Enjoying the Snow

Last night some of the girls went for a walk. Everything is so quiet when covered with a blanket of snow. Some of the lights were buried underneath it, making them extra pretty. It's so nice to continue enjoying the holiday season. The simplest pleasures can be the most memorable.

Ice Skates for Christmas

Anna asked for two things for Christmas: ice skates and a puppy. She's been a very good girl and Santa brought her both, plus a lovely outfit to wear while skating. Her mama knitted a stocking hat and mittens to go with the outfit. "Woof!" says the new puppy, warning Anna that ice is very slippery!


Anna takes a few cautious steps and then glides across the ice. What fun!


Oops! Anna falls, but isn't hurt. Her puppy runs to comfort her with a few licks on the face.


Puppy doesn't like ice, but he loves the snow. He bounds through the drifts piled around the pond and Anna laughs as she brushes him off. Now she knows what she will name him: Snowball!

An Old Fashioned Christmas Part 1

Yesterday it snowed and snowed, closing schools and stores. No one expected so much snow and something about the world filling with soft fluffiness made everyone excited. This morning Anna woke up to a wonderland of dazzling, white snow. The bright sunshine made everything sparkle and the air smelled fresh and clean. This put Anna in a holiday mood, as if she wasn't already! She'd been singing Christmas carols non stop for the last three days. Anna decided to put on her Christmas dress that she had just received, along with a soft red coat and hat, trimmed with white fur.


Anna stepped outside and gazed at the field of unbroken snow, smooth as a blanket. In the distance the mountains looked extra pretty and frosted in white, just right for Christmas.


Off to the right some horses were wandering about in their pasture and Anna wondered how they felt about finding it covered in snow.


Anna was just thinking about how much she would love to pet a horse and maybe even ride one someday, when she saw an actual horse coming right toward her. It was pulling an old fashioned sleigh in which there was a girl. The girl looked about Anna's age and was wearing a very fancy coat and hat. They were the kind of thing one might find in a trunk in an old attic.


The girl stopped her horse and introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Samantha. Isn't it a lovely day? I decided this would be the perfect day to go for a ride and find a Christmas tree for the parlor."
"Hello. I'm Anna, and yes it's a lovely day, but I'm not used to seeing people riding around in horse drawn sleighs."
"Oh, I do know some people that have automobiles. It is 1904 after all. But, I still like using the horse and sleigh whenever I can," replied Samantha.
Now one of the wonderful things about being a doll is you get to experience all sorts of things, including traveling through time. I suppose it might be possible for humans, but I've never heard of them doing so except in stories. Anna realized that somehow she had traveled back in time and she felt a tingle of delight. This could be quite an adventure. "Would you like to come along and help me?" asked Samantha, and Anna was thrilled to say yes.


They only went a little bit farther when Samantha pointed to a pretty tree. "I think we can get this one into the sleigh if you help me. Then I'd love to have you join me at home for tea time and we can decorate it."


This all sounded wonderful and very romantic to Anna. She was not used to being offered tea! So, of course she said yes.


They loaded the tree in the sleigh without any problem.


Samantha said she would walk beside the sleigh and keep an eye on the tree.


That meant that Anna got to guide the horse, which delighted her.


Together they set off for Samantha's house and Anna couldn't help smiling about the wonders of this new adventure. This was going to be an even more exciting holiday season than she had expected.

To be continued...

All About Elves

Do you have elves around your house? We do! It's a lot of work to decorate the house for Christmas, but we were lucky to have the help of two elves. Actually, you will recognize them as Anna and Lacey, but they really did help out, or tried to.


It took both girls working together to get the ornaments out of the big box.


They had to climb on a big ladder to reach the tall tree.


Lacey needed some help with the tangled chains of cranberries which were actually shiny beads.


Hey look! This one is an elf, kind of like us!


And these cheeky little elves were caught hiding in the tree and didn't help at all.


This elf deserves to rest because he is one of the original Christmas elves from long ago. He was made in Japan and is very old, even though elves seem to look the same no matter their age.


Finally we climbed under the tree to straighten the tree skirt. Lacey pulled on Santa's beard and said it was real. teehee!


And that's the story of how two little elves helped make Christmas happen at our house.

~ Kiki

A Visit to the Store

Yesterday it was Lacey's turn to go to the store. She was so excited that she put on her favorite shiny dress and a sweater that her person had just finished which has silver thread running though it. Lacey was ready for a festive time!


Here are Lacey and her friend Aleah in front of the pretty tree in the entryway.


Lacey's first stop in the store was at the Seaside Diner. She had a little chat with Maryellen and suggested she decorate it for the holidays.


Samantha had decorated her gazebo and it looked really nice.


A couple of really lucky girls got to go for a ride in a horse drawn carriage.


Lacey was glad she dressed up because so many of the other girls in the store were in fancy clothes.


All this shopping made Lacey hungry for some ice cream.

Sooooo... Who or what came home with us???


Say hello to Anna, sometimes called Annie. She is a birthday present for our person. We got home late, so Anna put on her new jammies right away.


Today we went outside for a quick photo of Purchase with Purchase outfit. It's perfect for this time of year.

I hope you are doing something fun for the many holidays that we have this time of year.
~ Kiki