The Day After Halloween

The day after Halloween was a busy one.  The costume shop was pretty much empty. Costumes were thrown all over the floor. There were big ones and little ones all over the place! Charlie was fit to be tied. The Grandmas were too. The costume shop was to be emptied out and the new Christmas gifts had to be put on the shelves. They all had to be taken out of the boxes,  put on shelves and priced. Charlie had budgeted for everything. The huge costume sales had helped Charlie buy all of the things that she needed for Christmas decorations.
While Marlee and Charlie were cleaning and restocking the shelves and the kitchens, some children had been trick or treating the night before.

They had stopped at their  great grand parent's house to see them

and show them their Halloween costumes. They had a grand time. It was also their  great grandfather's birthday. There are all kinds of fun costumes aren't there? I see many different colors. What colors do you see? I see green and red, are there any other colors?
While everyone was busy inside Marleewood, people were lining up outside in their Halloween costumes to go Trick or Treating on the parking lot and playground.
Far far away there were young children that lived in an apartment many miles away. It was very cold where they lived. They wanted to go Trick or Treating too, but they didn't have any costumes or plastic pumpkins to take for their treats. So their mama gave each of her four (4) children pillow cases to take to peoples' houses. They went up and down the streets and knocked on doors and said, "Trick or Treat!" People smiled and gave them candy, but one man and his wife also had a little shed that was next to their

house. In this shed was a lot of small toys. He said, "You can each take a toy and put in your pillow case, Happy Halloween!" So the youngsters did just that. They went down one street and across to the other side of the street. They knocked on a lot of doors and were very cold. By the time they got home each one of the children had their pillow cases full of candy and toys! What a fun

Halloween for them. But when they got home they had to climb a lot of stairs. They climbed one long bunch of stairs, then another, and then another. by the time they got to the top of the fourth floor they were so tired and cold that they could hardly move. Their mama laughed and helped them out of their coats and hats and mittens and helped them carry their pillowcases to the kitchen. She made each one of them a  cup of hot chocolate. Then they all sorted out their candy and toys and put them in a bowl. They had enough candy and toys to last for a long long time. Wasn't that a fun story? It was a true story boys and girls and one that will not be soon forgotten.

Later on there will be a  story all about Marlee's and her friend's trick or treating fun on Halloween evening. There will be lots and lots of pictures so you can see all of their costumes. They had so much fun. I bet they are really tired today. Or...maybe their mamas and daddies are tired!
Here are two (2) pictures one (1) of Grayson and one (1) of Marlee on their way Trick Or Treating.

One More Bite Cooking School Is On The Air

Marlee and Grandma B had been doing a lot of practice cooking for Marleewood's One More Bite Cooking School. Today they decided that they would start with showing Marlee's friends in the neighborhood how to make a breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage and toast. The camera person had to take two (2) videos because Marlee had the hiccoughs which happens you know.
Marlee had been in a hurry to get busy this morning and forgot to wear her apron. She made a reach for a napkin to wipe off her hands which is pretty good for a two year old cook.
Marlee loves food just like Julia Child did, the famous cook. She also likes to cook food for herself and others. Someday maybe she will fix breakfast for her mama and daddy on Mother's Day and Father's Day.
For today's recipe for scrambled eggs Marlee has added sour cream to the eggs as you can see. The sour cream adds flavor, creaminess, and makes the eggs fluffy. Marlee shows us just the right way to stir the eggs with a kitchen tool called a whisk. Marlee keeps picking up the egg shells so that not any of the shells get into her special recipe. Has anyone ever gotten an egg shell in your eggs.? Yuk, they are hard and not good to eat.
Next you put butter in a pan on the stove, which Grandma B does for Marlee. You must always have a grownup in the kitchen when you cook. Always remember that, okay? Then Grandma B heats up the pan to just the right temperature and pours the egg mixture into the pan. Some Grandmas put cheese in the scrambled eggs for even a different taste. I couldn't see if Marlee did that or not. I know she uses cheese in her other meals. We will watch her other shows another day and see her special, what grownups call technique or special way she does things.

The next video will show Marlee being a bit more particular with her teaching skills. She will talk to you and say Bon Appetit just like Julia Child used to.
What happens when you cook? We talked about that yesterday. Cooking makes the kitchen smell wonderful! When you cook something good it makes people hungry. Who else does it make hungry? I think I hear something outside. Oh look, remember today is Halloween. Here is an early trick or treat dog. I think he smelled the wonderful breakfast that Marlee and Grandma B made for the One More Bite Cooking School. He is Salem the Super Dog! How fun. Do you think that Marlee will give him a treat? Do you remember that Grandma B and Marlee also make dog treats, don't they? He is a very nice dog and helps take care of a cute little baby girl.

