Don't be impressed...

Today, I made a mermaid.

I'll bet you're impressed. Don't be.

My girls have been watching a tv show on Netflix about girls who turn into mermaids whenever they get wet. They've watched all 3 seasons of the show now, and slightly obsessed with mermaids. As a result, they want to swim like mermaids, dress like mermaids, sing the theme song about being a mermaid...you get the idea. They even looked up on YouTube how to make a mermaid costume, complete with mono-fin flipper. I draw the line there. It's just not on my bucket list.

So I compromised. It's how I roll.

Emma cut out a little mermaid doll and I sewed it up for her. It's not very good, it's a feeble attempt at sewing up a made-up-as-you-go pattern, but it works.

She had some old shirts that weren't even really yard-sale worthy, so I told her she could keep them for scraps. She pulled out some scraps and cut them up into mermaid pieces. I sewed, she stuffed, she made hair, and voilà! A mermaid. Ok. It wasn't really that easy. I'm making it sound easy. It wasn't. Just trust me on this one.

She actually cut out three tails, knowing full well that I had the stellar seamstress-ing skills to make all 3 dolls. But after sewing up the tails, then finally sewing up the first doll, I told her there was no way [anywhere] that I was going to sew up two more. At least not at *that* size. Those arms? They're very tiny. I actually sewed them *and* managed to get them turned right-side-out. I'm sure larger mermaid pieces will be visiting my dining room soon, hoping to be pieced together to form a larger and more easier-to-work-with doll. In fact, maybe I'll just teach her how to use the machine and let her go to work on a larger version. (Yeah, that's the ticket...)

So, here is the mermaid. It turned out pretty cute. She cut out the pieces (you can see a few marks where her outlines were), she made the hair, and I sewed it all up. There, I made it sound easy again. I'm telling you...never mind. Just take my word for it.

Here's Emma with her new little friend:

Behold, a "mer-made-up-as-you-go".

Fun Art

These pictures have been sitting in the basket in the cupboard above my computer desk for months. I've been meaning to somehow get them into a format in which I could keep them for posterity. Yesterday I finally took pictures of them so that I can post them (as I have with past notes and artwork) so I will hopefully always be able to go back and view them whenever I want. I love that I can post things like this on my blog and be able to access them later (as well as sharing the fun things of my life with whomever wants to see them).

So here are a bunch of pictures Rachel drew - sometime this year, but she doesn't remember exactly when.

Math

Rachel created a math problem for my dad, see below. Note the date. She was in 3rd grade, this was the day after her 8th birthday. She created this problem for him and had him fill out the paper with the answers.

Rachel's note

I sat down by the fireplace today to read, and found this note in my bible, on the back of a scribble card.
Rachel wrote this probably when she was about 5. I'm just guessing, but she was writing her name before she turned 4, so there's a good chance this was before she turned 5.

Precious.

Whitman Mission Field Trip

I went on a field trip with Rachel on Tuesday. We had a fantastic time. I was reminded of what it's like to ride a school bus - something I hadn't done in several years. We had the most beautiful weather - you'll see below some of the amazing views we got to see throughout the day. AMAZING!!

I will just post some pictures - not an awful lot of explanation is necessary, although I may add in some tidbits here and there. As it turns out, there are quite a few pictures, so I hope it doesn't take forever to load the page. Sorry. But there are so many good ones!!

This is on the way there:

 

And now the walking tour begins:

 

 A portion of the real Oregon Trail:

 And the covered wagon replica:

 Next we took a break and ate our lunches.
Then we all went inside and watched a film about the Whitmans and their story:

 On to the Museum:

 And now we're finished and about to get back on the bus...

 ...but first, a group picture!

 Now back to the bus...

 And these were taken on the way home.

God gave us such a beautiful day for this field trip.