School is almost out, time to play!!!

Hooray!!!  There are only 5 days left of school!!  I don't know about you, but I'm counting down the days until I can hang dark blankets on the windows of my daughters' rooms and pray that they sleep in past 7am.  (does anyone else do this?)  This year has been a hard and hectic year for me.  Grace is finishing the first grade and I drive her (the other 2 just enjoy the ride) to school in the mornings.  Then I come home and have about 2 hours to either do running or 1 load of laundry or pick up the house a little before I have to get Holli, our middle daughter, down to catch the bus. (she goes 1/2 a day)  Then I get back and hope it will be an easy task to get Charley, our youngest daughter, down for her nap. (can you believe she's almost 2?)  IF she naps, I work a little more either on the house or my photography work, make phone calls or do whatever else I need to do until time to get them off the bus at 3:30.  Then it's playing, homework, dinner, baths etc. and off to bed they go by 9:00pm.  I usually go straight back to the computer to work without any interruptions and I work until anywhere from 11pm to 2am.  This all depends on how much tea I have consumed during the day.....lol...and how loudly the dog is snoring at my feet. (Oz, our English Bulldog)  Usually I drift off to "LaLa_Land"  pretty quickly until my hubby's alarm goes off at 4:45.  I try to tumble out of bed to pack his lunch and see him off to work, then lay back down for 45 minutes until time for my alarm.  Now, on most mornings lately I stagger to the couch to watch the weather and I end up getting TOO cozy and I have been known to drift off to sleep.....waking up in just enough time to get them out the door just in time for the tardy bell.........but ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT!!!

We bought the girls something special last week to play with this summer.  It's something that I always wanted as a child.  See, growing up in a house with 2 other girls, we were forced to use our imagination constantly.  And boy.....did we have wild imaginations!!  (right girls?)  Here are a few things we pretended...now, keep in mind, we are from the boonies.   lol....

We turned the double sinks in the bathroom into a pool and a hot tub for our barbies.      

We would go into the tall grass and play "Jungle Barbies" and they would drive their cars in the safari wild.  They would loose each other and have to survive alone all night.  This particular grass was literally past our little bony knees, so these barbies had a big jungle.  And the 2 outside dogs were the MONSTERS.....lol...Barbie just can't outrun a Shephard.  That's probably my most fun memory with the barbies. 

Turning the sidewalk into a Barbie corvette/jeep racetrack.

Using a pogo ball for a circle counter top.  (Please tell me you remember what a pogo ball is!)  Like a pogo stick, but you squeezed your feet together and bounced...very hard to do, so we came up with other uses for it.  OH, and the Trapper Keepers......we used them for walls and all sorts of things.

I remember not wanting to sleep on the bed, because we had spent all day turning it into a Barbie Mall or House. 

THEN.....when we thought we were getting "way too old" to play with barbies, but the younger sister(s) wanted to play, we'd agree to play but "only fix their hair and change their clothes", we'd say.  But by then, I am ashamed to say, we were almost teenagers!!! 

lol....there was this one doll.  He was the only KEN doll we had and we used to fight over who played with him.  I mean , come on, he could get ANY girl he wanted, right?  The only problem with Ken, was he only had 1 arm.  I'm not sure what happened to him....lol.  I just know he could only stand on the left side of whatever barbie he chose, so he would look like he had his arm around her........lol...

We would play with those barbies until they fell apart. Even after they lost limbs.... We'd put them in the tub and pack them in our suitcases.  I remember the little details of everything.  My mom actually saved them for us.  I went and dug through them a few months ago.  It brought back SO MANY memories to look at all those barbie clothes we used to fight over.  There was 1 wedding dress, (early 80's style, long sleeve and collar), 2 sequin prom dresses, a stonewashed bluejean suit, bikini's, hotpants, halter dresses, and even a pair of legwarmers.......lol.  What a trip to see my daughters playing with the same exact things I spent so many hours enjoying.

SO........back to what we bought them....A little girls dream, or 3 girls in our case.  The PLAYHOUSE of IMAGINATION....

    Here is one of each of the girls in their new playhouse.

Grace was rocking her baby doll in the wood porch swing.  She was singing her to sleep... notice their window boxes full of new flowers they planted by themselves. 

   ...and Holli was mad that I wanted in and I hadn't knocked yet OR said the password. (the back double doors open for adult axcess.  Once you get inside the front, you can stand up)

Here's Charley playing "Pee-tye" with me through the window screen.  That's her favorite game....

and the WATCHDOG is always on duty at the Parsons Playhouse.  Here he is peeping over the half front door.  He kinda reminds me of "The Grumpy Ole Troll, who lives under the Bridge" ..lol.  Oh, I know you moms know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?   I guess I've been watching too much Dora and Diego (Aye-go is Charley's favorite cartoon)

Holli told me the only thing that would make the playhouse more fun was if it had a TV in it.  It looks like I'll be teaching them a little about "Using their Imagination" all summer and keeping the TV off...lol

Thanks for reading.....

Comments

[Becky]

That song is our (mine & Owen) favorite to sing. It is really sad, but sometimes I find myself singing "the grumpy old troll" when he isn't even around, LOL!!

[Stacey Woods]

Um, another hand in the air... I totally started singing the Grumpy Old Troll song when I read this. LOL!

Love the stories about the barbies.... I so remember all of that too. Ahh, good times, good times. ;)

[Stacey Woods]

Oh and I wanted to add that I DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU DO IT. Your schedule seriously intimidates me. You are amazing, woman!!! :) xo

[Nammie]

i remember all those pretend days with your barbies and pets! you had wonderful imaginations.

[Nammie]

i showed this to parker and he started singing "Who let the dogs out..who.. who." He is so funny!