The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas, my minis gave to me: A critter in a pine tree!

Karen:  You naughty Minis!  Get that kitty out of the tree!  She's terrified!

On the second day of Christmas, my mini's gave to me, two turtle dogs, and a critter in a pine tree!

Ivy:  Oh my gosh!  You armed the dogs!?

On the third day of Christmas, my minis gave to me....

Nannerl:  Oh, look Ivy!  Three French loaves!
Minis:  On the third day of Christmas the Minis gave to me:  Three French loaves, two turtle dogs and a-
Ivy:  Stop right there! No repeating!  No one likes the endles repeating!
Mini-Josie:  But it's traditional!
Mini-Ivy:  Yeah! Traditional!
Ivy:  Tradition?!  Critters in trees and turtle dogs are not traditional!  And as for French loaves, that's not even that creative!
Mini-Marie-Grace:  Do you know how hard it is to find hens this time of year?  Then catch them and put berets on them!!!
Minis:  And a Critter in a pine tree!

On the fourth day of Christmas....

Cecie:  Oh my goodness!

Lula:  There goes the phone bill.

On the fourth day of Christmas, the Minis gave to me:  Four Calling Birds, three french loaves, two turtle dogs and a--

Lula:  Wait a minute! Is that hen wearing a beret?

And a critter in a pine tree!

On the fifth day of Christmas, my minis gave me....

Kitty:  What's this?  Curly Fries?

Elizabeth:  Indeed.  You know, I could really get behind this one.

On the fifth day of Christmas, the minis gave to me, Five Curled Fries!

On the sixth day of Christmas....

Kitty:  What is that racket?!

Rose:  Looks like day six.

Kitty: At least we are half way through.  I don't know if we can take much more of this!

On the sixth day of Christmas, the minis gave to me:  Six cats-a-wailing!



On the seventh day of Christmas....

Lissie:  Who put the boat in the living room?!  Oh, right.

On the seventh day of Christmas, the Minis gave to me:  Seven pets a-sailing!

On the eighth day of Christmas....

Karen:  You brought the cow into the living room to milk it?

Bea:  The goat, too.

Karen:  Oh, my cow's potatoes!  I wish Christmas would get here so this madness would end!!!

On the eighth day of Christmas the Minis gave to me:  Eight Minis milking...and a critter in a pine tree!

On the ninth day of Christmas....

Elizabeth: Three I think.

On the ninth day of Christmas the Minis gave to me: Nine Minis Dancing! ... And a critter in a pine tree!

Music: The Christmas Can Can by Straight No Chaser

On the Tenth day of Christmas

Kitty:  Aww!!!  They're so cute when they are sleeping.

Ivy:  I don't know.  I still think they're up to something.

On the tenty day of Christmas the Minis gave to me:  Ten Minis sleeping!... And a feeling of impending doom!

On the eleventh day of Christmas....

Karen:  Oh, my cows potatoes!!!!

On the eleventh day of Christmas the Minis gave to me:  Eleven Minis Driving! .... and a critter in a pine tree!

On the twelveth day of Christmas.....

Minis:  Karen!!  Look what we got you!  Merry Christmas!

On the twelfth day of Christmas the Minis gave to me:  Josefina and her collection, eleven Minis driving, ten Minis sleeping, nin Minis dancing, eight Minis milking, seven pets a sailing, six cats a-wailing, five curled fries! Four calling birds, three French loaves, two turtle dogs and a critter in a pine tree!

Merry Christmas, everyone, from all of us at

Paws on Keys!

*******

Special thanks to 

Karen Bush, editor of Paws on Keys

Vivian Bush, ghostwriter

Samuel Bush, producer and general handyman

Christmas Card

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

from all of us at

Paws On Keys Music Studio

and

Vivian's Vivian Doll

Thanksgiving Past

Lula at her typewriter.

