Always a story.....

This year the Three Kings came to my house.  Normally they all come at once and fill shoes with little things and in Spain they bring children the big gifts-at least the family I lived with did it that way.

The Kings decided that at my house, they had to come at different times and leave my children special letters-so Three Kings day lasted all day on January 6th and trickled over to Saturday morning.

Boring grumpy Balthasar was the first to arrive before the school bus got here. His letter said he was cold and going back home, but not before he filled their stockings with things they needed-books, toothbrushes, socks, and popcorn on the cob...

Gaspar arrived after school, and told them Balthasar had forgotten what it was like to be a child having fun, and left them each a special toy....

That night we had a Three Kings party, which will become a Mommy Quack tradition, and next year will be much more structured (I had no idea my friends would show up).  But this year, they loved finding plastic babies in cupcakes and playing pin the crown on the king.

Three Kings Party!

Finally, Wise Melchior arrived the following morning, because he didn't want to interrupt the dinner. He left all three of them board games with a note instructing them to play nicely TOGETHER.

The one they want to play over and over again is "Rory's Story Cubes."

This is one of those brilliant ideas that is so simple yet so perfect. 

Nine cubes with different pictures on them.  You role the cubes and get nine images.  You use them to make a story.  That is all-so be it.

You can take this 101 ways....

• You can play in teams-my son and one of his friends took turns making a story with the same set of cubes.
• I have a friend with the most witty and cynical 11 year old I have met in my life. She was telling a story, got irritated with a cube and rolled that one just one more time.
•  You can pick a theme..."Once we went to the beach..." or "I hear a storm is coming..." and keep going with the cubes.
• My three year old looked at me, looked at the cubes, and stacked them.  "Once a little boy stacked the cubes...and they fell down. (He knocked them over) That's my story mommy."  How did I get such a sarcastic three year old?
• My daughter finds a way to always work Disney characters or friends from her class in her story.
• Your story can match your mood..tell me a sad story, tell me a happy story...tell me the one about how it all works out in the end...

Here, you guys try it:

Once upon a half moon...an old woman walked down a narrow path with wooden cane and saw a light at the end of a path and someone put up a hand and said stop....etc...Feel free to write one and share it...

I hope that Melchior will continue to bring gifts for them to do together.  I think he found these at Jordie's Toy shop in Guilford, but he has seen them on Amazon too. :0)