Happy New Year's

Yes, finally getting around to posting new material here. It has been very busy, between Christmas and an unexpected rush editing job.

We had a low-key New Year's celebration; the kids stayed up until 9:30, playing Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Apples to Apples, and other games. Then we told Mittens stories. Mittens was a cat who lived with Starlings' family when she was a kid; she started telling stories about this cat several years ago, and they've grown to epic proportions. Their favorite story is, "Mittens Flies a Plane," about how Mittens accidentally flew the airplane that Starlings' family was taking back from Panama to the U.S. (Mittens goes after a chocolate bar in the pilot's area, but climbs all over the airplane's controls to get it. Hilarious chaos ensues.) We also shared our favorite memories from the previous year.

Here are some pictures from our celebration:

Bear playing Sumoku with me.

Playing Monopoly on New Year's Eve. Bear won with his
aggressive tactics. That's OK, we're counting on him to
fund our retirement, ha ha.

Bear and Mouse playing broomball on Lake Winona on
New Year's Day.

The real draw of skating for Jaybird is the hot
chocolate afterward. In the Twin Cities, this kind
of afternoon, with skate rental and hot cocoa,
would cost at least $20. In Winona: free!

Epiphany followed on the heels of New Year's Day, and with it came the annual Catholic Worker Epiphany party. For us, it marks the winding down of the Christmas season. Here's a short clip:



Speaking of the Catholic Worker, I wrote an essay on faith for their last newsletter. It is called, "The Catholic Worker Is a Fool." You can view it at the Winona Catholic Worker website.