Hi!

I'm afraid this blog has sat untouched for far too long. I did at least want to get a post in before Christmas. Don't worry about the second part of my birthday story: it will come before the end of the year. I'm so sorry for the long wait.

Anyway, I am enrolled in school. Wait, let me rephrase that. I am taking an online English class with which I am almost finished. If I must be brutally honest, it's quite silly. It's all answering questions, and my teacher seems to enjoy dwelling on stories/poems/speeches about sports and black segregation. I had to read To Kill a Mockingbird, which was fine, but there is a very interesting, long story connected to one of the assignments I had to do. I shall tell it to you some other day, as it commands a post all to itself, and "An Adventure (or Two), Part 2)" must come first.

Well, I've complained enough and it's getting a bit late, so I shall leave you to ponder what I have just said (or not; it doesn't require pondering).

Bye!

An Adventure (or Two), Part 1

First, I must start out by saying that I am fifteen.  Yes, my birthday was on the eighteenth, and I am now considered one year older.  On that day, Mother, Daddy and I traveled to Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood.  There is a very special store there where we have gone for three of my birthdays.  That's right, we went to the American Girl Place for the third time.  This year I have come back with the most surprising of surprises: Girl of the Year 2014 Isabelle!  You see, I wasn't planning on buying her there, but apparently Mother and Daddy were.  The dialogue went like this:

Mother: Where's the Isabelle section?

Me: Over there.  I begin walking in the direction I think it is.

Mother: Are you sure?

Me: No.  I catch a glimpse of an Isabelle display.  Yes.

We walk over to Isabelle, pointing at different things along the way.  We get to the Isabelle display.

Mother: So, we were going to buy you Isabelle.

I look at Mother, then at Daddy, then back at Isabelle, probably with my mouth slightly open.

Mother: Is that OK?

Me: Yeah.

Mother: Why don't you pick out your Isabelle?

I pick out the very best Isabelle they have.

And that is my story of how I got my Isabelle.

Anyway, after spending a good portion of my money, we went over to the theater for the next exciting part of my little birthday adventure.  About two weeks ago, Mother went onto AG's website and saw that the Isabelle movie was playing at the Seattle store on July eighteenth, the day we happened to be going there.  Reservations were five dollars a person, and they still had room at the 2:00 showing. (The earlier showing was entirely booked.)  I must say, "Isabelle Dances into the Spotlight" was quite good, but I am getting ahead of myself now.  First, we got our free popcorn and sodas with American Girl tickets, then we sat and watched the movie.  When we left the theater, they handed out a goody bag to each person (they do it every year.)  What was in the goody bag?  Well, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little while to find out.  I'll have the second part up tomorrow or the next day.  Until then, farewell!

I decided I had better leave you with a picture, which is also a clue to my next birthday adeventure.

Walter

Two weeks ago we picked up my brother, sister-in-law and nephew at the airport.  They stayed with us until Tuesday, so we had plenty of time to spend with them.  Friday, Sunday and Monday were spent relaxing and playing with Walter, but on Saturday we had a family reunion, and I happen to have lots of pictures of those days.

I started taking pictures on Sunday because Mother was practically begging me to.  Actually, my dear almost-sister Kari took some of the pictures too, so I thank you, Kari, for making Mother smile.

In this picture, Mother and my cousin's husband and their son Joshua were feeding the turtle some worms.  Silly Sara was scared, though, so it took her a little while to eat them.

Walter and Josh had quite a bit of fun climbing on my beanbag chair.

Walter with my cousin Meghan and Joshua.

Josh and Beyonca (Kari's friend's daughter) holding hands and dancing.

Saturday went by quickly and Sunday was here in a snap.  We had a lot of fun on Sunday.

Walter and Grandma watching Grandpa's tractor.

Walter and Grandpa on the tractor together.

Walter's mama, Walter and my mama walking down the driveway.

Walter playing in our playroom.

Walter and his Uncle Patrick making music.

Walter and Uncle Patrick playing.  To be perfectly honest, these two pictures of Patrick and Walter were taken on Friday, but we are going to pretend they're from Sunday.

 On Monday I had a chance to take Walter out alone while Mother cleaned up the house a bit and everyone else was gone.

I think the pictures make it obvious, but Walter loved Rosey very much.  I do believe Rosey loved Walter, too.

Walter played on the swing a bit,

Slid on the slide,

And just ran around the yard.

Tuesday came much too quickly.  Since I had been the one taking pictures, there weren't many of me and Walter, so I had Mother take a picture of me with Walter, and then I took one of the two of them together.  After the three of us walked the dogs, we went home and got ready to drive to Oregon.  Once there we visited my great-grandma.  Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Margaret, Matthew and dear little Walter.   They got into Margaret's father's car and drove off to her parent's house where they spent a week.  They're home in California now, but we had so much fun with all of them, especially Walter, and I'm glad to have so many pictures by which I may remember the wonderful time we had.

