Emma's Editorials: Christmas at Mimi's 2012

Hi there, folks.  Remember me?  Your faithful blogger?  Or...perhaps...not quite so faithful? :{  I'm so very sorry for not posting this sooner, but you would not believe how difficult it is to avoid 3 human girls between 8 and 4 when the computer you need to use is in the living room. :{  And waiting until after they went to bed didn't work, either.  Mama's been super busy doing her own computer work:  researching stuff on eBay, blogging, responding to emails and comments, paying bills online...you name it!  This is honestly the first chance I've had at the computer, and I can't take very long, because my sister Hayden is waiting to do her Christmas post once I'm done with mine.  I think Belle is going to have to wait to do her post until tomorrow...unless she plans on staying up past midnight or something. ;)

But enough with apologies and explanations...on to Christmas! :D

We spent the first day at Mimi's the way we normally do:  getting random pics around the house.  Yep, Rontu came too.  Charlie couldn't bear the thought of leaving him behind for 6 days. ;)

We always love getting pictures by the presents.  Mama has a lot of close family, so the present pile is usually pretty ginormous. :)

I love all of the festive wrapping paper.  It's too bad Hayden didn't join us...she would have loved the My Little Pony wrapping paper Mama used. ;)

And here's a shot of the whole big pile.  Can you find us?  I always feel like I'm in a "Where's Waldo" picture when we pose by the presents. ;) 

Shortly after having fun with the presents, we headed over to our favorite place:  the snack table!

Charlie was content once she'd found the Peanut M&Ms and the mini Teddy Grahams.

Rontu was busy sniffing everything and exploring.

Meanwhile, I headed straight for my favorites...

...Aunt V's fudge and gingerbread.  In this house, fudge and gingerbread are the official tastes of Christmas. :)

We didn't do much worth mentioning in the next few days, aside from visiting with our cousin Piper and all of her friends.

 

Piper was really busy most of the time we were there.  She's just like Mimi and Aunt V:  she loves baking at Christmas time. :)

Chocolate Chip, her faithful companion, was by her side constantly.  Mama rescued him from Goodwill for just 49 cents! 

It was nice to see Kailani again, and I enjoyed getting to meet her sister, Fi (pronounced "Fee", short for "Josefina").

There were several new dolls on the top shelf.  I recognized Gabby (the gymnast in the middle who looks kind of like the Olympic Gold Medalist of the same name), but I'd never met the other two.  I'm embarrassed to admit it, but we never even got a chance to introduce ourselves!  This Christmas definitely had more of a human focus than a doll one. ;)  That's okay, though.  We were just glad to get to spend Christmas with Mama.

We loved Piper's new kitchen hutch.

Her room was really cute, too.  Nahji was chilling there when we stopped by the first time.

I'm sorry we don't have pictures of us interacting with Mimi's dolls.  Honestly, most of the week, Mama kind of left us to ourselves (which was actually rather nice).  A lot of what we did wasn't really documented this year...which was apparently a theme in more places than one, as you'll see when you read Hayden's post (coming next!).

On Christmas Eve, Charlie and I couldn't sleep.  We were too excited!

We decided to sneak out to the living room and sit in front of the tree, enjoying the beautiful lights and the brightly wrapped packages.

Some moments you just want to freeze and remember forever.  This was one of them:  sitting by the tree with my sister, gazing at the warm lights and dreaming of the morning to come. :)  I'll bet there were things Mary wanted to remember forever about the first Christmas, too. :) 

In spite of our insomnia, Christmas morning finally arrived.  We had to wait to open our gifts until all of the humans opened theirs, but we didn't mind.  We sat under the tree and Mama gave us our stockings.

Charlie got two vintage-looking mini posters from "Wall-E" and a Rex toy from "Toy Story".

I got this beautiful little Lalaloopsy named Ivory Ice Crystals.  I'd never really taken notice of Lalaloopsies before this past month, but when Mama's middle daughter kept talking about how much she wanted them, I researched them and fell in love!  I'm so glad I got this one.  She was a special Christmas Lala available only at Target.  Isn't she pretty?

