How and Why

Emma and I started building a barbie house the other day out of awesome boxes that Da brought home from school a while back. 

We worked on it for a while as Baby B (one of the little boys we babysit) was sleeping. After Baby B woke up Emma and I had our hands full and so the barbie house sat for a day or two. The the meantime, we talked about what we planned to do next time we worked on it. 

Emma wanted to work on the barbie house, but we have friends coming over later this week so I had hoped to do a bit (or a ton) of cleaning today. The following is what happened instead (what usually happens instead of cleaning) which is why our house is never clean.

"I have an idea for your barbie house..." and away Da went working on his idea.

One of the ideas Emma and I had talked about for the barbie house was to create art for the walls. Emma decided she wanted to work on this. 

Ideas taking shape.

Fixing leggings. 

"I think I want pictures of outer space, with planets!"

And this is how we learn. 

"Is there a red planet?" Yes, there is. Out comes the 1989 children's encyclopedia and the much more recent Scholastic encyclopedia. 

Da showing her which planet is which. 

And then Da was absorbed in the reading while Emma was working on her barbie art. 

Barbie waiting patiently for her house to be finished, Emma's art work drying. 

Her first space painting of the sun and the red planet. 

And this, folks, is how we learn and why our house is always a mess. 

Barbie Clothes

So last year, when Emma was having some digestive issues, she was seen by a pediatric GI doctor (the gastro type, not the military type).

There ended up being nothing wrong (that they could find). I still have my doubts. Anyway, the point of me telling you this has nothing to do with Emma's tummy. It has everything to do with her introduction to Barbie.

For almost 5 years I was able to keep Barbie out of our lives. I thought (and still do) that Barbie was anatomically incorrect and gave girls an inappropriate idea of what the female body should look like.

I also just like to steer clear of massively commercial toys, clothes, etc.

Well, on our first visit with the GI doctor, she was given a Barbie as her treat for doing a good job. Great. She was immediately intrigued by the doll, which of course made me feel like a bad mama for keeping them away from her for so long.

Anyway, once the door was open, Barbie started showing up in all areas of our lives. Barbie movies and books from the library, more Barbie dolls and clothes from Gramma, and requests for Barbie stuff. We now own a few Barbie movies and books. We have recently discovered Barbie movie soundtracks at the library, and I can see those also becoming a permanent part of our lives.

Really, I can't complain too much. Other than Barbies unrealistic measurements, the rest of what she represents is pretty good. All the Barbie movies portray Barbie (or the character she is playing) in a strong female roll. She teaches kids about friendship, adversity, perseverance, gratitude, and so much more. The music is awesome (yes, I will sing along whenever I can) and the imaginary play that Barbie opens up is fantastic.

Lately, Barbie has needed some new clothes.

As well as some other dolls...

 And some of the unicorns needed new saddle blankets.

I made some clothes, 

the dress and sweater thing I made

But Emma improved on my designs. The dress with the red stitching was originally a tube top type thing. Emma wanted to stitch the fabric above the shoulders to make it warmer for the coming winter. I wanted the dress to be able to come off, so we dug up some snaps and here was the result. 

I think, from the look on Barbies face, that it is a success. Emma added the scarf and bracelets. 

The rest of the outfits Emma sewed up herself (with help threading the needle and knotting at the end). She did a great job. She even took most of the photos. 

Here are a few photos I took

All these Barbie clothes were made while listening to The Runaway Dolls by Ann M. Martin. We love audio books. And Barbie.