Throwback Thursday: "Over the Rainbow Photoshoot" Paper Blog Post

Hi there! It's Morgan with a Throwback Thursday post. If you are confused about the title, you should probably read our last post. Today's post was made by Melodie after she created an amazing costume. Without further ado, here is the "Over the Rainbow Photoshoot" post...

Hello readers! I am sure you are all wondering why I chose to call this post “Over the Rainbow” Photoshoot. As the name implies, my good friend Samantha did a Wizard of Oz themed photoshoot in my new…

Dorothy dress! I love this dress, and Sam was sweet enough to model it for me. The dress is a blue and white plaid material that my granny gave me on my recent visit. The white material was left over from a school project. The buttons and lace are also from my grandmother. The socks are Briana’s, which we believe are from American Girl. The shoes are Springfield Red Sparkly Flats (I don’t know if they actually have a name, so I made one), also from Briana. The personality is all Samantha.

I took a ton of photos, nearly sixty or so. I will share the best ones, along with a caption. The photoshoot is meant to copy parts of the movie that I could recreate with my camera. I hope you enjoy!

This is a before-the-photoshoot photo, so you can just see the dress. Cute!

Dorothy and Toto (Samantha and Lauren, my dog)

“Somewhere over the rainbow”

“Toto, you came back”

Running away

Over the Rainbow

“Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore”

Red shoes?

Perfect fit!

“We’re off to see the Wizard! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!”

Photoshoot on the Yellow Brick Road

Up above to the whole outfit

Another stunning view of the dress

Our Dorothy

I hope you enjoyed the Over the Rainbow photoshoot. I had a lot of fun making the outfit and taking the photos. Sam said this was probably the best photoshoot she had ever participated in alone, and she loves the outfit.

This post was very fun to look at again. If you would like to see older posts again, comment below and we will try to do more Throwback Thursday posts.

Would you like to see Throwback Thursday posts, and what did you think of the photoshoot?

~Morgan

How We Started Blogging

Hello everyone! It’s Morgan with a post about how we started blogging. The blog has been up for over a year now, and we thought we would love to talk about how we started blogging. Melodie and I are going to alternate talking, so I will be writing in blue, and Melodie will be in purple.

So our blog officially started on July 27, 2015, but we were planning the blog long before that happens. Our story starts in October of 2013. Lexi and I had known about a friend of ours’ blog for a while, but had never looked it up. So, one boring October afternoon, we Googled the blog. The blog is called The Salty Breeze, and it was started by our friends the Edwards. The blog is still up if you would like to check it out, but our friends haven’t posted in a long time. We were amazed by how they blogged and took photos of what they were doing, and we wanted to join the blog community.

We talked and pleaded with our parents for a blog, but they didn’t feel comfortable letting us start one. So, we had to find an alternative solution. Thus, paper-blogging was born. Paper-blogging is writing a blog post on the computer, and putting in pictures. It was Lexi’s idea and I loved it. We did it for years.

So, I should probably explain something. You may have noticed that I don’t look like Melodie and Lexi, and Ella and Ariana look a lot more like me. I am adopted, as are Ella and Ariana. We were all adopted around the same time, and we are now part of the Hayes family. I don’t come into the story until later, so I will let Melodie keep telling the story.

So, we kept paper-blogging. We also started to send them to a few friends, including the Edward girls, and all of our friends loved it. We used to post on an old PC, but then we had to switch to our very own computer. We kept posting about things that were happening in our lives, such as the arrival of new friends, and even family.

Ok, here’s where I come in. I was adopted in April, and Melodie and Lexi asked if they could paper-blog about me. By this time, Elizabeth and Anna had been adopted by the Raynes, our cousins; Hazel had moved in and also adopted Ariel, and Sam had moved into town. After I was adopted, the search was on for my half-sisters. That’s right; Ella and Ariana are only half-related to me. We have the same mother, but not father. After we adopted them in July, our family was complete.

So, we officially started the blog on July 27, 2015. We had talked with our parents for a long time, and they finally allowed us to start one. We were so excited! We welcomed people to our blog in the first post, then introduced all of our friends and family. Since then, we’ve posted about all sorts of things that have happened in our lives. Some of the highlights have been new friends, dancing and short stories with a few friends.

So here are the statistics. We have published 19 posts, which seems small but is quite huge for us considering our very busy schedules. We have four followers, and have had over 1500 view total from 10 countries. We are so grateful for everyone who takes the time to read our blog. You all mean so much to us, and we love getting to share our lives with you. Thank you for all the support over the past few years.

~Melodie, Morgan and all of the TN Girls

Ella and Ariana                Melodie, Morgan and Lexi

              Riley                                     Cheerleading

                       Riley and Charlotte's Trip to Pigeon Forge

        Dance Class                                    Summer and Audrey

                                               Emily and Sierra

Never Stop Believing: A Group Short Story

Hello everyone! I am so sorry that we have not posted in so long, but our summer is super busy. While some people relax during the summer, my family loves to do things together. I have been really busy hanging out with friends and dancing. So, here is a post like we did not to long ago. We got together with some friends and did another story off a prompt. (click here to see the other post we did like this) I will put people's names before their writing and alternate colors so you can see who is who. The colors are set so that the same people write in the same colors. We went twice around this time.

Prompt: For as long as she could remember...

Arietta: For as long as she could remember, she'd worn eye glasses. Her parents had always made sure she had them on and formed a habit. One day, she forgot to wear them and saw a...

Sierra: Fairy. She followed it to the old oak tree where she bad spent many hours reading. Today, however, she saw it was covered in fairies. She climbed the tree higher and higher...

Riley: Until she reached the top. The fairies surrounded her and lifted her off her feet. They flew over her city, only stopping once they reached a little but where...

Morgan: A magical unicorn lived. Her hair was made out of rainbows.

"Chosen one, you have returned."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You were stolen away years ago and made to forget that you can...

Sam: Save the fairy kingdom. Now, we need your help. The humans are trying to destroy us, making children stop believing in us. You must stop them."

The girl nodded....

Melodie: As the unicorn passed her a book. "Take this and you can stop the humans."

The girl opened it and found it was a book of fairytales. "Go quickly," said the unicorn...

Arietta: Suddenly, the words on the book started to melt together, forming a huge black blob that reached out of the pages of the book, forming a hand that clenched around the girl's neck. 

"AGGH!" She resisted, but the hand pulled her into the book. When she woke up, she found herself surrounded by....

Sierra: Other children. She looked around and saw that all of them were holding books similar to hers. Tears streamed down their cheeks.

"We have to get out of here!" she cried...

Riley: "We can't," said one boy. 

Desperate, the girl thumbed through the book. "This book is about us, and I'm in it. I am flying, and we're escaping. It's all here." The children looked in their books...

Morgan: "But you're flying," one said. "Can you do that?"

"I can try." The girl closed her eyes and said "I believe." The other children repeated her. The ground shook...

Sam: As their prison began to crumble. Adult voices could be heard saying "Stop! It's all a lie! There's no such thing!" A few children whimpered. "I believe!" the girl shouted...

Melodie: "I believe!" came the cry of the other children. The prison crumbled beneath them as the adults watched.

"No more shall you try to hide from us the wonders of fairytales. We have seen it, and we will not be silenced from sharing our views."

The adults nodded silently. The girl moved among the other children. "Never stop believing," she said. "No matter what."

What did you think of our story? We did the post a little differently this time, but I still think we came up with an amazing story. this is so much fun to do with friends. Here's how to do it at home.

Think of a prompt. It can be a simple phrase like we did, or anything else. Then get a few sheets of paper, a pencil and a stopwatch. Each person has one minute to write as much as they can, and then the next person continues it. You can have everyone do it once, or go around a few times. The last time you do it, the last person gets to quickly finish the story. They can use more than a minute if necessary.

If you do this with friends, comment down below how it went.

What did you think of this story, and are you going to try it at home?

~Melodie

A Different Type of Post

Hello everyone! It's Melodie here with a different type of blogpost. Today, I am going to present a short story to you, made by me and some friends. This short story is a bit different than regular short stories, so let me explain before I share.

This short story was written by five girls, including me, based on a prompt. Each girl had one minute to write as much as she could based off the prompt, then the next girl would continue it in one minute. The result was a silly short story that took only six minutes to write. I started the story, then Morgan wrote, then our friend Arietta (click here to see our interview with her), then Samantha, then Riley, and then I finished the story. My writing is in purple, Morgan is green, Arietta is red, Sam is blue and Riley is pink. We hope you enjoy our short story.

Prompt:

 I'll never forget the day that...

the government shut down the superhero training program. My dad was one of the key scientists, and the FBI took him for questioning. Mom hid me in the basement where Dad had hid his secret; super bunnies. The bunnies were twice the size of normal rabbits, and they could fly. Dad didn't want anything to happen to them, so he hid all of them in the Empire State Building, and gave them ice cream sodas that had frogs in it.

"Ribbit," said the frogs. The bunnies' noses quivered.

"Let us be friends," said the oldest frog, and take down the evil orangutans. Everyone thinks they are cute, but they're really evil."

"Ok," said the bunnies. "We can fly to the rainforest and defeat them, but first we'll need to get magic bananas. They are the only thing that can stop orangutans."

The frogs and bunnies went and got the bananas, and defeated the evil orangutans. Then, they silently crept home to our basement, where Dad learned of their mission. He promised to never tell. That's why the FBI took him; to find out why there were reports of super bunnies defeating orangutans in the rainforest. That day, I swore to protect the bunnies' secret, no matter what the cost.

What did you think? It is silly, but it was a lot of fun seeing how each person added their own element to the story. I really enjoyed getting to do this, and I would love to do it again. Please comment if you would like to see more short stories like this in the future.

What did you think of our little story, and would like us to do it again?

~Melodie

Happy Birthday Sam and Ariel!

Hello everyone! It's Morgan here to blog about the amazing birthdays of our friends Sam and Ariel. Yesterday we had a birthday party for them. It was a lot of fun, and we wanted to share part of it with you.

The party was held at Hazel and Ariel's house. Melodie and I helped set up and hang decorations.

Ariel's presents

Sam's presents

The banners above and the octopus

Pin the Tail on the Mermaid

Emily made the volcano. We put a tea light into it to make it glow.

Soon after we finished decorating, the guests arrived. We all sat down while Sam and Ariel opened presents. afterwards, we played games. The little girls had a lot of fun trying to pin the tail onto the mermaid, and Ariel got really close to putting it on exactly. Then, we all gathered around to play Hot Potato. Melodie took a few pictures while she played Beach Boys. I love Surfin' USA.

Us playing Hot Potato. I won the first game and Audrey won the second one.

After games, it was time for cake and ice cream. We talked for a little while, and then everybody had to leave. Sam stayed to take pictures with her presents.

Ariel and her presents. The stuffed animal was from her family, and we made the floral dress on the bottom right. The crown was from her sister Hazel.

Sam and her presents. The laptop in from her mom, the camera in the top left is from her dad, and the pillow is from us.

We had so much fun getting to celebrate our two unique friends. They bring such joy to our lives.

What do you like about birthday parties?

~Morgan

An Interview with Arietta

Hello everyone! Morgan here with an interview with our friend Arietta. Arietta is a model and fashionista, and I loved getting to interview her.

1. When did you first get into fashion and modeling, and how was it introduced to you?

My mother was always an inspiration to me! She was very stylish and fashionable; she taught me that you are beautiful just by being yourself, but never failed to remind me to refresh my summer wardrobe. :) When I was 11, I tried out to appear on my first catalogue and went from there, adding to my resume. At 14, I signed on with an agency, but I didn't stay on it for long. The thing about agencies is that after you sign on, you've got to do everything they say. However, there are actually some pretty good Christian agencies out there, which is what I did next in my career.