She also came with a blue Popsicle, a little furry pet, and a snow globe.

I discovered that her furry cape was removable, which was fun.

We got some other things, too.  Grandmama bought a big, cozy American Girl sleeping bag for all of us dolls to share (not at the same time, of course!).

Mama found these two Christmas books at Goodwill (also to share with everyone).

Grandmama also found a little picture frame (partially viewable on the left) and two ceramic mixing bowls just our size!

My last gift was very exciting.  I've been noticing lately that my eyes are getting tired when I read or use the computer, and sometimes it's hard to see the words.  Mama thought I might need glasses, but she wasn't sure when she could get them.  Well, as it turned out, Mama's brother's brother-in-law (caught that?) was the one who found out that I needed them and bought them for Mama.  Wasn't that sweet of him?  

So, ta-da!!  Here I am in my new glasses.  What do you think?

It was hard to get used to them at first, but I think I like them.  Mama said I only have to use them for reading and computer time.

What makes my glasses even more special is that Mama had to get glasses a few months ago, too.  She needed them for the same things:  reading and computer time.

I think it's cool how similar our glasses are, don't you?  Mama said that when she picked out her glasses, they reminded her of the Chocolate glasses from American Girl.  Of course, when they're right next to each other, my glasses look more black than brown, but they do have their similarities. ;)

After we finished opening our gifts, we spread out our new sleeping bag and I read "A Christmas Carol" to Charlie.  It was amazing how much easier it was to see the words with my new glasses!

I love this version because of the beautiful illustrations. :) 

There was a lot of excitement for the humans, too.  Grandmama introduced Mimi to Sicily (I hope I've gotten her name spelled right!).  Sicily was looking for a new home, and Grandmama thought Mimi's would be the perfect fit.  

I was excited to discover that Sicily had glasses just like mine! :D   I got a chance to visit with her a bit, and she seems really nice.  I think she'll fit in just fine with Piper, Kailani, and the others. :) 

The rest of the week, we were very lazy.  We played games, ate snacks, watched movies, and hung around. The humans all got hooked on the TV show "Duck Dynasty" while we were there.  Charlie thought it was hilarious (aside from a few crude comments).  I must admit, while it has its funny moments, I much prefer my Bollywood movies. ;)

One of the afternoons, we got to play around outside.  Rontu and Charlie were thrilled to be outdoors after being cooped up in the house for so long.

We all had fun exploring and rambling through the yard.  

Because the lighting was so pretty, Mama wanted to get a close up of each of us.

I wish she'd come up with more original poses for each of us instead of posing us identically, but oh well. ;)

The beautiful view from Mimi's back yard.

And that, I'm afraid, is it as far as pictures go.  The rest of our week was lovely but remained off-camera.  Now we're both home, filled with memories of our wonderful holiday but glad to be back in our own cozy little room.

And Hayden is waiting ever so patiently behind me, so I really should wrap this up.  Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your own families, and a Happy New Year, too.  

Oh, and I promise we'll work on getting our Christmas header and background down soon...it's so embarrassing being so far behind! :{

Talk to you later! :)

Hayden's Histories: Merry Christmas! :)

Merry Christmas to all of our readers!!  I hope you're all having a wonderful day with your families and friends. :)  As you can see, we had a great morning here.  We'll give you the full scoop later this week, but we just wanted to share a couple of pics with you for now. :)

Here I am with Jenna, Rachel, and Maggie.  Mama left each of us a special present in our stockings.

Here are Hailey and Tess with their stockings.

Charlie and Emma aren't in the pictures because they spent Christmas with Mama at Mimi's house.  I was invited to go too, but since it's Jenna's first Christmas here, I really wanted to spend it with her.  I do miss my sisters too, but I know they'll be back later this week.

Talk to all of you later! :)  I'm off to watch a movie with the rest of the gang. :)

Guest Post by Jenna: Snow Day!

Hello everyone!  Jenna here.  As Hayden mentioned in our earlier post, Friday was a snow day here at Mama's house.  Mama said that there hasn't been a snowstorm this big in our area since she was in high school, around 14 years ago!

Everything looked so pretty.  It looked like God had sprinkled powdered sugar over the world.

Hayden and I were the first ones to make it outside.

We loved standing in the large flakes and watching them fall all around us.

Hayden and Me:  Best Buds

After we'd spent some time in the front yard, we decided to explore the back yard.  

It had also been transformed into a winter wonderland.  Hayden told me that she felt like a snow princess. ;)

We walked all over the yard, enjoying the snow and each other.

We even managed to have time for a quick snowball fight.

By that time, all of the others were ready, and Mama wanted a group shot out in the front yard.  It took a while to get us all arranged, but Mama finally pulled it off.  I really like how this one turned out. :)

After we'd played for a while, it started to softly rain.  We were all pretty wet and cold by this time anyway, so we decided to go inside and dry off. 

Tess seemed especially glad to get in out of the snow.

Hayden told the others all about the fun we'd had in the back yard as they got out of their wet things.

I was so glad for our snow day, but it was nice to be back inside in the warmth, too.  I hope it snows again sometime!

That's all for now.  Can you believe that it's already Christmas Eve?  This is my very first Christmas here at Mama's house, so I'm very excited! :D  How about you?  Are you excited for Christmas morning too?

Hayden's Histories: The First Official Literary Ladies Society Meeting Minutes

Hello to our wonderful readers.  It's Hayden here.  This post was supposed to be published earlier this week, but things got a little bit busy. :}  I'm going to need to be better at posting on time in the future.

And yes, I will be posting in the future...very regularly, in fact.  I've officially been elected as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Literary Ladies Society, so it was decided that I should be the one to report about our meetings here on the blog.  Not only do I have an official job, I now have an official name for all of my special posts:  "Hayden's Histories". :D  Do you like it?  I do!

Our first official Literary Ladies Society (or LLS) meeting was on Saturday, December 15th.  It was held in the room that Jenna and I share.  We decided not to dress up for this meeting since we were already in our formal Christmas gowns.  But I don't want to give too much away before I start.  I want this to documented properly.  So here are the official minutes that I took in my notepad and then typed up for the blog post:

Literary Ladies Society Meeting Official Minutes

Saturday, Dec. 15th

The meeting commenced at 12:00 PM.  Those in attendance were Emma Hathaway, Tess Prescott, Jenna Benson, and Hayden Hathaway.  No one else was interested in participating at this point in time.

The meeting began with Jenna's suggestion that the members vote for a leader, or "Head Heroine".  Emma and Jenna were both nominated, and Jenna won by a vote of 3 to 1 (she did not want to vote for herself, of course!).  

After offering her thanks for being voted in as Head Heroine, Jenna nominated Hayden Hathaway as Secretary/Treasurer of the group.  The other members voted in agreement, and Hayden began her work as secretary, documenting everything that happened.  

The Head Heroine next suggested that all members select their Literary Ladies Society name.  It was to be the name of the members' favorite literary heroine.  Jenna chose first and selected the name of Marianne Dashwood from "Sense and Sensibility".  Tess chose Elizabeth Bennet from "Pride and Prejudice".  Emma selected Emma Woodhouse from "Emma", and I...I mean, Hayden selected Catherine Morland from "Northanger Abbey". 

Jenna wanted Hayden to make note of the fact that this was not meant to be a Jane Austen exclusive literary society, and while it was not inappropriate for all of the members to chose names from Austen writings, they would have to be sure to remember to inform future members that they could chose literary names from other authors.

The Head Heroine then suggested that the members should be addressed by their selected literary names while attending the meetings, but thought the members should vote on it.  The vote was unanimous...the members of the LLS shall henceforth be referred to as their chosen character names when attending any meeting.  They shall be referred to as "Miss" and their last name.  The only time this will change is if a new member selects the name of one of the current member's character's older sisters.  For example, if a future member chooses Elinor Dashwood as their literary heroine name, then Jenna will be addressed as "Miss Marianne" and the new member will be referred to as "Miss Dashwood".  

All of the members thought this was a splendid idea, especially Tess, who expressed her appreciation for the fact that the Society was attempting to do things properly.

