mimiville

Coming soon: Etsy!!

2012-01-23T18:09:00.000-06:00

Hello people! This is Poppy.
Well, as the title says, we're going to set up an Etsy store soon! It should be up in a few days, depending on when we get pictures taken and stuff.
Excited? Hopefully. We are, anyways. Or at least, I am. I haven't been able to discuss this with many people yet. I guess that's what I'll be doing after I finish posting this. :D
As soon as the store is up, one of us will post here about it.
There is another thing I am excited about!! The Doll Wardrobe blog is having another photo contest... and we entered! Here is a link to the page. contest page Our photo is #34.
We'd love it if you voted for us!
Well, I've got to go now, I'm impatient to talk to some of my new friends (who you already know!) about this. See you soon!!!

Poppy Lotta Parker

P.S. Here is a picture of me and a few of my friends standing around being excited. :P

Happy 2012, from Poppy!

2012-01-02T15:45:00.000-06:00

Hello everybody! My name is Poppy. Well, technically, my full name is Penelope Lotta Parker, but I prefer Poppy personally. :D

My cousin, Jenna, was the one who told me about this blog. She was really excited to hear that I was moving here. I'm not so sure yet, it seems to be a nice place, but I kind of miss my old neighborhood. There were a lot of girls my age in my old neighborhood, and a lot of things to do nearby, like a hair salon, a shopping center, a bookstore, and even a Panera Bread!
Jenna says there's a lot of nice people here, so I can't wait to meet some of them.
My other cousins are moving to this area too. Some coincidence, huh? Before this, I had only seen any of my cousins at family reunions, so it will be nice to see them more often.
I guess that I should probably spend more time actually introducing myself, and less time telling you my whole family history. :P
I don't quite know where to start, so I guess I'll begin with some of my hobbies. I like gardening and swimming a lot. Biking is fun, and so are things like sewing and drawing. My favorite subject in school is Science, but I mostly just like the plant parts.

I haven't met many people around here yet, and the people I have met I met on accident. Most of the people I know here I met while my mom, cousins, and I were at a store, just trying to pass some time. I met some of Jenna's friends, twins named Josefina and Kaya, and Kit, who told me that I could post the New Year's post. Oh, that reminds me. I probably should actually get to the New Years part. Since I haven't been here for very long, I can't really write a long, sentimental "we've had a good year here" sort of thing. I guess I'll have to settle for a good ol'
Happy New Year!!

Joy to the World

2011-12-25T08:18:00.000-06:00

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Merry Christmas!

Updates, and the AG store!

2011-12-13T15:54:00.001-06:00

Hello! This is Jenna.
I hope that you all had a good Thanksgiving, and are having a good first part of December. Kit has finished the writing portion of her novel, but she says that it isn't ready to be read yet, so you'll have to wait. :/
I tried to convince her to post it as it is currently, but she was horrified. Apparently authors don't just post their first drafts around all over everywhere.
In other news, Mimi got to visit an AG store! Her good friends Rita and Bob took her there.
Mimi says that they had a great time there. It is a beautiful store, and all of the staff people are very nice. Apparently it can be rather overwhelming because of how much there is to see.
Kaya was the only one of us who got to go. Lucky. She told us all about it though, which is how I know anything about it. It sounds like a lot of fun there. Kaya liked meeting all of the different girls who live there. One of them even came home with Mimi and Kaya!! However, she has stubbornly refused to come out until Christmas. Strange, huh?

I don't really have anything else to say at the moment. I guess I had better just sign off before this gets too long.
Bye!
Jenna

My Attempt at Novel Writing!

2011-11-15T17:46:00.000-06:00

Hello! This is Kit.
As you may know, November is NaNoWriMo, that is, National Novel Writing Month.
Well, earlier today, Samantha and I were playing rather noisily, and Mimi asked us to kindly be a little quieter, because she was writing.
"Hey, is it NaNoWriMo again?" I asked eagerly. I had forgotten all about it. "Can I do it this year?? Please??"
"Kit," Mimi said. "First off, it's already November 15th; you've missed half of NaNoWriMo. Also, are you sure that you're up to writing a novel? Aside from blog posts, the last thing I saw you write was "A chicken named Henry", and that was months ago."
"Of course I can!" I said indignantly. "And Samantha will too."
Samantha wasn't really listening right then, but when I informed her that she would be participating, she didn't mind.
"Well, all right." Mimi finally consented. "What are you going to make your word count goal?"
I thought for a second. "How does 30 words sound?" I asked.
She said that sounded fine, although I think she was giggling. I don't see what was so funny, personally.
"So," I conceded. "Since I only have fifteen days left, I guess I'll have to write 2 words a day."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mimi asked. "I think you'll need a lot of dedication to write two words a day."
I think she was being sarcastic.
I picked up my notebook. I tore a page out for Samantha to write on, and after giving it to her, I started to write. Well, no, I didn't start immediately. First I had to sit there and think for a few minutes. It was worth it though, because I came up with the perfect beginning.
"It was a dark, and stormy night." I wrote.
I smiled. I'm already way ahead of the game. I don't have to write for two days, if I don't want to.
I peeked over at Samantha's paper. She already had her beginning, too. "Once upon a time," she had written. "There were two fluffy little bunnies."
She may have more words than I do, but I think I like my opening more. It's more dramatic, and also more original.
I ran over to the computer, and typed it into the NaNoWriMo website, so there would be no doubts as to whether or not I had my seven words.
Well, that's about all. I don't really have anything else to say, and I think that I should be writing on my novel.
Oh, and if you were wondering what happened to that post that Samantha was supposed to write a few weekends ago, you're not the only one. Apparently she forgot about it, or something. That's Samantha for you.

Kit

Pictures!

2011-10-27T18:14:00.000-05:00

Hi! This is Jenna, as you can probably tell by the picture.
It has been stubbornly warm around here lately, so I find it rather hard to believe that it is already almost November! Where did October go?

Today it was surprisingly nice outside. (That is, compared to the previous couple of days that have been warm, muggy, or full of mosquitoes.)
So, Kirsten and I decided to take advantage of the situation; we went outside and took some pictures. Technically, Kirsten took the pictures, and I just tagged along.
She took a lot of them, but I'm only including ones that I'm in. :D
I hope you like them!
Oh, and sorry that this post is kind of short. Samantha has informed me that she plans to post sometime this weekend, if all goes well.

Until next time!
Jenna

Variety!

2011-09-17T10:35:00.001-05:00

You know the expression, “Variety is the spice of life”, right? Well, sometimes I think that my life might have a little too much spice in it.

I mean, there is always something going on around here. (This is Kirsten writing, just so you know.)

We've had a lot going on even in the past week. At first, Josefina's Sombrita problem was the big issue, and then Eliza started boycotting the school lunches, not because she minded them very much, mostly because she wanted something to boycott...

Then, Josefina heard from somewhere that the American Girl people are going to make a Josefina movie. I don't think that Josefina has very reliable sources, personally.

True or not, Josefina got pretty excited about it. She was so excited by it, that she has started dressing like Josefina from the books, just in case there are any talent scouts around.

The most recent happening occured yesterday when Samantha and I were walking home from school. She had been mostly quiet, and then she had her big idea.

"Kirsten! I have a great idea!" she bubbled. "Let's have a Halloween Fashion Show Contest!!"

I waited to reply for a minute, hoping that she was joking. "Um, Samantha..." I said slowly. "Halloween isn't for a month or so."

"I know!" she said.

"Don't you think it's a bit early for a, um, a—"

"A Halloween Fashion Show Contest." she informed me. "Come on, it will be fun!"

So somehow, I ended up at Samantha's house this morning, helping her host and judge a Halloween Fashion Show Contest.

Most of the costumes were pretty commonplace, like black cats, and witches, and princesses. The strangest ones came when some of our friends arrived.

The first of our friends to arrive was Kit. "What are you, Kit?" Samantha asked.

"I'm a fruit advertisement. What would you say if I told you that everyone should eat ten pounds of fruit each day?"

"Um, I don't know." I said.

"That's probably what I would say too." she said, before continuing along to where the "judged" sat.

You can probably guess who Josefina came dressed as. Haha.

We saw more normal costumes, until Jenna came in.

"What are you, Jenna?" Samantha asked, as was her custom.

"I'm the Halloweenie! And this is my hollow-weenie!" she chirped, holding up a plastic hot dog. "I think I have the best costume here."

"Why is that?" Samantha asked.

"Because! My costume is good for two holidays, unlike most of the ones here. It's good for halloween if I go by myself, and good for National No-Hot-Dog Day if I bring my hollow-weenie along to remind people."

"National No-Hot-Dog Day? I didn't know there was one." I told her.

Jenna nodded.
"How do you know about it?" I asked, curious in spite of myself.
"Duh! I'm a vegan!" she said.
"Jenna! You're not a vegan. I saw you eating a McDonald's hamburger just yesterday."
"Those are real?" Samantha asked, highly confused. "I always thought that those were like, tofu or something."
"No, yes, maybe." I faltered. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. Let's get back to the contest."
And that's what we did.

While I'm still writing about it, Jenna won the contest. Samantha couldn't argue with the fact that Jenna's contest would be highly useful for two holidays, and plus, who doesn't like Hollow-weenies?

This is kind of a strange place to stop, but I don't really have anything else to say, except for this.
If variety is the spice of life, then I guess I have one well-seasoned life.

Kirsten

P.S. Do you like the picture on the bottom of this post? Samantha actually took it for her scrapbook, but I thought that I would include it. As you can see, I was granted the honor of holding the hollow-weenie. :D

Back to school!

2011-09-06T15:42:00.004-05:00

Hello! This is Kaya posting.

Well, as the title suggests, today was our first day back in school.

I had intended to get up nice and early this morning, so that I would be able to walk leisurely to school, enjoying the crisp air and the autumn colors. Technically all of the trees are still green, (and probably will remain that way, many of them being live oaks!) and the air isn't quite crisp, but it's at least sort of cool.
Unfortunately, things sometimes don't quite work out like we think they should.
When I woke up this morning, I was shocked to see that I had to leave in less than five minutes, if I wanted to only be a little bit late.
I flew out of bed, and rushed around to get ready. Josefina was still around, trying to get Sombrita to go in Coconut's kennel.
Apparently she had forgotten to wake me up because she was wondering about what to do with Sombrita.
Josefina and I ended up biking to school, because there was no way we could make it on foot. It was actually sort of pleasant, in a way. It would have been more pleasant, however, if it hadn't been for the looming fear of being really late on the first day.
Surprisingly, we got there right on time! Either that, or everyone else was late too.
School was really good. It was a lot of fun to see all of my friends in one place again. The last time that happened was at camp, and that didn't work out that well, if you remember.
I could go into great detail about what exactly we did today, but there isn't really that much to say except for that it was a lot of fun, although it doesn't seem like school should be.
When we got home, we discovered that Sombrita had somehow managed to get out of the kennel. I guess she was restless in there, despite the fact that Mom let her out a few times while she was still home.
I don't think that Sombrita had been out for too long, because she had only managed to chew on the rug, knock over the trash, and pull up all of the carpet in one corner. Right then, she was happily chewing on one of Josefina's socks. For Sombrita, that's pretty good behavior.
We shooed her outside, and started to work on reinstalling the carpet before Mom got home.
Well, I should probably get off of the computer now, because Josefina says she needs help with the carpet.

Bye!

Kaya

Edit by Josefina: This has nothing to do with the post, but I just noticed that we now have 30 followers!! Yay! Thank you all for following this blog, it means a lot to us.
We'll have to think of some way to celebrate. :D

Until next time!!

Oh dear.

2011-09-05T15:10:00.001-05:00

Hi! This is Josefina.

Happy Labor Day! I've never actually heard anyone wish someone a happy Labor day, but, whatever.

Yesterday, my mom took her annual "Back to School Picture" of Kaya and me.
I included it in this post, just because I could. Sorry it looks so grainy, I don't know why all of the pictures that have been put on here lately look that way. They aren't actually all that grainy, but somehow they get messed up in the transition to blogger. I tried to fix this one in Picnik, but it made it worse.

Anyway, Mom wouldn't let us have all of our pets in the picture, because of how many we have.
Also, Coconut likes to chase my lizards, so it probably wouldn't have worked out anyway.
Sombrita and Coconut were the only ones allowed to have their picture taken. They did pretty well together, except for when Sombrita tried to eat Coconut's ribbon.

Well, that evening, Mom was putting the picture on the refrigerator by the other ones, when she noticed something.
"Josefina," she asked. "What do you plan to do with Sombrita when school starts?"

I stopped sorting my pencils for a moment to think about that. It hadn't even crossed my mind before.

Sombrita isn't really the kind of pet that you can leave somewhere. All of the other pets I've ever owned haven't required much supervision. I mean, you don't have to worry much about fish, lizards, or turtles when you're at school. But Sombrita is a different story.

I had thought that she was getting better about not devouring everything in sight, but I guess I was wrong, because about a week ago she relapsed into her old habits.

I would like to think that she would be okay by herself at home... let me rephrase that. I would like to think that our home would be okay if she were left by herself.

I've been thinking about it all night, and I still don't know what to do about her. Mom is gone in the mornings, and so is Dad, so she really can't stay home.

Maybe I can take her to school with me??

Josefina

I'm home!!

2011-08-28T19:34:00.002-05:00

Hiya! This is Kit, posting from her home computer!
Well, yesterday morning was the last little bit of time I had at my grandma's house. We had a nice breakfast, and by nine o'clock, I was headed to the local train station. It made me sad to say goodbye, especially since I knew that I probably wouldn't see my Grandma, or any of my new friends, until next summer. I guess it gives me something to look forward to.
As my train pulled out of the station, I waved back to them until I couldn't see them anymore. Then I settled down for the long ride ahead of me. It took a couple of hours, but by early afternoon I had arrived at my destination. My family was waiting there for me. After we got all of my stuff together, we went to one of my favorite restaurants for a late lunch.
All in all, I had a very pleasant day.

I'm glad to be home.

In other news, there is going to be an orientation thing at the school tomorrow. Sigh. I'm just glad that real school doesn't start till next week sometime.

Kit

Hello from the "new" library

2011-08-25T19:02:00.000-05:00

Hello! This is Kit.
For about the past month, I've been visiting my grandmother, who lives way out in the country. I would have posted about it, but the only place that has a computer around here is the "new" library. (It's not really new, but it definitely seems that way when compared with the "old" library.)
I only heard that there was a computer here at all about yesterday, so that explains my absence. I don't know what the other girls have been up to; maybe they were all just to lazy to post.
I've had a very good time here, actually. I always do, but this time has been especially fun.
I met a nice girl here named Anna. She looks a lot like my friend Dakota, actually. Anyway, apparently Anna visits her grandmother here about every year too. I had always thought that she lived here, because I usually see her around sometimes, like at Sunday school.
She thought that I lived here as well. Strange coincidence, huh?

We've been having a lot of fun together. There's not a whole lot to do here that would really be of any interest, but we've done a lot of playing outside. I've gotten a lot better at climbing trees this summer. :D

I have a lot more that I could say, but right now Grandma is motioning to me to finish up soon so I had better wrap this up.

I'm sad that summer is almost over. I have to be back home by next Monday, because school is going to start soon. Such is life, I suppose...

I wish that I had some pictures to put in this post, but, unfortunately, I didn't bring a camera here with me. Hopefully by the next time one of us posts, we'll have something more interesting to post about than why we were gone for nearly a month. :P

Kit

Jenna's Thoughts

2011-08-03T10:41:00.001-05:00

Hello! This is Jenna.
I could spend a long time talking about camp, but you probably already know enough about it from Kit's letters, which sum up the experience very nicely.
Not a whole lot has happened since then, except for that I went to an amusement park with Dakota a few days ago. It was fun, but there wasn't much about it that would be interesting for me to write, or for you to read.
So, aside from those things, the only thing that has really happened to me is that I entered the fourth round of The Doll Wardrobe's photo contest. I'm #7, and Mimi's friend is #18. If you would vote for us, it would be greatly appreciated. :)
Here is a link to the page with the photos: http://thedollwardrobe.blogspot.com/2011/08/activity-four-photos-voting-starts.html

Well, if you do vote for us, thank you! And if you don't, then that's okay too. :)
By now you're probably wondering why exactly I called this post "Jenna's thoughts" when there isn't a whole lot of actual thinking going on here. I'm kind of wondering that myself.

Bye!
Jenna

Rushing River 2011, Letter 5!

2011-07-29T10:36:00.000-05:00

Dear Mimi!
It finally stopped raining, for good mostly! We have had several beautiful days that we have spent hiking, canoeing, bike-riding, and swimming. We've also had several camp fires, complete with marshmallow roasting. (I don't know where the camp people found wood that was dry enough, but it worked out somehow.)
The camp instructor people decided to forgo the educational stuff, and let us just enjoy ourselves for our last days of camp. We still learned some stuff, but it wasn't a major part of our day or anything like that.
In short, the end of our time at camp has been a lot better than the beginning. :P
Well, by the time you're reading this, we will probably be back home, or at least on our way back.
Bye!
Kit

. . . . . . . . . .

And sure enough, they were all back before I had even managed to finish typing this post up! They're all very tired, but maybe one of them will post something soon.

Rushing River 2011, Letter 4!

2011-07-22T10:09:00.000-05:00

Dear Mimi,
Camp has been much the same for the past few days. It has actually stopped raining a couple of times. Unfortunately, with this heat wave going on, a lot of water evaporates, leaving the whole camp filled with dense fog. When it's not raining, it's so muggy, and so hard to see, that we stay inside anyway. It's getting pretty tiresome, living in such small quarters with like, everyone I know. As Samantha said about the cabin, "It's pretty 'squeezy'."
All I have to say about this is that I'm glad our cabin is pretty close to the mess hall. Otherwise, you could bet your bologna that I'd skip a few meals.

Kit

Rushing River 2011, Letter 3

2011-07-17T11:33:00.000-05:00

Dear Mimi,

It has rained... and rained... and RAINED ever since the 13th. It has gone beyond the point of being funny.
We haven't actually been able to do any camping stuff ever since it started raining.
A couple groups of campers gave up and went home a couple of days ago, although the camp did promise to let us make up for all of the days of camp that we missed. I guess that they didn't feel that it was worth it.
Our group might have decided to come home too, if it wasn't for Mrs. Morgan, the lady that took us all here. She wanted to stick it out, so we have to too. Now we couldn't come home even if we wanted to, because the ground is soggy and it would be pretty dangerous to drive in. I can't even try to stand up on the outside ground without quickly sinking a couple of inches.
Thanks a lot, Mrs. Morgan.
I wonder why it always seems to rain when we come here. Oh well.

Kit
P.S. Everyone says hi, and they would have written to you too, but this is the only piece of paper we have in the cabin. (Yes, we are all now in the cabin. The tents were leaking.) All of the other paper is in the supply closet by the nurse's office.

Rushing River 2011, Letter 2!

2011-07-15T15:05:00.001-05:00

I don't know why this didn't get here until today.... :P

Hello! July 12, 2011

Today we woke up to the crazed screeching of a bugle. This is just my opinion, but I don't think that they should let their bugle player drink coffee.
The sudden noise was quite a shock. In fact, it startled me so much that I fell out of bed. It was unpleasant, to say the least.
After I picked myself up from the floor, I looked out of our window into the blue, misty world beyond. Apparently the camp people had decided that we needed to wake up earlier than we had last year; it was only 6:15 in the morning.
The first thing we did was a nature hike. I have to admit, it was not especially fun. It was hot and muggy, and we hadn't had breakfast yet.
Breakfast was a bit of an ordeal. They served oatmeal, but they hadn't made enough of it, so a lot of people ended up eating at the concession stand.
The nature lecture was about chipmunks.
For the craft time, we made "track trackers", which are handy things that help you identify animal tracks.
Then we had recreation, where we played a few rounds of hide-and-seek.
For lunch we made sandwiches.
After lunch, it was the organized sport time, where they try to teach us how to do something. Today we learned about how to canoe. It was very basic stuff, but still valuable to know.
In free time we mostly ran around and goofed off, although we did try out the high ropes course. It was pretty laid back for the most part, except for when we met three strange girls. I was playing with Jenna and Libby, when the aforesaid three girls sauntered over. Another camper informed us that they were known as "Sneaky Pita", "Nervous Nellie", and "Average Jody".
They came over and challenged Libby to a race. Libby, being rather competitive, accepted the challenge, and they went ahead and raced. I'm not really sure who won, because in the final stretch of the race one of them tripped, and because they were running on a slight slope, they ended up rolling back to the finish line at about the same time.
I'm kind of hoping that we don't run into any of them again while we're here.
So, that's how today went. Not amazing, but not at all bad either.
I'm thinking that I might switch to only writing you every two days. Not that I don't like writing, but there are only a couple times a day when we have time to write letters, and they are few and far in between.
I'll send some more pictures next time I write a letter...
Bye!
Kit

Rushing River 2011, Day 1

2011-07-12T10:59:00.003-05:00

Although they never mentioned it here on this blog, the dolls all decided to go to summer camp again this year. Like last year, Kit agreed to write me all about the interesting stuff they do at camp for my enjoyment, and for yours.
Just a few minutes ago, I received my first letter from her, which I have typed out below.

Hello! July 11, 2011
Camp has been very fun so far!
The bus ride was much the same this year. I brought a book with me to read, but I didn't get to read much of it because a lot of people were singing songs to pass the time. After a while, I put my book away and sang with them. After all, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
After about three hours, all of us were pretty hoarse, but still enjoying ourselves, sort of. When we saw the entrance to Rushing Rivers, the singing was stopped, and a cheer filled the air. Then the bus driver, who was pretty tired of us, asked us (rather loudly) to please be quiet. We sat quietly after that.
After check-in and stuff, we had orientation. We were assigned cabins and teams at that point.
Unlike last year, I was put into an actual cabin, instead of a tent. It was a pleasant change.
I am in Cabin 1. Because it is the largest of all of the cabins, more people are put in there.
I was pleased to find out that Molly, Kirsten, Samantha, Kaya, and Rilla will all be staying in Cabin 1 as well.
Cabin 1 is quite spacious, which I was glad of. The tent I stayed in last year was a bit.... petite.
My only real complaint is that it is very hard to get into my bed, which is the top bunk on the right. It's low enough that it doesn't "need" a ladder. You can see from the pictures I sent that a ladder would be helpful.
I guess I still am luckier than Kaya, who is also on a top bunk. Her bed is a lot higher up and narrower than mine is!
For the rest of the afternoon, we mostly unpacked, and got ourselves acquainted with some of the other campers from our teams. We just finished an early dinner that was mostly made up of chili. I suppose that we will probably play some games later.
Well, I have to stop writing now, because one of the camp counselors is now picking up letters to be mailed.
Bye for now!
Kit

Untitled post that secretly sort of has a title

2011-07-05T12:47:00.001-05:00

Hello! This is Jenna. (I couldn't think of an actual title for this post, because it's sort of here and there.)
First off, Happy 4th of July! I know it's a day late, but, I was busy yesterday!!
As you probably know, a couple of Saturdays ago, I had the photo shoot. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, look here.
Well, in short, it went very well! I had a lot of fun. I was very pleased with how the pictures turned out, so (after obtaining permission) I asked Mimi to enter a selection of my photos into a photo contest! That's what the picture on the side is. It's pretty much identical to what we entered, just sized differently and stuff.
Now to the point of this story. Would you mind voting for my picture? It's #37. While you're at it, if you could vote for #33 as well, that would be great. It is not our picture, but it is a picture by one of our close friends. To vote, all you have to do is send an email to nora.demington@gmail.com and specify which photo(s) you would like to vote for. You have to get your vote in before July 14th, I believe.
Here is a link to the contest page: http://thedollwardrobe.blogspot.com/2011/07/activity-three-entries-start-voting.html
Thank you!!

Jennifer

Hello, summer!!

2011-06-21T19:42:00.001-05:00

Hello summer, I've missed you desperately! Well, no not really. Personally, I've missed things like lazy summer days, rainbows, barbecues, and swimming, but I could do without the heat!

Hello, people reading this. This is Kit.
Sorry for the rather eccentric opening. Eliza is over at my house, and wanted to put her two-cents into this post, so she typed that little ditty up. Go figure. If you don't remember Eliza, look here.
You might be wondering what Eliza is doing at my house. I was kind of wondering the same thing. Now don't get me wrong, I like Eliza well enough, but she's not exactly the type of person you invite over to your house. Well, not unless you want somebody singing, and dancing, and doing things like jumping on your bed and rolling down your stairs. I don't really mind activities such as those, but my Mom isn't exactly ecstatic when company behaves like that. I don't know why though.
So anyway, I'm spending my first day of summer with Eliza. We're having a pretty good time, even though she is a bit of a piece of work. I wouldn't ordinarily take the time to write up a post while somebody is at my house, but right now Eliza is taking a break from civilized living to slide down the front banisters. I included a couple of pictures for your enjoyment. I love the second one (shown below), because it looks like Eliza is hanging on for dear life.

ANYWAY, I hope you enjoyed your first day of summer!

Kit

P.S. I don't want to remove Jenna's post from the spotlight too quickly, especially for such a strange post as this, so you might go check out the post before this one, if you haven't already. :)

Big News!

2011-06-20T14:52:00.000-05:00

Hi! Jenna here.
The other day Dakota told me about a program that a local fashion company is running. Basically, the entrants had to make a handmade outfit, and send them a picture of it. If you won, you could model some of the pieces of their latest line, if your parents agreed.
Well, the results came in yesterday, and guess who won? ...Dakota!

Not really. Actually, I won!!! I was so excited. And just for the record, I wouldn't feel too bad for Dakota. I don't think she actually got around to entering.
Back to the main point. When I heard that I had won, I ran and told my family. My mom and dad took the news nicely. They told me that they didn't see any problem with it, if they could go with me to the photo-shoot. However, my sister Rachel didn't take it as nicely.
"What?" She squawked in shock. "Jenna gets to model clothing??"
I tried to lighten the blow. "I only get to once, it's not like it's a permanent position or anything."
That didn't help much. You see, Rachel has dreamt about being a model ever since she was about two. This is obviously an exaggeration, since I wasn't even around when Rachel was two, but you get the picture.
Long story short, Rachel is still a little steamed at me for winning. It's not my fault, all I did was enter. Older sisters are so weird.
Anyways, the photo-shoot is on this coming Saturday. I'm not sure if Rachel is coming, but Dakota is definitely coming with us, so we should have a lot of fun! Wish me luck!
Jennifer

A verbose excuse....

2011-06-08T16:41:00.000-05:00

...for being nonexistent lately! Howdy, strangers! This is Kit.
I know, it has been FOREVER since I last posted. I don't really have a very good excuse either, just the usual "I was too busy".
Luckily, Dakota and Jenna apparently like posting, so you haven't had to wait around for me to post. And just in case you were wondering, you would have been waiting for a post since late February.
So, after all of the previous random information, you are probably starting to wonder what I have been doing exactly. Dakota mentioned a while ago that I was helping repaint our hallway, but that wasn't all of it. This year my mom got really into "Spring Cleaning". She decided to redo most of the house, so my brother and I have been working hard on that.
Since school ended, I've been able to spend a lot more time outdoors. I've done a lot of biking, swimming, and playing. It has been a pretty good summer so far.
Well, that's about all I have to say for myself, sorry again for being absent. :P
I'm off to meet Samantha and Kirsten at the pool, so goodbye for now!
Kit

Testing, testing, 123

2011-05-17T18:42:00.000-05:00

Well, what do you know? The end of school is approaching once again. I don't know when normal schools let out for summer, but our school is letting out sometime this week. Yay!
Of course, the end of school does have its disadvantages, namely, a lot of tests. I've heard from some of the other students that Springfield Academy has always been a big fan of tests, and this year (so far, anyway) has been no exception!!
The testing started yesterday, and will continue until about Wednesday, when we will be finally let out of school!!!
So far the tests have been pretty brutal. I have a bad feeling that I didn't do so well on a couple of them.
On a happier note, I invited Jenna and Libby to stay over at my house tonight! It will be the second sleep-over that I've had at our "new" house, so I'm pretty excited! Hopefully it will go well, and we'll manage to sneak some studying in somehow!!

Bye!
Dakota

The Trip to the Woods!

2011-05-15T13:14:00.002-05:00

Hello!
Yesterday morning I woke up at seven to get ready to go to the woods with Kirsten. I wasn't quite sure what I should wear, so I chose something that I felt was artistic. After all, photography is art, sort of.
I showed up on Kirsten's doorstep at eight o'clock sharp, just as she was coming out.
There was a bit of an awkward moment as we stared at each other. I had the weirdest feeling that I might have been just a little bit overdressed.
"Kirsten," I said to break the silence. "You kind of remind me of Kelly in that jacket."
She looked confused. "My sister Kelly?" she asked.
"No," I told her, now confused as well. "I mean Barbie's sister Kelly."
"Why do I—" she began, but stopped. "Never mind. I don't really want to know why this jacket reminds you of Kelly."
During the walk to the forest, Kirsten was peu communicatif, that is to say, she didn't talk. Or if you want to be literal, uncommunicative. I didn't start up any topics since my last one had been such an epic failure.
By the time we reached the forest, I was ready for the action to start. Then came the surprise.
Photography is not a very active activity. For the most part, once Kirsten found something she wanted to take a picture of, she stood very still, and took a lot of pictures, until one suited her fancy. I'll freely admit, the process bored me.
I mostly watched Kirsten take pictures. One reason was that I'm not all that crazy about forests. The other was that I've never used a camera before, so I didn't really know how to use the one my mom was lending me. I would have asked Kirsten about it, but she seemed happier when I was quieter. Also, I didn't want to seem like a complete newbie, even though that's exactly what I was.

Well, I have to get off of the computer now, so I don't really have time to write about today in very much detail. Click on the pictures below to see them bigger! Hopefully they will give an idea, no matter how vague, about how today was.

Until next time!

Jennifer Elaine

A new hobby?

2011-05-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

Hello! This is Jenna.
I don't know if I really hit on this too much in my other post, but I have always been involved in a lot of sports, and really liked all of them. So when I heard that our school was having "career day", and that we were supposed to come dressed as what we would like to be when we are older, I already knew what I was going as.
I showed up to school in an old soccer uniform of mine, not so much because I want to play soccer, but because I hoped that it would convey that I liked sports.
It didn't occur to me that maybe I would run into a hobby that I liked more than sports.
You know Kirsten Larson, right? Well hopefully you do, and hopefully you also know about her love of photography.
Previously I haven't been very interested in taking pictures. It always seemed like it was something that some people do somewhere, but I've never had any experiences with photography at all.
But when I saw some of Kirsten's photography yesterday, I found a fascination that I've never had before for art related things. I discovered that maybe I would like to be a photographer.
After class I found Kirsten and talked to her. I asked her if sometime I could go with her when she was taking pictures.
She hesitated at first, apparently having some reservations. After a little thought though, she decided that I could come. "I'll be going out to the forest this Saturday, if you want to come. I'll be leaving at about eight; you can meet me in front of my house." She told me.
I was thrilled at the offer, and fervently told her that I would come.
Well, that's about all I had to post about. I will probably post about the trip itself on Sunday or Monday, so be watching for it!!!

