Grace's Birthday Gift

We gave it to her a day early, so that she could post it on Flickr and we could post it on the blog.

It was Erin and Chrissa's idea; they are the creative ones in the family, after all. They said we should take a family portrait.
A question popped up in our minds, "But who would take the picture?"
But Miss Julie raised her hand and offered to be the photographer, she had a bit of experience with Canon cameras.

Ruthie was in charge of our outfits, but some of us took it into our own hands. The outfits aren't that... um... amazing. We all tried to dress in "Blue"

.

It kind of portrays our personalities. Kit is dressed quite weirdly, and in the back Felicity is in her pajamas (but alas, they are blue pajamas), and Liz is in her regular over-the-top flair... and then the sweet sensitive "mothers" (Kirsten mostly, but Ruthie too) are in dresses.

Oh, but god, Liz just had to go and make a spectacle of herself to be seen once she realized Erin and I were sitting together in the front.

This was the result:





:)

I may like love, but I do not like Lanie.

Lanie leaves on Thursday. I wanted to get this over with. Its been lurking in the back of my mind ever since she came, to confront her. But I kept pushing the scary thought away.. I was extremely nervous about it - what if Lanie had a secret past in some painful sport like football, karate or wrestling that I didn't know about, and she could somehow beat me up if I told her off?

But Kristy expected me to wallow and go off into a deeper depression because of her hurtful ways. And no way, no how, am I giving Kristy that satisfaction.

I peeked out the window to see Lanie sitting among the garden, as if she was the most innocent thing you've ever seen. Pshh, as if. I'll believe that when Taylor Swift stops writing songs. I took a deep breath and crept out the front door, around the house, and behind the garden, into a thorn bush where Lanie couldn't see me. Panic was building up in my stomach when a thorn nudged me in the arm. "Ow!" I said. But then there came more stabs of pain at my thighs, forehead, wrists, and the bare patches of skin on my feet... And they were NOT thorns giving me pain, I tell you that. I shrieked in terror and fell into some thorns. When I looked up a hornet had landed on my nose.

God no.
I screamed as I saw hornets on my hips, feet, cheeks, arms ... They were attacking me! By now Lanie had noticed the commotion in the thorn bush, so she ran over and with her super-tough garden gloves she peeked through the front and saw me rolling over in thorns on the inside, with probably a swollen nose and hornets crawling over me. Lanie gasped, clutched her hand over her mouth and screamed with me.
"DO SOMETHING!!!" I managed to scream while swatting away the hornets, who just kept coming and coming.

Lanie got a blank look in her eyes for a second, then she ran back to her garden, picked up the bottle of bug repellent, then rushed back, told me to close my eyes, and sprayed the whole bush with it. Most of a hornets hurried away, but a select few remained and were buzzing like crazy.
"Oh...my...god..." I mumbled.

Then everything went black.


When I woke up, I was in my bed inside with a pot of tea next to me. Lanie was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at me with pity in her eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I snapped grouchily.
"You might want to take a look at yourself..." She said gently, averting her eyes.
I grabbed the hand mirror on my nightstand and took a good look at my face - and god I was a horror of a sight.
I had swollen bumps all over my cheeks, forehead, and nose, and no doubt I probably had some on my arms and legs. Probably even on my back, too. My lips had enlarged to the size of garlic fingers and my cheeks were puffy like heck. I gasped in horror.

"Sonali..." Lanie said, looking back at me. "Why were you in that thorn bush, anyway?"
I gulped. This was the moment I'd been waiting for, except I didn't make Lanie look as weak and vulnerable as I had initially hoped.
"I was there to tell you I know what you're doing." I said.
Lanie's mouth dropped open, and it looked like she was going to say something but her mouth didn't even make a squeak.
I went on. "You shouldn't obey Kristy, Lanie. I thought you, of all people, would know that." My voice was particularly harsh and icy cold. "I needed a friend, oh god yes I did, and I had all my hopes set on you, but you smashed them down. I can't believe such a person would do such a thing. How in the world do you have such a heart?!" I rambled on and on until Lanie looked like she wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

And. I. Was. Glad.

-Sonali

Love, Love, Love....!

