Happy New Year

Happy New Year,

A great 2014 for you, may your dreams come true, that you fly to the cloud you haven't flown yet!

The Little Girl and Papi will come in 2014 full of new adventures.
Until then, you have a great entrance in this fantastic year that is coming our way! Go out and see the fireworks with your family, take a lot of pictures and make great memories.

Qwirkle

Father Christmas visited the Little Girl. He left some presents for the Little Girl under the tree. On the Christmas morning the Little Girl was excited to open all the presents. But the Little Girl had a small problem, she could not read and did not know for whom each different present was. So she started the guessing game.
- Papi, is this for me ?
- Yes Little Girl, that is for you.
- Papi, is this for me ?
- No Little Girl, that is for Mami.
- MAMI! MAMI! Nicholas left a present for you... come Mami.
And so the line of presents went all the way until the last.
- Papi, is this for me ?
- How interesting Little Girl, that is for the family, it is for the Little Girl, for Mami and for Papi.
- Wow, that is cool!
So the Little Girl unwrapped the special family gift.

It was a game with a lot of colors!
- What is this game Papi ? I want to play!
- This game is called Qwirkle.
- Qwirkle? I want to play, I want to play.
So Papi started reading the rules as the Little Girl Started unpacking all the little pieces.
The Little Girl was excited. Papi was finding the rules to complicated, he looked at the box and checked the age: from 6 years old. Hum, Papi had a problem, the Little Girl was only 4 years old.
But Papi had an idea, and told the Little Girl to go hide every little piece somewhere in the house. So the Family started the game, hiding the little black squares with the symbols on them.
When all the pieces were hidden, the family met around the small table at the Little Girl's room.
Papi then explained step number 2.
Papi was going to put some small song playing. When the song finishes, each player sits in the chair closer to him or her. Luckily, the Little Girl had 4 small chairs in her room. She had a chair of each color. She had a red, blue, yellow and green chair.
So Papi put the music playing. Then suddenly the music stopped and everybody sat on a chair.
The Little Girl was on a blue chair, Papi found a yellow chair, and Mami sat on the green chair.
Now Papi explained step 3. Each player need to find a piece that was hidden of the same color as the chair. Everybody ran to find a piece of that color.
Each time the family got back together near the table, the music would start again and stop.
In the end of the day, who had the more pieces won the game.
The family lost some pieces of the game that would be found for many years to come in the house. But everybody had a lot of fun playing the new version of the game.

Balloons

Ever been in the supermarket and your kids seem to want everything they see ? Do they want expensive stuff ? Do they simply want because you always give them something in the past ? Do they have a favorite thing they always want to bring from the supermarket ? Like cookies, chocolates or balloons ? How do you act with them ? How do you know them to get them the stuff they want or not too ? How do you tell them to not bring those useless extras? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The Little Girl loved balloons. She loved balloons in all colors and shapes. As Papi pushed the shopping cart at the supermarket, the Little Girl placed little packs of balloons in the shopping cart.
Papi got the milk, the Little Girl got a small pack of white balloons and hid them behind the milk.
Papi got strawberries, the Little Girl got a small pack of red balloons and hid them behind the strawberries.
Papi got bananas, the Little Girl got a small pack of yellow balloons and hid them behind the bananas.
Papi got the lettuce, the Little Girl got a small pack of green balloons and hid them behind the lettuce.
The Little Girl also wanted blue balloons, but Papi was not putting anything blue in the shopping cart.
"Papi!" called the Little Girl pointing out, "You want the blue shovel", "No Little Girl, Papi does not need that."
"Papi!" called the Little Girl pointing out, "You want the blue jug", "No Little Girl, Papi does not need that."
"Papi!" called the Little Girl pointing out, "You want the blue basket", "No Little Girl, Papi does not need that."
The Little Girl was getting more and more excited, Papi was not buying anything blue, and she really wanted the blue balloons.
"Papi, Papi, I want the blue shampoo, I want to be pretty for Papi!", and Papi took the shampoo out of the shelf and to the shopping cart. The Little girl got a small pack of blue balloons and hid behind the shampoo.

The Little Girl and Papi went to pay for the groceries, and Papi was surprised with all the balloons. Papi looked at the Little Girl, and the Little Girl smiled back at Papi tilting her head with her hands and one foot behind her. Papi could not help but give a big laugh.
The lady at the cash register liked the Little Girl and asked her "Are you having a party today Little Girl ? So many beautiful balloons, here take this gift, it is a balloon pump."
Papi and the Little Girl went to the car, the Little Girl started pumping her balloons in the car. She was happy, now the car would fly home much faster. The Little Girl did not understand why Papi was complaining about the mirror. She did not want to look pretty now, she just wanted to fly home.

