Tag: birth

Welcome Sweet Potato

June 8, 2018

Welcome, Sweet Potato

The girls started a new project: guinea pigs.  Christina saved and bought a female from the pet store.  Rebeccah and Kimberly “rehomed” two females whose family was going overseas.

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We built a big cage for them to graze and roam in.  (Guinea pigs hop like bunnies when they are really happy!) Well, “Ginger” was really “TobyMac.” Since all three of these animals were happily living in one cage together – Taylor surprised us with “Sweet Potato.”

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(Now, the girls know for sure how to sex guinea pigs from birth so they won’t be fooled by a salewoman again.)

Now their guinea pig project has become hand raising babies to sell.  They are gorgeous!  Baby guinea pigs are born with open eyes, full fur, claws, and teeth!  They are about 20% of the adult’s size but 10% of the weight (they are skinny, long things).

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Sweet Potato stretches to look half her mom’s size, but when she curls up in a cute little ball, she’s so tiny – about the size of a ping-pong ball.  By weight, she’s only 10% of mom’s size.  Baby guinea pigs grow super fast.  Between three and six weeks, they are independent.  They actually start trying to graze the first day!  About 3 months, they are adult size!  Males get bigger than females.  However, TobyMac is only 4 months old so he is still smaller than the over 1 year old girls, Taylor and Avery.

The girls are super excited to “spoil” Sweet Potato for a few weeks so another family gets a loving, cuddly, super sweet little pet!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

 

Finding Perspective

For whom am I writing? An author’s first question to be answered before beginning a story.

December 20, 2017

Finding Perspective

One of the most important things for me to find when I’m writing is the perspective of my target audience.

Simply: for whom am I writing?

For Web of Deception, I was writing to the adventurous young adult (myself and my brother), for the Brantley Station Saga, my target is young adults, and my target readers for The Devonians are those in first through fifth grade.  The Funny Sisters stories are written to be read-aloud so they are more complex.  My goal for them is to entertain both the mom or older child reader and the younger preschool or elementary listener.

Story From the Inn was written when one of my girls mentioned, “I wonder what it was like to work at the inn where Jesus was born.”  (We had just watched a show about the culture of Jewish life in Jesus’ time and read through a book about growing up where Jesus lived.)

I imagined the small inn at Bethlehem run by a family (most were in that time) and one daughter (one my girls could relate to) always trying to help yet always getting underfoot.  This became the eyes and ears of my target audience (my little girls).  Children would relate to Rachel and see, hear, and feel that inn, culture, and special event through her eyes.  I dove into some more specific research and developed Rachel’s story of Jesus’ birth as remembered by a beloved grandmother while entertaining several grandchildren awaiting a new baby’s birth.

Rachel epitomized most children: full of life and expectancy, eager to help, longing to please, and constantly asking questions.

In the moment, Rachel doesn’t understand the magnificence of the event, she only feels elated that she gets to help with a birth (something “big”) and hold a newborn baby (for the first time).  As the storyteller, she reflects on this as an adult, to complete the circle.

Check out Story From the Inn to read Rachel’s story!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

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