happy halloween

yay! it's finally halloween and we are ready for trick or treating and partying!!!!

rebecca is a silly clown... of course!.... she is so silly and dramatic!

kirsten is a sweet black kitty. she loves her little kitties she took care of so this costume fits her well

addy is dressed in a masquerade ball gown and mask, we were inspired by cecile's and marie-grace's mardi gras ball costumes.

felicity is a spunky jack-o-lantern which fits with her spirited personality and fiery red hair

samantha is a glitzy witch with a sparkly hat to top it off

the girls are getting ready for trick or treating now

they are on a sugar high as rebecca and kirsten dance around in circles the other girls laugh hysterically!

let the dancing and festivities begin!!

new umbrella!!

felicity got a new personalized umbrella with penny on it!

my family has been going to silver dollar city in branson, mo almost every year my whole life and now we even get season passes and go multiple times in a year. my mom and i just went and i had a mini umbrella made for felicity. i showed the lady a picture of penny and she drew it perfectly! they have bigger full sized umbrellas that you can have personalized too (i have two of them). i'd love to have a mini one for each of my dolls and at a reasonable price of only $11 (and no charge for the design) i don't see why i couldn't just do that!!

isn't it so super cute!?

getting ready for halloween

the girls are getting ready for halloween.

lots of decorations, masks, and hats are being made for their halloween party!



samantha and kirsten are working on the decorations



felicity and rebecca plan and talk about their costumes

 

addy hangs the halloween bunting

  

the costumes are ready and laying out but we can't tell what we are going to be yet...

it's a surprise! can you guess??



all the decorations and masks/hats were made by me (minus the authentic mini pumpkins and gourds and the trick-or-treat buckets)

for these little guys i used cut outs from a victorian calender, paper, pipe cleaners, wine bottle corks and lots of glitter glue

this is my favorite! it's just cut outs from a victorian calender again which i mounted on card stock and glued to ribbon. of course i added glitter and rhinestones for some bling!

we can't wait to put on our costumes and start the party!!!!!!

back to school

it's bak to school time and the girls are adjusting well.

new school year means new clothes and addy was so excited about her new outfit from cecile's line. here she is in it after coming home from violin practice.

felicity should be writing a book report but instead she is day dreaming about riding penny 

rebecca just got home from helping papa in the shoe shop, she sold another doily she had made!

samantha is getting ready to head out to buy some things at the market

kirsten gets her lunch packed so that its ready for the next day

passon for american girl dolls

one of the reasons i am so passionate about these dolls is because of the stories that go with them. as a little girl reading was a chore for me; it was hard work with no reward in my mind. i'd read a paragraph and then not have any idea what it was about. it would take me hours to read a chapter.  i really struggled with it and got so frustrated i'd quit before i could even start. there where only a few books that would hold my interest and they were almost always stories that took place in a different time period. i love things from the "olden days" and im convinced i was born in the wrong time period. so when i got into american girl books i was able to travel time and become friends with girls from long ago. having the bond with my dolls helped me to connect with the book which helped me stay focused, interested, and  kept me always wanting more! now looking back i have a heart felt appreciation for this company and the authors of the books. they turned over a huge struggle for me as a kid. reading is so important and it's a pastime that most children don't choose anymore. the key is finding what they are interested and helping them make connections with their books.

Patriotism

my original three looking very patriotic. go red white and blue!!!