Its so idiotic, yet we all want it in our lives.
And why?
Because we are all hopeless romantics, no matter what we pretend to be. You could be a grumpy old accountant, but we all know that all the grumpy old man needs is some love. Or you could be an evil boss with a cold heart, but inside, all you are is lonely and want a person who would treat you like a princess.

Some of us hate love. Some of us love to love. Some of us are hoping for that happy ending that you can never give up hope on. And then some of us are pre-teens, waiting for the day their crush falls in love with them.
Who am I? None of the above.
I guess I'm a hopeless romantic with no sense of relationship... for gods sake I'm 12 years old and god forbid I date until I'm 17, but I'm still fascinated by love. Taylor Swift's songs are more than songs when you feel emotion for someone, they are like a mind reader instead.

All I can say is...
Go see Letters To Juliet.
AND I SAID NOW.

-Sonali

Kristy Harrison and Lanie Holland are going to DIE.

I will kill them myself, if I have to.
Of course, I never thought of myself as a murderer.
But I am SO mad that Kit just walked in and waved her hands around my head like fans, and exclaimed steam was coming out of my ears.
In my rage I pushed Kit away and started pacing.

Lanie Holland was so nice.
I remember her walking in, and saying, "Hello? Anyone here?" in that little innocent voice of hers, and when she went to hide in the little corner she found me.
That was a good day.
Today?
Not so much.

I've been reading a book, Umbrella Summer, and in it a lot of people give the main character, Annie, "dead-brother" looks that are full of sympathy and pity, since her brother died. All day today I've been getting "dead-brother" looks from Julia, Lanie, Kirsten and Erin. Except I'm going to call them "dead-Kristy" looks, for it sounds sweet to my ears.
Lanie does not know the password.
She can't.
She just CAN'T!

Oh, I should give it up. We all know I'm just saying that to convince MYSELF that she doesn't have the password. But what if... what if she does?! UGH!

I don't want Bethie or myself to get hurt. I'm in such a rage, I could fling Kirsten's best frying pan from Samantha for Christmas at the wall and then LAUGH at Kirsten's tears. Is this what it feels like for bullies?
The world is so unfair.
Kristy Harrison, this is ALL. YOUR. FAULT.

-Sonali

Friends

Sometimes (okay, all of time) I wish I had someone who I could talk to about Bethie, and how I could live without Bethie much more easily if I had at least one person who was there for me.

Of course, I have my sisters. But none of them bother to become TOO too close to me. Most of them already have a best friend -- I came too late. Kit and Ruthie, they're one of the closest sets of sisters in my family. And then there is Liz and Lissie... they have a lot of ups and downs, but we ALL know that they are super super tight no matter what, deep deep down. They were together since the first second, after all. Kirsten keeps in contact with her, well, for lack of a more fitting word, best friends with Samantha from Bethie's family. Julia is too absorbed in cheerleading and texting to take on a friendship, and as for Chrissa or Erin...

I didn't realize Chrissa was trying to be a great friend to me. She was being a better friend than anyone else I was aiming for, and I realized that when it was too late. Now she and Erin have gone and become best friends... which remains a mystery I still have not uncovered anything about.

And then a little voice in the back of my head asks;
What about Lanie and Emily? Are you just going to give up on them like that?

I wish I wasn't giving up on them, little, innocent, sweet nasal-sounding conscience. I just don't think anybody who would give in to Kristy like that deserves a friendship at all. AT ALL. Even though my heart aches for a friend to share my depression woes with...

I need you, Bethie.
-Sonali

Birthdays

I flinched as Grace screamed, "6 MORE DAYS UNTIL MY BIRTHDAAAAAAY!" bright and early this morning.

Okay, so its true. Only 6 days until her birthday.
Ohmigod... I'm letting that sink and... oh my dear lord... ONLY 6 DAYS UNTIL HER BIRTHDAY?!
Oh what oh what will we do?!

She does so much for us... we need to... we need to...
Sorry, you'll have to excuse me, I'm hyperventilating!
*pauses, looks around to make sure no one is there and knocks head again wall*
Gah! I wish Ruthie hadn't been so absorbed in the Awards and had looked at the calendar... cause sure as ice cream no one else in this family besides her even does as much as glimpse at the calendar...

What will we do? Help!
We could always take a photo of us all with matching outfits... or make her an album... but how will our little dolly hands do so? Its all so hard. What about a surprise party? Ah, not enough time .... A couture outfit? Ah, not enough money, and what will the couture companies think when a DOLL emails them?!

