Mamalia and the Hooligans

My giant children went to "Trek" (aka pioneer trek re-enactment) over spring break.  It took a serious thrift store shopping trip to get them ready to go. Slacks, not jeans. Long skirts and button-up shirts.  Lucky for us,  a generous grandma donated hand-made bonnets for all of the girls. Sofia hates sunbonnets, by the way. She says it's like wearing blinders. 

Cozy wanted to dress up too.

Now, they weren't the fortunate pioneers who had Oxen and wagons.

No, they had handcarts (that they had made!) to pull their baggage in.

Organized into families, each with a Ma and a Pa, they pulled their carts for three days.

....and at last they arrived...

Happy day.

They were so tired when they got home that they didn't even notice that I painted the kitchen....

....of my dollhouse.

Tommy's nursery is really just one side of Cozy's room. All little kids have to be in that room, since it is conveniently located across the hall from my room. I can't be trudging up stairs in the middle of the night. (...and little naughties, who like to climb in my bed and sleep on my feet, should also probably not be navigating stairs in their half-awake mode.)

Does Tommy actually sleep in the nursery?

As my husband predicted - no.

Not yet. I just can't banish my sweet little babies to another room.

They want their mama and she wants them.

Why fight it?

Anyhoooo....Tom's side of the room and his baby quilt are based on the colors in this adorable children's book. The illustrations are just lovely.

I bought the book, planning to take it apart and frame a few pages...but I couldn't bring myself to deface the book. So, I bought some individual pages off of some other book-defacer. :)

We have baby raccoons getting a bath on the wall.

The frames with that weird  couple you don't recognize....those will someday hold Tommy baby pictures...assuming that I ever get that done. Either that or he will grow up believing those are long-lost relatives.

Flower ribbon isn't too cute for boys....right?

And Funny Bunny hangs over the reading chair.....

....perfect for Mom and bedtime stories.

Little Tommy is such a sweet, sweet baby. As his first birthday approaches, I can't help but notice all of the changes he's made in our family. It's amazing how much joy and personal growth babies give to everyone around them.  

Check out the super-concerned look Tommy has in the picture of us above. He was born with a furrowed brow!....and I swear the kid looked worried and irritated for several weeks.

...until he finally got used to us and decided that maybe we were nice after all.

Cozy may have been sad to lose her "baby status", but you would never know it from the way she treats her little brother.  They have even learned how to be annoying together! Sibling skills.

I feel so blessed to have these little ones in my life. They may be time-consuming, but every minute of it is worth it. Babies really are the ultimate luxury item.

Thanks, Honey, for helping me to fill our home all of these crazy, sweet little people.

Wanna know how to get away with not sharing?

Put "too much spinach" in your quiche....

...and raisins in your "friendship pie".

The pie was actually very good. It was reminiscent of cinnamon rolls - the old school ones that had raisins at least.

I told my kids how sad I was that they all rejected my friendship, but they were unmoved.

I know I promised to show you Cozy's Dollhouse last week....but here it is....only one week later than promised. That's pretty good, don'tcha think?

Tiffani. (The houses' name.) She came with much more gingerbread, to line the roof and the gables. I still may end up putting a little more trim here and there, but not like this. Cozy wanted the colors for her house to be just like the one's on the box, and we came pretty close with what I had stashed in the basement.

I am a tad envious of the front porch.

On the inside, Cozy's house needs exactly what mine needs - more square inches!

I tried to convince her that her dolls didn't need a bathroom, but she has very anti-outhouse.  So, the larger upstairs room is the bathroom and the baby and mama have to share the tiny bedroom.

I broke one of my inside window frames. Well, truth be told, I broke several, but this was the one I wasn't able to mend.

I painted a little bow doodad from A.C. Moore...and isn't it charming!

Lucky for me, Cozy doesn't care if anything is to scale, because hardly any store bought furniture fits in her tiny home. (Pretty typical of first houses, right?)

The single bed I bought for her bedroom couldn't be squeezed in.

Isn't my Maryland wall art adorable! ...and the "D" is for Dotty. Cozette named her doll Dorothy and we are going to call her Dot or Dotty. (You can meet Dotty later. She is indisposed at the moment.)

Since our purchased bed didn't fit, we made one out of an old iphone box.

It isn't perfect, if you look at the corners. I covered it in paper, where fabric might have been easier.

The feet are bulletin board pins.

Dotty and the bears don't mind it's imperfections. Cozy and I plan to make them numerous throw pillows this week.

The bathroom is waiting on the tub and toilet, which I refuse to buy without a 50% off coupon. :)

For now, I'm calling the Tiffani finished. Finished enough that I'm going to start my new dollhouse. ....just as soon as I reclaim the dining room table.

Quite some time ago, I saw an adorable dollhouse on the Blogosphere.  It was insanely cute.

{Childhood obsession rekindled}

I started looking at dollhouses and miniatures on Pinterest...and then on Ebay...and then on Craigslist.

After months of looking, I knew which dollhouses I wanted, but I wasn't willing to shell out big bucks to get one. {Oh that I had!}

I did find a couple of kits on Craigslist, one of which was just the size and price that I wanted.  They also had a smaller, super cheap kit I could get along with it - distraction dollhouse for Cozy (since I want total creative control with my house)!

So, Christmas break arrives and I have some time to sit around doing whatever I want while my kids do whatever they want. Plus, my Dad is visiting and happy to help with my crazy project! 

We crack open Cozy's kit first, planning and expecting to throw it together "real quick" and get on to the bigger, better house. Little did I know....

First you get to:

1. punch out all of the pieces from the stamped plywood (breaking several)

2. sand said pieces

3. seal all of those dang pieces

4. paint those stinkin pieces (in a few cases, repaint pieces...since you confused the inside and outside walls. grrr)

I was so happy when I finally got to put some walls up!

Yay for walls!...and for some feeling of progress!

After that things seemed to go a little bit faster.

...even with the normal amount of messing up and redo-ing things.

Soon after the walls, the stairs went it.

See them - minus the steps, which were being painted.

Then I had the roof to look forward to...but the porch trim had to be put up first.

SOOOOO much delayed gratification.

This is the horror that the dollpocolypse has brought to our dining room table.

Yes, we've been eating in the kitchen since Christmas. My husband is so very patient.

Sofia commented that, "Even though the floors are icy cold, it's so nice to be gathered so close together for dinner." 

Hey, if one of my teenagers likes being with her family more than personal comfort....

....we have a good chance of having family reunions one day. 

Sofia has even encouraged me to open up my next, bigger, more difficult dollhouse at the table.

(Crazy girl.) But I won't. I miss the table....for school if not for meals.

This weekend, I'll show you the finished product - full of Cozy's toys. :)