Hello Everyone,
I can't believe I have not posted in over a month.  I have been busy and truly haven't had much time to dedicate towards photo-taking or posting.  I have so much to tell you and show you and I don't know if I should start present and work backwards or vise-versa.  Any ideas?

Before I go too far, I do want to take a moment to let everyone know that our house has not had any damage from the storms.  We were very lucky in the Cincinnati area.  Kentucky, and SE Indiana were unfortunately not so lucky (as you have heard I am sure).  I hope that those who lost loved ones, know that not everyone may be able to empathize with them, but that everyone does sympathize their family. 

Moving on to some more positive and upbeat things...  This week, I am going to show you some photos of some American Girl items that I recently got.   am going to show them to you slowly.  As always, feel free to email me photos of activities you have done with your dolls, or any of the doll accessories.  I would love to hear from you!

Here are some photos.

Here is everything in the box.  The fruit came in a little bag (and so did the beignets.  But I left everything in the bowl, and the beignets on the plate for convenience.  I took off the pineapple because the box would not close otherwise. :)

Here's the water pitcher and cups.  Aren't the designs beautiful?

Here is the fruit and the bowl.  I love how the fruit looks so real.

The food that you HAVE to eat if you go to New Orleans... Beignets!  I had them when I was there in 2007 at Cafe duMonde and I loved them. :)  The secret though is to get to Cafe duMonde EARLY because it get very crowded very early.

I apologzie again for not posting in the last month.  My life is so crazy this spring, and the weeks and weekends just truly fly by.  I will do my best to post weekly though for the remainder of the year.  We haven't had any snow days this year which is very unusual.  We have had snow 4 times, but 2 of the times it didn't stick on the ground. 

Follow me on twitter to find out if I have posted or will be posting.

~Lily

_Hey Everyone,
I finished "Ready to Fly" McKenna Brooks' 2nd book.  I really enjoyed it, and I would give it a 4.5 overall. 

I really love McKenna's overall character which is to just be yourself.  I really like that.  I really like how McKenna is willing to take the time to volunteer at Hearts and Horses, and how she supports her friends, no matter what decision they make. 

What I don't like about McKenna's story is when McKenna went to Hearts and Horses, she is very uncomfortable with people with disabilities.  I really don't like this and think American Girl should have left this out of the story.  I think she really doubts people's ability to do things based on their disability.  I don't think this is the way you should judge people, and while I know American Girl is trying to teach girls this, I think they could have approached the lesson in a different way. 

If you read the McKenna books or have any of her things, I would love to see photos and/or see your thoughts on the McKenna books and items.  Feel free to email reviews, or photos at agpixplace@gmail.com.  I'll be sure to post them on my website.

Have a great weekend,
Lily

PS: The Dolls have posted photos of Cecile on their page.  Be sure to check it out!  They have taken some snow photos that they would like to share as well... I don't know when that post is planned for, but I'll let you know if I hear anything!!

Hey Everyone,
I finished McKenna written by Mary Casanova on Monday.  The book was really good, and I thought I would write a little review for others who want to read the book.  I also put a photo of the book so you know which book I am talking about (since there are 2 books!).

_On a rating of 1-5 (1 being worst, 5 being best) I would give this book a 4.5.  I really liked the background story.  I think there are a lot of girls who are behind in school and who are embarrassed or afraid to get help.  I think they also don't want to tell anyone about their help just like McKenna Brooks didn't. I also like that when McKenna breaks her leg, she takes the opportunity to focus on just being herself... McKenna Brooks.

I think the story would have been a little better if McKenna realized that she could focus on being herself McKenna Brooks without her breaking her leg.  I think Mary Casanova wanted McKenna to break her leg so that she would be able to realize that (plot wise),but I think you could have left the broken leg out and still have a good plot line.  I also didn't like that she questioned Josie's ability to tutor her just because she is in a wheelchair.  Those are the 2 downers for me and those 2 things are why I only gave the book a 4.5

I really liked the book over all and can't wait to read Ready to Fly.  If you read the book, feel free to submit your review and your opinion at agpixplace@gmail.com.  I'll post your review here on my website (unless otherwise noted by you). :0)

Have a great week,
Lily

PS: I just wanted to note that I do realize the twitter feed at the top of the page is not working properly.  I am not sure why this is, but you can get a feed directly from twitter at twitter.com/agpixplace.  I will approach Weebly about why this isn't working.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the wonderful, and only.... CECILE REY! I am thrilled to be able to say I have another addition to my large "little" family!!  It truly is a blessing to have another doll.

Cecile was fortunate enough to be able to meet my dolls Rachel and Jess before any of my other dolls. :0)  I will be posting Cecile meeting all of my dolls the next time I upload photos onto my computer.  Everyone is so happy to have a new friend in their lives.  Cecile will be put on display most of the time, but will get to participate in some photo stories just like all of my other dolls!

Here is Cecile with Jess and Rachel.

Cecile with Marie-Grace's dog Argos.  I believe I will be changing Argos' name to Bud since I know someone who has a Bouvier named Bud.  That is the whole reason I got "Argos"/ Bud.

What did you get for Christmas, or Hanukkah?  Did you get Marie-Grace, Cecile or Kanani?  I would love to post photos of what everyone got for the holidays, so please email any photos of anything American Girl (or any doll things) you got to agpixplace@gmail.com.  I will post the photos once I have enough, so send in yours TODAY!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a sneak peak at  McKenna (below).  Do you like her story?  Do you anticipate getting McKenna, or any of McKenna's things?  If you do, I would love to see photos.  Feel free to email any photos of any kind of McKenna to agpixplace@gmail.com, and lpictures100@gmail.com.

Lily