But, now that I mention it... this doll family really enjoys couture.
What would we buy for Grace, if we could?
I think I saw her drooling over a few of these outfits..

Liberty Jane Clothing - Destroyed LJ Jeans
Liberty Jane Clothing - Vintage LJ Jeans
Heritage Clothing - Wrap Top Dress (but sadly, they are sold out)
Melody Valerie Couture - Stripes Ahoy! ... yet it is sold out as well.


-Sonali

Organic fruits, or Organic dolls?

I would like to say that Kristy is made from all-natural ingredients, no fertalizers, no harmful pesticides... But I can't.
She's made up of snobby extract, prissy preservatives, and platinum blonde food coloring.

To tell you the truth, it sickens me.
Why can't she see someone's real heart? Why can't she realize what she does to us? I don't get it. What would have happened to possess a person like that? Its horrible. Its cruel. And its MEAN. I just don't... I just... I don't understand it at all. Its so terrifying to think anyone ever would do that.

Whenever I look at Lanie, panic flashes in her eyes. Whenever SHE looks at ME, I see sympathy in those little hazel peepers. I think she knows I know something. And I hope she does know that I know something, cause I know that she's a horrible person.
Did that confuse you?
Lets put it like this;
I can't believe people that I thought were so nice, like Lanie and Emily, would fall in to Kristy's little games. How?! WHY?! Why would anyone give in to her?!

This is so unfair. The good people should rule. The bad people should fail.

-Sonali

The Eavesdropping Genius Strikes Again

I couldn't help it, okay? Lanie was on the phone, with a low voice speaking urgently to the reciever. ANYONE would have been super curious!

I picked up the other phone and rushed off to my room in a mad dash.
The minute I clicked "Talk" the silence and privacy of my room disappeared as familiar voices boomed.
"Good job, Lanie," the unknown woman on the other end was saying. "I'm impressed. Now, you have to go and break her heart again --"
"Wait," Lanie said exasperatedly. "Kristy, can't you give me a break? I feel really bad for what I did. I don't even think I.. I... I don't think I wanna do this anymore."

A bell dinged in my head. KRISTY! Now why was Lanie talking to Kristy? I gripped the phone eagerly to hear more.

Kristy sighed in frustration. "Lanie, don't you understand? Sonali needs this. She's got it all gone to her head and she needs a reality check. Remember that sulk she still has? And all that luck she has, but she's letting it go to waste? She's a mean person, Lanie. She NEEDS this."
I almost choked on the water I was drinking (I'm a multi-task master). Me?! She said my name! Oh god, she's gotta be talking about a different Sonali.
"Kristy... but Sonali's not a mean person! I know you told me to break her heart, but after a while I started liking her." Lanie sniffed.
"Don't cry, you big baby. Hold on, I'm going to dial up Emily." Kristy said in disgust.

Okay, Kristy, Lanie, and EMILY!? This is soooo not possible. Kristy does not even know Emily, how would she? Emily lives on a totally different side of the world, with no relations to Bethie's family.
I heard a click and Kristy breathing into the phone. Emily had been added into the conversation. I sighed. I usually loved the 3-way chat on our phone, but this time it was dreadful.

"Hey..." Emily sounded as timid as ever.
"Emily, look, Kristy wants us to --" Lanie started sadly.
"ZIP IT!" Kristy shunned Lanie. "Anyway, I thought we should go in for the kill and break Sonali's heart yet again." I could just HEAR Kristy smirking.
Emily gulped. "Um, I don't know, Kristy..."
Kristy screamed. "YOU GUYS ARE IMPOSSIBLE!" And I heard another click. Kristy had hung up.

"Emily... I don't think we should do it." Lanie sighed.
"But what choice do we have?!" Emily cried. "Kristy will pulverize us!"
"Bye, Emily. I have a lot to think about." Lanie hung up.
There was a bit of shallow and ragged and possibly relieved breathing after that, but finally Emily hung up, too, and I was left alone with a reciever in my hand, standing in the middle of the room, and the water glass I held fell with a clatter to the floor.

Kristy.

Visitors

A blond girl with hazel eyes peeked around the corner. She called out my name. I spun around to face Lanie Kenny.

