The Doll House Adventure

Have you ever said you were going to start a yearly tradition and in a year or two it just fizzles out. Well Madison was born in April of 2000 and that Christmas of 2000 I decided every year for Christmas I would buy her a porcelain Collector Doll. And I have kept that tradition. These Dolls are not toys. Jen has purchase Madison 2 Lighted Wood & Glass Curio Cabnets. The first one ran out of room so a bigger one was bought and it has started to bulge also. Some of the Dolls, she has 10 and this year's will make 11, I ordered. But I have also purchased some from this very Unique Little Doll Botique tucked away in downtown Edmond. The "DOLL HOUSE".



AJ, ME and Jen went to Edmond to get Madison's doll and as we were walking we saw & heard this Horse & Wagon. I just love the clip-clop of the holves and all the scene needed was Snow and a Wagon full of Shoppers sing Jingle Bells.

Another thing I love about Edmond is on every Downtown corner is a Bronze Statue. This is the one that was on the corner we walked past. It looks like a Mom has read her Child to sleep.

Every window we went by was decorated for the Christmas Holiday. The whole Main Street of Edmond is just a Heartwarming. It made ME almost feel like I was walking the Streets of my "Miniture Christmas Village.

The 3 of us finally made it to Our Intended Destanation "The Doll House". Before you go inside, the outside is an almost give away that you will be entering into a very Charming Place.

When you open the door this is the first thing you see. Hundreds of little Pairs of Eyes looking at you as you enter. If you love Dolls you will think you have "Died and Gone to Doll Heaven"! There is a menagerie of Dolls just waiting for you to give them some attention.

There are Dolls for every occasion. This would be perfect for a Little Girls First Communion.

There are Small Dolls like these "Madame Alexander Dolls". Do not let the size fool you. Even though they are only about 10 inches tall, they still are very collectible and pricey.

There are alot-alot of Baby Dolls. Here you can see a Set of Twins.

I wish I could give you the names of all the Artists responsible for these Masterpieces. But that would take hours and since Jen and AJ were with ME I had to hurry up my mission.

Jen found a Baby Monkey that needed some attention. No sooner had Jen picked up the Baby Boy Monk......

the Baby Twin Sissy Monk needed picked up also. I think Jen was pleased to settle the Monkeys down for a bit! ;o)

There are Toddler Dolls......

and Pre-school age Dolls. These Little Farm Kids are adorable.

Do remember these are not Toys but Collector Dolls. These are not the Dolls you will find in WalMart or a Department Store either.

There are some Oddities like this Little Orange Haired Gal and who doesn't remember Strawberry Shortcake? sitting in the background.

Most of the purchases are not for Children, but for Adults that Collect these Fine Dolls.

For enstance these two Dolls have a price tag on them for $1500.00 each.

The 3 Little Girls standing next to each other all cost $2700.00 each.

This Beauty was I believe $6000, of course that included her Dog....what a Bargain!!! Now you are understanding the Awe of this store. Not only are the Dolls breath taking so are some of the prices.

Now these Pretties were somewhat reasonable, about $199 each.

These Little Newborns are OOAK (one of a kind).

I loved this Little Girl. I loved the Gap Between her Front Teeth and to ME she looks just like a Kid you would see at the Park or the Mall.

The Baby Doll on the left without the passy, to ME, looks like Alisha when she was a Baby.

Don't you just love the Tutu and the High Top Black Canvas Shoes?

Now if I had been out after a Baby Doll this year, this is the one I think I would have chosen for Madison. But a Baby Doll was not on my Agenda for the 2011 Christmas.....

nor was I out after a Big Girl Doll either, although I do love the Little Red Head.

These are very Pretty Princess Dolls, but Madison is way past this Stage.

This Little Girl was so Charming.

And wouldn't you know it, they even had the Jolly Ole Elf in Doll form.

Now I have shown you just a sample of the Dolls this Doll House has. I could really spend hours in this Store looking, touching, holding and taking pictures of the Beautiful Dolls this Lady named Debbie has invested in. This Doll Botique is Charming, full of Fantasy and brings out the Inter Child in most females. I did pick out a Doll for Madison, but I am not taking any chances on her seeing it so, no pictures untill after Christmas.

Now these two Dolls, an Older Sister reading to her Younger Sister were the most expensive Dolls in the Store. They cost, for the 2, because they will not seperated them is, $18,000. Yes that is Eighteen Thousand Dollars. And no! this is not what I purchased Madison for Christmas!!!!! But are they not Lovely?

Oreo Balls

The Card this Recipe is wrote on is filed, in my Recipe Box, under "N" for "NO BRAINER". Cakes, Brownies and Cookies in the shape of Balls or Pops have become the trendy Baking thing this year. I even saw at the Big Blue Giant (WalMart) baking pans that you can bake cake or brownie batter or cookie dough in and they come out round. Well this Recipe is just up my alley, they are round and takes no Brains or Cooking to make. One thing you must have is a Little Time. They are a little tedious. Well here we go.....



The ingredients are:...1- 15.5oz package of Oreos Regular, not the Double Stuff....1-8oz package of Cream Cheese that has set out a few hours and is room tempture....and 1- 12 oz package of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips.

You will now take about 6 Oreos and crush them in a Plastic Bag. Empty into a large bowl and countinue to crush the cookies a few at a time untill the whole package has been crushed.

