Tess's Tidbits: Piper's Surprise

Hello everyone!  I've missed blogging so much!  Sorry you haven't heard from me lately.  Frankly, everyone else has had so much going on that I didn't feel like I had anything important enough to write about.  That, and Maggie and Rachel have been on the computer a lot, researching as much as they can about the new "Captain America" movie.  It's kind of hard having Maggie hang out with Rachel so much, but at the same time, I'm relieved that I don't have to hear all about her superhero movies.  I'm just not into films where people are getting shot at or blown up every few minutes.  I'd much rather stick to my calm, beautiful Jane Austen movies. :)  And really, it's hard to be mad at someone like Rachel.  She's a very sweet doll, even if we don't have much in common.

Things have been pretty much the same for me.  I've been spending most of my time reading and writing stories or talking with my sister Hailey and my cousin Katie.  I got to participate in a few blog posts on Mama's blog, too.  It's the Hathaway girls who are going through all of the major changes right now.

Those of you who read Emma's last post will remember that Piper has been longing to see Ruthie and get to know her, now that she knows they are sisters.  Well, yesterday, I was with Emma, Piper, and Charlie, looking over our blog posts.  It was one of the rare occasions that Maggie and Rachel weren't using the computer! :}  We were discussing some of our plans for our 1 Year Blogoversary celebration (it's coming up this Friday!!). 

Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the side door, which is right beside the computer.  We all looked at each other in puzzlement.  Mama was in the other room, talking to Grandmama and Mimi, who had just come by for a visit.  It seemed odd that Mama would have another visitor so soon.  Besides, the knocking was coming from down lower, like it was someone our size at the door.

"Should we answer it?" Emma wondered. 

"We could!" Charlie replied.

"But what if it's another human, one we don't know?" I worried.  "No one is supposed to know we're really alive!  Except Mama, of course."

"I don't think a human would be knocking that quietly, or that far down on the door," Charlie pointed out.  "I think we should answer it."

Piper looked troubled by this, but as she was the one closest to the door, she was the first to move toward it.

"I can't reach it from here," she said.

Charlie came up behind her and held onto her waist.  "Now try!"

Piper reached again, but it was no use.  She still couldn't reach.  It was then that Emma and I decided to move the computer chair over to the door as quietly as we could.  Thankfully, all of the adults had gone back to the playroom to see Mama's girls, so we weren't noticed.

Once we got the chair in the right spot, Emma and I climbed up and Piper and Charlie jumped down from the desk.  Piper still couldn't reach the door knob by standing on the chair, but Emma and Charlie obligingly let Piper stand on their shoulders.  I stood behind them, ready to catch Piper if she fell.

It was tough work...the door stubbornly refused to open on Piper's first few tries.  But finally, after a big yank, the door opened just a hair.  Then, of course, we all had to climb down and move the chair out of the way so that we could pull it open the rest of the way.

The door was a lot heavier than it looked, but we finally managed to pull it open.  What we saw surprised us more than anything.  There, standing in the doorway with a package of some sort tucked under her arm, was Ruthie!  We were all astonished to see her there.

Before we could ask her how she got here, we heard Mama and Grandmama coming back from the playroom.  We all froze in our places.

"What in the world?"  Mama gasped.  Under any other circumstances, she would have asked us what had happened.  But she wasn't sure if Grandmama's dolls had revealed themselves to Grandmama yet, so she acted like we were just lifeless dolls.

Grandmama, on the other hand, got right to the point.  "Ruthie, what on earth are you doing here, young lady?"

Ruthie looked a little embarrassed, but she held her head high.  "Well, you read me Emma's last blog post.  What else could I do?  I had to come see my sister!"

Mama looked over at Grandmama, startled.  "You...you know our dolls can talk?" 

Grandmama gave her an amused look.  "With the dolls I have in my house?  I can't get them to stop talking!"

"This is so exciting!" Mama said happily.  "I never knew you were in on the secret, too!  Does Mimi know?"

