Redeeming Halloween 2013

Everyone that knows me knows I can't stand Halloween. It practically ruins the month of October for me (and September as well, as stores start decorating for it as soon as the back-to-school rush is over). Yes, there can be cute costumes out there, but I'm sick of being bombarded with the in-your-face witches, zombies, graveyards, skeletons, etc that appear and try to take away from the beauty of the fall colors that God vibrantly colored this earth in. If the weather is going to get cold, I want to see the beauty in it, and it's hard when I have a warty, green-faced hag cackling in my ear. I'm thankful Target at least has it's section in the back, as I pretty much avoid all other stores where it is located front and center. No thank you.

Anyways, Liam is now coming to the age, where he is noticing all of it as well. And thankfully he is on my side (except for the carving pumpkins, dressing up and getting candy part). Thankfully, he loves going to Woodhaven, and we are very thankful that Deb K at Woodhaven and Cherise once again organized this fun event for us (2012, 2011, 2009). I don't want my children thinking it's all about receiving and not about giving. Perhaps I should explain that most kids go door-to-door. But I'd rather play ignorant one more year. He delighted in making crafts to hand out, and was actually more concerned with making sure all the elderly residents received one, then he was getting candy. Aiden, on the other hand, well he was a different story.

Deb was disappointed to see Callum wasn't in the traditional pea costume the other two wore- but it was too warm, and he gets hot way too easily. Thankfully, Emily K saved the day when she bought him a cute doctor scrub outfit when he was born. Liam had wanted his Aunt Katie to be his twin cowboy at work, but when she turned him down (something about not wanting to ruin her boots), well, he decided to be a knight instead. Aiden gladly became the cowboy in Liam's place.

The lineup this year included a surgeon, a cowboy, a knight, Princess Tiana, a Mom (complete with baby, cell phone and diaper bag :), a fireman, and a pirate and his parrot. The staff were mostly dressed up in 50s costume.

 Yes, yes, my child is picking his nose.

 Sarah might as well have 3 kids, mine is always attached to her.

 We sang happy birthday to a resident that turned 100 today. :)

 Their "boat" was filled with all kinds of treasure by the end of our rounds :)

 Not sure if you noticed as the pictures progressed, but their accessories became less and less. And that is what I was for. A few residents were a bit confused as to what I was supposed to be- I told them I was a coat rack/umbrella stand. That brought a smile to their faces. By the end of our parade, I had two hats, a horse, a sword, a shield, a spur and two backpacks filled with goodies.

 Falling apart a bit... :)

 Pumpkins in the front. You were supposed to choose your favorite. Liam liked the one that a doctor like Daddy probably stitched up (though I'm sure Daddy doesn't use q-tips ;). Aiden liked Mickey mouse.

Can you guess which was Princess Tiana's favorite?? :)

Fall Crafts: Leaves and Indian Corn

Every year Cherise faithfully brought cards for the children to pass out to the residents at Woodhaven for our redemption of Halloween. I felt bad, that my children always robbed hers of some of their creations, so when Liam asked if we would make something for the "old people at Woodhaven" this year, I was all ears.

The leaves I found in the clearance craft area of Target. They were dual purpose... work on fine motor development with the lacing up part, and the finished ornaments were something special to hand out! Having the boys sit still was an extra bonus!! :)

The corn, I had randomly found a while back here. Theirs was much cuter and textured, by painting the bubble wrap and using raffia as the husk portion. But I didn't have enough mini bubble wrap, nor did I have raffia (at least in an easily accessible location). And it looked like that way could be a bit messier. But I loved the corn kernel idea. So this is what I came up with...

 I took the bubble wrap I had saved (thank you, Amazon!), some acrylic fall paint colors (I added blue and yellow later), a paper towel tube (cut in half) and yellow cardstock. I cut my bubble wrap to fit the tubes, and taped it on (tape at the beginning, and the end, should work- at the end, tape on the sides, so it doesn't have a flat spot on your corn). I left space on the end for him to hold. I probably could have left more. It makes it easy/less messy to hold if the bubble wrap is double layered up.

 Then let your child go to town on it... :)
By the way, it looks best if they try not to slide the tube as they are rolling (the part on the right of the picture was slid, but then he got the hang of it). If you are extra anal, you may want to roll the excess paint off first, just as if you were painting a wall.

 Layer up the colors and have fun!

 Added a bit of blue on the end, and had him just "dot" that on.

 On some of the pages, he layered up so much red and orange, he wanted to go back over it a bit with yellow.

 Once it dries, cut corn shapes out of the cardstock. (I had lightly traced them on earlier on a couple pages, but you don't have too. I was able to make 4 Indian corn for each page).

Then, since I didn't have raffia, I took a plain paper bag, and had Liam cut it into strips (I told him it was part of his homeschooling-- scissor skills!). We crinkled it up, and then you put 3-4 strips/ear of corn.

 Tada!

 We wrote little messages on the back and Liam thoroughly enjoyed passing them out the next day!

Heartbreaker

Not sure if the title should be for the Daddy that left for five days and plans to be in Fort Wayne next month, or the son who in the wee morning hours of the first day of his father's return, politely asked me to make a cake, and was very specific on the words and pictures that should be on it.

Danya took our family picture. Then Joel skedaddled to BSF, while she stuck around to eat the yummy cake and build a towering ship with the boys. So thankful that we will have "Auntie Danya" with us when we live in North Carolina.

Elijah's 2nd Birthday

For the past two years, my husband has somehow managed to be out of town during Elijah's birthday. So the Harmon's tend to take pity on me and my boys, and invite us down to celebrate his birthday with their families. And just like last year, we were once again blessed by the invitation.

The boys love Doug. What a godly example of someone with patience, spending quality time while instructing and training the children to be hard workers and love Jesus all at the same time! It was rare to find Liam away from his side all afternoon and evening long.

 A fun cake created by Shari. :)
Liam may have been slightly jealous. He is still lamenting that I haven't made him a monster birthday cake. Sigh.

You should've seen Aiden's face when it was present time, and I told him he couldn't unwrap any! Thankfully Sarah's foresight saved the day with wrapped favors, previously unwanted by this Mommy.

 Normally I could get this kid to smile for me. He absolutely refused that evening.

 The Tres Amigos. These guys just feed off each other. So fun to watch, though Liam has to be reminded he's twice their age, so he needs to watch out strength-wise.

 Playing one of my husband's newest favorites, Carcassonne.