Resolution 2014

Today we have a different entry, today I am not writing you a story.

Today I am writing you something very personal, today I am writing one of my resolutions for 2014.
And from the results of my blog from 2013, I fully believe that I can achieve my goal. I received a little help from a friend and her blog "Marketing research without the jargon" by Ana Canhoto.

I have today a written physical draft of a book of what my final book can look like.

I just received in the mail via FedEx the first printed versions of the book. It came to life using the services of Blurb Books. It is far from being the book I want, but it is physical evidence that I can do it. And seeing it in hardcover format, allows to better understand what it can look like, and what it needs to be closer to what i want the book to become. A huge thanks to Angela Gaehtgens, my executive coach, that teaches me visualizing the success is part of achieving it. Today with this physical evidence, the exercise just became much more easier.

By writing my short stories and ideas in this blog, I am little by little compiling enough material to provide the content needed for the book.

The tip of writing, just writing, and especially doing it in a blog, I got in a book that I searched to coach me into writing it. This book "Write a Book in a Weekend" by Donna Kozik provided a lot on insight into getting your work on to the ground. But speaking of references, a real life changer was the book "Your Writing Coach" by Jurgen Wolff that puts everything you need to write a book into perspective with huge amount of information to make your book solid with content.

All my content are stories, short stories. And I found a great place to test this stories and get feedback on them. I strongly recommend you visit a Toastmasters Organization club. You will be surprised, there are clubs everywhere, probably extremely close to you and you have never noticed. Find one near you and ask for participating in a session. It was for me a fantastic place for telling my stories and get feedback on how I can make them better and how I can deliver them with more impact. A huge thank for my friend Filipa Valente that took me into one of this sessions for the first time at Young Entrepreneurs Toastmaster Club. A huge thanks to a lot of toastmasters that gave me a lot of feedback and enriched my life. I would like to say here the name of all of them, but where so many that it is difficult for me to not forget some.

In the beginning I was pictures of the events for the stories, thanks to the feedback of my dear friend Alex Frank, I use now my own drawings for enriching the message. After all it is easier to convey imagination in a drawing that it is in a picture. I will revisit my few blog posts done so far with pictures and little by little replace them with drawings.

So if I was able to produce a pretty decent book so far, I imagine that collecting a richer material will allow the content to become much more interesting and mold-able by the editor. So during 2014 I will definitively put a lot more investment into writing my short stories and keep them flowing. I believe by doing so I will have enough material for bringing the book to life in 2015. Nevertheless I will do a new print run by end of 2014 and hope to make it very close to a definitive book.

I just need one more thing for the success, I would like you as a reader to provide me feedback on what i have written so far. After all, despite the book being the result of my creativity, I do like to know that what I create links somehow to the readers. The book is for their joy as much as it is for mine.

You all have a fantastic 2014, and put in your resolutions to provide me feedback.
Happy New Year.

Alex.

Cow in Boots

How do you teach the colors to your kids ? And to count ? Do they enjoy showing they know the colors ? And counting ? You teach them to count ? And the animals of the farm ? Have you taken them to see a farm `Do they know what a cow, pig or goat looks like ? Do they enjoy seeing the farm animals ? Do they like to feed them ? Are they afraid of the animals ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The Little Girl went to the farm. The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.
The Little Girl had a present for the cow, the Little Girl had a big orange carrot to give to the cow.
Did the cow like carrots ?
Where was the big cow ?
The Little Girl went to the farm. The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.
- Hello brown dog, did you see the cow ?
- Woof woof, said the brow dog.
The Little Girl went to the farm. The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.
- Hello pink pig, did you see the cow ?
- Oink oink, said the pink pig.
The Little Girl went to the farm. The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.
- Hello white sheep, did you see the cow ?
- Meeeh meeeh, said the white sheep.
The Little Girl went to the farm. The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.
Is the cow at the lake ?
No at the lake only ducks.
The Little Girl went to the farm. The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.
Is the cow at the pen ?
No at the pen only chickens.
The Little Girl went went to the farm . The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.
Is the cow at the stable ?
Yes, the cow is at the stable.

The Little Girl went went to the farm . The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.

The Little Girl found the cow.

The cow was wearing boots.

The Little Girl went went to the farm . The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.

The boots had different colors.

One boot was Yellow, the cow was wearing a yellow boot.

One boot was Red, the cow was wearing a red boot.

One boot was Green, the cow was wearing a green boot.

One boot was Blue, the cow was wearing a blue boot.

