A Kiwi Tale: Introducing Kiri Kiwi

Once upon a time, there was a happy and imaginative little girl who loved the kiwi from her Kiwi Crate boxes very, very much.


So, not long after school started, the little girl wrote a letter. She wrote the letter to the kiwi!


At the bottom, she drew her very best family picture. The little girl drew her kitty cat Molly, but far away because Molly doesn't like people. She also drew her papa and her mama, but she mixed up the names so her mama was a little too tiny but it's okay. The little girl also added the one she wanted to join her family: Kiwi.

"From Autumn. Will you come over to haos we will have a pladat to gever. We will have a grat tie plaey to gedr. You will haf to come tomorow aftr soole."

She did her best to write a good, polite note. The little girl wrote it all by herself, hoping that Kiwi would see how hard she worked. She really wanted Kiwi to come for a play date. And, maybe, if Kiwi liked it at her house, they could play together for longer than one day!


The little girl gave her letter to her mama to mail to Kiwi. Her mama warned her that Kiwi might not be able to come or that her letter might take a very long time to get to New Zealand where kiwis are from. They even looked for New Zealand on the globe! And it was very, very far away. But every day, she kept hoping and hoping and one day...


The little girl's mama sent her on a scavenger hunt to find a surprise that came in the mail. When the little girl saw the holes in the box...she started to get so excited. There was a note. Kiwi (which must be a last name because she now knows he is really named Steve) sent his friend Kiri! Kiri came all the way to stay with the little girl!


And, ever since then, they have had so many wonderful adventures. They played hide and seek with the little girl's grandfather.


Kiri and the little girl basked in the sun, reading books on the balcony at the beach.


They practiced their sentences and spelling together.


And Kiri even gets to ride in the baby carrier on trips around the house sometimes!


The little girl is so happy to have Kiri. To make sure she really, really never wants to leave, the little girl made Kiri and super comfy bed in a hat with very soft clothes.

Kiri is a fun friend to have. °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

The Delivery

Once upon a time, there was a Butterfly Fairy.


She had a Super Special Secret Delivery to take to her Butterfly Fairy Aunt's castle across the village. So, she gathered her tiara, wand and her magic spoon...


mounted her Steed of Steel, and set off on her journey.


Braving the Great Driveway Hill, the Curb of Doom and the Asphalt Range, the Butterfly Fairy safely arrived at her destination.


Parking her Steed, the Butterfly Fairy retrieved her tiara, wand, magic spoon and her Super Special Secret Delivery,


excitedly ran the cobblestone path


and presented her Super Special Secret Delivery. A rock shaped like a heart.


After she spread love and sparkles and Butterfly Fairy joy, the Butterfly Fairy embarked on her journey home.


The End.

The Kind and Beautiful Princess: A Happy Story

Once upon a time, there was a kind and beautiful princess who never liked the flashbulbs of her nation's paparazzi.


She didn't want attention, she only wanted to nurture and care for her subjects. The princess loved to pamper, making sure that each citizen had a lovey and a blanket, no matter how small...


Or large and disturbing.


There was nothing the beautiful princess loved more than inviting friends over and dressing them in her favorite finery


And serving them delicious foods


at her grand table.


But our princess doesn't do any of this for attention or glory so we will leave her...


And let her care for her little friends in peace.


The End.

A Ball, A Carriage Ride, and Autumn's Archnemesis: The Zig Zag

I spent yesterday looking at curtains and fabric for curtains. I settled on a type of fabric, although I can't decide on a color. I really like the look of these curtains. And these are some of the colors I can't decide between:


When Mike saw them, he reminded me that I might need to show the print to Autumn before I made curtains only to have her have a panic attack becauuuuuuuse...she's apparently afraid of...zig zags.

It all started when we were getting our clothes ready for the Ball at the Children's Museum. Penny had a dress that she thought might fit me (it didn't--too small) so I tried it on for my mom and Autumn. The print looked like this.


I was standing there in the dress and noticed that Autumn had gone completely still and big eyed. If anyone reads Yotsuba, it was like the time Yotsuba saw the bird-scarer:


I asked her what was wrong and she, still dead still, said, "I DO NOT LIKE THAT DRESS TAKE IT OFF." So, I took it off and put it in the basket of things to take downstairs. Before we left for community group, I went back upstairs and my mom told me that Autumn took the dress, ran down the hall and threw it into the darkness of my room.