Yes, THEE Lanie Kenny.
The one who pulverized my inner strength until I was a heap of goo?

Apparently she's staying here with her sisters, Julie and Skylar, for 2 WEEKS! YES, 2 WEEKS! How will I survive?! Her sisters are kind, and Skylar is nice to talk to, and Julie clicked with Erin right away... they immediately, I repeat, immediately, started talking about hippie fashions and Erin started "ooh"ing and "ahh"ing over Julie's peasant blouse and pants.

The awkwardness between Lanie & I .. is... well.... yknow, awkward.
I hate Lanie and so do all my sisters. Even RUTHIE disapproves highly of her. She may have offered Lanie a place to stay, but she is sad to say that is all she can do for Miss Lanie.

On a brighter note, tomorrow Grace is going on a short road trip to a bird sanctuary with her family, and she gets to bring a doll. Who will it be?! I secretly hunger for her to pick me... I want it so bad, its giving me the shivers... but I think she'll pick Erin, or someone else.

-Sonali

Fairytale Princesses

What do you think of when you hear "fairytale princesses"?
Tiaras, sparkly flowing gowns, and Prince Charming?

Maybe so.

What do I think of when I hear "fairytale princesses"?
I think of mysterious forests, suspenseful tales of capture and rescue, of royal mysteries and mystical creatures. Riding white horses out into the sunset, being taken away by ogres...all that sort of things.

Well, here's the blurb; AGMA has presented a "fairytale/princesses" theme.
Its ah-maz-ingggg! I can't wait!

Ruthie's been trying to help out a lot, but Grace keeps pushing her away. I can only feel sympathy for her, she loves princesses so.

What shall I wear? What will I do?

-Sonali

Music videos music videos, music videos...

Ahh! Grace keeps adding more and more to the list!

We are officially filming Alice this weekend unless it rains the whole time - the costumes are almost finished! I get to be Ruthie's servant alongside Erin.. Ruthie is, you guessed it, The Queen Of Hearts! My favorite character has to be The White Queen, but I adore Ruthie's outfit the most.

Oh my gosh, I better shut my lips before Grace shuns me for spilling details!

On top of Alice, Grace wants to do a "The Boy Is Mine" music video. Glee did a cover of it in last night's episode.. It will be a comedy music video featuring Felicity and Elizabeth battling over some celebrity cutie. The celebrity cutie is yet to be decided!

And then on top of THAT, this summer we are doing The Time Of Our Lives, and Grace also has a secret video that she shouldn't speak of. Its fabulous, though.

GAH!

-Sonali

A Red Haired Sweetie Saves The Day

Knock.
I rolled over on my side and pretended I didn't hear anything.
But there it was again; knock knock.
I groaned.
I didn't want to see anybody.

When the visitor realized I wasn't going to open the door and welcome her in, she barged through then tiptoed over beside me.
"Sonali?" I heard the visitor whisper.
I rolled over on my side. "Erin?"
"Why are you here?" As glad as I was to see one of my sisters talk to me without giving me the evil eye, I was suspicious. Why would she bother talk to me when the whole house was in an outrage against me?
"I know you didn't do it. Its so obvious. You didn't forget that I'm an eavesdropper, did you?!" She joked.
I laughed. In my head I could see a vision of Erin holding the house phone up to her ear, silently giggling, while Liz kept on chattering on the other phone to Kristy the whole time without knowing. Ah, I can just see the grin on Erin's face right now.

"Well," I whispered. No one else was in the room, but the mood was right for whispering.
"What are you going to do?"


Erin paused. Obviously, she was trying to build up suspense.
Then she grinned wide and said,
"I have a plan!"

-Sonali

The Genius Plan Of A Psycho Blond

"Kirsten, I didn't do it! You guys! Don't you believe me?!" I wailed at the group of sisters that had gathered against me.

Oh yeah, you don't know how I got there. Well, let me explain it to you...

Elizabeth figured out I had heard in on her conversation. I guess she must have lay in bed all Saturday night devising an evil plan that would change my life forever - oh, well, at least it seems like it has changed my life forever.
The next morning she appeared at breakfast in tears, shrieking emotionally: "LOOK AT WHAT SONALI DID!"
Suddenly I realized what Elizabeth was holding - her open laptop, with an internet browser up - and I saw the website was Blogger. My mouth gasped open as I saw a new blog owned by a certain Elizabeth Lee Cole with a comment on her innocently sweet blog post that had a fair amount of swear words, insults, and things that could damage a blond's snobby mind forever.

