Tess's Tidbits: Jenna's Arrival

Hello to all of our wonderful readers out there!  We're so sorry for taking such a long hiatus from regular "real" posts (aside from the occasional "yes, we're still here" posts!). ;)  These last couple of months have made blogging quite difficult.  Mama's been super busy, and as a result, we've been limited as to what we can do with the blog (it's rather hard to post in a roomful of guests during a birthday party, for example). :}

Not much has happened while we've been gone.  Honestly, Mama hasn't had much time for us, so we've been on our own for the most part.  The only major news was that Charlie had a very successful eye surgery, care of Dr. Jodybo on AGPT, but I think Maggie already mentioned that in an earlier post.

The only other exciting thing happened on Tuesday.  Mama and the others had been gone for most of the day, visiting some of Papa's out of town relatives.  It was a really late night, but once Mama got her daughters in bed, she agreed to let us come out to the living room for a while.  We were all going crazy staying in our rooms for so long.

The evening was dark and rainy, but it was nice and warm in the living room.  Maggie and Rachel settled themselves on the love seat and continued a conversation they'd been having since Monday, when Mama and Papa had gone to see "The Hunger Games".  Rachel and Maggie are dying to see it, but Mama is trying to decide if she wants them to, since it's pretty emotionally intense and a rather violent movie.  Personally, I don't see what the draw is, but as you all know, I much prefer romantic period dramas to any other type of movie. :)  Anyway, Maggie and Rachel have been trying to figure out a way to convince Mama that they are ready to see it.  I think even Charlie is interested.  The rest of us aren't tempted. ;)

Speaking of Charlie, she and Hayden were at the movie shelf, with my little sister Hailey tagging along with them.  It was their turn to pick out something to watch...which meant we would either be watching a Disney Princess movie or a Disney Pixar movie. ;)  Charlie, of course, was accompanied by her shadow, the ever faithful Rontu. :)

Emma and I went straight to the computer to plan our next blog post.  Well, at least that was what we were supposed to be doing.  Emma got a bit sidetracked by Mama's latest "real" post.

"Have you heard these songs Mama picked?  They're just perfect!  Funny how she and I have a lot of the same favorites.  I hope Piper saw this post...there's a lot of Shahid on here...Oh, you've GOT to listen to this one!"  She clicked on the first link.  "Aaya Re is so cute.  I mean, I'm a Shahrukh fan myself, but this one's still really fun..."

She finally paused to take a break.

I had to smile.  Emma always talked nonstop when she was excited.

Maggie was not so amused.  "Oh, for the love of Pete!" she groaned, popping her head over the side of the love seat.  "PLEASE tell me you're not going to subject us to another Bollywood song!"

Rachel laughed softly.  "They're not really that bad, Maggie."

Maggie turned on her.  "What?!" she sputtered.  "Not you too...my one ally in this house of extreme girliness!"

Rachel shrugged sheepishly.

Maggie held her head in her hands and shook her head in mock despair.  "How many times do I have to tell you guys that it's beyond disturbing when people spontaneously break into song and dance?"

Emma nonchalantly turned up the volume on her video.

"You didn't seem to mind the music from the Lord of the Rings Musical," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but it might have been weird if I actually saw the play and saw the songs in context," Maggie explained.  "I just liked the songs because they fit the story so well."

"These songs fit the story too!" Emma insisted.  "They express how the characters are feeling.  I mean, just listen to this one!"

She cranked the volume up even higher, and soon the strains of "Aaya Re" filled the living room.

Maggie groaned again and covered her ears.  She looked over at the computer screen and scrunched up her eyebrows.  She leaned over to Rachel.  "I don't care what feelings they're expressing...I still don't understand why in so many of these videos they're suddenly in some random field or something."

Rachel giggled, but Emma was oblivious to Maggie's comments.  She was completely absorbed in the music.

Suddenly, Mama rushed into the room.  "What on earth is going on in here?" she asked sternly.  "The deal was that you could be out here if you were quiet!  I don't want the girls waking up and discovering you."

Maggie put her hands up in the air.  "Hey, don't look at me!  It was all Miss Bollywood Princess over there!"

Emma sheepishly turned the volume back down.  "Sorry, Mama," she said, obviously embarrassed.  "I just got so into the music that I wasn't thinking."

Mama's face softened.  "Look, I understand completely, Emma.  I just need all of you to be a little bit quieter out here."

We all nodded solemnly.  I wondered if our movie night wouldn't happen after all.  It was really hard to watch a movie at almost zero volume.

"While I'm out here," Mama continued, "I've been meaning to introduce you gals to someone."

We all waited, wondering who (Or perhaps whom?  I never can tell which of those I'm supposed to use!) Mama wanted us to meet.

Mama turned to face the hallway.  "It's okay, you can come on out," she said reassuringly.

Slowly, a head of light brown curls appeared from around the corner.  The doll had a sweet face and pretty hazel green eyes.  Her clothes were very trendy compared to what the rest of us wore.  She eyed us a bit nervously, but there also seemed to be a sense of excitement that surrounded her.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Jenna Rose."  Mama paused, eyeing Rachel carefully.  "I've done some research and discovered that she's Rachel's little sister."

Rachel looked shocked, but it was a happy kind of shock.  She and Jenna exchanged a glance from across the room.  There seemed to be an instant connection between them.  Of course, Rachel is so shy...like me...that I knew it might take a while to break the ice.  

"I'll leave you girls to get acquainted," Mama said, lifting Jenna up and carefully placing her on the love seat next to Rachel and Maggie.

Everything else was forgotten as we all focused on our newest "family" member.   Emma, Hayden, Charlie, Hailey and I all climbed up to join the others.  Rontu settled himself comfortably in Charlie's lap.

There was an awkward silence for a while as we all tried to think of something to say.  Charlie was the one who finally spoke up.

"Are you really from New York?" she asked in wonder.  For us, it might as well have been a different country.  It was so far away!

Jenna nodded, and her eyes lit up.  "Yes...I just love it there!  The hustle and bustle of the city, the plays and coffee shops, the city lights at night...it's just wonderful!"

It was Hayden's turn to jump in.  "Did you see any Broadway plays while you were there?"

"I saw Mary Poppins, Wicked, and The Phantom of the Opera."

"Wow!" Emma exclaimed.  "Piper would love to hear all about that!  She loves musicals."

"We get a few plays locally, but nothing like in New York," Hayden said.  "Mama has seen Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and The Scarlet Pimpernel in Southern California.  That was before our time, though."

"I've always wanted to see The Scarlet Pimpernel and Beauty and the Beast!" Jenna said wistfully.  "They weren't playing in New York when I was there."

"So, I hate to move on from this thrilling subject," Maggie interjected sarcastically, "but what else are you interested in?"

"Well, I enjoy singing and acting.  Um, I love clothes and costumes, too.  I really like trying different clothing styles and coming up with what works best for me.  Shoes are a passion of mine, too...although I only have one pair that Mama has provided for me for the moment."

Maggie snorted.  "Well, welcome to the life of mere ordinary mortals."

"Um, we're not really mortals, Maggie," Emma pointed out.  "We're vinyl."

Maggie gave Emma a look.  "You know what I meant," she said grouchily.

Rachel finally spoke up, partially to end the argument.  "How old are you, Jenna?"

"I'm twelve," Jenna responded, looking at her sister with a kind of wistful awe that I found very sweet.

"So you're two years younger than me," Rachel mused.

"And you're just my age!" Hayden blurted out excitedly.

"Mine too," I added quietly.  

"Do you collect anything?" Hailey asked.

I smiled at this question.  We all had a collection of some kind, but Hailey and Charlie had the most focused collections.  The rest of us all collected a variety of different items.

Jenna straightened the hem of her shirt (or perhaps it was a skirt...it was at that length where it could be either).  "Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a collection, but I do love carousel horses, and I have four miniature ones.  I also love Sanrio stuff.  Chococat and My Melody are my favorites.  I have a stuffed animal of each of them."

I could see that everyone was getting excited, knowing that she would fit right in.  Emma, no doubt, was thinking of Piper's love for Chococat, and Hailey, I'm sure, was thrilled to have another Sanrio fan in the house.  Jenna's love of carousel horses would fit right in with Hayden's love of regular horses, and since Hayden loved using her imagination and pretending so much, she would most likely enjoy acting things out with Jenna sometime, or maybe even dressing up.  As for myself, I was dreaming up new "Tea with Tess" ideas involving our new guest.

Our movie night was long forgotten as we all continued visiting.  Before we knew it, the time had flown by and the early morning hours were approaching quickly.  We all tiptoed back to our rooms together.  Maggie and Rachel offered Jenna a place to stay in their room since she didn't have a room of her own yet (I think it might have been a bit of a reluctant offer on Maggie's part!).

When I got to my room, I sat on my bed and thought over the dynamics of our little group.  There were eight of us now.  Two 14 year olds, one 13 year old, three 12 year olds, one 11 year old, and one 10 year old.  (Although, really, I suppose our ages don't really mean much.  In doll years we're in our 20s or 30s!).  We'd all gotten comfortable with one another, so this new addition to our group would more than likely make for a few changes.

It's funny...lately I've been spending more time with Hayden and Emma than with Maggie.  Please don't misunderstand me:  Maggie and I are still great friends...best friends, even, and we're always able to pick up right where we left off whenever we visit with each other.  But more and more, our different interests are taking us in different directions.  Mama says that happens in life sometimes.  Maggie and Rachel have so many common interests, plus they share a room, so they're often like two peas in a pod.  Emma and I have really gotten closer in the year and (almost!) a half that she's been here.  Hayden's really sweet, too.  Charlie and Hailey are still BFFs, but sometimes Charlie likes to spend time with Maggie and Rachel, too, when the rest of us are getting "too girly". ;)  I think that's the nice thing about our group, though.  Even though we have friends that are really special to us, we're all able to spend time with the others, too.  Sometimes the "best friend" bond can be very exclusive and make others feel left out.  I never want to be that way...I want everyone to feel welcome and accepted.  I think we've done a pretty good job of pulling that off.  I hope that we'll be able to continue that as Jenna slowly integrates into our group.

There are, of course, the others who aren't really a part of our daily lives.  The two historicals and Mama's all-vinyl dolls stay on top of the shelf and don't usually interact with us.  I'm not really sure why things work out that way.  It's as if they're perfectly content to just keep to themselves, and it's too hard for us to climb up there and visit them.

Then there are the "12 inchers", as Maggie calls them, or "Belle and Company", as Emma affectionately nicknamed them.  We interact slightly more with them, but not as much as we used to.  Belle has been really wrapped up in wedding plans right now, so that doesn't help. ;)

Goodness, this has turned into a huge post!  Sorry for my rambling.  I suppose I just wanted to get everything typed out.  I haven't had the luxury of expressing myself on the blog in so long that I can't seem to stop! ;)

We'll be sure to keep you informed on Jenna's progress as she adjusts to our rather quiet Northern California life.  I'm afraid she might find our simple living rather boring after the excitement of New York.  Then again, she seems like the type of doll that will make her own excitement if she can't find it. :)  I'm really looking forward to getting to know her more.

Until next time, dear readers. :)

Maggie's Memos: My Tirade

Yes, we're still alive.  No, we're not giving up blogging.  Yes, we realize it's been two weeks since we've posted anything.  Yes, we're very ashamed of ourselves.  Well, Tess is, at least. ;)

Blogging has been a bit difficult over the past couple of weeks.  Mama has been going crazy trying to keep the house clean between parties.  Yeah, like that worked.  She just got done doing her own blog post...when she was supposed to be doing laundry and dishes.  This is what the woman does.  She procrastinates until the last minute, and then she freaks out and makes all of us help her, while she runs frantically through the house, tossing dirty laundry here and collecting trash there.  Yes, it's been a joyous two weeks.

So, why on earth did I start this stupid post anyway?  Oh yeah, just to say that we will be back to regular blogging again in the next week or so, once Mama returns to her normal, sane self and lets us actually have computer time.  (Did I mentioned she also started Weight Watchers this week?  So she's stressed AND hungry...not a pretty combination!)

In other news, all the gang is fine.  We've been pretty cooped up between the house guests and the sudden weather change (gale-force winds and pounding rain for a week!).  Oh, and Charlie had eye surgery.  She's all recovered now, and her eyes can actually open and close like they're supposed to.  When she first got here, she had a painful eye defect, so Mama's been wanting to get that fixed.  She scheduled an appointment with Dr. Jodybo on AGPT (that's agplaythings.com, for those of you who don't know) about a week or two ago, and now Charlie's back and as good as new.  Maybe she'll even share about it later...we'll have to see.

Sorry things have been so sporadic lately.  I hate it when circumstances beyond our control make US look flaky.  Thanks for that, Mama.  We have adoring fans that we have to appease, okay?  Work with us here!

Okay, that's all.  Hopefully we'll have a real post up sometime next week.  Laters!

P.S.  I just checked out our popular posts at the bottom of the page, and most of them are Belle's Bulletins posts.  What's up with that, people?!!  If you want to read those posts, go to Belle's blog!  This blog happens to be about 18" dolls, not sappy 12 inchers!!  Sheesh.  Just when you think they appreciate you.

P.P.S.  Tess just reminded me that today is Lucy's birthday.  We wanted to give her a shout out even though she's not living here anymore.  Happy Birthday, Lucy!  Hope you have fun at Mama's Mother-in-Law's house with your friends! :)  Oh, and Sunday is Piper's birthday, so just in case we don't get a chance to get on again, Happy Early Birthday, Piper!  Hope you have a fun bday at Mimi's. :)

Maggie's Memos: Happy Late Birthday, Charlie!

Hey guys!  I know, I know, we've been leaving you hanging for a while.  It was all I could do to get on the computer even today!  Between Belle and Mama's blogging (and having two of Mama's daughters home all week instead of one), computer time has been rare.

So, we finally celebrated Charlie's birthday yesterday...a week late. (And yes, I realize that this post should technically be written by Emma, since it regards her sister's birthday, but Emma already wrote two posts in a row.  I don't want her forgetting that this blog is labeled "A Blog by Tess and Maggie".)  We didn't get any pictures of the actual party...it was just one of those weeks for Mama.  It was fun, though.  There was cake and we all sang to her.  Then Mama gave Charlie her present:  a dog!  (I feel kinda bad for Hayden...she gets Squinkies, and Charlie gets a pet.  Is someone playing favorites, here?)

Charlie's been asking and asking for a dog for I don't even know how long.  I guess Mama finally decided to give in.  At least this type of dog is a lot less stressful than a real dog:  no dog messes to clean up, and no fleas! :)

Charlie took one look at him and instantly fell in love.  Mama told her that she'd have to share him with her sisters, but he would be considered her dog.  After taking some suggestions, she decided to name him "Rontu", after the dog from "The Island of the Blue Dolphins".  I've never read it, but Hayden and Charlie both have, and they thought the dog looked similar to the way the original Rontu was described in the book.  

Today, Charlie took Rontu outside for some exercise, and Mama got some pics (are you really surprised?).  

So far, he's been a very well-behaved dog, which is good, since he's staying in Emma, Hayden and Charlie's room.  Last night, he slept at the foot of Charlie's bed.  I have a feeling that will become a long-standing habit. He's pretty cool, though.  I'm not really a dog person myself, but I couldn't help liking him.  He's one of those super friendly dogs that just loves everybody.  But there's no one he loves more than Charlie.  They've been completely inseparable.  So now Charlie has a pal to join her in all of her outdoor ramblings.  And we all get the benefit of playing with a dog we don't have to take care of. :)

Well, we hope to get back into a routine of regular posting soonish, but I can't make any promises.  We are entering into the heart of "Birthday Party Season", as Mama calls it, since her middle daughter's party was postponed.  I have a feeling Mama's going to be super stressed and putting us to work instead of letting us blog!  We'll be in touch, though...at some point! ;) 

Emma's Editorials: What a Week!

Hello everyone!

As any of you who read Mama's "Meet the Dolls" page on her blog know that there was a birthday among us last week:  Charlie's.  Mama had a nice little celebration planned for Charlie's birthday last Thursday, but those plans were put on hold when Mama ended up at the hospital with her middle daughter on that very day.  The poor thing had to have her appendix taken out (yet another reason to be thankful for being a doll:  no surgery!).  Obviously, as a result, Charlie's party was put on hold.  We're hoping to have it sometime this coming week, after all the excitement has died down.

Charlie was a bit disappointed about having to wait, but she completely understood why it was necessary.  And she wasn't the only one who had to wait on her party.  Mama's middle daughter was supposed to have her Snow White birthday party today, and it was also put on hold.  So at least Charlie isn't alone.  She's hoping she can comfort Mama's middle daughter since she knows how disappointing it is to wait on a birthday.

We'll be sure to keep you posted when things are back to normal! :(

Emma's Editorials: Happy Valentine's Day!

