Prepping for the Halloween Party (Photostory)

Had to get a quick little Halloween story done.

Vanessa is fixing Alicia's Halloween costume.

"Honey?  Tyler?  Are you guys ready!"  (Vanessa)

"Did you call my princess?  I am here to protect you from all the evil in the world."  (Keith)

"Well, well.  Aren't you looking rather dapper?"  (Vanessa)

"Do you like my sword?"  (Keith)

"I've always liked your sword!"  (Vanessa)

"Ha, ha.  I'll make sure I keep it finely tuned for later."  (Keith)

"Daddy, up."  (Alicia)

"Of course, little Snow Brown."  (Keith)

"Do you like Daddy's crown?"  (Keith)

"Tyler!  Where are you?"  (Vanessa)

"Honey, we are taking your car.  Mine is almost on 'E'."  (Vanessa)

"I'm ready."  (Tyler)

"What's up with the helmet?"  (Vanessa)

"My skeleton likes to play football."  (Tyler) 

"I guess I should have known."  (Vanessa)

"Shoot, I forgot my keys.  Hold her.  I'll be right back."  (Keith)

"Mommy are we going trick-or-treating?"  (Tyler)

"No.  We're going to a Halloween party."  (Vanessa)

"Aw man.  I wanted to go trick-or-treating."  (Tyler)

"I'm sure there will be plenty of treats at the party."  (Vanessa)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM THE MORRISONS!

FYI:  In case you are wondering how they ended up with these costumes...  I just had to use that cute little Snow White outfit, Alicia is wearing.  Since I had a big one too, it was perfect.  Keith's outfit is actually the outfit from the Nutcracker.  But I'm using it as a King's outfit, and he's representing Snow White's dad.  I was not familiar with Snow White's story, so I looked it up.  After reading about it, this costume suits Vanessa and Alicia quite well.  Below are some facts about Snow White.

• She is both a protective mother figure and an innocent child in her relationship with the forest animals and the Seven Dwarfs.
• She is the sweetest and the most gentle of all the Disney Princesses.
• She's naive, resilient, sentimental, helpful and kind, but is also strict.
• She is a dreamer and a romantic, but is willing to work hard if need be to earn her keep.
• She enjoys singing, dancing, and cooking.
• She loves all animals.
• Her kindness and generosity can often blind her judgment and she's quick to break rules if it means to help someone in trouble.

WOW!  That sounds just like me.  Who knew?

Vanessa Gets A Visitor (Photostory)

It's Saturday and Vanessa has calmed down enough to get on with her weekend.  She is starting the day, where else, on her computer.  Checking her emails, and doing a little research for work. 

Alicia is busy playing with her carriage and invisible baby.  

"Goodness.  Every time I answer one email, another one pops up.  I really need to get off this computer."  (Vanessa to herself)

"Mommy, baby wants to go outside."  (Alicia)

"The baby will have to wait until later.  We have to get ready for your godbrother.  He's coming by to see us."  (Vanessa)

Vanessa turns back to the computer and decides to walk away from it.  She has too much to do, and her godson will be here any minute.

She does a quick once over with the vacuum cleaner.  She'll do a more thorough cleaning next weekend.

Alicia starts mimicking the vacuum cleaner with her baby carriage. 

"Are you helping, Mommy?"  (Vanessa)

"Mommy, me cleaning da floor."  (Alicia)

"I see you.  You're doing a good job.  Remember how fun this is when you get a little older."  (Vanessa)

Vacuuming done, and now it's time to get dressed.

"Alright little momma.  It's time to get dressed."  (Vanessa)

Thirty minutes later, they emerge from the bedroom.

"Do you want to play with your carriage or watch tv?"  (Vanessa)

"TVeeee!" (Alicia)

"Okay sit here while I find the remote."  (Vanessa)

**DING DONG**

"Ut oh."  (Alicia)

"It's just the door.  Stay right here."  (Vanessa)

Vanessa answers the door and invites Quentin, her godson, into the living room.

"Hello handsome.  It's so good to see you.  Seems like it's been forever."  (Vanessa)

"I know.  I'm sorry.  School and football have been keeping me very busy."  (Quentin)

"I'm just glad you found some time for me.  Give me another hug."  (Vanessa)

"Q.  Q.  Q." (Alicia)

"Hello beautiful.  You still remember me."  (Quentin)

"Of course she remembers you.  Come and sit down and fill me in."  (Vanessa)

"So tell me everything.  How's school?  How's football?  Are you dating anyone serious?...."  (Vanessa)

"Hold up.  One question at a time."  (Quentin)

Quentin and Vanessa spend time talking about his classes and the football season.

"Okay, now that covers school and football.  What's going on with the ladies?  Is there anyone special."  (Vanessa)

"It's a little complicated.  Yes, I do have someone special...."  (Quentin)

"What do you mean, it complicated?  She's not pregnant, is she?"  (Vanessa)

"OH NO! Nothing like that.  But there's this other girl that I think likes me, too."  (Quentin)

"Oh goodness.  Well you are young, and you shouldn't feel obligated to be tied down at such a young age.  On the other hand, please don't play around with these ladies hearts.  Be honest with them and let the chips fall where they may."  (Vanessa)

Vanessa and Quentin continue visiting.  She convinces him to come back later to have dinner with the family.

Today is my godson's birthday!  Happy birthday, Quentin.  Of course that didn't dawn on me until I looked at Facebook this morning.  Thank goodness for FB when it comes to birthdays.  I am the worst!  How ironic that I shot this story a couple days ago without even realizing I would be posting it on his birthday.  The stars aligned again.  This is an interview Quentin did a couple months ago.  The picture below that is the one I showed you guys 2.5 yrs ago.  Can you believe how quickly time is flying!!!  This kid will be graduating soon.  Unbelievable!

