Happy Halloween!

from Glinda the Good, the Wicked Witch of the West, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Lion, and Dorothy...

Costuming #3

Hopefully our scarecrow will like his costume a lot more on our big day because to say that he is not a fan of it would be a gross understatement.  He found it tolerable until today, when we added the completed hat.  Not. A. Fan.  The only picture I could get that was not blurred by his swinging head (in an attempt to remove the hat) was this tear-filled one.  This one was also extremely easy.  Some felt, some rafia, some old fabric and an orange romper.    We are off to see the Wizard...

Costuming #2

Here is our scary lion!  I knew our second child would not need much convincing in the costume department--he loves everything about them, especially their roars!  We don't make much of the looking for his courage part and we have one happy trick or treater!  This one was a cinch to put together--got the idea here and made some modifications.  And tomorrow... the cutest scarecrow I ever did see!

Costuming #1

For possibly the first time in my life, I started planning our Halloween weeks in advance and finished the costumes over a week before Halloween.  Our costumes are almost always put together in the 11th hour and we generally look like a ragtag bunch.  Not this year.  The hubby and I had a costume party to attend last weekend; this jump-started the preparations.  My sewing machine has moved downstairs for the month and our dining room is, um, slightly messy [it is becoming harder to convince my children to clean up their toys at the end of the day when mine are all over the floor, and the table, and the rest of the dining room furniture].

First up in the costume postings is my dear little Dorothy.  I actually fear that she is going to be my dear little grumpy Dorothy, as she was persuaded into this one by her brother, her grandma, and her mother {first choice: baby mermaid}.  I modified the lazy days skirt pattern by oliver + s for the jumper by adding a bib and straps.  Buttons and buttonholes were new to me (so that is what that funny little square is for on my sewing machine.)  So today, Dorothy.  Tomorrow one very SCARY lion...

Thankful

Today I am thankful for
{cornbread dressing}
{little plastic pets--25 of them}
{champagne}
{the snortling of our infant}
{Texas in November}
{flat land and running}
and {acorns} of course

Easter Eggs!

I remember last year about this time wishing that our Norah was old enough to dye Easter eggs. She grew up so fast in this last year--I hope I never wish her older again. Now I want these days to slow down. I want her to keep saying, "Pick you up," when she wants me (or anyone else to hold her), I want her to keep saying, "Dadee" when she really means, "What is that?" and I want her to keep calling band-aids, ban-bans. These days they are going by at whirlwind speeds.

So we did dye Easter eggs today--a new and nifty no vinegar way. I was kind of looking forward to mixing those little Paas bisquits into vinegar and boiling water, but alas those days, too, are no more. The babies of 2008 put their boiled eggs in a bag, pout dye into the bag and VOILA!, they have dyed eggs. The whole process takes very little time and creates a lot of waste. Next year, I will get some natural food coloring and we will do it our own way.

In some knitting news, I have finished the baby present that I have been diligently procrastinating (details to come). I also have completed the thrid Christmas stocking out of the foursome. I am waiting on the fourth to felt it so that I conserve some water.

Tomorrow, Nonna, the kids and I are headed into the city to go to the children's museum. Wish us luck.