Here, by popular demand, is a video of Starling and daughters singing "Bless the Lord" for the Saint Mary's Parish Talent Show. The video quality is poor, because of the low lighting, distance, and me holding Alleluia Boy.
Starling claims this is an exercise in humility. : )
Showing posts with label Starling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Starling. Show all posts
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
B-o-o-k
Everyone around here, it seems, is in the middle of writing a book.
I am working on the belly button book again, after a long hiatus.
Starling is in the early planning stages of writing her book called Theology of the Body: Extended.
Bear has been writing a book for the past few days about a boy who finds an ancient, magic, time-traveling gear. Shipwrecks at sea and underwater adventures are all part of the mix.
Mouse is writing a series--yes, a series--of four books about princesses, each named for a different season. Book 1 is called "The Princess of Spring," and it opens thusly: "April ran down the steps of her palace look-like-a-church and skidded across the marble-wood floor, grabbing a banner on the way. She SO did not want to be late for her first day of princess school (namely, A Shellington Proper Princess School, 108 Vine Road)." Nice beginning! (I'd quote Bear's here if I had it in front of me -- it's on another computer.)
And yesterday at the library, Jaybird learned to read "Book." She recognized the "boo" from Halloween and, with some help, put that together with the "k" sound. She has been going around practicing it ever since, writing it down again and again. I guess you could say that she's not writing one book, but many!
Little Mudpuppy is writing anything yet. Slacker.
I am working on the belly button book again, after a long hiatus.
Starling is in the early planning stages of writing her book called Theology of the Body: Extended.
Bear has been writing a book for the past few days about a boy who finds an ancient, magic, time-traveling gear. Shipwrecks at sea and underwater adventures are all part of the mix.
Mouse is writing a series--yes, a series--of four books about princesses, each named for a different season. Book 1 is called "The Princess of Spring," and it opens thusly: "April ran down the steps of her palace look-like-a-church and skidded across the marble-wood floor, grabbing a banner on the way. She SO did not want to be late for her first day of princess school (namely, A Shellington Proper Princess School, 108 Vine Road)." Nice beginning! (I'd quote Bear's here if I had it in front of me -- it's on another computer.)
And yesterday at the library, Jaybird learned to read "Book." She recognized the "boo" from Halloween and, with some help, put that together with the "k" sound. She has been going around practicing it ever since, writing it down again and again. I guess you could say that she's not writing one book, but many!
Little Mudpuppy is writing anything yet. Slacker.
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Summer rituals
As part of our ongoing "What I did this summer" essay. . . .
Jaybird ran a lemonade stand several times, mostly for the free lemonade. That's her brother, Bear, trying some lemonade....
. . . and she also visited several farms; here she is at her friend Rory's farm:
One Sunday the kids spent most of the afternoon playing Monopoly with Starling:
Friday, August 20, 2010
Our Version of Survivor: Camping 2010
Hi everyone. It's Starling again.
I am not a huge fan of camping. I like the outdoors and hiking, even canoeing, but sleeping with mosquitoes and rain and cooking in the elements with small kids--not so much. After all, didn't people move toward building permanent housing for a reason. But I am in the minority in the household. Plus its the only vacation we can afford, so...off we went to Kathio State Park near Lake Mille Lacs!
First we stopped at Jackrabbit's family home on the way...and went to Murphy's Landing one afternoon. This is a historical education spot, with houses, farms, schools, and a small town from circa 1840-1870 in Minnesota. They have interpreters and a horse drawn vehicle to the landing site. It really is pretty cool (well, actually it was hot, which should have served as warning about the upcoming trip). Our pictures didn't turn out, but here is one of Jaybird curtseying to the teacher, as she was told she should do at the beginning of school, in the recreated town hall.
Then off to Lake Mille Lacs! This is a huge fishing lake in central Minnesota, and we chose to go there because 1) we could rent a very basic cabin and avoid freezing to death like last year, and 2) its somewhat nearby (4 hrs from Winona), and we do have a baby traveling with us, and 3) it seems like everyone else has been to Lake Mille Lacs. Why not us? So, two firsts: we went to Lake Mille Lacs and Mudpuppy chowed down on corn on the cob. He loved it.
