Once Upon a Child's Heart

The Poisoning of Ivy by Kristen S. Sandoz 2012 By now I am sure you are wondering just what became of the babe that took Pearl’s place.   It is easy to find ourselves drifting toward bitterness when speaking of this little one.   After all, she had no right to take Pearl’s place, and we will come to love Pearl so very much.   However, it is imperative that we remember that Ivy, as she was named by the King and Queen, did not have a choice in the matter.   In a way her new station was forced upon her as it was with Pearl and we cannot harbor hate for an innocent person.   I warn you now to guard your heart from that bitterness no matter what happens to this wee one. With that said, I am sorry to pronounce that Ivy was truly the daughter of a Thief and Lying Beggar.   As she grew her natural disposition was always slightly nasty, prone to lies, selfish and self-serving, keen on casting blame, and never satisfied.   These behaviors continua...

The Priest By Kristen S. Sandoz 2012 Our last Justly Story told us about the day of Pearl’s birth,  w here she was stolen from her royal parents by a Thief and a Lying Beggar.   They in turn got tired of her after one day and promptly left her on the doorstep of the church.   It would be a discredit to the Priest at this fine establishment if I did not mention his part in this whole story so I will give a short account of it now. People were always leaving babies at the church.   This was quite a disturbing problem for the priest in charge there for he was a young bachelor and had no idea what to do with babies.   You can imagine his surprise at finding the bundle on the step.   He at first was overjoyed when he saw the basket.   “Oh, how lovely!” he said.   “Someone has left me a gift!”  P eople were often doing that, too.   “I do hope it is a basket of apples.   I’m dying for a warm, delicious apple pie!”   He ...

If I were one of Christopher Robin's stuffed animals I'm afraid I'd be Rabbit.  He was never my favorite. I liked Pooh, of course, and then Eeyore.  Tigger was fun but a little overwhelming to me.  I was glad he came in small doses.  But I never liked Rabbit.  He was mean, negative, crabby, had no sense of humor, and he yelled a lot. Yep!  That pretty much describes me as a parent.  And that is why I tell my boys stories, because I am a flawed person and I need some concrete way to bond and grow with my boys.  I need some tangible way to heal wounds that are deep and hidden.  I need to connect with my children in a positive way.  So I tell them stories to heal the wounds that I sometimes inflict as well as the wounds they receive from others.  But probably my biggest motivation in telling them stories is that it is one last ditch effort on my part to end the day on a positive note.  I'm hoping that by telling them a story...

I found this quote on the tag of my Yogi tea bag the other day.  Of course I loved it! To learn, read. To know, write. To master, teach. Such true words! Now, go enjoy a well earned cup of tea. Kristen

We have started Advent in our house.  This is always a time filled with a lot of excitement.  I have to remind myself that the Things are only acting up because they are excited and not because they are purposefully trying to exhaust me. I have come to love our Advent season.  We have several key things that make it rich for our family.  It has taken a few years to hammer this out.  We've tried somethings that have failed to jive with us so we just threw them out and have only stuck with the things that work.  Here is a glimps of one of those things. Our Advent Sock Story Garland I think originally I saw this in a Martha Stewart magezine but since then I have definately seen it on Pintrest.  I love it!  I love how fun and festive it looks and I love that it's easy and that I made it. I think it works well with our decorations and it is so versitle. We do not put candy in our garland, although you could, instead we use it to tell the N...

The first Advent Sunday is only a week away.  If you haven't done so already now is the time to start preparing for this special time of putting flesh on Christ.  Today, in our Quaker meeting house, I shared a story I wrote about a personal experience I had with the Incarnation of Christ to help transition us into the Advent season.  I'm sharing it with you all below.   Enjoy! Kristen A Window By Kristen S. Sandoz     It was a dry, hot, African day.   I was headed to a birthday party with my African friends in the up-country of Kenya.   I knew I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing my Levis so I put on the only skirt I had and a coordinating blue T-shirt.   I gave it a second thought and decided to don a necklace with a praying hands pendant, hoping I could dress up my humble outfit with one of the few pieces of jewelry I had brought.   There wasn’t much improvement but I had tried.   Once we reached N...

Ch 3: On the Day of Pearl's Birth By Kristen S. Sandoz 2012 Here we are once again with an adventure before us.   You have met in earnest the Witch Hazel.   However, I’m sure by this time you have so many questions about our heroine Pearl.   How did she come to live with her Aunt Hazel and what happened to her parents?   Were they dead?   Did they abandon her?   Were they really a king and queen? She is a princess, right?   How can this be?   Well, your questions are very insightful, reader, and you will be shocked at the story I have to tell you regarding Pearl.   Be sure you are not reading this up past your bedtime for once you start on this part of the story you will not be able to stop until I have finished.   I would not have you get in trouble on account of me for reading when you should be sleeping.    Well, she is a dear girl!   Truly the daughter of a king.   She does not know this, of cours...

Ch. 2: The Witch Hazel   By Kristen S. Sandoz 2012             Let us start our story today by returning to Hazel and Pearl.   They were both highly regarded among the Outcasters for not only their wisdom and understanding but also for the healing power of their voices.   You can only imagine the intense and melodic sound that comes from one young and radiant voice and one old and, shall I say, well-worn voice.   It is as if the two juxtaposed sounds stirred themselves together into a rich and nourishing formula.   All who came and drank of this formula knew they found a fountain in which to renew their tired souls, weary hearts, and worn bodies.   Of course, the content of the songs Hazel and Pearl sang were of only good, faithful and uplifting things and this helped the hearer in unexpected ways.   One would come to listen to the two ladies sing because of the sound of their voices, but...