Grandmama nodded.  "Jo broke the news to her over a month ago."

"Wow!" Mama replied.  "And to think, all this time I've been keeping it a secret, just in case..."

"Um, I hate to interrupt, but could we please get back to why Ruthie is here in the first place?"  Charlie interjected, in a much more tactful manner than Maggie would have had if she had been here. ;)

Everyone turned back to Ruthie.  She somewhat timidly stepped through the door and walked right up to Piper.  Mama and Grandmama obligingly closed the door behind her and moved the computer chair back to its place.

 "Piper," Ruthie began, "ever since Grandmama read me Emma's post, I've been wanting to come see you, too.  I know you're still special to Emma and Charlie, but I just wanted you to know how excited I am to have a sister!  I can't wait to get to know you better."

Piper was very quiet, which we'd all come to expect from her, but I could tell that Ruthie's words had moved her deeply.  Without a word, she leaned forward and gave Ruthie a big hug!

Ruthie stepped back then, laughing and wiping her eyes.  "I brought you something," she told Piper happily.  "It's an outfit to match mine!  Grandmama bought it."

Piper took the package from her sister.  "Thank you," she said, her eyes shining. 

"You know what this means..." Mama began.

We all looked up at her. 

"Photo shoot!" she said excitedly.

We all attempted to look excited.  Mama and her photos...most of the time we were happy to oblige.  Sometimes the photo sessions got a bit long, though.  I noticed that Charlie looked suddenly weary.  Mama had been taking endless photos of her for the Doll Wardrobe's photo contest.  I think she would be thrilled to never have her picture taken again!

"Well, Ruthie, I wish you would have just asked me to come over," Grandmama said seriously.  "I would have said yes, you know.  But now that you're here, how would you like to stay for a couple of days?"

Ruthie grinned from ear to ear.  "I'd love it!" she said happily.  "Thanks so much!"

"You're welcome," she answered.

"Well, we'll leave all of you alone to get caught up," Mama said with a smile.  She and Grandmama headed back to the living room.

"I'm so glad you're here," Piper said shyly. 

"I'm glad, too!" Ruthie beamed.  "Do you want to try on your outfit?"

Piper nodded, and the two of them headed off down the hallway together, keeping an eye out for Mama's girls, of course.

I was so glad to see the two of them having such a good time.  I hope they have a wonderful visit! :) 

As promised, Mama wasted no time in taking some photos of Piper and Ruthie once Piper had changed into her matching outfit.  Here are some of Mama's favorites:

After a while, Mama had Emma and Charlie join their cousins for a few family photos. :)

By the way, did you notice that Charlie took out her braid?  Mama was very reluctant to let her take it out at first, because she didn't think she would be able to get it back in, and she was worried that Charlie would be disappointed once it was actually out.  Charlie was so glad Mama let her, though.  She's really happy with her hair now.  What do you think of her new style? :)

I'll be sure to let all of you know how the rest of Ruthie's visit goes! :)  And be sure to check back on Friday, August 5th, to help us celebrate our 1 Year Blogoversary! :D

Emma's Editorials: Confirmation

Well, it's official.  Piper is our cousin, not our sister.  Mama broke the news to us two nights ago.

It's funny.  I'm not nearly as upset about it as I thought I'd be.  I mean, it's like Mama originally said.  Nothing has changed, really.  She'll still be just like a sister to us.  It's just a change in title.  Piper is so special to us, and she'll stay that way, no matter how she's related to the two of us.

I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while.  Things have been pretty crazy, and the last couple of days we've just spent adjusting...not that anything is really all that different, but...you know.

Piper is suddenly anxious to spend some time with Ruthie.  Of course, she hasn't really talked about it, but Charlie and I are starting to be able to read her better. :)  I can understand where she's coming from.  I think there's an inexplicable desire in all of us to know our family. 

Speaking of which, when Mama told us about Piper, I asked if she'd found out anything more about our sister.  She had.

