The Princess Who Wanted A Frog

Once there was beautiful princess. She had kissed a frog that became a Prince. Now, she lived in a great big castle. Her husband was a rich and handsome prince. So of course, she lived happily ever after, didn't she? Well, not exactly.

Living with the Prince was not easy. He was a spoiled Prince. He was used to having other people do things for him. "I'm hungry." he would say.

"If you're hungry why don't you get yourself something to eat." suggested the Princess.

However, the Prince wouldn't do that, he sent people to get it for him.

He was a lazy prince. "Let's go out and see our subjects." said the Princess.

"Let the people come to us instead."  said the Prince.

The Prince was boring. He never wanted to do anything. He just wanted to sit on his throne and watch TV.

The Princess was so tired of living with the Prince. She was better of with the frog. She missed the frog. She wanted the frog back. She went in search of someone who could help her.  Anyone she saw that she thought could help her she stopped and asked "Can you help me turn my Prince into a frog?"

She met a Wizard. The Wizard said "Sure I can turn a frog into a Prince."

"No! No!" exclaimed the Princess. "I have a Prince I want a frog."

"That's not how it works!" cried the Wizard. "That's not how any of this works." He went off mumbling to himself.

"I didn't mean to upset him." said the Princess.

Next, she found a Magician. "Can you turn my Prince into a frog?" she asked hopefully.

"No." replied the Magician, "but I can pull a rabbit out of a hat."

The Princess sighed unhappily and continued her journey. She had never realized it was going to be so hard to turn a Prince into a frog. She thought that was the easy part. She thought turning a frog into a Prince was the hard part. After all, after you kiss a few frogs and they don't turn into Princes who wants to keep it up. Well, if they knew what they were in for, they would never start kissing frogs in the first place. They would just let things be.

The Princess walked and walked for miles and miles. She couldn't find anybody who could help her. Her body was sore and her feet were aching. Princesses are not used to walking that much and their shoes are not made for it.

Finally, she sat down on a log to rest a little bit before heading home. She figured she was going to be stuck with the Prince. She supposed there could be worse things. She could have been turned into a frog herself. Just because she wanted the Prince turned back into a frog did not mean that she wanted to be one herself.

Suddenly a voice startled the Princess. "Who goes there?" it asked loudly.

"I am the Princess." replied the Princess. She looked around to see where the voice was coming from.  She could just make out a shadowy figure in the distance.

"What are you doing on my land?" said the voice. As the figure came closer, the Princess could see that it was an ugly old witch. The Witch had a pointy nose and crooked teeth.

The Princess was happy to see the Witch. She was sure the Witch could help her. "Hello."  she greeted the Witch warmly.

The Witch was used to people being afraid of her. She did not understand why the Princess was not. The Witch gave the Princess her best evil smile.

The Princess ignored it. She said "I need your help."

The Witch was stunned. She took a step back. "Witches don't help Princesses." she croaked in her best evil voice.

The Princess ignored that too. She just went on talking. "I need you to turn my Prince into a frog."

"I don't turn frogs into Princes." stated the Witch. "Wait a minute!" she cried after realizing what the Princess had said. "Did you say you want to turn the Prince into a frog?"

The Princess nodded her head in agreement.

"Sure, I can do that!" exclaimed the Witch. That would not be against her Witches code because that sounded evil. The Witch mixed the Princess a potion. It looked scary and green and it was full of all kinds of weird stuff. "Just put it in his dinner, and he won't see it or taste it." she promised.

The Princess went home and made dinner. "Come my darling. I've made your dinner." she called sweetly to the Prince.

"I thought we'd go out to dinner." replied the Prince.

"Seriously," exclaimed the Princess. "Now, you want to go out?"

"Not really." said the Prince changing his mind. The Princess laid his dinner  out in front of him. "Aren't you eating too, my sweet?" he asked.

The Princess shook her head. "I had a big lunch." she explained although she really hadn't had any lunch she'd been to excited to eat.

The Prince shrugged and took a mouthful of food. "This taste's funny." he complained.

