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.
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.
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.
Oakley has had a brilliant first grade year. Literally, brilliant. Credit can go to many… her school has served he so well this year, her teacher, well, we’ve talked about that… and her mom is OK, too.
I’ve got two things to share… first, as video. Oakley’s school play took place last week, and her school deserves a lot of credit for doing these things right. All of the kids get their moment to shine, it’s fun, it’s brief, I even enjoy going. That’s an accomplishment.
So, enjoy Three of a Kind, including Oakley’s muscles and her trio…
Oakley wrote a haiku at school (ok, 2 haikus). I’m guessing it was an assignment in her class, from her teacher, but who am I to know. She brought it home tonight.
Haiku #1
I love my mommy My mommy is wonderful!! I love my mommy
We’ve discussed, more than once, how Oakley has a talent with words. She reads beautifully, and writes equally well. I think she’s nothing short of brilliant. And, in a way, I was telling her that in the car today.
We’d been cruising along, talking a bit about the words she coined in this piece (Squack! Skit!).
One thing I love about Oakley is that she just decides to do stuff. It’s not because she’s asked, or she feels she has to, she just decides to do something. This birthday card is a perfect example.
Like other 1st grade students, Oakley was asked to complete a writing assessment sometime in the last couple of weeks. This is something they write at school in which they are encouraged to use all of their writing tools. I think Oakley comes with a truckload…
My favorite snowy day activity is sledding. I like sledding because sledding makes me feel like I am soaring down a massive hill with very swift and jerkey moments. Another thing I like to do is sip hot chocolate. Sipping hot chocolate makes me feel all warm and toasty inside. It makes me feel like I do when someone I love is surounding me. Hot chocolate makes me feel spectacular. When hot chocolate has marshmellows with it the hot chocolate makes feel even better. I also like building snowmen. The chilly snow on my fingertips makes me remember how fortanate we are to be having this much snow. It is so fun to roll the snow balls all different sizes. I wonder how many cinemeters it takes to get across the bottom sphere. Finnaly when I am on the last object I know every time that I am going to be satisfied with my snowman. When I am finished, I make sure that I have added every single part. Then I stand back to admire it. Sometimes I might say its to big. Sometimes I say its just right. And sometimes I might say, “Its to small. I will make it bigger next time!” I positivly love snowy winter days! I love playing in the snow, hot chocolate with marshmellows, and last but not least, building snowmen. I wish the whole world was of snow.
I have it on pretty good authority that this would have been a good writing assessment for a 5th grader… How awesome is Oakley!?
Lindy just walked in here while I was processing some pictures for Jenn (including perhaps her least favorite thing she’s ever made!) She was being sweet and kind of leaning on me. So I picked her up, and gave her a hug.
Tim: Lindy, will you always be my baby? Lindy: Yes. Tim: What about when you’re 22? Lindy: Yes. Tim: So, if I call you, and say, “Lindy, come and give me a hug,” will you do it? Even if you live somewhere different from me? Lindy: [_nods sweetly_] Yes… but my name might not be Lindy!