Walter is Coming

I am very happy at the moment.  Why?  Because tomorrow we shall be picking up my brother, sister-in-law and nephew at the airport.  I haven't seen Walter in person (we video-chat every week) since November, at which time he was a little over one year old.  This is what he looked like when we went to see him in California:

And here he is now:

I'm sure you can see why I am so eager to see him.  He's just so cute and funny!

Well, I still have several things to do before tomorrow, so I shall leave you to look at the pictures and wish you could scoop him up and hug him.

The Dressing of Dolls

There are some particular dolls I like called Ellowyne Wilde.  (These dolls are in the Wilde Imagination series, which is a division of Tonner.)  The Ellowyne dolls are beautiful, and so are their clothes, but the only problem is that the clothing is terribly expensive.  The dolls are, too, but I got all mine on sale for good prices.  If I could, I would get the outfits on sale, but they never go on sale.  Well, some do go on the End of Edition sale, but the prices are still ridiculously high.  So Mother and I decided to buy some patterns and make clothing for them:

Most of the clothing was made with Tyler Wentworth patterns.  The three long dresses and the plaid dress were made with the free "Robe Soleil" pattern by MHD Designs and all the T-shirts were made using the two free patterns from Liberty Jane.  I think that everything is just as good as the Ellowyne clothing one can buy for 100 dollars.  Mother is a bit more critical, but she knows I think they're practically perfect, and that makes her happy.

Lovely Little Chicks

About a week ago, Mother and I went to the farm store to buy four black sex-links to add to our jolly bunch of chickens.  They're eleven-days-old already, and they have grown a good deal, but they are still so small and cute.  They live in my room where it's warm and there is Scarlet's light, and I have named all of them and can tell them apart without trouble now.  At first it was a bit difficult, but they each have markings by which I identify them.

This is what they looked like several days ago. 

The top left chick is Little Lady.  I named her that because she was the largest and the clumsiest.  She is the same size as the others and quite graceful now.

The chick below Lady is The Adventurer, because what is chick without a Rainbowlandian name?  Certainly not a Rainbowlandian chick!

The chick across from Lady is No Name.  She was the last to (not) be named, so I called her No Name and now that's her name.

The final chick, the one across from The Adventurer, is Vespera.  She is a very special chick: very special indeed.

A Little Medley

Yesterday, St. Patrick's Day, was a very special day at our house.  You see, I love Ireland and I am partly Irish, so St. Patrick's Day is my favorite miniature holiday.  And I love corned beef.

Here is what we had:

Soda bread, corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes.

My animals have been doing very well.  A few days ago I thought Salieri (one of my ducks) had been stolen by an animal.  When I found her under an old rabbit hutch in the ducks' pen, I thought she was dead, so I poked her with a stick and she shifted and quacked a half-quack.  I discovered that she was simply laying eggs under the hutch.  Good old Sally.

Sara has been reveling in eating all the nightcrawlers Mother and I have been digging up in the garden, and Scarlet cares about her crickets just as much as she always has: she loves them.

Well, it's getting late, so I should probably stop writing and finish my Latin before I go to bed.  You may expect me to blog again soon: I forgot how delightful it is.

  

A New Year

It's been over a month since I last blogged, but first there was Christmas, then I was sick for a week, then there was school, and now we have a car predicament and some leaks: and besides, it's a new year.

Every new year entails "New Year's Resolutions," or as I prefer to say, "the stuff I want to do this year."  Those things for me include sewing, blogging and becoming a dancer.  Of course there are more, but those three are the most important.  Let me tell you why:

Sewing

• There are plenty of wonderful doll clothes that are easy to make.
• Liberty Jane sells simple doll clothing for a ridiculous amount of money.
• I'm convinced I can sew anything this year.  Nothing is too hard for an Adventurer.

Blogging

• In 2012 I published 215 posts.  Last year, 2013, I managed to write 27.
• I feel guilty when I blog only once a month.
• I'm positive that with lots of Rainbowland stories and pictures of turtles, I can surpass my goal of 100 posts this year.

Becoming a Dancer

• American Girl's 2014 Girl of the Year is a ballerina.
• I can almost consider myself graceful. (Behind those long black skirts and flowing dresses is a pair of wide, sausage-toed feet.) 
• Rainbowland Dancing (the dance I made up for Rainbowland) is so pretty.

I must say, I do have many aspirations this year.  As for if I shall accomplish them, well, we shall just have to wait and see.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year, and if not, this sweet little face will cheer you up!

Walter, my adorable nephew