That's So Charming!

I am a lot of things to a lot of people, but I am NOT a cookie maker. When I think of all of the wonderful holiday treats that I grew up learning to make cookies fall very very low on the list. So, when Charming asked me to make cookies for our Christmas treat plates I was a bit timid. After all, Charming IS a cookie maker, and a darn good one. I guess you pick up a few things when you hang out in the royal kitchen for 18 or so years.

Well, I decided first to get the cookie making over with quickly, so I quadrupled my recipe, which is not hard because it only makes 1 1/2 dozen to begin with. Oh, but it was hard on my poor mixer. I broke my special cookie mixing paddles.

Then, with Peach's "help", I rolled out 6 cookie sheets of trees, stars, and cute little gingerbread men. We also dumped flour all over the table, floor, and ourselves.

Oh dear! I don't know what went wrong, but every single one of those batches came out flat and crispy. Not burned, but definitely not giftable.

I put off telling Charming that things weren't going well, so when he got home he was met by 6 batches of Cookie Crisp . . . what can I say, I thought things would get better if I just Believed hard enough.

That sweet prince of mine took one bite of cookie and said, "These taste really good."

And that, future Charmings of the world, is how you get your girl and keep the hot meals coming.

Because WE can help other people's Dreams come True!!!

BEANS

Gardening season is almost over. This might come as a shock to some of you who heard that the first snow of the season fell about a week ago. Well, snow or no snow, we still had potatoes to dig and carrots to pluck. And what a surprise, BEANS!!!

As I picked a produce bag full of green beans, at least 5 lb worth, I couldn't help but think of our man Jack. Although that boy didn't know beans about the price of cows he sure hit the jack-pot when he planted his magic beans. Great Choice Jack. How can you not love a veggie that will keep giving through sunshine or snow.

And you can landscape with then. One of our neighbors planted a row of bush beans around her trees. So beautiful and green in the summer, and she said it produced just enough beans for her to eat for dinner as many nights as her family likes. What a great idea.

After Vacation AKA Picking up where we left off

Well, we took a little break, played in the woods, held some royal family functions, and generally enjoyed ourselves.

But Now It's Over!!!

And it's back to the daily grind. I feel worst for Charming. After having such unexpected work schedules he's back to the regular old work day. I feel second worst for Peach. After seeing "Daddys!" most mornings for a while it's hard to waking up to "Where Daddys?". (She doesn't say "Mommy" or anything like it . . . yet.)

Today, Peach played with Doc, the very short Yorkie who lives in the cottage down the way, while Plum and I hung out at the dentist's office. Apparently, I broke my crown! So, lucky me, I get to go back to the dentist in a few days to be re-crowned. If only dentists scheduled each patient so that any work can be done at the appointment at which it was found. If only I got a extra free tooth brush for every cavity found in my mouth. If only my baby would sleep as well at home as she did in the dentists office. Wishes, wishes.

It's too bad. I was hoping to have a good and uneventful experience at the dentist to day and it just turned out to be a royal pain. Please, go ahead and post some sympathy below. =)

The Damsel in Distress

"Fair Maiden's Guide for Handling Household Mishaps"

Dear Mr Clean,

Please accept my apologies in advance for giving away the magical secret ingredient in your magic erasers. I assure you, I stumbled upon it quite by accident.

Yours Truly,

Fair Maiden

Today, a mean little fairy visited my house and challenged me to 3 mothering tests. 1) Your precious princess just climbed onto the table and scribbled all over it in permanent magic marker. What do you do? 2) When you fix test #1, how do you prevent it from happening again? 3) When you fail test #2, how do you learn from your mistake?

So I cleaned up the permanent marker with baking soda, vinegar, and paper towels. Then, I moved the markers to the kitchen counter and scooted all of the chairs away from the table so she could climb up again. Unfortunately, I also scooted one of the chairs into the kitchen. So, Little Miss Peach climbed up when I wasn't looking, grabbed that same marker, and colored all over said chair and counter top. So, I cleaned it up again. (By the way, it's easier to get black marker off of faux marble than finished wood.) Then, as I was walking away, I remembered not only to move the markers to an unreachable area, but also to put away the vinegar and baking soda in case my precious princess got any more bright ideas.

The whole experience reminded me that I haven't cleaned my bathroom in a month, so, after I doubly bested test #3 by putting Princess Peach down for a nap, I took my soda and trotted off to the bathroom to scrub the tub.

Royal Road Trip

OH my goodness. I'm so grateful my carriage is pulled by 4 very powerful horses, averaged 40 miles to the gallon this trip, and has A/C!!!

