Out of this World

Just a real quick post to show off the Halloween costumes of 2013.

But before I proceed, I'd like to ask, Who's Your Daddy?

Probably Darth Vader. Turns out he's not only Luke Skywalker's dad, but also Princess Leia's. Who knew? I still thought they were boyfriend and girlfriend, not brother and sister.

Apparently I continue to hold my reign as the only person alive that hasn't watched Star Wars.

Speaking of Leia, check this out:

That right there yielded the most likes on Facebook I've ever had.  And she was a huge sensation at Daddy's work. I texted it to him, he showed his boss who then said he needed to show his wife; someone else overheard and by the end of the day people were showing up in D's office asking to see her. Today her teacher told me that just between us, she had the best costume! She said she couldn't keep her eyes off of her. I noticed when I dropped her off that Ms. Rachel was in awe of her and that she backtracked a little when she was about to compliment her -- ugh all of them :)

I'm going to agree: She was out of this world cute!

And one last look at both of them....another successful Halloween.

The Gotham City Posse

Halloween was pretty low-key this year. Our neighborhood didn't do anything in the way of getting together like we did the last couple of years, which I'm hoping is because Halloween was on a Wednesday.

Really???? I think we should start a petition that designates the last Saturday of October, Halloween.

I mean, if we can celebrate presidents' birthdays on random days, Halloween should be a breeze.

I'll keep you posted on how that works out for me.

Anyway, about a month ago while at Wal-Mart, M spotted a Bat Girl costume and had to have it.

It was adorable, so I splurged the 20 bucks and got it.

 J had mentioned he wanted to be a ninja, and I was resigned to the fact that theme costumes for the kids would no longer be. However, once he realized she was going to be a superhero, he changed his mind and decided he'd go as Batman.
I was thrilled because he already has the costume that was a hand-me-down from Baby Joe. 

But, he changed his mind.
Daddy would be Batman and he would be Robin.

In keeping with the theme, I would go as Catwoman.

Never mind that we didn't go anywhere. We all dressed up.

They walked the neighborhood and I passed out candy.

And here we are:

THE GOTHAM CITY POSSE

Aren't we cool?

Robin thinks so!

And one more of the superheroes together.

Carving Out Some Family Fun

Weekdays are pretty much business around here. We have a routine that we tend to adhere to from Monday through Thursday. The kids' fun is limited to watching a show and maybe playing Legos or Beyblade. Sometimes we get a short board game in before it's time to take showers, brush teeth, and read books.

Tonight was different. I realized yesterday that we hadn't carved the pumpkins M and I picked up last week. If we were going to get it done before Halloween, today was the day to do it.

We started out with having breakfast for dinner. This could be the first time in my almost-ten years of marriage that has happened. D and I are going to Mexico in 11 days and have 

been eating no carbs for about a week.

Omelets were on the menu.

And D makes a mean one!

Then it was time to get our carving on!

It was M's first foray into the pulling-guts business, and she was elbow deep in it. She even donned an apron. 

J picked one named "Pirate Jack" and M's was called "Traditional Happy" which she quickly changed to Princess Jackie. 

We wrapped up the night with homemade caramel apples and caramel/cheese popcorn ~ not homemade, but delicious. 

Both D and I caved and had some.

We suck.

Our night didn't.

BOO???

Before moving to WA we came out on a house-hunting trip. We looked at tons of houses before deciding on the place we now call home. Back then, there was only one house that was occupied; the rest of the neighborhood consisted of homes in various stages of construction and empty lots.

After moving in, we endured a couple of years of noisy mornings, strangers up and down the street, and nails on the street. But little by little, lot after lot, houses started popping up on what was once a pile of dirt and rocks. Lights came one, people waved, and homes were made.

People from all four corners of the country came together in a little neighborhood on Olympia's west side.

Five years later only a couple of homes remain empty. I love our neighborhood. We are surrounded by good people here. Not all of us are friends, but we're all neighborly.

During the summer months, at any given time, there are kids on the street. They vary in age and gender. And just like their parents, not all of them are friends, but there's always room for one more body to join the shenanigans at hand.