Dollar Store Cuties and My Apple Pie!

I am not even going to lie.  This post is really about my first homemade apple pie I made yesterday, but I figured it was a good time to show a couple of dolls I picked up from Dollar Tree a couple days ago.

 

Aren't they cute?!  They had about five different ones in this color and a number of Caucasian ones.  I might name them Rhonda and Wendy because they remind me of two sisters I grew up with.  I also thought they would be perfect grown up versions of the new twins I just introduced, Samia and Sabrina.  You know who else they could be?  Tia and Tamera Mowry.  We will have to see how this plays out.  

Here they are in their original packaging.  Of course the bodies are horrible, but the heads are in great shape.  I'm sure I can find them a couple of bodies lying around here somewhere.

Now, on to my very first homemade apple pie.  I have been wanting to make one for many years.  I have been looking at pie crust recipes forever, but never felt brave enough to tackle what seemed to be a difficult task.  I think making the Barbie food is inspiring me to really branch out.  I remembered to take pictures just in the nick of time.  I needed to document this one for sure.

So I made the pie crust with my rarely used food processor.  I knew it would come in handy one day.  The pie crust had to rest in the fridge for at least an hour.  Once out, I used my, rolling pin to shape it.  Ha!  That rolling pin had never been used.  I bought it awhile ago, specifically to make an apple pie.

I cut up about seven Granny Smith apples, and added the spices and the sugar.  For some reason I thought I would have to pre-cook the apples.  Nope.

Now we are ready for the second pie crust  I used the rolling pin technique I learned watching everyone else make apple pies.

Doesn't look like much.  Let's fix that.

That's better.  At first I used a fork to pinch the edges, but I didn't like that, so I used my two thumbs to crimp the edges.

I added the little slits on top for decoration.  I was going to do the lattice top like I do for my doll pies, but that would mean less crust.  The crust is the best part!  

So about an hour later, we have apple pie!

Here is the first slice.

As you can see, I didn't wait for it to cool, like I was supposed to.  I have to pat myself on the back for this one.  It is delicious!  Both the top and the bottom crust are the perfect thickness.  The crust is flaky, the apples are perfectly seasoned.  I had a piece last night and a piece for breakfast.  I shared a piece with my mom, and the rest will be taken to my boyfriend and his family.   I sure wish D7ana lived close by.  She's the kind of dolly friend that could really appreciate my baked goods.

I've shot a new doll story yesterday that will go up first thing tomorrow morning.  Vanessa is in it, but it's not the episode where she goes to the school.  That will happen in a couple of days.

Tyler Speaks (Photostory)

Vanessa and Tyler are waiting for Keith to return.

"Tyler, your dad and I are very disappointed.  We expect you to always do your best, and right now you aren't doing that."  (Vanessa)

"Okay, so where were we?"  (Keith) 

"Honey, is that really necessary?"  (Vanessa)

"I want to have it nearby just in case."  (Keith)

"So Tyler, why are you missing homework assignments, and why are your grades slipping?"  (Vanessa)

"Mom, I can't tell you?"  (Tyler)

"What do you mean you can't tell us?  You better start talking."  (Keith)

"I don't want anything to happen to you."  (Tyler)

"Look at us when you are talking.  You aren't making any sense and I'm starting to lose my patience."  (Keith)

"They said if I tell, they would hurt me and my family."  (Tyler)

"Who is they?"  (Vanessa)

"The boys at school.  They keep taking my book bag and tearing up my papers."  (Tyler)

"What?! Are these boys in your class?"  (Vanessa)

"No, they are in the 5th grade."  (Tyler)

"5th graders!  Why are they picking on 3rd graders?"  (Vanessa)

"Son, why didn't you tell us or your teacher?"  (Keith)

"Because they said if I told they would do something bad to my family."  (Tyler)

"Can you believe this?  What is wrong with these kids?  Why can"t they just go to school and get an education?  No, that would be too simple."  (Vanessa)

"Come here, sweetie."  (Vanessa)

"I'm sorry this is happening to you.  We are going to get to the bottom of this and put a stop to it."  (Vanessa)

"Tyler, in the future you need to tell us if something like this is going on.  Okay?"  (Keith)

"Okay."  (Tyler)

"Give me a hug and go get ready for bed.  We will talk about this more tomorrow and Monday morning I'm going to your school to get to the bottom of this."  (Vanessa)

"Goodnight.  I love you."  (Vanessa)

"I love you, too, Mommy."  (Tyler)

"Good night, son.  And remember, it's my job to protect you.  It's not your job to protect us."  (Keith)

"Okay, Dad."  (Tyler)

Tyler heads to his room, feeling relieved.

"Can you believe that?  I am so sick of the whole bullying thing.  Just last week a 12 yr old committed suicide because two of her classmates were bullying her.  The parents took her out of school, and they were still harassing her on Facebook.  And now some crazy kids are harassing my son!  I don't think so."  (Vanessa) 

"Calm down and come over here."  (Keith)

"I don't want to calm down.  I want to ring somebody's neck."  (Vanessa)

Keith pulls Vanessa into his arms.

"Relax.  Kids get picked on all the time.  This is nothing new"  (Keith)

"Honey, we can't take this lightly."  (Vanessa)

"I know, but the last thing we need is you going and jacking up somebody else's child.  We need to handle this like responsible adults."  (Keith)

"Damn hoodlums."  (Vanessa)

All Keith can think of is thank goodness Monday is two days away.  Hopefully by then his wife will have calmed down.