After this, the Head Heroine opened the floor for suggestions for future meetings.  She wanted to know what the members wanted to discuss or learn at these meetings.   

Emma...er...Miss Woodhouse...suggested that one meeting be devoted to a discussion of the members' favorite period dramas.  She also suggested that a meeting be held in which the members discussed which period dramas were better as movies (if any) and which were better as books.

Tess...oops...Miss Bennet...thought it would be nice to have a meeting all about etiquette and how it has changed through the years.  She also suggested a day of reading the members' favorite period drama books aloud...if not the whole book, then perhaps just a favorite chapter or something.

I...uh...Hayden...grrr...Miss Morland recalled seeing posts about making up a "dream cast" of a future movie and thought it would be great fun for the members to select a future period drama to be filmed and cast it with the members' favorite actors and actresses for each part.

The Head Heroine, Jenna...oh, bother...Miss Dashwood, approved of all of these ideas and had a suggestion of her own:  a period drama marathon in which all the members selected their favorite period drama, got dressed in their pajamas, and watched all of them straight in a row while eating snacks.

All of the ideas were put to a vote and unanimously approved.

The Head Heroine asked how often the LLS should meet, and after much discussion and some voting, it was decided that the Society shall meet once per month, and always on the 3rd Saturday (to celebrate the Society's first meeting).

The last suggestion of the Head Heroine was that all of the members vote on whether or not formal/historical attire would be the required dress code of all meetings.  The members voted, and the result was a unanimous yes.  

The meeting was adjourned, and everyone returned to their proper places.

Written by Hayden Hathaway, Dec. 15th, 2012

Whew, that was a lot harder than I thought it would be!  I hope it gives you a glimpse of how the meeting went, though.  We may not always do the "official minutes" after each meeting...I may just summarize what happened instead.  And sometimes, we may let you sit in on a meeting or two as it happens.  You'll just have to keep checking back each month to see what we have planned. ;)

For now, I've got to get off of the computer and give someone else a turn!  We'll have another post up soon, as we had a lovely snowfall this morning and all of us got to go out in it! :D  We'll try to get that post up as quickly as possible.

P.S.  Can you believe there are only 4 more days until Christmas?  I can hardly wait!!! :D

Maggie's Memos: What's Up?

Hey, you probably thought we forgot about this blog or something, right?  Well, you were wrong.  We didn't forget, we've just been hiding away in our rooms, waiting for Mama's 3 daughters to get over their fevers and colds.  None of us want to be sick for Christmas, thank you very much!

The girls have been sleeping in the living room for most of the past week, which made getting out to the computer rather difficult.  We couldn't even watch movies because the TV was out there.  It's been pretty boring around here, to say the least.

The first *gag* Literary Ladies Society meeting happened yesterday.  Not that I was there.  When they made membership optional, I decided to stay as far away from there as possible.  I'm told there's going to be a post sometime next week with the minutes from their meeting, or something like that.  Thrilling.  Just what we all wanted to read, boring minutes from a bunch of dolls sitting around dressed in fancy clothes, pretending to be characters from stuffy period dramas.  Just what you've all been waiting for, right? ;)

Anyway, I just had to mention that "The Hobbit" came to theaters this week.  Not that I got to see it or anything.  And Mama says that finances are really tight right now, so we might have to wait until it comes out on DVD.  I hate waiting that long.  I mean, there were definitely things I was frustrated with in the "Lord of the Rings" films, but overall, there were a lot of things Peter Jackson did right.  I was really looking forward to seeing this movie, and hoping that it would be awesomely epic.  I've been following all of the behind the scenes stuff on The Hobbit Blog, and a lot of it looks AMAZING.  I guess I'll have to wait for a while to see it, though.  Sigh.  Maybe a random rich relative will suddenly give Mama and Papa a million dollars or something.

Yeah, I know.  I'm delusional. ;)

I guess that's about all I have to say for now.  Just wanted to let you know that we're still around and I'm still grumpy (so what else is new?). ;)

Talk to you guys later.

P.S.  I used a lot of "justs" in this post...I gotta work on that if I ever want to be a good journalist! :{