My Gymnastics Practice

I glanced at the clock, waiting for time to pass. The social sciences teacher just kept talking and talking! Finally, the bell rang. Freedom! As quickly as I could, I gathered up my books and rushed over to my locker. I dumped my books inside and pulled out a navy blue leotard. It was time for gymnastics practice!

I was the first to arrive, but was quickly joined by Marie and Kylie. After jogging around the spring floor a few times, we slid into our splits. As you can see, Marie is a lefty.

As we transitioned into our straddles (which Marie hates), I whispered to Marie. "You forgot to put your hair in a ponytail." Her hand shot up to her hair, and a grumpy look crossed her face. "Darn!" She replied.
"Nice leo," I smiled over at Kylie, who did not need her hair in a pony. Mine is too short and slippery!!

"Alright," Coach said, "today, you'll be working on bars and beam. Kylie, I need you to work on your kips. Ivy, you work on your cast handstands and flyaways. Stick those landings! Marie, you need to improve those cartwheels on the beam."
"Yes coach!" We all cried out in unison.

First, I helped Kylie with her kip. She got the gliding part with proper form, but has trouble with the final part. She finally got the motion of it, with me spotting her. Once Coach came around, I hopped up on the beam. I love the beam! It's my favorite event in meets.

I slid into my splits on the beam, and practiced my mount, and a few dance elements. I didn't wobble once, which pleased me immensely.

When it was my turn to go on the bars, I started off with a kip.

I ended in front support. I did a few small casts before...

...casting up into a nice straight handstand! Wow! I'd never done that before. So awesomely cool! "Nice job, Ivy!" Coach praised. The praise distracted me for a moment, and I slipped my hold. "Whoops," I said under my breath.

I casted into a handstand (that was not as good as the first, but still a good one) so I could do a few giants. I flew around the bar before letting go. I stiffened up into the proper form.

Flipping through the air felt so nice! It was almost time for the landing. I had never stuck this landing before. I so wanted to please the Coach today!

With a satisfying thud, I hit the floor. I did it! I stuck my flyaway!! I jumped up and down with Marie, celebrating. She was very pleased as well: she had just done a proper cartwheel on beam!

Woot!

Gymnast salute! Coach took this photo of us. She said she was very pleased with our progress. I wish gymnastics was every day. I so love gymnastics!

What things are you lovin'?

Shout-out for Raspberry Sparkles!

Hey, it's Sunshiny Ivy over here! Today, I'd like to give a shout-out to...
D A K O T A    A N D    G R A C E
from
Raspberry Sparkles ~ Our doll blog

Click on the name to get to the blog. :)
Raspberry Sparkles is the cutest blog, and has awesome photos of Dakota and Grace's dolls. I really think you should check it out!

Until next time...

Me and Winter

It was a chilly 40˚ morning. Since school at the Academy hasn't started yet (we start on Monday), we are free to do whatever we want. Or, we can just lounge in our bedroom like we were doing that morning.
Winterstorm came up to me, put his head under my hand, and began to whine. And he kept whining! I could tell he was really restless from all this inside stuff.

"Wanna go for a walk, Winter?" I asked him in an excited voice. The schnauzer immediately perked up just like he always does. He's so cute! "Come on," I said, sliding off the bed, and walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" my little sister Joyce, asked. "To the park with Winter!" I replied, closing the door behind me.

We walked away from our house towards my favorite path. It's a narrow walkway that leads to the park. I love to walk on it with my pet because there's so much to see! Birds, butterflies, and nature abound!

You can just see how narrow this path really is. This is the reason that not many people walk on this path. But I love it! Winter prefers skipping on top of the rocks for whatever reason. He's such an adventurous pup, and a big show-off! He's always showing off to Jubilee's dog, Ella.

I couldn't get a photo of the path at night, but it's beautiful! At this time of year, Rose lane path has the most perfect white lights strung along the pathway. So lovely! When I was walking though, the lights were off. See?

Once we reached the park, we stopped at our favorite haunt, and our favorite place to be. It's always unoccupied, and it's perfect. The boulder and the rocks overlook the big green field, and it's nice.

I decided to do a few tricks. "Winter, roll over!" I commanded. He leaped onto the grass and complied. "Good dog!" I laughed. Then I giggled, thinking of Marie's dog. Her dog Rascal is just what his name implies--a rascal! He never obeys, and is the naughtiest dog in the whole wide world. :)
"Sit!" I called out.

Winterstorm hopped on the rocks next to me and sat by my side. I gave him a great big hug and a kiss on the nose. I love my puppy! He's the best dog in the world. He wiggled his tail, and gave me a sloppy wet kiss on the chin.

