Imagine our delight today when we received in the mail a package from my friend Diane, addressed to Lynn and Michaela. 

And now, crackling in the doll house, is a nice warm fire in our new doll house fireplace.  And that’s not all.  We also received a handful of little, old-fashioned, miniature toys.   See them on the mantel and around the fireplace?

I noticed as I put these little treasures in the doll house (yes, I was playing dolls this afternoon) just how very much this doll house life mirrors my own.  Why, just look at mom stretched out on the perfectly clean couch in her perfectly clean living room, not a care in the world.

And right across the room sits hubby, reading to his wife from something lovely.   A fishing or hunting magazine?  My, no, not here.  Why, he reads to her from a cookbook or a decorating book or the newest homeschool magazine.

And what is that next to hubby?  Oh, yes, that’s the cake he baked, so that when mother decides to get up off the couch she can instantly have a bit of something to quell her sweet tooth. 

Doesn’t she look relaxed?  That could so easily be me.  I mean, that virtually is me!

Tee hee.  Tee hee.  (Everytime I write that I’m taken back to good ol’ Archie comic books).

Actually, Diane, we love these little treasures, and it was a fun relief for me to lose myself in doll house ease for awhile and just play.  Thank you.    Michaela will enjoy them always!  We just love the sound the fireplace makes.   

Tomorrow we’ll be participating in an art and music show with our homeschool group, where Michaela will be showing a couple of her art pieces.  We’ll also be hearing music performances from some very talented students.  I’ll be sure and take pictures!

“We cannot escape history,” is what Abraham Lincoln said, and as we listened to Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait this morning, Michaela and I worked on our project of re-creating Lincoln’s birthplace for our homemade doll house collection.

It is simply a cardboard box that we are coloring the logs and mud plaster onto.  We cut out the one door and one window and hung a bearskin (felt) over the door.  The single window in the small cabin was covered with oiled paper (we used wax paper).  The floor was hard dirt so we painted on a thick layer of Mod Podge and sprinkled sand into it and let it dry.  After allowing it to dry and shaking off the excess, we had a nice dirt floor.

We have several items to add yet, including a bed of saplings, a homemade coverlet and a fireplace.  We will continue to add items as we read on through Abraham Lincoln’s World by Genevieve Foster.  It’s one of Michaela’s books for Ambleside Online Year 5.   I have gotten questions before regarding what to do for handicrafts and boys, and I think a project like this is so much fun!  It’s does not have to be classified as a doll house!

Lately our school days have been full of history, made even richer by our participation in our Five In A Row co-op activities.  I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoy being a part of a co-op and learning alongside other moms (super nice friends) and their children. 

A few weeks ago we had a two-hour co-op class here.  All activities were centered around the book Cowboy Charlie, which is the story of Charles M. Russell, American painter of the American Wild West.   It ties in nicely with our other current reads as the times of Charles Russell pick up where Abraham Lincoln’s world left off. 

We read the book, Cowboy Charlie, as a group and then set off to travel around the yard by pretend train to different areas set up to represent different phases of Charles Russell’s life.

Michaela and I had made a tepee ahead of time, and you can barely see it because it blended right into the background on this cold, gray day, but the children enjoyed it and some of them came dressed up and ready to re-enact!

One of the parts of the co-op that I worked on was “passports” to the west.  There was a mystery character for each child, sealed in an envelope until everyone had received theirs.  The children then opened their envelopes.  We had many famous people there:  Buffalo Bill, Crazy Horse, Annie Oakley, Laura Ingalls Wilder and others.  It was really fun to see the children open their envelopes and find out who they were!

The original passports were made from luggage tags and then laminated.  I made a quick black and white photocopy of each one to keep a laminated set on hand for personal reference.   (Not to mention I wanted a tangible reminder of the day.)

My co-teacher (love her) talks about an area concerning one of the historical figures we had chosen to tell the children about.