Unfortunatly, all the A/C in the world couldn't stop Peach and Plum from making ugly faces at me after the 5th hour of Royal Road Trip 2011.

Charming had wildly wonderful ideas of leaving at 3:00AM so the girls would sleep through the first few hours. It worked!!!

Everyone stayed happy until I tried to ride in the front seat with Charming. No Way, Jose!!!
Plum especially wanted to SEE that I was actually in the car. My enchanting singing voice has no power over these two after 2 straight days of carseat-o-rama.

Boy are we glad to be home.



True Love's Last Kiss

For weeks I've watched the king sweetly tend to the queen's needs as her condition steadily worsened. Each time he came in to help her, or just check on her for any reason, he would greet her with true love's kiss and kiss her again before he left.

Often their kisses were also accompanied with sweet words and tears. I will never forget one particular kiss and the sweet words they both exchanged. I'm sure that when my mother died last night around 8:00 she took the memory of that sweet kiss and those sweet words with her.

Part of living a Happily Ever After life is knowing that our happily ever after doesn't end when we die. I know that the love the King and Queen share will continue for eternity and they will someday be able to be together again. I know I will see my mother again. Until then, she will still be able to love me and help me as Charming, the Princesses, and I work through our own Happily Ever After.

In the mean time, I'm sure going to miss that winning Royal smile.

Happy Independance Day

Being at the castle on the 4th of July has it's perks. Of course the parade route runs right in front of our place. So, we all enjoyed a great beginning to a special month. This was Princess Peach's first parade experience. She wasn't quite sure about the whole thing. After the fire truck rolled by, she wouldn't leave my lap, not even for suckers. She'll learn!

This is kind of an off year for the Fairy Tail Family. Each night the queen gets a little bit worse, which is a surprise since each day we talk about how we can't imagine how she can get any worse. Last night Plum woke up at 11:30 PM with a fever, the queen woke up, also sick at 12:00 AM, and Peach woke up at 1:00, just in time to cling to my leg as I helped the queen get more comfortable. At 2:00 Plum was up again and with so much excitement in the middle of the night, Peach refused to go back to sleep until 4:00. Thank goodness The Dukes and Duchesses were visiting this weekend. They saved the day all weekend, holding, feeding, and chasing the princesses while I took care of Royal Business.

The whole situation makes the happiest month of the year a little bitter sweet. my emotions are definitely on overload. I mean, come on! Who tears up during a neighborhood 4th of July parade?

Have I mentioned that I miss Charming? Life just isn't the same without his help and hugs and kisses.

Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, Who's the oldest of them all?

My mother has aged 20 years in the last two weeks. You have to be here and see it to really believe it, but it has been much like watching her life going in fast forward. Our hospice nurse, and many of us, didn't think she'd been with us this week, but miraculously, she is still resting in the hospital bed in the front room.

But she is not on the mend. My mother is dying of an incurable and very aggressive from of cancer that is eating her from the inside, out. Every day she lives is a much more difficult day than the one before. There is no way for her to be comfortable in this life.

For this reason we are no longer praying for a miracle, we are praying for peace for her and everyone who loves her. Please, if you pray for my mother, pray for peace.

Now, Pray on!

A Visit From My Fairy Godmother

A few days ago my Fairy Godmother came to town. She swooped in unexpectedly to visit while my good mother was still in the hospital. She sat on my couch sipping cool drinks and making me feel like everything was going to be okay, that even stories with the saddest beginnings can turn into HEAs in the end.

I love my Fairy Godmother! She's different from my good mother is every way possible. For one, she's 1000 years old, but still lives life like she's about 25. When she hears something bad has happened her usual response is, "Oh Crap." And she's always talking about her corrupting influence. She corrupted me over the years, but in a very very good way. I can't imagine how my story would go if I hadn't had my Fairy Godmother throughout the years.

Are you someone's Fairy Godmother? You might be if you do any of the following:

Take a special interest in random people to whom you have no direct relation.

Make inanimate objects and ordinary situations seem magical and special.

Love to listen especially during late night chats with distressed friends.

Always seem to pop in unexpectedly and when you're needed most.

Love to help good things happen to people.

To all the Fairy Godmothers out there. You make your lives better. Our HEA wouldn't be so happy without you.

Just Rest

The Queen's own good mother came into town last night, and the amount of preparations for her visit would have made you think the Queen was giving her last ball, not slowly fading to nothing. As I sit beside my good mother I am often in awe at her thoughts and desires at this time. Yes, she thinks about herself and her own comfort from time to time, but more often than not she is thinking of the ones she loves.

