The Secret Surprise

This one is for my teacher. I love her so much.

We had our field trip today and mumma got to come. It was at the museum. They had a real helicopter there that was the same helicopter I flew in when I poured blood and almost died.

When we got back to our classroom, we had this secret surprise that we been planning for a long time. Teacher taught us all a song about love and we practiced it one last time. Then this guy came in our classroom and brought a girl. I don't really know what was going on, but we sang this song and then that guy gave the girl a present.

The present was a Build-a-Bear that says "I love you" when you push it's paw. Then he got on his knee and gave her a ring. The girl started crying, but it was happy tears.

Then we sang that special song again and got our picture with them. Then they left. And that was the secret surprise.

100%

This one is for my teacher.

Guess what? Yesterday I got 100% on my spelling test! I didn't think I could do it, but we practiced and practiced every day. When she said each word I thought "this is so cool. I know how to spell that!"

Teacher said "Good job, Bridger." I told her this means I get to go to Leatherby's and get white ice cream with peanut butter. She said that will be so fun. I love Leatherby's but I can't figure out why they call it that. Leather is cow skin that Indians used for clothes and to draw maps on. That has nothing to do with ice cream at all.

The Best '3' I Ever Drawed

This one is for Weston.

Take a look at this homework I did. See that '3' in the middle? That's the best '3' I ever drawed. I drawed a lot of '3's' in my life and this is the best one. Can you believe Dadda can put my homework on the computer? That's pretty cool.

Caudipteryx, Gibran, and that Pokemon Book

This one is for a caudipteryx. That's a feathered dino that was related to the archaeopteryx.

I went to my friend Gibran's today and he knows a lot about the Pokemons because he watches the movie so much. They talk Spanish there but they know I don't talk Spanish so they talk English when I'm there.

There is a book at my book fair that is a Pokemon book that I think Mumma should get for me. I seen it at the library. I was the first one to find it. I was looking for a dinosaur book, but the only on I could find was one that I already checked out. But this Pokemon book has a big block of rocks. Did you know here is a pokemon named Squirtle? Weston would like that one.

I don't know how much it costs, but I think it would be great because it has every single pokemon in it and it would totally keep me busy at church.

Corduroy Bear's Texas Adventure

This one is for Corduroid. He is a great bear and I love him. I'm so lucky I got a turn to take him.

Corduroid is a cute bear that my teacher got from the Build-a-Bear Workshop many years ago when she was a little girl. He is 164 special to her. Every week somebody gets to take him home and then you write about your adventures with him. I got him just when it was time to go to Tescas, so I took him with me!

I was so tired on the plane but I didn't want to lean on him because he's alive and that would hurt him. We flew to Tescas and I took him to Granny in Tescas's work, then to Grammy Darla's. We took a picture of him on the hay because there's a whole lot of hay in Tescas.

Then we took him to a cool dinosaur museum where they have dinosaurs that move and roar just like real dinos. My favorite was all of them but if I have to say my favorite then it would be the big dilophosaurus that spit water.

I took Corduroid with me for 6 whole days. Then we got back on the plane and flew home. That was my adventure with Corduroid the wonderful bear.


[Dad's Note: Not sure where he got the "roid" from, but it's cute.]

David

This one is for Granny in Tescas.

There's this kid at school named Dave and he wants to be by me all the time and come with me everywhere, but the problem is he gets me in trouble all the time. He's not a very good kid at all and even he keeps trying to tell me he'll start being good, but he never does. All he does is get in trouble. If I don't pretend to be his friend he'll start a fight with me.

We were at recess and he just kept bothering me and here's what happened: First I heard the whistle and I knew it was time to go to the door. I kept on trying to go there but he kept jumping on me so I had to beat him off me. Some teacher saw me beating David off me and they made me go talk to some lady. I tried to tell her that David wouldn't get off me but she didn't believe me. I really don't like him one bit.

[Dad's Note: It's ok, pal. I made sure that all concerned parties were clear on who started the fight. I'm glad you didn't start it and I'm also glad you ended it.]

I Poured Blood Again Today

This one is for the lady that helped me today. I don't know her name.

Today I poured blood again. I hate when that happens because it's a little scary. I was rolling down the hill at recess today and I hit my head on something metal. I didn't even know what happened and all the sudden my head started pouring blood. I was kind of scared at first because it reminded me of before when I was pouring blood out my mouth and I almost died.

Almost dying doesn't feel very good at all. When I poured blood out of my mouth it felt like spitting water into a bowl or something. This was my head pouring blood today. When I touched my head I saw that blood was pouring out. I cried a little- but just a teency bit- because I don't like when these things happen to me, especially places like school.

Then I stopped crying because I'm tough and I went looking for my teacher. There was this other lady that found me. She's the one that stands outside at recess and tells you "Don't do that" to everybody. She took me to some other ladies and then Mumma came to get me. It was just a little cut and it doesn't really hurt any more, but I did bleed all over my favorite dinosaur shirt. I hope Mumma can get that blood out. Right now I'm just hungry. I want to eat cookies that aren't cooked yet, or dinosaur mush.

I decided I wanted a happy picture on my blog today so I got McCall and Weston and we took a happy picture.

[Dad's Note: We never figured out what he hit his head on today. Luckily he didn't need stitches and all is well. He did bleed quite a bit though- his shirt was drenched in blood. For newer readers, when he mentions almost dying, he's talking about almost bleeding to death after a botched tonsillectomy. Read all about it at I Almost Went to Jesus.]

Things I Learn In School

This one is for the Protostega.

Do you know what a dozen means? It means 12! I learned that in school. I love school and I love my teacher. Do you know what we get to do? I also know how many days are in a week. At the end of the year we get to make a re-memory book about all the fun things we do.

There is this kid at school named Kaden. Not the kids' Kaden, he's another Kaden. That other Kaden can't eat peanuts or anything with nuts in it or his neck will close up and he can't swallow or breathe. So I definitely don't want him eating peanuts.

Do you know what else? I know a secret! But I can tell you what it is- when you start to read or write, you start from the left side. Cool, huh?

School Days

This one is for Mrs. Quist.

I had a test today in school. I had to read this book that was really easy. First my teacher would go, then I would go. She would say an example and I would read the right things. Then we did numbers and I got done so fast. If that was a test about dinosaurs I would get done even faster.

Sometimes I really miss Mrs. Quist, my kindergarten teacher. I found a good shortcut to my class now so I can go by and see her sometimes.

So Happy They Could Cry (Part II)

This one is for Mrs. Quist because it was the last day of school and I will miss her. She was a great teacher.

I have this show called "Back to the Cretacious" where a girl goes back to the time of the dinosaurs. But she has one of those kinds of dads that just doesn't believe you when you discover things or go back in time. My dadda isn't one of those dads. If I ever went back in time my dadda would believe me.

That girl was in the bathroom and then she was just in the forest. She helps the momma t-rex because she saves her eggs from a raptor. So that momma t-rex bent down and let the girl pet her. That makes me have special feelings. That's what I was talking about when I say that sometimes you get so happy that you cry.

[Dad's Note: I think the boy loves dinosaurs. The movie is T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous. See also: So Happy They Could Cry (Part I). ]

Counting Made Easy

This one is for a t-rex that has a long scratch from his eye down his arm.

This is a picture of me and my friend Gibron on the school bus. He is from Mexico. He has a little brother named Woody.

I learned in school how to count to 100. It's kinda tough, but I can do it. I can actually count to 113. But I figured out a way to count to 100 that's easy and anybody can do it......you just start at 90.

Preschool Program Memories

This one is for this dog on this animal show on Animal Planet. He ate a squishy ball and the animal doctors had to reach in his throat to pull it out. But they finally got it.

Today we went to the preschool programs. I was in preschool next year and I had a program. I was prince charming and I had to kiss Snow White on the forehead. Then I had to pretend to kiss her on the lips and that wasn't fun at all. But then I saw the real Snow White at Disney World. She is very pretty, but I wouldn't like to kiss her- not even on her forehead.

But I had to kiss Snow White on my program. I had to also do dances and sing songs. Do you know what song I sang? "It happened on one of those zip-a-dee-do-dah days. Now that's the kind of day where you can't open your mouth without a song jumpin' right out of it."

Now I'm in kindergarten and I don't know which I like better- kindergarten or preschool. I guess I like kindergarten better, because I don't have to kiss any girls for a program in kindergarten.

Dinosaur Boy Meets White Alligator

This one is for a baby brachiosarus. I was watching Walking With Dinosaurs and a little baby brachiosaurus that was 5 months old got eaten by a coelophysis.

We went to the zoo for school and dadda even came with us. He even rode on the bus with me. Even Lisa was there and Silas's mom. That was a very long bus ride. We went to the reptiles first and saw these really big snakes and some crocodiles.

Do you know what the zoo also has? A white alligator. It's all white and it lives in the jungle at the zoo. His mom and dad aren't white but he is and his brothers and sisters are. It's something in his DNA. DNA is this stuff in your blood that tells you what you look like. Did you know I even have DNA?

Sunshine at School

I'm almost out of school. I've already been in school 109 days.

Do you know what's a new song that we sing at my school now? You Are My Sunshine. We sing it every day. We always sing a song in school every single day and that is our new song. That's Weston's special song but I like it too. Weston has a froggy named Sunshine that plays that song. Braxton doesn't sing that song good. He sings it like a monster. When I go to school next I'm going to tell him to sing it right.

Control, We Are 'Go' For Launch

This one is for my teacher.

