The beach is one of our favorite places to visit. Sure, you can dig in the sand and splash in the water (um, not in February) – but my favorite aspect of the place is its inherent wildness. “Our” beach, as C&D note (as if its theirs) is one of the great wild places near [...]

[Read more →]

Today after lunch C&D listened to the second half of Winnie-the-Pooh while I got ready for the day’s round of lessons.  At the end of the story, Christopher Robin and all of the animals hold a party for Pooh.  To help C&D transition to the work they would be doing after the story, I encouraged [...]

[Read more →]

Today, Carmen and David turned six years old.  When they woke up (too early, as usual, despite their colds), they found a few small presents at the top of the stairs. David woke up first.  After going upstairs he ran back down and into the bedroom, where I stayed snuggled under the covers. “There is [...]

[Read more →]

Friends and fresh air today. The new swing at the Sharecropper’s Cabin made the morning perfect. Matt took these photos. I celebrated four years of AVM-ness by driving home.  I didn’t like it, and was beyond grateful and relieved to finally pull into the driveway, but . . . I did it.  I’ll try again [...]

[Read more →]

Dear Mom, Since you are still out of town, Joyce came at noon today to take me for a walk. I walked with Carmen and David, as usual, and their friends Ashley and Reese. While you have been gone Joyce has been trying to help me learn how to heel during our walks so I [...]

[Read more →]

Authenticity In the car today Carmen announced that tomorrow night she would like to dress up in her Mary costume, have David in his Joseph costume, and play Las Posadas with donkey. In December we attended a Posada at the University of St. Thomas, and Carmen was a little envious of the young girl who [...]

[Read more →]

C&D have been enjoying hearing Christmas carols lately. Now I guess after hearing different renditions of the same songs over and over, they’ve been inspired to start singing their own versions over breakfast. Right now they’re singing The First Noel, except it seems they’ve got a few details to hammer out still. I can hear [...]

[Read more →]