"But the Wi..." the Princess started to say but she caught herself just before she mentioned the Witch. Instead she said, "Your just not used to it, dear, because you've never had it before."

The Prince nodded thoughtfully thinking that made perfect sense. He continued to eat. Just as he finished eating, there was a big puff of green smoke and he disappeared. In his place, appeared a little green frog.

"Yes!" cried the Princess happily.  She was so happy that she picked up the little frog and kissed it. There was another puff of smoke but this time it was purple smoke. The frog disappeared and the Prince reappeared. Of course, he was much to big to fit in the Princess' hand so he fell on the floor.

The Prince was not sure what had happened or why he was suddenly on the floor.  "I had the strangest daydream." he said.

The Princess put her head in her hands and sighed.

Alysha's Obssesion

 Today's post is not only for my daughter but by my daughter


Alysha Hamilton was obssesed with Air Bud and Buddy movies.  She thought that all there was to life was watching them. All she ever wanted to do was watch them. She had seen every one over 100 times.  When her Mom and Dad were watching on the TV, she would watch on her portable DVD player. She even named her dog, Rosebud after the dog in the Buddy movies except she never paid attention to her real dog because she was too busy watching the movies.

"Honey, lunch time!" called Mommy one afternoon.

"Hold on, Mommy!" Alysha called back. "I am almost done watching Super Buddies."

When Alysha finally came down, Mommy was mad. "Alysha, you should have come when I called you." she declared angrily. "Now, your lunch is cold!"

"But I was finishing my movie." protested Alysha.

"I don't get how you can watch the same movies over and over again when they are so many good movies out there." wondered Mommy.

"But they're the best movies ever!" insisted Alysha.

Mommy decided to try to get Alysha to see that there were other things in life. While, Alysha was sleeping that night, she hid the movies.

The next day, Alysha woke up and decided she wanted to watch one of the Buddy movies. She went to her closet where she kept them. She couldn't find them. She looked all around and still couldn't find them. She checked all over the rest of the house even places she knew they would never be like the refrigerator and freezer.

"MOMMY! MOMMY" she screamed.

Mommy came running. She was worried that Alysha was hurt. "Are you okay? What happened?" asked  Mommy worriedly.

"Someone stole my movies!" explained Alysha.

"Are you sure you didn't misplace them?" Mommy asked.

"I'm sure." replied Alysha. "I looked everywhere."

"I'm sure they'll turn up." answered Mommy. "In the meanttime, maybe you can do something else."

Alysha did not know what else to do. She was so used to spending time watching her movies. For a while, she lay on her bed being bored.

Then, Rosebud barked and climbed onto Alysha's lap. Alysha wasn't sure what to do. She wasn't use to interacting with her real dog. She was usually too busy watching dogs on the TV screen. Rosebud started licking Alysha's face. Alysha pet her. For the first time, Alysha started to really bond with Rosebud.

Alysha got up. She thought Rosebud would leave, but Rosebud started following her around. "Mommy," she said happily running into Mommy's room with Rosebud not far behind her.

"Yes, sweetie?" asked Mommy. "I was just about to make dinner."

"Can I help?" asked Alysha.

"Sure." answered Mommy. "but first can you feed Rosebud?"

"Sure." replied Alysha.

After feeding, Rosebud, Alysha helped Mommy make cheesedogs, potatos, and mixed vegetables for dinner. It was delicious. Even Rosebud who was eating the scraps off the floor thought so.

After dinner, Mommy, Daddy, and Alysha played a game of Trivial Pursuit. Rosebud kept trying to eat the pieces. Alysha kept taking them away from her because she didn't want her dog to choke.

After that, she felt like she had bonded more with her parents more than ever before. "That was fun." she said happily. "Can we do it again tomorrow?"

"Well, maybe not tomorrow, but one day soon." promised Mommy.

"Okay."  replied Alysha.

Soon after that, it was time for Alysha to get ready for bed. She got ready quickly and got into bed.

Later that night, when Alysha was fast asleep, Mommy came in and put the DVDs on her desk.

