From Laguna Madre

Hi from the Laguna where it is summer and warm! We are in Corpus Christi, staying right on the laguna that leads into the gulf. I am in paradise. :)



There are beautiful flowers all over the property and we look right out over the Laguna where I can watch the birds all day. There are boats and wind surfers out there, too.



I love the place we are staying, which is called Laguna Shores. It's an RV park and we look kind of funny with our tiny teardrop, but everyone is really nice. I have been welcomed with open arms by my new friend, Jennie, who is the owner.



There are fish in the pond and a waterfall.



I haven't been swimming yet, but we take walks on the beach at least twice a day. I've seen so many birds, you wouldn't believe it! I am going to have a huge life list for someone only nine years old. I get so excited about seeing them and watching their behavior. I know for sure that I want to be an ornithologist now!

I have started collecting seashells. I'll bring some home to all my friends. :)



Sorry it has taken so long to post this. It's hard to go indoors on the laptop when you are having so much fun outside!

Hugs,

Kiki - reporting from the Luguna!

Let's Make Easter Bonnets!

Hi everyone! Yesterday Aleah came over and she told us that she wished she could have an Easter bonnet to go with her new Easter dress that our person made for her. I'm not the crafty one in the family, but I did think it would be nice if we could make her one, and I knew just who to talk to about that: Leenie! After Aleah left I found Leenie and asked if she wanted to help me, and she said, "Of course!"



Leenie said our person had some straw hats we could use and we would need lots of things to decorate with like lace and ribbon...



...and jewels. Lots of shiny jewels!



Here's all the stuff we used: lace, ribbon, beads, jewels, bits of trim, scissors and a glue gun. You could use craft glue if you want to or if an adult doesn't think you should use a glue gun. I didn't take a "before photo" of the hats, but they were just plain straw hats from Hobby Lobby that cost 99 cents a piece.



It was easy to do and lots of fun. I thought Leenie had the best ideas, but she liked what I made, too. I guess I can be creative! I even used the glue gun and didn't burn myself, but it does get hot.



Here are the hats we have made so far. We had to stop because we didn't have any more straw hats, but our person said she can buy us more. I hope you will consider trying this and send me photos if you do. If I can do it, you can, too!

Hugs,

~ Kiki, crafter extraordinarie! hahaaaa

Spring Has Sprung

It is so warm here, that I can hardly believe it. This is the kind of weather I love. The birds are singing and having a great time playing in our birdbath. Some of them are starting to build nests. I decided to wander around our doll town and see what some of my friends are up to.


I stopped by the rancho to wish Josefina a belated Happy Birthday! She and her sister, Esperanza, were enjoying the springtime in their courtyard. Soon there will be baby chicks running around!



Kirsten and her sisters had just finished their chores and were ready to head out of the cabin to explore.



Cécile, Addy and Jenny were just getting ready to have lunch.



Cécile needed to put her parrot, Loretto, back in his cage so he wouldn't eat their food.



Addy just found some lovely flowers to put on the table.



I found Samantha busy at her sewing machine making a new spring dress.



While Amanda was getting ready to put her doll in the pram to take her for a walk to get some fresh air.



The funniest conversation I heard was between the twins, Mia and Eva. Someone had given them a brand new sewing machine and neither of them knows how to use one. I guess they'll have to figure that out.

That's all for now!

Hugs,

Kiki

Versatile Blogger Award

Thank you, Reese, for awarding me the Versatile Blogger Award. Sorry it took me so long to respond. Here are the seven random pieces of info about me that you might not know:
1. I want to be an ornithologist when I grow up. That's a type of biologist who knows all about birds. I already spend a lot of time watching their behavior when they nest in our yard and I have a "life list." That's a list bird watchers keep to show all the birds they have ever seen. Whenever we go anywhere I keep my eyes open for new birds.

2. I love camping and the mountains, but I have never been to the ocean. Actually, I'm a little bit afraid of water. Not of water in pools, lakes and streams, but of giant waves! I guess I've seen too many disaster movies involving ships and waves. But the best way to overcome fear is face it, so I'll be going on a vacation at the ocean soon.

3. Everyone in my family is musical, except me! Maybe not everyone, but it seems that way. Between the piano, guitar, ukulele, flute and violin, and also singing, someone is always practicing their music. I do love it, but I play music best on my iPod. teehee! It doesn't bother me too much, but sometimes I feel left out when everyone jams.

4. This is kind of a secret, but you know those skateboard parks they have with all the cool ramps and pipes? I really want to get good enough to do all those kinds of tricks. I have asked for a skate board for my birthday. It's probably harder than it looks, but it sure looks fun! I've gotten pretty good on my snowboard, so I think that will help. I love rollerblading, too.