Jennifer

A Day in the life of Dakota

2011-05-06T13:00:00.005-05:00

Hello! This is Dakota.
This post is really more of a "how my day was today" kind of post, rather than a real, deep story post. And although it's a post about my day, it's not very comprehensive . For instance, I didn't include those little details, such as what I ate for breakfast.
Oh well.
I figured that I should update the blog, and I didn't have a lot of other material, so this is what I settled on.
School was kind of hard today, but thankfully, it was an early release day. I was home by about eleven o'clock.
No one was home when I got there. Mom and Dad were both at work, my brothers were all still at school, and I supposed that Grandma was taking Mr. Poo to be groomed.
I ran up a couple flights of stairs to get to my room.
When we came to live here, it was most convenient for Grandma to make my room in the attic.
When I first heard about where I would live, I was a little apprehensive. As it turned out though, the attic is, in my opinion, one of the nicest places in Grandma's house. It is pleasantly away from the rest of the house, so I can enjoy a lot of peace and quiet.
After I did my homework for a while, I decided to take a break. (See picture to the lower right.)
Right as I was in the middle of singing one of my favorite songs, my brother William, who is closest to my age, walked in. I stopped singing instantly, and stared at him.
"What are you doing?" he asked, eyeing the some of the stuff on my bed.
"Just, um, chilling. School was kind of hard today, and I need to relax." I said.
He snorted. "If you chilled any more, you would have a permanent cold."
Well isn't he clever.
Just so you know, that sort of thing is about the extent of our ordinary conversation.
"Well," he said. "I just came to tell you that Grandma called to say that she will be home soon."
He started to leave, but paused in the doorway. "You might want to put some of that stuff away before she gets back."
He was right. Grandma has never been happy about the idea of food in a bedroom, and I'm not sure how she would like to see cookies and leftover sushi balanced precariously on my mattress.
As soon as William left, I quickly cleaned my room up. The food was returned to the kitchen, and I was in the living room waiting for her with freshly brushed hair by the time she was back.
So, that's basically what I did today. I'm sure you were all dying to know.
Oh, and if you're wondering where Kit has been lately, she has been busy helping her mom and brother repaint their upstairs hallway. So, she really hasn't had time to post.
Well, until next time!
Dakota

Much ado about nothing

2011-05-04T14:30:00.001-05:00

Hi, this is Dakota!
Maybe the title is a little misleading... it wasn't quite nothing. Still, there was "much ado" over it.
As you may know, I go to a very competitive school. And when I say very competitive, I mean very competitive. Like, the kind of school that will do whatever it can to 1-up another school. Yeah.
A while back (About a month ago, really.) there was a large contest that our school was entered in. Long story short, our school lost.
The headmistress of our school was not pleased at all. After a thorough examination of the school, she decided that it must be because the school was too lenient. She called a big meeting, and most of the teachers agreed with her.
So, she made a lot of new rules and regulations. One rule, is that there is now a school uniform. Basically everyone has to wear a pleated skirt, and a neat shirt, or get in trouble. The colors don't matter.
My grandma was thrilled. She had also been under the opinion that the school was somewhat.... lacking.
It was her idea, not mine, not my mom's, to have me dress in what you see me wearing in the picture.
At school today, the whole atmosphere was a lot different. It was more rigid, and to the point today than it has been in the past.
The classes seemed very long. I didn't really think that the uniforms made us any more efficient than we might have been; I was too busy fidgeting and squirming to notice.

The headmistress did say that the new rules would probably just be enforced until we didn't need them any more, i.e., until we start shaping up. I'm just hoping that she doesn't think we need them for very long!!!
Oh, and on another note, I can keep Sally! We spent a lot of time looking for her previous owners, and since none we're found, I officially have a cat! Grandma isn't thrilled, but I didn't really expect her to be.

Dakota

Sally

2011-04-07T15:33:00.001-05:00

Hi! This is Dakota.
I have always wanted a cat, and now it looks like I might just get one!
On the left is a picture of the cat. My brothers and I found her when we were outside last night.
Right now Mom and Dad are looking around to see if they can find her owner, and putting up "Found" signs. I hope that she doesn't already have an owner, because I would love to keep her.
Even though I didn't mean to name her, because I didn't want to get too attached, she somehow ended up with the name Sally.
Isn't she adorable? And she's so well behaved. I can tell that everyone in my family likes her, except for maybe my grandma. Dad says that if we do keep Sally, Grandma will probably like her, in time. And I figure that even if she doesn't like Sally, at least she probably won't hate her for too long.

Dakota

Rendezvous

2011-03-28T14:58:00.001-05:00

A Spring Saunter

2011-03-25T19:43:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a picture tells a story better than words can.
And, if a picture is worth a thousand words, you have a lot of reading to do. ;)

Goat-sitting

2011-03-15T10:54:00.000-05:00

Hi! Josefina again.
Today is the second day of my school's spring break. Most of my friends are enjoying it. They've been doing things having sleep-overs and playing outside.
I, on the other hand, have been trying to train Sombrita. You would think that I could just do that in my spare time, right? Wrong.
After Sombrita had unashamedly eaten all sorts of things, including my mom's favorite shoes, Mom told me that if I can't get Sombrita to behave within a week then Sombrita will have to be sold to a petting zoo or something. Unfortunately, she told me that right before Spring Break. I suppose that in a way it is fortunate, because I get a better chance at keeping Sombrita. Still, it's hard work.
Mom has tried to convince me that we have enough pets.
"Between you and Kaya," she had said. "We have your iguana, your frogs, your fish, your turtle, Kaya's hamsters, and the dog."
"Mom, don't call Coconut "the dog". How would you like it if she called you "the mom"?"
Then Mom told me to stop changing the subject. A long conversation followed, that brought us no closer to settling the issue.

Sorry that this post doesn't have any pictures except for the collage of our pets. I only was able to post this because I got Kaya to watch Sombrita for a few minutes for me. Besides, there isn't much else to take a picture of. All that would really apply to this post is a picture of our chewed up rug, but that's not very interesting, in my own opinion.
Josefina, the Goat-sitter

Sombrita!

2011-03-08T14:53:00.000-06:00

Hi! This is Josefina.
Last night, while Kaya and I were washing dishes, our doorbell rang.
When I answered the door, I was surprised to see my aunt, who lives three hours away.
"Hi Josy." She said. "Is your mother available?"
As an answer to her question, Mom came in right then.
"Oh good." my Aunt said. "Well, you know how I have a little farm?"
My mom nodded.
"Well, I'm moving." Aunt Rachel said. "And so I have a little present for you."
Just then, a small goat walked in.
My mom and I both stared.
"Well, bye!" And with that, Aunt Rachel was gone.
My mom couldn't say anything for about a minute. "We can't keep her." she said, still rather confused.
"Oh but Mom, she's so cute!" I cried as I hugged the goat.
There was a brief silence. I heard typing in the other room, so I supposed that Kaya was looking up how to take care of goats.
I also heard a small munching sound, and realized that the goat was chewing on my sleeve. I quickly stood up.
"Mom, can't Sombrita stay?" I begged.
"Sombrita?" She asked. "You've already named her??"
I nodded.
"Well, won't she be a nuisance?" My mom said, trying to convince me. "Goats like to get into things that their not supposed to."
"We probably still have some baby gates somewhere. Come on Sombrita." I said. "You can live in the garage."
My mom watched us go, before she went to tell Dad all about this whole goat issue.
I hope that Sombrita gets to stay!!

Supporting the team

2011-02-23T14:42:00.000-06:00

Hola! This is Eliza.

Yesterday was somewhere around my half- birthday. As usual, I shared it with my twin sister Linzy. Instead of telling you everything that I got for my birthday, I'm going to cut this story short. Knowing how much I like the Jayhawks football team, my Grandma bought me some Jayhawks apparel! She bought a skirt, a scarf, and pajamas.
Today, I decided to wear my new clothes to school. Because I didn't have a suitable shirt, I decided to wear the pajama shirt.
I was proudly walking down the hall, when the headmistress of my school tapped me on the shoulder.
She looked disapprovingly down her nose at me, and cleared her throat loudly.
After wondering for a moment what the problem was, it hit me like a rock. "Oh I'm so sorry Ms. Headmistress ma'am! I forgot to tuck in my shirt."
I stuffed the edge of my shirt sloppily into my skirt.
She rolled her eyes and said in a tired voice, "Eliza Anna, you know our rules about apparel that advertises other schools and or sports teams."
"Oh I'm not advertising Ms. Matilda Headmistress ma'am," I babbled. "I'm just supporting the Jayhawks!"
She sighed loudly. "Please call me Ms. Matilda." she told me, before she continued on her way.
Ms. Matilda Headmistress sure can be picky sometimes.
It definitely is fun posting on here. I would more often, but I'm not sure how Kit would feel about that. She says I ramble, but I don't know what she's talking about. She told me that I could post on here as a half-birthday present, and I'm not quite sure if she meant "uno postio" (I bet you didn't know I spoke spanish!!!) or that I could post whenever I wanted too.
Hmm... I guess only time will tell!! :)

Rilla!!

2011-02-22T19:10:00.000-06:00

Hi!!! This is Kit.

I had a very pleasant surprise this morning when I went to school. Aside from seeing the people I see every day, I saw someone whom I hadn't expected to see at all!

My old friend Rilla was standing near the door, looking rather out of place.

Now I'll give you an explanation, so you know what I am talking about. As you may know, I moved from Cincinnati in December of 2009. Rilla was my best friend there.

The last time I spoke with her, she hadn't mentioned that she was moving here, so it was quite a surprise to see her!

I ran over to her. "Hi Rilla!" I bubbled.

She glanced over at me. Her eyes looked rather glazed over, so I could tell that she hadn't been paying any attention to anyone. Her face lit up when she saw me. "Oh hi Kit!"

We chatted until our classes started.

I'm really glad she moved here. It will be nice having even more friends here!

She will probably post on this blog some. :)

I'm sorry about how this post kind of jumps around, I've been so excited that I have been talking like this too. :P

Kit

3 years of blogging!

2011-02-21T09:36:00.000-06:00

Hello!
It's rather hard to believe that Mimiville has been up for three years. :O Then again, most of the posting has been done in the last two years....
The blog definitely has changed a lot. Here's a link to the first post, in case you're like me, and you don't want to have to press "older posts" until you get back there! :P
Well, I just have to say, thanks for reading my blog. I really appreciate it. :)

Mimi

Jennifer-here!

2011-02-13T20:47:00.001-06:00

Hi, I'm Jennifer Elaine!
It is a great honor to be posting on this blog; I've been an avid reader for quite a while. After a while of reading it, I emailed Kit and we became friends. When she heard that I was moving here she told me that I could maybe start posting on the blog, since I'd really be a girl of Mimiville.
I was really excited, and even more excited to meet Kit, and all of her friends.
My older sister, Rachel, can't seem to understand why I'm so excited to meet some kids that I read about regularly. I didn't try to explain it to her, because I knew that she probably didn't care much anyway.
Our new house is very nice, and so is the neighborhood. It's a lot warmer than my old home in Minnesota. That's not saying a whole lot though, it's been below freezing in Minnesota lately.
Kit dropped by our house to say hello while we were unpacking. It was great to finally meet her in person. After we chatted for a while, she offered to take me for a tour of the neighborhood. I was only too happy to oblige.
She showed me around, and pointed out the houses of her friends. I met Kirsten, who was out photographing her collie who is called Mollie.
I was happy to see that the neighborhood had a tennis court. Tennis is one of my favorite sports. Gymnastics and golf are my other favorites.
We got back to my house, and Kit left soon after. She told me that she was going to see her friend Dakota, who I suppose must be the girl who posted before I did. I guess that I'll meet her tomorrow too.

Bye!
Jenna

A new face in Mimiville....

2011-02-12T17:05:00.002-06:00

Hello! My name is Dakota May Ronan, but you can call me Dakota.
You're probably wondering how I ended up posting here, aren't you?
Well, I'll explain that towards the end of this post.
My family just moved here. We're staying at my grandmother's house until we buy one of our own.
I've always liked visiting her, but I didn't realize how hard she would be to live with. She's got a long list of things that little girls should do, and shouldn't do. One of the things we're supposedly supposed to do is wear frilly pajamas, like what I'm wearing in that picture there.
My mom took that picture of me when I first came downstairs. "Your first picture in your new home." she said happily.
My smile turned into a frown. I didn't want to think of Grandma's house, or this town, as my new home. I liked my old one just fine.
I went back upstairs, and stayed there for a while before I decided to be social. I got dressed and went back downstairs.
"Oh good." my grandma said. "I'm glad to see you. Will you walk Mr. Poo for me?"

Mr. Poo is Grandma's terrier. Apparently when my older brother William was little, he thought that Mr. Poo, who was then called Maximilian, was a poodle. The name stuck, unfortunately for Mr. Poo.

I looked at my grandmother suspiciously. Ever since I got here on Tuesday, she has been trying to get me to meet other people my age by sending me out on errands.

I reluctantly took Mr. Poo from Grandma and left the house.
Walking Mr. Poo isn't very fun. He's always a nice little dog to Grandma, but when you get him alone, he can be rather nasty.
The whole time I walked him, he strained on his leash and barked at squirrels. I just ignored him, and watched the sidewalk pass by under my feet.
I looked up from the sidewalk, and saw a girl about my age walking towards Mr. Poo and I.
Before I knew what had happened, Mr. Poo's leash slipped off of my wrist, and he jumped on the poor girl.
It was a lucky thing for the girl that Mr. Poo was in a good mood, all he did was lick her face a lot.
The girl squinted at him for a second. "Is that Mr. Poo?" she asked me.
I nodded, rather confused. "How do you know him?"
"Oh, I used to walk him. My name's Kit." Kit said, standing up.
We got to talking, and it turns out that she used to help Grandma out some on the weekends, by getting her mail and walking Mr. Poo.
Kit was very excited when I told her what school I will be going to, because apparently she currently goes there! Then she mentioned this blog to me, and said that I could post on it when I want to.
I think that maybe we could be good friends.
Before she left Mr. Poo and me to go home, she told me that she would introduce me to her friends on Monday.
I stood at Grandma's front door and watched Kit go. I felt more at ease right then than I had in weeks.
Maybe living here won't be as bad as I first thought it would be.

A quick update...

2011-02-10T19:03:00.001-06:00

I think I've used this title before. Oh well.
Well, about the Sunny pictures.... I'm probably not going to do a post about them.
My reasons are as follows:
#1. I would have to actually take the pictures.
#2. I would have to go outside to take the pictures.
#3. It's cold.
#4. I have other things to do.
#5. I have other things to post about.
#6. Sunny is my sister's doll. (Mischa isn't mine either. :)
#7. I have this many reasons not to go outside to take pictures of Sunny.
#8. I, uh, think I ran out of reasons.

Enough reasons for you? I hope so.
The first three reasons explain themselves. We will move onto #4. At the moment I am not doing quite as many productive things, (like going outside in the freezing weather to take pictures) because I am rather worn out from the past months. All November I was writing, in December I was making Christmas presents, in January I was editing, and in February I have been procrastinating, hence the lack of posts.

As far as the "other things to post about" go, you'll just have to wait and see!!

Hopefully the last three reasons don't need any explaining. :)
With all luck, you should see a post sometime next week. Keep watching for it.

Mimi ;)

Mischa pictures

2011-02-03T14:30:00.000-06:00

Hello, Kit here!
Although Josefina said that she would post the pictures of Mischa, I decided to save her some time and post them myself!
I told Josefina that she can do the pictures of Sunny, because Sunny and I don't always get along very well.
And about that whole "couple of days" thing that I said in the last post, well, as you can see I barely made it. It was really more wishful thinking than actual fact. :P
So, I am assuming that you are all ready for me to stop typing, so that you can enjoy the pictures of Mischa. Because I like to oblige, I will stop.
See you later! ;)

Insert Witty Title

2011-01-31T17:38:00.000-06:00

Yo! This is Kit.
Not a lot has happened recently, hence the lack of posts.
The biggest news is that Mimi has some sort of cold, and hasn't felt like signing me into blogger. :(
I could have probably convinced Josefina to help me get onto here earlier, but I've been trying to perfect my Mario Kart skills anyway.
So, as you can see, not a lot is going on.
Hopefully I will be able to do a post of Mischa pictures soon. I would now, but the pictures are on Mimi's mom's camera, and need to be uploaded to the main computer and edited.
Yeah.
So, it might be a couple of days. Let's hear it for procrastination! :P

A bored Kit

Meet Mischa and Sunny!

2011-01-20T16:37:00.000-06:00

Josefina here!
Big news; I've found my long-lost sisters! Okay, so technically they aren't actually my sisters. But I think that they should be!!
I met both of them at school today.
Mischa is an amazing girl.
She has beautiful green eyes, and curly brown hair.
She wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up, or even sooner than that! She showed up a little late for school..... technically she missed the whole first semester. Oh well. Being late is in vogue right now, I think. She is very excited about her light class schedule; she has decided that she is only going to take art, and wonders why the rest of us don't follow suit. For some reason I think that the headmistress might object a bit.
Sunny is very cool as well.
She has three older sisters, all models for popular clothes lines. She has the kind of hair that I've only dreamed about. It's so beautiful and bouncy. And it's blond! I've always wanted blond hair.
All of this curly hair is starting to make my straight black braids seem pretty plain!
Sooner or later, (Hopefully sooner!) I will do a couple of posts with lots of pictures of the two of them. They are both very photogenic!
Anyways, I've decided that they are my long lost sisters.
I've always had a little bit of trouble believing that Kaya is really my twin, I mean, we're so different!
I love fashion, friends, and fun. Kaya on the other hand, only seems to care about school, books, and a few sports.