The next morning when Alysha woke up. She ran into her Mom and Dad's room excitedly yelling."Look what I found! Look what I found!" waving the DVDs around.

"Oh good for you said ." Mommy pretending not to know anything about it. "Are you going to watch one now?"

"No." replied Alysha. "Maybe, later. I am going to play with Rosebud now."

Mommy was really proud of Alysha. She had finally learned there was more to life than the Air Bud and Buddy movies.

Wolfie and Little Red

Renata Hood wished that people would actually call her by her name. She loved the name Renata. She liked the way the sound of it just rolled off her tongue. The only problem was nobody ever called her by her name. The only thing people ever called her was Little Red. They called her that because of the flaming red hair  that she had inherited from her mother. Only her mother was lucky enough not to get stuck with the nickname Big Red or anything like that. They just called her Red. "Why do I have to be Little Red?" insisted Renata. "I'm getting too old for that."

Mom smiled at Renata and  answered. "You know why, sugar. They were already calling me Red  when you were born so they called you Little Red."

"Well, why can't they call you Big Red and me just Red." protested Renata.

Mom laughed and pointed to herself. "Now, do I look like a Big Red."

Renata looked at her tiny barely 5 foot tall mother. She had to admit that her mother was right. It would just be crazy to call her Big anything.  Renata sighed. Well, if her mother didn't care if people called her mother Red that was fine, but Renata just wished people would stop calling her Little Red.

"Listen, sugar." said Renata's mother. "I need you to take a basket of food I made over to Grandma's house. She's not feeling well." Grandma lived down the block and around the corner.

Renata nodded.  She took the basket and got ready to go. Just before she went out the door, Mom called her."Wait a minute!" Mom stopped her. "It's cold out there, put on a sweater."

Renata went to the closet and took out her favorite comfy warm brown sweater and started to put it on.

"Why don't you put on that cute little red hooded sweater that Grandma knitted you?" suggested Mom.

Renata made a face of utter disgust. She hated that sweater. Grandma had  been knitting sweaters for her like that since she was born.  No matter how many times Renata told her that red heads didn't really look good in red, Grandma continued to make her red sweaters. Every time, Renata grew out of one she made her another. "Do I have to, Mom?" she asked hoping that for once the answer would actually be no.

"Oh sugar," Mom replied sweetly. "You look so cute in that red hooded sweater, and Grandma is always so happy to see you in something she made for you."

Renata frowned deeply and took off the brown sweater and put on the red hooded one. She hoped she didn't see anyone she knew on the way.

"Now, you be careful." insisted Mom. "Just go to Grandma's and come right back. Don't waste time and don't talk to anybody along the way."

Renata sighed again. The last thing she wanted to do was stop and talk to anybody. All she wanted to do was go and come back before anyone saw her in that stupid red hooded sweater.

Renata took the basket,  left the house, and started on her way. She had only gone a few steps when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Hi, Little Red" called a slightly familiar voice.,

Renata was pretty sure she knew who it was, but she didn't turn around. She just started walking faster

"What's in the basket, Little Red?" asked the voice.

Now, Renata was sure she knew that voice. "Go away Wolfie!" she called out behind her. Wolfie Black was a boy in her neighborhood, and he was also in her class.  She just couldn't seem to get away from him.

Wolfie's real name was Walter but nobody ever called him that. They just called him Wolfie. Allegedly, they called him that because he had big ears and a big nose and little eyes like a wolf. Renata wasn't sure though. All she knew was that, he was really annoying, and she despised him. He liked her though, and he was always trying to talk to her. Renata started running.

Wolfie ran after her. He had much longer legs than Renata and quickly caught up to her.  He put his hand on her shoulder, and she turned around and sighed. "You've got really long legs, Wolfie." she noted unhappy that he was able to reach her so quickly.

"The better to catch you with you my dear." replied Wolfie as he stepped right in her way and stopped. walking.

Renata gave him an angry stare. "You really do have big ears." she observed.

"The better to hear your lovely voice with my dear." replied Wolfie.

Renata glared at him even more. "And you have a big nose too." she added.

