Happy Halloween 2011

You've been hearing about the kids' costumes since August so without further delay here they are:

Miss Roo was a perfect Rainbow Brite!

Big Brother's wish granted, praying mantis.

I have come to the conclusion the better the kids costumes, the crappier my own. I may have to (sniff) give it up soon. I bought Riley's dress on Ebay over the summer. She's seen my Rainbow Brite movie and has a few toys I passed down so she was excited. After I had the dress I got her some rainbow leg warmers on Amazon and scrunched them over her pink books. So much cuter than the boot covers that some Rainbow Brite costumes come with. After that I threaded (rather Aunt Lara did with floss as a threader) a red star shaped button on thin purple ribbon. I put Riley's hair in the required side ponytail, tied thicker darker purple ribbon around it and then tied the thin ribbon with the star around the middle of the bow. The last touch was a small star sticker on her cheek and a tiny bit of roll on glitter. She looked amazing.

Isaac's praying mantis request was much more challenging and required every resource we possessed. I started by hunting for lime green clothes. Shock of shocks the eighties have ended and people aren't so into lime green attire. Eventually, I found leggings in the little girl's section and a workout shirt in the ladies department of Target that did the trick. Some Google-Fu produced the amazing Mantis mask. It has compound eye or regular vision. A mix of green, yellow and white face paint gave us the right shade for his face. The most time consuming part were the "claws". Mike bought a yard of lime green fabric, lime green thread and lime green ric rac. He sewed and stuffed them. Then tapped the ends to his sleeves with my lime green duct tape. Isaac was so proud of those.

One more year of Riley Trick-or-Treating from my lap in the wheelchair. Although she did get up and walk to the door with her brother a few times. What a doll!


And that's a wrap. Thank You and goodnight.

The Last of the Halloween Crafts

I did add the bats to the spooky banner:

I did a Google image search for “silhouette of a bat” with it narrowed to large images. I dragged this fella into my Silhouette Studio software. Then I cut two out on my machine. I sprayed them with adhesive and covered them in black glitter.

I also did another banner. This time I bought one from Joann's Fabric for less than $1 and decorated it myself.

Before I started.

Isaac helping me punch out bats.

Halfway done.

Close-up. It's Marths Stewart glitter in Orange Sorbet. The black glitter is called Onyx. I bought a set of them for a craft class.

All done. It took hours. The down side to decorating a pre-assembled banner is you can only work on a section at a time without messing the other letters up. I had to do a letter or two and then do something else until they dried. Shake off excess glitter, brush off anything that didn't shake off with a small dry paint brush and start again.

HAPPY

HALLOWEEN

Ashes, Ashes We All Fall Down

The other day I took Miss Roo to the library. When we got out of the car my literary little bit said "we have the only Gak in town" (a line from One Fish, Two Fish). It was nice and cool that morning so after our book business we went over to the playground. I always forget about the playground in front of the library, but it seemed like a day to finally try it out. It was 10am so there was only one other family there. It was an adorable little boy Riley's age, his 10mo old brother and Mommy.

We had a great time with our new friends. Everything was damp so the corkscrew slide was not slippery at all and the straight down slide was like a rocket. It was pretty comical watching them scoot down one slide and shoot down the other in turn. After some sliding and general merriment the kiddos decided to swing.

I was pushing Riley on the swing and chatting with her new friend's mom when as it often does my balance deserted me. She swung back and BAM! So embarrassing! I laughed and made a big deal about her swinging so high she knocked me over. My new Mommy friend was really cool about it. Much cooler than most people would have been. She didn't sound shocked or overly concerned when she asked if I was ok. When I assured her I was fine she didn't insist on helping me up or get super handsy. That's the worst when a stranger grabs you and forces you to your feet.

When it was time to go Riley exclaimed "That was a fun party!" It was adorable. I don't even think she noticed my fall. I explained it wasn't a party we just visited the playground. She persisted, "Fun party at the playground." What can you say?

After nap it was time to go get Isaac from school. Riley had spent the morning wearing her Dora backpack and holding Mommy's hand. Apparently, she hadn't had enough because she didn't want to ride in my lap in the wheelchair like we usually do, she wanted her backpack. It seemed like a good idea since it was still cool.

On the way back we cut through the neighbors yard. Still no progress on the sidewalk situation, by the way. So, we cut through their yard to get out of the street since I was on foot. In the last few steps before the front door my foot caught in some weeds. Just at that moment Riley ran around me, circling the lead from the backpack around my crutch and legs. I yelled for her to stop and come back, but it was too late. My upper body twisted while my feet stayed firmly planted and BAM!

It was such a bad one the neighbor boy ran inside to get help. Now I was embarrassed and dreading the moment the adrenaline would wear off. I assured my very concerned neighbor I'd be ok and got to my feet. I also thanked her son for looking out for me. They're really nice people. I did get a few more hours before I really felt it and then Oh, man did I feel it. Ouch.

