The Start of Something New! ft. Lilac, Katie, and Hippy~stuffed stories

” Lilac, get down here right now please!”, said Katie the cheetah, mother of Lilac and Hippy.

Lilac came stumbling down the stairs saying, “Yes Mom?”

“Could you please pull up Hippy’s Skype on the computer please? We need to call him and it’s urgent. I can’t wait to tell him this.”, said Katie.

Lilac just shrugged and started calling Hippy. Hippy was currently at a 2-week long conference about running a good business and having a good social media presence.

“Mom, what’s up?”, yelled Hippy the lion as he answered the call.

“Oh no, Mom, is it because we both got a C+ on our last exams? If so, that was just like kind of funny, and we will be sure to study more next time. “, said Lilac, very much a spitting image of her mother with her regal pink fur.

“No, although you do both need to study butt, but later”, Katie said with a smile.

“Lilac, why did you have to bring up our grades? I have other things I should be doing.”, Hippy whispered to Lilac.

“Kids, please, quiet down.”, Katie said.

“Alright, please, dears just hear me out. Hippy, I know you remember your brave father even more than Lilac does, and it has been almost over 3 years now since well, he passed. I miss your father terribly, but I want you that no matter what happens that he will always be loved and remembered.”, Katie said.

“Mom, we all miss Dad”, said Hippy, “But please tell me that you are not dating somebody?”

Lilac looked at their Mom in sudden alarm.

“Oh goodness no, kittens. No, no, I am not quite ready for that yet. I will just say this, and forgive me being a bit blunt, but I think we should adopt.”, she said.

Lilac and Hippy were silent for a minute. Hippy just stared at the floor to process that.

“That awesome, Mom! I would love to have more siblings! Would they be bigger or older, or younger, or hairy, or skinny or?”, Lilac said as she started to jump up and down on the couch.

“Hairy or skinny?”, said Hippy with a slight smile, “Okay, Lilac, calm down, sis.”

“Well, I have been thinking about adoption for a few months. I know I am a single mother, but there are many children that don’t even have one parent. I think that we could give some kids a good life here. I kind of need to finish some paperwork this week to say that yes, I will go through with adopting. So, that is why it was so urgent to discuss this.”, Katie said motioning around the mansion of a house that they lived in.

(Hippy is a 16-year old teen social media sensation and owner of clubs that swept across the nation. He has earned a lot financially and has helped to pay for their bit of lavish lifestyle, although they are not snooty about it. Although, Hippy can be sometimes. Another side-note, Lilac is 8 and also is famous on social media and on streaming platforms like YouTube. Katie teaches dance and has a cooking YouTube channel.)

“For a few months, Mom? Why didn’t you bring us in on this sooner?”, said Hippy with a huff.

Katie replied,” Because I didn’t even know if it could be a possibility, but now it looks like it will be It also happened all so fast.”

Katie takes a deep breath and grabs her phone and points it at the computer’s web cam and says, “These are the kids I think that we will be adopting. They have no idea that I have been looking into their adoption, but I have been talking with the authorities and agencies about it.”

“Wait, that’s Silver and Amber, the new kids at school!”, said Lilac.

“Yes, they are. Their parents passed away in a car accident about 4 years ago. They bounced across foster care and in out and of schools, but now they are boarding school students at the middle school here in FunTown.”, said Katie.

“Wait, seriously? I know who they are! They are two eleven-year old twin kittens, Mom. This a big responsibility, no matter the age. Are your really truly serious about this?”, said Hippy.

“I am, dear. I know that they could be a wonderful addition to our family. Hippy, you are such a good big brother and Lilac, they would be good big siblings. They haven’t had a place to call home, other than in each other’s company, in 4 years. I feel like we could be the family they need. Hippy, just imagine it. You,me, Lilac, Silver, and Amber. You would have another brother and sister. We could all be so happy together.”, Katie said.

Hippy sighs and says, “I know they could be happy, but Mom, this is huge.”

“I like the idea of a new big brother and big sister. They are really nice!”, Lilac said pitching in.

“They sure do seem like they are. However, it would be some time before we could officially adopt them. It could be a fast process, or a very slow one. I just need to get in the first set of paperwork in this week if we truly want to do this. For now though, we are just going to have to take it one step at a time, because that is what our family has done. We have come so far! I know that we could grow our family. Oh, just one thing, don’t tell them about it, because it is not time for them to even know it is a plan.”, said Katie.

“Okay, Mom! My lips are sealed!” said Lilac.

“Alright, alright. They seem kind of cool though..” said Hippy.

“Aww, I am so thankful for you, my sweet children. I am so proud of y’all. I know that Dad would be proud too.”, said Katie.

Hippy and Lilac looked at each other with a smile.

Lilac and Katie gave each other a hug, while Hippy smiled on their computer screen, all of them dreaming about how they could one day have not one, but two, new members in their budding family.

