Barbie's kitchen trim wasn't completely dry today (no more Bob Ross bargain paints for doll house projects), but dry enough to hang.
...promised photo
Cinderella barbie was just sitting here on these two chairs, chilling out in her boots. Her dining room table was missing. It was in the ballroom set up like this.
(How does she keep her figure?)
Sara then said that tomorrow is Ken and Teresa's big wedding day. They've been sitting downstairs beside husband Dion's desk for the past week. Maybe they chose him for their premarital counseling? So I guess Barbie pink dress, above, set up the goodies for the party.
I gave Cinderella barbie a lollipop to keep her busy in the meantime. It's doubtful she got an invite to the ball. (see what I did there?)
Here are pics of the bar lights when on.
Aren't they great?! These little girls are playing in the kitchen. I don't think that brown-haired girl should be in the sink. Get out of the sink little girl. The blond one (I get their names mixed up...Gabbi and Abby; they're twins)..well, she's having fun with their play kitchen. That's a better idea than being in a sink. It's nice how they can pretend cook while the women and one Ken of the house for real pretend cook.
Also began working on the barbie house garage and finished the back part of Sara's castle bed...both made from painted cardboard, leftovers from her birthday party castle two years ago. Here are those unfinished projects so far...
(eventually the plan is to install a working security system-and make it prettier)
(the back part, against the wall was today...the front is plywood with cardboard window accents...needs door, sides, and rock-climbing wall) The neighbor girls were over for a short, after-school visit. The oldest ran back to their house to get her camera, and took a whole lot of pictures. sweet. The little one pulled out every toy possible in 45 minutes, chattering random things while I tried figuring out the garage. I'm notsogood at question-answering while making stuff, but she sure is a cutie.
Hello.
I'm Linnet. And I'd like to welcome you. First of all, let me
take just a moment to thank you for allowing me back into your homes.
I
may have borrowed that opening from Bob Ross. (I did.) He's good
at welcoming.
Here he is in a cheerful and encouraging Sunday type of
song called Happy Little Clouds.
( I believe. You can do it. Let's build a happy little cloud. Let's build a happy little tree.)
Now
that we have enjoyed that...This morning something pretty
amazing happened in my world. Morning. Morning happened for me today.
Typically I do not get up in morning time. I have a sleeping disorder
called I sleep in the mornings disorder. But this morning, not only did I wake up, but I
went to the store, bought the stuff we needed to make oatmeal, cottage
cheese pancakes (yup. I am a weird stuff eater.), and made breakfast for
everyone BEFORE they went off to church (yup. I skip church. refer
back to morning disorder part). I am awfully sleepy but decided to paint.
Sara's Barbie house kitchen is one step away from being finished,
and that's the cherry red border for around the top. I found this
bulletin board border at the Dollar Tree, and painted the back side of it red.
Here is what this looks like.
See Bob Ross? I bought a basket full of odd and ends paints for 5
dollars at a yard sale last weekend. Here he was, just when I needed him.
This made me think...
what
other bright, cherry red things do we have here in our home?...hmmm...and so while my family is faithfully in prayer and
worship and my trim is drying, I ventured on a hunt of sorts for cherry red stuff.
Today has been declared "no electronics day" by husband Dion, at least while we're together as a
family. So I will try to hurry up and show you my findings before
they come home. We're not being sneaky. We are being efficient. These photos may not be top of the line; they are more of a Sunday MORNING quality.
Here are the found cherry red items:
Sara put this arrangement together yesterday. She calls it "Fast Food
Flowers"...always thinking that one. I don't know where she found the
cup and straw. Probably along the road. The straw is red, and now I want to go to burger king.
Next I found my hand after using Bob Ross paint.
Here, in our closet, is a vintage purse scored at a Goodwill in WV last summer-3 dollars.
These shoes are from a Macy's in New Jersey for what ended up costing
somewhere around 7 dollars after sales. They remind me of something Ronald McDonald would pick out.
Dion husband bought these tomatoes for Sara. She was student of
the month. She gets tomatoes. (I gave her a 5.00 scooter found at a
yardsale on Friday. She can do tricks on a scooter. She can eat
tomatoes. So you can see how this all works out well for her.)
Now
we come to the sunglasses that were resting beside the tomatoes...recently found for 1.88 at
a local discount store. I think I love them. So does this owl. That is
why he is wearing them when I am not.
This container holds cat food and succulents. I don't like it doing that, but it is here anyway. Its purpose many years ago was to
gift popcorn on a Valentine's Day. Instead, it was bought on clearance after
Valentine's Day. It wants to be fun, and it is, just
not holding cat food and succulents.
Here
is some cherry red on my FAVORITE blanket. It was given while working at a camp about some 20 years
ago now (I was working. the blanket was not working)...this one week got so very cold, and so lots of blankets
were donated. We were meant to be together. It keeps me warm, and goes with me outside
and just is generally a loveable blanket. My other favorite blanket is white and soft. It stays
in our bedroom. It is not cherry red.
Are you getting weary of cherry red things yet? Would you like an intermission? noooo.