Hi everyone!  Hope you're all having a great Valentine's Day. :)  I don't have time for a very long post, but we couldn't let the holiday pass by without leaving at least a quick message. ;)

My sisters Hayden and Charlie were recently involved in a photo shoot for The Doll Wardrobe's Photo Contest.  Since their photos centered around Valentine's Day, I thought it would be fun to share a couple with you here. :)

I think this one turned out so cute!  I love how Charlie looks like she's hiding Hayden's present behind her back.  Charlie informed me that it took TONS of tries before Mama was finally satisfied.  Charlie was really tired of holding her hands behind her back this entire time. :)

Hayden is a big fan of chocolate, so I'm sure she appreciated the gift. ;)  I don't know if she ended up eating the chocolate, or if Mama did, though.

My sweet sisters. :)

I hope all of you have a wonderful February 14th! :)  We'll be back soon with more substantial posts, but we probably won't really get back into the swing of things until next week.  Right now, Mama is really focused on her daughter's birthday party, so it's really hard to get to the computer unseen. :{  Talk to all of you again soon!

Maggie's Memos: Yes, We're Still Alive!!

Hi guys!  I know it's been a while, but you would not believe the week we've had!!  Mama finally got over her cold, but things have still been crazy.  Now that she's better, Mama is devoting most of her time to getting the house ready for her middle daughter's birthday.  So of course, we dolls take second fiddle.  Hmmph.  

This is the first chance I've had to be on the computer in I don't know how long!  I've been having blogging withdrawals!!!  I don't think Mama realizes just how important it is for us to be on the computer regularly.

In other joyous news, said computer is being a complete pain in the rear and refusing to upload pictures...unless you want to wait for 3 years!  As a result, we only have one picture posted of Hayden's birthday (from the last weekend in January).  We might post a few more later, but we figured this would at least tide all of you over.  

Hayden really enjoyed her party.  She went for a princess theme (ick!!!), so she wore Emma's Belle dress.  There were little sparkly tiaras for the party guests (double ick!!  Seriously, do I look like the tiara type?), but thankfully there were only 6 tiaras and 7 party guests.  I very selflessly volunteered to go without. >:D  

Mama is trying to be better at acknowledging our birthdays this year.  Of course, we don't really age, so to me it's kind of a silly celebration.  But hey, I won't complain about free presents and cake! ;)  Since there are so many of us, and since Christmas is such a huge affair, Mama explained that we will only get one gift for our birthdays.  I guess that's understandable...although you should see all of the presents that her real daughters get for their birthdays!  I guess we know where her true allegiance lies! 

Hayden's present was a set of Aladdin Squinkies.  Why anyone would want that, I don't know, but apparently she was happy with them.  After she opened her present, we played a few games and then had a cupcake to celebrate (think about it...a human-sized cupcake is just about right for a doll-sized cake...if no one's greedy).  All in all, it was a nice party (if you like sparkles and pink), and Hayden was really happy.

I'm not sure how much we'll be on in the next week or so.  Everything is going to be cleaning and party central.  Mama's even making all of us clean our rooms!!  What's up with that?  It's not our party, and most of the time no one even comes in Mama's room.  I think she's just playing it safe...at our expense.  Just call me Cinderella.  Actually, please don't.  That's really disturbing.  

Hope you're all having a good weekend!  Talk to all of you later.

Maggie's Memos: Under the Weather

Hey everyone, this is Maggie.  I just wanted you guys to know that there won't be a new post this week as we had hoped.  Mama came down with a pretty nasty cold, so she's been spending most of the week resting.  We did have a party for Hayden last weekend, and it was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, Mama is normally the one that helps us upload our pictures, and she's not up to it right now.  So hopefully sometime next week we'll have that post up for you.

In the meantime, we wanted to thank you for the success of our 60 followers giveaway.  Our prizes are already on their way to Claire and her dolls.  I'm sure they'll enjoy them (providing they don't have anything against pink or glitter!).

Our next goal is to get to 100 followers.  Then, eventually, we'd like to catch up to Mama.  We did have 61 followers for a few days, but then we lost a follower.  Dude, what's up with that?  Nothing like getting our hopes up and then dashing them.  At least let us enjoy a new number for a few weeks before you stop following!

Okay, Tess is giving me that horrified look again.  She hates it when I rant.  Whatever.  Follow or don't follow, as you choose.  It doesn't matter to me (okay, I know...I'm a horrible liar).  Just keep reading our posts, okay?  

Anyway, hopefully we'll talk to you guys again next week.