"I don't know a whole lot," she confessed, "but I can tell you what I do know.  Her name is Hayden Brooke, and she's 12 years old...the same age as Piper.  I know she likes singing and she likes horses, but that's about it at this point.  I might be able to find out more as time goes by."

"Do you know what she looks like?" Charlie asked curiously. 

"As a matter of fact, I do.  I can show you a picture of her on the computer."

We trudged out to the trusty old desktop.  Here's the picture that Mama shared with us:

We all stared quietly at the picture for a while.

"Wow," Piper said softly, surprising us by actually speaking up for once.  "She looks a lot more like you than I ever did."

"Don't worry," I assured her.  "You're not being replaced."

She gave me a grateful smile.

"She's like a combination of Emma and me," Charlie said thoughtfully.  "My eyes and freckles, Emma's curls and hair color."

"I think her hair's lighter than mine," I pointed out.

"You know what I mean," Charlie said, rolling her eyes.

"Now girls," Mama interjected.  She didn't like us arguing.  Probably because she dealt with 3 arguing real girls all day long! :}  Not that this was really a full-blown argument or anything.

I decided it would be a good time to change the subject.  "So, when is she coming?"

"I don't exactly know," Mama said hesitantly.

We all looked at her.

"I can't exactly...um...afford her right now, so it will depend on how my birthday and Christmas go.  I'm going to ask for American Girl gift cards."

I hid a smile and exchanged a glance with Piper and Charlie.  Thankfully, we were much more tolerant than Maggie of Mama's persistent cluelessness when it came to doll etiquette.  Everyone knew it was very rude to discuss doll purchase and pricing...everyone but Mama, that is.  I supposed we really should tell her, but I didn't have the heart.

It did make sense, though.  Mama hadn't been bringing home nearly as many goodies recently.  I think she and Papa were trying to focus on paying for their real girls' school...something called "tooition"...or something like that.  I'd overheard them talking about it, and Mama had looked a bit stressed.  It sure is nice being a doll and not having to worry about such things!

"Hey!" Charlie piped up brightly.  "Do you think we could write her or email her or something?"

"Possibly," Mama said slowly.  "I don't have an address for her yet, email or regular.  I'll see what I can do and get back to you on that, okay?  For now, just try not to worry about it too much and take things as they come."

We all nodded in response and began the trek back to our room.

"I hope Mama finds a way to contact her," Charlie said as we walked.  "I think it would be great to get to know her a little bit before she came.  Maybe that would make things easier on all of us when she got here."

I saw Charlie's point.  Maybe we'd all feel more like family if we felt like long-lost friends when she arrived.

I'll keep you guys posted on what happens.  It's a lot to think about! :} 

Breaking News With Maggie: Little Miss Playthings Results

Hello, this is Breaking News with Maggie.  Maggie Wilson here...Okay, I'm too excited to keep up the professionalism!  Just had to write up a quick post, because Mama just told me that I placed in the "S'Anything Goes" category of Little Miss Playthings on the AG Playthings message board!  I got 3rd place in the category.  Pretty exciting, since Mama and I didn't expect to place at all.  There were a LOT of amazing photos! 

So just in case you're interested, here's the photo:

This was one of our favorite shots from our coast trip.  It's pretty cool that everyone else liked it too.   

So, honestly, you're going to be hearing from someone else soon.  Although, "Maggie's Blog" does have a nice ring to it, I must confess. ;)  Just had to share the fun news with everyone!  And besides, I haven't done an official "Breaking News with Maggie" post in ages.  I really need to be better at that.  I can't be letting my journalism skills fall by the wayside, now can I? 

Maggie's Memos: Avengers Personality Test

Hey everyone, just a quick post here.  Mama and her family have to get to church. 

For those of you who don't know, Mama's 1 year Blogoversary for Never Grow Up is tomorrow, so she's been racing around like crazy to get everything ready for the big celebration.  As a result, the rest of us haven't been on the computer much.  But last week, while Mama was busy at VBS, Rachel and I found this totally awesome online game at DisneyXD.com...or something like that.  I'll get you the link in a minute.

