Halloween 2012 - No Tricks, Just Treats!

This year for Halloween, Lydia had the idea to be a lollipop, with her face peeking through a hole, and her legs as the stick.  I love a family theme, and I'll keep doing it as long as all the kids agree, so I took the candy idea and ran with it.

Here is Lydia's concept art, and the finished product:

Lydia's costume was the most time consuming to sew.  The swirl pattern is 66 separate pieces (33 each front and back), plus the stripes of white, all pieced together like a quilt.  Insane!  But Lydia loved it and I think it was just what she had in mind.

Elise recently bought a little gumball machine with her birthday money, and wanted to be that.  The globe is made from 2 extra large disposable cake domes, and the gumballs are foam craft balls with balloons stretched around them.  They are hot-glued to the globe, and some are tied to her pigtails.  Elise could really dispense gumballs to her friends too!  I made the dress with pockets so she could carry a supply of gumballs, and there is a tube behind the silver part  so she can lift a flap at the top, drop in a gumball, and it comes out the chute.  The handle could really turn, and if anyone happened to want to insert a coin, there is a pocket with a round coin opening.  I really loved figuring out the details on this one!

We asked Tyler what kind of candy I should make him, and he definitely wanted to be a candy cane.  At first I tried to convince him to be something less Christmasy, but I'm so glad he was stubborn about it because I love how his costume turned out and he got the best reactions!  Inside the hat is a lightweight framework made out of stiff foam packing material.  It was a little floppy, but he didn't mind too much.  While we were trick-or-treating he told me, "If you're a candy cane for Halloween, and you run, your hat falls sideways."  I'll have to remember that if I'm ever a candy cane for Halloween.

James was a Hershey's Kiss.  I so wanted to teach him to blow kisses to go with his costume, but his kissing talent remains more the attack-your-face-with-an-open-mouth style, which I also love!  He is still just barely learning to take a few steps, and he wouldn't even try to walk in the costume because it threw off his balance.  He also hated his costume at first, I think because the silver fabric was scratchy around the openings, so I added a bit of soft gray fabric to make it more comfortable and he seemed to not mind after that. (You're seeing the back side of the "KISSES" tag, just so you know I didn't write it backwards)

Mike's costume is just brown fleece with white fleece letters stitched on.  We originally had planned on a different candy (Pop Rocks) for his costume, but it came down to what would be fastest to make, and I'm glad I did the Big Hunk, because he is definitely that!

My cotton candy costume is made of pink fleece covered in quilt batting, sprayed with pink spray paint.  My favorite part is the hat, and the scent!  At first I smelled strongly of paint and spray glue and wanted to mask it with something more yummy smelling.  So on Halloween I went to the drugstore, and they actually had cotton candy scented body spray!  It was kinda expensive, but they also had a tester on the shelf.  So I tested it (ahem, right on my costume which I was wearing) and it really did smell like cotton candy!  (Why would anyone want to smell exactly like cotton candy in their everyday life?)  And then I felt kinda guilty walking out of there smelling like their perfume without buying anything, so I bought a swirl lollipop and called it good!

The kids all together:

The whole family:

Happy Halloween!  I hope it was SWEET!

Playing catch-up

Edit: I just added an entry for Elise's birthday (yes, from July) http://mikeandshayla.blogspot.com/2011/07/happy-birthday-elise-fairy-party.html

I've been going back and filling in blanks in the past year of things I meant to blog about. If anyone is interested you can scroll down. To get to the previous page, click "older posts" at the bottom.

Halloween 2011 - A Circus of Costumes!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, prepare to be amazed!

Ooh and aah at the adorable sight of James the World's Tiniest Elephant!

See Tyler the Strongman perform astounding feats of muscular power!

Behold the human canvas, the wonder-in-ink, the Queen of Tattoo... Lydia the Tattooed Lady!

Witness the death-defying highwire acrobatics of Elise the Tightrope Walker!

Dare to look at the lovely yet repulsive curiosity that is Shayla the Bearded Lady!  And wonder at the many talents of the Amazing Mustachioed Mike!

Come one, come all!  One night only, October 31st, 2011!

James's Birth Announcement

Baby James is Here!

Our baby was (finally!) born on Friday August 19th, 5 days past his due date. We arrived at the hospital at about 1:30 a.m., and he was born at 4:35 a.m. I thought maybe I could tough it out and deliver without an epidural, but I realize now I should have practiced some relaxation techniques.

At 8 lbs. 2 oz., he was over a pound heavier than my next-largest baby (Tyler). It took a lot more pushing to get him out, compared to my other babies.  The doctor and nurses kept commenting that it was like delivering a first baby.  He measured 19 3/4 inches long.

We named him James Donald, after his grandfathers. When he is awake he is bright-eyed and alert. His hair is so cute, dark brown with 2 cowlicks right above his forehead (I can't wait to see how it combs!), and about twice as long in the back as it is on top - just like his Daddy's in high school! He also has a birthmark, something none of my other babies have had. You can see it in this picture:

He is eating and sleeping pretty well. He sleeps much better during the day than at night, but I'm sure that will work itself out soon enough. The last few days have been great because Mike has taken a few days off and I can take naps when I need to.

The whole family is in love with baby James. Elise, Lydia, and Tyler all love holding him and kissing his head, and are being very helpful with bringing things like burp cloths when I'm feeding him. They are fascinated by the umbilical cord stump, the poop, the breastfeeding, everything. I love listening to the high-pitched voices that just come naturally to them when they are talking to him.