Later on today there will be lots of trick or treaters in your neighborhood and at Marleewood too. They won't be here until tonight, but tomorrow there will be all kinds of pictures of grownups and children even babies in their fun costumes. Some like to be scary, some like to be silly but most are just plain fun.

Do you remember that Marleewood has two (2) kitchens? Well today both of them are being used. Marlee was cooking in one and  in the other kitchen there are children that are carving pumpkins for jack o'lanterns. In the fall pumpkins decorate our porches most of the time. Some are real and some are not. Brandon is showing us his jack o'lantern and look there is a whole table with children carving out their pumpkins. There are all kinds of seeds and stuff inside of them, that's why the children used big spoons.
What kind of treats do people give the children that knock on their door, candy?
 Tomorrow we will hear another old story a true story about four (4) children that used to go Trick Or Treating a long long time ago. They lived far far away from Marleewood, but they had lots of fun. Where they lived it was really cold at Halloween time. It will be fun to hear that story.

Grandma Lu Tells A Halloween Story

Marleewood was all decorated for Halloween on the outside and in the inside. It just looked wonderful. There were pumpkins and flowers and colored leaves and even a little toy horse in the hallway that was all decorated for the Fall Season. There had been practice runs in the kitchen area for the next One More Bite cooking show that was going to be aired soon. It smelled so good in there.
Oh look, Marleewood has a visitor today, It's Grandma Lu! Do you remember she had been gone for awhile on vacation.? Grandma Lu waved at everybody and gave out hugs to everyone that wanted one. Then she said, "Who wants to hear a story?" Everybody clapped and said, "We do, we do!" Those of the children that knew Grandma Lu knew that she loved to tell stories. When her kids were little they used to have bonfires with bales of hay and hot dogs and marshmallows. When it started to get dark all the kids would say, "Tell us a story please, please." She would laugh and say "Okay, is everybody ready?" They would all laugh and shout, but then would get really quiet so they could hear the story. Now she is older, but still loves to tell stories; she began.

Grandma Lu said, "Who knows how come we have jack o'lanterns at Halloween time?"  Nobody knew so Grandma Lu opened up her book and started telling the story about Stingy Jack. (Her version) Oh he was a mean old man. He didn't like anybody. He didn't even smile at little kids. Do you know what else? He never washed his face and hands. His face was always dirty too. Yuk! He lived by himself and didn't ever want to talk to anybody either. So he didn't have visitors come to his house. He would never give people presents on their birthday or buy them nice things because he loved them. No one wanted to be his friend because he played naughty tricks on them all the time. Wouldn't that be awful? We love to laugh and play and have company don't we?" All the children laughed and said, "Yes we do! Why would anybody act mean like that?" Well Grandma Lu said, "Well we just can't even guess, can we? Sometimes there are people just like that. It's too bad isn't it? It's lots more fun to be clean and happy."

"Well one day he played one trick too many. The man he played the trick on chased him up into a tree and wouldn't let him come down for a long time. He made Stingy Jack promise to be a good man or he wouldn't let him down from the tree. He said that if he didn't promise he would sneak up by his house and play a trick on him too! Well that scared Stingy Jack so he promised that he would be good. So the man let him down from the tree."
"Since Stingy Jack was mean he thought other people might be mean too, so he decided to make himself a lantern. A lantern is like a flashlight only with a candle in it sometimes to be used outside.
 He lived in Ireland. That is a country far far away. It was so many years ago that they didn't even have pumpkins where he lived. Can you believe that? There wouldn't be any pumpkin patches then would there? Anyway
Stingy Jack found an old turnip. This is a picture of some turnips. Well he found a way with a stick to take all the insides out of one of those turnips, then he put a little candle in it. Wow, he could see in the dark with that little turnip. Do you know why Stingy Jack thought he needed a lantern? He wanted to be able to see in the dark because he was afraid that people he had been mean to wanted to scare him. If he had a lantern he wouldn't be scared then he would just laugh at them.
So now you know how we got to have fun on Halloween with scary costumes and fun costumes and sometimes not even any costumes just some stuff on our

faces. Remember Stingy Jack had stuff on his face. It was called dirt!"
This little story has been told to children for many years and in different ways. So over all these years and years Stingy Jack got famous for his lantern. So now we call them jack o'lanterns. Big folks carve them out for us with sharp knives and try to make scary faces. They aren't too scary though are they, just lots of fun. I see a little boy, Kylan. He has a yellow shirt on. He is taking out all of the seeds and yukky stuff out of the pumpkin. He is going to make a jack o'lantern too.
Here are some jack o'lanterns that Grandma Lu  thought were cute.

See how the candle inside the pumpkin gives out light, but still has a funny face. People decorated their front porches with jack o'lanterns. Do you see the picture with four (4) jack o'lanterns on their porch. One (1) is scary, one (1) is silly, one (1) looks like a funny cat, and one (1) is goofy with a happy smile. Halloween is fun isn't it?
The last picture is Sawyer with his coat on in the dark showing us his family's jack o'lanterns.

