{ An Easter Rumor! }

Hello peeps!  Since many of us girls were going to church and then to visit family on Easter Sunday, we decided to have a little kitchen get-together on Saturday to celebrate together before we all went our separate ways.  Several of us either brought or bought baked goods and tasty tidbits to share.  And it was so sweet that Isabelle brought us a big bowl of Oreo cookies even though she couldn't stay to enjoy them.  Before leaving, she helped me make some watermelon punch and also set up an egg dying table for added fun!

Pretty soon after Isabelle left, Lanie arrived with her pet bunny, Lulu.  Oh boy did Oreo get excited! He ran up to meet Lulu immediately....I could tell he was super excited to have a play friend but I am not so sure if the feeling was mutual!

Hope and McKenna were already there before Lanie arrived and had pretty much set up camp at the egg dying table.  They were having loads of fun dipping and combining colors.

As soon as I had a quiet moment, I leaned into Lane and in a low voice said "I heard something exciting that I have been dying to tell you!"  Lanie's eyes widened as she leaned in. 

But just then, Oreo started pushing his food dish across the floor and he totally distracted me!  I walked around to see exactly what on earth was going on and saw something I totally didn't expect to see....Oreo was pushing his dish with his paw over towards Lulu. 

And just when I thought he couldn't get any more stinkin' adorable, he started using his nose to get it closer and closer to where Lanie had tied Lulu up at!  My heart just melted right there on the spot!

So much cuteness - too much to bear!  BUT, I remembered what I wanted to tell Lanie so I made my way back over to her as she was picking out a cupcake.  "Good golly, Saige.....tell me what you heard that is so exciting.....pleeeeeeeeze!"

"Well" I replied, "Come closer as I don't want to get anyone's hopes up if what I heard ends up being wrong."   I whispered the rumor in Lanie's ear and as I did she squealed with excitement.  "Shhhh!" I shushed.  But it was too late.  McKenna swung around and said, "What's so exciting, Lanie?"  And, McKenna's comment caught Hope's attention - who was now looking at McKenna.  Oh boy.  Now what was I going to do?

Hope immediately jumped on McKenna's comment; "What did Saige tell Lanie?  Did she mention a vacation?  Are we all going on a fun trip or something?  Should I go and start packing?  Is it far away?  Oh, should I pack clothes for warm weather or cold weather!?!?  What....."  "Hope!" I chided, "Shush and let me tell you before you have us traveling to Istanbul or some other far way land!"  Sorry but I had to cut her off as she was getting really carried away with this! 

So, in a low, soft voice I said; "Now you guys keep it down and no squealing like little Miss Lanie-bug did, okay?"  They all agreed, nodding anxiously.  "Okay, here we go.....I heard that Grace is going to be coming to live at The Dolly Dorm!"  They started to squeal and I reminded them; "Silent cheers please!!!!!" Thankfully, they tamed their squeals down to a whisper.  Lanie, McKenna, Hope and I were so excited about the possibility of Grace coming soon that we pretty much didn't talk about anything else for the rest of the get-together.  We all wondered if it was true and if so, then when would she'd be coming. 

Hope said she was so excited that she needed a chocolate bunny to calm her down.  Oh boy, that's a first. I thought chocolate hyped you up!  But hey, who was I to argue with her?  I decided to agree with her and chose a cupcake instead because it was the best of both worlds; chocolate, cake and icing!  Yum!

Even Oreo got in on enjoying the food.....somehow he had gotten his little doggy snoot on a bunny cookie and was giving it to Lulu.  Ack!  More cuteness overload!!! 

We all - including Oreo and Lulu - had a fun time and we speculated on when and where and how we might meet Grace.  We have heard that she went to Paris and was in some sort of baking contest.  It all sounds so exciting!

And in the end, I believe that Oreo definitely won over the affections of Lulu.  He showered her with food and friendship....why wouldn't she like him, right?  :)

How about you guys?  Do any of you already have Grace living at your house?  If so, I bet you are having fun with her!!  We can't wait!!

  18 Inch Doll Outfits & 18 Inch Doll Accessories by:

Lanie is wearing her Meet Outfit and Saige is wearing her Sweater Outfit...both by American Girl®

McKenna is wearing her Warm-up Jacket by American Girl®
Hope's adorable outfit is by QTPieDollClothing ~ Etsy®

 

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{ We're All Still Here! }

Well, as you all know, yesterday was Alien Abduction Day!  I wore my protective foil hat to school and boy did I get some strange looks!  Haha, but at least I was safe.....deep down, I sorta wished aliens had come and taken some of those annoying boys away for at least a few days!  Anywho, when I got home, Frolics was waiting for me in his favorite chair. 

Fortunately we have online textbooks so my backpack isn't terribly heavy.  Even still, I had a TON of homework - mostly algebra - my favorite subject - NOT.  Man, my teachers just LOVE to give us homework...and lots of it! :(  As I set my backpack down to get started on my assignments, Frolics was acting as if he wanted me to follow him to the kitchen.

So, I picked him up and headed upstairs to the kitchen.  Plus I wanted to make sure that everyone is wearing their hats! Then it hit me - Oh no.....what if they forgot to make them and were already abducted?!  Quick, let's go Frolics!