As soon as I had decided that Mischa and Sunny were my long-lost sisters, I decided that I should probably let Kaya know.
I ran into the library of our school. As I expected, Kaya was sitting in an orange beanbag, reading a book.
"Kaya!" I said, a little bit louder than I should have in a library.
She looked up reluctantly.
When I told her that I found two of my long-lost sisters, she just laughed.
For some reason, I have this weird feeling that she didn't take me very seriously. That's Kaya for you.

Until next time,
Josefina

Reports due

2011-01-14T17:50:00.000-06:00

Hello! This is Kit again.
Well, our genealogy reports were due today. When it came the time to give them, I was quite nervous. I have never been good at writing oral reports, especially not about my family.
I anxiously awaited my turn to speak, dreading it more and more every minute. Samantha went a couple of people before I did.
She had all sorts of interesting information about the Parkington's.
I hadn't heard most of it before.
Of course she was using her "British" accent the whole time she read her report. Afterwards she invited everyone to her house for tea and crumpets. I'm pretty certain that she has no idea about what crumpets are, but that doesn't matter much.
I glanced down at the paper I had spent so many hours on. It suddenly seemed very insufficient. I gulped.
I was encouraged slightly in the fact that at least my paper was well researched. I had spent hours pouring through old diaries, and calling up relatives trying to figure out how various people were related. Although my paper wasn't as good as those that other people (i.e. Samantha...) gave, mine was pretty good. I had a lot of facts, and a family tree that traces back almost to 1800. I thought that I would share a bit of random knowledge, so here it is.
My ancestor Barry Lynch came from Ireland to the US because of the Great Potato famine. Isn't that fascinating?
Anyways, it was almost my turn to give my report. When Mrs. Leslie called my name, I didn't know how I would make it to the front of the classroom. The room seemed very foggy as I stumbled to the head of the class. I stared unseeingly into the faces of my classmates.
"Go ahead Kit." Mrs. Leslie prompted me.
I raised my paper so that I could read the facts off of it. The letters seemed blurry, and the blue lines of my paper seemed to wiggle a lot more than lines should. I squinted at it slightly, and spoke from memory. "Um, my family is part Irish and Welsh." I said suddenly, breaking the oppressive silence.
My voice sounded too loud and shrill, but I tried to ignore it as I continued. Each fact was a little easier to say than the last one, and when I was finally finished, I wasn't nervous anymore.
"Very nice Kit." Mrs. Leslie told me as I skittered back to my seat.
After class was over, we were allowed to look at everyone's family tree. They had all been set up very neatly by the blackboard.
I glanced at Samantha's as I passed, and instantly felt a little bit sorry for her.
I had known that she was an only child, but I hadn't realized that she didn't have any cousins. The closest thing that she had to a cousin was a distant relation named Bob.
Personally, I have five cousins.
My cousin on my Mom's side is named Lyric.
My other four cousins are on my Dad's side, and they are Joe, Jo (short for Jody), Josy, and baby Jojo.
I realize that you probably aren't very interested in who my cousins are, but it seemed to be a nice ending for this post. :)

Kit

Oh Samantha....

2011-01-12T15:07:00.001-06:00

I was walking home from school today, when I was joined by Samantha. We hadn't had a chance to speak to each other yet, so I was rather surprised to hear the the strange accent she spoke to me in.
"Hey Kit, I have the most smashing bit of news!" Samantha told me.
I looked at her quizzically, wondering if sickness could be the cause of her strange pronunciation. "What is it?" I asked hesitantly.
"Oh come on, guess!" she prodded me.
"Samantha, I don't—"
"Guess!"
"Samantha!" I exclaimed. "I don't have any idea."
Samantha didn't seem to notice my irritation. "I've found out that I'm part British! Have you noticed my accent?"
"Yeah, I noticed your accent." I said wryly.
Her "accent" was a weird combination of a southern drawl, an Australian accent, and a mangled British accent.
"So, umm, how long are you going to talk like that?" I asked.
"I don't know...." she said thoughtfully. "Perhaps forever!"
I hurried to my front door. "I'm home Mom!" I yelled.
I don't believe that my mother appreciated it much, for she was very near to the front door.
I opened my mouth to speak, when Samantha burst into the house.
"Mrs. Kittredge!" she exclaimed. "We're going to do a genealogy report in school, and I found out that I'm British!"
"Well," my mom said. "Did you know that Kit is part Irish, and part Welsh?"
Even I hadn't known that.
Samantha turned to face me. "Oh Kit, this is great!" she squealed excitedly. "We could be long lost relatives or something! You should speak in an Irish accent from now on!"
There was no way in the whole world that I was going to try to master an Irish brogue in two days.
I shook my head violently.
Samantha was disappointed, but undefeated. "How about a Welsh accent?" she asked slyly.
Samantha is definitely something else.

Genealogy 101

2011-01-10T15:19:00.001-06:00

Hi! This is Kit.
Today at school, my teacher Mrs. Leslie had some big news. "Class," she said eagerly. "We are all going to do genealogy reports!"
She smiled at the whole class. Only Kaya, the studying queen, shared her enthusiasm.
A small groan ran through the classroom. "It will be fun!" Mrs. Leslie objected. "You'll just need to draw up a family tree, and bring some interesting facts about your family. The reports will be due this Friday."
I wasn't sure how I felt about a genealogy report. I'm not really interested in that kind of thing even on the best of days.... but for a report? I think, that if I had the option, I would definitely skip this project.
"Now you will need to pick a partner.." I heard Mrs. Leslie say.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Samantha fly out of her seat.
"Can I be Kit's partner??" she bubbled excitedly.
Mrs. Leslie nodded.
I bit my lip. As much as I like Samantha, I really don't want to be her partner on this project.

The last time that Samantha had been my partner in a project was when we were doing a report on Christopher Columbus. I had been put in charge of researching the ships, while she did Christopher Columbus himself. On the day that we presented it, I showed up with ship information, and Samantha showed up with no information, but stylish pink T-shirts with the words, "Christopher Columbus, explorer extraordinaire", written across the front. Needless to say we did not get a very good grade.

I raised my hand. "Mrs. Leslie?" I asked. "What will we do if our partners, um, don't exactly do their side of the work?"
Mrs. Leslie laughed. "You don't have to worry about that Kit. Although you will be working together, you will each be doing your own separate project."
This didn't make any sense to me whatsoever, but I just nodded faintly.

After class, I hurried out of the class room distractedly. I was quite absorbed in my own thoughts until Samantha caught up with me.
"This will be a lot of fun, won't it?" she asked.
I nodded weakly.
"How about we start at your house??"
I looked at her blankly. "Start what?"
"We can start working on the family trees of course! I'll see you there at four o'clock!"
After saying that, Samantha rushed off to her next class, leaving me somewhat stunned.
I'm still not sure how I feel about this report...

Kit

Kaitlyn is in the house!

2011-01-08T08:47:00.000-06:00

I'm going to start this post off with an apology, so here it is. I'm sorry that I have neglected the blog because I was embarrassed about my name.
There! I'm glad that that is over with. :)
I'm not sure whether I should be grateful to Josefina, or really mad at her.
I suppose that since I'm undecided, I will remain grateful until I decide.
She really is something else. An ordinary friend would have tried to soothingly tell me that both of my names are very nice, and that I don't have anything to be embarrassed about.
Not Josefina.
After she became friends with Rowan, they devised a scheme to get me to perk back up.
As I was walking to my first class yesterday morning, people kept telling me, "Good morning Kaitlyn!"
I was rather confused. Before last week sometime, only Samantha and a handful of other people knew my real name. I politely smiled to everyone who greeted me.
When I reached my class, Josefina grinned at me from her seat, and waved.
It dawned on me then that she had told everyone my name. My first reaction was a flare of frustrated anger, but then as I thought about it, my anger slowly disappeared. I realized that no one had made fun of my name, not even rude people like Abigail or Brenda Gibb, who will make fun of anything.
So in short, I guess my name isn't all that bad after all! Maybe one day, I will go by Kaitlyn again. I'll let you know if I ever decide to. :)
In other news, we got our Secret Santa gifts the other day! I would have posted about them sooner, but I wasn't posting then.
I eventually crocheted Molly pot-holders for her gift. I think she liked them a lot!
I got a set of little blue spaceships from a girl named Amanda. :)
Until next time,
Kit

Well, what do you know!?

2011-01-06T03:15:00.000-06:00

Josefina here!
Even as I write this, I am still rather surprised.
When I wrote a post yesterday, I was still of the opinion that I would just learn to tolerate Rowan, and that was all.
I never thought that I could be friends with her, especially not after reading the post that she wrote....
This morning, I arrived at my music class early. I hadn't expected anyone to actually be there, but Rowan was.

I pretended that I was looking at some of the old science experiments that had been put in the music room for decoration. I knew that Rowan was looking at me, wondering why I was being so asocial. I was kind of wondering myself.
I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, and noticed something. She was carrying a trumpet.
"Hey!" I commented, hoping to make conversation. "Do you play the trumpet?"
She smiled and nodded. "I do play a little bit, not very well though."
"I play the French Horn." I informed her.
Her eyes lit up. She informed me that her mother had always liked music played by French Horns.
We got to talking, and I discovered that she's not so bad after all! She really likes science, and hopes to be a biologist one day. She has considered being a marine biologist, but since she is afraid of water, I don't think that she will become one.
"Oh," Rowan said. "And I really like the Disney Princesses." She looked at me as if waiting for my opinion.
I thought about that for a second. "Oh that's all right. At least you're not, y'know, a junkie. I knew this one girl, and she had all of these posters, and Disney Princesses Barbie dolls, T-shirts, and figurines..."
My voice trailed off. By the look on Rowan's face, I had the weirdest idea that she might be a Disney Princess junkie.
I changed the subject very quickly.
"So, um.... do you want to come to my house this Saturday?" I fumbled.
She nodded enthusiastically.
I told her what time, and before I could say anything else, the rest of the class came in.

So, that is the abridged version of, "How I met Rowan."
If you want to read the whole story, it will be coming out in book form this August. The DVD should be released early 2012.
...........
....Okay, so it actually won't. This will have to be long enough for you, and if it isn't, you can make up the rest on your own time. :)
Bye for now!! :)

Speaking of weird....

2011-01-05T09:42:00.001-06:00

Hi! This is Josefina.
Do you remember how a couple of posts ago, Kit mentioned that I was acting weird?? If not, it was in the post, "New girls", right at the bottom. Well, guess who's acting weird now?
*Waiting music* ..... Kit! Or should I say, Kaitlyn.
Ever since she found out that Rowan posted her actual name, she has been strangely shy and subdued.
I guess that she's embarrassed about her name?
Yeah..... that's why she hasn't posted in a few days, just for your information.
Kit hasn't really been talking to anyone, not when she can help it anyway. Rowan, who still hasn't realized that Kit is mad at her or that Kit hates the name Kaitlyn, has been trying to talk to "Kaitlyn" without success. I suppose this might be rather mean, but I've been calling her Kaitlyn, just to irk her. :P

I suppose that I might have been acting slightly weird that day when the foreign exchange students came.
I guess I was just unsure about new students.
I wouldn't have been so worried if it wasn't for this girl I know named Abigail.
The whole week before they came, she had been talking nonstop about how excited she would be to meet a hispanic girl who had actually lived in Mexico.
Personally, I have never lived in Mexico, or even visited.
When I told this to Abigail, she informed me, very pointedly, that she already knew that.
I felt rather snubbed, as you may have guessed.
I didn't think that Kit would understand all of that, so I just didn't tell her any of it.

Weird, huh?

Ack!

2011-01-03T13:50:00.001-06:00

It's a great title, isn't it? But if I, Kit, were to sum up my feelings in one word, that is exactly what I would come up with, "Ack!"

I am never letting that Rowan girl post again!! "Why?" you ask.

Because in just one post she managed to reveal a secret that I've managed to keep from posting in the whole year that I've lived here!

"What is that?" you ask. Well, I'll tell you.

My real name is Meredith Kaitlyn Kittredge.

Meredith can't really be abbreviated (I've never been partial to Mere or Dith.)

So once upon a time, I did go by Kaitlyn. After a week I got quite sick of the name. That was when I was five. Now I just abbreviate Kaitlyn to Kit.

So, as I said, I'm never letting Rowan post again. You're probably wondering about how I can keep Rowan from posting when this is Mimi's blog.

Although she doesn't post often, it's clearly her blog. After all, it's named Mimiville, although I'm considering renaming it to "Kittyville".

I am the main poster on this blog. I would change it, but I'd probably have my posting privileges revoked. >:(

Grrrr... Rowan, I sure hope that you're reading this!!!

Nothing against you, but don't start calling me Kaitlyn!!

Woah, reading back over this, I sounded really crabby. This just goes to show what a little irritation will do to a person.

Kit

What would you like to see?

2011-01-01T10:02:00.013-06:00

Happy new year!!
The title says it all; what would you like to see more of on this blog in the new year?
Are you interested in seeing more tutorials (I can't promise many of these :P) more posts about my random crafts and dollhouses, Kit's baseball, Samantha's dancing, um, other??
Comment and tell me! I would be glad to hear your opinion! :D

Rowan here!!

2010-12-31T11:44:00.001-06:00

Hi, this is Rowan Isabella Garcia!

Yesterday wasn't at all like I had expected it to be. I was hoping for a nice quiet entrance, and a day to get settled in my boarding room.
I was surprised by the uproar that our arrival made. I spent the whole day shaking somebody's hand or introducing myself.
It was a long day.
Today was different though! I was able to sink into the background a bit, and enjoy my day at school.
Then I met a girl who calls herself "Kit". (She explained that it was short for Kaitlyn.)
After chatting to me briefly, she asked if I would like to post on her "blog". I hadn't heard much of blogs before, so she had to show me how to make it work.
I just realized that I have typed a lot, and you don't know anything about me.
You know my name, so I will skip that part. I used to live in Mexico, and I had a couple of horses. (They are my favorite animal!) Unfortunately, if the rest of my family decides to move here to be with me, they will have to sell my horses.
My favorite color is bright red. I like shopping. Kit, who is standing behind me, says that I am rambling and that I need to wrap this post up pronto. I don't quite know how she expects me to "wrap it up", it's virtual after all, but I think she means to stop typing.
To please her, I will post a picture of the two of us and her tiger, Tangerine.
Kit is saying that I need to work on my writing skills before she will let me post again. Maybe she is right.
Until next time!
Rowan Isabella Garcia (Kit also says that I don't have to use my full name every time I write it. She is a funny girl.)

New Girls

2010-12-30T10:50:00.001-06:00

Hello, this is Kit, again.
It feels a little weird, posting two days in a row, but I couldn't wait very much longer!!
Well, the headmistress of our school was getting very impatient to meet the foreign exchange girls. After a lot of thought, she decided t start school early. Great idea, huh? Not! In an attempt to offset the collective disappointment of a whole school (employees included!) she decided that we would do half-days for about a month. Honestly, I would rather just have a real break.
I dragged myself to school this morning. (Why did she have to start it up again on a Thursday????)
At first it seemed that it would just be a normal day. (Well, semi-normal. I'm not usually back in school this soon after Christmas.)
Most of the students were milling about, trying to find their classes, when all of a sudden everybody froze.
I crashed right into Samantha, and wound up on the floor. I expected her to say something about it, but she was staring towards the door. I looked too, although I couldn't see anything clearly from the floor.
I was quite surprised at what I saw. Standing in the doorway, looking slightly disorientated, were the three foreign exchange students! They weren't supposed to get here until tomorrow!!
The whole room was silent. I suppose that everyone was thinking exactly what I was, "Gee, they're tall."
Definitely not very intelligent sounding, but that's what my first thought was!!!
As Samantha rushed over to meet the new girls, I scooted over to where Josefina was standing by herself.
Just as I reached her, one of the teachers said loudly that their names were (From left to right) Mei Ling, Rowan Isabella Garcia, and Belen. I didn't quite catch all of Belen's name, or all of the teacher's speech, but apparently Rowan and Belen are cousins.
"Hi Josie!" I chirped.
She acknowledged that I had spoken with a nod.
I cocked my head at her curiously. She usually didn't pass up a chance to talk. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Aren't you excited about the foreign exchange students?"
I guessed from the withering glance that she gave me that she wasn't very excited.
I waited around for a minute or two, hoping for an explanation, but she wasn't offering one. I said goodbye quietly, and went to find Samantha.
Josefina sure is acting weird.
Sorry for the poor quality pictures and rambling post. Rainy days detract from my writing and picture taking skills. ;)
Kit

I'm Back!