Marlee Is Back In The Swing Of Things

Marlee had been taking a few days off lately. She had to go back in one day when Sawyer called and said that the pipes were leaking in the kitchen area at Marleewood. But other than that, she had been taking some well deserved time off. It was fall so the air was a little chilly, but she didn't mind. It was fun to see the trees' leaves turn different colors. She had gone to two (2) different pumpkin patches and had enjoyed herself so much! She had picked out a pumpkin and had seen friends at both of them.

Now Marlee was ready to go back to work. She helped get herself dressed, put on some jewelry, grabbed her purse and said to Grandma B, "It's time to go to work!" Did you notice that Marlee chose a shirt with a cute little ghost on it especially for the Halloween season? Marlee is very fashion conscious. You may  notice the bow on the ghost almost matches the purple necklace she chose to wear.
 It's always a good thing to enjoy the work that you do when you are a grown up but it's really fun to go to work when you are two years old. She may have forgotten her shoes though, but she is very anxious to see Charlie. Charlie and Marlee have gotten to be very good friends.
While Marlie was on her way to work there was another little girl on her way to Marleewood. She wanted to see the One More Bite cooking school. She thought she would learn some new things and maybe make some new

recipes at home. She might even offer Marlee some of her favorite things to add to the recipes. Her name is Addison and she drives a beautiful pink Toyota convertible. I hope it gets good mileage because she has a long ways to drive. She also saw Happy Hank's news show.
I think I see her pull up just now out on the playground at Marleewood.
When Sawyer visits his Grandma Phyllis he can see this beautiful tree out the sun room window. It is in her back yard. Isn't it pretty?  This tree is called a Maple Tree. They are some of the prettiest trees in the fall. Maple trees are in Grandma B's yard too. Grandma Lu jokes and says that Mother Nature decorates our yards and hills and mountains for us by making the leaves on the trees change from green to different colors in the fall. Often when we put on jackets soon or about the same time the leaves start to change colors on the trees. Isn't that interesting? I see red, and brown and green leaves. Do you see any other color? Look closely I think there are one or two more colors.

Marlee just walked in the door and there was Hannah making cupcakes! What was going on now? Marlee asked Hannah why she was making cupcakes, and guess what the answer was. No not again! They were out of snacks. That's impossible. How many people are eating snacks? Let's see there is Marlee, Charlie, Hannah, Emma, Sawyer, Cooper, and Laila. That makes seven (7). No, sorry, I am wrong. You have to add Grandma B. Is there anybody else that eats snacks at Marleewood? Is there only one (1) Grandma? You are right! There are two (2) Grandmas aren't there?
 It is a good thing that Emma and her mama went shopping the other day. They bought things to make cupcakes with and pans to bake them in. Marlee thanked Hannah and went to work getting things ready for her One More Bite cooking school for tomorrow's show.
Does anyone remember what Marlee was going to make for her first real meal?
Marlee will show you tomorrow.

Marlee Can't Believe How Many Friends Are At The Pumpkin Patch

As you know, Marlee convinced her family to take her to two (2) pumpkin patches. She just didn't want to miss a thing. She found out that Cooper was going to be working at the one that they were going to visit today.
Cooper's new job at this Pumpkin Patch was a greeter. He had to say hi or wave at people as they came in. Cooper's family had taught him at a very young age to always be friendly and kind to people. The hope being that people would be kind and friendly right back. That's what usually happens. How many times have you waved at someone and they waved back. Or sometimes when you smile at people they smile right back, don't they?
Marlee and her family walked into the Pumpkin Patch and couldn't believe how many people were there. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. Marlee had to have a little jacket just to keep the chill off.

There were so many things to see. There was a Pet The Animals place where you could pet them and even feed them. You could play in the corn and of course, you could pick out a pumpkin to take home.

Cooper showed them the one he was going to take home. What fun! Marlee found hers, but had her mama and daddy put it aside while she went to see the Witches! Yup they had blown up witches and other silly blow ups. They are purple and green and black and orange. They are like great big balloons. Marlee thought that they were very fun.
Oh there is Sawyer! Hi, Sawyer! He has a pumpkin too. Oh look, he found the petting place where there are some animals you can feed. He is feeding some goats, isn't he?

They walked and walked some more.
They went around the corner and there were two (2) more boys that they knew; Orion and J.J..
Marlee and her family looked at all the pumpkins and watched the people. They were starting to get tired and hungry. But wait, there was Connelly Jo. She had found a pumpkin too.