After being outside and getting almost too chilly but not quite, we all came in and learned about the 12 constellations that tell the story of Jesus’ birth, death, and return.   Cowboy Charles M. Russell worked under the stars, remember.

We then crowded into the toasty kitchen and had warm apple cider, coffee, venison sausage, rice cakes, peanut butter and carrot sticks.  Everyone was so kind and I enjoyed so much having everyone over.  It was a day that made some precious memories for Michaela and me.  (Leslie, thank you for the pictures!)

We cannot escape history.

Lynn

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  Michaela and I played outside.  We made a little tepee for our co-op activities here tomorrow.  (We’re studying Cowboy Charlie with Five In A Row).  Then the afternoon rolled around and I just had to do it.  I had to go somewhere special.

We were looking for cowboyish sorts of things.

And we knew there might be something cowboyish in this big old house full of antiques, collectibles, and thrift.

What we ended up finding was a basket of little trinkets for 50 cents apiece.

So there are new tiny treasures in our doll house.

A cowboy might have loved this.  Especially a cowboy like Cowboy Charlie.

And a little acorn basket full of knitting.  A pioneer woman would have loved this.

It’s all in the doll house.

Today’s post is obviously all about beds.  Well, sort of. 

I told you yesterday that Michaela was working on something for the doll house.  She finished it and you can read all about it at our doll house blog, HomeMadeDollHouse.  This was her handicraft yesterday. 

For those of you who don’t have time to visit every blog under the sun, I’ll show you a picture here. 

Can you guess what the bed is made from?

The other half of this post is about Annie and her bed.

Here she is standing by her bed, begging for some help up.

Where do you think Annie sleeps? 

If you guessed on a pillow right bedside Princess of the Universe, then you are exactly right.

We are in the midst of a huge Charlotte Mason nature adventure, so I must run.  More about that soon.

Happy Tuesday.

Lynn

Guess who already got married!  Yessiree.  Ms. Blond Braids and Mr. Suave (or Mr. Fancy Pants, whichever you prefer.)

You’ll never guess why they got married. It’s because, as Michaela put it, “They are the same size.” I guess that works in a doll house. Can you imagine that in real life?

“Golly gee, you and I are similar sizes. That would make it really easy to shop for furniture and design our home. I see no reason why we shouldn’t get married.”

In other areas of our exciting life, the bunnies are getting BIG.  Maybe you’ll remember, when we bought them we were pretty sure, based on the pet store’s evaluation, that we were buying a male and a female. 

We were going to put the bunnies together right away,  but Coco jumped on Basil and bit a large piece of fur out.  (Whoa.  Their relationship started out even rockier than mine did.)  After keeping them close but separated for about a month, they are now together and seem to be completely happy with each other.  We still have no evidence, however, that Coco is a female and Basil a male. 

You’ll be glad to know that I accomplished my task yesterday of finding a large rug for Michaela’s room.  We let the bunnies out regularly to run around and they were slippin’ and slidin’ on the hardwood floor.  They LOVE their new rug.  Isn’t Coco getting large?

Basil treats Michaela like a bridge.  Aren’t his little bunney feet just cuddly-adorable?

Basil goes to the baby doll crib to check things out. 

We thought you might want to see how content they are with each other now.  Aren’t they sweet?  Coco’s heart races when we have to pick her up to put her in the cage.  She really seems overly skittish when it comes to that.  Basil is not like that at all.  It seems that Basil tries to comfort Coco by laying almost on top of her when we put them back into the cage. 

On a gardening note, there’s corn growing in the garden!  I wonder how much we’ll get.  I’m really excited, because last year I planted the corn too late and it didn’t get enough water to do anything.

I found a new writing spider in the garden and hope to get a better picture today.  In the past we have had the HUGE yellow and black Argiopes.  This one is minuscule compared to one particular one we had in the past, but I still love the writing in the web and that she’s there at all. 

