I have a very seriously disappointed girl who was crushed to discover that her new dress, passed on from a neighbor, does not in fact make her “fly like a birdie.”
Tag Archives: pictures
A note from Griffin
I received the most awesome gift from Griffin yesterday after school: a hand-written note that he spent 70 (!!!!) minutes composing and writing. My heart is bursting! It reads:
Dear Mom, Thank you for the notes. They make me feel good. I love you, momo. I want to make granola.
<I write him notes in his lunchbox everyday, and that day, we planned to make granola after school.>
Maggie and Josie
Valentine’s Day
We had planned another jaunt to the cabin for the long weekend, but wind chill is -25° here in Saint Paul at nearly noon and quite a bit lower than that in Duluth. With the road to the cabin potentially blocked with snow (requiring some significant hiking with heavy gear and children) we decided to stay put. Had a fabulous breakfast at the Birchwood (pork belly steamed bun with egg and kimchi was outstanding) and then came home to make some Valentine’s Day cookies. Coming up this afternoon, Griffin has circus school, and then we’re going to the East Side Freedom Library to hear Claire O’Connor, one of the six Minnesota freedom riders, tell her story. Pretty good day!
Mixing
Scraping
Rolling
Yum!
Skating
A beautiful day for skating outside! I’m so proud of my new skaters.
Daddy and Maggie, not falling down.
Griffin, doing a great job without his chair.
Maggie working out the details.
Prairie Home
Sarah and I went on a great date to the Fitzgerald Theatre to see A Prairie Home Companion. We went partly to see Nellie McKay, who was amazing, but I’ve also always wanted to see Garrison Keillor in action. I have mixed feelings about the show in general, often rolling my eyes and changing stations when it comes on. But I have also, at times, appreciated both the full show and Keillor’s storytelling in particular.
It was a treat to see the show in action. It’s the first genuinely live radio show I’ve seen, and it was a impressive to see so many acts flow together seamlessly. Nellie McKay was certainly the highlight for both of us, but I also enjoyed watching Keillor do the Lake Woebegone segment, strolling around the dark stage weaving the tale with no notes.
Advisory 2014-2015
My advisory group came up with this idea and had a lot of fun with it. This was going to be our yearbook photo, but the form factor was wrong so we had to recompose the shot. I haven’t seen the new one yet, but I thought this one deserved to be published somewhere.
Christmas 2014
We spent Christmas in Bethesda with Grummy and Grandpa Stape, and all the Roy cousins. Fourteen people under one roof! Wonderful mayhem.
Decorating the tree
Happy Julia
Christmas Eve reading of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (aka “Twas the Night Before Christmas”)
The stockings were laid on the sofa with care…
Airplane!
Mine!
Stocking treasures
Caleb unwrapping
Queen Elsa with her wand
Fancy clothes
Wardrobe help from Grummy
All the cousins
All the cousins
The whole gang (except Caleb, who was sleeping)
Arctic Bocce
We didn’t let a little snow and frigid temperatures interfere with our Thanksgiving Bocce game. Grandpa Jeff got out the snow blower and made us a court. The teams:
- Griffin, Nik, Alli, Pam
- Maggie, Andrew, Sarah, Jeff
We played to 11, and it was close to the very end. In the final round, 10-9, team 2 landed the clinching point. They simply had superior mastery of snow-braking techniques.
The teams arrayed.
Bocce balls in the snow.
Coach Maggie
Grandma “Bocce Wizard”
Snow is fun!
Look at that technique!
Perfect follow-through.
The intensity was palpable.
Great sportsmanship to the end.
On the Roy side, the bocce tradition began at a rental house in Fort Bragg, California, on the Mendocino coast. We used to rent the place for Thanksgiving in the early 2000s, inviting friends and family for feast and fun. Here are two pictures from that era (with a slightly different climate!):
Andrew on Ice
I’ve had a lingering paranoia since moving to Minnesota: what if I can’t skate? I skated as a kid, sure, but that was long ago. Now I’m older and stiffer and more fragile. I’ll probably fall immediately and break my wrist or my head. Today I banished this demon by slowly working my way around my school’s ice rink with the 8th graders zipping past. They were a supportive crowd.
Now I can’t wait to finally buy a pair of skates that fits. (There is only one pair at school, and I had to share them with a large-footed student.) I’m hopeful that Griffin will get comfortable on his skates this winter too, so this will be another winter activity we can enjoy together.
The video is hardly worth watching, but I was so ridiculously proud of myself that I thought I should preserve the moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qSFM08Dr8k