The Little Girl went went to the farm . The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.

And the Little Girl learned the colors.

Yellow, Red, Green and Blue.

The Little Girl went went to the farm . The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.

How many boots was the cow wearing ?

The cow was wearing 4 boots, one boot for each leg.

1 - One, 2 - Two, 3 - Three, 4 - Four.

The Little Girl went went to the farm . The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.

And the Little Girl learned the numbers.

1 - One, 2 - Two, 3 - Three, 4 - Four.

The Little Girl went went to the farm . The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.

The Little Girl found the cow.
The Little girl gave a orange carrot to the cow.
The Little Girl went went to the farm . The Little Girl wanted to see the cow.

She saw the cow and now was sleeping the way home.

Don't Shake Hook

Do you play board games with your kids ? Do you compete to win them or you let them win ? Is winning important ? Do you play until the end ? How fun is it to play ? Do they invent rules in the middle of the game ? You play with their silly rules or try to keep to the "official" rules ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The Little Girl saw Jake grab a big gem right from under Captain's Hook pillow. Jake had nimble fingers and he managed to take out the gem without waking up Captain Hook. Captain Hook was sleeping in his hammock. It gave the feeling that the hammock would shake Captain Hook and make him wake up, but Jake's nimble fingers did the trick.

The Little Girl was excited, it was her turn to try and take a small chest from the top of the hammock. The exact same hammock Captain Hook was sleeping in. The Little Girl used Jake's sword to try and take the small chest. The Little Girl stretched her arm as long as she could with the sword tip almost reaching the small chest. The Little Girl approached a little more and could see the tip of the sword get into the small chest's hold.
The Little Girl was getting very nervous, she lift the sword slowly but the sword was not in a position to lift the small chest. the Little Girl placed the tip of the sword through the small chest's hold once more. The Little Girl stretched a little more her small arm and saw the tip get deeper through the small chest hold. Very calmly, very slowly the Little Girl lift the sword once more, and the tip of the sword was lifting the hold of the small chest. A little bit more of strength was needed to lift the small chest. The Little Girl made a big effort and lifted with strength the tip of the sword and the sword made an arc.

The Little Girl got nervous and reduced the strength.
"I Can't make it", cried the Little Girl.
All the friends encouraged her, Jake showed her a big big confident smile.
The Little Girl tried once more to lift the tip of the sword.
Gently, gently, the Little Girl stressed the sword and suddenly the sword straightened from it's arc and down came the small chest sliding by the hold down the sword.
"I made it, I made it!" shouted the Little Girl.
Captain Hook woke up, not because he got shook up on the hammock, but because the Little Girl woke him up with the victory shouts.
The party ended soon as Jake, the Little Girl and all the other boys from Neverland ran away from a furious Captain Hook.
Story based on Disney's game: "Who Shook Hook?"

The White Butterfly

Do your kids ask for bedtime stories ? Do you read them ? Do you search for books to have that night ritual ? Do you improvise ? Do you ask them for the first sentence and then you continue ? Do they interrupt you ? Do you continue the story after they fall asleep ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The great oak tree stood majestic in the garden. Covering the ground around the oak tree we could see many golden, yellow and red leaves. The tree was big, leaves were everywhere except for really far away from the tree. The great oak tree looked old and sad, it had no leaves, except for one small white leaf.
The Little Girl looked at the great oak tree.
"Are you sad big tree ?", asked the Little Girl, but the great oak tree did not answer back.
"Are you cold big tree ?", asked the Little Girl, and once more the great oak tree did no answer back.
"Do you want to play with me ?", asked the Little Girl, and once more the great oak remained silent.
The Little Girl did not wait for any answer from the tree, and she ran to the great oak tree. She ran around the great oak tree singing happily.

A great oak tree lived in the garden,

A little girl it could see was the warden,

And when all the leaves were absent

The great oak tree stood alone and silent.

It was then that the Little Girl saw the single white leaf on the great oak tree. She looked at the white leaf and wondered how it got there. Could it be a winter leaf ?

The Little Girl looked for something to help her get up the great oak tree. She found a ladder nearby and brought the ladder close to the big oak tree. First the right foot on the ladder, it looked like the ladder was secure and safe, then left foot on the ladder and the little girl climbed up. She moved to the big branches, and chose the branch closest with the white leaf. The Little Girl crawled on the branch and approached the small white leaf.

When the Little Girl was real close to the white leaf, the small white leaf opened into to sparkling white leaves. It was a small white butterfly that start flying when the Little Girl approached. The Little Girl looked surprised at the beautiful sparkling white butterfly as it flew around the big oak tree. The white butterfly looked like a snowflake that was happily flying the great oak tree.