Lula:  Hello, there!  I'm just setting up my typewriter to start a new story.  It's all about a Thanksgiving a few years back.  Pull up a chair and I'll take you on a journey of harrowing adventure, romance and heart break!  We'll meet dashing heroes and villains with dastardly schemes!  Near death experiences and far off mystical lands full of unimaginable creatures!

Okay, okay, I might be over selling it.  At any rate, it all began when we needed a turkey for... well, you know....

Karen and Lissie decided to go hunting wild turkey.

"Okay," said Karen, "we need salt, because everyone knows if you put salt on a bird's tail it can't fly away."

"Right," said Lissie, "I'm ready to go!"

"Lissie, dear, that's a pepper mill.  It has pepper, not salt."

"I think it will work better.  Turkeys are big, so we'll need something stronger than salt to keep them from flying away."

"Oh, I see!  Good thinking, Lissie!"

"Besides, Karen, it's always good to preseason your meat."

*****

"I've been looking at this globe to figure out where to find a turkey, and here it is," said Lissie, pointing, "Turkey.  Couldn't be more clearly labeled!"

"I don't know, Lissie." said Karen.  "Hungry looks promising."

"No, you can't find foom in Hungry, otherwise it would be called Fed."

"Are you sure?" asked Karen, "If they were Fed that would mean they've eaten all the food and just have leftovers.  I don't want leftovers for Thanksgiving.  Hungry on the other hand... well, maybe they keep eating but are still Hungry."

"I still think Turkey is our best bet," insisted Lissie.  

Gobble, gobble!  Karen and Lissie looked at each other.

"Maybe," Karen said, "we won't have to go to Turkey after all!"

*****

"Well, I'm pooped!" gasped Karen.

"I know we heard a turkey out here!  But we've been searching for HOURS!  Even Bach is getting tired!" said Lissie.

"It's got to be around here somewhere," Karen insisted.  "I can feel it!  Like it's justs behind us mocking us!"

Lissie sighed.  "Then turn around and look."

"Nope, too tired."

And so you see, everything was looking bleak and hopeless!  Would they ever find a turkey?  Or would Thanksgiving be comepletely and utterly destroyed in the most tragic manner of sadness?

*****

"Well, Karen," said Lissie as they walked away, "we failed."

"But Lissie, we can't give up now!"

Bach turned around and began barking.  "Woof! Woof! (turn around)!!!

Mini-Isabelle exclaimed, "Do you heaer that Mr. Turkey?  We have to get you outta here before they change their minds."

Mini-Josie said, "That's right, bird.  They want to eat your!  Come with us if you want to live!"

*****

And so the minis came up with a plan!

"This coat will cover your feathers," said Mini-Samantha, "although that's a shame because they are so lovely!"

Mini-Josie was cramming a shoe onto the turkey's foot.  "Sorry, but your feet are a dead give-away!"

Mini-Isabelle, struggling to get the other shoe on, quickly said, "Poor choice of words, Mini-Josie!  Anyway, that mustache lookes dashing on you, Mr., uh, what is your name?"

"Gobble, gobble! (Sir Reginald Pluck).

Mini-Ivy said, "That's lovely!  We can call you Giblets for short!"

"Don't worry, Mr. Giblets!" said Mini-Kit, "We won't let the big girls get at your giblets!"

*****

Karen and Lissie came into the room.  "What are you minis up to?" they asked.

Mini-Samantha said, "Karen!  Lissie!  Look, we have a guest!  This is Mr. Giblet!"

"Ta-DA!" shouted Mini-Kit.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Giblet!" said Lissie, extending her hand.  "Do you plan to be here long?"

Karen smiled at him, "My!  You're ever so dashing!"

Mini-Kirsten proudly said, "The glasses were my idea!"

"Shush!" hissed Mini-Ivy.

"Please say you'll stay!" said Karen, "We'd love to have you for Thanksgiving!"

"Gobble, gobble"

"Sounds like you can't wait to eat!" exclaimed Lissie.  "Sorry we couldn't manage to find a turkey this year."

And so, Mr. Giblet had come to stay, and would be a guest at Thanksgiving dinner.  But could he pull off this clever ruse long enough to stay off the table?

*****

What happened next is best described in a montage...

Lula's Story of Thanksgiving Past  Part 8 Lula: What happened next is best described in a montage. 🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀 #flipagram ♫ Music: Banjo Troubadours - Turkey In The Straw made with @flipagram @mionebeast (ghostwriter) @grumpasam (producer) #agig #americangirldoll #turkey #turkeyinthestraw #bulldog #dog #banjobanjotrubadors #minidolls #mustache #cute #funny #lookatthis #dolls

A video posted by Karen Bush (@pawsonkeys) on Nov 11, 2014 at 8:42pm PST

*****

"No!!" shrieked the minis.  "Get back!  We won't let you eat him!  We love him!!"  Mini-Isabelle threw herself on Mr. Giblet's neck, sobbing.  

"Eat him!?"  Lissie looked puzzled.  "Who said anything about eating him?"

"We would never eat him!"  Karen exclaimed.

Mini-Josie, gulping big sobs, "But everyone knows you have to have a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner!"

"Yes," said Karen, "but they say nothing about eating him!  Ehy mean have a turkey over as a guest!  We were going to invite him to eat with us!

"Ooooohhhh!" shouted the minis, "Okay, then!"

*****

Some would say Mr. Giblets' had the most to be grateful for, but honestly, it was all of us because we now have Mr. Giblets as our newest friend.  Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

"Gobble, gobble, gobble!"

*****

Pictures by Karen Bush

Story by Vivian Guest

Mysterious Happenings

Having Lissie back home was wonderful, and we became comfortable once more at our little boarding school... until...

"Karen!" Lula exclaimed,  "There's a sewing machine in here.  I've never seen it before and it looks like someone has been busy sewing costumes!"

"I've never seen it, either!" Karen said.  "There's some other things appearing out of no where in the Ice Cream Parlor.  Come and see!"

Ivy threw threw her arms up in surprise.  "Bea!  This state of the art kitchen showed up out of nowhere!  And someone made all this yummy stuff!"

Bea looked around in wonderment.  "It all looks so delicious!  But this kitchen isn't state of the art."

"It was in 1930," said Ivy, "but you are missing the point!  I think we might be haunted!"

"Oh my goodness," Bea squealed, "LEMON MERINGUE!"

"Bea, this is serious!  There could be ghosts... is that a torte?  And COOKIES!!!"

Later, upstairs in the bedroom....

"Have you seen the mask that goes with my hula costume?" Lula asked Ivy, "I can't find it anywhere!"

"No," Ivy wailed.  "My whole costume went missing!  I was going to be the Story Fairy, but now I have to be a cheerleader!"

Then in the living room....

Lissie, Kitty and Karen were getting ready for the big Halloween party when suddenly a lobster jumped out of the fireplace!  And all would be lost, if it weren't for Mini-Josie and PDQ Bach charging to the rescue.

"Get behind me!!  I'll save you!  Just get the butter and garlic ready!"

And in the parlor....

"Oh my cow's potatoes!!!" exclaimed Rose.  Where on earth did this monkey come from!!"

"Get it before it eats the bird" yelled Mini-Kirsten.

"Don't let it get me!" screamed Mini-Samantha.

Bea looked at Rose and said, "This is crazy!  Ghosts don't explain this!  What IS going on here?"

"Ivy, did you find anything?" asked Karen.

"Well, I'm not sure.  There's not much about ghosts that helps us.  We have no way to check EMF readings or find cold spots, and I for one don't want to find bones to salt and burn."

"Yikes!"

"But, there has been three blue moons, a blood moon and an eclipse lately, and I found an account of a little girl who was pulled into another dimension by the magnetic pull of an eclipse.  She switched places with an invisible being from that dimension."

"Do eclipses have a magnetic pull?" asked Mini-Ivy.

"I'm not sure that matters," mused Karen, it's the only lead we have."

"Right." said Ivy.  "It says here we need to look out for people talking backwards and we need to play ring-around-the-roses to send the person back to their dimension."

