Opportunity

A year ago we dared to dream.

We built our castles - built them high,

And while we spun them out of reach,

We searched for stairways to the sky.

Each took his different, questing way,
Our paths together, yet alone.

"Impossible," we would not say,
But "Courage," through the world we roam.

Today, quite unexpectedly,

My feet have found the cloud-built stair.

Is this my castle? This, my dream?

These steps could lead me anywhere.

These steps - they could lead anywhere.

{photo credit}

The Make-Over of a Fashion Failure

Once upon a time, there lived a little laptop. Her name was StarDaughter (known affectionately as "Dottie" by those who loved her), and she...how do I put this politely?...she just didn't know how to put outfits together correctly. On her best days, she came to work looking like this:

And on her worst days...you just don't even want to see it! I think everyone would agree that blackonblackonblackonblack just isn't the right style for her, but how do you just tell someone that? I finally worked up enough courage to broach the subject of identifying her personal beauty profile, and she jumped at the chance to get some advice from me (you all know what extensive fashion training I've had). First, we went over her proper color palette. 

Then, one sunny, Saturday morning, Maddy and I began to work our magic. I asked Madeline to assist me because, while I unquestionably hold the best eye for color combinations, Maddy is my top fashion consultant. Naturally, the two of us wore our most inspiring designer clothes to give Dottie confidence as we began work.

After opening her eyes to how revolutionary bright colors can be, I gave Dottie a couple weeks to adjust to her new wardrobe hues before completing her look with some snazzy accessories. With her new style sense, Dottie has become an entirely new laptop, finally free to live the life of which she had always dreamed.

World, meet StarDaughter. The most fashionable, most colorful, most Hawaiian laptop on the earth!

News: The Good and the Bad

Almost every class we have, I get a new giggle from my Littles. These past few days have been no exception, as we've color-coded and labelled sentence structures, simultaneously learning whatever tidbits about Martin Luther's life I can convey without prepositional phrases or too many adjectives. Upon being informed that they have a test tomorrow, Zachary and Madeline (hereafter called "The Wise Ones") asked for me to print off a couple practice sheets for them. Forgoing our reformer theme (because I couldn't think of new facts right away), I hastily typed out a couple pages and went about my merry way. On the way upstairs this evening, however, I spotted Maddy's practice page:

The good news is: some amount of information from her sentence analyses is getting through. The bad news is: it's all getting dreadfully tangled up with Jane Austen & Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

New York, New York! Part III: Sunny Endings

Blue skies and sunshine again greeted us on Sunday morning. Kate and I spent some time reading through and discussing Philippians 2 for our morning "church", then rode a couple subway stops to Central Park, ready, after the previous day's adventures, to just enjoy a {free}, relaxing walk. It was a lovely morning/afternoon.

First stop: A park in Central Park! We got some strange looks from all the young parents and 5-year-olds, but very classily pretended not to notice.

Thus began our 3.5 hour stroll through sunshiny paths. With beautiful scenery, fabulous people-watching, and good conversation, we reckoned it time well-spent.

There were many ponds throughout the park, but the reservoir was by far the prettiest. The path around it was especially designed for runners, and literally hundreds were taking advantage of it, making me wish I'd brought my running gear!

We finally got pretzels! (they were rather dry and anti-climactic, but we got 'em!)

During our short sit-down, I wrote postcards, and Kate took pictures.

I thought we should do a grumpy picture, but Kate doesn't know how to be grumpy.

  This little tower was actually built in 1869 as a look-out tower. Now, it's in the Shakespeare garden of Central Park. :)

How cool is this instrument?? I wish I knew what it was called, so if you're an enlightened individual, leave a comment and let me know! The musician had a microphone and was playing and singing away.

After Central Park it was time for getting lost a stroll along the streets, heading toward none other than Times Square! Bikes and buildings marked our way...

 ...and the Museum of Natural History...

...with good ol' Teddy guarding the entrance.

After a quick stop for "coffee" (aka, an excuse to use an outlet to charge a dying phone/camera battery), we arrived. Unexpectedly, this was actually one of the most fun and exciting moments for me! :p

First view...

We were there!! :)

And so were the minions!

Bound and determined to spend as little money as possible, we boldly began our walk down the square. However, being chased down by Spider Man, who apparently thought we were gorgeous enough to get a picture w/o paying for his pose, forced us to seek refuge in the Hershey store. What could we do? We were greeted, upon entering, with two free chocolates, and enjoyed perusing all the delectable options. It was here that I lost Kate for a second time, although our separation was considerably shorter, being above ground and in the same crowded room.

Next, we were drawn by unseen forces to the M&M store. This place was beyond cool. Boasting over 22 non-traditional colors in M&Ms, I just had to get some hot pink and deep purple ones for my M&Ms back home (Megan and Madeline), as well as some green M&M shoelaces for the Z-man who leads the Littles.



Next stop (which was just a thrill to walk into, as you shall presently see) was the Disney store. Downstairs was cute - Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, etc - but when we turned our feet toward the escalator to visit the second floor, we were enchanted with the "Tangled"-theme lighting!

(Yes...this pic is obviously from our trip back down the escalator. Kudos to you observant ones)

At the top, a Disney castle and elegant chandelier dominated the floor, with princess dresses, accessories, and dolls at every turn. We liked it muchly.

A quick stop to H&M, and then the growing darkness encouraged us to turn our steps away from the Square (I would 100% recommend spending a whole day there, not just a couple hours) and toward the Empire State Building!

Long lines and elevator rides brought us to breath-taking views from the 86th floor/observation deck. It was beautiful (the pictures really can't do it justice), with lighted streets cutting deep gorges between the towering buildings, stretching far, far away.

Thus flew our weekend in New York City. The next morning was pack-up-and-leave day, in which we marveled at the sunburns we had somehow acquired during our hours of walking in freezing sunshine, at how fast the time flew, and at how confusing train stations can be. It was a fabulous couple days, and so I say, "Hooray for NYC!"