"The better to smell your lovely scent with." replied Wolfie.

"Okay!" exclaimed Renata. "Now, you're just being weird. Can you please stop following me?"

"I can't let you walk by yourself." declared Wolfie. "What kind of gentlemen would I be if I did that?"

Renata shook her head. Things could not possibly get worse. First, she was forced to wear the stupid red sweater and now this. She walked around Wolfie and continued on her way to Grandma's hoping that he didn't really intend to walk her all the way there. Apparently, he did, however, because he kept following her.

Finally. they arrived at Grandma's house. With Wolfie following her, the walk had seemed much longer than it usually did.

At Grandma's door, Renata turned to Wolfie, and she was about to tell him that he could go now. However, the door suddenly swung open. "Why my sweet Little Red!" exclaimed Grandma excitedly upon seeing her granddaughter.

"Grandma, I thought you were sick." replied Renata surprised to see her Grandmother up and about.

"I'm feeling a lot better now, dear." replied Grandma. She took the basket from Renata and peeked in. "Did your mother send all of this?" Grandma asked Renata. "How nice of her." she added gratefully when Renata nodded yes. "I couldn't possible eat all this though. Why don't you stay and eat with me and you're friend is welcome to stay too."

Renata turned and frowned to see that Wolfie was still there. She tried to give him a look that said tell her that you don't really want to stay. Wolfie did no such thing. Instead, he put out his hand and said. "Hello. My name is Walter Black, ma'm. I would love to stay. Thanks for inviting me."

Renata  frowned even deeper. It was bad enough when Wolfie followed her all the way to Grandma's. Now, she had to sit down and eat with him. It was going to be a long afternoon.

It turned out that Renata was wrong.  When she actually sat down and talked to Wolfie, he wasn't really that bad at all. He was still a little weird, but he was nice.

"So we're friends now, Renata?" asked Wolfie on the walk home.

"I guess we are, Walter." she replied. After all, how could she not be friends with the only person she knew who had agreed to called her Renata instead of Little Red like she was always begging people to do. In exchange, she agreed to call him Walter instead of Wolfie.

"I'm glad we're friends now." stated Walter happily.

"I'm glad too." replied Renata surprised to find out how much she really meant it.

Barbie and the Big Box

Barbie Kenyon stood on her tiptoes staring up into the top of her Mom's closet.

"What are you doing?" inquired her big sister, Liz.

"Look!" said Barbie pointing up in the closet.

Liz looked up where Barbie was pointing. She didn't see anything. She looked all around the closet. She still didn't see anything. "What am I looking at?" she asked finally.

"Don't you see the big box?" exclaimed Barbie excitedly pointing to it again.

Liz shrugged.  Of course, she had seen the big white box. It was too big to miss. It didn't seem like anything important though. She didn't see what could make it so fascinating to Barbie. "It's just a box." stated Liz matter-of-factly. "So what?"

"It' s not just a box. I think it's my birthday present." Barbie confided in a loud whisper.

Liz stared at her little sister as if she'd suddenly starting speaking a foreign language. "Are you crazy?" she asked finally. "Your birthday isn't for six months."

Barbie nodded. "Uh huh." she agreed. "That's what makes it such a good surprise."

Liz left the room shaking her head.

Barbie remained staring at the closet trying to think of way to reach the big white box and see what was in it.  She tried jumping up, but she didn't jump high enough. She tried jumping up again, but she still couldn't jump high enough She tried jumping off the bed, but she didn't get anywhere near the closet. She just landed with a splat on the floor.

The loud noise Barbie made when she landed on the floor brought Mommy running up the stairs. "What are you doing in my room?" she asked Barbie accusingly.

"Nothing, mommy." replied Barbie quickly.

"Then what was that noise?"

"I fell off the bed." Barbie admitted.

"Are you okay?" asked Mommy suddenly full of concern. She hurried over and started checking Barbie for signs of broken bones.

Barbie made an annoyed face and backed away. "I'm fine." she assured her mother.

"Then, just please be more careful." insisted Mommy.

"I will." promised Barbie.