The Little Girl fell of the big oak tree, luckily she landed on a big pile of golden, yellow and red leaves. The pile of leaves softened the Little Girl's fall. The Little Girl let herself stay on top of the pile of leaves and looked at the small sparkling white butterfly as it flew around the big oak tree.

The Little Girl flapped her arms as if she was flying, and the cleared the leaves around her showing the green grass. She left two green wings around her as the leaves cleared with the arm movement. The Little Girl had now two beautiful green wings and could fly with the butterfly. The small white butterfly was happily flying around the great oak tree. The Little Girl was happily flying behind the small white butterfly.

The small white butterfly flew once, twice, three times around the great oak tree, and then flew towards the church tower. The Little Girl flew after the small white butterfly. When they arrived at the church clock tower it started to ring and tell time. It was 12 o'clock, and the bell rang 12 times. With each hour a small group of white butterflies flew away from the church tower. When the 12 times had rang, there was a great number of small white butterflies flying around.

All the butterflies surrounded the Little Girl, and the Little Girl went back to the great oak tree. The Little Girl sat on the garden and looked at all the small white butterflies flying around the great oak tree. It looked like it was snowing, and the snow was alive around the great oak tree.

The great oak tree now looked very happy with all the small white butterflies flying around. Some butterflies sat on the great oak tree branches and looked like a thousand of beautiful white leaves. Other butterflies continued to fly and looked like it was snowing. the great oak tree was now covered in white foliage.

A great oak tree lived in the garden,

A little girl it could see was the warden,

And with all the butterflies flying around,

The happy oak tree was a playground.

The Little Girl sang happily her rhyme and went back home. Papi had said to the Little Girl that Christmas this year was not going to be a white Christmas. But Papi was wrong, Christmas this year was a white Christmas after all.

Santa's Helper

Does you kid love Christmas ? Does he want to help Santa Claus ? Does he believe in Santa Claus ? Do you feed that dream ? What do you role-play in this fantasy come true ?

It was the day before Christmas. The Little Girl looked out of the window very excited and saw the field covered in white. What a beautiful morning, the sun was about to shine very intensive, so it was going to be a nice day to go out and play.
The Little Girl had been waiting for snow all these days since she started hearing the Christmas Carols everywhere. She was finally going to slide throw the snow with her beautiful sledge. The Little Girl even got two little golden balls and a branch of the Christmas tree at home to decorate her sledge. The Little Girl's sledge was going to be the most beautiful sledge sliding downhill.
The Little Girl went out on her sledge, she wanted to test the snow. But when she got out of the house, it was not snow, it was just simple ice everywhere. The Little Girl could not go downhill in her sledge. What could she do today ?
The Little Girl got an idea,she would fly like Santa in her sledge. But the Little girl needed the help to pull the sledge up in the sky, so she went to talk with her special magical friends. The Little Girl ran back home and went to the special kingdom where she knew she would find her magical friends.
On the way she met Bolt the Plush Dog! "Hello Bolt", said the Little Girl, I need you to help me pull the sledge into the sky, "are you strong enough ?", "YES!" shouted Bolt the plush dog. And together they went to find another friend to pull the sledge.
On the way, The Little Girl and Bolt met Wolfie the Plush Wolf! "Hello Wolfie!", said the Little Girl, I need you to help me pull the sledge into the sky, "are you strong enough ?", "YES!" shouted Wolfie the plush wolf. And together they went to find another friend to pull the sledge.
On the way, the Little Girl, Bolt and Wolfie met many other strong friends wishing to help. They met, Scamp the plush dog. They met Berni the FC Bayern mascot. They met Gelbie, the Plush Fox. They met also Katzi, and Leo.

The Little Girl had now seven strong friends to help pull the sledge into the sky. The Little girl organized the brave and strong friends by size, the smallest in the front and the bigger in the back. They were organized in two orderly rows. The Little Girl found some magical string and tied all the strong friends together and onto the sledge.
The sledge was beautiful, decorated with the Christmas tree branch and the golden balls, and pulled by the seven brave and strong friends. The sledge was being pulled by Bolt, Wolfie, Scamp, Berni, Geldie, Katzi and Leo.
The Little Girl just needed one more to bring the magic to her sledge. She went to the Christmas tree and fetched all the presents. the Little Girl knew that if she gave presents to other people she would bring the magic to Christmas. Christmas was all about giving and making other people smile.

And with her own smile, the Little Girl had her magical sledge being pulled to the sky. The Little Girl and her seven brave and strong friends were helping Santa this year. This was going to be the best Christmas ever.