(I'm sorry, but there's no time.)
Here is some cherry red on the flowers and hummingbirds on a bag from Thailand (where we adopted Siri). Looks more orangish on the picture huh? Isn't it pretty?
Siri is pretty too, but she is not cherry red. Here she is cheery, practicing sitting on her own.
Here
is the BEST kind of cherry red. clearance stickers! especially at
Tj Maxx. This bargain item is non-fragrance shampoo for the girls.
Clearance stickers are a chance to hoard stock up in a practical manner.
Finally, this guy was found in Sara's room. It is a dog outfit. It was 3 dollars at the Dollar General, and I thought it would fit her American Girl dolls. It does, but her horse
is wearing it. Please disregard the creepy doll hand. She sleeps there all day and night beside this horse. She sleeps more than me and doesn't have a morning disorder of any sort.
oh no. Bob Ross paint does not dry quickly. After trying to put up the most dry border, it smeared Barbie's kitchen walls. Magic eraser to the rescue, but more smears cannot be risked.
We probably don't have much time left before the churchgoers arrive back, thus enforcing no electronics day.
What if I show you the kitchen without the trim?
How about those bar lights that really light up? Those are battery-operated, book lights from the dollar tree. I hope to do a future play by play post for Barbie's kitchen.
Tomorrow I will try to update with a kitchen trim photo.
one last cherry for your Sunday.
As Bob Ross would say, "I'd like to wish each and every one of you happy painting. We don't make mistakes. We just have happy accidents. I look forward to seeing you next time."
...because every day is a happy day when we're painting.
How are you making your today world beautiful? (please comment and tell me)
if you liked this story, will you please share it with a friend? or all of them? do you have many friends? if not would you consider sharing it with a stranger? How about lots of strangers? If you didn't like this story, would you still consider sharing? friends or strangers...either one really.
no really. I'd tell you the lot and plot number, but then you might show up at our door...and whether we are acquainted or not, I would have to fight you with a nerf sword...and you do not want that. (because I'd win)
We live in an Enchanted Forest. and we have nerf swords.
(Husband Dion and me nerf sword fighting. Sister-in-law Krystal created this for us using bitstrips.)
for now we do. We moved from our first little cottage to this home eight months ago. There are multiple, lengthy stories that would have to be told all together in order to truly communicate the extent of how this dream, to live in a story book cottage located in a development named something with such amazingness as the enchanted forest, came true...but for now I will just say this. It took work and time, but the timing worked. There were tears. many many tears.There were incredible lessons learned, now treasured. It is beautiful. and,
it is for now.
What does that mean? for now? Welllll, it means our family will appreciate this place...this season, this miracle for as long as it is ours (we do hope it is ours for quite some time). And yet I acknowledge that just as hardships must pass by, beautiful passes by too. It's part of this life of beauty and ashes. And so,
all the more reason to love
beauty when it is ours to love.
Dreams so large take sacrifice...thinking and acting differently. In this story, for me, it required exposing unthinkable vulnerabilities like after being a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom with our first daughter Sara, choosing to re-enter the workforce in a job that I would have previously considered myself inadequate. This was also after adopting our second daughter, Siri, who has severe special needs (did you know children with special needs need houses with special things like wheel chair modifications, room equipment, special bathrooms, main rooms on the main floor, etc...who would have thought? ...all a part of our family's story).
a beautiful staircase by Michelle Allen and quote by John Maxwell that has inspired me...see her work here at http://www.close2myart.com
I also believe in Divine interruption and intervention...when something (or someone) lines up so well for us silly, limited (but still fantastic) human beings, we cannot take credit, leaving few other explanations beyond it simply being Divine.
(these lilacs are divine, yes?)
Our storybook cottage story, the story of how we came to live in the Enchanted Forest is this kind of story. One of sweat and determination, and still every bit, one of Divine intervention.
...and so it is all that we need and all of our dreams. It is what I wake up to and where I dream from...where I call home, love on my family, and create.
But you and I know that even in dark places there is beauty to be discovered...to be created. We've been given these powerful gifts. Amazing gifts of imagination, discovery, and creation.
In the most unexpected of places,
there is beauty to be found.
And so we don't have to live in an enchanted forest to experience it. Simple pleasures like smelling lemon thyme while walking through the garden center, lighting a candle and having some tea, turning over a smooth stone in our pocket, watching chickadees fly to food hung from a city window (bird food...well, or you could hang a cheeseburger from a city window if you want to, I guess, and attract rats)...these can make our surroundings turn magical. (not rats) for a moment. (not rats ever) when we stop. when we are still enough to sense it. and appreciate the beauty right there.
right here.
I have always admired how the sun shines all shades of green through leaves, especially in the woods when there's a light breeze through the trees.
...a glimpse into my daughter Sara's beautiful place of imagination. It's her castle. She sits here. She hides things here. She will probably get poison ivy here. She's nine.
These are her royal scepters. According to her imagination, she is the Queen of the Forest. Another is for kitty. He is the King of the River (we don't have a river), and the last is for our babysitter. She is also something of something, but I don't remember what.