2. What three words would you use to describe yourself?

Let's see....three words! That's a hard one: what about friendly, stylish, and adventurous? I love meeting new people and doing new things...I also love chocolate...and cats...and Shakespeare...and cheerleading

3. What do you love about fashion shoots and modeling?

To me, it's just like acting: I'm a different person in a different place. I can imagine myself anywhere, even if I'm just standing in front of a green screen (yes, we use those sometimes) and of course I love trying on new clothes and outfits and jewelry and hairstyles and makeup--it goes on and on! 

4. What are your plans for the future?

At some point, I'd love to start a clothing line, which is what Lauren Conrad and Kylie Bisutti ended up doing. I've always liked being creative and innovative--and I love helping my friends with style, too:) I feel happiest when everyone--not just me--looks and does their best. 

5. What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to pursue fashion?

My advice would be to 1) stay true to your values! Don't let people make you do things that you know you shouldn't do. It's so worth it. And 2) don't get caught up in trying to look perfect. No one is perfect. Even the prettiest people are Photoshopped, so what difference does it make if you're as thin as a stick? Or spend hours doing your hair and makeup to look "perfect"? As "perfect" as other people seem, it's just never enough. You'll be happiest if you don't idolize perfection, because no one is perfect...not even Kate Moss. 

Thank you so much Arietta for the interview. I loved hearing your perspective on fashion and modeling.

What did you think of the interview?

~Morgan

New Friends from Arkansas

Hi everyone! It's Morgan with the second post for today. (If you haven't seen my first post, click here). Over Spring Break, I got to visit my grandmother in Arkansas. My mom and I went up for a week to spend Easter with her. It was really fun to be only child for a little bit (my siblings stayed home with my dad). I took a lot of pictures, and met a new friend. Melodie also met a new friend, who happened to be connected to my new friend. I am sure you are a bit confused right now, so let me explain what happened.

I drove up to Arkansas with my mom on a Friday and got there that night. I had been once before, and Melodie has been a few times. I was excited to spend time with my grandmother, because we share a lot of the same interests.

The next day, I met a girl named Emily. She was borrowing my grandmother's vacuum, because she and her family were moving. I talked with her, and they were moving to our neighborhood! (what are the odds?) We spent Easter together, because she goes to my grandmother's church. We had a lot of fun spending a week together. Her mom owns a boutique, and I got a cute new outfit. They were moving to open another boutique. Here are pictures of us hanging out.

 Hanging out after swimming at an indoor pool (I had to take a selfie)

The day we met at my grandmother's house. (Mom behind the camera this time)

Emily's birthday was the day before she moved. I made her the dress, and the bow was a surprise from her cousin.

I am going to let Emily introduce herself, and then Melodie is going to tell about her new friend.

Hello. My name is Emily Kate Jones, and I moved from Arkansas. I love to act, and I have been many leading roles in plays and musicals. I also adore fashion, and I love to help my mom out in her boutique. Someday I hope to be CEO of my mom's boutiques, which I hope to spread nationwide. I also enjoy art and spending time outdoors.

Hello. It is Melodie now to tell about my new friend. On the Saturday before Easter, I noticed a girl moving in across the street, so I went over to say hi. Her name was Sierra, and she had just moved from Arkansas. I didn't have my camera, or I would have taken a picture. I invited Sierra to come over on Monday, and she agreed.

I talked with Sierra, and I happened to mention my sister was visiting Arkansas and met a girl named Emily. Sierra sounded excited as she asked if I had a picture of this Emily. When she saw the picture, she started to laugh. When she calmed down, she told me that Emily was her cousin! We all had a good laugh after that.

Emily and Sierra

Sierra explained that her family moved to Tennessee because Emily was going to. It was so funny that I met Sierra when Morgan met Emily. I am going to let Sierra introduce herself.

Hi! I am Sierra Erin Thomas, Emily's cousin. I am passionate about photography, and I am never happier than when I am in a tree getting a picture. Besides photography, I love drawing, playing with my Irish setter puppy Brownie, and spending time with my cousin.

I hope you enjoyed the introductions to Emily and Sierra. You will see plenty more of them to come.

What do you think of Sierra and Emily?

~Morgan and Melodie