Category: Children

Monday Messages…

WiwohkaLeave a comment

It’s funny how dreamy one gets when living aboard a ship full time. Days and nights lose all sense of time, in terms of minutes and hours. Our days simply move between daybreak and sunset. Things also become reliant on the weather cooperating. If the winds are kicked up and the waters get rough, we spend our time within the ship’s comfortable cabins. Those are days for baking, stitching holes in little socks… and storytelling, which I happen to be rather good at. Needless to say, I think that the babes prefer the stormy days to the sunny ones.

This morning finds me sitting in my cabin, with great plans of writing some grand adventure quickly drifting away with the breeze. While I have many things I could write about, its all I can do to keep myself sitting here, as I can hear the crew having so much fun out on deck!

As you can see, the dragons have taken charge of everything above deck! While I am grateful that they’ve taken that part off my hands, I think it has more to do wind and wings than it does about work… if you know what I mean…

I can’t tell you how many times Brutus has had to pull one of the babes out of the waves. Squagon is the worse, by far! You know, the sea air has even gotten Nugget up on deck…

For a dreamer who normally finds joy in existing within my bedside drawer, life on the water has made her more outgoing.

While our winged babes take pleasure above deck, learning all they can from Brutus about everything nautical, the other babes spend more time below deck.

Lilly tends to spend all her time going over the maps on my desk. She’s always been rather good at puzzles and riddles, so I suppose that she sees all our maps and clues as just that… pieces of a bigger puzzle.

She’s working on a successful course that might lead us to the whereabouts of our missing troll, Peanut.

There’s plenty to keep the rest of the babes happily occupied, what with baking, and things of that sort…

I think that they play more than bake, if I’m being fully honest. Oh well, it makes them happy, which in turn, makes me happy!

And now you see why I’ve gotten nothing done this morning, aside from rambling on about our daily comings and goings. I suppose this is what it should be like, anyway. How else are you supposed to know what’s going on aboard our ship, while we sail the high seas? Getting to where one is going takes time. Who on earth would want to simply read the introduction to a story, only to turn the page and find that they’ve already arrived at the conclusion? That would be so boring and unfulfilling.

If I’m to write anything of value for this mornings Monday Message, it would be this:

The getting to a place isn’t what an adventure is about. It’s about all the things that happen while you’re getting there…

Today we set sail… again!

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Ok! Once again, we’re all loaded onto the ship and ready to set sail for distant shores. All that is, except for young Henry, the very mouse that we sailed all the way up the river to locate. Why? Well, young Henry has responsibilities to his aging parents that require him to remain at home. Before you start worrying that Tilly will be broken hearted, Brutus saved the day, once again. He’s given Tilly his word that whenever she wants to go and spend time with Henry and his family, Brutus will fly her home and stay til she’s ready to come back. See… problem solved!

Do you know that it’s taken all day to get ready for leaving port, just so that all the babes could pick out their best sailing outfits? I’m not joking! The worst of them was Eustace and Bailey, which I never expected. It’s all about the shoes, according to those two…

I advised Eustace that his choice of enormous backpack and fur lined flip flops would most assuredly cause him to loose his balance and end up over the side of the ship, so we compromised…

Much better!

Now Bailey was more about dressing like a lady, than wearing something that might give off the wrong impression at some port that we visit…

I warned her that she might be mistaken for a caravan belly dancer with these sandals.

As I am Baileys mamma, so to speak, it’s my job to protect her reputation. I like these shoes, because she looks well insulated…

She threatened to stay home, so we had to agree on something we both felt happy with…

There, she can show a little bit of toe… but no more than that and absolutely no ankle showing!

The rest of the babes chose their own outfits and I didn’t even have to say much, at all!

Since we’ve been aboard our ship, Squagon has taken to stretching his ears up into his horns. I know that he looks up to Brutus and all, but I don’t want him to grow up too fast, you know? When I asked him to tone it down a bit, he was quick to adjust them…

Awwwww…. now, there’s my sweet boy!

What is the deal with all the fancy ankle cuffs… sheesha!

Nugget’s favorite snack is honey, so you can see what the problem might be.

While I think the outfit is absolutely adorable… still not gonna work with sticky fingers.

I know it takes more work to keep the hat on, but that’s what ears are for, so it’ll do. Once we settled on the hat, it was easy to get Nugget to lose the sleeves.

