Breaking News with Maggie: A New Addition

  

     There was someone new in the playroom today.  It was not, as you might guess from the title, a new baby.  Nor was it a new doll.  The newest family member is, in fact, a horse.  Dorcas, Leisel, Jane and Fancy Nancy finally got their wish.  For months they've been longing for a horse of their very own.  Today, that wish came true. 
    I caught up with Dorcas a few hours after the exciting occasion:

M:  Dorcas, do you have a moment to share a few thoughts?

D: Sure!  I mean, I'll try.  I'm so excited right now I don't know if my thoughts will make much sense!

M:  When exactly did you get your new pet?

D:  Just 2 hours ago.  Girl Mom picked it up from the thrift store for us.  Liesel's Girl told her all about it.

M:  By Girl Mom you mean...

D:  You know, our Girls' Mom?  I think Tess calls her Mama?

M:  Right...gotcha.  So, uh, how long have you girls wanted a horse?

D:  For as long as I can remember!  I've told my Girl all about it, but I had just about given up hope.  She didn't seem to be taking the hint.  Then, out of the blue, our horse was here this morning!  I just hope we get some time with her all by ourselves.

M:  What do you mean?

D:  Leisel's Girl is really attached to her!  We finally got some time with our horse all by ourselves when the Girls had to go to bed.

M:  I see.  I guess you guys will just have to share!  So, what have you decided to call her?

D: Actually, her name is Nitter-Penny.

M:  Uh, Nitter...Penny?  That's...well...quite...creative...

D:  Let me explain.  Before they had to go to bed, my Girl and Leisel's Girl were trying to decide what to name the horse.

M:  What about Jane's Girl?

D:  She's too little, and they kinda left her out of the conversation, I think.  Anyway, my Girl wanted to name the horse Nitter-Pitter because she'd just checked that book out at her school library today.  But Leisel's Girl wanted to name her Penny after Felicity's horse...you know, from the American Girl books?

M:  Right.  So, how did she end up being called Nitter-Penny?

D:  Don't you see?  It's a compromise!  Nitter from my Girl and Penny from Leisel's Girl.  It was Liesel's idea.  That sister of mine can be smart, even if she drives me crazy sometimes!

M:  Well, I bet you have the only horse named Nitter-Penny in the world!  Is she going to have a nickname?

D:  We haven't come up with one yet, but she probably will.  Nitter-Penny is quite a mouthful.  We'll just have to figure out a nickname that incorporates both names.  We try to be peacemakers as much as possible.

M:  Good luck with that!

     I stayed for a while and watched the girls play with "Nitter-Penny".  Their faces held unspeakable joy as they pet her, rode her, and fed her carrots.  I think she's going to feel right at home!  For "Breaking News with Maggie", this is Maggie Wilson.  Until next time, may you always run with unicorns and sing with hobbits.  :) 
     P.S.  Dorcas and I look so alike it's uncanny!  I wonder if we're long lost cousins or something...

Welcome, Nitter-Penny!

Horsey Hugs

Sweet Sisters:  Dorcas and Leisel go for a ride.

(Wow, I think it's about time for Mama to work on Leisel's hair again!)

Jane and Fancy Nancy take a turn!

Tess's Tidbits: Slumber Party!

Hi everyone! :)  This weekend I got to go with Fancy Nancy, Leisel, Jane, and Mama and her three girls to Mama's aunt's house to spend the night.  We had such a great time, and I got to meet a new friend.  Her name is Jo, and she lives with Mama's aunt.  It was so much fun getting to know her.  Here are some pics I thought you'd enjoy:

This is when we first arrived.  Leisel and Jane were so excited to be there, they were cheering!

As soon as we got there, Jo came over to welcome us to her home.  It was fun to have someone our size living there! (Jo is in the green and pink watermelon dress)

*Jo and I*

She told me she was named after Jo in "Little Women".  She's a lot calmer than that Jo, though!

 

That night, Jo and I got to stay up with Mama and her aunt to watch a big girl movie.  Fancy Nancy, Jane and Leisel had to go to bed with their girls.  We had lots of fun, but it was midnight by the time the movie got over.  I was so tired!

The next day, Jo took us outside and gave us a tour of her yard.  There are so many beautiful plants and bushes.  This spot where we took a pic is a cute little nook on the front porch.  Mama's girls like to play here because it's completely surrounded by ferns and bushes, so it's like a little playhouse.  Leisel, Jane, Jo and I had fun playing here, too.  Fancy Nancy wanted to stay inside and play with all the toys in Mama's aunt's playroom instead.

Jo with the bouquet of flowers she picked.

It was so peaceful there...I pretended I was a princess in an enchanted forest.  If Maggie had come too, she would have looked for unicorns and fairies in the ferns. :)

I had such a fun visit.  I hope we get to go back and see Jo again soon! For now though, I think I'm ready for a nap.  I'm not used to staying up that late!