2010-12-29T10:03:00.002-06:00

Missed me, right???
This is Kit. :)
Sorry about not posting in a couple of days. Mimi has been so busy posting about her sushi tutorials I haven't had a chance too. (I don't like posting twice in one day.)
I tried to convince her that no one was interested in felt sushi, but she didn't believe me. Go figure. It's probably because she already knows that I detest sushi, and don't even like to look at it.
So to summarize, I would have liked to post this the day after Christmas, but didn't get to.
This will be something like a "Look what I got for Christmas!" post, just not quite the same, because there will be news at the end!
First of all, I got an adorable stuffed tiger from my mom and dad!! I named him Tangerine, even though my brother says that Tangerine is a girl's name.
My friend Rita sent a cowboy outfit for me. It came with a shirt, vest, pants, hat, boots, and a hobby horse. I was thrilled. My mom didn't want to buy me a pair of cowboy boots, so I'm glad that I finally got a pair.
I also got some boring school supplies. I am not going to go in detail on these.

My favorite present was probably a pair of Liberty Jane boots! They are so cute and comfortable. Mimi says that they were her present, not mine, but I didn't believe her. They wouldn't even fit her!
She's such a kidder.

I can't say what I got for the secret santa gift exchange yet, because we don't exchange presents until next week.

Anyway, now I will tell you about the big news!
The headmistress of our school sent out an email just a couple of days ago, announcing that we will be getting some new students pretty soon! A few of them are foreign exchange students, but there are some new enrollments too!
I'm so excited to meet them all. I wonder if they will be as nervous as I was when I came last year??

Sorry about the long, and practically picture-less post. I just needed to ramble for a while. ;)

What did you get for Christmas?

Sushi Tutorial, part 3

2010-12-28T10:39:00.000-06:00

Box

Cut two pieces of cardboard that are 2" long, and two that are 1¾" long. They all should be ½" wide.
Glue the two shorter pieces to the longer pieces ends and wait for them to dry.
Once fairly dry, place on a piece of cardboard and trace around it.
Cut out the rectangle, and glue it to the bottom of the already glued pieces.
To make it look like wood, you can either draw or print paper with a wood grain design on it.
Personally, I had my mother draw paper for me.
Either way works just about as well, although printing may be slightly quicker.
Here are two suitable pictures you could print.
You may have to adjust the size. (Neither picture belongs to me) Darker wood Lighter wood
Cut strips of paper the same size as the sides, top, and inside of the box.
Squeeze a small amount of glue onto the area you want to cover, and rub it around evenly with your finger, and apply the paper.
Cover all of the visible cardboard, if possible.

Chopsticks

The chopsticks are admittedly rather underwhelming.
For mine, I used two toothpicks (I recommend the flat variety.) and colored them with a permanent marker. Wait before they dry to touch your doll, or the sushi!!!!

I hope you have enjoyed the sushi tutorials! If you make some, comment and tell me!!

Mimi

Sushi Tutorial, part 2

2010-12-27T10:25:00.000-06:00

California Rolls

To make the california rolls, cut felt as shown in picture one.
For all of you who prefer the exact numbers, cut a piece of black that is 1½" long, a piece of white that is 1¼" long, a piece of pink that is 1" long, and a piece of green that is ½" long.
Stack them as shown.
Roll them together and pin as shown in picture two.
You shouldn't have to pull to get the black ends to meet, and there shouldn't be a whole lot of extra room inside.
If there is not enough room, cut the other colors slightly.
If there is too much room, cut the black felt slightly.
With black thread, sew with a whipstitch where the black ends meet. Try to catch the other colors slightly as you go.

Egg sushi

Cut a piece of yellow felt that is about ½" wide, and 1" long, a piece of white that is about ¾" long, and a little less wide, and a piece of black about 1½" long, and very skinny.
Stack the yellow and white as shown.
Wrap the black piece around the yellow and white, having ends meet on the white side.
Sew through all layers with black thread, making sure to stay on the black piece.

Tomorrow I will show you how to make the box and chopsticks!

Sushi Tutorial, part 1

2010-12-26T09:49:00.002-06:00

The highly awaited sushi tutorial is now here!! Think of it as sort of a late Christmas present. ;)
I am going to post it in three parts, probably one part a day.
If you have any questions, feel free to comment below and ask them!

Pickled Ginger

For the pickled ginger (the pink flower-like thing) cut a piece of felt approximately 3 ½" long, and ¼" thick.
Wrap it up and stick a pin through it as shown in the first picture.
Turn it over and sew into the bottom of it as shown in the second picture. (Please excuse the poor quality pictures.)

Rice balls

My confession for the day: I forgot to take pictures as I made the rice balls. So, I made visuals on Photoshop.
As you can see in the first picture, you will need to cut a shape close to a lemon out of white felt.
The line across the lemon shape is the fold line.
The gray area represents the size of the black piece you will need to cut for the seaweed.
It should fit be able to fit on the folded piece of white felt as shown in picture two.
Before folding the white piece, pin the black piece onto the white as shown in picture one. Sew it down neatly.
Fold the felt in half with the black facing the outside. Sew around the edge of the white. (I used a blanket stitch, but a whipstitch or running stitch will work just as well.)
Before you finish sewing around the outside edge, stuff the rice ball with a small amount of stuffing.

Tomorrow I will show you how to make the Californian rolls and egg sushi!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T08:44:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas!

With love from Mimi, Kaya, Josefina, Samantha, Kirsten, Eliza, and Kit.

Sushi!!

2010-12-15T11:44:00.000-06:00

Hi, this is Kirsten!!
I don't think I've ever mentioned it on this blog, but I love exotic foods. Some of my favorites are chinese food and japanese food.
We don't have a lot of either around here unless there is a special occasion.
The other day I was complaining to Samantha because of my lack of Japanese food, and I guess Mimi overheard.
In an hour or so, I was presented with a beautiful little Japanese bento box!
I was thrilled. It even came with chopsticks!!
If any of you are interested, Mimi will post a tutorial on the making of the sushi, box, and chopsticks. Please comment if you are interested!
Well, I'm off to enjoy my sushi!
Kirsten

Winter Wonderland

2010-12-11T19:37:00.000-06:00

"Come on Josie!" I yelled from the top of our steps.
As I waited impatiently, I realized for the millionth time that although we are twin sisters, Josefina and I are nothing alike.

Her idea of a fun day would be an all day shop-a-thon at the mall with our cousin, Tabitha Garcia.

My idea of a fun day would include being dropped off at an art museum with some money for food and a camera. Or, if that didn't work out, I wouldn't mind going to the park and playing with a frisbee or a football.

As our ideas of fun were so different, there was absolutely no way that Josefina wanted to spend her Saturday morning out walking around the neighborhood, which was what I wanted to do.
After a while, Josefina eventually dragged herself out of our bedroom very reluctantly.
"Kaya," she said. "I don't see why you think it will be so much fun to walk around. The only walking I really like doing is in a store."
I already knew that.
I just smiled, and ran down the stairs. I threw open the front door and let the crisp air rush into the house in a big blast.
Josefina made a face. "So there's no chance you want to stay home and watch movies?" she asked hopelessly.
I shook my head vigorously, and ran outside.
She followed me out. She had to, because our parents were at one of their dance classes this morning, and we were supposed to stick together.
As pleasant as the weather was, I couldn't quite believe that it would be Christmas in two weeks. It felt like mid September, not mid December.
"So," Josefina asked. "Where are we going first?"
I thought for a moment, and looked around. The sidewalk to the left looked very attractive, but to the right it was lovely. Leaves spilled off of the grass and onto the sidewalk. Trees, still stubbornly clinging to their remaining leaves, created a tunnel of color.
I started walking briskly to the right.
"Wait up!!" Josefina yelled indignantly as she followed me.
It was beautiful. The sky was bright blue, and the sun shone down brilliantly. The air was thin and chilly, but still quite pleasant.
I had a great time, walking in the winter world. I believe that Josefina was enjoying herself to, but she wouldn't admit it.
As we passed by the playground, we watched leaves swirling towards the already covered ground. The playground was quiet and still, except for one swing, which swung cheerfully back and forth.

It seemed that she and I were the only people outside.

"You know something Kaya?" Josefina said at a length. "We're walking in a winter wonderland of sorts."

I had to agree.

Secret Santa Gift Exchange!

2010-12-09T14:05:00.000-06:00

Hi! This is Kit writing.
This year my school is doing a Secret Santa gift exchange. I'm pretty excited about it; I haven't ever been in one before!
My teacher announced it this morning. After quite a bit of explanation, she had us all write our names and interests on a slip of paper. Then we put the papers into a box.
She shook the box up, and passed it around so we could each take a slip of paper.
I carefully unfolded my paper. It said, in very tidy handwriting, "Molly McIntire".
I was struck speechless. What are the odds that I would get the name of my friend??
I sneaked a sly peek at Molly, who was sitting across the room from me. She was staring absently into space and chewing on the end of her pencil. I cringed inwardly. I have always been disgusted by that habit.
I looked back at the tiny slip of paper that I was holding, and tried to think of what I knew about Molly. The paper said that she liked lizards, and that her favorite color was green.
From my experiences with her, I know that she has a dog and a lizard, and is fond of sports, games, and baking.

Any suggestions about what I should get for her?
Kit

Playing Wii Sports!

2010-12-03T15:00:00.000-06:00

Hi, this is Kit!
In case you don't know, I love baseball. I play it, and watch it on TV every chance I get.
Today, my baseball team had a game. We lost miserably.
I was at home, watching baseball in my pajamas when Samantha called me.
"Hi Kit!" she said, a little too chipper. "I heard about your baseball game."
"Yeah." I said, looking out of my window at the rain washed world outside.
"Well...." she suggested. "Do want to come to my house? You can play baseball on my Wii!"
I was touched. Not that Samantha isn't generous, but she has never offered to let me play on her Wii. And also, Samantha isn't really a baseball kind of girl.
I didn't need any time to think this over. "All right, I'll be over in a little while!"
I hung up, and turned the TV off. I didn't mind missing the game, the team I was rooting for was losing anyway.
I ran to my room and changed out of my pajamas and into something warmer.
"Where are you going?" My mother asked curiously as I ran down the stairs.
"Oh I'm going to Samantha's house!" I explained as I ran out the door.
I breathed a deep breath of the crisp winter air. It felt great as it shivered down my throat and into my lungs.
I was filled with energy by the time that I had pulled my bike out of the shed.
It isn't too far to Samantha's from my house on bike. I was there within five minutes.
She greeted me at the door, and showed me to her game room.
We were quickly settled on the sofa, and set to work making Mii's. If you don't know what a Mii is, you might check this out.
Our Mii's turned out very cute.
We quickly moved onto baseball. I have to say, it is nothing like real baseball, but it is quite entertaining. I enjoyed myself quite a bit, although the Wii remotes are a little hard to handle.
Check out Mimi's album of pictures of us playing Wii!
I don't know if this afternoon will actually help my playing skills in the long run, but it sure did lift my spirits a little!!
Oh by the way, I won the baseball game. :)

Kit Kittredge, Wii Baseball Extraordinaire

The Snow Queen

2010-12-01T05:02:00.007-06:00

On a cold winter's night,

No snow on the ground.

The vale was still and bright,

For none were around.

A thrill filled the cold air,

From a merry twinkling.

The Snow Queen was there,

Her sleigh bells all jingling.

The girl, she was quite fair.

She was clad all in white.

With her flowing brown hair,

The Queen was a fine sight.

As she leapt from her sleigh,

The girl laughed, just for fun.

But she could not delay,

There was work to be done.

Without a single tune,

Without any routine,

She danced under the moon,

For she was the Snow Queen.

As if held by a string,

She pirouetted, pranced.

All through the evening,

The girl danced, and she danced.

Snowflakes swirled all around,

Chasing after her hem.

Until snow did abound,

On all the leaves and stems.

Two cliffs she danced between,

A spectacular show.

All around the Snow Queen,

Danced the fluffy white snow.

At the first morning light,

The Queen's large task was done.

She had toiled through the night.

A snow day had begun.

She drove off, and left there,

A valley fresh and clean.

To stay, she did not dare,

For she was the Snow Queen.

Christmas Pictures!

2010-11-30T19:55:00.001-06:00

Hello!
This is Kit, and I'm here to share Mimi's holiday photos!
The title of this post is a little misleading. In all actuality, they are not exactly what could be called Christmas pictures.
Mimi would prefer to call them that, but holiday really fits them better in this case. :P
The first photos are of us, and the second ones are of Mimi's family's Christmas tree. She was experimenting with slow shutter speed on the tree ones, and they turned out quite interesting!!
Mimi's Holiday photos
Enjoy!!

Kit

Rockin' around the Christmas tree!

2010-11-28T21:25:00.013-06:00

Have a happy holiday!
Hi, this is Kaya! Today, Samantha invited us to a tree decorating party at her house.
I had been preparing to take Coconut on a walk when she called. I didn't exactly want to disappoint her by leaving her when she thought she was going for a walk, so I brought her with me! Josie didn't think that was such a great idea, but I tried to ignore her.

When we got to Samantha's house, she had a tree and boxes of ornaments waiting for us.
It was really quite exciting. The boxes that she had set had out for us to use were overflowing with tons of different kinds of ornaments. There were thousands of balls of tinsel and millions of strings of lights. I supposed that some of the stuff was for the outside of her large house.
We turned some Christmas music on and started decorating
All went well, except for one thing. Coconut, who is wearing reindeer antlers in the picture, got a little too close to the tree.
Kit was happily wrapping the tree in tinsel, and accidentally got Coconut tangled up in the tree!
"Coconut!" she squealed.
Coconut wagged her tail at the sound of her name.
We nearly had to cut her out of the tinsel, but eventually she just slipped out. :)

Also, Eliza Doll got a little overzealous. We were all happy, but she was nearly dancing. I think it happened when we were listening to Jingle Bell Rock. I've always liked that song, but she had a passion for it. As soon as the song got to the "Jingle horse, pick up your feet" bit, she started giggling crazily and tossing the balls blindly at the tree. She broke about a dozen. She's a bit of a nut sometimes.
It's a very good thing that Mrs. Parkington is a very gracious woman.
If she hadn't, Eliza probably would have probably been thrown out on the spot.
After we were done decorating, it was time for refreshments!
Samantha served us hot apple cider and sugar cookies. They were delicious.
Eliza had calmed down considerably by this time. She only spilled a half of a glass on the tablecloth, so I'd call the party a success. ;)
What are you doing this winter?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T19:10:00.001-06:00

Hi! This is Kit.
Although Thanksgiving is tomorrow, our school had a Thanksgiving party today. All of our family's were invited.
My mother decided that a Thanksgiving dinner was a dressy affair, so she helped me raid my closet for something appropriate to wear for the occasion.
This outfit is what we came up with.
This dress would not have been my first choice.
I was originally wanting to wear something blue, and then mom found this.

"Here's that dress that Grannie Susie gave you for your birthday!" she exclaimed at the sight of it.
I squirmed awkwardly. "Um, yeah!"
"Why don't you wear it tonight? Grannie has been complaining that you have never worn this dress!"

It's creepy how grandparents always know.

In a matter of minutes I had been stuffed into my overly-frilly birthday present.
I was going to put fancy clips in my hair, but mom said she preferred the "natural look". It was a little late for that.

I wandered out into the hallway, and nearly ran right into my older brother, Charlie. I have to say, my outfit was nothing compared to his. He was wearing khaki pants, and an atrocious sweater. It had a weird mixture of plaid and argyle. Creative, yes. Attractive, no.
We took one look at each other and only had one thing to ask. "Grannie Sue?"