Lilly didn’t want to wear anything at all, aside from the hat…

I didn’t want her to get sunburned, though..

Much better, little lady!

Oh, and Tilly?

She’s gonna be just fine… it’s as if she’s a different mouse, ya know?!

Check out Dinky and Boomer…

They chose each others hats.

Why no shoes? Well, Duh! Dragon’s don’t wear shoes, do they.

Anyway, now that everyone’s finally ready to go, let’s do this!

The first order of business is to determine our course. After that, we’re free to set sail. Where will we go first, you might be wondering? Well, without going into too much detail, what I can tell you is that we have a map. If we can successfully navigate to the correct location marked on the map, there is someone waiting… someone who was left behind, just like our young Henry.

This time, however, we shall be traveling for the sake of another… for my grandson, actually. You see, when his family had to move to a new home, they left someone behind. When we talked about his missing friend, the idea came to me that we should seek the little guy out, because it seemed like the right thing to do. No one should feel alone… no one!

His name is Peanut, and yes, he’s a troll. Please don’t judge the little guy to harshly for being a troll. He’s really sweet, honest!

I’ve actually met him, you know. I spied him one day, hiding in the ditch beside my grandson’s house. He’d been watching the children play in their yard, quietly wishing he might join them… I could see it in his adorable eyes. For a time, I actually passed notes back and forth between my grandson and the tiny troll. I believe that’s where their friendship started.

Anyway, I thought to go in search of the little guy, in hopes of inviting him to stay at the barn. We have tons of room now, what with the barn being renovated and expanded. This way, my grandchildren can come and visit him at the barn whenever they wish. Plus, the lonely little troll will have all the babes for company, as well. No more being alone.

A journey such as this seems fitting for our first voyage, wouldn’t you agree?

Wish us luck…

Love is a powerful thing…

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Tilly is something else! The young mouse is quite the adept navigator, so it seems. Well, at least she is when it comes to her heart!

I can’t say whether it was Tilly’s sharp memory, incredible sense of smell, or her natural way of seeing the forest that navigated us to proper spot, but she got us there! In the search for young Henry, I don’t know why I ever thought that a map would be needed, what with a love sick mouse onboard.

Love is a funny thing… and powerful, too!

So often, love enables us to do things we didn’t think were possible. In Tilly’s case, it was locating young Henry without any maps. Somehow, within hours of landing upon the banks of a familiar river, we found what had once been lost to us… or more specifically, what had been lost to our miss Tilly!

Climbing onto the tiny river boat we’d brought with us, we set to work paddling upstream, in search of clues. After only an hour of paddling, we managed to get ourselves stuck on a sandbar, right in the middle of the river.

There I was, hip deep in the river, trying to dislodge the boat from where it was stuck in the sand, when shouts broke out in the boat. Shouting, and jumping up and down, which rocked the boat so hard that it broke free from the sand. Luckily, I caught hold of the boat and gave it a good push toward the riverbank, where it once again became lodged in the sand. At least we were no longer in the middle of the river.

Amidst all the squeals of delight among my crew, I noticed a very emotional little mouse onboard. Tilly was crying her eyes out and waving at someone behind me, on the opposite river bank.

And just like that, there he was…

What are those odds?

Love really is a powerful thing, wouldn’t you agree?! When one experiences it, whether in the giving or the receiving, the world is so much brighter!

Tuesday Tinkering…

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How do we get from an idea to an image, when it comes to capturing a new character’s character, so to speak? Call me crazy, off my rocker, or just obsessed with imaginary things, but not just any image will do… I need you to truly see what I see. So, strap on your imaginations, because it could be fun to watch how our young Henry has developed, thus far.

The first thing I did was to create a basic character, in order to help guide the AI generator…

Cute, but too close to being another type of creature, like a cat or squirrel. It may have been due to the image used to create the image you see above. After arguing with the AI for the better part of an hour, I was able to develop the image I used on Friday. While he began to display more of the mouse like features that I wanted, the mouse was far too young for miss Tilly’s handsome suitor. It was back to the generator for some more work…

While I did NOT like the ridiculously fat tail, nor did I appreciate the fact that the mouse looked like you could zip him up in his own mouse fur coat… but I began to see something surface in his expression that seemed, well, Henry like!