I ran to the kitchen with Frolics, and could not BELIEVE my eyes! It was like looking at a Reynold's Wrap fashion show of hats!!  "Good gravy, you guys! Those aren't the kind of hats I was talking about!" I exclaimed.

"Don't you like them??" McKenna exclaimed. "I made a fez (because fezzes are cool! :D), Saige made a top hat, Isabelle.....well.....I don't really know what she made..."
"It's a dome!" Isabelle cut in.
"Okay. Isabelle made a dome, Trey made a snapback, and Sarah made a hat that looks just like Mountie Jack's!" McKenna finished.
"Yeah! My hat looks a lot like Mountie Jack's from the AMAAAZING TV show, 'When Calls The Heart'! I did it because he is ALL I can think about! I cannot WAIT until Saturday night! I swear.....if Jack leaves Elizabeth again I'm going to CRY I tell you....cry a major big long river of tears!!!  Give Rosemary to Gowen!"
Sarah is talking about Hallmark's 'When Calls The Heart' - our favorite TV show. The show comes on every Saturday night at 9 p.m. and we are all completely and utterly obsessed with it. Do any of you guys watch it?? We are all crushing on Mountie Jack! He's soooooooooo all that! :)

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye.....I noticed an unprotected doggy head! Oh no! Honey! You aren't wearing a hat!  It's a wonder you are still here with us!

I rushed over to the table and grabbed a wad of foil and quickly smooshed a foil doggy hat out of it. There you go Honey! Now those creepy little extraterrestrial bug-eyed beings won't get you!

So, we all had a good chuckle about everyone's creative take on making their protective foil hats.  We mostly admired Trey's snap back.....who knew he had a creative side?  Boy, we sure didn't!  However, at the end of the day, we all agreed that it must not matter what shape our hats were because none of us was missing so they must have worked.

Well, a belated Happy Alien Abduction Day! Hope your still with us and didn't get abducted!!!

So, whose hat is YOUR favorite and why?  ~Christina ♫ 

18 Inch Doll Outfits & 18 Inch Doll Accessories by:

Trey's jeans Minipparel ~ Etsy 

Trey's Star Wars shirt from Lostinajungle ~ The Beach Shack ~ Etsy  

Trey's shoes are 2003 Grey Sneakers by American Girl®

{ Valentine's Party ~ 2014 }

Hiya! Lanie here. I cannot believe it's been over a week since we had our Valentine's Day party!  We had such a blast! I so totally loved doing all the decorating.....it seemed to take FOREVER to get all the decorations out and up, but it was SO worth it!!

Look at these super cool garlands that Hope made! We hung them up just before the party started and it was a complete surprise to all of us!  Hope told us that she sewed them all by herself on her sewing machine and that Cindy was a big help holding them cause they got reeeeeally long! They just look SOOO cute hanging up, don't they?  They really made it extra festive!

And look at this super, super cute felt heart centerpiece!  Hope hand made this too!  The little hearts are puffy and Hope says the edges are done in a "blanket stitch".  Hope is super talented isn't she?

In preparation for the party; Cindy, Christina, and I went out to our local grocery store a few days before Valentine's Day and got little boxes of chocolates for everyone. I picked out a soccer ball chocolate box for Trey- when I saw it I knew it was perfect for him! Cindy picked pink rose chocolate boxes for the girls, and Christina made the flower decorations to stick on the candy boxes when we got home.  She used some really pretty Valentine's ribbon and silk flowers she bought at Michael's. Aren't they cute?? I'm not sure where that big chocolate Hershey's Kiss came from or who it's for but I sure wish is was mine!!

 

I even decorated the top of our fridge so that our noisy but awfully pretty parrot could enjoy the party too.  I had to make sure that he couldn't get to the stuff though cause he has a way of shredding everything that comes in contact with his beak!

 

After decorating, I helped with getting the foods prepared and set out. Yum!  I love cookies!  Cindy made us put out the "healthy" foods and says we have to eat some of the veggies before having sweets.  At least I like carrots & cheese cubes.  But celery?  Nope.  Not so much.....I do not like the stringy part at all.  Now, I will confess, I don't mind those pig-in-blankets one bit!  Those are one of my favorite party foods!!  I like them dipped in honey mustard....yummilicious!

Christina put all our handmade valentines into a big basket to pass out.  McKenna was so excited to find out which one was hers, that she immediately offered to help with the task! I cannot wait to see our special little felt Valentine envelopes; Hope has been working on these for months in and around school, homework and youth group.  She made them very similar to the puffy hearts centerpiece; with hand-embroidery and special applique's and buttons - one for each of us!  Golly, I have to admit that I wished I had offered to help cause I really wanted to see mine too!

Christina set the basket of our special Valentine's under the table and told Coconut to guard them with her life!  Coconut happily agreed and stayed right next to the basket, guarding it as if it was full of bones!

Just as I was getting my first cookie, Harper arrived!  She kept apologizing for not dressing up for the party but I assured her that it was fine!  The most important part was that she made it.....and that there was still food left for her! 