Mommy turned to leave the room. "Mommy?" called Barbie just as her mother reached the door.

Mommy turned back and looked at Barbie.  "Yes, my sweet?" she asked.

"What's in the big box in your closet?"

Mommy looked confused or was it just that she was trying to act like she was confused. Barbie was sure Mommy was just trying to put on an act. Of course, she knew what box Barbie was talking about. "The big white box in the closet." declared Barbie as a great big smile spread across her face.

"Oh that box." replied Mommy as she realized what box Barbie was talking about. "Oh that's not for you. Don't worry about it" She quickly left the room to finish what she had been in the middle of when Barbie's loud crash interrupted her.

Barbie's smile got even bigger as Mommy left the room. Now she was certain that whatever was in the big box was her birthday present. She tried to imagine what it could be. Maybe, it was a dollhouse. She had been wanting one of those for a while. Maybe, it was a baby doll or two. Barbie just loved baby dolls, and in her opinion you could never have too many. Maybe, it was an art kit. Barbie loved to draw and paint.

Barbie sat down on the bed disappointedly for a while. Then, she got an idea. She hurried out of the room and went to her bedroom and got her desk chair. She dragged it over to the closet, stood on it, and reached up. She still  couldn't reach the top of the closet. She frowned and thought some more.

Then, she got an idea. She went into the bathroom and got the step stool and put it on top of the chair. She reached up into the top of the closet again. This time her fingers just barely touched the box. She carefully reached as far as she could and pulled the box closer to her.As she tried to pull it even closer, her fingers slipped and the box clattered to the floor with a crash. The contents which consisted of a bunch of papers scattered all over the floor. Barbie was filled with disappointment. She got down and sat on the floor with her face in her hands frowning.

This time the crash brought both Mommy and Liz running. Liz's eyes opened wide in surprise. "What happened?" she asked.

Mommy's face was more angry then curious. "What is going on?" she demanded. She frowned and gave Barbie a hard stare with one hand on her chin as she shooed Liz out of the room with the other.

"I wanted to see what you got me for my birthday." admitted Barbie.

"Your birthday?" Mommy said with surprise. "Your birthday is not for six months."

"I know but I thought maybe you were going to surprise me."

"First of all, if I tell you that something is not for you, you need to leave it alone. Second of all, I would not hide your birthday present in my closet. Third of all, your birthday is not for six months. I haven't even started to think about it yet."

"Okay, Mommy. I'm sorry."

"I appreciate that." said Mommy sternly. "but you went in my closet without permission and you made a big mess. There is going to have be some consequence.  You go in your room and we'll talk about it when I finish cleaning up this mess."

"I'll help, Mommy." Barbie offered.

Mommy shook her head. "No, you've done quite enough." she declared. "Go to your room." 

A few minutes later, Liz found Barbie in the hall closet. "What are you doing?" she asked her little sister. "Your going to get in trouble. Aren't you supposed to be in your room?"

"Look!" said Barbie excitedly pointing to the back of the closet. "Do you see it?"

Liz looked but she didn't see anything important. "No." she replied.

"The big bag!" explained Barbie pointing to a big blue bag all the way in the back of the closet. "I think it's my birthday present."

"Didn't Mommy tell you she didn't even start thinking about your birthday yet? " pointed out Liz.

"That's what she said but I think she just said that to fool me." replied Barbie.

Liz put her head in her hands and sighed hopelessly.

Give Me Your Voice

Aria Mermel was not happy. She was not happy to have moved to a a new town. She was not happy to be going to a whole new school. She was especially not happy to be having to make all new friends. "Just make yourself a part of their world." suggested  her mother, but that was a lot easier said than done.

The only thing that made, Aria feel better was singing. She sat in her room for hours and listened to music and sang along. Finally, her mother made her go outside and get some fresh air. Aria took her iPod and sat on the swing in her yard swinging and singing.

Suddenly, she heard someone yell "Hey!"

Aria was startled. She looked up and saw a girl standing in front of her. It was Ursi Wyche. Ursi lived next door, and she was one of the most popular girls at school. "Oh, I'm sorry." apologized Aria. "Was I singing out loud?"

