Just Because: An American Girls Dinner, Granddaughters, and Living Dolls

A few weeks ago, one of our oldest son's daughters (an almost 8-year-old little lady whom I've dubbed "Little Gal" on this blog) handed me a handwritten invitation addressed "To Papa and Grammy."  A few days prior, her mom had asked me if there were any nights that weekend that we would be available to come for a "special dinner."  I figured this invitation had something to do with that, and as a matter of fact it did: we were being invited to join their family on either Friday or Sunday night for dinner, to enjoy drinks and dishes that the four girls (aged 5-9) were planning to prepare themselves--with a little help from their parents--using recipes from their American Girl cookbooks.

Since we all try to avoid eating meat on Fridays, we decided that we would come over on the following Sunday (January 24).

I tell you, this meal lovingly prepared by my very favorite American Girl enthusiasts was truly delicious, with each granddaughter picking out two items to prepare (from scratch!) from their Felicity, Molly, Kit, and Samantha cookbooks.  There was pretty china to eat on.  And there were even place cards hand-lettered by the 9-year-old twin known here at the blog as "Cutie Pie."

We started with deviled eggs for an appetizer and fruit tea to drink; for the main course there was a green salad and homemade bread, and beef hash with green beans on the side; and for dessert, applesauce cupcakes (and also lemon ice, but it had not frozen fully in time to have it that night).  I could do a real photo dump here, because I was so impressed by the spread that I took pictures of everything.  But instead, I made a little collage that would take up less space on this post.

Each serving dish had a little sign nearby telling what that recipe was called.  There was more 
information about all the dishes and their historical origins on the backs of the signs--but I only took pictures of the fronts.

Speaking of granddaughters: they are delightful creatures!  Living dolls.  I raised only boys (five of them), but those boys have given me nine little girls to love (so far!), and I am enjoying things I never got to do before I became a Grammy, among them sewing special occasion dresses and giving baby dolls as gifts.  Not to mention getting invited to American Girl dinners.   There's a lot more pink and purple in my life these days, a lot more hair bows and painted fingernails.  And it's a whole new kind of fun for me.

Here are my five youngest granddaughters--from two different families--wearing the matching dresses their Grammy gave them to wear this past Christmas (bought at an after-Christmas sale a year earlier, and thank goodness they fit!). CAN.  YOU.  EVEN?!

I can't.

On the subject of things that my boys didn't care about but my granddaughters do, let's talk DOLLS.

In the mid-'90's, when our youngest son was a toddler, I spent a couple of years enjoying a weekly porcelain doll-making class, attending when my airline pilot husband was not on a trip and could be home with our boys.  At the time, I thought that if I was blessed with a daughter in the future, the dolls I made would be for her  Alas, I did not have any more babies after our fifth boy was born; so then the plan became saving my porcelain beauties for my future granddaughters.  (Enter future granddaughters!  But more about that in a minute.)

The first doll I made was from a mold by modern doll artist Boots Tyner, and it was called Sugar Britches. It was the size of a real newborn infant (you could put a newborn diaper and outfit on it, and they fit perfectly!), with a porcelain head and hands and a weighted cloth body.  After I made a blond one for me, I made a dark-haired one as a gift for my mother-in-law, who was as crazy about dolls as I am.  After my mother-in-law died, my husband's sisters said that I should take the Sugar Britches I'd given Mom back, in case I wanted to eventually hand it down to a granddaughter.  

This past year, I decided that our oldest son's girls (the American Girl-girls I told you about above) were mature enough to play with the porcelain babies, on a limited basis: when they were the only ones at our house, and when we could keep their rambunctious 2-year-old brother elsewhere occupied!  Since I only had two of the Sugar Britches models, I let the other two girls "adopt" a couple of other porcelain babies I'd made back in the day.

As Christmas approached, I decided that maybe it was time to pass these heirlooms on to these sweet girls who would treasure them.  Sure, they have breakable parts; and sure, they're supposed to be decorative collectibles rather than playthings.  But as my mother-in-law used to say, "A doll's purpose is to be loved."

In order to make it "fair," however, I decided that I needed four of the same doll...but where was I going to find another Sugar Britches, not to mention two of them?  Was I going to have to find a doll-making class here in VA and make them myself?   Not to worry, it was eBay to the rescue!  I found two reasonably priced dolls on that site: one with no wig and badly in need of a whole new cloth body; and the other in great shape, other than needing to have new eyelashes applied.  

I got the eBay dolls refurbished, I made all four babies matching velveteen bonnets and bought them some adorable newborn sleepers.  Once I saw them all grouped together, looking for all the world like living, breathing babies, Christmas couldn't come fast enough.  I could hardly wait to pass them on to their new "mamas."

You know when you're really excited to give a gift, knowing that it's going to be absolutely perfect, but then the receiver doesn't seem all that thrilled with it? Well...THAT DID NOT HAPPEN!  Those darling girls were beside themselves with joy.  And of course, seeing their reaction was the best Christmas gift they could ever give their Grammy, who'd been holding onto those two original dolls for years, imagining the future granddaughters who might play with them one day.  

Okay, that's it for me today.  I just love this link-up, don't you?  It makes me feel like blogging is back, baby! For more blog goodness, just because... head on over to Rosie's.