After about 4 cookies, I heard Christina call to get everyone's attention so she could start passing out the valentines. Needless to say, she gave McKenna hers first - since she was just DYING to see it - AND she was standing right there next to Christina! 

"Next is Harper's!!" Christina called out.  Harper nearly knocked me over to get next in line behind McKenna, but you can bet that I was right behind her!! 

"Patience, Lanie-bug." Christina smiled, as she handed me my Valentine. Ooh! Oh my golly! It's mine! I cant wait to open it and see who its from!! Maybe I have a secret admirer!!

I couldn't bring myself to open it right away.  I just wanted to sit and admire just how adorable these are! All the work and love that went into each stitch.....what a true gift these were.  Okay, so that moment passed in like, two seconds and I had to open it!   I pulled out my card and it had pretty glitter dots and a heart made of the same glitter.  Inside it read;  

"Roses are Red, Violets are Blue ~ You're Such A Good Friend and I Miss You!"  

Love, Isabelle XOXO

Awwww, that was sooooo sweet!  My Valentine was from Isabelle!  For a few seconds, it like totally made me sad cause it reminded me of how much I really do miss her ~ even though I have had such fun with my special Izzy doll that she sent. 

Right about then, Hope arrived and we all cheered when she walked into the kitchen!  "We love your special garlands!" everybody shouted. 

Since McKenna helped with the Valentines, I wanted to be the helper for handing out the boxes of chocolates.  I grabbed Hope's and handed it to her and told her that I admired her terribly.  "You are so talented, Hope. I wish I could be more like you!" I exclaimed.  "Oh Lanie, you are still young and learning but you already have a wonderful talent - you make us all smile each and every day and not everybody can do that!"  Hope replied.

"Thank you Hope.  I hope you'll always know that I love you like a sister!"  ♥  Then we hugged and posed for this photo. 

Just then, we heard a semi-familiar voice......"Hellooooo!  Hellooooo!  Is anybody home???"  I turned to Hope and asked her who that could be?  It sounded familiar but I couldn't quite figure it out.  Hope agreed, "Maybe it's Cindy's bff, Lily?"

Then we heard the voice again and this time, I was pretty sure I knew who it was!!!!!  We turned towards the direction that the voice was coming from to see if we could figure it out.....the voice was getting louder and louder......closer and closer!  By this time, everybody at the party had stopped talking because they were curious too.  We were all looking towards the door......

OH. GOOD. GOLLY.  I could NOT believe my eyes!!!!  It was Isabelle!  My little heart felt like it would just burst out of my chest and fly away!  I squealed with glee SO loudly that I startled poor Hope so badly, I think she might have peed her pants!

Can you believe it?!?!?  Isabelle was right there in front of us!  We all cheered cause we were all so happy to see her.....and then we all rushed towards her like a flash HUG!

This was the best Valentine's Day party we have ever, ever, ever had!!!!  Good golly, I am still walking on sunshine and it's been ten days. ☺

{ Saying Good Bye is Hard to Do! }

Well, the day has come to say goodbye to our sweet friend, Isabelle!  Tomorrow she becomes the official American Girl® "Girl Of The Year" doll for 2014!!  We are super excited for her!

After saying goodbye to the girls in the upstairs bedroom, Isabelle popped down to the downstairs bedroom to say goodbye to the rest of us.  As soon as Isabelle walked in, Faith called out to Isabelle "Hey, did you see that you had a 'big reveal' on the Good Morning America show this morning?"  Faith could tell by the look on Isabelle's face that she didn't believe her so she added, "Yes, yes, you were! It was totally awesome!"

I spoke up....."It was really cool Isabelle.  You should have seen all the little girls' faces when they pulled the box up to reveal you standing there.  And, then what was really cool was this; there were four little girls that had come out dancing as a 'clue' right before you were revealed and after the reveal they gave each of those girls an Isabelle dressed to match each of their outfits!  The little girls were sooooo surprised!" 

 "Oh Saige, I wish I had seen it!  I'll have to watch it on YouTube tomorrow."

"Hey!" Faith spoke up, "I heard that you and the girls upstairs got to take selfies together! I want one with you too!"  Needless to say, Isabelle was totally up for more selfies!

I looked over at Lanie and saw a small tear trickle down her face. "Isabelle...why do you have to leave? Cant you stay???" Isabelle ran over to Lanie and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, Lanie! I can't stay. There's a little girl out there that's depending on me to be there for her! Maybe I can come back and visit sometime?"  "Yes, you must." Lanie replied trying to hide her tears.

Then Isabelle called for a big group hug with all of us GOTY dolls. "I'm going to miss you guys so much!" Izzy exclaimed. "But don't worry - I will definitely come to visit all of you again!!"

Well, as of 12 o' clock midnight, I will no longer be the Girl Of The Year. Although it makes me a little sad, I'm happy my title will be passed down to such a sweet girl like Isabelle. We all wish she could stay, but we know she can't. Saying goodbye is a hard thing to do! We all wish Isabelle the best of luck as she takes on her new title. Happy New Years Eve everyone!!  ~Saige ♥