And the worst part was?

The comment was written by Sonali Beth Lynne Matthews.
THIS -- *points at self* -- Sonali Beth Lyyne Matthews.

I never typed that comment. I would never, ever do that. Elizabeth must have hacked into my account (how?!) and posted it on her new blog, which hasn't been up that long... only since Friday night. Suspicious.

But now, all my sisters think I did it - and they don't realize that even if I DID do it, Elizabeth deserves it. So now I'm being ignored, I'm being given the silent treatment, I'm receiving notes that say bad words on them, I'm getting the "attitude".
Its unfair. I never laid a finger on this plan, yet its all working out in the way of the Elizabeth Lee. Why oh why.


So here I am, crying, my eyes puffy and red and my door locked. I know that right now Kit is trying to cut down my door with a chainsaw, and that Felicity put some sort of fainting poison in the soda right beside me, and that Ruthie is planning arrangements for me to go to boot camp right as I type.
-Sonali

Eavesdropping

I was sitting in the living room trying my hand at sewing (yes, it was a fail!) when I heard Elizabeth talking on the phone to Kristy as if no one else was in the room.

"Oh.. ohmahgosh Kristy you would totally LOVE my dress for the awards - YES, ITS PINK!! And sparkly!! I was like, "oh my goodness really Ruthie?!" when I saw it ... but I think it needs a bit more sparkle.." For the most of the conversation I wasn't paying attention. Nothing but the usual.

"Sonali? No, no, no, her in a dress?! Don't even think about it." Elizabeth was giggling into the phone. I winced.
Kristy obviously said some nasty remark, because Elizabeth threw back her head and laughed and said: "That black skin! She'll never be able to be a model with that nasty color that makes her look like she's got into the chocolate fountain.. bahaha!"

I bit back tears. I had never experienced severe teasing on the color of my skin.
And to top it off, Elizabeth added in a low voice.. "She pulls that innocent act just so she gets sweet attention from the rest of the sisters. Without that awful tale she spins about Bethie, she'd be a loner. Wait, she already is!" And that set off a spurt of giggles from Liz and a burst of laughter from the reciever.

That was enough. I couldn't hold it in anymore.
I threw down my failure of a sewing project and ran out of the room. Erin was there waiting for me in my room. Turns out she had been listening in on the other phone to the conversation. She gave me a hug and sat beside me while I sobbed. Why did you give me this terrible color of skin? This ugly face? The tangled hair? Why, God?

-Sonali

Time is of the essence!

So Bethie is gone.
Besides the whole feeling of emptiness in the house, nobody mentions a thing about the whole other half of our "family" not being here anymore.
Apparently its time to get back to business.

I obviously will miss Bethie the most, but I grew fond of Gracelynne. We all did, truly - she just reminded us of Grace so much.

Erin shows no pain or sadness. I'm glad. She has taken an easier path in her life than I chose to take. Chrissa has been eyeing Erin the whole time Grace was here. I think Chrissa sees more in Erin than a full-fledged crazed hippie now. I also heard from Kit that she was eavesdropping in on Chrissa's art studio and she heard this (and also saw through the keyhole):

Chrissa enters only to find Erin snooping around.
Chrissa: What are you doing?! -shriek-
Erin: -spins around- Oh, I swear, I was only curious!
Chrissa: ...Sureee.
Erin: Its true - I swear on Ringo Starr's life!
Chrissa: -eyes Erin suspiciously- Okay...? Seriously, I wanna know.
Erin: -shuffles feet- Um...
Chrissa: ... Hurry up now. I have some canvases to splatter.
Erin: Okay, okay! I wanted to see your paintings. -prepares for impact-
Chrissa: You did NOT! -gasp-
Erin: -blush-
Chrissa: Which ones did you see?!
Erin: Uhh.. I saw one of the other Chrissa and of two best friends on a swing with the sun setting, and the words 'A friend walks in when the rest of the world walks out'. Its really pretty and --
Chrissa: -huff-
Erin: And um.. I know you probably don't want anything to do with me after that incident but.. I kinda..
Chrissa: What is it now, Erin Lilly Violet?!
Erin: -looks at floor- I kinda.. want to splatter paint with you.
Chrissa: -grins-

And thats all Kit saw before she loudly skipped off to tell me even though the elephants all the way in Africa probably could hear her.