One of the wonderful things about the program that I use, is the ability to develop an individual image, whether by adding or removing something… or even alter an expression or body movement. Basically, I can pull the image apart and put it back together any way I want, within reason. I won’t waste the effort on an image, in this way, unless there’s something I really want to keep. This one went to the board!

Something in the eyes and the ears, I thought…

closer…

Nope, nope… eyes need to stay green!

I’m seeing his personality surface in his expression, but not liking the body.

You know what it is? Poor Henry is naked! I think the environment is wrong and our Henry needs to be wearing something. Hang on a sec…

Yes!!!

There, now wasn’t that fun?! I’m fully satisfied with our finished image, what do you think? I mean, not just any mouse will do for miss Tilly…

What exactly do you mean by that?

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Daily writing prompt
Have you ever been camping?
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I had to laugh when I saw this prompt, as it brought up a memory that had been lost to me… so thank you, WordPress!

I swear that I might have been born in the wild, because my earliest memories include riding bareback while still in diapers… ya, I have a mind like a steel trap!

Anyways, camping is something that came naturally to this girl, and so, I passed it on to my children. My daughters have been camping since before they were born, as I freely went camping during my pregnancies. When my girls began to grow, we began traveling with a group of about 4 or 5 other families during the summer months, camping and fishing throughout the great Northwest. From southern Oregon, across Idaho and into Montana, and even into British Columbia.

Needless to say, my family are avid campers, fishers, hikers and hunters! They weren’t always so experienced at this stuff, and it took a great deal of training and practice, especially in the bathroom department, if you know what I mean? I had three girls!

How does one raise a little girl to be a tough camper, and yet still be a little lady? Like I said, we traveled with a huge group of camping families, which meant cooking together, bathing in close proximity to others, and yes, using the restroom in groups, for security! With little ones running around, we grown ups thought it was easiest to make an appropriate code word, to signal our restroom intentions. If one needed to use the restroom, we simply said, “I have to go camping”, and anyone who needed to go, simply agreed to come along.

Now, this went on for nearly an entire summer before one of my girls finally asked, “Mamma, how come the grown-ups keep saying they’re camping and then disappear into the woods?” I explained that it was a polite way of saying that we needed to use the restroom, without saying it in front of others. She didn’t question me further, and seemed not to even understand what I’d said. About a week later, all the families gathered at our home to plan the next upcoming adventure.

There we all were, standing around my kitchen talking, when my daughter marches into the midst of the group and boldly announced, “Everyone, I need to go camping… that means I have to go poop!”

I nearly dropped the plate in my hands! The entire room went silent for a moment, and then erupted into laughter! All of the adults in the room knowing laughed themselves silly, while my daughter marched off to the bathroom. The rest of the day was filled with children running around the house, loudly claiming they needed to camp and then laughing about it!

I’m still laughing…

Want a cookie?

For the sake of love…

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Since we have a boat, and we have the freedom of the seas to travel, the world is our oyster! Only one problem… not everyone is here, yet!

If you’re wondering who we’re missing, as all the babes are on board, let me explain. Remember last winter, just before the barnyard and babes disappeared? If you recall, our young miss Tilly met a boy in the forest, while she and Dinky were gathering pine bows. Well… he was sort of overlooked in all the chaos of tracking down all my lost ones. I feel awful about it, especially since it has caused Tilly such heartache! I found her below deck this morning, crying herself silly. She tried to settle herself when I approached, but the moment I sat down beside her, the mouse began to bawl again, and didn’t stop til she fell asleep in my arms. As she was drifting off to sleep, mingled in amongst the tearful snuffles, I could hear her whispering the name “Henry”… and it all came rushing back to me, in an instant! We’d forgotten all about young Henry and his family at the old Church down the road from our barn.

How could I have overlooked them? I felt awful! You guys, we have to search for them, before any adventuring can happen. There is absolutely no way that we can have any fun with a love sick mouse aboard…

I don’t know about you but that face makes my heart hurt, and Tilly deserves to be happy. So, stow all the supplies… weigh anchor… lift the sails…

We make for the river that leads inland, toward the place we’d found young Squagon, remember? Somewhere out there is a young mouse that we simply must find…

Where are you, young Henry? There is a mouse who loves you so…

Let us set sail for the sake of love, shall we?

