4-H County Fair

At the Lancaster County Fair, the girls both did well in 4-H.

Philomena earned a white ribbon for her dress, a red ribbon for her brownies, a blue ribbon in table setting, and a purple ribbon in photography.

Maggie earned a red ribbon for her skirt and a blue ribbon for her table setting.

 

Guinea Pig Playpen

I bought a playpen so the guinea pigs can't run off!  It's even big enough for one of the girls to sit in it with them! 

 

New Glasses!

I continue to wear progressive lenses and ordered a pair of reading glasses.  Philomena needs prisms in her lenses so she sees one instead of double so she'll be wearing them all day.  Maggie now needs bifocals.  She's been wearing reading glasses for the last year and now she needs slight distance correction in her left eye so she'll be wearing them all day as well!

 

What?

Tell me your child has been in the room without telling me she's been in the room.

Why did Maggie put the dining chair on my bed?!

 

Sewing for 4-H

I cut a PVC pipe to extend the table legs so we wouldn't need to bend over so far when laying out the patterns.  Maggie sewed the skirt herself and started the shirt.  I ended up finishing the shirt (including straps) because we realized the pattern really wasn't intended for a beginning sewer.  She turned the skirt into the 4-H county fair.  Philomena sewed the yellow dress earlier in the month and sewed another one with short sleeves in blue.  She finished the blue dress at 7:25 pm on the night we had to turn into the fair by 8 pm.  Philomena showed great persistence in learning how to sew.  Maggie showed a good memory for how to use sewing skills independently.

 

Box Spring

Previously Philomena's mattress was on a board which was kind of working but not so great.  I bought a low-profile box spring off Amazon and now her bed is so much more sturdy and comfortable.  We both think it was a great purchase.

 

Guinea Pigs - Emilia and Desdemona

I've been getting lonely when I'm the only one in the house.  I pondered getting a dog and did a bunch of research into what I would get.  I kept reaching the same concerns of cost and what to do when I wasn't able to let a dog out due to work or activities.  I ended up going back to guinea pigs like I've had in the past.  I found 2 females that someone in Lincoln wanted to rehome.  They came in a wire cage that was ok but not what I prefer.  I looked for an aquarium, but they were so expensive.  The Petco put the size I wanted on 50% off and I had a coupon so I bought it!  I really like the set up now and it is so relaxing to cuddle the guinea pigs.

The girls were really excited to meet the guinea pigs.  When I told Maggie about it, we were in the car on our way to ETS.  She looked at the pictures and then said, "Wait!  Are they ours?  Are they at home?!"  I named the guinea pigs after characters in Othello.  Emilia is the long haired guinea pig and Desdemona is the short haired one.  When I texted Philomena pictures of them, she replied "LOL" that I named them after Shakespeare characters.

Philomena is a natural with animals.  She did so well with the guinea pigs.  Maggie has a learning curve.  Maggie was home alone for a couple hours one afternoon and decided to clean the cage for me.  When Philomena and I got home all the bedroom doors were closed.  Maggie told us that first she was cleaning the cage with the animals in it, but the guinea pigs acted scared so she laid a hand towel on the floor and put them on it.  She turned her back to clean the cage and when she turned around they were gone!  "I had to quick shut the bedroom doors because Desdemona was all the way to Mom's bedroom!"  I pointed to the travel cage and said that was what it was for!  "Oh, I forgot we had that!"  Later that night before bed, Maggie asked me to make a list of what she did wrong so she wouldn't do that again with the guinea pigs.  I said, "Just remember to hold them in your hands or put them in the cage; never let go!"  "Really?"  Yep.  Maggie's come a long ways and is doing better with them with more practice.

 

Shakespeare on the Green - Othello

Beth and I took the girls to see Othello.  The first Shakespeare on the Green in three years was exciting for us!

July 16, we also saw The Tempest with Briget and Sam but we forgot to get a picture of us together!  It rained that evening so they were only able to perform the first half and then we had to leave.