Happy Halloween!

We had a highly varied array of costumes this year for Halloween.  One year we might figure out how to do a whole family thing, but for now...  I guess we continue to be individuals.

Kari, who was the green Ninjago last year, wanted to be a teenage mutant ninja turtle this year.  She asked her daddy to help her make a shell.  Using only a cardboard box, and some duck tape, he was able to magically transform this little girls into....

 A turtle!

 He never does things halfway.  And while it is difficult to see from the photo, the shell is actually 3D and has some curve to it.

 That is one happy, preteen, not so mutant, ninja loving turtle! :)

Its just not the easiest to sit down in ;)

 We also had, quite possibly, the cutest little kitten ever.

 I failed to get individual pictures of the other two children.  Apparently, I don't love them as much...  (Not even close).  There is Kari's complete (sans mask) costume, being smart and reusing her ninja costume from last year as the green.  Dylan is a cowboy (although he was one last year as well).  Kelsey the kitten.  And Kaitlyn (also sans mask) the Pink Power Ranger, whose costume comprised of all shades of pink.

 This is what happens when Kaitlyn put her mask on.

Its a good thing she has a cowboy and a TMNT there to protect her!

Happy Halloween!!!

Sick Day

Kelsey got this mystery virus where she ran a 102-103 fever.  No other symptoms it appeared.  After taking her to the doctor, and him confirming no ear infections or sore throat, we rode it out for a day or 3 when it finally seemed to break.  And she was fine.  Correction, she had been fine the whole time, except for the fever.  Anywho, a few days later, Kaitlyn came home from school saying her head and throat hurt.  She looked miserable.  I took her to the doc, thinking it was strep.  Tests came back negative, but he told me to keep her home from school for 24 hours so she wouldn't contaminate anyone else.  Since Kelsey seemed to have already had it, I let them cuddle together during movie day on the couch.

I went outside to get some minor painting touch ups done, and came back in to find Kelsey had fallen asleep on the couch while cuddling with her siblings.

As cute as it was, she woke up when I went to lay her down.  And that 15 minute nap ruined the nap for later in the day.  Ain't that always the way? 

Approximately Crafty, Part 2

Please refer to my previous post about being approximately crafty.  Remember: straight-ish lines, mostly parallel sides, "just right" size.  Enter: The Dance bag.  At the studio the girls take dance, they do tap, ballet and jazz, which means they have 2 (in Kari's case 3) pairs of shoes to bring, because tap shoes do not go on my hardwood floors, and ballet shoes do not go outside.  Being the good mother than I am (translation I did not want to be responsible for carrying the shoes) I brainstormed a way they could do it themselves.  I took the girls to Hobby Lobby and let them pick out their own fabric.  Kaitlyn picked out this pink and purple fabric with little ballerinas all over it, that also has, by the way, glitter.  Yay for glitter in the car every Thursday :p  First, I folded it in half (wrong sides together), and sewed along the bottom and one side.  I thought I was being smart by not having to sew all three sides.  In retrospect, I should have sewed up both sides, so I would have had an easier job of doing the drawstring, but hey!  You live and learn.  I also ended up not using the whole width, because I wanted a more rectangular shape instead of square.

This is Kari's.  She chose SpongeBob fabric.  Then I turned them back the right way and stitched on the felt letter in the color of their choice.  I just freehanded that, and you can tell because it isn't perfect.  Oh well.  they wanted their letter on it, so people would know who it belonged to, but since they are both K's, it is only so helpful, ya know?

At this point I noticed that the bags felt pretty thin, and were kinda see through, so I went down to my craft stash (that I don't use as often as my hubby would like, based on how much stuff I have), and found some white fabric left over, from, oh, 6 or 7 years ago.  I did some really technical measuring and cutting.

Then I turned it right side out and put it on the wrong side of the colored fabric.  In the meantime, I had unpicked the side, as well as cut down the other side, and stitched as close to that line as possible to correct for my previous "smartness" and to prevent fraying (hopefully).  Then I went down to my sadly neglected iron, and pressed the top down once, and once again.