So basically, it's the online site for "Avengers:  Earth's Mightiest Heroes", and you can take a personality test to see which of the Avengers you're most like.  At the end, you can upload a photo and actually "be" an Avenger. 

Of course, it was no surprise which Avenger had my personality:

Rachel had a bit more trouble.  She really wanted to be Thor, but she kept ending up as Wasp, Ant Man, or Hulk.  She finally settled for Ant Man after several tries (come on, you know you guys do this too...taking the personality test over and over again until you end up being the character you wanted?). ;)  Here's Rachel as Ant Man...a bit creepy, I must say.

We needed to get back to our shelves for the night, but I told Rachel she should try just one more time.  Lo and behold, this time she was finally able to be Thor!!  Here's the result:

It was really hard to get a picture that worked correctly because of Thor's heavily chiseled features. ;)  You get the idea, though.

And for those of you who are wondering, no we still haven't seen "Captain America" yet.  Bitter, party of 2.  Well, I don't know.  Rachel's too nice to be bitter, but she's definitely disappointed.  Have any of you seen it?

More posts to come this week.  Tess and Emma will most likely have something to say, and I know Mama's been reminding Belle that she needs to update her "Belle's Bulletins" page, too.  So you should get a whole slew of new posts soon! :)

P.S.  You can play the game too and find out which Avenger you are most like by clicking HERE. :)

Maggie's Memos: I'm an Official Avenger's Fan!! :)

Okay, just for starters, don't even ASK me about the whole Hathaway sisters upheaval thing.  I'm not even going there.  You'd think Mama could figure these things out AHEAD OF TIME.  I mean, how many families has she turned upside down so far?  How crazy can things get?  Doesn't she care about how this affects us?

But...I wasn't going to go there.  Moving along to the purpose of this post...since I'd rather not discuss the brutality of our dictator.  Ahem.  Sorry, just had to get that off of my chest.

So as most of you know, Rachel is really into Marvel superheros, especially Thor.  She's really excited about the new Captain America movie coming out on the 22nd, and she's already been talking about the Avengers movie that will be coming out some time next year.  So I'm sure that you can imagine how excited she was when Mama told her there was an animated Avengers miniseries on instant play on Netflix.   

Mama said she could watch it as long as she waited until the girls were either down for quiet time or in bed.  I guess it's too scary for them.  Rachel was so excited to see it she could hardly wait.  Yesterday, when Mama finally put her girls down for quiet time, Rachel asked if I wanted to watch it with her. 

I've never really been a huge Marvel fan myself, but that's basically because I haven't really seen much Marvel stuff.  And I figured it would be way more exciting than those tedious period dramas that everyone else in the house seems to adore.  Seriously, if I have to sit through another Jane Austen movie, I'm going to scream.

We asked around to see if anyone else wanted to join us, but didn't get any takers.  Of course, if we were going to watch some lame movie like "The Young Victoria" or "Emma", everyone would have been all excited.  [Look, don't get all offended if you like period dramas, okay?  Just go talk to Tess or Emma about it, not me...unless you enjoy sarcastic comments about your Mr. Darcys and whoever else.]

We decided to watch on the desktop computer this time.  For one thing, it has a much better picture than Mama and Papa's ancient TV.  For another thing, we could sit closer and have a better view.

 It didn't take us long to find the one Mama was talking about.  It was called:  "The Avengers:  Earth's Mightiest Heroes". 

(By the way, please excuse the mess.  Mama's computer desk has a severe case of "flat surface syndrome"...you know, if it's a flat surface, it's covered with stuff?) 

By the end of the first episode, I was hooked.  It was so awesome!  I mean, sure the animation wasn't perfect.  Some of the fights had kind of hilarious hesitations in them.  But the animation had such great shading and the acting was so superb, it didn't really feel like a cheesy Saturday morning cartoon.  Plus the story was pretty cool, too.  I love how Hulk kept calling Thor "Goldilocks", and how they'd all play off of each other.

