Mollie and the Two Cats

Aside from hatching plans to catch a fairy, probably one of Natalie's favorite things to do is have me transcribe her stories.  She has so many!  Below is a recent one she shared with me.  I write her words down verbatim.  She instinctively adds dialogue and lots of description and naturally follows the age old writing rule: Show Don't Tell.  

Mollie and the Two Cats by Natalie
After school Mollie and her mom saw two cats – a momma cat and a kitten. 

Mollie said, “Mom, can we keep them?”

Mollie’s mom tried to pet the cats, but the baby cat hissed at them and the momma cat put her leg over the baby cat’s mouth because she didn’t want the hissing to scare Mollie and her mom.  Mollie’s mom started thinking about keeping the two cats.  She looked into the cute eyes of the kitten and her big momma cat.

“Can we keep them?” asked Mollie one more time.

Finally her mom nodded yes.  She named the fat momma cat Pinky and the little kitten Pink.

Mr. Blue, their next door neighbor hates cats.  He never ever gets dirty.  Mr. Blue is the mayor.  Mollie went to see if she could have a play date with his daughter, Sarah.  Mrs. Blue came running along.  She is a little small.  She held Mr. Blue’s hand and smiled because she loves cats.  Mrs. Blue started to pet the kitten but the kitten hissed at her, but she didn’t mind.

One day Mr. Blue had a plan.  He was going to pull the two cats tails.  Mrs. Blue raced over and told Mollie what he was going to do.

“Hide your cats!  He’s going to pull their tails!” said Mrs. Blue.

Mollie hid the cats under her bed.  Mr. Blue couldn’t find them because they went to sleep and made no sound.  Mr. Blue thought about how painful it would be to the cats to pull their tails and changed his mind.  Now he loves cats…but he hates dogs.

Sweet Fairy Dreams

Natalie is obsessed with fairies and tonight decided she would find out once and for all whether fairies really do exist.  Using an old shoe box she fashioned a tiny abode that surely no fairy could resist.  She furnished it with a doll bed, complete with cotton ball pillow and a quilted toilet paper comforter.  She thought long and hard as to what kind of food a fairy would like best.  "It should be sweet and small.  Blueberries are perfect!" shared Natalie.  She originally included a glass bowl full of sudsy water -- a "shacoozy", but I convinced her that no fairy would be taking a dip tonight as I feared the water would freeze and shatter the bowl.  Before I tucked her in she asked me where fairies go to the bathroom.  I told her they probably just go outside like when you go camping.  She looked at me in disbelief and then said, "But, that's not natural.  Can you have Daddy make a toilet for my fairy box?"

"You mean like a latrine?" I asked.  

"No!  A REAL toilet.  He'll just need to attach some pipes so the water can go down.  Put that on his list, ok?" she insisted.

Poor Steve, no holiday rest for him.  Looks like he'll need to make a trip to Lowe's tomorrow. 

How could any fairy resist?  Berries, shiny coins and an animal print rug made from a piece of felt.

I wonder how long I'll need to eat berries and leave "leaf notes" behind?
If I'm lucky, at least for a couple years. 

Blue & Gold Banquet 2013

On February 9th we attended Noah's first Blue & Gold Banquet.  Held at the Masonic Temple in Webster Groves, the circus themed room pulsed with testosterone and the smell of fried chicken.  The kids and I met Steve there as he was in charge of picking up 300 pieces of King Edward's finest for the event.  It was a fun evening punctuated with lots of laughs thanks to our entertainer, Juggling Jeff.  But, the best part was seeing the look on Noah's face when he heard his name called during the award ceremony.  As it turns out, you don't have to build the fastest car to win at Pinewood Derby.  Noah earned a 1st place trophy for his entry in the category of "Original Design".

Smorgasbord of side dishes.

Juggling Jeff  is always a good time.

Each den was charged with making a cake for the cake decorating contest.  This one was done by Noah's group.  I can only imagine what the poor Den mother's kitchen looked like after a dozen boys had been through it.

Noah looks a bit shellshocked.

The A Team

Noah with his buddy, Jacob

Deep Thoughts from Noah #21

After finishing his shower, Noah wrote on the steam-covered bathroom mirror.  He shared, "I wrote I love you, Mom, but it's implied that Dad is included."

Musings from Natalie #34

Natalie: "Mom, why can only boys grow a mustache?"
Me: "Well, it all has to do with hormones."
Natalie: "What are hormones?"
Me:  "In your body..."
Natalie: "Mom, stop!  I'm getting squeamish."
(Phew...me, too)

Natalie: "Why do you always take me places?"
Me: "Because I like to spend time with you.  Next year you'll be in school all day and we won't get to do fun things like go to the zoo or the science center."
Natalie: "Will you miss me?"
Me: "Of course!  I'll be sad."
Natalie: "Aww, Mom.  Don't worry.  I'll always come back to you. And, when you're old, I'll take care of you.  Just promise me you won't ever call me a whippersnapper, ok?"



"These seeds are like babies...they're just baby flowers."

Musings from Natalie #33

Natalie: “I want to wear my cowboy boots today."

Me: “I’m sorry but today is a gym day.  You have to wear tennis shoes…and by the way you need to learn to tie your own shoes."

Natalie: “But, I only know how to make knots."

Me: “I will teach you."

Natalie: “But, I don’t want to learn."

Me: “I won’t always be around to do it for you."

Natalie: “Then Daddy can…and then my husband will do it and bring me chocolate."

Me: “Like Daddy brings chocolate for me?”
Natalie: “Yes.  Hey!  Why did you get to marry him first?”

Unfortunately I flipped the radio station just as Ke$ha was singing "that magic in your pants is making me blush" to which Natalie immediately piped up from the back seat, "ugh! magic in your pants..what is that?"

"Oh, I'm sure they are talking about him dancing like he has ants in his pants," I offered.

I ventured a quick peek over my shoulder to see if she was buying it.  She looked at me with one eyebrow raised and her head cocked to the side which told me she wasn't so sure I was telling the whole story, but was willing to give me a pass...this time. Phew.

Deep Thoughts from Noah #20

While I sat at the computer mumbling and grumbling under my breath, Noah asked, "Mom, what are you doing?"
"I'm talking to your Dad via instant message and he's making me crazy," I replied.
"Oh, what kind of crazy?" Noah thoughtfully inquired.