5. Sometimes the girls here talk about wanting to grow up so they can do stuff like drive a car and go wherever they want, whenever they want, but I actually LOVE being a kid. I think being a grownup looks like a lot of work and I'm not sure that it is as fun as my friends think it is. Just a random thought, haaahaaa!

6. My favorite kind of movies is anime. I am actually named after an anime called "Kiki's Delivery Service" that I recommend watching if you've never seen it. The first one I ever saw was "Totoro" and I still love that one.

7.My favorite animals are dogs (not including birds, of course!). I would really like to be a dog walker and maybe even a trainer. I think dogs are a doll's best friend!

I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, but if you want to join in consider yourself tagged!

Hugs,

Kiki

Lookie - A New Look!

Well, I'm not big on fashion, but I have decided to change my hair. I've been letting it grow and then I got bangs cut! I like it this way. What do you think?


All of us are super excited about spring. It's been really warm here and all the kids are always playing outside. We have a bunch of new outfits to show you. All of them came from Build-a-Bear! Some of them were a little big and had to be taken in, but others fit right away.



Well, this was a funny post to come from me! haha Next time should be a little more exciting.

Hugs ~ Kiki

Are You Irish?

Of course you are, because everyone is Irish on St Patrick's Day!
You probably wondered what happened to me since Valentines Day. ( or not, haha ) Well, thank goodness for holidays, because our person has been so busy that she hasn't been able to help me with my blog. She has done some sewing and knitting for us dolls, but that's another story for another post. Anyway, the other day she had to go to the grocery store and there happens to be a dollar store right next to it. She found some fun things for us girls and we have been using them to decorate the treehouse.



So, at least I have one photo to share today! I hope we can have a party on St Patty's Day. No green beer for us kids, but we could make shamrock cookies with green icing. Do you have any special plans? Any ideas for St Patricks Day crafts? Let me know! Hugs, ~ Kiki

Let's Make Valentine Chocolates

Some of my friends are very crafty, and since Valentines Days is coming soon, they decided to make chocolates to give as gifts. Don't they look yummy and pretty? They even made the boxes. Daisy and Carmela are here to demonstrate how you can do this, too!



First of all we us air dry clay called Model Magic, because you don't have to bake it. Our person can't be around the fumes of the ones you bake, and this is really easy to use. First you roll the clay into a ball and then press it into a candy mold. If you don't have a mold, you can shape the candies yourself. Toothpicks are great for sculpting designs.



We decorated the candies with bits of clay and then let them sit for about a day to dry.



After the pieces dried we painted them with a glossy sealer to make them shiny and look more real. That was kind of messy because we had to pick up the candies to turn them around, but the acrylic sealer washes off with soap and water.



The sealer dries pretty fast, and while we waited we made boxes our of card stock. We also cut little circles out of tissue paper and folded them to look like the wrappers you see separating the candy in boxes. We cut some rectangles of tissue paper to lay in the box and fold over the candy like a present.



Finally, it was time to put the chocolates in the boxes!



A pretty ribbon finishes everything neatly! We also used leftover card stock to make matching cards.

We can't wait to give these to our friends and hope you enjoyed our crafting tutorial!

Daisy and Carmela

Kiki Reports on ... KIKI

Don't you think it's about time I wrote about myself? After all, this is Kiki's Korner, not Mia, Eva, Kirsten, Samantha, Josefina and everyone else's corner. I mean, I like reporting about them and frankly there are days when I don't have a very interesting life, so, it's a good thing someone else does! But, that's not always true, which brings me to the other reason this report is about me.
Today I was wandering around our doll town, wondering what to write about. It was a grey day, which is unusual for us, and a cold wind was blowing. The streets were empty and quiet, except for the sounds of dried leaves blowing across the sidewalk. There was no one around, no kids playing or anything interesting to see.

I was getting cold and I had decided to head back home, when I passed Samantha's house. I saw through the window that she was talking to Eva and Clara. I knocked on the door and they invited me in for a cup of hot tea. I'd rather have hot chocolate, but tea with honey is good, too. I hoped they were talking about something new and exciting to inspire my blog report. But, guess what were they discussing - clothes! Seriously! I couldn't believe it. They were taking all about making new clothes for spring, and what would be in style, what colors they would like to wear... and it's still January! I had my pencil and pad ready to take notes and quickly dropped them back in my pocket. Borrrrring! I drank my tea, said thanks, and left.

So, I guess today I have to write about myself. Okay, first, I am not interested in clothes. (Haahaaa - you already know that!) Second, I have mentioned in other blogs that I love science and animals. And, third, I love sports! My favorites are snowboarding and skateboarding. I also like to roller blade, play soccer, and go hiking, and pretty much do anything outdoors. Lately I've been taking gymnastics, mostly because it will help me learn to do tricks on my boards. Gymnastics is a great way to get strong and flexible.