"Yes, you were." replied Ursi. "Your voice is beautiful."

"Thanks." said Aria blushing.

"Say you just moved here, didn't you, Ariel?"

"Yes, but it's Aria."

"Well I'm going to do something for you Aria." declared Ursi. "I'm going to take you under my wing and help you meet people and make friends."

Aria's smile lit up her whole face. "You would do that for me? " she asked.

"Sure." replied Ursi, "but if I do that for you,  you are going to have to do something for me."

"Okay." replied Aria a little warily. She couldn't imagine what Ursi could want her to do. Ursi didn't even know her that well.

"I want you to give me your voice." declared Ursi.

What?!" exclaimed Aria jumping back in horror.

Ursi laughed. "Oh don't worry." she said. "I don't intend to hurt you. I know this is real life. We can't really trade voices or anything like that but I want to be in the school musical. You can help me with that."

"Okay agreed." Aria although she still wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

Ursi's plan was to record Aria's voice. Then, she'd play it at the audition and lip sync to it. "Tomorrow, I'll introduce you too everyone." Ursi promised on her way out of Aria's house. "Just remember though if you tell anyone about our deal, I'll make them all hate you."

"I won't tell." Aria promised. She could hardly wait for the next day. She really wanted to be a part of the popular world like Ursi and not just an unnoticeable new girl any more.

The next day, Aria stayed after school for the musical auditions. "Are you trying out?" asked the drama teacher, Mrs. Sebastian.

"Oh no." replied Aria shaking her head. "I'm just waiting for Ursi."  Ursi had promised to introduce Aria to her friends after the auditions.

Aria worked on her homework while she listened to the other kids auditioning for the musical.

"Hey!" shouted a familiar voice right in Aria's face.

Aria looked up. "Oh hi, Ursi." she greeted Ursi cheerfully. "Did you audition already?" Aria didn't remember seeing Ursi audition or hearing her own voice, but maybe she had missed it when she was busy with her homework.

"No." said Ursi unhappily. "Your voice accidentally got recorded over. Now, we have a new plan." She dragged Aria out of the auditorium and around backstage with her.  "You stay here and sing." she demanded in a whisper. "My turn is next."

"Okay." agreed Aria. She wasn't happy about it though. She didn't see how this was going to work.

Mrs. Sebastian called Ursi's name. Ursi went on stage and opened her mouth. Aria couldn't see her so she didn't start singing.  After a few minutes, Mrs. Sebastian asked "When are you going to start singing, Miss Wyche?"

Ursi turned around and gave a quick angry peak behind the curtain. Then, she turned back to face front and smiled. "I'm ready now." she declared.

Behind the curtain, Aria began to sing. Her voice was beautiful. It was so beautiful that everyone stopped what they were doing to listen to it.

Mrs. Sebastian actually had tears in her eyes. Never in all her years of teaching had she heard such a beautiful voice. She was about to ask Ursi where she had been hiding that beautiful voice all this time when she realized that the mouth and the sound coming out of it were not exactly matching up. She signaled for one of the other kids to open the stage curtains.

Ursi stopped singing the minute the curtains starting opening. Aria, however, was so wrapped up in her song that she didn't even notice the curtains were opening. She kept right on singing.

Suddenly, there was dead silence in the auditorium. Aria noticed the unusual quiet. She finally stopped singing.

"Why, Aria Mermel!" exclaimed Mrs. Sebastian. "You really must try-out for the school musical."

"But I ..." protested Aria. She looked over at Ursi who was glaring at her. Then, she looked out into the audience. Everyone else was smiling in an encouraging way. Maybe, she didn't need Ursi to help her make friends anyway. Maybe, she could make her own friends after all. "Okay." she declared. "I'd love to try out for the school musical."

Fur Baby

Snowy, the soft white cat, brushed against Naylei Robinson's legs. Naylei reached down and pet her.  The Robinson family had Snowy since before Naylei was born. In fact, Mommy had Snowy even before she met Daddy. "Tell me again the story of how you got Snowy." Naylei begged Mommy.  She climbed up on Mommy's lap.