"So you think invisible inter-dimensional beings are sewing cosstumes for us, making gorumet desserts and sending lobsters and moneys to attack us?" asked Mini-Isabelle.

Mini-Kirsten screamed.  "The monkey knocked over the pitcher and Mini-Marie-Grace is down!"

"We cant get to Mini-Marie-Grace!  The lobster has us pinned!!"

"How does it go again?" Karen said, "Ring around the roses, pocket full of posies..."

Well, the monkey and the lobster ran away, to everyone's relief.  With everything quiet, the girls decided to go trick or treating as planned.

"Wow, what a creepy night to go trick or treating!" exclaimed Bea.

"Do we dare go to that house up on the hill?" asked Ivy.  "It looks haunted."

"I'm game, if you are!" said Lula. 

"Umm..., girls," whispered Kitty, "Don't look now, but I have this funny feeling we are being followed."

Queitly, slowly, the girls turned around and saw two mysterious strangers.

"Happy Halloween!" they said.

"EEEEEEKKKK!!!!" Karen screamed.

And thus we see, a roller-skating car hop costume may not have been the best choice of one who is so easily startled.

Later, at the Paws on Keys Halloween Party Extravaganza....

It was nice of Karen to invite the two new friends to the party, although she couldn't understand why they kept calling her Nerak.  And Mini-Marie-Grace seemed leery of the Mysterious Strangers' monkey.

And that is how Nannerl with her dear little pet monkey, and Marissa with a lobster came to be students at Paws on Keys.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Dolloween

Everyone!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Credits

Vivian Guest & Karen Bush .............................................Story

Karen Bush ...........................................................Photos

We recommend as a good read, the book A Watcher in the Woods by Florence Engel Randall

for our older fans as well as the Disney movie, Watcher in the Woods 

starring Bette Davis and Lynn-Holly Johnson.  Both may be too scary for children under 8.

The Case of the Missing Girl

One day, Lissie was missing.  No one could find her anywhere.   Rose, being sad, began to dress in Lissie's clothes so the other girls would not miss her.

I know!  I will dress in Lissie's clothes so we will not miss her!

Karen and Lula remembered they had seen Lissie in the pumpkin patch.  They saw some gnomes running away, but no Lissie.  Leaping to the obvious conclusion, Lula screamed, "Oh No! The gnomes turned her into a pumpkin!"

"Lissie!" Karen cried, "Speak to me!"

Ivy, as usual, went to Google for help.

"Lissie isn't answering her phone or her emails.  Where could she be?

Days passed.  It was Lissie's turn to work in the ice cream parlor.  The girls were surprised to see PDQ Bach serving.

"Bach,why are you serving at the ice cream parlor?", Kitty asked.

"Woof, woof, growl."

"What? Lissie told you to fill in for you?"

Lula whispered to Bea, "I'm not sure he washed his paws first."

"This is serious!" Bea exclaimed, "We HAVE to find Lissie!"

The girls made a plan to go see Vivian up in northern Utah, since their big people were going there.  

"Will one cookie be enough for our trip?" Karen asked.  "We don't know how long it will take to find Lissie."
"You're right," answered Rose.  "I'll pack two and we can convince the big people to stop and keep us supplied."

Everytime the big people stopped, Karen and Rose got out and looked for Lissie.

"Lissie!" Rose called, over and over again.
"I don't see her anywhere," Karen said.  "Perhaps, we should go back in time."
"Okay, but I will have to do a rain dance."
"Did it work?" asked Karen.
"Yeah, but you singing 'Rain, Rain, go away' didn't help."

"OK, Karen, we made it back in time to the late Cretaceous period and got a ride on this nice dinosaur.  Now let's see if Felicity is around here!"
"Great!, But first, let's get some hot chocolate!" said mini Ivy.
"Stay focused," Karen said, "We need to find Lissie.  And besides, hot chocolate hasn't even been invented yet."
"If that is the case," said mini Isabelle, "the most important thing for us to do is go invent hot chocolate."