I jumped up on the boulder to watch the other people in the park, and Winter hopped up behind me. So many interesting people! But Winter hasn't had his final shots yet, so I didn't let him play with the other dogs.

Still, we had an excellent time together, sitting outside under the sun. And me, in a short sleeve, no less! Ha, take THAT Jack Frost! I wondered to myself why we didn't do this sort of thing more often. I decided I would suggest it to Jubi, Marie, and Arizona when we got back.

A dog is a girl's best friend! :)


Love,
W I N T E R S T O R M
AND

Arizona's Zone: Why Not? Part 14

Read Part 13 HERE

I had to think fast! What to do, what to do? My eyes darted around for a place to hide. In one corner of the room was a pile of crates. I shoved Willow in the direction of the crates. She quickly ducked behind them, and I hid behind them, hoping the man wouldn't see me.

We both held our breath as the man entered the basement. He started yelling something in a different language before charging up the stairs. I was so relieved that we had escaped his sight. "Ari..." Willow whispered, but I held up my hand. "I'm sorry Willow, but we have to get out first!" I replied softly. She nodded.

Slowly, quietly, we made our way up the stairs, making sure that our footsteps didn't creak. I went a few steps ahead, and peered around the corner. The man was standing in the kitchen, with his back to us. He was on the opposite wall across from the door. Licking my lips, I glanced at the door, then at the man. 

As Willow came up behind me, I motioned at the door. She understood, and tiptoed over to the back door. I followed close behind. In one quick motion, she ripped open the door, and bolted out. I sprinted as quickly as I could after her!

She was a fast little runner, and could run every bit as fast as I could. I only hoped it was fast enough to avoid the angry man running after us! I heard gunshots behind us, and whistling sounds beside my ears, but didn't stop. I couldn't stop. Willow knew this as well, and increased her speed.

I glanced back over my shoulder. The man was gaining on us! His gun was stuffed back into his belt, and he was focused on catching us. I hoped that the gunshots had attracted someone's attention. "Run Willow!" I yelled, as I noticed he was a few feet behind us.

She bolted ahead like a cheetah, but I felt the hard iron-like grasp of the man's hand on my shoulder. I let out a yell as I crashed to the ground.

Stay tuned, folks!

Happy 2013 Everyone!

Hey, it's Arizona Kali here, welcoming you to the wonderful new world of 2013. Isn't it cool? If you're wondering what happened to Ivy, don't worry. She partied a bit too hard, I should think!

She woke up at 12:03 to find that everyone was outside. She ran outside to celebrate in the icy cold, and partied for too long. Anyhow, she's asleep, and I couldn't let this blog start the new year without a welcome post!

I'd like to wish you a happy new year to everyone! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thanks bunches...

A R I Z O N A    K A L I

Busy Busy Final Part

My jaw dropped open as I saw the thing sitting in our bedroom. A Christmas tree?!?! And a present!
Wow! I was astonished.

We threw our arms up in surprise. Where did the tree come from? Who brought it? All I knew was that I loved it.  The little tree looked like a recycled tree with a recycled star, but I didn't really care. Jubi adored the little tree, and started singing. Joy was just as pleased as she, and wondered out loud who the gift was for.

"I'm sure it's for all of us," Jubi said, and I agreed with her. The giver of the present wouldn't just give one gift for just one person. I turned around, and saw Mama standing behind us with a giant smile on her face. "Do you like it?" She asked. "I know it's not the tree you wanted, but..."
"Do I like it?" I exclaimed, interrupting her statement, "I love it!"
"I'm so glad!" She replied with a grin.

When the other girls saw Mama standing there, they joined me in a big hug. "Thank you for the tree, Mama!" We yelled in unison. Mama laughed, and thanked us for the big bear hug. "You girls are the best," She smiled.

And then I realized I shouldn't have doubted that God would make everything work out right. He gave us a tree, but that doesn't matter. The reason for the season is Jesus's birth. We all have everything we need, and I have everything I could want.

May your Christmas Eve be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white. :)


LOVE...

Busy Busy III

Scroll down to read parts 1 and 2. :)

I leaned against the doorframe to our bedroom, listening to the howling winds, Jubilee standing by my side. "Do you think it'll rain for Christmas?" I asked gloomily. This hadn't been the best Christmas season: there was no Christmas tree, no bright sunrise, and no presents for us dolls.
"No," Jubilee replied calmly. "God can do anything! And even if He does decide to make it rain, shouldn't we make the best out of it? A stormy Christmas can be fun!"
"Yeah, right," I almost said, but stopped myself as I looked at Jubi's pleasant eyes.