Last year someone started BOOing folks during the month of October. Basically a treat is left at the home of a neighbor along with some instructions. You tape your BOO sign on your door and BOO two other people that don't have one on theirs. The kids get a kick out of it.

On Monday I got home to a cool metal cat and a tin full of candy. I set out the next day to get goodies. Today when J got home from school he asked me why we got BOOed again. Well, I have no idea! As I drove through the neighborhood I noticed that many of the houses have multiple signs on their doors.

BOO to not following directions? No way...YAY to our cool rebel neighbors.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A Purrfect Knight

Halloween has come and gone.

There were friends. There was food. There was fun.

a Purr-fect

Knight!

Knight

Pumpkin...

Pumpkin Faces

Pumpkin Beer
Pumpkin Patches
always near

Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Pie

They're the Pumpkins of my eye!

Pumpkins Real

and Pumpkins Fake

Let's pull out our trusted rake.

Pumpkin Bagels

Pumpkin Creamer

Pumpkin Bread ~ Sometimes for dinner.

Pumpkin Coffee

Pumpkin Candles

Time to put away our sandals.

Pumpkins Big

Pumpkins Small

Pumpkins, Pumpkins for us all!

From my heart

♥

right from the bottom

Wishing you a Happy Autumn!

'Hood Crawl

Like a kid-friendly version of a pub crawl that included an eclectic cast of characters:

Jesse & Buzz,

Jaws & Casper,


Wolverine & Spider Girl,

a spider-observing dragon,

And Princess Leah,

they went from house to house;

five in all.

For there were crafts to be made,

games like Pumpkin Bowling,

and Skittles Toss to be played,

A pinata to crush,

cupcakes,

worm-infested dirt,

and candy to be eaten.

Not to mention a Haunted House scary enough

to have the Defender of the Universe

biting his nails!

It was the Woodtrails

1st Annual Halloween

'Hood Crawl!

This to That

It was right around this time last year that I told myself I was going to take a sewing class. While I don't aspire to stitch together haute couture, I do think that it's helpful to know your way around a sewing machine for certain things. On top of that list would be Halloween costumes. There's always the stuff at the store, but there seems to be two categories for those, cheap and ugly or decent and expensive.

When I decided M was going to be Jesse this year I looked to see what I could find. There was plenty that fell into both of the slots above but nothing in her size. So I went to JoAnns and bought the fabric. After some cutting and trimming, stitches were added to this,

along with a hat,

and she ended up with that:

You'll notice the after buying the fabric, the word "I" was never used in the above step by step. That's because "I" didn't do anything but buy the fabric. I haven't even taken the sewing class yet. My mom gets all the credit for her costume. She did it all by hand. She's amazing at doing stuff like that. When I was young I would show her a dress I liked and she'd go home and make it without a pattern. She made the mattress for the kids' bassinet and more recently she stitched a place mat into a pillow.
Intimidating? Yeah, a little. I should have learned from the best when I had the chance to do so. (Sigh).

Anyway, once M's costume was all done, I started to look for something J could wear. There was NO way I was going to put my mom through making a Buzz Lightyear costume without a sewing machine. Although she probably could have if given some time.
Instead I resorted to the store variety. The cheap-and-ugly store variety to be exact.
I couldn't bring myself to spend $50 bucks for the Disney Store version.
Did I mention it was the Wal-Mart-cheap-and-ugly store variety?

But when I added these

to the polyester, one piece, painted on, no muscle
Buzz Lightyear, he had this:

A much more respectable Space Ranger if I do say so myself.


Our trip to the pumpkin patch was late this year
and it was slim pickins once there:

But we did manage to get a decent one.

With a little bit of this

and a little bit of that

we had a scary Jack 'o Lantern in no time.

And so the day finally came.

The sun was out and the rain stayed away.

The candy, the kiddos, and the house were ready.

And just like that, it went.

The candy bowl is empty; the costumes, piled on the floor;

and the sun has been replaced by wind and rain causing the

pretty looking porch to go from that to this

in less than 24 hours.

Happy November Everyone!