Good Things Come in Small Packages

First Day of School! First Day of School!

Welcome back, visitors - you are just in time to join us in celebrating the launch of our 6th year of homeschooling! SIXTH. Is this really happening?

I almost can't believe that G-Bug is starting her last year of elementary school today - amazing! She has grown and changed so much in the last year, and is literally growing up before my very eyes (now that she can almost look directly into mine while standing face to face). 

Truth is excited to be a third grader this year - he is relishing the fact that he is entering the threshold of "upper elementary school" and now feels the need to correct anyone who refers to him as a "little kid." In his eyes, he is on the cusp of manhood. And I can't deny it.

In other news, life outside of school is chugging along - my health is still a continual roller coaster, though answers are now slowly coming and I'm optimistic about the next year (fingers crossed and insert pleas for prayer here). The not knowing has been discouraging and burdensome, living in ambiguity and grasping for solutions without knowing the root causes. But God has continued to give daily sufficient grace, even on days when I feel incredibly fragile and weak in body and spirit. 

One way that I've been coping with my health struggles and connecting with G-Bug has been crafting miniature foods, furniture, and other accessories for her American Girl (and other 18 inch sized) dolls. It began about two years ago when we built a French kitchen/bakery for her AG doll Grace Thomas (her character runs a French bakery with her grandparents). We challenged ourselves to come up with a homemade (and FAR less expensive) version of Grace's patisserie using cardboard, craft foam, clay, and paint. 

G-Bug and Grace love it!

I found the process of watching YouTube videos and shaping, cutting, and painting the pieces to be therapeudic and fun, and it allowed me to be creative without aggravating my health. Since then, every few months G-Bug and I have challenged ourselves by creating various pieces and rooms for her growing family of dolls. 

 School is in session

Even her brother Truth regularly joins in, grabbing his stuffies and trying out the sets for himself.

Lynx in a bathtub = ridiculously cute

Now two years later, this little hobby of ours has become a small side business! In the last week, we have started making and selling little doll sets at a local artisan shop and on Etsy.  G-Bug, co-creator of MiniMaples, is channeling her entrepreneurial spirit into offering ideas for new doll sets and marketing strategies (and many of them are brilliant, I must admit).

We can't wait to get these miniature sets into the hands of children and adults to encourage bonding and creativity through imaginative play!

MiniMaples display at 

Treehouse Artisans and Merchants in Louisville, KY

I can't wait to see what the future holds as we begin this little adventure.