Dreamin…

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I think that dreams say a great deal about who we are… on the inside. Before you start preparing for some kind of mental health episode of some sort, I’ll leave that to the professionals, thank you very much! My thoughts and considerations will be looking at our character, our personality, or we can label as our true self, if you will. As I always tend to do, let me explain what I meant by my initial statement.

First off, I want to break dreaming into two categories here, one being a waking daydream, while the other is a sleeping dream. Waking daydreams are the ones in which we control the dream in its entirety. Obviously, the sleeping dreams are when we’re not awake, therefore we have no conscious control of what goes on in our dream, nor any control of the outcome… we just gotta ride it out, so to speak.

When I write these thoughts out, I’ve no intention of trying to figure others out, based on their dreams! I guess I’m writing out something that I’ve discovered about my own personality and tendencies, that’s all. Some say that they don’t really dream much, while others dream often and deeply… people like me.

Being a child from trauma, I sought fantasies and daydreams from a very early age, as a way of safety or escape, if you will. To this day, I can vividly remember things from those years, most especially the dreams and recurring nightmares that I experienced. Weird, right?!

Anyway, I had one of my re-run daydreams from when I was small, just the other day. As I was thinking on the memory of my dream, I noticed something sort of funny about myself, or, the way that I saw myself in the daydream. It made me want to look back through some of the other dreams, just to see if I did that in all of them. Guess what I discovered? I did, in fact, see myself in a particular way, when it was a sleeping dream and another way when it was a daydream… just two starring roles… two!

In every waking dream that I created, I cast myself as the assistant, the helper, the heroin through heavy lifting! I was either Charlie instead of Willie Wonka, or the Mad Hatter instead of Alice, or the child who helped Dr. Doolittle. Even to this day, I never see myself as the heroin or hero in anything… always, always, always, I dream myself behind the scenes. In my stories, it feels better to focus on my desires for the cast members in the tale. I think that’s why I prefer you to see me through Tilly, Eustace, or any of this site’s characters when I write. They seem to capture who I am, there within the pages of their stories.

The sleeping dreams are a far different representation of how I saw myself back then, and even now, today. That little girl only experienced the nightmare portion of the dreams, for many, many years. I was a frequent bed wetter, and struggled with severe anxiety. I had no one to talk to, no one to comfort or rescue me from my hell. I’m sure that this is why my waking dreams were so intense and real to me. I even learned how to wake myself out of my night terrors. I actually began to flip myself from my bed and onto the floor, so as to force myself awake. That child was always running, fighting and/or in pain during those dreams. Over the years, I changed in appearance as I grew into a woman, wife, and mother, but I still continued to be the victim… or the villain. Yes, I even saw myself become the villain, but what could I do? I had no control, there in the depths of my darkness.

Ok, no more of that part, as it’s not who I am now! Now? God holds my dreams in the palm of his hand, shielding and comforting me through anything I may experience during my sleep, which is now rarely more than a goofy recap of what I’d watched on television the night before. It’s funny, because the transformation within this wild child has been miraculous, to say the least!

Waking daydreams are now filled with a purpose, not my own, but of one who is so much greater!

Night dreaming is no longer a place of fear, but of peace, protection, and security!

I’ll not forget the child of my past, no no, as she is the one who survived!

I’ll not forget the lost wild one, for she is full of fiery spirit, and tenacity!

While I may not ever be a hero of anything special, Charlie did end up with the factory, so that children would hold onto their dreams!

That child who followed Dr. Doolittle… they carried on the doctor’s work to care for others, whether it was a Push-Me-Pull-Me or the captive sea lion… always the less fortunate!

What do I daydream about now? I dream that everywhere I go… I smell like cookie dough, pulling children’s imaginations along with me, just like the pied piper! For all the rest of you… I pray that I leave a trail of cookie crumbs in my wake… get it, wake… hehehe!

Monday Messages…

Wiwohka4 Comments

Oh my goodness, have I got Babyitis, just now! Perhaps you’ve heard of it, or possibly even suffered from it, at one time or another.

It came on quite suddenly, if I’m being honest. Usually, the symptoms are small and slow to appear… at least, that’s how it’s been for me, in the past.

