Mosely Ella Claiborne
A cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, no matter how suddenly jarred. - Amy Carmichael
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Prairie Adventure: Walnut Grove’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Days
For several Saturdays each summer the small town of Walnut Grove, Minnesota hosts their annual Laura Ingalls Wilder Days. The town’s park is filled with tents and prairie exhibits and traditional pioneer food like cotton candy and funnel cakes. The girls made corn husk dolls. We were again so fortunate that the weather, while warm, was not the usual summer time stifling heat. All of the kids loved the craft station where they were able to hammer designs into leather and create necklaces or ornaments. The festival lasted most of the day but we were more than satisfied to wrap up our experience after an hour or so. One station…
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Book Club: Homesick – My Own Journey
Monday night was Book Club night. This month we read Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz. In this autobiographical work Jean Fritz tells about her experiences as an American growing up in China with parents who worked to bring the YMCA to China in the 1920’s. We happened to wait a little too late to snag the book from the library this month and I was forced to do what I rarely do – download the audio at a cost on iTunes. As it turned out, the audio book was a real treat because Jean Fritz herself was the narrator. Although I’m certain she wouldn’t qualify as a professional…
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Happy Birthday Mosely.
Mosely is officially ten, no matter how often Kevin keeps telling her she’s not allowed to reach the double digits. She used to be one. All smelling like baby formula and looking like a living cartoon with those enormous cheeks and liquidy brown eyes and soft fluffs of hair. Last night she blew out her ten little mismatched candles on her chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. (She is a creature of habit – it’s always chocolate cake for her.) (I’m still using the exact same chocolate cake recipe that came from my friend’s mother – a friend I have known since seventh grade!) She celebrated with her sweet little…
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real life conversations overheard.
Mosely and Bergen were chatting on the front porch. “Hey Bergen,” she says. “We have matching pants – both jeans.” “Yeah,” Bergen acknowledges. “Well, kind of, I guess,” Mosely changes her tone. “Your jeans are not really blue. They’re more like green and brown with dirt all over them.” To which Bergen Hawkeye responds, with a shrug of his eight-year-old boy shoulders, “I lead a rugged life.”
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this week at Wildwood …..
Friday afternoon brought new kittens. And these kittens brought about a new haircut for Mosely. How would newborn kittens require a haircut for a kid? Well. If you’re nine and it’s dark outside and you want to check out the welfare and health of the brand spankin’ new kittens and you think it would be harsh to shine a bright light on a passel of newborn tinies then maybe you would decide to use a candle. And if you’re Mosely you might think a birthday candle would be sufficient light for such an adventure. You’d be wrong, of course. Wrong on so many levels. And in your error and in…
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more than lunch.
Last week, or something like that, I was approached by London and asked my favorite question of my every day – “What’s for lunch?” I didn’t answer with my standard full of love and kindness response. (Which, by the way, is a monosyllabic delivery of the word “food”.) Nope. I said something else. I said, “Why don’t you decide what’s for lunch. Would you and Mosely like to fix lunch?” I said it to be funny. I was laughing to myself. But London replied, “Yes! Please don’t come in the kitchen.” So I did my part. Which was nothing. And I did it like a champ too, I’ll have you know. When…
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daughters. sisters.
One morning this week the girls and I put on pretty dresses. We drove to a friend’s house and attended a tea party to celebrate our sweet young friend turning five. It was a lovely morning. Tables set up outside in the cool morning breeze. Tablecloths. Real deal china plates and tea cups. French bread smothered in home made cream and fresh strawberries. Scones. Piper was thrilled to put on a dress. She chose from her plethora of options and happily dressed her dolls to accompany us. Mosely was happy to oblige the dress code suggestion and even submitted to a barrette placed in her hair but requested no braids.…
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Book Club: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Book Club. I’ve been loving it since it began. February brought us Island of the Blue Dolphins. I think Scott O’Dell should have put the author’s notes in the front of the novel this time instead of the back. It wasn’t until after I read the entire book that I realized that the fascinating story was based on true events. This was the first novel that London, Mosely and I each read separately. London first. Mosely second. Me third. Surprisingly, London was a big fan. She actually discussed this book on her own, pre-book club. (She reads books and usually responds with – “it wasn’t my favorite”.)…
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Bergen Hawkeye, HomeLife, Keiglets, London Eli Scout, Mosely Ella Claiborne, Otto Fox Wilder, Piper Finn Willow, Riley Amber
What They’ve Been Up To Lately
Scrambling eggs. Becoming increasingly obsessed with The Lord of the Rings. (Despite the fact that none of our children have ever watched even one of the films.) Saying “happy new year” after every sentence, regardless of appropriateness to the conversation. Speed reading through The Hobbit. Taking her first college level science class, complete with weekly three hour lab. Painting drumsticks red without anyone’s permission. Wearing a Snow White costume on top of her normal clothes. Reading food labels and researching soy lecithin. Attempting to stop sucking her thumb every morning and forgetting about the challenge every evening. Baking Aunt E’s Famous Pizza Dough recipe solo. Creating miniature paper cutouts of…
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Nine. Mosely’s turn.
It always happens to Mosely. It’s because her birthday is only a few days before Christmas. I never forget this cute girl’s birthday. Not ever. But I always underestimate the amount of effort and/or time it will take to pull a birthday event together. Wait – who am I kidding? I do this for every birthday in our house. I have it all planned in my mind. Gift ideas. Theme. Location. Guests. Odds and ends. But then – oh – then. The time always evaporates. Always. And then suddenly it’s two days before the birthday and the one gift I want to find is sold out and the place is booked…
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The exchange
At one of the pottery shops we visited last weekend, an artist had a display of her hand drawn cards for sale. Mosely fell in love with a print of a white horse’s head, mane flowing. She held the small card encased in plastic. Admired it closely. Set it down. Walked over to the refreshment table. Wandered back to the card display. Caressed the card again. Put it down. Paused. Asked the artist,”How much does this card cost?” “$1,” the artist answered. Mosely sighed. “Oh.” Her shoulders drooped. She reached deep into her pocket. “All I have is one bottle cap.” (Yes. We gave the child a dollar.)
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six flags over georgia.
Summer reading programs abound. In fact, I often lose track of them. Suddenly it’s September and I realize that I missed out on the chance to get three free books from Barnes & Noble. Six Flags offers a year-long reading program that we took advantage of last school year. For reading the required number of books, each child receives a free ticket (and one teacher ticket too!) to the Six Flags amusement park of your choice. We chose Georgia. And yesterday. Thanks to my kind friends Hannah and LIndsey, Otto and PIper were well cared for all day so that they did not have to wait in long line and…
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Coming Home, Being Thankful
I drove to Virginia early last week with just the kids. It’s been a tradition for many years for the moms and the kids to gather the week before our annual July Fourth party and spend time prepping for the party, corralling small children and laughing at nonsensical things. The husbands generally join us later in the week as soon as their jobs make it possible. So it was this week. And for the ride home Riley is staying with Emma a few extra days and driving the car Kevin drove up home. Which is why we were driving home Sunday with six kids instead of one and two grown…
