Halloween Ideas -- 2010

So. There are only approximately 9 weeks left until Halloween. If I'm going to be sewing any costumes, I'm going to have to start soon. Unfortunately, I've hit a roadblock. Well, several, actually.

Roadblock #1: The Eldest wants all the kids to match. I have no problem with this, especially as the girls want to be cowgirls and we have most of the necessities to pull that off. Minus boots. They've outgrown the boots and we only had one pair anyway. Perhaps I can make them sprats of some kind.

The Eldest was going to be a scarecrow (really not a far cry from a cowgirl, when you think about it) because she wanted to match The Boy, whom she decided was going to be a pumpkin. Again, we have a pumpkin hat and I can do the freezer paper stencil thing on a white onesie and all will be well.

Where's the roadblock, you say? The Eldest wants the trunk to match the costumes. However, when it comes to pumpkins...

...been there (Halloween 2009)...


...done that (Halloween 2007).


I did it in 2006 too, and 2005, though I don't have any easily accessed pictorial records of such.

So, not wanting to do a pumpkin patch AGAIN--that's roadblock #1.

Roadblock #2: Costume indecisiveness on my part. As you'll recall, two years ago I wanted to make this cute little number:


But due to circumstances beyond my control, I was not able to. And last year I was hugely pregnant. Regency dresses are NOT for the hugely pregnant. So this year, I was going to make the dress in black silk (maybe--my silk's in nine-inch wide strips, so I'd have to do some interesting piecing) and decorate the trunk in Gothic style--black and subdued red with lots of spiderwebs and chandeliers and silver. You know, to match MY costume.

On the other hand, I've been dying to make a frock coat (a la Captain Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean) and I have the denim to do so. It could, by some stretch of the imagination, go with the pumpkin patch/harvest theme. Sigh. Paired with a white blouse and a denim skirt, it could be some kind of urban pirate/cowboy type thing. Sort of.

After the move I'll only have time to make one or the other, not both. I think.

Roadblock 3#: We're moving. It sucks up my time and I'm determined to have a livable house within a reasonable period of time. This will cut down on any free time I may have had.

What do I do? I know I don't HAVE to go with The Eldest's suggestions, but I love that she's so excited about Halloween and thinking about themes and whatnot. I could probably work out a compromise with her, but I'm not sure what that would be. Any and all musings, suggestions, comments, questions, and so forth would be VERY welcome.

A Housing Update

I just realized that everyone who reads this blog--all 12 of you--thinks that we're homeowners at this point. Not so, my friends, not so.

You see, the foundation had to be repaired before HUD would approve our loan and let us move in. Not a big deal--the sellers had to pay for it and it's common. Texas soil, for whatever reason, leads to foundation sinkage if the foundation is not properly watered on a regular basis. Yeah, I don't get it either--I just know what I need to do to keep things level. ANYway, while doing their thing, the foundation people discovered that an exterior pipe had not been properly connected after a renovation 20 years ago and therefore "there wasn't a clean line in the house." Again, not sure what this means, but now we're getting brand new plumbing! The cost to us--time. The cost to the sellers--more than I want to think about.

Because of this and a few other matters, our closing date got pushed back to August 31st. Poof! There went our month to clean and paint before we actually moved in! Financially, it's a bit of a boon, really. But the whole process was a bit frustrating--there was a lot of non-communication from the seller's agent before things finally got moving again--and there was much throwing of the hands into the air and wondering if we shouldn't just back out. But every time I tossed out that possibility, it just felt wrong. THIS is the house, NOW is the time, and we just needed to see it through. If all goes well, we'll be able to get in and clean at the end of next week and move in on the 31st and 1st. Then there will be a family painting party on the 3rd and 4th of September, and then maybe I'll be able to breathe a bit easier.

So there you have it. It's been a long, frustrating process, but much good is coming out of it. And soon there will be pictures galore, and we'll collect the freezer that's waiting at my patient sister-in-law's house, the fridge and stove at my patient visiting teachee's house, the sewing desk at the patient Primary president's house, and the twin beds from my patient mother-in-law's house. And move things from our apartment, too, I think! Hopefully the next two weeks will be outrageously busy and full of positive changes.
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On another note, I've finally gotten Miss Bubbly's blood sugar under better control. It turns out that if you call the diabetes nurse educators regularly, they can help you make intelligent adjustments to your kid's insulin ratios. Miss Bubbly's been more in range in the last month than she has been in the past year, really. It's been fantastic, though Miss Bubbly will tell you that she likes going "low" because then she gets apple juice. Silly kid.

Doing the Hair Thing

Some Sunday mornings, when I've timed things right and everyone's had their brunch and their baths and their naps on schedule, we indulge in some extra-curricular grooming.

I had some fun making these flowers, but I didn't know what to do with them, so we decked out the girls' headbands. Temporarily, of course, as we weren't sure if we were on board with the idea. They survived all three hours of church, so that's something.

Then The Boy crawled by the bathroom while I was brushing my own hair. I snagged a bit of The Hub's hair gel and one of his combs and approximately 10 seconds later, The Boy sported quite the cute little faux-hawk. It stayed too! And it works with his not-short/not-long/not-quite-curly hair.

So here's two-thirds of the children in their Sunday finest:


I'm not quite sure what to make of Miss Bubbly's face in this picture. She's contemplating something devious, I think:


Could The Eldest and The Boy *look* more alike? I submit they could not:


Happy children! That's my favorite picture, by far.


And I did it all by myself. I have no idea what the kids are going to look like next year when we have 9am church and no Daddy at home to help out. Good thing they keep getting older and more self-sufficient, yes?

First Time Around

See what's consumed our lives for the past two weeks:



The Eldest was a little apprehensive before her first lesson, but by the next day she was begging to go back. And now that lessons are over, the girls want to know when we're going again. They LOVE swimming! Yay!