I'm kind of glad Tess decided not to come.  I don't think she would have enjoyed it so much.  She's not really into creepy super villains or tons of fighting or rocky theme songs.  See, I think that's where Jane Austen has it all wrong.  If someone had Mr. Darcy dressed in a cool super suit and fighting bad guys like a real man, I might actually be interested!  (Hoo boy...Tess is NOT going to be happy when she reads this.  Oh well, she'll get over it.)  >:}

Anyway, I love how none of the super heroes are perfect, but when they work together as a team, they can conquer all the odds, in spite of their imperfections. 

 I think my favorite Avenger is Iron Man.  He has my kind of humor. :) 

Rachel, of course, likes Thor the best.  Hmm, I guess he's probably the most like Mr. Darcy.  He sure talks like him.  But he has hair like Legolas. And I'm not too sure about the whole winged helmet thing...it looks a little dopey.

Once we'd watched a few episodes, we got tired of standing.  Thankfully, Mama had an empty box lying around that was light enough for us to carry.  We moved it over on top of the chair and got comfortable.

We had to stop watching when the girls got up, but as soon as Mama put them down for bed, we started again.  It was quite the movie marathon!!  We didn't finish until early this morning.  Good thing we're dolls and can sleep during the day when we need to! :)  Of course, we were NOT happy when the last episode ended with a total cliffhanger!!  We checked Netflix and then Google and found out that the next season isn't going to start until sometime this coming October!!!  Arrrggghhh!!  I don't know if I can wait that long!

So, all that to say, I am officially an Avengers fan!!!! :D  I'm just as excited for Captain America to come out as Rachel is now.  I can't believe we have to wait until next year to see the Avengers movie!!! I don't know how I'll ever be able to wait that long. 

Rachel and I are trying to figure out how we can persuade Mama to take us to the movies at the end of the week to see Captain America.  I don't know if it will work.  Mama never goes to a movie until she's read the review on Pluggedin.com first (to make sure it's appropriate).  Plus, she's never actually managed to take any of us to a theater yet.  I think she might be a little embarrassed to try it.  I don't know why she'd be embarrassed to take a doll to a theater.  I mean, she paraded me all around Eureka, so why not in a movie theater?  Then, there's the fact that she will just have finished doing Vacation Bible School at the church, so she'll be completely wiped out.  And of course, there's the whole financial issue.  Mama explained a while ago that there won't be as many goodies for a while until she and Papa can get some things paid off.  Whoop-de-do.  I guess we'll just have to see what happens. 

In the mean time, I've decided I want to get an Iron Man action figure to go with Rachel's Thor action figure.  Oh, and Rachel totally wants these, too:

Aren't they awesome?  They're Marvel Squinkies!!!  You can get them online at Squinkies.com or in the toy section at Target or Walmart.  I'm hoping that if Rachel ends up getting them, she'll let me have Iron Man.  I think there are actually more that come in the set than what is pictured.

Hailey wants the new Hello Kitty Squinkies, but I'm not including that picture here.  Somehow, Hello Kitty and Marvel superheroes just should not be in the same post together. 

Well, I guess that's about it for now.  I'm so glad that I finally found a good movie buddy!  I may never have to subject myself to the torture of a Regency film again! :D 

So what about you guys?  Are any of you planning on seeing Captain America when it comes out?   

     

Emma's Editorials: More Changes

Wow.  What a day.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  I mean, Mama's gotten kind of notorious for this type of thing.  I just really didn't see it coming. 

But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself.  I suppose you all would like to know what on earth I'm talking about! :)

It all started earlier this afternoon when Mama called me, Charlie, and Piper over to the bed to talk.  I should have known right then that something was up, but as usual, I was completely naive and clueless.  Once we'd all gotten settled, Mama took a deep breath, like she was getting ready to dive into a pool or something.  That's when I started worrying.

"I have something to tell you girls," she began. 

Charlie and I exchanged a glance.  We were about to hear some sort of life-changing news...we were sure of it. 