Then I sewed close to the folded, ironed edge securing both the lining in place, and creating a pocket for the drawstring.  You'll note some gathering, which is ok for a "not so exact" drawstring bag.

I then threaded the drawstring through one side, and turned around and threaded it through the other and stitched it down. I did the same, except through the opposite side.  Then I stitched it at the corner of the bag making it like a backpack so the girls could wear it.

Voila!  Took probably 45 minutes each, which was lovely!  The fabric was less than $4, and the cording was on sale for $1/spool (it took a whole spool per bag).  I had the white and the felt on hand.  So, $5 per bag, personalized to their own personalities.

Sometimes, I can be so approximately crafty! :)

Kelsey Videos

Just a couple 30 second video views into Kelsey's life.  On this particular day, I wanted her to say "shoe" for the camera.  Of course she wouldn't.  But I like how she sits down and then shows me how flexible she is.

On this day I marvelled at how genius she is and how she figured out to use a fork: just stab down until you get food :)

Don't worry about the food on the floor.  That is why we have a dog ;)

Stacking

I will give you two guesses as to who was playing here before nap time.

It is actually kind of amazing that it is all still standing.  

Kelsey must have been busy with something else.

Stacking.  I guess it is a boy thing.

Zipper

While camping, Kelsey learned a new trick...  Yay.  (Can you read the sarcasm?)

I know everything was all closed when I laid her down....

Knock knock!  Anybody home?

Oh dear.  There is mommy....

Maybe she didn't notice...

Once again, her learning something new means that my purse and diaper bag are no longer safe....  Sigh.

Gone Campin'

Growing up, camping was one week, in the middle of the hot, humid Virginia bug infested summer, with 100 other girls from church.  While I did enjoy myself somewhat, it was not exactly the experience that made me want to continue for the rest of my life.  Fast forward a few years, and the in laws wanted to get together, but neither party involved (them or us) had the time to drive the whole way.  So, we figured we would meet somewhere in the middle.  To further save cost, we decided to camp out.  Fast forward a few more years, and it has now become a tradition.  And, honestly, I really really enjoy it!  We have outfitted ourselves with good equipment, and we always invite good company.  The only one who found it difficult this time around was Kelsey.  Now, to be fair, she has never been camping before (we had to skip our last two opportunities) and she is teething.  After our first rough night, Nana was nice enough to cuddle her until she fell asleep.  You may take your pick as to which "she" I am referring to. :)

While I do enjoy being outside, especially with the great weather we had, I most assuredly enjoy the company.

It is a time for families.

And multiple, multiple bathroom trips.

And taking walks.

And holding hands.

And riding bikes (although we had to take turns, because mommy didn't bring the helmets, so we all shared cousin Karley's).

And getting water.

And just sitting around and visiting.

And fires.  Have I mentioned I eat better camping than I do at home?  Pop brings steaks, and they are always cooked to order :)

In short, I really enjoy camping now.

And, while I do want my children to go on camping trips with the church, I also want them to have a solid base of fun family trips to draw from too.

Forgive the smoke filter, but I do love the smile :)

Oh, and a time for naps.  Camping is definitely a time for naps :)

And observing.

And eyebrows.  Who doesn't go camping and practice using their eyebrows?

Or eating dirt.

Ok, so maybe we have a bit of work to do still with Kelsey.  But the others really enjoyed it :)

Camping.  Isn't it about time? :)

Photographic Evidence

Photographic evidence, in case you need it, that all my children make the same face.

Amen.

Pigtails

Kelsey does really well with headbands.  Like, leaves them in all day.  Unless we are in the car.  Then they come off first thing.

And while she doesn't really have enough hair in the front to do anything, she has a little bit in the back.

You can almost see both of her pigtails!

She left them in for about 37 seconds, and then pulled them out.

Oh well.  It was cute while it lasted :)

Boomerang

From the kids section at the polo match, the kids brought home some of these cool boomerang things.  Hubby was pretty much the only one who mastered throwing them.

The rest of the kids mostly just dug them out of the ground.

He looks so surprised and pleased, right? :)

Picture perfect catch!