Stupid Gravity

We Have to Go Back...

To The Future!

Who doesn't love that trilogy? As you can see Isaac was Marty for Halloween last year, but because we were on a cruise and I had hip surgery as soon as we got back he never got his Back to The Future birthday party. Until Now...

This is the rough draft of his invitation. I'm pleased. I need to check on whether gigga watts is one word and whether this color font is readable on black card stock, but I think we're pretty close.

Photo Thursday!

Last week Jack-Jack came to play! I couldn't choose just one:

Wagon-ing it up with little J (Jack's brother).

They ran in circles taking turns on the slide, so cute!

Want to know what's more fun than a playground? Wheelchairs! (Or medical equiptment in general...)

It's ok he can play in the wheelchair, I found a plane!

Bye,Bye Hugs!! (note: niether of them let go of their toy).

Riley Loves Pumpkins!

I can not explain in words how much my daughter enjoys pumpkins, so I'll show you.

Riley at the pumpkin patch, one month old.

Experimenting with pumpkins, 13mos old. We carved the one she's sitting on, but she also picked out one of her own.

Before we carved it. I do not miss the "everything in the mouth" days!

Admiring her Jack-O-Lantern. It's an LED light, guys.

She had so much fun I took her back in costume to meet up with her friends. My camera died soon after the other babies joined us. The pumpkin patch is Riley's Diseny World.

This year, 25mo and thrilled with life!

What a difference a year makes!

Back again to meet our friends for the now annual Pumpkin Patch Picnic. That is joy folks.

That is Boo and Roo with matching pumpkin clipies I got on Etsy. Those smartie pants have line up those pumpkins in size order!

Happy Pumpkin Picking

Try Triple Whammy...

It was a long rough night with two sick kiddos. I'll spare everyone the gory, smelly, gross details. I didn't get a good amount of sleep as I hoped. I actually did very little overnight compared to Mike who was scrubbing floors, changing sheets and other things my back isn't up to. Surprisingly both kids were in better spirits this morning.

I was not. I woke up to conclusive proof of a UTI, ugh. So, exhausted and slightly feverish I soldiered on. Isaac opted to go to school and I was bound and determined to get Riley to a picnic we'd been rained out off the week before. I called my doctor and then I rallied. I'm sure had Mike been in my place he would have put a movie on for the grouchy toddler with tummy trouble and laid back down.

Maybe that's what any sane person would do. I, however took Riley to the pumpkin patch for a picnic with her friends. When it was over she and I both slept heavily. A nap and a dose of antibiotics later it was time to get Isaac from school. After that it was time to take my little ballerina to dance class. She did great. In fact she did really well all day. She was clingy and grouchy, but she seemed fine.

When we got home she got sick again. Poor kid. Poor me. So, to re-cap Isaac wins fastest working immune system. He didn't make very wise choices while I was at dance class and Mike was finishing his work so he's lost television privileges tomorrow. Nobody's perfect. Long day. Mike stressed, Isaac in trouble, Riley still sick and me exhausted.

Double Whammy

I still haven't caught up on my sleep since last week. Riley's been super clingy and the cooler weather although delightful makes me stiff. I don't mean to whine, but with the horrific teething episodes over the weekend I thought today would be a chance to rest.

Wrong-o. Riley woke me up at 1am. I forgot to mention I gave up coffee starting this week. I knew I'd become pretty dependent which made me mad since I don't really like coffee in the first place. Caffeine also makes it harder to heal and I'm having surgery in two weeks. Way down at the bottom of the list is the fact that I'm getting married in 4ish months and I want shiny white teeth. I digress, Riley wet the bed at 1am.

I sleep walked through my day and soon Isaac was home from school with a fever. Why didn't I nap while I had the chance? Soon I was rushing out to get Riley while my mom sat with Isaac. I manged a Daddy type super power and left seconds before the puking started. It turns out I had two sick kids to contend with.

I made them Ramon for dinner and I'm going to bed early. Ugh.

Embracing the Inner Nerd

Who am I kidding? It's not inner at all. Maybe it's slightly less obvious though.

My kids really never had much of a shot at being cool.

So Many Steves!

For Mike's uncle's 60th his wife threw a party. The party was not a surprise. However, his wife asked everyone to dress as the birthday boy. That part was a surprise. Everyone looked great. Mike dressed up on behalf of our family.

Mike as a nuclear engineer. This is my favorite picture of him from tonight. He looks like he's working in a lab.

Here's Mike and his cousin Pete, Steve's son, who's dressed like Steve from the 80's.
Awesome

One last picture. This is the real Steve in the middle flanked by two more clones, his son and daughter-in-law.

This was an awesome idea for a birthday party. She even put up a wall of pcitiures of Steve spanning his entire lifetime. I hope to have an everyone come as Mike party someday. Speaking of Mike how hot does he look in those nerdy glasses? I think he'll re-use the outfit with a wig and be Doc Brown for Halloween. Fun stuff.

