The Rainstorm Brainstorm

• Birthday Countdown
• The Tomorrow Pile
• Scrub-a-Dub-Dub
• No Tools? No Present. No Fooling!
• Brainstorm in a Rainstorm
• Happy Birthday, Aunt Miranda!
• For Parents

Birthday Countdown

Kendall is busy tapping a sign with a hammer. The sign says:

  Only 5 days until Aunt Miranda’s birthday!

All five of the WellieWishers are excited about Aunt Miranda’s birthday. They plan to have a party. Kendall pulls out her notepad and pencil, and asks the girls what type of cake they should have. Willa, Aunt Miranda’s niece, says carrot cake is her favorite. Camille laughs. Their pet bunny is also named Carrot! She recites a little rhyme:

  We’ll celebrate with carrot cake
  And happy songs and wishes.
  We’ll celebrate. It will be great!
  We’ll give her hugs and kisses.

Ashlyn says they can host the party right there, in the garden. There’ll be pretty decorations and flowers, and a big present for Aunt Miranda. The girls all cheer at the sound of a big present. Kendall asks them what they should get. Ashlyn suggests decorations to hang in the garden, so it looks like there’s a party there every day. To the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” she sings:

  Pretty decorations say,
  “It’s a party!” every day.

Willa says that Aunt Miranda loves animals, so they can get her some safe and cozy homes for the critters that live in the garden. Then she sings:

  Homes for birds and
  Squirrels and skunks,
  Made of wood or
  In tree trunks.

Emerson wrinkles her nose. Emerson is a natural performer, so she suggests getting some puppets for Aunt Miranda to put on a show:

  Puppy puppet says, “Bow-wow."
  Kitten puppet says, “Mee-yow."

Camille says maybe Aunt Miranda would like a real animal like a peacock or a dolphin:

  Animals that swim and fly,
  In the water, in the sky.

Practical Kendall suggests maybe they could get her something for the garden, like a hose:

  How about a garden hose
  Tied up with some pretty bows?

Well, the girls realize they have no money to buy anything. So they need to choose something they can get for free. The girls all start to argue with each other over what to get. But the one thing they can agree on is that whatever they get for her must be great.

The Tomorrow Pile

Suddenly, Carrot jumps out of Camille’s arms. The girls follow Carrot as she bounces away. They stop when they reach a big pile of junk. Willa explains that Aunt Miranda calls it the “Tomorrow Pile.” Some of the items are broken, some are just trash. Some need to be recycled. Aunt Miranda keeps saying she’ll deal with it tomorrow, but she never does.

Kendall has an idea. Perhaps they can clear it out for her as their gift. A cleared pile and open space could be a very helpful present. Ashlyn says she doesn’t want to touch the dirty and grimy stuff. Perhaps there’s worms and bugs in it. But Kendall is already squatting down and sifting through the items. She pulls out an old mailbox and a muddy watering can. Maybe they can repair some of the items to give back to Aunt Miranda.

Willa agrees, and there’s probably more they can fix, too. With a grumble, Camille complains that fixed up stuff isn’t as exciting as a dolphin. But, they all agree that at least it’s feasible. And free.

As the girls stand up, they realize how dirty they already are. This’ll be a messy job.

Scrub-a-Dub-Dub

The next morning, they see Kendall brought an assortment of tools for their project. Work gloves, scrub brushes, rags, soapy water. Camille, who loves water, volunteers to be on scrub duty. Willa offers to help. Emerson takes Kendall’s apron, and says she’ll cut the weeds and vines. Kendall can pick up and sort the items. Ashlyn, who prefers not to get dirty, says she’ll make a list of the things they may be able to use later.

Things start out well, but as the day wears on, the air gets hot, and the girls get tired. Emerson’s hands begin to get sore, and Camille and Willa have prune fingers from the washing. Ashlyn is discouraged because the items still look dirty, old, and like junk.

Ashlyn walks away from the girls, and goes off to sit in the shade of a big maple tree and doodle. Emerson goes to sit next to Kendall, too—cutting vines is hard work! Kendall continues to work separating a spring that’s caught in a vine.

Emerson takes the apron off, and wraps it around her shoulders like a cap. She grabs the scissors and pretends they’re a microphone, dancing and singing in the shade. Camille and Willa see Emerson and Ashlyn laughing, and make their way over to them.

Camille puts on the safety goggles and pretends she’s a deep sea diver. She uses Kendall’s hammer as if it’s a seahorse in the water. Willa holds up the tape measure, saying it looks like a big ladybug.

All of a sudden, the spring Kendall is working with comes loose, and she falls back on her bottom. But nobody notices… they’re all too busy playing with Kendall’s tools under the big tree.

No Tools? No Present. No Fooling!

The next morning, all the girls go back to the garden, singing to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”:

  We’re the WellieWishers
  We like fun,
  Here in the garden,
  Under the sun.

  We love Aunt Miranda,
  Soon we’ll say:
  “It’s your birthday,
  Hip-hip, hooray!"

But they see Kendall is already sitting beside the playhouse, looking sad. Kendall explains that Aunt MIranda’s birthday is coming up, but they may not be able to make her a present because Kendall can’t find her tools. And they need the tools to turn the Tomorrow Pile into presents.