I asked her what was wrong with the dress and she got very still again and said, baldly, "I am afraid of it."

"But...why?"

"Because it has stripes like this..." And then she waggled her finger back and forth. Ha!

And that's why I need to show the print to Autumn before I buy the fabric. :D Later when I told Nanny the story, Autumn went still and big-eyed again and moved her hand in a zigzag again when I got to that part, almost like she was in a trance. Poor kid.

Despite the traumatizing dress experience, we did get everything we needed for the Ball, no mice or fairy godmothers (well, other than Lainey!) required.


It's funny, going through the pictures from the ball, Autumn is making these funny Calvin and Hobbes faces in almost every single one. This is the best of her pictures with Cinderella. Cinderella did a great job. She was super sweet and mingled with all the girls. Prince Charming was not so charming...he obviously didn't want to be there and we had the misfortune of sitting at the table with him where he spent the whole time groping his wife. Awwwwwkward! Fortunately, Autumn didn't seem to notice or care.


When we got there, the magic show was going on and most of the kids were sitting on the floor by the stage. When we asked Autumn if she wanted to go and sit there, she did this.


So that was a no. She also didn't want to join the rest of the kids and parents for the ballroom dancing lesson they had but agreed to dance with me in the corner. :)


The carriage ride, though? From the time we arrived until the time we got on the carriage that was alllllll she could talk about! She had so much fun. She loved the ride, the scenery, the dog in the driver seat, the lights, everything about it.


This is Mike HAVING THE BEST TIME EVER.


Actually, I think he had a pretty good time. It's amazing what a good looking suit can do for ya! Plus Autumn was just so cute. And excited.

Back inside, Autumn ALSO didn't want to do face painting. That would require allowing a stranger in her face. :) She did, however, enjoy the two crafts. At the corsage making table, Autumn totally saw a friend of hers from school and started chatting like a teenager at the mall. Craziness.


On the way out, of course we had to stop to play in the bubble machine. HOW RIDICULOUSLY GROWN UP DOES SHE LOOK HERE?


And that was the Ball! To wrap up, have a montage of FACES.

The Adventures of Little Princess

Once upon a time, there was a Little Princess who wanted to buy a littler princess. She saved her dollars for a very long time. Since Christmas! That's a long time to a Little Princess.


The Little Princess counted alllll her dollars with her mama's help. There were a lot of dollars and she really hoped that there would be enough to buy her littler princess. She was so happy because not only did she have enough dollars for her littler princess, but the Little Princess also set aside dollars to save for a rainy day and to give to her church "to help the lots of peoples."


Although she was very afraid that she would not be at the store, the Little Princess found her littler princess and named her Big Belle.


The Little Princess was sad to give up her dollars. But that day she learned that all the subjects of the kingdom have to trade their dollars for the toys they buy at the store! And the Little Princess said she can't wait to get more dollars for her birthday and Christmas and maybe by doing a little bit of princess-y work.


The End.

A blast from the past...remember this?

Just a note, I started a new blog last week: click here if you're interested in checking it out! Coming up next week: projects.

The Tale of the Peanut Butter Jar

Once upon a time in a land called Schnuck's there lived a jar of peanut butter who longed to see the world outside of its shelf.


One day, a funny little girl named Autumn from the nearby village of Lakeland came to visit Schnuck's with her mama on a journey to find delicious foods to fill their empty pantry. Autumn saw the jar of peanut butter and was immediately enthralled.


Autumn's mama not only let her carry the jar of peanut butter inside Schnuck's but Autumn kept the jar with her in the car. The jar was very happy to get to see all kinds of new things whizzing by.


When they got home, Autumn and the jar of peanut butter had many adventures. They walked on a golf cart path, dodging fast carts and silly geese.


They flipped and flopped with Autumn's papa.


They took a ride together on Autumn's mama.


They rested and basked in the sun.


They even played with paper and books and all kinds of toys!


The jar of peanut butter had been a little afraid that it might have to go back to its boring life on the shelf but, no, other than a short break for dinner and a bath, Autumn kept the jar with her until well after dark.


And as they snuggled down ready for bed, the jar smiled and was very, very happy.


The End.