They were just about ready to go to the car when who do you think they saw, but Emma and her family. Emma and her friends were feeding little cows. They are called calves. The sign says that the butter and milk they give us when they get big make us healthy so we can grow strong bones. People make cheese out of milk, do you like grilled cheese sandwiches? Marlee does, I know that.
It seems like no matter where we go to have fun we learn something. It is fun to learn new things isn't it?

Well it was time to go home. It was starting to get dark. Oh my, look at the people who are holding pumpkins that they have made jack-o-lanterns out of. They have lights in them. Aren't they pretty?
Such a very fun day. When you get all grown up you will be able to look at these pictures and smile.
Which picture is your favorite?

Marlee Learns That Watching Is A Good Way To Learn

Marlee and her Grandma B love to cook together. They do practice runs at home to make sure that her television show goes off without any problems. One day while she was in the production kitchen at Marleewood Emma was in there with her grandparents.  Emma loves to make pizza and her grandma and grandpa were helping her a bit. Marlee loved to watch them cook. She was learning a new trick!
She sat down at a table with her baby doll and a drink and watched as the lesson began. She loved it!

That lady and Emma showed her how to put the sauce on the pizza crust very evenly. When they finished putting the toppings on the sauce the magic started! See Emma put the cheese on top very carefully. The cheese needs to be put on top of the pizza evenly so that every piece of pizza gets some cheese. What  wonderful teachers Emma and her grandma are.
When they were all through making the pizza Emma's grandma put it in the oven for her. She had set the temperature to the exact amount of heat. Then the waiting began. Well, Marlee isn't a great one for sitting still and waiting if there isn't anything going on. She heard her Grandma B say once, "You have to be patient, Marlee." Well, she was two (2) and she wanted a little action.
They had installed a candy machine in the kitchen area. Marlee knew her coins when she saw them. She also knew how to ask for a certain coin. She asked her Grandma B for a "quoder". Knowing exactly what Marlee wanted, Grandma B got in her purse and found a quarter. Together they got some Bonz candy out of the machine. The candies were very tiny and were in many different colors; white, red, blue, yellow, and green. Keeping the candies in her hand was very difficult so Marlee's mama and Grandma B found a little dish for her to put them in. It was a good idea, but it wasn't a heavy dish. Guess what, the candy and the dish all fell on the floor. Oh oh! That's okay because accidents happen don't they?
Have you ever spilled anything? Spills happen all the time to young and old people.

Marlee Loves To Do Chores On The Mini Farm

By the time Grandma B and Marlee got to Marleewood, Sawyer had the leak fixed. He was so happy. Needless to say so was Grandma B and Marlee. One more problem fixed at least for now.
Marlee was so tired! She and Grandma B had been outside all day until just before Sawyer called. The horses love persimmons and so it was Marlee's fun job to pick them up and feed them to the horses. Grandma B always reminds Marlee to be careful when she feeds the horses so they don't accidentally bite her little fingers. She always listens and is a very good helper. The little horses always run right over to the fence when they see Marlee with her little bucket with persimmons in it. They just love to eat them, seeds and all. They are such fun. Grandma B has a wonderful place for a little girl to have fun while she is learning new things.
I would like to tell you about persimmons a little bit. They grow on trees. When they get ripe they fall off the trees and land on the ground. That makes it easy for Marlee to pick them up, doesn't it. She isn't very tall.
Do you know what an "Old Wives Tale" is? I think I've told you about that before. Remember the wolly bear furry little caterpillar?  Those tales are stories that some people believe and some don't. The stories are old old old! They are passed on down through the years and sometimes they end up being true. However, sometimes not so much. But they are so fun. The old Wives Tale about persimmons is the seed. If you cut the seed in half you will see a picture like thing that either

looks like a spoon, or a knife, or a fork. Each image or picture in the seed is supposed to represent or tell you what kind of winter there will be that year. Here in the Ozarks people say that if you see a spoon it's going to be a really hard winter with lots of snow. If you see a knife in the seed it's going to be so cold and icy that

you just won't like to go outside. When the seed has a fork looking image it means it's going to be a mild winter. It is not supposed to be very cold and not much snow. What do you think? Do you think that a seed can be a weather forecaster like they do on television? We probably won't ever know will we? Probably sometimes it's right and sometimes it's not. Did you know that in the old days, people didn't have television? They just had to try to guess if they were going to have lots of snow or not.
Guess what else? Persimmons are good for you and taste good if fixed just right. Persimmons make you very healthy. The persimmon juice is good too.

While we have been talking about the weather and persimmons Sawyer decided to home. He had done a good job. He just hoped that the pipes wouldn't leak anymore for a long time. Fixing water pipes was hard work.
Sawyer had a little secret that nobody but Charlie knew about. Secrets can be really fun can't they? Marlee and Stashia have secrets too.
Secrets make good memories when you are grown up and see pictures when you are all grown up.
Can you remember what shop that Charlie was in charge of? Might be part of the secret..