The other girls look at each other embarrassed. Ashlyn confesses that they were using the tools to play with, and then they must’ve forgotten them under the tree. Emerson offers to run and go get them.

All together the girls run off to the shady tree. Unfortunately, it had rained overnight, so the sticks and leaves are all sticky on the ground. After some searching, they locate all of Kendall’s tools.

But instead of joy when they returned the tools to Kendall, she looks upset. The hammer is dirty, the pencil is blunt, the apron wrinkled, the googles smoggy, the tape measure tangled, and the scissors gummy. And, the notepad is soggy.

“Sorry,” says Emerson. But Kendall is mad. She explodes, saying that they’re supposed to be working on the project together. But instead, they all go off and play. They used the tools as toys, and now they’re ruined. Nobody can use the tools in that state. So, they might as well forget about making a gift for Aunt Miranda. And with that, Kendall throws the tools on the ground and stomps away.

The other girls had never seen Kendall so upset. The WellieWishers feel ashamed. Camille picks up the tools, and says “We’ve got some work to do.” Emerson responds, “No fooling.”

Brainstorm in a Rainstorm

The next day is rainy again. Kendall arrives at the garden with her umbrellas and wellingtons, and is surprised to see the other girls are already there. All the girls begin singing to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”:

  We are very sorry.
  Hear our song:
  We left your tools out,
  That was wrong.

  Now we will return them,
  Good as new.
  Please forgive us,
  Kendall, do.

Willa guides Kendall into the playhouse. The mud splashes on their legs, and their umbrellas part the falling rain like a curtain parting down the middle. When Kendall enters the playhouse, she gasps in surprise. All of the items from the Tomorrow PIle are laying on the ground, fully washed, dried, and polished! And her tools were laid out neatly on the table. And not only were they cleaned, they looked completely different!

The hammer handle was painted with stripes. The notepad received a new cover and was decorated with ladybugs and flowers. The tape measure was painted and untangled. The googles were shiny and clean, and the pencil had a shiny blue tip to match the cleaned scissors.

Kendall picks up the tools one by one. She exclaims that the tools look better than ever. And then, Emerson pulls out the apron and shakes it out. The girls added a cheery rickrack to the bottom, and a big flowery pocket to hold the tools. When Kendall put it on, all the tools fit neatly inside the apron pocket. Each tool even had its own spot!

Admiring the apron/tool belt, Kendall thanks the girls. The girls explain they’re sorry for messing the tools up in the first place. Kendall accepts their apology, and hands the tools out again. She wants them to finish Aunt Miranda’s gift together.

And then suddenly, Kendall has a fantastic brainstorm idea. The other day, the girls used the tools to pretend they were other things, like toys. Well, they could do the same thing with the items from the Tomorrow Pile! They can paint the items and combine them to turn them into fun stuff. Like homes for animals, pretty decorations, or puppets! And maybe the items won’t turn into a real dolphin, but they could put them together to make pretend animals. All the girls run to the pile of stuff and begin choosing things to make for Aunt Miranda.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Miranda!

On the big day, all five girls go up to Aunt Miranda’s door and knock together. When she opens the door, the girls break out into a big song of “Happy Birthday.” Aunt Miranda thanks them for the wonderful song. Then Ashlyn says there’s more, and the girls lead Aunt Miranda to the first present.

Willa explains how she knows Aunt Miranda loves animals, so she made some cozy homes for them. She shows Aunt Miranda a birdhouse made out of the old mailbox. Then Ashlyn leads them down a pretty path, where she strung vines and cables through the trees and laid potted plants on the path edges.

Then Emerson comes in and skips backwards until they get to the garden stage. She explains how they made toys out of the stuff that looks like a kitty and a puppy. They can be used like puppets. And then Camille says her gift is an animal, too. She made a weather-vane chicken that spins in the wind.

And lastly, Kendall brings everybody to her gift. Kendall says she originally wanted to gift a garden house, but she realized that perhaps a signpost would be more useful. So, she took the original signpost they used to announce Aunt Miranda’s birthday and repainted parts of it. So now, it points in the direction of different parts of the garden: one arrow for the playhouse, one for the tea table, one for Carrot’s hutch, one for the garden stage, and one for the gate. Now, visitors will always know where to go and what path to take.

And then, they all lead Aunt Miranda back to where the Tomorrow Pile originally was. Kendall explains how they used the items from that pile to make all of the gifts.

Aunt Miranda is quite surprised! They cleared away her junk, recycled, and made incredible gifts all at the same time. These were the most creative and insightful gifts she’d ever received, and all thanks to Kendall’s rainstorm brainstorm.

For Parents

Discusses DIY decluttering. Topics include:

• Trying on old clothes while decluttering makes a fun activity while doing chores
• Giving old planters a makeover by painting and designing on them
• Transforming old tins into keepsake boxes for knickknacks and small toys
• Creating a rotating art gallery with homemade masterpieces; the frames can be made with foam core or cardboard
• Bringing your girl to the donation center so she can see where all the unwanted items and clothes go
• Having a yard or garage sale to share stories and make memories about the items as they’re displayed and sold