Breaking News with Maggie

There's been a change in the Prescott household.  Hailey Prescott, age 10, has just received her first pair of eyeglasses.  I had an opportunity to interview Hailey on this momentous occasion. 

M: So, Hailey, what is it like having glasses?

H: It's really different.  I keep forgetting they're there.  When I try to rub my eye or something, I always end up hitting them.  It's good I have them, though.

M: Why is that?

H:  It was getting hard for me to see, especially at school.  I sit 4 rows back, and most of the time I couldn't read the white board at the front of the room. 

M: And now that you have glasses, has your vision improved?

H:  Oh, yeah, a lot!  I can almost see better than Tess now!  There were lots of things I didn't realize I was missing out on, like stuff in the background and individual leaves on trees.  The first day with my glasses I just stared at the trees.  Mama said I looked like I'd never actually seen the leaves before.

M: As much as they've helped your sight, have they been hard to get used to?

H:  Yep.  I had some bad headaches at first while my eyes were trying to adjust.  And sometimes it's hard to keep them clean.  One nice part is that the thing I worried the most about didn't happen.

M: What was that?

H:  I was worried that the kids at school would tease me because I looked different.  It's been great, though.  Everyone has been really nice.  I've even gotten some complements.  People say I look smarter, and Danielle says that my glasses accentuate my eyes...I think that means it makes people notice them more, or something like that.  Danielle loves using big words. 

M:  Well, thanks for taking the time for this interview.

H:  You're welcome.

That's all for Breaking News with Maggie this time.  Keep checking back for regular updates on the Prescott sisters and all their friends.

Maggie's Memos: Searching for Narnia

 

  Hi everyone, this is Maggie.  Have you ever read a really good story and then wished with all your heart that it would come true?  That's what happened to me the first time I read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis.  Actually, I guess I should say the first time I heard it.  My dad reads a chapter from a book to my brother, my mom and me every Friday night.  It started when I was just four years old, and he's been doing it ever since (that is, when I'm not hanging out at Tess's house). :)  My dad's a great reader.  He makes the stories come alive with his rich, warm voice.  Sometimes I close my eyes and listen, just to focus on the pictures in my head.     
  From the moment Lucy first stepped through the wardrobe, I was hooked.  Dad used to love to tell people about the day he found me, a determined 5 year old, banging around in my closet.  I was sure if I tried hard enough I could find the way to Narnia myself.  I wanted to meet Aslan, to have tea with Mr. Tumnus and see the Beaver's dam.  I wanted to be there the morning Aslan defeated death, to hear his great roar and romp and play with him in the early sunlight.
  After Dad read the first book to us, he continued on with the rest of the series.  The books got better and better.  Each one made me wish even more that I could go to Narnia.  I longed to hear the talking beasts, especially Jewel the unicorn from the final book, "The Last Battle".  I think Jewel is actually the one that got me interested in unicorns.  I've been collecting them ever since. :)
  Of course, now that I'm 13 I'm old enough to realize that Narnia isn't a real place.  I think I always knew that, even as a little girl, but a part of me wished so hard that the stories were true.  One nice thing about being a follower of Christ, though, is that someday I know I will go to a place even better than Narnia.  I won't meet Aslan, but I will meet the One who's always loved me and known me.  I think my childhood love for Aslan drew me even closer to Christ, because there were so many things that Aslan taught me about the character of God in a way I could understand.  The best part is, it's no fairy tale!
  I think sometimes our longing for a different world is a God-given desire.  It reminds us that there's more to life than the here and now.  Even those who don't believe in God wish for something better and hope there's more than what we see before us.  I think that longing causes us to search for meaning and significance.  Some of us try to fill it with things that feel good for the present, but won't last.  The only way to truly fill the void is to fill it with Jesus.  His death and resurrection made it possible for us to go to Heaven, the ultimate "other world".  I can't wait to get there, even if it turns out I can't run with a unicorn without getting tired (if you've read "The Last Battle", you'll know what I'm talking about). ;) I know it's going to be great. :)

"Maybe this door's the one..."

