About our books, toys, and music...

As mentioned before, we weren't really allowed to watch tv growing up (que Mom and Dad rolling their eyes), other than some PBS and Christian station here and there. Although we have had ridiculous amounts of drama, being one of five sisters, we have also had plenty of fun. We played with dollhouses, Ginny Dolls (fat version of Barbie), Maple Town, Fisher Price "people", Strawberry Shortcake, Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Pony, Legos, and American Dolls. Most of my playtime memories come from playing with Whitney and Laura Joy. I can't remember which of the sisters did this with me, but when we lived in PNG, we would create the outline/walls of a home with the grass that was left behind and didn't get bagged. We would use our little hands to form different rooms in the home and then play in our pretend homes. We used to build entire cities with legos, and spent endless hours in all our dollhouses. We loved playing in our col-de-sac with the neighbors, running around all day in the summer until we were called in to get ready for bed. The tree in my parent's front yard was always fun for us to climb, and the neighbor's long, hollow bush was our "tunnel". My friends and I loved to do the "bigger and better scavenger hunt" in the neighborhood, as well as play Sardines. Something all of us sisters loved to do was create entire room tents made up of sheets, blankets, chairs, tables, and whatever else we could use to make our tent even bigger. We often played "house" as most girls do with the stove my dad built us that even lit up under the burners with lights. Books were a huge part of purr childhood, as we read about as much as kids these days sit in front of the television. Some of our favorite include: The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read, Bemblemen's Bakery, Amelia Bedelia, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Mandie Shaw, Boxcar Children, Little House On the Prairie, Where the Wild Things Are, Bernstein Bears, Babysitter's Club, Morris the Moose, Curious George, Paddington Bear, Ramona, Chronicle of Narnia, and of course, good old Highlights Magazine. I could do this all night but I should probably move on! We loved to listen to Michael W. Smith, Sandi Patti, Amy Grant, Baby Beluga, Psalty, Colby the Computer, Charity Churchmouse, Adventures in Oddysey, and Nannybird. I hope I can instill in my children a passion for reading and music as our parents did for us...