"I've been doing some research..."

Uh oh, here it comes!  I thought, remembering another conversation like this.  I saw from Charlie's face that she was remembering it too...the day that she found out she was my sister instead of Katie's.

"...and, well, it turns out that you girls may have another sister."

A wave of relief washed over me.  Another sister?  No problem!  That was good news, great news even!  I could totally handle that. 

I should have known that more was coming.

"While I was looking into that, I found out that Piper...um...may not actually be your sister."

I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.  What?!?  Not our sister?  I glanced over at Piper.  Her face was still as serene as usual, but it had gone very pale, even for a doll.  Charlie's mouth was twisting into all sorts of strange expressions, as though she was trying very hard not to cry, or yell, or both.

Mama seemed agitated by our shock.  "I may be wrong, though!  I need to look into things further."  She could tell we weren't comforted in the least.  "And if she's not your sister, then she's definitely Ruthie's sister."

"Ruthie?  Our cousin Ruthie, who lives with Grandmama?" Charlie asked.  Her voice sounded shaky.

Mama nodded.  "So either way, whatever I discover, she's still family."

I felt like I could breathe again.  It wasn't as bad as it could have been.  I thought of Ruthie.  Come to think of it, she and Piper could definitely pass for sisters.  I just wish Mama could get her facts straight before we all got established in a different dynamic!

Mama looked worried.  We were all so quiet.  "I'm sorry, I know it's a big shock.  I almost waited to say anything until I knew for sure.  But then I thought it might be easier to know of the possibility before you got any closer.  I hope you understand."

"Well, cousins can be just like sisters, so I figure nothing has changed, no matter what!" Charlie burst out, almost fiercely.  She put her arm around Piper protectively.  Piper threw her a grateful glance.

"I feel the same," I agreed, looking proudly at my little sisters.  

Mama smiled.  "I figured you'd feel that way.  And just to help with any concerns you might have, Piper will still live here with us, even if she's your cousin.  She's welcome to visit Ruthie anytime, of course, but this will be her home."

That was a definite relief.  It could have been a lot worse.  At least she was still a part of our family.  "So...when will you know more?" I asked.

"Soon, I hope," Mama answered.  "I'm still working out the details.  As soon as I know more, I'll let you know."

"And what about this new sister?" Charlie asked.  "What can you tell us about her?"

"I'd rather not say anything until I know more.  Like I said, when I have more information, you three will be the first to know.  In the meantime, just enjoy being together and try not to worry."  She gave us a gentle smile.  "Like you said, nothing's really changed."

We all sat in silence for a while.  What else could we say?

"Listen, I've got to get going.  You know you can come to me if you have any more questions, right?"

We all nodded.  Mama gave us hugs, whispering "Please don't worry!" and left the room.  Once again, we sat silently together.

"Wow," Charlie finally said, more to herself than anyone else.

"This is crazy!" I agreed.  "I'm sure Piper's our sister.  And even if you're not," I continued, looking over at Piper, "you'll still be a sister to me."

"I feel the same way," Charlie said firmly.

"Thank you," Piper said quietly.  "I'm sorry, I don't really know what to say.  It's so much to take in."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Charlie said, "I went through the same thing shortly after I got here.  Only in my case, I was moved to a completely different family."

Piper looked at her curiously.  "Really?"

Charlie nodded.  "Before I was Emma's sister, Mama thought I was Katie's sister."

Piper looked incredulous.

"It's true!" I chimed in.  "So at least you're not being moved to a different family group."

She smiled lightly.  "Thanks girls.  What would I ever do without sisters...or cousins...like you?"

"You wouldn't survive!" I said dramatically. 

We all broke into giggles.  We were so loud that Mama's other dolls glanced over at us curiously.

"Well, I guess we should go break the news to the others," I said reluctantly. 

"Aw man, this means that Maggie's going to be grumpy and ranting all night!" Charlie groaned. 

"Hey, at least you don't have to share a shelf with her," I pointed out.  "You should pity poor Rachel."

