Shepherd Shout Out

Doodle Jump is a 99 cent app; it is available for the iPod, iPhone, and iPod touch. It is a very popular game; it is a must buy. The object of the game is to get as many points as you can. It is a tilt controlled game, and it is very addicting. While you are playing Doodle Jump you can get random power ups. The fi rst power up is a spring t hat makes you jump higher; the second one is a trampoline. The rare ones are spring shoes, rocket packs, and space ships. On the way monsters can attack you, and space ships and black holes can suck you up.

Edward H.

Friday, the 7^th, will be mostly sunny with a high of 66° and a low of 41°. There is a 10% chance of precipitation.         Saturday, the 8^th, will have a few showers with a high of 56° and a low of 37°. There is a 30% chance of precipitation.      Sunday, the 9^th, will have showers with a high of 43° and a low of 27°. There is a 60% chance of precipitation.      Monday, the 10^th, will be rain/snow showers with a high of 42° and a low of 26°. There is a 30% chance of precipitation.    Tuesday, the 11^th, will be sunny but windy with a high of 38° and a low of 22°. There is a 0% chance of precipitation.    Wednesday, the 12^th, will be partly cloudy with a high of 45° and a low of 32° .  There is a 10% chance of precipitation.    Thursday, the 13^th, will also be partly cloudy with a high of 52° and a low of 37° .  There is a 20% chance of precipitation.     Friday, the 14^th, will have showers with a high of 60° and a low of 36°. There is a 60% chance of precipitation.     Saturday, the 15^th, will be partly cloudy with a high of 59° and a low of 42° .  There is a 10% chance of precipitation.

 These statistics were found on weather.com

 Kristin F.

Before:

I can’t wait for Christmas break. We are going to go home and have Christmas with Santa. After Christmas I am going to see two of my grandparents in Quincy, IL, and we are going to have a mini Christmas celebration. After that we are going on the train to Chicago and meeting my other grandparents and cousins and have another Christmas tradition called a “grab-bag”. Grab-bag is where everyone brings a gift and doesn’t say what it is, and then other people open them or steal them. After New Year’s Eve we are meeting my dad’s fraternity brother and his family in downtown Chicago and staying in a hotel for a night. It’s always so much fun!

After:

                Christmas Break was so much fun! For Christmas I got an iPod Touch so I can get a texting app on it because I don’t have a phone. I did pretty much everything I wrote about doing before Christmas break. In the grab-bag I got a $25 American Express gift card and a Taylor Swift CD. It was so much fun!!

Kate H.

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays! You get presents and lots of stocking stuffers. That’s not all you get for Christmas… you get two weeks off from school, too! So I celebrated Christmas at my house.   I got lots of cool stuff like a Mac laptop! The day after Christmas I headed out to Red River, New Mexico. It took us a day and a half to get there.  Quickly we rented ski shoes and skis and started down the slopes. My sister was so good at it! I was good too.  I went on the big hill where you had to get on the chair lift! I took two ski lessons; they were fun and helped me ski faster. We also did cross country.  This is where we all get on flat land and ski. Next came a break with hot chocolate followed by snowmobiling.  Did we go fast! The weather was something.  One morning it was about 1 degree. It also snowed all of the days we were there (one week total). I really hope we go again next year! :):):):):)

Molly H.

The NFL regular season has just ended and we have some interesting seeding (rankings) in both conferences. In the AFC the unusual seeding is that the Colts are seeded higher even though the Jets have a better record. Also,  the Chiefs are ranked higher than the Ravens and the Ravens have the better record. In the NFC  Green Bay and Philadelphia are even, but the one that ticks me off is Seattle vs. New Orleans. The Seahawks have a 7-9 record and they are the 3rd seed, and they will host a playoff game against the defending champs, the 11-5 Saints. You might not think it will be a big deal, but a key stat is the Saints have never won a road playoff game.

Gus W.

