Our Weekend

We had snow and then a lot of ice this weekend. The kids were not as interested in playing outside in all the ice and it was pretty cold. So, our weekend was pretty slow and lazy - mainly playing games, reading and making a few more troll clothes. It was nice and cozy inside with our fire burning and the ice coming down. Bethany and Tess did spend a little while this morning pulling icicles off the house and some were pretty big. 

We read The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill and enjoyed it. The kids laughed a lot as I read this book. It's basically the story of a new teacher that comes to a town in Alaska where all the teachers end up leaving pretty quickly. This teacher is different - she doesn't get frustrated with the kids easily, she gets rid of all their old textbooks and then she brings out her own books. All the kids love her new way of teaching, but they can't help but wonder if she will be leaving them soon just like all the other teachers. The girls did like this book and it was a quick read.  I can't say it was a favorite, but it was different than what we have been reading lately and sometimes a change is nice. Though, we are still trying to find another book similar to The Four Story Mistake and Then There Were Five. Those two books thrilled the kids. 

Bethany and Tess made a few more clothes for the trolls and I enjoyed watching their creations. 

Christmas Dolls

After I saw how few pictures I took on Christmas I was a little sad I had not taken more. I took so few.  The thing that surprised me the most is that I didn't take any of the girls' dolls and I love having pictures of all the dolls they get. So, today I asked the girls to bring down all the dolls they got this year and we lined them all up and I got a few pictures of them. I'm glad I did this before some of the dolls get wear and tear. A few of the girls got more than one - we love dolls here and it will be a sad day when they no longer want one. 

 

Old Dolls

Seems like we are always going through old dolls or old baby clothes or something and we did that again today. This time it wasn't dolls from the older sisters, but mine. I had a bunch of old dolls that had been up in the attic for years. I decided today was the day they would come down and get thrown away or given away. Of course, the kids didn't want to let a single one go. They had a lot of fun going through them and cleaning them off -- they were a mess, as they had been in the attic for years and years. They did not look very good, but that mattered not at all to the kids. 

Even Luke wanted to get into this and see the dolls. Some of these dolls I don't even remember. Maybe they aren't mine and got stuck in this bed in the attic somehow.

I have no idea where this next doll actually came from, but it was given to me when I was probably around 10 years old. It was very old then and kind of chipped and cracked. I took pride in the fact that I never broke it as it is so fragile. I don't remember what I named her -- I actually only remember calling her "China Doll". I can't believe it is still around and it has to be a very old doll. Her eyes won't open anymore. I think they did the last time I remember playing with her but something happened in all those years she has been in the attic. I actually had one other doll that was similar to this one and I took both of them outside and played with them all the time and never once dropped them -- though they did probably get some small chips on them. Don't know where the other one went. 

We spent probably a couple of hours cleaning up the dolls before my daughter came over with my grandkids. Then we went out to enjoy the beautiful weather. 

Treasures

Yesterday, I started getting the place cleaned up and back in order. I was cleaning out Tess's closet as it had stuff in it that had been stored there for a long time. I found a small trunk in there that used to be Katie's -- I think it somehow got stuck in there when she moved out in June. Anyway, it was full of old doll clothes. The second trunk of doll clothes we have found in the past couple of years. So, I took it to Bethany and she was immediately in the trunk going through everything. It was a treasure chest to her and she spent several hours looking at all the clothes, trying them on her dolls and figuring out which things needed to be washed.

All of her dolls were pulled off the daybed in her room as I had to take the mattress to use for another bed until we could get a new one. They were in a pile on her floor -- actually, this is not all of the dolls as some are in cradles. But, there sure were a lot of dolls on the floor and many of them needed to be dressed. Of course, Bethany was happy to dress every one of them in some new clothes from the trunk. 

Some of the dolls are actually Sarah's or Caroline's, but Bethany wanted to dress all of them or change their clothes so they could have something new on -- new to the dolls, of course. Not really new. 

I love it when my children are so involved and happy in their play. I watched her all afternoon, play and dress and go through all the things in the trunk with such joy. Funny how something so old and so small can make a child so happy. 

She actually found an old doll dress that had belonged to me when I was young, and I had given it to my older kids. Can't believe it is still around. 

She dressed, Emma, in a new outfit that she found. Emma has been a favorite doll of Bethany's for a long time. 

We also found a couple of dolls of Abigail's in the top of the closet that she stored there. Bethany really liked this doll.  It was one of Abigail's favorites.

This Past Weekend

I want to thank everyone that has told me they are praying for our son. He continued to feel worse and worse last week and on Monday was admitted to the hospital. He was given fluids and some different meds for nausea and they ran some tests along with another MRI. He started feeling better fairly quickly and came home on Wednesday. He has improved so much and has actually asked me to have coffee with him two days this week. Thank you so much for remembering him in your prayers. 

This past weekend I gave Bethany a small trunk full of doll clothes that had belonged to her older sisters. You know how something new - that isn't even new - is so exciting. She hadn't had her dolls out to play with for almost the entire summer, but she ran and got a couple of her dolls and spent an afternoon dressing them in all the different clothes. 

I have always loved dolls so I enjoyed watching her go through all of the clothes and dress each of her dolls. I always feel a little sad when I realize one of my girls has finally outgrown wanting a new doll for Christmas.

The rest of the weekend was spent playing outside almost all day long. Piper and Tess just love to be outside no matter how hot it is. If I tell them I think it is too hot and why don't they play inside they just say they like "hot". They spend most of their days out in the yard and riding bikes.

We picked a few flowers from our garden. The kids took a few to church for teachers and we had a few left for us.

Zola had lunch with a couple of friends on Sunday and when she got home she had bought some beautiful flowers for me. It was suppose to be her birthday lunch and she thought of me - - so sweet.