"Yeah, but it's not like the shelves are soundproof or anything.  She's right below us."

"Let's just get this over with," I said. 

And with that, we made our way over to the others to share the news.

I'll keep you guys posted on what Mama finds out.  I don't even know what else to type...my doll brain feels like it's spinning in circles!  Talk to you all later.
    

    

Maggie's Memos: A Science Project with Charlie

So, for those of you who don't already know, Mama entered me in this Little Miss Playthings thing on AG Playthings.  It's a little embarrassing, but I'm trying to humor her.

Round 3's theme was "Science".  Mama really wanted to get this one right since we ended up missing Round 2 (Mama was a bit stressed last week getting ready for her vacation...which I did NOT go on, even though I strongly hinted that I was available.).  We were trying to figure out what on earth we could do, when Charlie reminded Mama that she had a "dig your own fossil" set, or something like that.  Mama thought it would be perfect.

So, Mama set out a blanket on the kitchen floor for us to work on...and proceeded to take a TON of annoying pictures as we went through the whole process.  Yay. 

So, here we are, ready to begin.  Can you sense my overflowing excitement?  Charlie was practically bouncing off the walls.  Sometimes she worries me.

"Excavation Kit".  Wow...sounds so official.  Seriously, what kid asks for this for Christmas?

Charlie pulled our "digging tool" (that looked like a big, glorified toothpick) and brush out before she pulled out the block of plaster.

We read through the instructions.  It sounded simple enough.  My hope was that we'd be done in 15 minutes or so.  I mean, it's for kids, so it can't be too complicated, right?

Charlie pulled the plastic off of the plaster block.  I love how it says "Dig it out!" on one side.  Classy.

Since this was for my LMPT photo shoot, Charlie decided that I should be the one to use the digging tool, even though I could tell she was itching to do it herself.  It was actually pretty fun...at first.  Chip away till you find something...

Here was our first glimpse of the fossil.

Charlie immediately sprang into action, almost panicking when I kept on using the digging tool.  "Don't harm the fossil!!" she cried.  Then, ever so carefully, she began dusting it off with the little brush.  Um...Charlie, you do realize this is a PRETEND fossil in a block of PLASTER, right?  It's not like we're making some great scientific discovery!  But you just can't reason with the girl.

The result of Charlie's painstakingly slow brushing:  a piece of rock.

We kept at it, Charlie watching me like a hawk every minute.  She wanted to make sure I didn't damage anything, I guess.

Here was our first view of the actual fossil itself.  I thought Charlie was excited before, but now she was going completely nuts!!

The careful archaeologist at work. :}

I was so glad when we finally uncovered the whole thing.  All that work for a silly little pretend dinosaur skeleton!  It was exhausting!  Mama ended up helping us towards the end so that we could get it completely removed.  I have definitely decided I do not EVER want to be an archaeologist.

Charlie, on the other hand, was just more pumped up.  She kept going on and on about how cool fossils were, because they showed how much Noah's flood affected the earth.  She said that some scientists believe that fossils took millions and millions of years to form, but then she was saying that fossils have to happen rapidly or the bones would decay and rot.  A catastrophe like the flood would have been the perfect thing to cause fossilization.  I know she's totally fascinated by this stuff, but she pretty much lost me at "decay" and "rot".  Eww.  I'm sure she'll be a world-famous Creation scientist someday.  Which is fine with me...as long as I don't have to dig up any more bones!

Here we are with the finished product (finally!!!)

The plaster was really messy.  Thankfully, that doesn't really bother Charlie or me.  Tess and some of the others would have freaked out! 

Our fossil.  Oh yeah, and that's the other thing.  What on earth are we supposed to do with this thing now?  I guess Charlie will probably display it alongside her huge Pixar toy collection.  I'm sure glad I share a shelf with Rachel.  Her stuff takes up a lot less space. :)

This is the photo Mama ended up using for LMPT.  I guess it works.  What do you guys think?  Would you give me any points?