Steven and Eustace and the Big Bad Wolf

Over the past few months, it has become a part of Steven's bedtime routine that we cuddle and I tell him a story about Steven and his friend, "Eustace the Dragon". (What can I say—that was the first name that came to mind when I had to name the dragon!) Steven and Eustace have been on many adventures now—they have sailed across oceans and climbed mountains and explored dark tunnels. Whenever I'm stuck, I enjoy drawing on familiar stories and fairy tales, interspersing details randomly, or even following a pre-existing plot for a while.

As Steven has gotten older, he has become an active participant in telling the story. His suggestions and comments never cease to surprise me, and often send the story in a completely new direction. This is especially true when I am simply adding Steven and Eustace into a pre-existing story. The result is often humorous and beautiful, so I thought I would share!
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Steven and Eustace and the Big Bad Wolf.

One day, Steven and his friend Eustace the dragon were walking along the road when they met three pigs.

"Good morning!" said Steven, "How are you doing today?"

"Oink oink oink, not bad, not bad," said the pigs. "We are on our way to build ourselves some houses. We are each going to build a nice, cosy house."

"Oh, nice!" said Steven, "That sounds like fun!" And he waved goodbye to the pigs as they continued on their way.

A bit further down the road, Steven and Eustace met a wolf—a big bad wolf.

"Hello, Mr. Wolf," said Steven, "how are you doing today?"

"I am doing very well," the wolf snarled with a nasty grin. "I am going to eat those three little pigs. Pigs are very very yummy, and I am a hungry wolf—I am going to eat them all up!"

"Oh dear," said Eustace as soon as the wolf was out of earshot, "what are we going to do? We need to warn the three little pigs!"

"He should buy food," said Steven.

"What?"

"He should buy food at the grocery store, not eat the pigs."

"Oh. What kind of food should he buy?"

"Ice cream! I can have green ice cream, and you can have purple ice cream, and the puppy can have brown ice cream!"

Steven and Eustace hurried after the big bad wolf.

"Excuse me," said Steven as soon as they caught up with the wolf, "would you like to go get ice cream with us?"

The wolf seemed taken aback. "Okay. Um, thank you. I love ice cream!"

On their way to the ice cream store, Steven and Eustace and the wolf passed through the field where the three pigs were building their houses.

"Hello!" called Steven, "Would you like to come get ice cream with us?"

"Oh, yes please!" said the pigs. "We are all tired from building our houses, and we are ready to take a break!"

So the pigs joined Steven and Eustace and the wolf, and together they all walked to get ice cream. But even though they walked and walked, they could not find an ice cream store!

"Oh dear, what are we going to do?" lamented one of the pigs.

"We can use Telemain's special machine!" replied Steven. He pulled the machine out of his pocket and quickly typed in "ice cream shop".

Whrrrrrrrr bzzzzzzzzzp! The machine's arrow pointed the way, and soon they found an ice cream store!

As his companions chatted about their favourite flavours, Steven went looking for the ice cream store man. Soon a friendly looking man in a big red and white apron appeared.

"Hello!" said the man, "what kind of ice cream can I get for you?"

"Green please," said Steven, and the man scooped out some green ice cream and gave it to Steven.

"Purple please," said Eustace, and the man scooped out some purple ice cream and gave it to Eustace.

"Pink please," said the wolf, and the man scooped out some pink ice cream and gave it to the wolf.

"Orange please," said a pig, and the man scooped out some orange ice cream and gave it to the pig.

"Green please," said another pig, and the man scooped out some green ice cream and gave it to the pig.

"Brown please," said the final pig, and the man scooped out some brown ice cream and gave it to the pig.

"Let's go find a table!" said Steven.

They all went outside and found a great big table under a big umbrella.

They all took a big bite and ate their ice cream all up!

"Now what do we do?" asked Eustace.

"We still need to finish building our houses," said the pigs.

"We'll help you!" said Steven, so they all went back to help the pigs.

When they got to the field where the pigs were building their houses, they saw that the first pig was building his house out of straw.

"That's not good!" said Steven.

They walked a little farther and saw that the second pig was building his house out of sticks.

"That's not good!" said Steven. Then he went and got some wood and nails and a hammer and helped the pigs build their houses. Bam! Bam! Bam!

When the houses were finished, the pigs said, "Thank you so much for helping us!"

"You're welcome!" said Steven.

Waving goodbye, Steven and Eustace headed off down the road, and the wolf went back to the farmer's house.

The end.

Mommy Moments: Remix

I'm loving Kenneth's latest version of "Jesus Loves Me":

Yes! Jesus loves me so.
Bible tells me so.

Kitty cats
Kitty cats
Dinosaurs
Kitty cats

Bible tell me so
Bible tell me so
Bible tell me so
Bible tell me so!

Mommy Moments: Geography

I highly recommend doing a world map puzzle with a toddler. It is hilarious...
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Me: This is Mexico.

Toddler: That's where Max lives!
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Toddler: That's where Nana and Grandpa live!

Me: That's Afghanistan.
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Me: (Points to California) This is a state. (Points to Montana) This is a state.

Toddler: This is a state!

Me: That's Slovakia.
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Toddler: That's where Evan lives!

Me: Well, no, that's Greenland. But I'm sure he'd love it there.