Bit longwinded but anyone who bears with me can have 
and 
DD has a toy caterpillar named Sydney Tuna, she liberated him from a car boot sale when she was just gone 2 and has adored and worshipped him ever since.
Last Christmas Santa brought his mummy, Mrs. Mabel Tuna, to live with us. She had missed Sydney since he went to seek his fortune, so had written to Santa to ask him to find Sydney, and Santa gave her a lift to our house on his sleigh. Cue rejoicing and carolling and so on....
DD now informs me that this Christmas, Mrs T and Sydney are writing jointly to Santa to find Mr. Tuna, who rejoices in the name Miguel apparently, and is in the army, fighting for the peaceloving resistance caterpillars who want to stop the slaughter between the marmite and the maple syrup factions I kid you not AND I kept a straight face wile DD told me all this
So... and if you're still with me, a thousand thanks... I can lay my hands on a caterpillar identical to Mrs. Tuna, but how can I make him look like he's been liberated from the army/prisoner of war camp/somewhere else suitable to have kept him away for a long time? I thought about him having been kidnapped by Pirates to explain where he's been all these years, and that was when DD came out with the stuff about the army... any suggestions? DD is 9 and I think this could be the last year for Santa for her, we've had some pointed questions that I have so far lied my way out of managed by the skin of my teeth, so I want to do Mr. Tuna's homecoming right...
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WWYD? The Saga of the Family Tuna
PomBearAtTheGatesOfDawn · 27/09/2011 19:43
I met one of Miguel's close relations whilst sprinting through Toys R Us to get wrapping paper on the way home the other day. Luckily no-one was in earshot to hear me squeal 
Apologies for lack of commitment to the cause, I've been job hunting
Wow, that's not barmy it's incredible! What a lovely SIL My nana used to knit stuff for my dolls it never fit but i did appreciate it honest but not to that extent
Fortunately for the doll in question, DNieces both have identical very similar dolls, who were able to try everything on and keep some of it for themselves so it all fits perfectly - doll has gone into school today modelling a beautiful sundress and a crocheted jumper (well, it is a little chilly). I think DD's teacher will be sick of the sight of doll by the time she has shown off her entire wardrobe .
HoneyDragon - the little bandana cap just arrived and is perfect Thank You so much!
I was going to PM but wasn't sure if you changed your name for Hallowe'en am not au fait with the pm thing and have problems doing it
next time you spot it, take a photo for the FB page please wipe that is brilliant!
I got so excited at the thought of the poster in the car in Wales that I woke DH up to tell him All About It, and he was very grumpy and not at all suitably impressed by my news and then I realised what time it is, and that DH gets up at 5am for work in the morning
He could have pretended to be a bit excited though, and a small wicked part of me thinks it serves him right for the bad taste being dead comments he made before!
And today I found Marmite Love - heart shaped individual portions of Marmite, to go in his rucksack.
It turns out the Miguel is a marmite caterpillar and Mabel is a maple syrup caterpillar and this is why Miguel has worked so tirelessly all this time to end the terrible conflict between the two sides - he and Mabel want to be able to raise Sydney in peace without worrying about their diffrences. (Which I actually thought was very deep of DD and have no idea where she got it from, she's too young to have seen Bosnia or NI on the news 
) It is all very romantic!
Just to update in case anyone is still with us 
Today, Miguel got a visit from a Red Cross inspector in his lonely cell and has had all his wounds treated and a bit of a spruce up, and his 'tache attached trimmed and is now all ready for the Great Escape and Homecoming in two days time
He is still in the wardrobe because when it came down to it, I couldn't bear to put him under the stairs with everything else in case he was lonely/scared/walked on by wildlife so he will stay in the wardrobe until late saturday afternoon when he will begin his escape by tunnelling down to under the stairs to await Santa... I will take pictures of the Homecoming and Reunion and post them.
Miguel was discovered, lurking under the tree, at 4.30am this morning sigh and the SQUEEEEEEEEE could be heard in China I swear! The Tuna Family are currently upstairs in DDs room Having A Reunion I'd fnar fnar but Sydney and 14 pandas are in there too and we are having Maple Syrup waffles for breakfast thanks to the supplies Miguel brought with him. I have a couple of photos from when he was just arrived and will get DD to pose the family for some later on when they are not in quite such a frenzy of excitement
Merry Christmas to you all and Thank You to the Miguel Tuna Escape Committee who made all things possible 
You helped make a small girl VERY happy
actually, I think it's you and yours who helped make some big mums happy! May she never grow out of her wonderful imagination.
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