Week END.

This week my often present to the point of annoyance partner in parenting was completely MIA. It was supposed to be 48hrs of him disappearing before 7:30am and rolling in well after 11pm. It did not go down that way at all. He had to go a day early and help an extra day at the end. Apparently the conference was a huge success and everyone's pleased. Everyone except me who is exhausted.

Thursday, Miss Roo's little boyfriend came to play. It was a beautiful day out so they spent most of the time they were here in the backyard. I love our backyard so much! After nap my mom surprised me by showing up with dinner. It was a good day. I thought I'd made it through and I could relax a little.

Friday, Mike was off again. I took Riley over to Boo's and all the babies seemed off. Sad or tired or sick, just off. I stayed until lunch time trying to help and hug them all. I went home and fell sound asleep on the couch until it was time to get Isaac from school. Not long after I got a phone call about Riley and rushed off to scoop her up as well.

Mike was home by dinner time for the first time all week, but Riley fell alsleep at the table which isn't like her at all. A few hours later she was up screaming and burning up. So much for some quality time with Mike and a good night's sleep. Tylenol helped and she went back to bed. She was up and down all night long, sans fever. Damn two year molars!

YAWN...

Photo Thursday!

It's been threatening to rain or raining a lot this week. Which means I hurt. It's also the week Mike has had to drive 45min to a convention deal-y for work. He's been gone from 7am-11:30pm two and a half days in a row. So I'm very tired. Being a single parent for even a few days stinks. I'm lucky I have such a good network of friends and family to lean on (and I've leaned heavily!).

Matching mother daughter dresses? Nope. Sailor suits, no. Not this week. This week we wore matching sweats on Tuesday.

Footprint Ghosts!

Materials

• Bare foot toddler
• White washable paint
• Dark colored construction paper
• Paint brush
• Wet cloth
• Googly eyes
• Markers/crayons/glitter

Grab your bare foot sweetie pie. Now, I painted her foot with a paint brush, but if you're doing this with a group or an older child you can have them step in a plate of paint. Either way paint the foot making sure you coat the heel well. Then press their foot or have them stand on the paper. I let Miss Roo sit on the dinning room table, do you like my witches? I did the first two letting her stand up , but it worked out much better when she sat and I pressed her foot down. Remember it's the upside down foot that makes a ghost.

Leave the footprints to dry. Wipe off your assistant. I used Crayola washable paint. I like it because it comes off with water. It also dries quickly.

Once the footprints dry decorate them. My helper said "Ghosts say Boo! Put bows to look pretty." So I glued googly eyes and used red glitter glue to make mouths. I also gave a couple of them pretty purple bows. I helped the babies at the daycare do these this morning. They made hand print pumpkin patches on black paper and had their ghosts flying over their pumpkins, very cute.

Let the Crafting Begin!

I made myself a whole list of Halloween craft ideas. Today was supposed to be gross and stormy so I donned sweats and prepared to craft. First, I wanted to make a banner like this adorable one I found on Etsy:

Materials

• Scrapbooking paper/cardstock
• Silhouette/Scissors
• Glue stick
• Yarn/ribbon
• Hole punch/Crop-a-dile
• Grommets
• Toddler Assistant Optional

This one was pretty easy and relatively fast to accomplish. First, I selected a patterned paper for the letters. I used a free font site to find a "haunted house" font. The letters resembled melting wax. I used my Silhouette cutter to cut the letters. I love my Silhouette so much. I got it "for wedding stuff" who are we kidding, that was just a good excuse. Anyway, I cut over a 100 save the date magnets with it recently so my blade was super dull. If you get one order extra blades. By the time I was cutting the background ovals the blades wasn't cutting all the way through the paper.

I chose brown paper for the background ovals. I just used the shape tool to make an oval around the biggest letter in Silhouette studio and then pasted the oval on to a new document. Then I arranged the ovals so the correct number would fit on a page. Unfortunately, as you already know they didn't cut properly so I followed the outlines left by my dull blade with regular scissors (and then immediately ordered 2 replacement blades).

After I had all the pieces cut I glued them together. Then I punched two holes in each. I put copper colored grommets into the holes with my trusty Crop-a-dile. Then I cut a length of orange yarn. It was the only color I had on hand. I would have preferred brown, but it was still in the fall palette. If you choose yarn rather ribbon make sure you wrap the end with scotch tape to create an aglet so it doesn't fray. (Yeah, I said aglet).

The nice thing is you have a lot of wiggle room once you have the letters on the yarn. You can leave big gaps and put spider rings or tied ribbons in between. I decided to keep mine simple. Partly because my bat paper punch was too tiny for bats in between to be recognizable and also because Riley's nap ended.

I cut out some bigger bats to hang above the banner in the archway of the family room. I haven't painted the big bats, but I'll post pictures when some of my other crafts are complete. Yay, homemade Halloween!