Every family was supposed to bring a side dish and a dessert to the Thanksgiving party. I helped my mom make lemon bars and stuffing. I tried to keep from sampling too much, but about three lemon bars did disappear somehow!!
When we arrived at school, I was pleasantly surprised to see that all of my friends—including the McIntire's and the Doll's—were there.
I was absolutely thrilled to see Molly McIntire. Apparently her mother belongs to the same school of thought as mine; she was severely overdressed. I couldn't have been happier. After all, misery loves company!

We all found a table together. All the kids sat on one end, and the adults sat on the other.
Down at the kid's side of the table, we had fun folding our napkins into paper cranes and airplanes while we waited to eat.
All of the food (Especially the lemon bars!!) was very good, but I think the best part of the Thanksgiving Dinner was being with my friends and family.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Kit

Elegant Azure

2010-11-23T15:10:00.000-06:00

You've seen the hat....
But have you seen the dress that goes with it?

Okay, the commercial break is over!! This is Mimi.
After I made Josefina her newsboy cap, I decided that she really needed something to wear it with.
Sure, she could have just kept on wearing the Kelly doll jean jacket and her blue T-shirt, but she has always held something of a grudge against the Kelly clothes. Plus, blue T-shirts aren't that amazing.
So I set to work!!
I made this dress from part of an old T-shirt. It was originally going to be sort of a sun dress, but I like it this way a lot more.
And this dress, I am pleased to say, closes with Velcro. I know that in and of itself, Velcro isn't that great.
But before you start wondering why I'm making such a big deal out of Velcro, read the next bit.
The only kind of Velcro that we keep around here is the sticky backed stuff. It is a royal pain to sew on because it leaves your index finger dreadfully sore for about a day, and really messes up your needle.
I usually use snaps.

Thanks for looking!!

Hats!!

2010-11-15T17:20:00.001-06:00

Hello, Mimi here!!
Josefina came up to me yesterday, and made a very direct request. "Can you please make us some new hats??"
"But we have hats!" I objected.
"Barely." she muttered.
Truthfully, we do not have a lot of hats. The picture to the right depicts the extent of our hats. A faded green baseball cap, a floral hat from a large Kelly doll, and a red fleece hat.
Josefina had a point.
"All right..." I relented. "I guess I'll help you out."
She beamed, and was about to say something, when Kit ran in.
"Hey can I have a hat too?" she asked impetuously.
Josefina looked slightly irritated, but didn't say anything.
I agreed to their pleas, and went to work on some hats!

I made their newsboy caps from a pattern of Joan Hinds.
I think they turned out pretty well!
The pattern is pretty easy to sew. It is found in her book, "Sew Today's Fashions for 18" dolls".
It does take a while to cut out the pieces, but that can be said of any pattern!

Both Kit and Josefina were thrilled by their new hats, and immediately put them on, after thanking me profusely.
As always, thanks for looking!!

The little dollhouse!

2010-11-14T14:52:00.000-06:00

Hello, Mimi here! Today I'm focusing on my most recent project, the "little dollhouse".
It is smaller than my other dollhouse, probably about eight inches shorter, ten inches narrower, and a lot shallower.
It is made from a Creatology puzzle. I have to say, their directions are not clear at all. They label things on the directions with numbers and letters, and then you're on your own!
The house is in progress; I need to finish painting it.
The outside is too minty for my tastes. If it were going to have dark brown shingles, I think it would work well, but it is going to have dark green shingles.
Any suggestions on the color of the outside, or the rooms? They would be appreciated.
The lower left room is going to be white/cream.
Thanks for looking!!

100 posts, and NaNoWriMo!

2010-11-12T17:53:00.000-06:00

Hello! This is Mimi. :)
Well. Today I have some news; this post is the 100th on this blog!
Aside from that, some of you are probably wondering what NaNoWriMo is. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, so you can probably guess what I've been doing since November 1st! ;)
Sorry that this post is so short—I have to get back to writing!

New clothes, post 4!

2010-11-10T13:59:00.001-06:00

Hello! This is Kaya.
The other day, Mimi and I went to the park!
It was a very nice place, although it would have been nicer if it hadn't been crawling with little kids. ;)
We played for a while, and then took some pictures.
I wish I could put them all on here! Unfortunately Mimi says that I can't because her Picasa albums only have so much space. :(

The shirt that I am wearing in these pictures can be seen here: link.
The socks and shoes were made by American Girl around 2002.
Mimi made the black jacket just a couple of weeks ago. The idea for it came to her while she was supposed to be focusing on school. Shh! She told me that the sleeves on it were rather hard to sew, because the actual body of the jacket isn't very long.

The shorts are a couple of months old. They are made from the jean material that the jeans in the post that we linked to were made of. That sentence probably did not make a lot of sense. Play along, all right? :)

Thanks for looking!!!!

New clothes, post 3!

2010-11-08T13:48:00.001-06:00

Kit here!
Today, I'll be showing you the shirt that Mimi made for us.
I think that this shirt is really more up Josefina's alley. That having been said, I do like it quite a bit.
Mimi got the idea for this shirt from a shirt one of her friend's was wearing.
She says that it was a little bit hard to construct. (Mostly because of the sleeves!)
We had a lot of fun setting up mirrors for this shoot.
I love how all of the photos seem to glow! They do make my eyes look a lot darker than they actually are, but that's okay.

I think dark eyes are fashionable right now. ;)

Thanks for looking!!

New clothes, post 2!

2010-11-06T13:34:00.002-05:00

Hello! This is Samantha.
You might have seen the outfit that I'm wearing before. It is rather old, but it hasn't been posted about yet!
The pants are—once again— the infamous Our Generation doll pants that were supposed to be jeans.
Mimi's friend Rita gave her the shoes, and my scarf, which you can't quite see, is made from the tie of a dress.
Mimi made the ballet wrap and tank top out of old T-shirts that were no longer in use.
She also has made another ballet wrap the same color as this tank top. They both look very good in person.
It was a beautiful day when Mimi and I went outside to take these pictures.
I included a picture of me and Nutmeg the beagle, because Mimi thought it was very cute.
It is rather funny, Nutmeg is the only dog I know of that is afraid of us. She runs away from Kit, and after she had sniffed me, she won't even look in my direction!! (You can see that in the picture!!)
She is a very sweet dog.
I realize that the last paragraph didn't have anything to do with this outfit. Oh well. Mimi has told me that I need to try to stay on topic.... I guess I'll have to work on that!!!

New clothes, post 1!

2010-11-03T12:45:00.002-05:00

Hello! This is Josefina. A while ago I mentioned that I would be doing a series of posts on some of the new clothes that Mimi has made for us recently. This is the first post of that series! I'll be posting about my outfit, but the others will post about their new clothes.

Mimi made the jacket I am wearing for an assignment she had to do.
(She also made the jeans, but they aren't new.) The assignment was to make a piece of clothing that might have been worn in the 50's.

It is made from fabric that she got from her friend Sunshine.

I will probably wear this jacket for formal occasions.

In the pictures above, I was walking home from a recital we had at our school. (I play the French horn.)

Thanks for looking!
Samantha will be posting next. :)

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T21:06:00.003-05:00

Hi! This is Kit. :)
Today, all of us met at the school at about six for the fall festival. We were all dressed up in our costumes, which I must say, were pretty impressive!!
Samantha was dressed as Dawn from Pokemon, Josefina was a pop star, Kaya was dressed as an indian, Kirsten was a ballerina, I was little red riding hood , and Eliza was Laura from Hamtaro.

We went to the fall festival, but didn't stay very long. Brenda was there, bossing everyone around. It's kind of hard to boss people around at a fall festival, but Brenda managed to somehow.
We left early and went trick-or-treating instead. I got a ton of candy!!!

We stayed out for an hour or so, then met at my house to count up or candy.
I have a slight nut allergy, so I traded all of my candies with nuts to Samantha for Kit-kats.
They're my favorite, because they have my name in them! Well actually, my nickname. If they had my real name in them, they'd be called something like, "Meredith-kats". That doesn't roll off of the tongue very well.
We stayed up until eleven o'clock, and then decided that it wouldn't make any sense for the others to go home, so we had a sleep-over!

All in all I had a wonderful day today. How about you?

Kit-kat :)

A Package Arrives!

2010-10-25T15:56:00.004-05:00

Hello, it's Kirsten writing again.
This afternoon when I got home from school, all I wanted to do was sit down somewhere. I had endured a long day. My mother met me at the door. "Kirsten, a package arrived for you today. I put it in your room." she told me.
Suddenly all of my energy returned.
I dropped my bag, and ran up the stairs.
I hesitated in my doorway. Would it be a package from Grandma, or someone else?

I waited in the doorway for a few minutes before I finally decided that I had to know who the box was from.
I strode quickly across the room and grabbed my scissors.
Within seconds I had managed to remove all of the tape from the box, and was able to open it. I hadn't been able to see who the box was from, because it looked like it had been rained on. All of the writing was smeared beyond recognition. That was all right though, I'd be able to see who it was from by the contents.
Without hesitation I plunged my hand into the depths of the box. My hand rested on something soft and fuzzy. I pulled it out, and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.
In my hand I held one of the prettiest sweaters I had ever seen. It was a lovely sky blue, and had cables on the collar and sleeve cuffs.
At that moment I knew the package was from Grandma.
I fished around on the bottom of the box until I found a note.
It read, "Happiest of happy birthdays Kirsten. I hope that you love these clothes I sent to you. Please try them on when they arrive, and tell me how they fit.
With love,
Your Grandmother"
I was so happy I could have screamed for joy. I didn't, however, because I didn't want to get in trouble for suddenly erupting in noise.
I snatched everything out of the box and tried it on.
Everything fit beautifully, although I did feel a bit like a marshmallow when I wore all of the pieces.

I have decided that I will probably wear the different pieces separately. The outfit is far more comfortable that way.

I started to head out of the room to show my mother, when I had another idea. She could wait a few minutes to see it, first I had to write a thank-you-letter to Grandma.

Thanks for looking!!

Kirsten :)

Waiting...

2010-10-24T15:51:00.001-05:00

Hello, this is Kirsten!
As I was taking my birthday things upstairs the other day, my older sister Kelly watched me struggle up the stairs. "Say!" she said suddenly. "You didn't hear from Grandma this year."
She was right; I hadn't. "That's strange." I said in what I hoped was an offhand manner.
I left her at the bottom of the stairs and continued to my room. Once my door was shut, and my presents deposited on my desk, I sank on my bed to think.
It wasn't that I minded not getting a present from Grandma, although she makes excellent hand knit gifts. I missed hearing from her. We only correspond a couple times a year, because she lives in Norway and doesn't have a phone. I can't help but worrying about her when I don't hear from her.
I wandered to the window and sighed.
I really hope that Grandma is all right.

Happy Birthday Kirsten!

2010-10-23T11:36:00.000-05:00

Hello, this is Samantha!
A few days ago, I received an invitation from Kirsten for her birthday party. I was certain that I would find a way to attend. Kirsten is my best friend, and I love visiting her house!
Yesterday afternoon, I was one of the first to arrive at Kirsten's house.
Kirsten had told me that they had been redecorating, and I could clearly see so! The last time I had been at her house, they hadn't had the floral curtains or the pink sofa.

Once the others arrived, we had a great time playing party games. We spent a lot of time playing hide-and-seek, and tag.
After we had dinner, which consisted of spaghetti and meatballs, we watched "The Reluctant Astronaut". It was a really good movie.

Then it was time for cake and presents! (That's always my favorite part.)

The cake was excellent. It was a vanilla cake with chocolate icing.

We played lots of board games and karaoke until bedtime. (That was about two in the morning.)

I had a lot of fun, and can't wait until next year!

A quick update...

2010-10-19T15:01:00.001-05:00

... about the Fall Festival!
This is Josefina again. :) We started decorating today. (I couldn't take any pictures of that either!) It's going pretty well, especially since Brenda has backed off a little bit! I think it's a little early to start decorating, but that's just my opinion.
I'm getting ready to do a short series about some of the new clothes that Mimi has made for us! They're really cool. ;)
Josie

Fall Festival Committee Meeting

2010-10-17T17:30:00.002-05:00

Hello, this is Josefina writing again.
Earlier this afternoon, I was in the dorm room working on a book report when I heard the door.
I looked up to see Samantha. "Josefina, why are you still here? The committee meeting starts in a few minutes!" she told me quickly.
"But I didn't sign up!" I informed her.
"Oh I signed you up yesterday. We'd better get going!" She ran downstairs, and left the door open for me.

Five minutes later I arrived at the meeting room of our school.
I was met at the door by a tall girl with brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles.
"Welcome to the planning meeting." She said. "I'm Brenda Gibb."
I froze up. Kit had told me some about Brenda Gibb.
Brenda is the president of Kit's news club, and from what I have heard, she isn't the nicest girl in the world.
"Uh, hi Brenda." I faltered, unsure of what to say.
"Your name is Josefina?" she demanded.
I nodded feebly.
"Well you're late. Go sit over there." she pointed to a seat beside Samantha.

"Are there any questions, before we begin?" Brenda asked in such a way that made it certain that no questions were to be asked.
"Why is the poster orange and brown? The Halloween colors are orange and black." Samantha asked.
"This is not a Halloween party, it is a fall party. Now we will begin." Brenda told her coolly.
She immediately launched into a long monologue about how we each had to play a part in making the festival a success.

Finally, Brenda stated regally, "Meeting adjourned."
I've never seen a room empty so quickly.
Sorry that there weren't any pictures, Brenda made it very clear that there were to be no photos for "confidential reasons", whatever those are.

Thanks for reading this very long post!

Fall Festival Set-up team??

2010-10-16T16:34:00.000-05:00

Hello! This is Josefina.
Earlier today, Samantha and I were walking through the school's hallway, when Samantha stopped short. I crashed into her and dropped my bag, but she didn't notice.
"Oh wow look at this!" she said, as she ran across the hall.
I didn't see what she was so excited about.
"What is it?" I asked.
"The Fall Festival!" She exclaimed. "They have the posters up. It says to sign up for the set up committee."
"They left out a 't'." I observed.
"That's not the point at all!" Samantha said, getting rather impatient.
"Then what is?" I was very confused by now.

"We should sign up for it!!!" she told me.
I was very dubious. In all honesty, I don't want anything to do with the fall festival. I might attend, but setting it up isn't exactly my kettle of tea.
"Listen Samantha, I don't—" I began to tell her.
She wouldn't have any part of it. "It would be fun!" she interjected.
I wasn't sure about that.
I was about to suggest volunteering at the library instead, when she interrupted my thoughts. "I wonder where we sign up? The first meeting is tomorrow—" she mused. "Come on Josefina!"
"Where are you going?" I called after her.
"To sign up!"
I had a bad feeling about this, but followed slowly after her.

The Card-Making Party

2010-10-09T15:19:00.000-05:00

Hi, this is Kit! Today, Kirsten invited me and Kaya to a card-making party at her house. A lot of people at our school have been getting sick lately, so we decided to make cards for them!
As soon as Kirsten called me, I hopped on my bike and rode to her house.
(Just for your information, Kirsten's parents are back from visiting Kirsten's aunt, so Kirsten could stop boarding at the school. She simply hasn't yet)
She met me at the door. "Hi Kit!" she said. "You're just in time; Kaya just arrived a few minutes ago."

We had invited Samantha, Josefina, and Eliza, but they hadn't been able to make it.

When we were ready to start, we set up all of our supplies on the Larson's kitchen table. Kirsten's mother had made pink lemonade, so we brought that to the table too.
At the beginning of our actual card making time, I was a little dubious. I wasn't sure that we would actually have enough supplies to make all the cards we needed. As it turned out, we had extra!

Everything went really well! Well, actually I spilled half a glass of lemonade on Mrs. Larson's good table cloth, and then tipped the glitter jar into the puddle.
I scrubbed at the stains with a dishcloth so hopefully it won't stain, or leave a large sparkly spot.

We all had a really good time making cards, and agreed that we'll have again sometime soon!

Kaya's hair!!