I’m still pondering today over what to buy for this coming school year.  I must make some decisions.  The summer is quickly flying by!  I got a tremendous amount done yesterday and hope to get more done today.

I also have not forgotten about the change in America’s diet between the 1700s and the 1800s.   

I have many more errards to run today. 

Whatever I do, I want to do it with joy.  That 100th Psalm has been on my mind.  It is full of reminders that serving joyfully is our duty.

Happy Thursday,
Lynn

My daughter and I recently had the opportunity to go to a thrift store we don’t visit that often.   We were thrilled when we arrived to find that they were having a three-day 4th of July sale and everything was 50% off! 

We did quite a bit of browsing — so much fun! — and I found some amazing deals on clothing, including a 62-dollar pair of men’s dress pants with the tags still on them for only 4 dollars.

Just as we were heading to the check-out, I spotted three little dolls that looked perfect for the doll house. 

Just look at this trio!  Who will win her attention? 

Just look at her face!  She really knows how to roll her eyes around.  And maybe it’s just me, but I think the dolls look old.  I’m no doll expert, however.

The back of her little felt hat is decorated with a feather. 

Do you think she’s old?  Look at the craftsmanship.  If any of you know about dolls, I would love to hear what you think.

Next is Mr. Suave.  Joseph and I were trying to figure out which country he’s supposed to be from.  I honestly have no idea.  His vest makes me think one thing and his pants something else. 

His boots. His curled up mustache.  His pants.  His tie.  Where do you think he’s from?

One thing’s for sure.  He’s a fancy-pants alright.

Or wait.  Maybe he’s the fancy-pants.  Check out his intense expression as he dances around.  I ask you.  Where is he from?

He snaps around with his pouty face, trying to get the blond with braids to look at him.

He’s a dancin’ man, for sure!  (Joseph said he wouldn’t be caught dead standing like this.) 

I’m afraid Ms. Blond-Braids has eyes for another man anyway.

I would love to hear what you think about our dolls!  The cost?

Ms. Blond-Braids 1.99 .99
Mr. Fancy-Pants .99 .50
Mr. Dancer-Man .99 .50

Michaela asked me last night what we should name them.  We remembered that one of our readers gave us a great name for a previous mysterious foreign doll who came to live in the doll house:   Mei Ling.  So why not ask our readers to name these dolls.  Any ides for names?  We’d love to hear them!

Lynn

PS – I can hear the commotion in the doll house already. 

I had an idea today that I’m excited about!  I’m calling it Prairie Tuesdays.  Every Tuesday — for awhile, Michaela and I are going to dress in our very best prairie clothes and live like in the “old days.” 

Well, “prairie clothes” may end up being something just a bit more old-fashioned than usual, and “old days” may end up being a meal by candlelight and an old recipe for supper.  Still, I want Tuesdays to be prairie days.

I chose to call this endeavor Prairie Tuesday because I’ve been reading to Michaela from the Little House books and I just love the things we are learning as far as how people procured and kept their food, how they cleaned, hunted, etc.

Having plenty of bonnets and aprons will be no problem because my mother makes them!

A little bonnet my mother made for me.

Some of the ideas I have had for Prairie Tuesdays are:

• rising early to do “farm chores” (think garden and bunnies)
• writing letters to our imaginary cousins who moved west and telling them how things are going back here on the farm (I wondered if any of our pen pals would want to participate)
• writing letters from the Wild West to our imaginary cousins back home on the farm 
• reading first-hand letters and stories from the 1800s.  In fact, I know one of our first choices will be “A Letter From A Pioneer” in our book Real Life Stories and Literary Selections
• baking bread
• making a craft
• sewing
• hanging laundry on the line
• our school journal entries on Tuesdays will be all about old-time living or something pioneer we are studying
• studying 1800s history and people
• listening to music from the 1800s
• old-time arithmetic (I know I have some old school books around the house)
• nothing electronic, i.e. games, computer, movies
• visits to local antique stores and historic sites

I know my time could be limited as far as Princess of the Universe being willing to dress in “prairie” clothes, but maybe not.  After all, I’m still doing stuff like this and I’m way past the 10-year mark. 

