Happy? Halloween!

When I asked the kids what they wanted to be for Halloween, Beau didn't even hesitate.

"Scorpion!"

My reply..."um, I don't know how to make that happen..."

Bekah was just a moment behind him.

"Artemis!"

I had to ask her who that was, and learned that Artemis is the goddess of hunt. Bekah liked this idea because then she was able to carry a bow and arrow.

Jacob just sat and pouted.

"I don't know..."

We talked about it for a while, and then inspired by a video I had watched with Beau, I said, "How about you're a man being eaten by an anaconda?"

"YES!" He loved the idea. "And I need clothes that look like I'm on safari!"

So we went to work.

Bekah was easy. I altered a dress for her and Rus helped her make a bow and arrow. I made a quiver out of some faux leather and that was it.

For Jacob, I found some awesomely cheap fabric at Walmart that was perfect - black and brown with a shiny smooth texture for 1.99 a yard. I cut out two long, looong strips and sewed them together to make a tube. Then Jacob and I took them outside and spray painted each side with some fabric spray paint we had - copper and silver on the top and yellow on the bottom. Then we figured out how to best sew the mouth to make it open and be able to go on his head. Carla was visiting and we were trying to figure out how to stuff this 10 foot snake. She suggested sheets and stuffed animals. We tried this, emptying our linen closet and Jacob's animal bag...the thing weighed a ton. Jacob couldn't even lift it on his own. We mused on how to fix the problem for several days before appealing to the employee at the UPS store for help. They had a packing peanut dispenser and we just positioned the snake's mouth under the opening and brought that flat snake to life. It was perfect, and with a little bit of genius and effort, it wound around Jacob's body in a light adequate anaconda squeeze.

After all of that work on Jacob's snake, I was ready to work on Beau's scorpion. I have made a dragon and a basilisk lizard costume in the past, and I followed the same format with the scorpion: the same fabric as Jacob, bumpy segmented body on a sweatshirt top, awesome bumpy tail with stinger, and cool gloves. The gloves turned out awesome as a result of several mistakes and then a little divine revelation and a pair of mittens to use as a template. I utilized some boning in the tail to help it curl up, and again felt like a genius when it turned out so well. I spied some extra sprinkler hose in the garage and knew it would be perfect and light for the legs, and Rus helped me figure out how to make the legs bend in the desired shapes (thank you, heat gun), and how to attach them to the body (thank you, pneumatic staple gun). The entire costume was epic-ly amazing. I know I'm bragging. When I die and am asked what great things I accomplished, this will be on the short list.

 

So you can imagine how on the morning of Halloween, when Beau was supposed to get in his costume so he could go to the school and show it off in the storybook parade, but instead he was lying on the floor in his jammies, kicking and screaming and refusing to wear it because the legs were "so jumbly," I went into a kind of resentful, mournful daze.

Well, I say daze, but I was also trying to get all of Bekah's fruit cut up and 24 individual sodas labeled and Marianne's costume on, and lunches packed and myself dressed (along with my normal duties of creating world peace and topping the invention of velcro...)

Beau and Bekah missed the bus. The anaconda, with Jacob inside of it, got on the bus. That is why he was my favorite that day, up until he refused to walk in the storybook parade and instead sat by me coiled in his snake and capturing the attention of all of the kids walking by...(The same attention he wanted to avoid by walking in the parade.)

Anyway, I digress. Eventually all the kids made it to school and Beau decided he liked his costume after all, and Bekah's food got to her classroom relatively unscathed. I watched the parade, Marianne at my side...

and then I went home, swearing off Halloween for the rest of the day.

That night we ate dinner, carved pumpkins, and trick-or-treated.

There are only about 10 homes on our street that participate. We love that about our street. Marianne caught on super fast and was very possessive of her bag of candy. The kids got their loot and then engaged in the same ritual that children for decades have enjoyed - organizing, sorting, and trading every piece of candy.

 Marianne doesn't really care much for candy...

