Jenn found this story and others in Oakley’s school bag tonight. She had torn them out of her notebook from the summer and placed them in an envelope titled, “Short Stories for School”, by Oakley Rhea Martin.
I’ve captured it precisely as she wrote it…
“Caw, Caw, Caw,” the crow flew up into a pine tree up high. Oh, how those three girls loved nature. But best of all they loved birds. But maybe they didn’t like it when the birds ate their blueberries. That was just kind of upseting. The oldest sister, Aspen loved how beautiful and shiny the wings were. Oakley, who was the middle sister, loved how swift they were in flight. Lindy, who was the youngest sister, loved how beautiful the birds eggs were, for example the light turquiose blue of the robins egg. One day, the 3 girls heard a female and male cardinal chirping a song. Then the three sisters knew what they had to do. They had to keep birds in their hearts forever. Keep nature exist in the world. The cardinals had sent a message to keep them them birds and whole safe.
I’ve actually written a fair amount this over on the work blog, but I thought I’d share it here as well. Today at work, we rocked the Albert Haynesworth Fitness Challenge. If you’d care to watch me suffer, feel free:
He was so pretty. He was very valiant. He had very bright black and orange hairs. He had a very loud roar. And that was who he was. The Orange Tiger. They called him magnificent. Awesome. Their leader. Spectacular. Their war hero. At least against elephants. But maybe not against giraffes. The animals just loved him. Adored him. In fact, they loved him so much they called him their king and that was just that. That was the way that the Orange Tiger was made. It was just how he was.
the end
This is a story that Oakley wrote in her notebook. For no apparent reason. I love it.
You’ve probably heard me talk about reading to the girls before… Even though Aspen and Oakley are fluent readers, we still read aloud with all three of the girls nearly every night. We’ve cranked through the entire Harry Potter series, the Chronicles of Narnia, and several other books. (That reminds me, I need to tell you all about The Giver sometime, but that’s another post.)
The book of the moment is a classic… Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. We’re certainly enjoying it. It led to this moment at the dinner table tonight.
It’s one of our very favorite traditions… a week at the beach with the Haile family. Every year, we find our way to Duck, where Grammie’s family has gathered for 30 years. And every year, we love it.
The kids (ours and the cousins) were all about the waves this year. While it makes me nervous on occasion, I can’t really argue with them. The waves are absolutely my favorite part of going to the beach too. For you, I have a review of the best wave jumping seen at Port Trinitie last week…
I’m sure I’ll share many more pictures later, but I can’t wait on this one… Tonight’s dinner featured 29 of Jenn’s closest relatives… not on the menu of course, but in attendance. (We’ve had 31 total this year, but I managed to miss Drew and Todd.)
My wife is an exceptionally committed mother. In the 3409 nights that have passed since Aspen’s birth, Jenn has spent but a handful of nights away from her girls.
6 nights to be with her mom as she fought off cancer
2 nights to give birth to Oakley
2 nights to give birth to Lindy
Seriously, Jenn is hardcore. (Mind you, I don’t believe go away from your kids for a night is a failing on the part of a mother or a father… I’ve been away for the last 8 nights, and I’m sitting in an airport now, but it does show a certain level of commitment on Jenn’s part.)
Finally, though, circumstances presented themselves in such a way that Jenn chose to join me for a long weekend in New York City! How cool is that? So, I thought I’d share with you, our loyal readers, some of my favorite memories from the trip…
I’ve been traveling for the last week or so. For whatever reason, I don’t talk to my girls every night. It might be because I just don’t like talking on the phone, and they really don’t like it all that much either. But when we do talk, it’s pretty fun. I’m amazed by how well they do it… what they tell me… even how they sound.
Tonight, I was talking with Lindy about her experience this weekend when she went horseback riding with Brian, Grammie, Grandpa, and Brian’s partner, Maury. And. She. Said. This.
Today was a good day, a memorable one. Like most Saturdays, it started at the market, where we bought some 32 quarts of strawberries… But that’s another post.
From there, to the soccer fields, where the Purple Pandas (Aspen’s team) managed a 1-1 draw against a team that had beaten them 7-1 weeks ago. Yes, the Pandas ended the season on a hot streak.
Next up? Oakley’s team ran into a wall… perhaps the most physical team I’ve seen in U7 soccer. Some of the girls did physical right, clean, others, well, not so much. But Oakley’s team, the Smashing Dolphins played it just right. They didn’t back down from anyone, they went after them, and they dealt with the checking in just the right way… They put the ball in the back of the net 5 times…
From there, we all caravanned to the Martin house for a soccer celebration… I’ve had a great season with two fun teams of girls… some of whom we’re getting to know really well. I’m thankful for that… even in a season where the Panda’s won but one game, the group of girls is growing closer, and that’s pretty awesome to see.