I’ll be going through my home library tonight to begin getting books together.   I know I have plenty of good things on our shelves.  I just need to go through and mark them and make notes.  

Maybe you are wondering what made me think this up? 

Well, I’ll tell you anyway.

Today Michaela and I took the ladder outside and picked mulberries.  It was so much fun and it just felt so clean and old-fashioned compared to CD ROMs, DVDs, being cooped up inside, etc.  I thought how fun it would be to dress the part and spend the day doing old-fashioned things.  An idea was born.

In other news…

Around the garden, there is a shift from early spring to summer-coming-on, even though the last couple of nights have been chilly.  The day lilies are getting taller. 

The yarrow, or soldier wort, is blooming.

I have a “gold flame” Spirea that’s in bloom.

The Doll House…

On a final, fun note, the dolls received gifts last week!  You simply must visit the doll house.

Happy Prairie Tuesday!

Lynn

Yes indeed!  There are chocolates at the doll house.

Visit the doll house for the whole story.

Lynn

I absolutely LOVE seeing the creative side of my daughter come out when we really get into playing dolls in her room.  She has her art desk close by, so it’s no trouble to stop and invent whatever you need in the midst of playing.

Take, for instance…

this fine shower.  In the middle of redoing some rooms, Princess of the Universe decided that the dolls absolutely positively had to have a shower installed in their bathroom.

Okay.  Yes.   But OF COURSE!

She used a little clear plastic box (left over from who knows what), some light wood material left over from the recent airplane building, and a little condiment container for the shower head.  She even used one of her foam stickers as a no-slip pad in the tub, which has been trimmed in the most beautiful of polka dot tiles.

And that was not all.  Princess of the Universe loves to go to the HGTV website and watch the decorators transform rooms from dull to DrAmAtIc!!!  She especially likes David Bromstad.  She got the idea for doing a custom piece of art work on a box.  If you know David, then you’ll know about the boxes.  Anyhoo…

This art on a box top really pops in the fancy-schmancy dolls dressing room! 

Yes, I love to see her creative side, but I also love just being with her.  Playing side by side, laughing, putting little things into place in the doll house, with our faces practically side by side.  I guess I’m just in love with my children.

Another recent creation by Princess of the Universe is this sweet little crib/playpen for the babies.  Let me tell you, it has come in VERY handy in keeping the dolls safe from wild horses, fires, storms, and even a bear attack! 

Oh yes.

WHO would have every expected that a well known bear from preschool days would wander out of his bookshelf and over to the doll house to attack??!!

Not I.

On a school note, I am absolutely LOVING Grass Sandals: The Travels of Basho by Dawnine Spivak.  I think this is my all-time favorite FIAR book.  Well, I’ve said that before haven’t I?

No, really.  There’s something so totally endearing about this book, not to mention how educational it is.  And can anyone say beautifully illustrated?  It is illustrated by Demi.

Princess of the Universe works on one of the lessons from Five In A Row.

Shakespeare anyone?  We are still reading Hamlet and enjoying all these words you never hear anymore.  I was Bernardo today.  Joseph was Horatio.  Princess of the Universe was Marcellus.  (I think I have all those spelled right.)

Well, another day has come to a close.  Now it’s time for bedtime stories and sleep.  There’ll be more fun — hopefully — tomorrow.

Lynn

There’s been much activity around the doll house this evening.

We recently finished up Snowflake Bentley (Caldecott Medal Book) for Five In A  Row, and you know how I love to finish up with a storybook souvenir for the doll house.

Let me just say that the dolls were wild with excitement to find out that Snowflake Bentley was a distant cousin on their family tree!  And they inherited the most amazing old photograph.

There’s more at homemadedollhouse.blogspot.com

Good night,
Lynn