Tess's Tidbits: A Jane Austen girl in a Twilight World

   Hey, it's Tess again. :)  Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE Jane Austen's stories.  "Pride and Prejudice" is my absolute favorite, but "Emma" and "Northanger Abbey" are also wonderful.  And of course, "Sense and Sensibility" is special because it's about 3 sisters and there are 3 of us Prescott girls.  Our personalities are even somewhat similar.  I'm probably not quite as practical as Elinor, but I am more reserved than my little sister.  Hailey is just like Marianne Dashwood.  She's one of those people who can make friends with anyone, and has no problem telling everyone what she thinks and feels.  I'm a more private person...I do much better writing out my thoughts than giving a speech or contributing to a conversation.  I've always been more of an observer.  I like watching people and imagining what their lives might be like, but ask me to talk to someone I don't know and I break out in a cold sweat!  Ella's not exactly like Margaret, although she definitely likes to be sure she's not forgotten or overlooked as the youngest of 3!  I'm getting sidetracked, though (I do that a lot...it's hard when your thoughts are going so fast you can't keep up with them).  :)
       It's tough being a Jane Austen girl in a Twilight world.  Everyone at school goes on and on about the Twilight books and movies.  Besides the fact that I'm not allowed to watch them (I'm only twelve and Mama is very careful about what she lets us watch), I'm just not that into vampires and werewolves.  Give me a Mr. Knightley or a Mr. Tilney over an Edward Cullen or a Jacob Black any day.  I'd much rather be in love with a sensitive or teasing gentleman than someone who might be tempted to bite me or eat me every time I turned around.
     I think as girls it's easy for us to be attracted to the dangerous or threatening.  It reminds me of Anne of Green Gables talking about wanting to love someone who could be wicked, but wouldn't.  And I know, Edward is a gentleman and a really nice guy trying to do the right thing.  Jacob loves Bella, too, and tries to put her needs first.  The more I think about it, though, I'd rather just be loved by someone who was a plain, kind, honest man.  Someone who would work hard to provide for his family and be supportive of my interests.  Someone who would love children and be a good daddy.  Someone who would bring me flowers just because and do the dishes every once in a while when I was tired. (I know, that last sentence is pushing it-that's what Mama told me, too.  She says I'll be lucky just to find a man who remembers to pick up his dirty socks!)  Most importantly, I'd like to find someone who loved Jesus more than he loved me.
    The other thing I love about Jane Austen's stories that is completely missing from so many of the love stories written today is the way she portrays doing the right thing as being more important than "following your heart".  Don't get me wrong, she's not all prickles, and she definitely finds satisfying ways to get her heroes and heroines together. 
    So many of the stories written today are all about following your emotions, or rather, letting them carry you away to do crazy and impossible things.  The characters are urged to "do what feels good" or "follow their hearts".  The problem is that our hearts often fool us, and when we are in the heat of the moment, we rarely think clearly.  I think the contrast between this way of thinking and Jane Austen's writings is best illustrated in "Sense and Sensibility", in Edward and Elinor's relationship. 
     Edward and Elinor truly loved each other, but Edward had already made a promise to marry Lucy before he met Elinor.  Even though he didn't love Lucy, he wanted to do the honorable thing and keep his promise to her.  He stood by Lucy even after being threatened with losing his inheritance, which back then was a really big deal.  He apologized to Elinor for his behavior towards her later, realizing that he had toyed with Elinor's emotions, falsely believing that she wouldn't get attached to him.
     If the story had been written today, Edward would have canned Lucy at the first opportunity he had.  Not to mention he would have been sleeping with one or both of them, adding to the complication and heartbreak.  And hey, if he got tired of Elinor, he could just leave her for someone else after a while.  That's the type of thing we do when we let our emotions take over our lives.  We just want to do what we want to do without thinking about the consequences.  And just to clarify, I'm not saying this is all in Twilight, lest I offend all the Twilight fans out there.  I'm just saying modern stories in general are more and more this way.
      I know the regency period wasn't perfect, but I do think it's a shame that we've lost that sense of honor, of keeping our word and doing what we believe is right, even if it's painful and costs us something we hold dear.
      You probably think I'm horribly old-fashioned, but that's okay.  Most people do.  I like being an old-fashioned girl, and I'm going to hold out for an honorable, old-fashioned boy.  You might say I'm asking for the impossible.  But I know there are men out there like that.  Mama married one...maybe someday I will, too.         

Our Own Blog :)

Hi, Tess here!  If you've read Mama's blog, you know a little bit about me.  (By the way, Mama is pronounced muh-Mah, like they say it in the Jane Austen movies.  Sorry, that's the best way I know to spell the pronunciation.)  Beast'sbelle's not really our mom, but ever since she adopted us, she's made us feel like part of the family.  She takes good care of us, when she's not too busy looking after our 3 "bigger" sisters (Mama's real girls).  I love the way they say "Mama" with a British accent, so I came up with the idea to call her that.  Mama likes it.  She says it makes her feel quite elegant and refined, and she really didn't need more voices calling, "Mommy, where's my..." or "Mommy, she took that away from me..." or...well, any of the other countless things that come after "Mommy" on a daily basis.  Mama thought it might be fun if I spoke for myself, especially since I want to be a writer someday.  My best friend, Maggie, will be writing some too, since she wants to be either a journalist or a children's author when she grows up.  So, I hope you enjoy it!  We'll be posting more soon, so be sure to check back!