And then, today I saw Erin walking around grinning with a pair of splattered jeans!

-Sonali

Bethie goes home tomorrow afternoon. Its been a week but it feels like 2 days. Couldn't we have one more eternity - just one more?
Its such a tragedy. We will both go on with our normal lives once again.
But this week I also bonded with Bethie's family, and they won't be the only ones I miss. Did you know we are technically cousins, since Erin and Grace are twins? Its so cool! We're related, even! Isn't that cool?
Bethie and I decided to kick off our last night together by pulling an all nighter with a bunch of movie marathons and a little "ritual" that will become a tradition whenever we are together. Its just a little... er... ceremony to celebrate our friendship! And then we will have a pancake and chocolate syrup eating contest - Bethie plans on chugging a whole thinggg of chocolate syrup! Woo!

We might as well live like we're dying, eh?

-Sonali

Finally, The Awards

Ruthie finally has time for this award show.
We all get fancy dresses and little "trophies".

More details comin soon!

-Sonali

Nothing Like A Little Sugar

I'm cornered in the living room, and Kit is pinning me down.
"Sonali! Tonight I'm going to unlaunch a big tub of syrup on Kristy. And then I'm gonna dip gummyworms in the syrup that yes, is on the floor, and EAT THEM!" Kit grins as if its the best idea in the world.
I nod meekly.

That scene keeps playing over and over in my head - Kits "genius" plan. I'm scared it will all go wrong. I don't want to tell Bethie (lets hope she doesn't see this blog untilthe talent show is over) because she'll just want to pulverize Kristy even more. And I don't want to get in trouble with Kirsten! She already has so much to do.
I can tell that Kit isn't telling me all of her plan. She always leaves out the majorly important parts, the ones that leave someone seriously injured with a raisin stuck up their nose. (Kit's signature is a raisin up the nose - weird right?)

I think its gonna go down like this:

8:00- Kristy goes on the 'stage' in a sparkly outfit as if she's a million bucks.
8:02- Kit sneaks behind the curtain (made up of scraps of fabric) with a bucket of syrup. She attaches it to a rope and hangs it on the ceiling with a ladder.
8:05- Kristy is at the second verse of her song, and Liz is standing off to the side where nothing will hit her. Except for maybe a ... er... drop of syrup...or twelve.
Kit tugs the rope connected to the syrup bucket. It pours down on Kristy.
8:06- Kristy is still in shock and Felicity and Felicity rush out with water balloons and hand them to Kit. Kit pelts them at Kristine! Bailey is going to realize what is going on and will want a huge part in the action. She races up on the 'stage' and finds a pillow. She dumps out the downy feathers snd gives them to Kit.
8:07- Lissie, Lissie, Bailey, and Kit overload Kristy with feathers, high five all around and run out the backyard to the place that they always go to that nobody knows about.
8:08- After Kristy is done screaming with terror and grief of the death of her outfit (and possibly hair) she will seek revenge.
The next day- Kit is dead from whatever Kristy did to her.

*sigh* I know Kit too well.
What should I do?!

-Sonali

A couple reminders!

Yesterday Grace was practicing for her choir concert when she saw a big signed paper with "Guys And Dolls 2007" written on it in the back room. She immediately thought of Bethie and her owner Erin. Isn't that cool?

Anyway, I'm here to let you know about some of the stuff we have coming up!

We will be shooting Alice once the rainy weather clears up (camera+rain = no no), and Grace's birthday is in exactly a month! June 1st! When the time comes, wish her a happy birthday, will ya?
She will be havin a hippieeee birthdaaaay partyy.... both of the Erin's will be super jealous! We're gonna splatter clear plastic tarp and cover the walls, and transform one of the rooms into a disco dancefloor. Oh yeah, baby!

And today Grace and her mother went to a big "seconds" sale at the nearby art center. She got a basket, some pillows, groovy fabric, a book of crafts to make, some yarn for scarves when the weather grows cold again, more fabric and all that shmuck. The pillows are cute and we're giving two of them to Chrissa, and one of them to Kirsten.

-Sonali