Mommy smiled at Naylei. "Aren't you tired of that story? You've heard it so many times before." she replied.

"Tell me again!  Tell me again!" pleaded Naylei.

Mommy laughed. "Okay." she agreed.

When Mommy got out of college and she moved out of Grandma and Grandpa's house, she moved into an apartment. It was kind of lonely. Grandpa offered to get Mommy a kitten.

They went to the shelter. There were lots and lots of kittens. Mommy didn't know which one to choose. She walked up to the cages. Most of the kittens ignored her. A little white one came right up to the front of the cage and chewed on Mommy's finger. It didn't hurt though. "I'll take this one." she declared.

"Are you sure?" asked Grandpa.

Mommy nodded.

Somebody opened the cage and took the little kitten out and deposited it into Mommy's arms while Grandpa filled out the necessary paperwork for Mommy to adopt her. The kitten was frightened and shaking. Mommy pet her and tried to relax  her. "Don't worry little one." she whispered softly to the kitten.

"What are you going to call her?" inquired Grandpa.

Mommy carefully looked the little cat over and thought about it. "Snowy." she announced after a few minutes. "I'm going to call her Snowy."

"Hello Snowy." Grandpa said to the little white cat.

In the car, Snowy was even more frightened. As they drove along, she made sad little mewing sounds. Mommy felt so bad for her. "Don't worry little one." she promised. "It's going to be okay."

They stopped to get cat supplies. Then, they went to Mommy's apartment. Mommy took Snowy to her room and let her out of the box. Snowy started running around and around all over the place. She was so happy to be out a cage and out of a box.  Mommy and Grandpa laughed at the crazy little kitten racing all over the floor. Finally, Snowy tired herself out. She came over to Mommy and lay down in her lap and went to sleep. After that, she and Mommy were bonded. She was Mommy's fur baby for life.

Naylei smiled as Mommy finished the story. "Tell me the story about Snowy and the shower." she begged.

Mommy laughed at Naylei's excitement. "Okay." she said.

When Mommy first got Snowy, Snowy followed her everywhere. Every time, Mommy went out of the room and Snowy didn't see her, she started mewing sadly. One day, Mommy was taking a shower when she heard Snowy crying in the hall. Mommy grabbed a towel and went out into the hall. She scooped up Snowy in her arms and brought her into the bathroom. Snowy stopped crying and jumped up on the toilet lid and sat down. Mommy got back in the shower. Snowy sat peacefully for a couple of minutes. Then, she started crying again. Mommy poked her head out of the shower just to show Snowy that she was still there. Snowy excitedly came over to the edge of the tub. She leaned forward and jumped in.

When Snowy felt the water touch her fur, she jumped back in terror. She quickly skidded across the tub floor and jumped out the other side. Mommy laughed at her silly little kitten,

"Now, tell me the story about when you brought Nina home." demanded Naylei.

"Haven't you heard enough stories for today?" teased Mommy.

"No! No! Tell me more!" begged Naylei.

For the first couple of years, Mommy and Snowy lived alone, and they were very close. When Mommy sat on the couch Snowy sat behind her on the arm of the couch. When Mommy lay on the couch, Snowy lay on her stomach. When Mommy sat at the table in the kitchen and ate a meal, Snowy sat in the extra chair next to her. When Mommy slept, Snowy curled up on the extra pillow next to her. When Mommy went out and then came back, Snowy greeted her at the door, meowing so happy to see her again.

A few years later, Daddy came along. He and Snowy weren't especially close, but she didn't
mind him.   She tolerated his being there, but she certainly wasn't as close to him as she was to Mommy.

Then, Mommy became pregnant with Naylei's big sister, Nina. Snowy was okay with Mommy being pregnant. Of course, she didn't really understand it anyway. It was when Nina was actually born that was the problem.

