4/52 - Cat Stories, Big Rock Candy Mountain

Anders's class recently did a narrative writing project. The original assignment was to tell the story of your "favorite family moment", but for some reason Anders took his story in a different direction.

The above was the final product but as part of the process, they drew panels to tell the story.

Every time I see those drawing, I get a little twinge in my eye. Somehow, he really captured it.

Anders was only 5 when Max died, and at the time he didn't seem to have a particularly emotional response to it. But apparently it made a bigger impression on him than we thought.

As a result of Anders' project, the bulletin board with the stories was change to "The Most Memorable Family Stories".

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Speaking of cats... Here is Anders's letter to Santa from this past year.

This is the letter he wrote in school, that in turn was sent to the newspaper for publication. He didn't put "texito (tuxedo) cat" on the list he made at home, so this was news to us.

Max was a great cat, but we have been enjoying our pet-free lifestyle. We're not ready to get another pet just yet.

Anders: I want a tuxedo cat for Christmas.
Corinne: I think you're old enough now that you can take care of it.
Anders: (blank look)
Corinne: You know, feed it, give it water, empty the litter box.
Anders: Well, you can help me with the litter box.
Corinne: No, I think you are old enough. Are you sure you want a tuxedo cat this year, or maybe you want to wait a year?
Anders: (contemplative look) I think I'll wait a year.

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For at least a year now, Anders has been asking to build a Big Rock Candy Mountain. This song was recently brought back to pop culture via the O, Brother Where Art Though? soundtrack, but Anders's primary inspiration came from the John Deere Earth Mover Action video. It's a mountain where you use construction vehicles to mine and transport candy; what's a kid not to love about that?

Gingerbread to the rescue!

And now, the finished product!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders