Beauty, Femininity and The Baby Doll

As I watch my little girl playing, holding her baby doll in her arms, I am in awe of her. I see innocence, beauty, and God's promise of motherhood personified. She is a tiny rosebud of femininity. Like every little girl, she was created by the hand of God. She is, by His perfect design, created for motherhood. Little girls hold within them the desire to be a mommy. They do. I don't care what the latest feminist psychobabble pronounces.... it IS an innate instinct. Like a rosebud, though, that instinct has to be nurtured if we want it to thrive. As a mother, it is my duty (and joy) to do so. I believe that the baby doll is the key to nurturing that instinct. My sweet baby girl has had at least one baby doll in her arms since she could walk. It was not forced upon her. She was drawn to it. Whether she is in full out mommy mode, or traipsing through the woods with her brothers, her baby is always in tow. I love that my daughter loves babies and wants to be a mommy! I love that she yearns to nurture her baby. Thank you God for this beautiful gift of femininity and motherhood!

I love how my babies love each other...

There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy's life that he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure. ~Mark Twain

Collages and

Collages are a great way to discover what is bouncing around in the heads and hearts of your children! We grabbed some magazines and looked for pictures that we loved...

Exploring Nature

Getting Messy

For those of you who don't know my daughter, you may not be familiar with her obsession for grooming animals, stuffed or otherwise. It is by far her favorite past time. When playing groomer, it is imperative that she gets into character. She dresses herself in her "groomers coat", and from that point on she must be referred to by her groomer name: Ashley. This hobby has become so labor intensive that we have had to divide it into 2 categories: wet grooming and dry grooming. Dry Grooming consists of brushing, fluffing and "trimming" fur...

(If you look closely you can see her next client, Sparkle the horse, waiting patiently for her appointment.)

And then there's wet grooming, which consists of wetting, lathering and rinsing the fur (with real water and soap). And if Ashley is feeling a little creative, the hairspray emerges.
Can you guess which grooming session mommy prefers?

AND sometimes.....Ashley, the groomer, does a little self grooming....

a little hairspray....

and a little more hairspray

Yes, it is crystallizing nicely...

one more spritz...



tease it a bit...

And the finished product....

Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley