sigh, picking her up and walking slowly to my brothers' room. I will now have to help both of them reach the shelf where the porridge is kept. I sigh again, wishing mother and father would come home from church quickly. Shadow purrs and rubs against my leg. I laugh. ''Not right now, Shadow, not right now.''

On Da Vinci's "Lady with her Ermine"

In the sitting room, I curl up in my mistress Cecilia's lap. She strokes me gently as she listens to her six brothers talking about the approaching wedding of their cousin Stephania in June. Cecilia has a new white lace dress to wear to it, and when she tried it on, from where I was watching on her bedside table, it looked quite lovely on her. She seems tired out from her lessons this morning, but I, who have just awoken from a nice nap taken during her French lesson, am quite awake and begin to softly paw her sleeve. She has forgotten my supper. She looks down and reaches into her pocket, drawing from it a grape, which I hungrily accept. It is juicy and sweet as I sink my teeth into it. She laughs. ''You're such a nutjob, Prince-or grapejob might be a better term.'' Yeah, that's the spot. I fall asleep-again.

Rat blog: Meet Mickey and Melchisedec

Mickey and Melchisedec are 2 adorable brother pearl-mearle dumbo rats from Lancaster. They love to wrestle, and they live for food. Go anywhere near their cage, and they climb up the side, hoping you have a bag of Pirate Booty, or a piece of vegetable samosa hidden behind your back. They are mostly only awake in the morning and evening. In the afternoon they just give you a look and go back to sleep if you try to wake them up, but an apple or banana slice will always get them up. If you give one of them the first piece, the other comes over and attacks him until you give him his piece, too. Their favorite night of the week is Indian food night, when mommy and daddy share their vegetable samosa. They love fruits and vegetables, fried food, and snack food. They're not allowed to have sweet things, though, unless you count their yogurt-covered rat treats. They have a see-through neon ball that sometimes we let one of them use to run around on the floor. Once the ball's lid came off, and I had to scream for mommy to come help me get Mickey back into the cage. They're so funny!