Sometimes I get it right.  Not often but sometimes.  It feels so good!  Lately Thing Two has been feeling bad about himself.  He tries to punish himself for being "bad" and gets into these funks where he can't seem to find anything good about himself.  This is so heartbreaking.  Especially as he is my birthday boy (born on my birthday) and can be as sweet as pie!  (I actually called him Baby Pie as an infant).  Like many of us he has believed a lie and follows its trail. So what did I do right?  Instead of lecturing Thing Two on how good I thought he was I played a game with him.  I made it up on the fly.  It's called "I'm Good".  It worked too!  I have to brag because probably 90% of the time I'm beating myself up for getting it wrong.  It just seems so rare to actually feel like I'm doing something good for my boys.  Hmm...guess I need this game too! Here it is. I'm Good Game To Play: Each player ta...

It's cold and flu season and I am excited to tell you about a book that I love this time of year. If you've ever bought a Traditional Medicinal Tea like "Throat Coat" or  "Gypsy Cold Care" you are using a version of something you can make right at home.  Traditional Medicianals was started by Rosemary Gladstar a prominant herbalist.  She wrote a book called Herbal Recipes which has been published for many many years now.  That, however, is not the book I am reviewing today.  Today I want to introduce you to  A Kid's Herb Book; for children of all ages by Lesley Tierra.  If you are a beginner herbalist this is a great book for you, especially if there are children in your life.  Tierra covers 16 basic herbs used for treating illnesses and injuries. Herbs like Mullein; the ear and lung herb, Comfrey; the bone knit herb, Dandelinon; the weed that strengthens, and Licorice; the peace making herb. On this adventure you are accompanied by...

I am about to begin a great adventure with you.  An adventure that is about courage, faith, love, perseverance, and all good things that heroes and heroines must have.  It will not be easy but the journey will be worth it.  I am about to share with you some very personal stories I made up for my boys.  When Thing One was just a wee babe I kept myself busy thinking up stories about a blind boy name Justly while I nursed him late at night.  I gave Justly all the things I hoped for my newborn son.  As he got older I began to tell him these stories in hopes of shepherding his character. I don't know if it will work but I know he, as well as his younger brother, and hopefully his still younger brother to come, beg me to tell them more Justly Stories, as they have come to be known in our home.  I hope you love them too! Happy Tales! Kristen Ch. 1 The Justly Stories: a mother's bedtime tale By Kristen S. Sandoz 2012 Once upon a time in ...

Sometimes we get to laughing an awful lot during our story telling.   Other times a great story is created that we hope to remember for the future.  I have found myself wishing I could immediately capture these moments for posterity.   But alas!   The dishes or laundry or poopy mess in the bathroom calls and I don’t have time to write it all down.   Then the moment is gone.   It’s so sad! Enter my smart phone.   I discovered it has a voice-recording app.   How cool is that!   So now all I have to do is turn it on while we play story games at dinner or when I tell my boys a bedtime tale.   So simple!   Of course if you don’t have a smart phone I don’t know what you could do.   Perhaps a good ol' fashioned tape player? Enjoy! Kristen

Tonight during dinner try playing a game I invented called Not a Box.   (We do games during dinner because if we don’t somehow things go wrong and poop is always the topic of conversation. Blah!) To Play: For demonstration purposes an adult starts by picking a simple object like a box, stick, blanket, bowl, toilet paper, (Maybe not that.  I see poop in the future.) or a pillow.   Then go around the table and have everyone tell what they could imagine the object being and what they would do with it.   When everyone has gone the youngest playing family member picks an object and play continues till all have had a turn picking the object. I love this game because even the youngest players have great ideas.  In fact sometimes they are the best players! Enjoy! Kristen

It always amazes me how my boys can turn anything into a gun from a stick to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. For the first 6 years of Thing One’s life we didn’t even have guns around the house.   I don’t even know when he first saw a gun but it apparently left an impression because one day guns entered his world of imagination.   This past Sunday we had a nice change up though.   The boys turned their marshmallow shooters into musical instruments during church.   I was so stoked!  (What were they doing with marshmallow shooters during church? Please don’t expect me to answer that.   When you have three Things to deal with sometimes you find yourself saying yes to some crazy stuff.) My point in all of this is that a child’s imagination is very impressive.   Some how we loose all of that power as adults.  Thankfully having kids brings it back just a bit.     The book Not A Box by Antoinette Portis is ...

Okay all you storytellers grab your iPod, iPad, smart phone, or whatever you use to read your blogs and head to the toilet.  Why the toilet? Because for me that is the only place I can find two minutes of peace and quiet, and sometimes not even then.  During that couple of minutes of peace I have found the perfect blog to fill my time.  I thought I'd pass it on to you just in case you need a little toilet time reading. It's called The Daily Grammar Blog .  It's a blog that posts a short grammar lesson a day, 365 days a year, minus Sundays.  I love a blog the respects the Sabbath.  The lessons are perfect for a two minute job and are easy to follow.  I've been eating them up.  I like them so much I often sneak in a whole weeks worth of archived lessons.  Just this week I learned about superlatives and let me tell you it is the best lesson I've ever had on that form of adjectives.  Possibly the only lesson. If you're looking to im...