2010-10-02T19:28:00.007-05:00

Hello! Ever since I got her, Kaya's hair has been a terrible mess. It was hard to brush, because the ends were very kinky. Apparently that is a problem most Kaya dolls have. I read up on the subject of straightening doll hair a bit, and found that flat-ironing was probably my best choice. My mom took me to Walmart, and we bought an inexpensive ceramic plated straightener. (It has to be ceramic plated, because metal will fry your doll's hair.) As soon as she had time, my mom helped me straighten Kaya's hair! To do it, you need a straightener, a spritzer bottle, (Like what perfume comes in.) and a doll hairbrush. (A wig brush works too.)
Put your straightener on the lowest setting it has, and let it heat up. Separate the doll's hair into several small pieces and lavishly spray a section. Proceed to straighten your doll's hair just like you would do your hair, making sure to pull it through her hair quickly. You do not want to let it rest anywhere on her hair, because chances are you would melt it.

When my mom and I finished, I was pleasantly surprised. Kaya's hair was silky. It's very easy to brush now, and looks so much better.

Thanks for looking!

Fall Decorating!

2010-09-29T15:29:00.003-05:00

Hello! This is Kirsten writing. Today, Kit and I were at our school "boring" (Boarding) room by ourselves. Everyone else had after-school activities. Kit and I had been having a contest throwing paper balls, but it just wasn't doing it for us.
As you may have guessed, we were bored. So... we decided that the room needed a bit of redecorating! We pulled the fall decorations out of the closet and went wild. Doesn't it look great? The pumpkins were Kit's idea, although I think we got them a bit early.
Happy fall!!

Curtain call!!

2010-09-20T10:24:00.000-05:00

Hello! So, after the lights dimmed and the actual show was over, it was time for the curtain call!

I was feeling a little tired from the dancing, but I couldn't wait for curtain call. My leg throbbed. It had been slightly throughout the whole program, but it was at its worst now. I had learned to ignore it.

The lights came back on. When our names were called over the speaker, we did a little twirl, and a curtsy. Then we went behind the stage.
After each name called, the audience burst into thunderous applause.

Molly, Daisy, Eliza, and Josefina's names had already been called, leaving me alone on the stage. I was feeling a bit conspicuous, so I was glad to hear my name at long last: "Samantha Parkington," the person in the sound booth announced.
I twirled and curtsied, basking in the glow of the spotlight.

The audience erupted with applause.
I could see Kit, Kaya, and Kirsten in the crowd. Kit looked as if she had been one of the main "cheerers": her hair was flying every which way and looked as if it hadn't been brushed in ages.
Kirsten had brought her camera along, and had been snapping pictures the whole time!

I was thrilled when people in the audience threw flowers onto the stage for me. I hadn't expected that at all.

When I was done on stage, I came out of a back door.
I was wandering around in the crowd, trying to find my family, when I was ambushed by Kit and Kirsten. (Kaya was finding Josefina.)
"Oh Samantha!" Kit gushed. "You were amazing!"
"Yeah you were!" Kirsten assured me. "And I took loads of pictures!"
All I could do was grin.

The Performance!

2010-09-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

Hi! Yesterday was the big performance! I would have posted about it yesterday, but I got home really late. I am pleased to say that it went without a hitch. Well, except for when Ashley fell off the stage when we were practicing, but that's another story. When it was time to go on, we slipped onto the dark stage quietly, and waited for the curtain to go up. When it did, we were slightly stunned by the sudden blaze of light. The spotlights always do that to me though.

When the music came on, it sent a shiver up my spine. In the back of my mind I had kind of been hoping that by some fluke the music wouldn't start, and that we could go back behind the stage. I wouldn't tell any of my friends or family this, it would surprise them too much, but dancing on stage terrifies me more than anything else. Practicing is fine, but my confidence gives out when I have people watching me.

I had to push these thoughts out of my mind, and start dancing. It felt as if I were dreaming. My mind felt numb. I was operating more from memory than conscious thought. Once my initial stage fright wore off, and I was able to think again, I started enjoying myself immensely. I "pirouetted", and "jetéd" across the stage. I felt like I was flying.

Then, at the peak of my enthusiasm, it was time for me to "chassé" off the stage to allow time for the four-person procession. I don't know what it is technically called, but that's how I refer to it. After the four people had finished their procession, I "chasséd" back on the stage, and began to dance again. The whole performance was thrilling and stunning, from my perspective anyway. Kit told me later that it was enchanting.

She also said that she hadn't been that excited ever since her baseball team scored a fantastic victory. I suppose that's a compliment. Back to our subject, after a bit more with that group of dancers, they left, and a new group came. Towards the end they came back again, and we danced some more. I was really happy to finish the performance with my friends. I haven't had that much fun dancing in a really long time. The whole experience was just such a delight. I was honestly very sorry when the music finally stopped, and we had to stand still, waiting for the curtain to fall.

If I had the chance, I would do it all over again.

Dress Rehearsal!

2010-09-16T19:32:00.003-05:00

Hello, this is Samantha again.
Good news! My foot has healed enough that even my mom agrees that I should be able to dance on it. I was thrilled to hear so.

Anyways, today was the dress rehearsal for the performance. I love my costume. It's so soft and beautiful, it's a pleasure to wear.
For the first part of the dress rehearsal, my teacher had me run through it one time on my own, just to get the feel of it.
I was surprised by how well my foot felt. I could almost believe that I hadn't hurt it at all. Almost, but not quite.

I floated through the dances, feeling as light as a feather. I emerged breathless and triumphant.
"Very good." my teacher complimented me warmly. "Now let's see you with the other dancers."
The other dancers joined me on the stage. I was in almost every dance, so I got to see a lot of different dancers.
"From the top!" the teacher called, turning the music on.
I stumbled through the dances, feeling just about as graceful as a one-legged hippopotamus. I emerged embarrassed and hot. My ankle kind of hurt too.
"Hmm.." my teacher said. "One more time!"
I somehow managed to survive, although I thought I might pass out.
"That will do." my teacher said. "You may all go home now, I'll see you in a few days. Don't forget to practice!!!"

I knew I wouldn't, if it would help me avoid another rehearsal like this one.

Silence is Golden...

2010-09-14T12:44:00.000-05:00

But so is music.

Hello, this is Samantha. As you may or may not know, I love music and dancing. My favorite is ballet, but I also take jazz and tap dancing. The peak of my Autumn is usually the annual performance that the dance company puts on.
A lot of the music danced out of my life two weeks ago, leaving me with a lot of silence. I had been walking home from dance lessons with Josefina. I was so delighted that I had one of the main parts in the ballet, that I didn't notice the drop in the sidewalk.
I was lucky: I was left with only a twisted ankle. But that meant that I couldn't dance for a while.
My ankle will probably heal in time for the performance, but I haven't been able to attend the practices, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it.
The performance is this Saturday. I've been busy stretching and applying ice to my foot for the past two weeks, in hopes that it will heal enough for me to be able to confidently attend a practice. I have most of the routine memorized, but I'd really like to try it with the other dancers. Wish me luck!

Oh, This dress was made from a McCall's pattern. It was intended to be a shirt, but it turned out a little too long. It's one of my new favorites!

Wendy

2010-09-08T15:45:00.010-05:00

A small girl scurried out of the four o'clock train, and onto the smoky platform. Her eyes came to rest on a well-dressed man who was scanning the crowds anxiously. "Are you Mr. Harrison?" she asked him.
He looked down and smiled. "Yes." he said in a stately manner. "I presume you are Wendy, the Edwards' guest from England?"
Wendy nodded. "Well good." Mr. Harrison, the butler said. "Then I suppose we can be on our way now, unless of course you have any other luggage we need to pick up?"
"No sir." Wendy said simply.
"That makes it easier. Come along now, we have a carriage waiting."

"Why hello child." Mrs. Edwards said grandly. "I have been expecting you."
"I know." Wendy told her.
Mrs. Edwards was taken aback. Nobody had ever spoken to her in that impertinent way before. She tried to conceal her horror. "Well darling, let us go out, and do something about that hair of yours." Mrs. Edwards cooed in a syrupy voice.

She had never seen such atrocious hair. It was so straight, so dull. She could fix that. And her clothes! Mrs. Edwards thought that such a horrendous dress should be burned at the soonest convenience. She would have to deal with that later.

They were home again by five. Wendy had somehow managed to escape the hair dresser's with only a light curling. Mrs. Edwards had wanted something much more flashy, but somehow it didn't make it. "Here's your room Kitten." Mrs. Edwards (who apparently had a fondness for nicknames) said.
Wendy looked around with shining eyes. The room was lovely. In truth, Mrs. Edwards despised the room, and was only too glad to let someone else use it. (Before, she had kept her extensive button collection in it.)
"Honey-cake, I took the liberty of buying you some brand new clothes. I hope you don't mind too much."

"Mind? I don't mind. Should I?" Wendy asked.
Mrs. Edwards gasped audibly. She didn't know what she would do at all if the child kept on behaving so impudently. "Dearest angel, why don't you acquaint yourself with the house? I'm certain that you will find something to interest you, Lovey."
"All right." Wendy said, as she flew out of the room to explore.
Mrs. Edwards leaned against the bedpost, looking quite pale. "That darling rogue will be the end of me with her antics, I swear."

New Camera!!

2010-09-05T12:59:00.003-05:00

Hello! Just the other day, my new camera arrived in the mail! It is a Kodak Easyshare C182. I got a blue one. :)
I'm really impressed with it. I expected it to be fine, but it is excellent!! It is very easy to use, has a lot of settings, and the photos it takes are very crisp and pretty!
I took Kirsten outside to test it out. The two pictures in this post were my favorites, although the top one is a little green...
Thanks for looking!

Pretty in Pink

2010-08-27T14:07:00.005-05:00

Hello! Today Kit and I went outside
to take pictures of a new piece of clothing... a ballet wrap!

The wrap is made from an old shirt. It didn't take very long to make at all. This is actually the second, and best, one I have made. The other one isn't bad at all... but this one is better. :) I'll have to post a picture of the purple one sometime.
the pants were made a while ago. The shirt, sunglasses, and shoes were all gifts at different times.
I'm not sure how I feel about Kit in pink... it's definitely not her best color... :P She has never been very partial to pink, so I had quite a time convincing her to let me take her picture in this!

Do you like Kit's hair like this? :)

Thanks for looking!

AG Thermos Tutorial!

2010-08-26T12:40:00.002-05:00

Mimi here! Today I thought I'd post a tutorial on how to make a doll thermos. It's really ridiculously simple, so I didn't take pictures of every step... :)

What you need:
A pill canister or something like an old chap stick holder
Aluminum foil (or tin, it doesn't really matter)
Glue

Take the aluminum foil, and cut a piece wide enough to go around the container with an overlap. Make sure that it is longer than the container by about a quarter of an inch.
Wrap the foil around the container. As you can see in the picture above, the foil does not cover the top white bit. Take care that it doesn't cover it overly much. If it does, the thermos won't close properly.
Squeeze a line of glue onto the foil, and glue it down. Carefully press the extra quarter of an inch against the bottom of the container.

Lid: Cut a strip of foil wide enough to go around the lid, with overlap, and extra length again. Glue it, and press the extra onto the top. Trace the top of the lid onto a piece of foil. Cut out the circle, and glue it on top.

If you like, you can draw a black line around the base of the lid. You can also fill it with colored Acrylic Water to simulate a beverage inside.

Enjoy! :)

The first day of school!

2010-08-24T20:21:00.003-05:00

Hello! This is Kit writing. I decided that since Mimi hasn't posted in the past few days, I would post about school, since that seems to be all I've thought about lately. Oh, and the picture up there is one we took today right before our classes started.
Our first day of school was really supposed to be yesterday.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, in my case) there was a really violent storm, and the school didn't have electricity for most of the day.
All of the classes were either cancelled, or rescheduled for today.
That same storm uprooted a tree, which fell onto our roof. My mother decided that this would be a good time for me to take advantage of the fact that Springfield Academy is a boarding school. Usually only students from out of town board at the school, but in cases such as this local students can as well.

Anyway, I was glad to see the school again, although summer went by far too quickly. I arrived early, so I could put my suitcase in my bedroom. It was a pleasant surprise to hear that my other friends would also be boarding at the school for a couple of weeks. They didn't tell me why exactly. All I know is that Kirsten's parents are visiting a sick great aunt.

Springfield Academy hasn't changed much from last year. I could tell that they had tried to give the place a facelift, but it didn't help much. Everything still looks a little overcrowded.
School itself was pretty good. None of my classes were overly hard, and I saw a lot of old friends. (Well, not very old friends, I've only lived here for eight months or so!)

Well, that's a basic summary of what I've been doing in the past day or so, I'm sorry it didn't actually have much to do with my day at school! Then again, there isn't much to write about school... :)

Kit

Kaya's new clothes!

2010-08-14T12:37:00.002-05:00

Wow. I'm sorry I didn't post in, well, a month, but I haven't been home for about a month. :P
Anyway, while I was gone, I made some new doll clothes for Kaya. Her shirt is made from part of an old bed sheet, and her leggings were some random knit fabric. The scarf is part of an old "tie belt". I did not make her boots, however. One of my good friends bought them for me. I liked them immediately, because they are like Rebecca's boots, and I've always liked those. :)
Thanks for looking!

Back home already??

2010-07-10T13:55:00.002-05:00

A couple evenings ago I was reading peacefully, when I suddenly heard a small knock on the door. I opened the door, and was surprised at what I saw. Kaya, Josefina, Samantha, Kirsten and Kit stood on the doorstep, soaked and shivering. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked, bemused. " I thought you still had a week at camp."
"We did, but-" That was about as far as I understood. It was heavily interrupted by the rain, the wind, and thunder.
"Come inside and dry off, and then tell me." I told them. So about forty minutes later, I was finally getting an explanation over a cup of hot chocolate.
"Well," Josefina explained chattily, "There was supposed to be another week of camp, but then it started raining and flooding a lot."
"In the lower parts, it was flooded past our waists!" Samantha interrupted.
Josefina continued, a little irritated at being interrupted. "Eventually the counselors decided that we should leave while we still could,"
"That is," Samantha interrupted again, "Before the roads flooded so high that they weren't traversable."
"They gave us rain checks!" Kit interrupted.
"ANYWAY," Josefina continued. "We had to leave and they told us that we could come back for another week if the camp dried well. We-"
"We decided we probably wouldn't." Samantha broke in. "We're ready to be back home."
"Samantha will you stop interrupt-" Josefina began.
"Oh that reminds me-" Samantha chatted.
"Anyone want some cookies??" I asked, hoping to divert a fight.

Thanks for looking!

Rushing Rivers Camp, Kit's fifth letter!

2010-06-28T13:50:00.001-05:00

Dear Mimi,
Sorry that I haven't written in the past couple of days. It has been really slow around here. Ever since Friday, the weather has consisted of nothing but rain. Rain and lightning. Of course there are small breaks of sunshine between rain, but then it's so windy, and everything is so wet, being outside isn't especially appealing.

So for the past couple days, I have been inside the tent. It is starting to feel very squished. At the moment, Kirsten is crouched in the tents door, taking rain pictures. Samantha is flopped on the floor reading, and I am obviously writing. To pass the time I have also been knitting and reading, but not much of either. The tent isn't very well lit.

Mimi, if you don't want to read a letter full of complaints, you might want to just toss this letter into your fireplace, or your toaster. Whichever is closer.

Anyways, the picture(s) I included are ones that Kirsten took of me in the rain, although I didn't have any idea about it.
A helpful tip: (Aimed right at you, Miss Photography 1 and 2, not that Kirsten is reading this (hopefully) but at least you are) when you are taking a photo of someone who has been cooped up in a tent for three days, let them know about it so that they can have time to brush their hair. That's all I'm saying about these photos.

Have you ever been in a tent for three solid days in a rainstorm? Believe me, it isn't any fun at all. At first it was kind of fun, because it was warm and cozy. The fun stopped abruptly when rain started leaking in the tent's roof, and coming through the fabric floor. A counselor gave us a tarp to put down, but it still leaks in some way or the other.

Sigh. I'm sure that if I have to stay in this tent another second, I'll scream. Actually I probably won't because it's night and we're supposed to be getting ready for bed. Yeah. We started getting ready for bed, then the motivation just left.