Angry Birds is a 0.99 cent app for itouches and iphones and ipads. The new version requires the 1.5.0 update.
It is the #1 paid iphone game in the US, UK, Canada, Italy, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Singapore, Poland, France, Netherlands, Malta, Greece, Austria, Australia, Turkey, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Belgium, Norway, Hungary, Malaysia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Romania, New Zealand, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Nicaragua, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Mauritius, Chile, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Taiwan, Colombia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Kenya, Macedonia, Croatia, Macau, Paraguay, Peru, Armenia, Philippines, Vietnam, Jordan, Kuwait and Malta.
I would rate this app an 11 on a 1-10 scale.
The languages that this game can be in are English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.
The point of the game is to catapult different species of birds on to the green pig’s castles.
The new update uses the mighty eagle, a superpower bird, for you to beat levels. You can only use it once an hour.

Tyler A.

Cut the Rope is a 0.99 cent app for the ipod touch and iphone. It has been one of the top apps for a long time, and there is a Cut the Rope holiday version which is free and has a teleporting stocking, which is a power up in the game.

Cut the Rope is a game where you cut a rope and try to deliver candy to a little green alien. You also try to get 3 stars in the game to get more points. There are items you use to help you get to your destination. There are bubbles that make the candy float up, and there are air cushions that blow the candy. There are also ropes that extend and get shorter. But, there are also items that make you lose your candy. There are electric fences, spikes, and spiders that steal your candy.

 There are also ropes that sling the candy. There are 5 different boxes that you are able to play. As you progress to new boxes, you get new power ups. There are about 30 levels on every box. There is the cardboard box, fabric box, foil box, gift box, and the cosmic box. This game is loved by a lot of people and it is one of the top 25 apps in the app store. So get Cut the Rope now!

Konstantino V.

A homeless man named Ted Williams at the age of 53 was videoed by the side of the road in Columbus, Ohio, holding a sign that says, “I have a God given gift of voice. I’m an ex- radio announcer who has fallen on hard times. PLEASE! Any help will be gratefully appreciated. J Thank you and God bless you/Happy Holidays.” The video of his radio voice has gone viral (spread rapidly) over the internet. His video on YouTube has over 1,347,546 views. Ted has reunited with his mom and has already done a Kraft Mac & Cheese commercial.

Rachael F.

As we all know, last week was Thanksgiving week. We had a week off to do whatever we wanted to do. Over my Thanksgiving break I went to The Great Wolf Lodge.  In the past I went there with my friend’s family.  It was so AMAZING that I asked my mom if we could go over Thanksgiving break.  We stayed there for one night. There are many slides like the Howling Tornado and the River Cannon Run!  My favorite waterslide there is The Howling Tornado. On Thursday I went to my aunt’s house and had a Thanksgiving dinner. I got to see all of my family and eat a good dinner!

What I think I’m going to do For Christmas…

I think I’m going to go to Colorado for Christmas. I’m going there because my sister wants to go somewhere cold.  My mom says we will go somewhere cold so she said how about Colorado. I hope it will be fun! I haven’t even started to decorate my house for Christmas yet. I’ve started my wish list, and I can’t wait for Christmas day!

Molly H.

My Thanksgiving vacation was so much fun. I met my grandparents in Cancun, Mexico.  We stayed there for ten days, and I brought along my friend Alex. My brother brought his friend, Emory, and we had a blast.  For Thanksgiving dinner we went to a place called Café Ole, but we call it Gale’s because that’s the owner’s name. (We go there every year for Thanksgiving dinner.)   We also went to a fun water park in Mexico called Xel-Ha, but you pronounce it Shell-Ha. They don’t only have all natural water activities; they also have booths where you can take pictures holding live animals.  I held a toucan named Nacho that pooped on my foot!  There is fabulous food and Hammock Island ( a place where they have a ton of hammocks).

 On the last day we went to Playa del Carmen where they have hammocks to buy, shoes to buy, ice cream, and almost everything you can think of for sale. It was my grandparents’ anniversary, so my parents took them out for a nice dinner. My grandparents are staying for a couple more days at a cool, adult only hotel.  My whole family loved this vacation!  

                I can’t wait for Christmas break. Before Christmas, I am going to see two of my grandparents, and we are going to have a mini Christmas celebration. After that we are going to go home and have Christmas with Santa. Then we are going to Chicago and meeting my other grandparents and cousins and have another Christmas celebration/grab bag. It’s always so much fun!

Kate H.