For the past 6 years I have either bought my girls' Halloween costumes used from Craigslist or from the thrift store, or have made their costumes. I tend not to spend a lot of money on costumes that the girls will only wear for a few hours max. This year is no exception for Tottie. My sweet, little 4 year old wants to be a zombie. Where she got the idea from is beyond me, but that's what she wants to be. Sooo...I took a pair of her old pjs, ripped them up, and sewed some red fabric behind the tears. I then took them outside and stomped them in the mud. To finalize the costume I will spray some fake blood on the pjs, put Tottie's hair in crooked pigtails, cover her face in grey makeup, and put a gash tattoo on her cheek. She can't wait to see the final look and neither can I!!Nutty, however, is a different story this year. After being undecided on what she wants to be and searching through multiple used costumes for ideas, we ended up buying the above costume new this evening at … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2012
Pumpkin Picking–A Family Affair
Halloween is on Wednesday! Have you picked and carved your pumpkins yet? I'll share a secret, we haven't (GASP!). No need to worry, we're going this evening. After all, if you carve your pumpkins too early they get yucky before Halloween anyway. Plus, we tend to turn our carved pumpkins around to the uncarved side after Halloween and use them for Thanksgiving decorations on our door step. If you haven't been to a pick your own pumpkin patch with your kids, I highly suggest you find one in your area! It's so much fun to watch your kids walk through the field to find the perfect pumpkin... ...and even more fun to watch them try to cut it off the vine! Walking through pre-picked "perfect" pumpkins or digging through a bin of pumpkins no longer cuts it for my family. We enjoy the hunt!Sooo...this evening we're going pumpkin picking...what are you doing? … [Read more...]
Pinned it, Did it!–Not Really…
I didn't have time this week. As much as I want to try all those fun things on Pinterest, I have a real life that requires time (shocking, I know!). Between my PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) classes in the middle of the week (remember, I'm used to only working on the weekends) and preparing for Tottie's friend birthday party on Friday evening and the family birthday party on Saturday evening, my life was CRAZY this week! I had some awesome ideas from Pinterest to do for Tottie's birthday but that just didn't happen. I ended up buying everything. Sometimes you just gotta do that for sanity sake! I DID however, manage to finish Tottie's zombie Halloween costume for her birthday party tomorrow! I'm pretty proud of myself for that one and can't wait to show you the finished look of her in it! Nutty has yet to determine what she wants to be. Guess Hubby will have to take her shopping this weekend... So how was your week? Are you prepared for Halloween? … [Read more...]
Alien Eggs
I had every intention of surprising my girls with something called Spidery Eggs for breakfast in the morning. My nephew was over so I recruited him to help me make them. The problem was, nothing went right so I ended up changing my plan. I actually like these Alien Eggs better anyway! I started by boiling three eggs. One however, completely split while it was boiling. No problem, I had two more anyway... I then mixed a bunch of blue, red, and green food coloring together until I got something that resembled dark black water. If you are one of those people that worries about artificial dyes, you can substitute boiled blueberry water for the dye water. Next, my nephew and I carefully removed the hard boiled eggs from the boiling water and held them with a folded towel. Now, my nephew was suppose to put his egg on the counter, cover it with the towel, then gently tap it with the end of a wooden spoon...this would have given a nice spider web looking crack on the bottom. … [Read more...]
If You Had Months to Live…
Last week my local news did a follow up story on the family of a woman named Amy Taylor. Her life was cut all too short at the age of 34 due to breast cancer. She left behind a husband and two small children.What's so different and special about Amy that she made the local news? It was her attitude and what she left behind for her children that made an impression on many. When Amy was told that her breast cancer was un-treatable, she chose not to dwell on dying, but to live and to continue "living" for her children even after her death. Please watch this video. I'm warning you though, you WILL need tissues! I will be 34 at the end of this month. I can not imagine leaving my children behind, not being there for all of their "firsts". This amazing woman found a way to be at her children's "firsts" despite not physically being there. What if you knew you had less than a year to live? What would you leave for your children? How would you spend those last months? For those … [Read more...]
Easy Spiderweb Making
We don't have a lot of store-bought Halloween decorations for our house because we prefer to make them. Here's an easy, fun, and occasionally messy way to make spiderwebs for decoration! To make them you'll need: White yarn (or black if you want to make your spiderweb shadowy) Simple flour and water paste (mix four and water together to make a paste) Paper Pen Wax paper Scissors Start by drawing a spiderweb on your paper. We made ours a corner spiderweb but you can make a full round one. Yes, I realize that I drew my lines wrong above. We figured that our half-way through making our web! If your children are a little older, you probably do not need to draw a spiderweb first. Cover your paper with wax paper to prevent sticking when you glue it together. Dip pieces of yarn into your paste mixture and put them on the wax paper following the lines you drew. Make sure to press together the places where your yarn meets. Wait till your spider web … [Read more...]