Normal camp activities are postponed until the rain stops, because all of them are outdoors practically. We still have to wade through the ankle-deep mud at least three times a day for meals, but for the most part, we're all hiding away in tents.

Well, that's all I have to say really, because there isn't much to say about rain, except for this one thing I forgot to mention: it's wet.

Bye!
Kit

(also included in the envelope was a small note from Kirsten)

Hello!
In Kit's letter, I'm imagining she was rather depressed-sounding about the rain. Don't worry, it isn't too bad here, and also I don't think Kit really hates the rain anyway. The photo I included is of her playing in the rain. I took it at the same time as the other ones, I just haven't shown it to her yet. After she saw the other ones, she asked me to stop taking so many pictures of her when she was unprepared. It's a good thing she hasn't seen my photo file on the computer, hehe.
See you soon!
Kirsten

My curiosity aroused, I went and looked at Kirsten's photo file on the computer. She's right, it is probably a good thing Kit has never seen it; she would be certain Kirsten took too many pictures! There were about fifty-million photos inside... no wonder the computer has been running slowly!!

Rushing Rivers Camp, Kit's fourth letter!

2010-06-25T08:27:00.001-05:00

Dear Mimi,

Today was kind of a cloudy, foggy sort of day.
For breakfast this morning we were served toast mostly. It was pretty good, for toast.

Nature class today was about bird feet. I personally thought it was a strange topic, but I didn't have any say in what Ms. Lila spoke to us about.
We learned about what different kinds of bird feet do, and how they differ. Later we had trivia on this topic.

We made book covers for our craft today, to recover old books that they had there. They turned out very nicely, and now we all have new books!

Aside from the bird feet trivia, our game time consisted of canoe racing. It was fun, but I was still a little nervous about being in a canoe. Even if it wasn't in a Rapid River. The red team won one race, and the Blue team won the other. Both teams are currently tied at twenty points each!

Lunch and dinner were typical "camp food". Lunch was soup, and dinner was hot-dogs and beans.

For free time today, I hung around with Molly again. She and I are becoming very good friends. We decided to go swimming, because it was ridiculously hot. I wasn't too partial to going swimming, but the alternative was the River Rapids course.
The lake wasn't very crowded, which we were thankful for. A quiet lake is more fun than a rowdy splashy lake.
Although I can't swim very well, we did manage to swim out to the island that sits in the middle of the lake. It was very peaceful. We mostly flopped around and goofed off for a couple of hours. Then suddenly the sky clouded over. Before we knew it, we were right in the middle of a thunderstorm! You will be glad to hear that we had the presence of mind to go find shelter. We ended up in a small, damp cave. It was better than nothing.
We waited the storm out; it lasted about a half an hour.
When it was finally over, we swam back ashore. It seemed a lot longer than when we had swam out earlier. We arrived on shore by about the time everyone was looking for us. When they heard where we had been, they rushed us off to the nurses office. I think they go a little overboard sometimes (they send people there all the time!) but I suppose it's better than if they didn't send you at all!
The nurse told us to rest for a while... I think that's what she tells everyone. I'm not really sure that she's a qualified nurse. We rested until dinner.

Well that's about all that happened today! We all miss you!
Kit

Rushing Rivers Camp, Kit's third letter!

2010-06-24T09:26:00.001-05:00

Soon after I received Kit's letter, I was on a bus headed towards Rushing Rivers! It was just as long and interesting as Kit had written, and I was enthralled the whole ride.
When I arrived after three long hours, I was greeted warmly by all of my doll companions, and a few friends they had made. Kit was very excited to see me. She insisted on showing me the whole camp, obviously forgetting an experience of her own rather similar to that.
I only stayed for a couple of hours, but Kit wrote me a letter to tell me what I had missed.

Dear Mimi,
I was very glad to see you this morning, but I'm sorry you couldn't stay longer. What did you think of camp?
Breakfast wasn't very good this morning. You're lucky that you came too late for it; the eggs were too runny, and everything else was to hard.
Ms. Lila told us an "epic chipmunk story" for our nature class, or that was at least how she described it. The chipmunk pictures were very cute, but it was really boring.

Crafts were postponed due to "technical difficulties beyond their control" (Really, how many technical difficulties can you have with craft supplies??) so we moved right along to game time. We were promised a craft later.
The first game we played was hide and seek. It didn't last very long, because some of the younger Dolls, (Rose and Amanda) got hot and tired of it very quickly. Instead we played games with cotton balls and straws.
The first game we played was a race, and the second one was more like hockey. They were both very fun, although they left one quite winded. The red team won both games!

After a quick lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (They have low budget lunches here) we moved right along to free time.

Kaya was eager to go on the high ropes course, which had just opened this morning. She asked if I would come with her. I told her I would. I wasn't planning on going on it after my experience yesterday, but I hoped to get a few pictures with Kirsten's camera. (which I was borrowing)
I looked over the course as they stood in line. It basically involved some ropes that were about four feet from the ground, and a couple of swings and slides at the end. I noticed that the ground below it was covered in large pillows and soft things, to make up for the lack of a net.

Kaya had climbed up confidently, and was crossing one of the ropes. I stood below, taking pictures for her scrapbook. Suddenly, a small gust of wind whisked her hat off of her head! I'm pretty sure that Kaya would have stayed on if she hadn't grabbed at her airborne hat, but as it was, she lost her footing, and toppled onto the cushions below.
Kirsten and the nurse with whom I am well acquainted rushed over to see if she was all right. Of course she was, the cushions guaranteed that. In spite of that, they took her to the nurse's office.

In other news: Kirsten competed in a swimming race today, and claimed first prize! I cheered for her doubly loud since you couldn't be there.

Molly and I met up with Kaya as soon as she was let out of the nurse's office, and went to the rock climbing course. You will be glad to hear that no one fell of, or hurt themselves in any way on this excursion, except for a scrape on Molly's knee. It was very fun and completely safe. That's what they told us, any way. Come to think of it, that's also what they said about the Rapid River, and the High Ropes Course...

We had crafts eventually. They were tote bags! Mine is purple with a green flower on it.
After that we had baked potatoes for dinner, and our first camp fire! We roasted a lot of marshmallows and made s'mores.
I feel rather ill now. Samantha told me not to eat too many of them. I would've listened to her, but that twelfth s'more was calling my name!! They were very good though, even if they did make me sick.

I thought that I would include a picture of myself in this letter, so here it is! Molly took it for me.

Yours truly,
Kit Kittredge

Rushing Rivers camp, Kit's second letter!

2010-06-23T07:29:00.001-05:00

Well, Kit's next letter also "soared on the wings of the post and found me as she left me", and included pictures! I will stick them in at about the time they would appear in Kit's letter.

Dear Mimi,
We awoke at seven in the morning to the obnoxiously loud blaring of a bugle. I was confused at first, expecting to wake up in my bedroom, but I quickly remembered where I was.

For breakfast that morning, we were served waffles. They were quite good, except for they were a little dry.
I sat with Molly and Rose, because I was a little nervous about wandering around until I found and my other friends.

After that we went to our nature class, where Ms. Lila spoke about raccoons. It was interesting, and the raccoon pictures were very cute.

Soon after we were done with raccoons, we went on a three mile "nature walk" (more of a strenuous hike really) and were thoroughly acquainted with the campgrounds.

When we were back, they quickly sent us out on a Scavenger hunt. The blue team won (I am on the red), but all of the red team had fun as well. The prizes were pillows and headbands.

For crafts today we made bracelets out of pretty beads and hemp.

During free time, I was invited to go on the river rapids course with Molly. I wasn't entirely sure, as you know, I am not very good at swimming, and the thought of rushing down a rapid river made me a little ill. However, I didn't want to disappoint Molly, so I agreed.

(As always, click for better quality)
Picture 1, This is the picture of us, going down the river.
Picture 2, The canoe hit a bump, Molly was thrown backwards, squealing with glee. Kirsten fell back, out of reflex, crashed into me, and I went flying out of the canoe.
Picture 3 and 4 are me in the water.

It was pretty scary, at first I was flying, then everything around me was a vivid greeny-blue. I couldn't breathe. I suppose I was lucky that there weren't any rocks in that part of the River Rapids course...
I was only under for a few seconds. I quickly bobbed back up to the surface, but I only had time to draw a quick breath before I was whisked under again. I vaguely saw Josefina hop out of her canoe. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged onto the shore by the collar of my shirt. When I opened my eyes, Josefina was standing above me, looking out of breath and very wet.
Don't worry, I thanked her!

The rest of the day was all kind of a blur. I remember that a counselor whisked me away to the nurse's office. The nurse told me to take it easy, and that the rapids course wasn't for swimming. Of course I already knew that, but I didn't tell her so.
I'm excited to think that you might be reading this letter on your way to Rushing Rivers! Even if you might not be able to stay the whole two weeks, I'm glad you'll at least be able to see the camp.
See you soon!
Kit

Rushing Rivers camp, Kit's first letter

2010-06-22T04:37:00.001-05:00

Today I received my first letter from Kit, who is at camp. I decided that the easiest way for you to hear how camp has been so far would be for Kit to tell it to you herself.

Dear Mimi,
Camp has been really great so far!
I will admit, I wasn't sure if I should even go when we were saying "goodbyes" at the bus stop, but I am glad I did come!
The bus ride was very long; over three hours. To pass the time, I worked on a novel I'm writing. Everyone else mostly read, or sang never-ending songs very loudly. I wish you could have been there to see some of the places we passed, and the things we saw! My favorite things that I saw were a city called "Orange", and "Big Cow Creek".

When we finally arrived at noon, I was rather dubious. I didn't see any river, or any water for that matter! The whole place looked dry, and weather tossed. A guide appeared promptly to welcome us. She explained that although the outside of Rushing Rivers wasn't very welcoming, the inside was much nicer. I had my doubts, but sure enough, after we had walked a good quarter of a mile, Rushing Rivers stood before us in all of its glory.

After a very long orientation, where we were told what "team" we were on, and what cabin we were in. We were free to investigate for an hour, and then we would have our first nature walk.
I was very excited to learn that I would be boarding with Samantha and Kirsten, but sorry that Kaya and Josefina couldn't squeeze in with us as well. Some of the other campers that I knew were the Dolls, Lindsey, Eliza, Daisy, Amanda, and Rose. I also recognized their cousin, Molly Mcintire. The elation of seeing so many people I knew was somewhat smothered by the overwhelming amount of people I did not know.

The first thing I did was go and find my cabin. When they told me that we got cabins, I expected to have a cabin. Lo and behold, when I arrived at Cabin 4, Cabin 4 turned out to be a tent. Now I don't really mind tents, but it simply wasn't what I had been expecting. It was then that I realized why only three people were together in a "cabin".
Samantha, Kirsten and I deposited our luggage, and unpacked a few things that we would need. The tent is a bit squished, but it's cozy, I guess.
We went on a nature walk after that. It was very short and pleasant. We took a few pictures, and will I will send some with my next letter.
I do wish you could be here. I know that you will come briefly around Wednesday, but even two days are too many without you. I got that out of a book!

At around one we ate a late lunch of sandwiches, and then played a trivia game.

After that it was free time. I chose to go to the archery place with Molly, and the fishing pond with Kirsten and Lindsey.
When we were done at about six we took baths, and had "Dinner and Chill" time. That involved pizza, and an impromptu talent show thing. They had to cut it short when it started raining, and the power went out. I didn't really mind however; we were right in the middle of a banjo-accordion duet, and it wasn't very good.

I should probably stop writing now because the mail collector is here to collect the mail. With all luck, this letter shall soar on the wings of the post and find you as I left you. I got that one from a book too!

The other dolls send their greetings, and hope that you will join us soon.
Yours truly,
Kit Kittredge

Rushing Rivers!!

2010-06-21T09:01:00.000-05:00

The dolls are all packing and getting ready for Rushing Rivers, the summer camp they will be attending! It kicks off tomorrow, so their bus will arrive shortly.
Rushing Rivers is an accredited camp located out in the country away from everything else. It will run one to two weeks, two if everything goes well, one if everything doesn't! Hopefully all will go well. Of course I will provide pictures, and stories of the highlights of camp.
Well, I should probably go and help the dolls pack now. See you soon!

Kaya's opinion

2010-06-20T15:27:00.001-05:00

The other day, I was photographing Kaya in some new clothes I had made for the dolls. After the first picture, Kaya had a question. "Would you mind if I posted about these clothes?" she asked.
"Oh I don't know, why?" I replied.
"Well you see," she said, "You can't really give an accurate review of them, because you've never worn them."
She did have a point. "Okay." I agreed reluctantly. "But just this once, until we see how it goes."
So I guess this would be a good time to sign off and let Kaya take the wheel. Bye!!

Hello! I would like to tell you all a bit about myself, but Mimi told me to try to stay on the subject, so I suppose I'll tell you about these clothes instead.
I think Mimi did a very good job on these. I like the shirt a lot for two reasons. Firstly because it is different from all of our other shirts, and secondly because I prefer more neutral colors like this green than brighter colors, because I think they look better on me.
The jeans are very nice, but they are to heavy for summer, so I suppose I won't be wearing them much until next fall.
Both of these are from pattern-free, and made from old clothes. (an old T-shirt, and cargo pants extensions) Mimi told me to put that in, I don't think it was really that important, but Mimi always has strange whims like that.
I would love to keep going, but Mimi says that blog posts should be short and to the point, or something along those lines, so I should probably end here.
Bye! Kaya

Summer dresses

2010-06-19T08:26:00.000-05:00

Hello! I'd like to start this post off by mentioning that I didn't make either of these dresses; they were both birthday presents. :)
Samantha chose this spot for her picture, because she said it made her look like she was about to cross a street.
"Not really." I objected. "It can't be a street because there aren't any cars going way to fast, or people on bikes disturbing traffic, or any ducks or squirrels madly darting out-"
"A nice street." she interrupted.
"Oh." I said. "Where do you find these nice-"
At this point, Kirsten stepped outside. "Are you nearly finished?" she asked politely.
"No, haven't started." I told her rather distractedly. "Now hold still Samantha,"

When it came time for Kirsten to have her picture taken, she had already decided to stand beside the house. "Doesn't the brick red really go well with my dress?" she asked.
I nodded, and snapped a couple of pictures.

The only reason Kirsten gets more pictures than Samantha, is that she holds still better. Samantha kept wiggling.
See you soon!

mimiville

Coming soon: Etsy!!

Happy 2012, from Poppy!

Joy to the World

Updates, and the AG store!

My Attempt at Novel Writing!

Pictures!

Variety!

Back to school!

Oh dear.

I'm home!!

Hello from the "new" library

Jenna's Thoughts

Rushing River 2011, Letter 5!

Rushing River 2011, Letter 4!

Rushing River 2011, Letter 3

Rushing River 2011, Letter 2!

Rushing River 2011, Day 1

*Untitled post that secretly sort of has a title*

Hello, summer!!

Big News!

A verbose excuse....

Testing, testing, 123

The Trip to the Woods!

A new hobby?

A Day in the life of Dakota

Much ado about nothing

Sally

Rendezvous

A Spring Saunter

Goat-sitting

Sombrita!

Supporting the team

Rilla!!

3 years of blogging!

Jennifer-here!

A new face in Mimiville....

A quick update...

Mischa pictures

*Insert Witty Title*

Meet Mischa and Sunny!

Reports due

Oh Samantha....

Genealogy 101

Kaitlyn is in the house!

Well, what do you know!?

Speaking of weird....

Ack!

What would you like to see?

Rowan here!!

New Girls

I'm Back!

Sushi Tutorial, part 3

Sushi Tutorial, part 2

Sushi Tutorial, part 1

Merry Christmas!

Sushi!!

Winter Wonderland

Secret Santa Gift Exchange!

Playing Wii Sports!

The Snow Queen

Christmas Pictures!

Rockin' around the Christmas tree!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elegant Azure

Hats!!

The little dollhouse!

100 posts, and NaNoWriMo!

New clothes, post 4!

New clothes, post 3!

New clothes, post 2!

New clothes, post 1!

Happy Halloween!

A Package Arrives!

Waiting...

Happy Birthday Kirsten!

A quick update...

Fall Festival Committee Meeting

Fall Festival Set-up team??

The Card-Making Party

Untitled post that secretly sort of has a title

Insert Witty Title