My gymnastics class is also fun because I get to take it with Mia, Luci and Ayla. It's fun to have friends in classes and makes me look forward to them even more than I would anyway. Luci is really good at the balance beam. Mia and Ayla love the bars. My favorite thing is learning to do flips and jumps. We do them on the trampoline and the floor, too. I'm getting better every day.

So, that's me in a nutshell: not a fashionista, but science and animal lover, and a sporty kind of girl who likes to write reports about her friends and town. There you go!

It would be great if you want to let me know what kind of sports you like best! If you don't like any sports, that's okay, too. And, sorry. It's too windy for me to take any photos today!

Hugs, ~ Kiki

Getting Ready for Valentines Day

It might be a little early, but some of the girls here are very excited about Valentines Day. Lalita, Eva and Luci began decorating the treehouse this morning. I think they are planning to have a Valentines Party.
Lalita wanted to show you one of the hearts they made. First they rolled out some air dry clay and cut out the hearts with a cookie cutter. After it dried they painted on designs, and then added a coat of shiny sealer. Before the clay dried they also poked a hole in the top so they could add a pretty ribbon for hanging up the hearts.

Eva decorated a mailbox for everyone to put the Valentines in.

Luci put up some pink paper with tiny hearts inside the treehouse and is getting ready to put some hearts in there.

Here's the progress so far. I think it's looking good!

Are you doing anything special for Valentines Day?

Hugs, ~ Kiki

Loft Bed

Hi everyone! Guess what??? I got a loft bed. I'm really excited about it because I can sleep up high and then have a special little room underneath to hang out in.


Isn't it cool? And, my new laptop was my Christmas present. I love it!


Right now we have an old table underneath for me to do my school work on, but Tía Meli says she will build or find me a real desk eventually. I am home schooled and really needed a good, quiet place to work. Today Ayla and Mia came over to work on a project we are doing together because they are home schooled, too. We got a little distracted and started giggling, and pretty soon Tía Meli came in to ask what we were doing.


Oops! We got back to work after that until it was time for a snack. School work makes me hungry!

What's you favorite subject to study? I like science, and especially learning about animals!

Hugs,
~ Kiki

Three Kings Day, Legos and Lalas!

Today I want to tell you about how Josefina and her family celebrate more of the Christmas season. Today is Three Kings Day. It is the day when the three kings arrived at the stable where baby Jesus was born, and they brought him presents. To celebrate this, Josefina and Esperanza put out their shoes last night.


The shoes were filled with straw for the camels to eat, and the girls hoped they would each get a present. Well...


Josefina got a lovely doll. She is so happy! She named the doll Niña.


And Esperanza got a necklace which is a beautiful cross. It think there are real jewels on it, but I'm not sure!


So, they DID get presents, and just what they had hoped for. Today they are all dressed up because there will be a big fiesta in the town to honor the Three Kings. Naturally Esperanza will wear her new necklace and Josefina will bring her doll.

In other news... I was playing with Mia the other day. Guess what she likes... Legos!!!


We played with some Star Wars Legos that she had from Christmas and I thought it was fun. But, then Clara came along and wanted to play dolls, but Mia said "No thanks!" I was kind of stuck, because I couldn't just leave Mia and go play dolls with Clara, but I felt bad for Clara because she would have to play dolls all alone. Later I talked to Clara about it and she said not to worry. She and her dolls had a great time. They had a tea party.


Dolly #1 said: "Would you like more tea, Dahling?"
Dolly #2 said: "Oh, yes! That would be lovely, dear."

I guess it all worked out. Next time I want to play dollies!

So, inquiring minds want to know!
1. Do you celebrate Three Kings Day?
2. Would you rather play with Legos or dolls or both?

Over and out,
~ Kiki

Happy New Year

I was so excited about New Year's Eve! Tía Meli said we could have a slumber party and I had a secret plan: to stay up until midnight! I thought that if we played games and had enough things to keep us busy we could stay awake. Piece of cake. Right? Well... It started out fine.


I got some beads for Christmas and decided to share them, so we could each make necklaces. Ayla, Carla and I got started.


Ayla made hers first and she decided to go ahead and make one for Aleah who would be arriving soon.


Aleah came and was thrilled because she loves butterflies and we all put on our new necklaces.


Next on the agenda: PIZZA! What is a slumber party without pizza? teehee


After we ate we played Apples to Apples. Have you ever played it? It's a fun game and we laughed a lot and played it for a long time.


Then I passed out notepads and pencils so we could each write down some New Years resolutions. Mine are to learn more about birds because I want to be an ornithologist. That's a person who knows all about birds. Clara and Aleah both want to learn ballet and Ayla wants to learn to roller blade. At this point *yawn* we started to get... ummmmmmm... soooooo... sleepy.....


And this is what happened! Oh well. Maybe next year I will be able to stay awake until midnight!

Hugs and Happy New Year,
Kiki