The King needs shirts ironed.
The beds need to be changed for visiting family.
Is there enough food in the house that everyone will like to eat?
We need cushions on all the chairs beside her bed for visitors.

With her last breaths, my good mother is still showing me what it means to love and serve everyone around her . . . the recipe for a happy kingdom. And all I can do is honor her last wishes as best as possible and say, "Everything is taken care of. Just rest."

The good fairies have been wonderful to us. This week they mopped the floor, brought dinner and goodies to eat, ironed my good father's shirts, and dusted every inch of the old castle. They are so good to us, and we are so grateful to know them.

Now I can tell my good mother that we're ready for anyone and anything. So, "just rest."

My Inner Ugly Step Sister

This week has been a good week for sharing moments and memories. It's also been one of those weeks were I've spent a lot of time reflecting. Those darn stages of grief are creeping in on me, and I sometimes find myself not being the lovely princess that my mother taught me to be.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you've become less than your best. These past two weeks I find myself comparing myself to people and feeling bad that I don't have the same memories with my mother that others have. (Spending a good chunk of your life hanging out in the woods with dwarfs and good fairies will do that to a mother/daughter relationship.) I see others finding the time to sit and talk with the queen and I get greedy for that precious time myself. I want them all to go away so I can be with her and make up for lost time.

Then I feel ugly!

Do you ever find that you've become an uglier, more pessimistic version of yourself; when your Inner Ugly Step Sister makes an appearance in the magic mirror? Here's what happens to me . . .
I can't find anything nice to say. I think life is soooo unfair. I just know everyone is getting more attention and love than me. I get bossy and rude. And I wish I was wearing someone elses shoes instead of my own. 

If you've ever felt this way, remember, you're not alone. I have a feeling we all have an Inner Ugly Step Sister who shoots daggers with our eyes from time to time.

Dear Prince Charming

Dear Prince Charming,

We’ve missed you dearly during our stay with the king and queen. Things just aren’t the same without you, and a whole week without true loves kiss feels like a hundred year sleeping curse. The princesses are adjusting to our new arrangement, but it’s hard for down grade from four loving arms to only two. And as hard as the Royal Family tries, uncles and aunts just aren’t the same as daddies. 

Princess Peach has been a gem though, and has really enjoyed being with her cousins. She helps as best she can by marching though the castle singing little songs and blowing lovely little kisses. She is doing her best to (s)mother Princess Plum for me. And I’m doing my best to handle everything in the charming way that you would if you were here.

We’re sorry we missed Father’s Day. I hope you’re fishing and camping equipment comes soon.

Xoxoxo,

Fair Maiden

Every Good Mother

Have you ever noticed that most fairy tales begin the same way. Once Upon a Time . . .

OUaT in a not so far away land, there lived a very kind and wise king and his equally kind a wise queen. In this fairy tale, the kind & wise king and queen have many children and teach them all to be kind (and hopefully wise) before the good queen becomes very very ill, as Every Good Mother does.

So, here we are, in a land not so far far away, where my sweet and very good mother is very very sick and dying. AND how do you ask does a fair maiden, such as myself, deal with devastating tragedy and grief? I clean of course. Yesterday, I got down and dirty and scrubbed the bathrooms. I did some dishes, and dusted off that old broom sitting in the corner with cobwebs on it and swept. I whistled to the birds and other wild woodland creatures for a little assistance, but I don't thing they recognized my horse and tearful voice because not one bird or fuzzy squirrel came.

Today, I think I'll mop the floor with my own tears and iron the king's shirts. Feeling powerless is not so bad when you can also feel a little useful.

Right?

Let the fairy tale begin

Once upon a time a fair maiden, that's me, went to a ball and fell madly in love with a dashing and very charming prince. The good thing was that he also fell madly in love with her. So, what did she do?

She ran!!!

But she didn't forget to leave a glass slipper with her forwarding address written in black sharpie on the instep. Prince Charming had no problem finding and wooing Fair Maiden and they got married and lived Happily Ever After.

Now, two and a half years and two little princesses later Fair Maiden is realizing that there's more to a Happily Ever After than she first supposed. There are good days and bad days, but at the end of all the days her prince is still Charming, her children are still precious princesses, and a quick look in the mirror reveals that she is still the person she was when her fairy tale began. Maybe just a little better of in the long run.

Let's be honest, what girl doesn't want to meet Prince Charming and ride off into the sunset of her dreams to begin their Happily Ever After (HEA). I do!!!! So, here I am, Fair Maiden, reporting on how it's going in our neck of the woods.

Let the Fair Tale begin!!!