And that is how we got hot chocolate today, but that is another story.

Finally, the girls reached Vivian in northern Utah.  

"Look, Vivian, who I found in the leafpile!"
"It's Hermoine, the cat!"
"Do you think she knows where Lissie is?"
"Meow.  Meeeow.  (She's not in my leaf pile!)"

Meanwhile, back at home, Bach was missing his Lissie.

"You know, Rose," said Karen, "if I went missing there's only place I'd go."
"Big Rock Candy Mountain!" exclaimed Rose.

"This is an awesome place, Karen," Rose said, "but I don't think Lissie's here."
"You could be right.  But maybe we should look behind the pepperment tree over there."

But Lissie wasn't anywhere to be found.  Soon after they arrived back home at Paws On Keys, a package was found on their doorstep.

"Where did his box come from?" exclaimed Lula.  "What is in it?"
Karen said, "I don't know, but Bach's really excited about it!"
Ivy said, "Open it before he digs himself in!"
"Maybe it's popcorn!" Kitty said excitedly.
"Why do you say that, Kitty?" asked Bea.
"Because digging into a box of popcorn sounds good!"
Rose said, "Okay, let's open it!  But I get the torch this time!"

"Hey! Let me out of here!" someone shouted.

The girls all hurried and opened the box.

Lissie sat up and gasped, "Thanks for letting me out!  It was getting hard to breathe!"

"Lissie!  Lissie!  " Everyone shouted.  "It's Lissie!"

Later...

"What do you mean, you didn't know where I was," asked Lissie, didn't you get my note?"
"Note?" asked Rose, "Oh yeah!  It's in my pocket!  I forgot to open it!"

"Dear Friends, 

                            I'm going away for a while.  Don't worry.  I'm goint to the hospital for a simple procedure called a headactomy, followed by a right and left armectomy, and then a right and left legectomy.  So no big deal.  When it's done, I'll feel like a whole new person!  See you soon!

                                                Love, 

                                                        Lissie"

"Woooof.  (Never leave again!)"

A Student

We had a wonderful time in Alabama, but all too soon it was time to go back to our home in Arizona. 

We had fun traveling through Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and New Mexico.  

But the best part was doll heaven in Dallas, Texas!  Grumpy Sam said we could visit the AmericanGirl Store!

Doll Heaven, Oh My Goodness!

Summer Road Trip!

Maggie & Karen
Besties Forever!

 We have missed our friend Maggie so much, we decided to go on a road trip to Alabama!

We all hopped in the jeep and took off!

Karen:  "Fasten your seatbelts! It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

Ivy:  "Do you have a license?"

Karen:  "Do I need one?"

Lula:  "Are we there yet?"

On the way, we visited the famous Volkswagon Beetle Ranch.

Lula:  This place is really strange!  Look at all the crash landings!

We tried one of our own!

Karen:  That was fun!
Lula:  Yeah!  Let's do it again!

After four days of traveling, we finally made it to Alabama and Maggie was there waiting for us with her dog, Pepper.

Welcome to Alabama!

Maggie loaded everybody in the car, including the kids she is living with and gave us a tour of Alabama.

Let's get this show on the road, Mags!

First stop--the Farmer's Curb Market in Montgomery, Alabama.  There was more food than we had ever seen!  Rose went had fun meeting the sellers and buying all kinds of decious food. 

"Home-made Cabbage Relish!"

"Pimento Cheese"

Rose met a new friend, Jane, who had a booth selling vegetables. Grumpy Sam bought some corn.  Jane is a kindred spirit because she collects dolls.

"This corn looks delicious, Jane.  I can't wait to have some!"

And then there were the cakes and pies, oh my!

Lastly, we bought some delicious lemon bars for a treat!

Stay tuned for more of our roadtrip adventures!

This week's practice tip by Karen:

After the summer fun it's time to get back into a practice routine. Attach your practice to a daily event, such as before or after a mealtime, or at the end of your homework, or just before you go out to play.