Happy New Year Beautiful Girl!
It’s been a wonderful holiday season filled with many
friends and family and now it’s time to settle down and start new
routines. With the start of my new
part time job, you have officially begun preschool! You were so excited to use your backpack and lunch bag. When
I dropped you off, you were apprehensive at first (and even looked like you
would cry) but a four year old partnered up with you and you went off happily
playing. I have to say that I shed a tear as I drove away.
Ellie, you are growing up so fast.
My favorite time of the
day with you is just before bed when we say our prayers, read books, and sing
songs- I feel like that is our special time to connect when it’s very quiet.
And I love that your Mimi and I are adding to your book collection by writing
you stories this year. So alas
dear girl, we have one left to write before we switch our yearly blog theme on
your birthday in March.
And now here is our final story (with many chapters to
write!) for you.
So as for our weekly guidelines: I write a piece one week in
regular font, and then your Mimi will write a piece in italics the next
week. The only things your Mimi
and I agreed on were the characters- Ellie and a magic teapot and the setting
(an aquarium). Anything else is
fair game and will make our adventure a new tale. We also need to figure out an illustration to go with our
part. Our goal Ellie is to have a
beloved bedtime story for you and future generations. And so we will continue our fourth piece of fiction.
Ellie and the Magic
Teapot: Off to the Aquarium- Part 1
Ellie had gotten up early that day. Instead of lingering in
bed like she normally would do, she leaped out so fast that she got a bit
dizzy. Having already considered
the perfect outfit, she threw on her polka dotted pink pants and her blue shirt
with an octopus on the front. She
picked up her brush and gave a half-hearted attempt to get the knots out with
three short strokes down the side of her head. When the brush became entangled, she pulled it out and gave
up. Then, she went over to her
bed, and before she threw her comforter over her pillows, she found Lion in a
tangle of sheets.
“Come on Buddy, it’s almost time to go!” Ellie called as she held him by the paw
and drug him out of the room with her.
With a quick stop in the bathroom to brush her teeth, Ellie
flew down the stairs. She found
her purple boots by the door where she left them the night before and while
setting Lion on her lap, she pulled them on, tugging hard to get them over her
ankles. She skipped into the
kitchen, singing the first few words of the Fish Song, “I swim with the fish/in
the ocean that’s blue/ I met… I met?”
Ellie looked at Lion quizzically.
She realized she forgot the rest of the verse. She shrugged and continued on making up her own words as she
pulled her step stool over to the pantry to retrieve her cereal (her choice
today being Sea Creature-O’s), “I met an octopus with eight legs/and he didn’t
wear not even one shoe!” She
looked at Lion, half expecting him to smile at her creativity but since he was
a stuffed animal, he didn’t. Ellie
hugged him anyway, hopped off the stool with the cereal box in hand and headed
toward the cabinet with the bowls.
She danced her way over, tripping on her own feet and had to let go of
the cereal box to catch herself and Lion by grabbing onto the counter before
the cereal crashed to the ground.
Sugary starfish, seashells, and fish scattered across the kitchen tile.
“Urghhh,” Ellie breathed frustrated with her
clumsiness. She set Lion on the
table and cleaned up the mess as best as she could before she started
over. Within two minutes she was
sitting at the table with Lion, eating her breakfast with the aquarium
information printed out in front of her.
Her Mom printed it out last night. Underneath the price and hours, Ellie
saw a picture of a pirate’s gold chest.
Ellie’s mom said that there was a new exhibit they were showing- REAL
TREASURE! Ellie only thought that
belonged in storybooks! Ellie
crunched down on two more bites before looking around. It was only now that she noticed how
odd it was that her mother wasn’t up yet.
Her Dad was on a business trip for the week but Ellie’s mom was always up
with the sunrise. But then Ellie
heard the bathroom door close upstairs and the swish of water as the faucet
turned on. Ellie breathed a sigh
of relief and continued eating, looking further at the information sheet. She saw pictures of all different fish,
some with beautiful colors. Ellie
had been to the aquarium many times, but it never got old. It seemed so magical to look into the
sea world so easily through the big glass plates.
Ellie’s Mom slowly walked down the stairs and into the
kitchen, stepping on cereal pieces Ellie hadn’t seen when she cleaned up. “Ellie honey, what is all this?” Her
mom sighed at the mess. It was
then that Ellie noticed her Mom’s bright red nose and scratchy voice. Her Mom was still in her pajamas with
tissues piling out of her pockets.
She coughed into her shoulder.
“Sorry Mom, I cleaned up as best as I could,” Ellie
exclaimed bounding over to her Mom, hugging her waist excitedly. “What time are we leaving this
morning?” Ellie proudly backed up, spread out her arms and did a ballerina spin
so her Mom could see that she was all dressed and ready to go.
“Oh Bean, you look beautiful and you did a great job getting
ready by yourself but I just feel awful.
I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go out like this,” Ellie’s Mom
said stepping over cereal pieces towards the refrigerator. “Let’s try to go tomorrow when I’m feeling
better. I’m going to try and fight
this cold with Vitamin C and head back to bed. I can trust you to make your own fun today, right
Spaghetti?” her Mom said warily looking at the cereal again all over the
floor.
Bewildered, Ellie pursed her lips and tried to hold in her
disappointment, “Sure Mom.”
Ellie’s Mom lovingly touched her on the head before she
began moving around the kitchen as Ellie watched her absently (her mind was
swirling, considering new options of what she could do to stay busy
today). After Ellie’s Mom was
done, she blew Ellie a kiss from the foot of the stairs before heading back up to
bed.
Ellie mustered up a smile and called after, “Feel better
Mama, love you!” She turned to
Lion as she folded up the information sheet and stuffed it into her pants’
pocket.
“Lion, are you ready for an adventure? We’re going to that aquarium!” Ellie
determinately said to him as she ran up to her room and collected her magic
teapot and flew back downstairs in a flash.
“I know what you’re thinking Lion but we don’t need my
teacups. We can use my Mom’s since
we can have the tea party right here in the dining room!” she said using her
step stool to help her get into the cabinets. Two mismatched mugs and spoons were placed in front of Lion. Then digging again in the cabinets,
Ellie found the sugar dish and set it not-so-gently on the table. The white granules that were now all
over the place-setting reminded Ellie of softly fallen snow. She turned her attention to the
refrigerator and found the milk glass her Mom used for teatime and grabbed
it. She tried really hard not to
let it drip on the floor as she brought it to the table. “Now I think we’re ready,” Ellie said
proudly with her hands on her hips.
She set Lion on his own chair.
“Just one more thing,” she sang as she grabbed her teapot and headed for
the sink. She filled it to the
brim and did her best to keep it balanced as she walked it back to the
table.
And just as a hostess should, she tipped the teapot over
Lion’s cup first. Then she filled
hers. With a huge grin, she
whispered the magic words, “Baooohhhaoooahaljaljljljafooj.” Glitter and music swirled around Ellie
and Lion and they were swept up above the table. And within seconds, they landed in a very unfamiliar
place. Ellie was so happy to see
Lion come alive and then she looked around and couldn’t believe her eyes….
Love you Ellie!
Love,
Mom
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