This was our late night dining room. S'Mores are a requirement to get me camping. The kids indulge me that way.
Here's a pastoral picture of Bear fishing on the Rum River. Sadly for him, he didn't catch anything. But he got a new fishing pole because I accidentally broke his in the packing extravaganza. So he tried that out gamely.
This gives you a better sense of where our cabin was. The area is very wooded, although it is somewhat new forest--the park is a reclaimed farm from the 1920s. For the record, we did eat real non-sugary food too....
One of the cuter moments was on our last night, while it was POURING rain, we sat in the cabin (thank goodness we had a cabin) and Mouse wrote a letter to future inhabitants about what we did there. It went along the lines: "We had a great time: we swam, we hiked, we fished, we did everything! My dad even saw a porcupine!"
On the way to the observation tower to see the Lake and valley. You get a sense of the "newer" forest here. Very pretty though. Granted, I sat in the van with a sleeping Mudpuppy for this one.
Making beaded bracelets and headbands at the Mille Lacs Ojibwe Museum. The reservation is literally right next to the state park and lake, and they have a fantastic museum. Really, this was the highlight of the trip for me. The history of Native Americans in Minnesota is rough to say the least, but it is heartening how this group is trying hard (and it appears successfully) to preserve their heritage and create a healthy sovereignty on their reservation.
It was hot hot hot, and humid, and doing anything is four times harder than being at home. But we also get to be together in a way that is without distractions. I like the North Shore much better, but this worked out for this year.
And I'm glad we're home.
I am not a huge fan of camping. I like the outdoors and hiking, even canoeing, but sleeping with mosquitoes and rain and cooking in the elements with small kids--not so much. After all, didn't people move toward building permanent housing for a reason. But I am in the minority in the household. Plus its the only vacation we can afford, so...off we went to Kathio State Park near Lake Mille Lacs!
Then off to Lake Mille Lacs! This is a huge fishing lake in central Minnesota, and we chose to go there because 1) we could rent a very basic cabin and avoid freezing to death like last year, and 2) its somewhat nearby (4 hrs from Winona), and we do have a baby traveling with us, and 3) it seems like everyone else has been to Lake Mille Lacs. Why not us? So, two firsts: we went to Lake Mille Lacs and Mudpuppy chowed down on corn on the cob. He loved it.
This was our late night dining room. S'Mores are a requirement to get me camping. The kids indulge me that way.
Here's a pastoral picture of Bear fishing on the Rum River. Sadly for him, he didn't catch anything. But he got a new fishing pole because I accidentally broke his in the packing extravaganza. So he tried that out gamely.
This gives you a better sense of where our cabin was. The area is very wooded, although it is somewhat new forest--the park is a reclaimed farm from the 1920s. For the record, we did eat real non-sugary food too....
One of the cuter moments was on our last night, while it was POURING rain, we sat in the cabin (thank goodness we had a cabin) and Mouse wrote a letter to future inhabitants about what we did there. It went along the lines: "We had a great time: we swam, we hiked, we fished, we did everything! My dad even saw a porcupine!"
On the way to the observation tower to see the Lake and valley. You get a sense of the "newer" forest here. Very pretty though. Granted, I sat in the van with a sleeping Mudpuppy for this one.
Making beaded bracelets and headbands at the Mille Lacs Ojibwe Museum. The reservation is literally right next to the state park and lake, and they have a fantastic museum. Really, this was the highlight of the trip for me. The history of Native Americans in Minnesota is rough to say the least, but it is heartening how this group is trying hard (and it appears successfully) to preserve their heritage and create a healthy sovereignty on their reservation.
It was hot hot hot, and humid, and doing anything is four times harder than being at home. But we also get to be together in a way that is without distractions. I like the North Shore much better, but this worked out for this year.
And I'm glad we're home.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Birthday girl
We're halfway through our "birthday season" -- the three months when the older kids and Starling have their birthdays. We celebrated Starling's birthday a couple of weeks ago with cake on the deck:
Next up is Bear's birthday...he's already counting down the days....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)