The continuing saga of Robin Hood...

Well, Papa made Jonathan a long bow on Tuesday when the kiddos were out to the ranch. It is made just for him...Papa measured his height and span of his arms. However, it is my understanding Jonathan shot an arrow at Annisia later with said bow. So he is restricted with it at home. He can't string it, literally, so he is under supervision while shooting the bow. We made him a target out of a box and he does really well. Here is a video.

Annisia is a good retriever of arrows. This is the arrow he shoots in the video. See how it is stuck in the ground?

This shot shows his determination...

...and this one his nonchalance. "yep, see all those arrow I shot?"

Adventures at our house...

Seamstress to the Stars

You should come to our house someday. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the outside, but we have a mountain inside our house that you have to climb very carefully (log staircase with a railing made just for kids to shimmy up!). We have an entire ship deck where you may get to be Peter Pan defending yourself against Captain Hook (played very ferociously by Jonathan). Maybe you won’t believe it, but we also have the Hundred Acre Wood inside our house. And Tigger, too, if Jonathan has on his Halloween costume. Yep! I knew you wouldn’t believe it. But my kids do!
Best of all, we have Sherwood Forest inside our house…yes, the whole of it! Inside our house! If you came to visit, you might have the pleasure of being dubbed The Honorable Sheriff of Nottingham, or maybe Prince John, or even Little John. But you likely won’t get to be Robin Hood. Nope. That character is reserved for Jonathan. The morning after Jonathan watched the animated version of Robin Hood I was given a very important adventure-land assignment. I was supposed to be sewing some basket liners for my husband’s Christmas gifts to customers, but Jonathan managed to persuade me to make him a “Robin Hood dress”…er, tunic. I looked around the house for something just the right color of green. Aha! There it is…an old pair of sweatpants. I started by holding them up to Jonathan for height then lopping off the legs. I tore out the seams so I had two pieces of material in the shape of a funnel. Then, feeling quite smug at how easy this whole sewing thing really was, I sewed up both sides, making, yes, I see my mistake now, essentially a bag into which my son could step, but only wear if he didn’t want to use his hands. (“Oh, dearie”, and other choice words!) Not exactly great if you want to be Robin Hood and steal from the rich to give to the poor. Grrr. So I got out my trusty seam ripper and went to work on those smugly sewn seams (perfect seams too, I’ll have you know), and I put on my thinking cap, clamped my teeth, pursed my lips and began creating. Four hours of sewing later, which really translates into most of the day because of stopping to get snacks, stopping to take Annisia to the potty, stopping to wash Annisia off and change her clothes because I didn’t get her to the potty in time, stopping for lunch, stopping to put Annisia down for a nap… four hours of sewing later, I was done. Four hours of my life sewing a Robin Hood tunic that Jonathan then wore… for the next three days. (heehee…can you tell I am pleased?!) But minutes after putting said tunic on, what did he do? Did he thank me profusely? No (although the glee in his face was fairly rewarding.) Did he proceed to go off and win the archery contest so he could kiss Maid Marion? No. What did he do? He said what he really needed was a hat and shoes like Robin Hood. Waaaaaahhhh! Why me?

Darla Markovsky, January 2009, written for MOPS newsletter

That day after sewing the tunic. No, Jonathan isn't about to backhand Annisia, it just looks that way!January 7 after Aunty Leilani showed my how to make a Robin Hood hat, cut out a feather, and I winged a pair of moccasin shoes. Isn't he dapper?!
In the whole get-up, shooting a crossbow like Nutsy in the movie.

RRRRobin Hood!

Jonathan got to watch the animated version of "Robin Hood" one evening. Now he's really into it. The next day, (while I was supposed to be sewing basket inserts for the Longaberger baskets Michael is sending out to 2008 customers), Jonathan asked if I could make him a Robin Hood dress. I looked all over the house for a big green t-shirt I could just belt for him. No luck! Then I spotted a pair of green sweat pants that was slated for cutting for rags. Perfect! So I cut off the legs, slit them up the seams, then sewed it all together, realized I had just made a perfectly good bag but NOT a tunic, ripped out what I had just sewed, bit back a few bad words, (said a few in spite of myself), made several other attempts, ripped out a few more seams, growled a few times at my sweet boy who was getting impatient for his "Robin Hood dress", made lunch, put Annisia down for a nap, then managed to finish the tunic in just under 4 hours! Yes, you read that right...4 hours of my life making this thing. Man was I stressed out! Sewing machines and I do not have a very good relationship. They have always been a source of stress for me. Just ask my mom and my home economics teacher! Seam rippers and I, on the other hand, have a very bonding relationship! Yep, we are like apples and pie. I really think I should have invested in an ergonomic handled seam ripper...
Here he is, with his quiver (a Basmati rice bag), and bow (handle off of a basket and shoelace). His arrows were raspberry stalks cut last spring so they were nice and dry.

He wore it the rest of that day, the next 2 days, and took it off (under duress) to go to Bible study. I think he likes it. He still wants a hat and shoes to look more Robin Hood authentic. We may have to wait until Aunty Leilani comes to visit to do those!