I'm not sure if I'm going to be up for making costumes next year. In fact, I'm pretty sure I swore off costume making more than one time this year, promising Jacob and Beau that they would never have to wear a costume I made ever again. (Because they both at various times cried and refused to wear what they had once begged me to make).

But...

A year might be just long enough to make me forget...

A Visit With Mr. and Mrs. Hartman

I've just had the best few weeks, beginning with the Chones Expedition and ending this weekend with the Balloon Fiesta. My mom (aka "Cutesy"), and dad came up for the Chones Exp. and my mom stayed and played with me while my dad camped with the boys. (He had a great time, was hailed as a fantastic cook and invited to every campout from now on, and was adopted as a surrogate grandpa by all boys in attendance.) My mom and I shopped and crafted. (As per usual - she helps me spend all of my money and then we just have to hunker down and craft.) It is so fun to have three kids in school and just Marianne to tote around. She's a handful, but she actually likes shopping (Beau hated it), and she can hang in there for a full morning before crashing for an afternoon nap. My mom and I shopped thrift stores the most, hunting down wool sweaters to transform into pumpkins and witch boots.
When it was time for Cutesy to head home with Grandpa, she just wasn't ready, and my dad found sympathy in her tears and decided to leave her here on condition that she find some way home soon. So she called my brother Tyler and asked him to come visit. As he and his wife are newly, albeit temporarily unemployed, they were able to make the trip to visit and take her back to AZ when they left. We had a great time - Tyler and Gina and my Mom were all able to go on Beau's field trip to the pumpkin patch, and we ate good food and played at the park and they visited the temple. Gina was working on some super cute baby/halloween sewing projects and got me itching to make a candy corn skirt for Marianne. Tyler was so fun with the kids, especially playing on the playground with Jacob. I'm so glad they came!
Then a few days after Cutesy, Tyler, and Gina left, Rus' cousin Tom and his wife Suzy came to visit for the Balloon Fiesta! These two newlyweds are some of my favorite people!
(Here they are checking out the aspens in Santa Fe. I love that Suzy always poses so Tom looks a little bit taller than her...)

They flew in Friday morning, and the kids held a private "kid meeting" before they arrived. Bekah and Beau determined that they would make Suzy bracelets, and that they would make Tom and Suzy's bed every morning and put mints on the pillow every time. (They totally did it, too!)
We had lunch and visited for a while after they arrived and then decided to take advantage of the afternoon and go see the fall leaves in Santa Fe. Thankfully the leaves were still there, but we were surprised by the SNOW! It was cold! Especially for Suzy's bare feet in flats and Tom's in Chuck Taylors. But the colors were beautiful and the kids enjoyed throwing their first snowballs of the season.

I love this picture of myself and Bekah...with our pink noses (it was cold!)

Rus took this great shot of a little stream in a canyon

Saturday was a super busy day, and it started early, early. We went to the Balloon Fiesta, leaving at a dark 5am (and sitting in mild traffic until arriving at a great parking spot). The mass ascension was a flop, but a bunch of balloons still went up and Tom and Suzy were still impressed. I showed Suzy how to run between the balloons as they were being inflated, and that was her favorite part (mine too!).
We met up with Officer Steve O. at the Tag Your Tots truck.
 
 Don't Suzy and Tom look so great here with their two children?

 There was a classic-style fire truck chase vehicle there, curiously named "The Gentle Stripper." Tom had to have a picture with it, of course. He wants to be a fire truck when he grows up...
 
 Kudos to ARIZONA!

The rest of Saturday was a blur of soccer games, piano lessons, a birthday party for one of Jacob's friends...culminating in a great date night with Tom and Suzy. We ate at a dive - but it was tasty! (Mary and Tito's cafe on 4th street - New Mexican food - You've never had a "turnover" like this one...) ...And had dessert and ran some errands and talked and talked.

I'm so grateful for good friends and family (especially when they are one in the same!)