"Heya sisters!" Joy smiled as she walked in. I growled inside a little bit, wishing I were as tall as my little sister. "Hi!" Jubi replied. Her face immediately fell as she saw there was still no Christmas tree for us. I noticed her disappointed look and suggested, "Hey, let's go to the kitchen and borrow some of Mama's brownies!" Joy and Jubi grinned. "Good idea!"

We three turned and left the room, heading towards the hallway to get to the kitchen. We walked as quickly as our short doll legs could carry us, as we could hardly wait to taste those yummiliciously chewy brownies.

But when we got back, we saw a surprise that no one expected.

Busy Busy II

After a hot 15 min. shower, I got dressed in my red dress that I bought with Joyce.

I wasn't too concerned about Jubi, as she tends to get worried easily.

I pulled on my warm fuzzy socks. They feel so warm in wintertime, and I love to wear them every single day.

Marie followed me, wearing a peasant top and jeans. MY jeans. Oh well, I guess they fit her fairly well.

I hopped up on the bed and started jumping. "Come on, Jubi!" I laughed. "It'll make you feel better!"
"No thanks," She replied. I stopped jumping and stared at her. "Well, what's wrong?"

"Do you think Spicemuffin still remembers us?" She asked quietly.
I did a double take. "Of COURSE she does?"
"Then where's our Christmas decorations?"
I thought about this for a moment. We...we'd never had Christmas decorations!
"We'll have to MAKE some, then!" Marie yelled excitedly.
"YEAH!" We all said, breaking out in white paper fury. We all made pretty snowflakes! Do you like them?

I hung my glorious 3d snowflake on the roof. And yes, we really did make this. I thought the snowflake would convey a definite message of winter and Christmas.

Marie and Jubi placed their snowflakes on the table. I love Jubi's snowflake the best! Marie's is also very cute, and mini.

Snowflake goodness! I think the horses like the snowflakes. Storm and Zephyr (my lizards in the box) definitely love the holiday cheer on top of their cage.

The last thing to do was put up the one decoration we DID have: a Santa Claus figurine. We decided to put it on top of the shelf. Perfect!

I looked around. Something was missing. I snapped my fingers. A CHRISTMAS TREE! What's Christmas without a tree?
But where will we get one?

Busy Busy!

It was a frosty December morning. All us dolls had finished our schoolwork at the Academy on Monday morning. We were on Christmas break, FINALLY! This Tuesday morning, Marie and I were coming out of gymnastics class.

"Hey Ivy!" Jubi greeted me as I came in.

"Hiya!" I replied, coming to sit on the bed. I placed my grips bag down and waved to her. "What's up?" She asked. I grinned. "Marie can't learn her backwalkover!" I giggled. "She gets scared and don't kick over hard enough."

"That's not true!" Marie protested, coming in through the door. "My back isn't flexible!"
"Well, that's true enough!" Jubi put her voice in, trying to stop the argument before it started.

"I'll say!" I laughed. Jubi smiled. Her little statement had effectively calmed the situation. Marie took a seat in the wicker chair. "So, whatcha doing, Jubi?" She asked.

"Reading," Jubi replied. "Well, just paging through Licorice's fun book. It really is a fun book!" She laughed, and the rest of us laughed. She put her book down on her lap. "Guys, there's something I want to talk about...um...about..."
"Hold on," I said, getting up. "The sweat is starting to get really cold! Why don't you let us clean up first?"
She shrugged. "Alright."
But when I looked back at her as I left, her face held a worried and sad look. What was my friend worried about?

Lookin' a lot like Christmas

Hey, it's Ivy here, a little patch of sunshine in a wonderfully cloudy world! Well, at our house, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And I LOVE it!

Here's a fun bokeh effect:

If you don't have a DSLR, bokeh can be tricky. I do mine by standing a far way off, and then zooming in. Next, I place my little dolly hand (if you're a human, it's much easier) in front of the lens. I press the shutter halfway down, letting the camera focus on my hand. Before I take the photo, I just take my hand away. Ta-da!!

Here's our tree before lights and decorations.

And here's our tree, all decked out in sparkling yellow lights! Yay! We have an angel topper on it now, and angel and globe lights wrapped around it.

Ha ha, I noticed Spicemuffin didn't have anywhere to put her (extremely noisy) jingle bell wreath, so she wrapped it around this artificial flower arrangement. Hee hee!

Well, this little dolly will have to snap more photos, but she needs help with the giant camera. I still have to wait just a little while for Spicemuffin to feel better, so sit tight, lovely followers!


With Christmassy love...