Sweet Honey cont.

Taylor and the cousins strolled around the block rubbing their hands together for warmth and pulling hats down over their ears. But, Taylor didn't care that her ears were pink from the cold. She didn't seem to feel it. She was mesmerized by Honey. Soon, she handed the leash to Dakota and Taylor pulled her hat down and rubbed her hands together, then stuffed them into her pocket. When they got home, there were 4 cups of steaming hot chocolate. They gulped them down. It was 10:30. They got out their toys. Taylor had gotten a dollhouse. She, Dakota, and Brooke played with that. Jordan and Matt messed with the clothes-chute. They would tie a string to a box and pull it up and down, write messages and then receive them. They would peer into the chute with a flashlight, and they would yell to each other through it. Only Matt thought it funny when he tossed his dirty and ah hem... STINKY laundry down onto Jordan. Then, the girls rushed into Taylor's room. This was Honey's new home. They made a temporary bed for her, because later this afternoon they were going shopping at Petco. Then they gave her a food and water bowl.

~~~

At the pet store they bought a bed, a rubber mat to put her dishes on, toys, loads and loads of toys, cute leashes, a carrier, brushes. Then, Taylor's Mom pointed out, that Honey would grow up to be a bigger dog, so the carrier may not work. They put it back. When they had paid for everything with Taylor's allowance they went into a boutique and bought a bouquet of flowers for Taylor's mom. When they got home. They set everything up in Taylor's room and then shut the door. They wrote poems and told fictional stories about adventures that they had with Honey, she lay down and shut her eyes. At that point they all "awwwww"ed. When the boys came in Taylor snatched up the sleeping Honey defensively. Jordan laughed. Brooke shot him daggers. Matt came toward Taylor. "Come 'ere, Honey girl. I'm not gonna hurt you!" "No," Taylor said, "she's my dog."

Sweet Honey (Okay, I changed the title!!!)

Taylor had a box of milk chocolate filled with caramel, a deck of cards, a cherry chapstick, and a stuffed penguin for her collection. She put the things carefully back into the stocking and lay it down on the floor. Jordan and Dakota had already starting delivering presents to people. Dakota brought a box over to Taylor. "It's heavy!" she complained. Taylor took the box from her and looked at the tag. It read: From Mom and Dad with love. Taylor tore off the ribbon and took the top of the box. In it was a squealing puppy. Taylor was so happy! She jumped up and hugged Mom and Dad. They chuckled. The picked the dog up and cradled it in her arms. It was a Golden Lab puppy. She stroked it and whispered to it. She didn't even notice when Matt stole a piece of her chocolate. The puppy growled at him. Taylor looked up. She saw chocolate smeared all over his face. "Matt!!!" she tattled. She looked down at the puppy. "Good girl!" she praised. The puppy closed her eyes. "What are you going to name her?" asked Brooke. "Honey" answered Taylor. Taylor quickly opened the rest of her presents with sweet thank yous to every gift giver. Then she went into the kitchen and took down a bottle from the shelf, then filled it with warm milk. She fed the bottle to Honey. Then, went into the garage. There was some dog food. She put some in a dish and set it on the floor. Dad had come into the kitchen for more coffee. "You know, we just thought you would need a starter bag of food, but after this one, you're buying everything. Food, toys, books about training dogs and HOUSEBREAKING them. The keyword there being housebreaking. I mean, if the puppy, Honey, if Honey makes a mess, you'll be cleaning it up." With that he got his coffee and left. Taylor groaned and picked up Honey and carried her into the living room again. She let Brooke, Jordan, and Dakota hold her. Then she told all of them to get dressed. She put on a teal long sleeve shirt and sweat-pants. Then, she tied up her Nikes. She put on her puffy coat and looked in the box from Uncle Michael. There was a dog sweater. She put it on Honey along with the leash from Aunt Lucy. When the three cousins were back downstairs, they went outside to walk the dog. When Honey made a poop, Taylor had to clean it up. She tossed it in a dumpster, then they continued on.

Bitter Brownies

Okay, I will post a little of the story each time, like a chapter or something, and then soon, after everyone has read the story, I will post more. So, here we go, it's called Bitter Brownies by Anna Raphael.

Taylor rushed down the stairs her monkey slippers warming her feet and her bathrobe flying behind her. It was Christmas morning. Her cousins, aunts, uncles, granparents, were all here to celebrate. She was so excited. When she realized that no one was awake yet, Taylor rushed back upstairs. She woke Brooke and Jordan, two of her cousins. They groaned, and then looked up at her. She was grinning broadly. They quickly each got a blanket, which they wrapped around them and socks and followed Taylor downstairs. They knew better than to go into the living room where stockings her hanging filled with candy and toys. They knew better than to peek under the tree, open presents, then re-wrap them. They all went into the kitchen where they discovered Taylor's mom cooking Cinnamon buns a Christmas tradition. She greeted them and they each sat down and turned on the TV. Jordan yawned and reached his arms up to the ceiling stretching. Taylor and Brooke did the same. Soon, Matt came down. Matt was Taylor's older brother. Following him was Michael, Brooke and Jordan's father, Taylor and Matt's uncle. When Theo Matt and Taylor's four-year-old brother toddled into the kitchen, they laughed at his messy hair. But he reached for his sippy-cup of milk sitting on the table. Slowly, Aunt Lucy dragged herself into the kitchen pouring a cup of coffee and taking a drink. Taylor expected everyone to be more excited. After all, it was Christmas morning. Finally, Dad, Aunt Mary, and Dakota came into the kitchen. Uncle Michael and Aunt Lucy were Mom's brother and sister, and Mary was Dad's. Her daughter was Dakota. She was adopted. When everyone had a Cinnamon bun on their plate and either a mug of hot chocolate or coffee, the grown-ups found a chair and the kids sat on the floor of the living room. Then, everyone emptied their stockings.

More soon!

SOUTH DAKOTA

Hey everyone. We arrived safely last night just in time for warm rhubarb pie and french vanilla ice cream. There was a fantastic lightning storm that we saw just pulling into South Dakota so we were just glad we were not victims of the beautiful show. Well, I always like lists, so here's one to start us off:

What We Are Going To Do:

See both Up and The Hannah Montana Movie in the theaters
Go to the art show at the Pavillion and have fun there
Make some fairy houses
Make our specialty Peanut Blossoms (a visit to South Dakota is never complete without the tasty peanut butter cookies with a chocolate kiss on top)
And probably more things that I didn't know we were going to do!

~Anna~