Here are some cute pictures we took in the hospital. The hospital's newborn photographer was very good but very pricey. I had Mike go home and get a basket and a blanket so we could take our own. I am still learning how to use my fancy camera, but I think ours turned out nearly as cute, for free!

Happy Birthday Elise - Fairy Party

Elise had a fairy themed birthday party this year.

Mike stayed up late with me and helped make this giant paper tree.  We taped it up with blue painter's tape, and in the morning the whole thing was on the floor.  Whoops!  So we re-did it with duct tape.  The toadstool seats are the flour and sugar pails from my pantry, with felt and pillow stuffing to make the tops.

The girls decorated paper bag baskets for a scavenger hunt.  They also painted rocks to look like lady bugs.  Elise thought of the rock painting all by herself.

Earlier in the summer, our next door neighbor cut down a tree that had seen better days.  He was so nice to cut these pieces for me to make a cake pedestal, and then Mike assembled it.  Thanks Rob and Mike!  I was nervous about it tipping with the cake on it, so during the party I used it to display a platter of "fairy berries". Elise's grandpa Clint contributed the giant pinecones, aren't they cool?

My talented friend Kristin offered up a custom made cake for a Relief Society service auction.  I was so excited I won!  Kristin made the most amazing cake to fit the party theme.  Elise was delighted, and all the girls at the party crowded around oohing and aahing, and calling dibs on different flowers and mushrooms.  It was so nice to have one less thing to worry about while preparing for the party, plus this is above and beyond anything I could have done.

We had a nature scavenger hunt.  The girls had a hard time with some of the items on the list (live bugs!), but that was part of the fun!

For this relay, the pool was filled with clear flat marbles (dewdrops!) and they had to get them out with their feet.  If I had it to do again, I would have put the marbles in a bigger pool and had all the girls doing it at the same time.  It was so hot outside, it would have been more fun that way.  Plus, I decided that party games are more fun when they're not as competitive.

I made these cookies as party favors, along with the head wreaths and felt wings.

Elise is growing up so much.  Sometimes she acts like a sassy teenager, but most of the time she is thoughtful and helpful.  Now that we have rearranged the bedrooms for the new baby, Elise is glad to have her own room in the basement, but I think she's still likes having Lydia straight across the hall from her.

Elise has many hobbies like reading, art, making jewelry, and collecting all kinds of pretty and interesting things.  She writes the cutest notes, stories, and song lyrics.  She keeps Lydia and Tyler entertained, cooking up elaborate pretend scenarios with them, and she loves putting on little dance shows for our family.  She is starting to have her own sense of fashion, putting together outfits and accessories without any input from me - which is good, because she's way more stylish than I am!

Earlier this year, Elise had 2 teeth pulled at the dentist because the new teeth were growing in behind them.  She was pretty brave about the whole thing, and very excited (though slightly skeptical) about the whole tooth fairy thing.  She left a note under her pillow with the teeth, wanting to know the tooth fairy's name (Pearl!), and also asking her not to take the teeth because she wanted to keep them. :)

If Elise is given a choice out of an assortment of anything, she always chooses the most rare or unique thing.  The one oddball spoon, the only blue pencil, whatever.  She likes things that are special and one-of-a-kind.

Happy 7th birthday, Elise!  We love you and think you are special and one-of-a-kind too!

Happy Birthday Lydia - Wonderland Party

Lydia turned 5 this year! I can hardly believe it. And she will be in Kindergarten in the fall. Crazy!

For her birthday, Lydia got birthday clothes, an mp3 player, and some kid-friendly earphones. She is a music lover, and was so excited about having her very own music player.

Also, for about the last 6 months, she has been asking for gum for her birthday. Mike went to the store and picked out a variety of flavors he thought she would like. She was SO happy about having her very own gum!  It didn't last very many days, but for those few days, she was very generous about sharing it with her friends and Elise.

Lydia wanted to wear her Alice in Wonderland costume for her party, so we made the whole thing Wonderland themed. Her friends got to wear and take home simple white pinafores that I made.  Mike stayed up late with me the night before the party to hang up decorations like "This Way" "That Way" signs, and rosebushes with roses painted red. I originally made them for a Young Women activity last fall, but I was so glad I had saved them.

They played Mad, Mad, Hatter (Duck, Duck, Goose) with a funny felt hat I found at Target for $1.

And a game like a cake walk, using the numbers on a sidewalk-chalked pocketwatch. They won different colored "Alice" headbands.

Elise wore last year's Halloween costume and helped with this game, "Queen of Hearts Says" (like Simon Says).

We also did a relay race using flamingo mallets to hit a ball across the yard and back.

Lydia claims that she hates cake, but likes cupcakes. Funny girl! I topped the cupcakes with white buttercream roses, and tried to paint them red using Wilton Color Mist. It wasn't quite the dramatic red I was going for, but they were cute anyway.  The girls drank punch from real teacups, which they loved.  I also made little sugar cookies to send home that said Eat Me in royal icing, but I forgot to take pictures of them!

My mom knows me well enough to offer to come a little early and be an extra pair of hands.  I always seem to bite off more than I can chew and end up scrambling to finish and fit in everything that I planned.  Thanks Mom!

Mike's mom was also able to stop by and wish Lydia a happy birthday!

Lydia is like a ray of sunshine in our home. She has such a positive attitude about things, and shares her delight and amazement about things I would usually overlook. When we do simple activities like going to the playground or flying kites she declares, "This is my best day ever!" She is independent, and likes to do things herself, like make her own sandwiches and breakfasts. She also loves surprising people, and getting everyone laughing. Happy Birthday Lydia!