You will want the cookies to be in small hunks, not crumbs or powder.

Now the fun begins...put your soft Cream Cheese on the crushed Oreos and mix with a wooden spoon untill combined some. Now you will get down and gooey. Start mixing with your clean hands.

Mix the cookies and cream cheese untill it is a soft sticky dough. You will not want to see big areas of cream cheese and make sure you use all the crushed cookies on the bottm of the bowl. Now put this bowl in the fridge for about 1/2 hour. And yes, now you can lick those fingers!

After a 1/2 hour of cooling, roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, or waxed paper. I use my Handy-Dandy Pampered Chef Scoop....

to get the exact size each time.

I got 51 Balls this Batch. And be sure to scrape that bowl clean! Now back in the fridge go the Balls. You want to keep these as cold as possible. You could even put them in the freezer if you have room....I didn't!

Now you get out your Doubler Boiler. If you do not have a Double use a metal bowl over a pan of boiling water. Be sure the water does not touch the bottom of your bowl or doubler boiler pan. I have 2 double boilers but I still use a bowl and sauce pan instead. You are now going to melt your Chocolate Chips. Be very carful no water gets into your melted chocolate it will make it seperate and loose it's smooth texture.

This is now the very tricky part. Take a few at a time, like maybe 5, of your cold cookie balls out of the fridge. Leave the rest in the fridge staying cold. Now you must get the melted chocolate onto the balls. This can be very messy. The way I do it and it works wonderfuly is: I stick a toothpick in a ball and the paint it with a Clean Art Brush. I hold it by the tooth pick and just paint all over. The choclate will be a little bumpy but will smooth out some as it sets. Then I set the ball with the toothpick still in it into some styrafoam that has a piece of parchment paper over it.

See there is no mess at all!

The balls are a little bumpy, but after all they are Home-made. I call it "The Home Spun Look".

Now the Chocolate Covered Oreo Balls must go back in the Fridge or Freezer if you have room, to set up and harden.

Now I did have some melted Chocolate left over so I poured it on a piece of Parchment Paper and put it in the freezer to harden. Then I broke the chocloate up in small chunks and plan to put them in some Chocolate Chip Cookies. This was Ghirardelli and I was not going to let it go to waste.

After my Oreo Cookie Balls set up, about 30 minutes, I transfered them to a bowl I could seal air tight. I just went ahead and left the toothpick in the cookies since they are Bite Size.These must be kept in the fridge or if you like them harder and colder, in the freezer. These are not great as cookies to give away, but are wonderful to bring out when Guests come by your home.

Now these are very """Chocolatey""" and you can coat them in White Chocolate, or Milk Chocolate. Also you can use some of the Holiday Flavored Stuffed Oreos that are out, like Mint, Peppermint, Peanut Butter or Chocolate...just do not use the Double Stuff Oreos.

Happy (No) Baking!
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Remember, if there are old cookies in you jar, left over, and have gone stale, do not trash them...give the Birds a Treat!

A Modge-Podge....

I was going through my Folders of Pictures and was going to thin them out some. These are a few that originally did not get edited out and now that they are forever on Cyber Space, they will be going in the Computer Trash Can!


Can you tell why Madison needed braces. They are off now and her teeth no longer have spaces between them. Her bottom teeth were perfect so no braces there.

This just gives you an idea of just how big our Murphy, Main Coon Cat is.

This is the last piece of furniture left in my Mom's house. Yes I have tried to sell it but no one seems to want a Lighted Hutch/China Cabnet anymore. It is solid Maple and just beautiful.

This happened this past summer. I do not remember why the water was running but it ran along time. This was when it was 100 degrees and we were in a drought and you could ony water everyother day. It made me want to run out and get buckets full and pour on my poor burnt up grass and flowers.

This is our McDonalds on Main Street. We have heard that it is going to be torn down and a new one will take it's place in the same spot.

This is part of a Class picture when I was in the 2nd Grade. Yes that is ME on the front row, on the left side of the Little Boy. I do remember the dress was Purple and my Mom had made it for ME.

I would say this was the Grim Reeper if I didn't know it was AJ.

Alisha and Steven on their Wedding Day....to bad they have the Red Eye!

This is Lorie, Madison's Kindergarden and 1st Grade Teacher. We love this Lady. She is a "Real" Teacher!

This Big Train, "The 844 Union Pacific", was touring our State and AJ & ME went to see it. Believe ME when I say "That was one Big Train"!!!!

This is a very ominous sky we had this last Spring. And this is just the reason I got an underground Storm Shelter years ago.

This is what a foot looks like when a Blood Vessel breaks for no reason at all. It did't hurt but did itch!

I honestly have to say this is very high on the list of things I like during our Summers. I just can not wait until I see my first Hummer of the Summer!

Ummmm....this is Jack!

AJ, ME and the whole Bunch love eating at this Little Well Known Hole in the Wall that advertises " The Best Chicken Fry in the Universe!"

Dottie is now 6 months Old. She is a Long Thin Cat! and loves to climb!

I am going to sell this on eBay. It is from the 1960's and it is a round rotating Foot Rest. I bet it makes ME a Buck. I paid 50 cents for it!

Cat in a Box....

And last of all this is what you see if you look out our back door in the Fall.

The End!

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I am not going to say it, you know what to do! They will THANK YOU!