The Queen’s Magical Fabric

A chocolate moose 045

Long, long ago—so long ago, in fact, that the queen of the whole world’s children actually were children—there was discovered a beautiful, magical piece of fabric.

This fabric was a perfect purple, blue and pink paisley, fuzzy, velor.

A chocolate moose 046

It was also discovered that the mystical fabric had a perfectly divine purpose and would be just the thing for making three lovely dressing gowns for the queen’s three incredibly cool daughters.

A chocolate moose 047

However, there was trouble in the kingdom that season and the queen became preoccupied with many, many mundane tasks. Therefore the 3 dressing gowns for the 3 princesses didn’t actually happen.

It turned out to be a good thing because as the princesses grew, one day they unanimously declared that the beautiful, perfect, purple, blue, and pink paisley fuzzy velor was in reality NOT beautiful. It was “dreadful, horrible, snakey” fabric.

Some say the word “hideous” was even gently tossed about that day.

A chocolate moose 060

Well, it’s a good thing the queen didn’t make those dressing gowns for her incredibly cool daughters out of that incredibly NOT cool fabric or certainly all would have been lost, and despair would have swallowed up the kingdom. The horrid fabric was sent to the cold and damp dungeon, to never be heard of again.

Phew.

That was close.

A chocolate moose 061

Several generations later, after much banishing, crown shifting and dragon slaying…

the queen was still in charge of the whole world, but the kingdom had new heirs to the thrown.

0101001202

By royal decree, the dreaded fabric was searched out and found. To the delight of all…

0101001208

it was miraculously beautiful once more.

Just perfect in fact…

0101001209

for a playful romp through the castle halls…

0101001202c

a quiet chat in the upper chambers…

0101001207

or even a quick ride around the grounds.

The magical fabric was wholeheartedly embraced and invited to stay.

A moose 147

He agreed.

At last, balance, harmony and good will were restored to the kingdom.

Next order of business…

Joy, love, rock and roll, and of course—

world peace.

News at 10.

Babies and Planes~the Real Truth

July 16 023

If you talk to the moms–they may say, “Wow…I’ll try this again in about 5 years,” but if you talk to the wise, old Grandma Oak–that would be me–I’d say these babies were fabulous little travelers.

July 16 041

First, understand that we woke these little people up at about 4 am and hauled them to the airport–still in their jammies for this adventure. The trip involved two flights–one from SLC to Atlanta then another to NYC.

July 16 039

Baby Chompy did really well because she just hung out with mom and dad with all the comforts and amenities of home…

so to speak.

July 16 032

We did, however, learn quite a bit about what worked to keep a couple of 18 month olds entertained and what…um…tanked.

Grapes were a great idea, along with string cheese and Goldfish crackers. Food is always a good thing…always.

July 16 027

Do you recall the wooden characters, held together by elastic cording? Well before the babies ever saw them, they got so tangled up in my bag that the excitement became seeing if we could free the little beggars from the twisted ridiculous mass they’d become. Once we got them sorted out–the twins wanted them tangled again–because it was more fun that way.

Next time, I’ll use shorter cord and store them in a ziploc bag.

New York 149

They loved the quiet books their mama made.

And the cookies turned out to be the perfect size.

Remember the flash card strips? They were great until the babies discovered that it was pretty easy to tear them apart and toss them all over the place. Note to self: Use stronger tape next time.

The dolls with the pacifiers were good. The tiny toys stayed in the bag because I was terrified of having to pick them up off the floor—which would have been completely impossible—if they fell…or got thrown.

The wind-ups worked for a while especially the mouse that does back flips. Anything that does back flips is a keeper.

I’d say that the hardest part was that those active little bodies still had this to deal with…

July 16 033

spooky–non-play-in-able, high traffic aisles…

New York 153

no where to go if you leave the safety of your assigned lap…

New York 150

and zero leg room…ZERO. Seriously, have these plane designer people actually ever measured a human being?

Honestly.

Oh, and there are a couple of new discoveries. First of all–without exception, the other passengers around us were very kind, helpful and forgiving–when toys were dropped and rolled to the outer edges of the universe, or the baby woke up disoriented and needed to cry for a while. Our neighbors were amazing. We also learned that…

July 16 047

With enough entertainment, cuddling, patience and chamomile, it was possible to finally, finally wear our darlings out.

July 16 035

And–the stranger in the row ahead—with the fancy cell phone/dvd player/music maker/carrot shredder—

July 16 015

will always be cooler than Grammy and her Hello Kitty bag of laminated flashcards.

That’s precisely why I also brought Pez.

Naa-naaa.

I win.

 

—————————-

May 31 013

Happy Birthday Bald Kid!

Stepping out…

Mama told Lily, “It’s time to go,” which usually means–tidy the toys, find your shoes, get your hat and head for the door.

This is what we got…

june-1-001

june-1-002

june-1-003

june-1-004

june-1-0081

june-1-005

Ready to go—

Applause please…

Didn’t have the heart to tell her that her shoes were on the wrong feet! ha ha

 

 

Week #12 Food Storage Prompt: 4 cans  mushroom soup

Flip Book

Let me explain…

crackers 105

Beckham is surprised at the feeling of cold water in his lap…

crackers 106

Lily thinks, “Hmmmm….looks fun…”

crackers 107

“…I believe I shall try it.”

Twin joy.

 

 


Food Storage Prompt #7  100 pounds of wheat.

Note: Some items may cost a bit more these days than when these prompts were originally written, but hopefully it will still be helpful to have a nudge to gather these items each week.