I went in a hot air balloon today because I won the reading contest! Me and Jane and Silas got to go and lots of people got to watch. A hot air balloon is so cool because it's this big balloon and a man in a blue coat turns a machine and fire goes up in it. That's what makes the balloon stay up.

When it was my turn to go up, I put my foot into this little hole in the basket and climbed in. Then it started to feel like I was floating and that's when I knew we were flying in the air. I didn't look at the bottom of the basket. I just looked out the side of the basket and my teacher lifted me up so I could see better. We were very high and when I looked down I could see all of the kids from my school.

When we came down it felt like I had parachutes on me. Then it was time to get out of the basket. I love riding in a hot air balloon. I definately need to do that again. There was no way I could have taken Stein up there. But I did take a dinosaur up there. Now that dinosaur's been in a hot air balloon!

[Dad's Note: I honestly thought Bridger would freak out once it came time to climb in. He did get a bit nervous the first time they ignited the burner, but he was ok after that. I also thought he might be disapponted that the balloon was tethered and stayed low. Wrong again, his first words after landing were "Dad- did you see how high I was?!"]

Contest Results In: It's Hot Air Baloon Time!!

[Dad's Note: This week's Monday Mailbag has been bumped to tomorrow.]

Oh I definately need to talk about this reading contest. Guess what? I won! It will be me and Jane and Silas that get to go in the hot air baloon with teacher. Teacher read the paper and it said that we won. First, I was like "No way." Then, I was like "Yes!!"

Silas was so excited. He said "My first time in a hot air balloon!" It's my first time in a hot air balloon too. But not Jane's. This will be her second time. She says it's really fun. I sure like Jane.

I wish dadda could come up there with me- even Stein. But I probably couldn't bring Stein because it would be very hard to get him up there. Maybe I will take a picture of him up there with me.

I can take pictures of all the things I love up there with me and I could tell Silas and Jane all about them while we're up there in that balloon.

Thank you everybody that helped me win that reading contest!

[Bridger, Silas, and Jane lift off on Wednesday, weather permitting. We'll take plenty of pictures. Again, thanks to all that sponsored and encouraged Bridger in his reading!]

Monday Mailbag: Dromeosaurs, Grown-Up Work, and the Goodyear Blimp

Responding to Singers, Fiddlers, and People Under Water, Kristen said...
You asked if I liked dinosaurs...and I must say, I do VERY much!! :D My little sister also loves them! And you know, thinking about it now, it would be pretty awesome if Alison sang a song about dinosaurs! Did you know her son, Sam, loves dinosaurs too? What's your favorite dinosaur Bridger?

BRIDGER RESPONDS: No way! I didn't know Alison Krauss had a boy. That's a pretty lucky boy. If he likes dinosaurs, maybe he could come over and we could play. My favorite dinosaur is all the dinosaurs- even crocodiles, snakes, alligators, lizards- every reptile in the whole white world and the whole white space. But right now I'm thinking of a dromeosaur, or raptor. Probably one that has short feathers that is hunting for his prey. Oh I just saw a very pretty picture of Alison Krauss.

Responding to Helping Hilly Give Blood, Steph said...
I would be willing to bet Hillari was grateful for your help with her blood donation. Maybe medical school is in your future.

BRIDGER RESPONDS: Stephy, I'm going to do all of the 'ologies' when I grow up- even doctor-ology. Is that one of the ologies? I could be a people doctor and an animal doctor. It would be cool to be a dinosaur doctor in the time of the dinosaurs. I will do all kinds of work when I grow up, like clean my room or play on a 'puter like dadda.

Responding to School Reading Contest, Grammy said...
I sent you some moolah for your contest and I hope you win. If you want to take all those special people and Stein though.. the school might have to get a Texas size balloon.. or the Goodyear Blimp. Ask Dad to look that up for you!

BRIDGER RESPONDS: Grammy, here is a picture of a blimp. That's a funny name.

Thank you very much for the money for my read-a-thon! It makes me have special feelings. Oh I hope I win that trip in a hot air balloon.

Responding to Did Jesus Really Live Again, Ammon said...
Thanks for sharing your feelings about the ressurection. You truly shall live again and so will I thanks to a loving Savior. You're awesome. It's so fun to read your blogs.

BRIDGER RESPONDS: Ammon, I know who you're named after- that guy who cut off bad guys' arms. I was learning about him one time at church. That guy was true blue.

Tonight's Reading Stats
Reading time: 21 minutes
Total pages: 8
Books/Sections: First Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life- Dromeosaurs; Fantastic Frogs; Amazing Snakes

**4 Reading Days Remaining! Thanks to so many of you who have sponsored Bridger's reading so far. We are very grateful for your generosity. If you haven't yet and would like to sponsor Bridger, click on the PayPal box in the sidebar!**

Dinosaur Stories That Rock

This one is for deinonychus.

I have a great idea for my blog! I've been reading these wonderful stories in these dinosaur books we got at Wal-Mart. These stories rock! [Dad's Note: That's a new one.]

Here's the deal- I'm going to have dadda write some of these stories on my blog so that everybody in the world can read them! Whoever writes these stories is a good writer. I learn lots of stuff from them. Like how a deinonychus can judge his jumps. Judge means he looks at the dinosaur he wants to kill, then he can tell how far to jump. I learned that brachiosaurus loves cool water very much, just like me.

[I suppose I'm legally ok to reprint some excerpts from these stories. Heck, I'm sure these authors could use the publicity. What I'll do is create a 'Stories' section and post them there. The boy really loves these stories.]

Tonight's Stats
Reading time: 30 minutes
Total pages: 10
Books/Sections: Colossal Book of Dinosaurs- Deinonychus; Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures- Brachiasaurus; Mammoth Book of Dinosaurs- Albertosaurus

[Thanks to all of you who have sponsored Bridger's reading so far. He appreciates it very much. If you would like to donate, click the PayPal box in the sidebar.]

Cold-Blooded Dimetrodon Monster from D.I.

This one is for Mrs. Quist. She's my good teacher.

This is a picture of my new cold-blooded dimetrodon monster that I got from the D.I. He is very hungry so he's finishing my dinner. Do you know why I got to buy that dimetrodon? Because I got my report card today and I'm doing good in school. Momma said I can go to my favorite store and she'll buy me whatever treat I want. I told her "I pick it, you buy it."

My favorite stores are D.I. and Wal-Mart. I wanted to go to D.I. because sometimes things at Wal-Mart are too much moneys. Plus, Wal-Mart has a lot of girly stuff. At D.I. nothing is too much moneys. I still love Wal-Mart, but Wal-Mart did not have a cold-blooded dimetrodon. Also we found a Power Ranger book and a Jack Hanna show! You can't get Jack Hanna show's at Wal-Mart. Dadda doesn't like Power Rangers because he thinks they're goofy. I only like them because they have Dino Thunder.

School Dayz

This one is for Jesus Christ.

This is a picture of my leaf collection. I keep it by my sneaker spider and my shark in a bottle. Whever I find a cool leaf I bring it home and put it in my leaf collection.

Today was a good day at school. I did all my work and was a gentleman. Mrs. Quist didn't even need to fuss at me or call momma. I didn't go to school yesterday because I threw up. But it wasn't as bad as when McCall threw up on the floor. Her mess was much bigger than mine.

[Dad's Note: I wasn't going to bring it up, but he did, so I'll illuminate. Turns out Bridger hasn't exactly been the best student at school the last few weeks. It was a bit of laziness combined with a bit of cunning (roping the girls into finishing assignments for him- he's definately his father's son) that prompted a call from his teacher last week. Yes, our first teacher call. Yes, our little Bridger. Anyway, with a talk, some hugs, and a note to his teacher, the dinosaur boy is working on changing his ways.]

Bridger and the Sneaker Spider: A Hate/Love Relationship

This one is for Mrs. Quist. I hope we talk about dinosaurs in school tomorrow!

I need my dad to teach me how to kill bugs with my magnifying glass because I want to find the Sneaker Spider and kill him. Weston killed the mom sneaker spider, but the dad and the baby sister are still alive. I'm going out there right now to find that sneaker spider and kill him.

WESTON: I will kill that spider with a stick.

[UPDATE] I don't want to kill that sneaker spider any more. Maybe I could just keep him as a pet. I learned in school never to kill bugs.

The Dinosaur Boy Goes To School

[Dad's Note: This is Bridger's 100th post! Of course the true landmark will be his 164th post, then his 8025th. This was also Bridger's first day of school. I'm not sure I like this growing up thing.]

This one is for my new friend Silas.

Today I went to kindergarten. I played with McCall. I made one new friend, but I don't remember his name. I forgot to video his name in my mind. Oh, now I remember- his name is Silas. He had a allosaurus shirt and the allosaurus is the state dinosaur. They found the first allosaurus in a little cave. They found the bones in the wall. The paleontologists didn't take those bones out of the wall. They left them there so that people could see them.

I have to tell about something that Katie found in her backyard. She called me from Tescas. It was a dinosaur fossil that was 80 feet long. Katie says it has large tooths the size of a pencil. It was bones. She is going to give it to me to keep.

[It was actually Katie's college school teacher's brother that found the fossil in his back yard, but it is a true story. But as I understand it, Katie's plans to "give it" to Bridger will be news to her:). Maybe Katie can tell us what kind of dino it was.

The allosaurus dig Bridger refers to is the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry near Price, Utah. The cave he mentions is an exhibit at Dinosaur Park. The allosaurus was designated Utah's State Fossil in 1988.]