When Mommy and Daddy brought Nina home from the hospital, Mommy held Nina in her arms wrapped in a blanket. By that time, they lived in a townhouse and Snowy was sitting on the top of the steps. She looked at Mommy and Daddy and the bundle in Mommy's arms and glared at them all. What in the world had they brought into her house? Whatever, it was she was not happy about it.

Snowy was so angry at Mommy that she barely went near her for several months. Luckily, Snowy didn't try to harm Nina though. In fact, she barely went near the baby either. She didn't mind being near Daddy though, and became close to Daddy for the first time.

Finally, after several months, Snowy decided to forgive Mommy. Things went back to the way they were before except Snowy stayed close to Daddy although not as close as she was to Mommy.

"What about when I was born?" asked Naylei.

"When you were born, Snowy didn't mind so much. She only stayed away from me for a little bit. I guess once she had gotten used to one baby, the second one was easier." explained Mommy.

Naylei smiled.  "Snowy loves me." she said happily.

"Yes. She does." agreed Mommy. "She loves all of us."

"And we love her." added Naylei.

"Yes we do." agreed Mommy.

"Because she's our fur baby." declared Naylei.

"Yes she is." agreed Mommy.

The Sugar Baby

It was Sugar Baby's bath time. Of course, that wasn't really her name but everybody called her that because she was so sweet. She wasn't really a baby either. She was a toddler. She was already 4, but everyone still thought of her as a baby because she was the youngest child in the family. She had one older sister and one older brother

The only time Sugar Baby wasn't sweet was bath time. She hated taking a bath. "Come on Sugar Baby." said Mommy sweetly. "It's time for your bath." Mommy picked up Sugar Baby and got ready to undress her. Just then Sugar Baby wriggled out of her grasp and ran out the door. Mommy reached for her, but she couldn't get Sugar Baby. Sugar Baby was too fast.

Sugar Baby turned smiled and laughed and kept running right out the bathroom door.  Ha!  Ha ! Hee! Hee!  Mommy couldn't catch the Sugar Baby. Sugar quickly ran down the stairs and into the kitchen with Mommy following behind her.

Daddy was sitting at the table reading the paper. He saw Sugar Baby run past. "It must be bath time." he said with a smile. He reached out and tried to scoop her up into his arms and take her back upstairs. She slid just out of his grasp and gave him a huge smile. "Ha Ha Ha! Hee! Hee! Hee! Mommy and Daddy couldn't catch the Sugar Baby.  Mommy and Daddy both followed Sugar Baby out of the room. 

She ran into the living room where her big sister was sitting watching TV. Big sister looked up as Sugar Baby ran into the room. "Bath time, already Sugar Baby?" she asked cheerfully. She tried to reach for Sugar Baby, but Sugar Baby got down on her hands and knees and crawled away. "Ha Ha Ha Ha! Hee! Hee! Hee Hee!! Mommy, Daddy and sister couldn't catch the Sugar Baby. Mommy, Daddy and sister all followed Sugar Baby out of the room.

Sugar Baby ran  out the back door. Her older brother was in the yard throwing a baseball  into the air and catching it. He laughed as he saw his little sister come out of the house. "It's not bath time already, Sugar Baby, is it?" He tried to pick up Sugar Baby in his arms but she quickly slipped away from him. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hee! Hee! Hee! Hee! Hee! Mommy, Daddy, sister and brother couldn't catch the Sugar Baby.  Mommy, Daddy, sister and brother all followed Sugar Baby around to the front yard.

Sugar Baby turned around and saw  Mommy and Daddy and sister and brother all chasing her. She laughed at  them all following her unable to catch her. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hee! Hee! Hee! Hee! Hee! Wait! What was happening? All at once, Sugar was being picked up off her feet and lifted into the air. How could that be if Mommy, Daddy, big brother and big sister were all behind her? Sugar Baby looked up into the face of the woman who had picked her up. It was Grandma who had arrived for a visit at just the right time.

"Come on inside and take your bath, Sugar Baby." said Grandma giving her granddaughter a kiss,  and hugging Sugar Baby tightly to her so that Sugar Baby couldn't escape. Grandma began carrying Sugar Baby into the house.

"Aw nuts!" said Sugar Baby.