Bloom! ft. Lilly~Stuffed Stories

Hello my dears!

My name is Lilly! 😀 I am a Build-A-Bear butterfly and I am very happy to be with you today!

I am the mother of two beautiful children ( Inch and Squirmy)and proud wife to my husband, Storm. I have always loved flowers and gardening. My husband is the founder of Bloom!( more on that in a minute 🙂 ) .

My children attend the FunTown school system and are both active in their school life. Inch, my oldest daughter, loves to play piano and Squirmy, my younger son, loves to do track and field.

Photo by Tatiana Syrikova on Pexels.com

I am here talk about the non-profit organization that I am with and well,it is a part of my story. I help with a place called Bloom! which is a non-profit organization that brings flowers, plants, and community gardens to schools, neighborhoods, nursing homes, hospitals, children’s homes, and many other places.

Our goal at Bloom! is to share beauty and life everywhere we go and to bring joy, smiles, and laughter wherever we fly too.

Plants and flowers, I believe, can really brighten up a place and when we are in God’s creation, which part of His creation is plants, we can bring glory to Jesus and share His love with others.

Part of the reason my husband started Bloom! was that he was inspired by his older sister, Sky, who loved to grow flowers and garden. He thought planting and growing things was a waste of time at first. His sister would watch him after school and she would make him go outside with her. 🙂 They would dig in the dirt and before he knew it, Storm was in there loving putting plants in the ground.

He and his sister are very close. She is the co-owner to our organization.

My husband was actually married to another woman before me. Her name was Belle. They had a lovely daughter named Inch. His wife ,who was close with Sky, also loved flowers. She sadly passed away of wings cancer about 10 years ago.

The main reason he started Bloom! was because of his wife that passed on. In the last few months of her life, she was always wanting fresh flowers and open windows to let in sunlight with fresh air. I know Storm loved her dearly and he was sad that Inch never really got to know her real mother. Inch was only 3 when Belle died.

Storm did not know what he was quite starting but it was always Belle’s dream to help bring light to other through the joy of flowers.

Storm did just that and named the place Bloom! as a reminder that even in our grief, we can still bloom into something beautiful. Storm is very wise in these things and he took it all one step at a time. He never really quite showed his grief in his work, or said the meaning behind his non-profit’s name but he carried on.

How me and Storm met was actually through this organization. He brought Bloom! to the children’s hospital that I worked at. I am a cardiac nurse and when he came into that hospital the first time, it was just wonderful.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

He brought life to the children I worked with. He helped to make a beautiful roof garden at the hospital, with a pretty fountain and play area for the kids. The kids adored being outside and our kids who were in the hospital frequently loved helping in the garden. Seeing all of the kids happy, really made the whole staff and families all so happy as well.

I got to know Storm because I asked him how I could help with the garden. He smiled in his loving way and well, I began to help him with the project at the hospital. I told him how I loved flowers and how wildflowers were my favorite. When I said that, he seemed to pause and grow cold.

He brushed it off like it was nothing and continued talking. At the time, I did not know what I said to turn him off for a few seconds.

I continued to help with the hospital garden and then I became a full-time volunteer at Bloom! . I helped with a lot of the projects Storm did and we got to know each other quite well.

He would smile and laugh, and I even got to meet his precious daughter, Inch. I loved getting to know Inch and her little spunky personality. Storm eventually told me about what happened to Inch’s mother. It made me sad for him and his little girl that he was raising alone.

I helped to babysit Inch on some of his late-nights at the organization that he sometimes had. We grew closer and closer until one day, he asked me to dinner and to go on a walk.

I accepted. That was the beginning of a sweet love.

We became officially a dating couple, dated for about a year, before he proposed to me.

He asked me that night, before he proposed, if I would ever be okay marrying someone who already had a child. I have always thought about that but, I knew in my heart I would be okay with it.

It was so beautiful. We were on a mountain, eating a picnic, when he proposed to me. It was so, well, how else can I describe it but meant to be.

We were married 5 months later. I help now as the admin of Bloom! and I still worked at the hospital and at that same garden where we first met.

5 years later, we had a son named Squirmy. Even though Squirmy’s sister was only his half-sister, in heart they are true siblings and Inch is my true daughter in heart too, and not just as a step-daughter.

This is part of my story.

That is why I love flowers so much. 😀

OH! And you may be wondering why he was upset when I said wildflowers were my favorites. Those were Belle’s favorite flowers too. It was hard blow to him at the start but we got to pray together about it later in our dating relationship.

We were blessed to be able to find love.

I love Storm, Inch, Squirmy, and Bloom! too . 😉 It is not perfect in our in home all the time but we are home held together by love, life, and we are committed to blossoming where we are sent.

Goodbye for now, love!!

~Lilly 🙂