Not this time! I was not prepared for it to bring me to my knees (metaphorically) in the middle of Walmart, yesterday. There I was, innocently looking at yarn, with the hope that I can make one last baby blanket, before my arthritis robs me of this passion. This has to be one of the most important blankets I’ll ever craft, as this baby seems to have become the bridge in which God might mend something that I, myself, broke. Sorry, I went sort of deep, there for a moment.

Anyways, I found some really adorable colors to work with, as we don’t yet know the gender of this upcoming little blessing. Here, I’ll show you…

Hopefully, this will become something lovely… and I’ll show you update pictures of my progress, just for fun!

So, there I was in the aisle of crafts, with my chosen yarn held firmly in my arms, when something caught my eye. I spied a stuffed bunny ear… and I cannot be held responsible for what occurred next. It wasn’t my fault! I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of all those symptoms of Babyitis.

My poor husband had a hard time keeping up with me, as we were heading toward the check-out. Finally, he says, “why on earth are you walking so fast… wait, what’s in the cart that you don’t want me to see?” Busted!

No worries… Babyitis comes with a positive perk…

I think it makes one smell like either chocolate, or cookies… or both! For some crazy reason, whenever I have an symptoms of Babyitis surface, my hubby just smiles softly with a strange look in his eyes, similar to when he drinks the cocoa I make… weird, huh?!

When these crazy symptoms first surfaced, yesterday, I did attempt to promise that it wouldn’t happen again, but then changed my mind. While I may be able to exercise some amount of restraint, being the mature adult that I am, I cannot say that this won’t happen again… in fact, I have a feeling that he’s going to have hide any spare change laying about!

Ready for more adventure?

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I hope I’ve plenty of willing adventurers that are ready to set sail, once more, into uncharted waters… well, what say you?

(Squagon) Aye Capt’n…

Reporting for duty… if you’re in need of some mate’s, that is.

(Miss Tilly) You wouldn’t think of going without me, would you?

I’ve always wanted to sail the seas on your ship, Meemaw.

(Lilly) Wait! Wait! What about me?

Can I come too? Can I… pretty please???

(Mini Wiwohka) You know she’d never leave you behind, Lil!

I could sure use your help in the galley… what say you?

(Nugget) If she won’t help you, I would love to help with the cookie stuff…

I promise I won’t eat much!

(Bailey) I’ll come along, as well… to make sure nobody gets into too much trouble, that is.

Just promise not to leave me with any strange pirates… okay??

This mighty ship will not be leaving port until each and every last needed crewmate has boarded… that means everyone of you!

I can’t believe it, but even Boomer showed…

and he’s smiling!!!

(Dinky) Time and love have a way of healing even the deepest hurting hearts…

and I should know, cause I’ve been healing, too!

Well? What say you?

Once again, my crew and I are ready to set sail into unfamiliar waters!

Will you join with us as we travel toward unknown shores? I am hoping I’ll see you aboard.

All is ready, so if you’re up to the task… well, just grab any cabin you’d like. This ship comes with many, many rooms… and tons of cookies!

I’ve missed you, each and every one of you… Blessed Hugs!

Childproof Ninja…

Wiwohka4 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?
View all responses

Manufacturers of everything baby safe have made it nearly impossible for adults to open the thing not meant for a baby to touch… you know, pill bottles or doors or packages, etc.

Don’t get me started on those baby gates… sheesh!

Ahhh… the joyful memories of trying to open a door with one of those safety covers, while your arms are full of either laundry or toys or I don’t know… a sleeping baby!

So, yeah… there’s that!

It probably goes further than just childproof stuff, if I’m being fully. Most likely, we’ve probably all dropped food on the floor, at one time or another, due to a failed attempt at opening the wrapper. I know you don’t want to admit it, but you know it’s happened!

So yeah, I want to be skilled in the opening of all things childproof, and I think I’m onto something, in this regard. To be a ninja, one must practice and train constantly, which in turn uses up ones energy, making them hungry, right!? What if we put superfood for the brain into our favorite meals and snacks? I’ve already begun field testing, but I could sure use some outside opinions, just to be sure that I’m on the right track.

Here, try one of these magic safety cookies…

Let me know if they work, or if there are any side effects to make note of, like itchy feet… not that there’s anything to be concerned about, at least, I don’t think so.