this better get me mom points

I'm hoping I scored some mom points from Megan and Emily for the Taylor Swift concert tickets I bought this weekend.

this is a first

I think this may be the first year that I haven't loved Halloween...shocking, I know.  I have been so tired and overwhelmed with health issues that the house never got decorated, no party planned and I murmured during most of the costume making process (who am I kidding, I always murmur during the costume making process)

Having said that I think the kids looked adorable this year.  We ended up with Robin Hood (Megan), Circus Ringmaster (Emily), Mad Hatter (Nathan) and Dracula (Luke)

Lets start with the  most time consuming costume of the lot - The Mad Hatter.  I found a tutorial on the internet for making this costume and it deceivingly said it would take 4 hours to complete - lies, all lies!  I started it Thursday afternoon at about 2 pm with Derek jumping in to help later in the evening.  He went to bed sometime around 1 am and I finally put down my elementary school child safety scissors (yes, we created the whole costume with a stupid little pair of scissors) at 3:15 am.  Four hours, my foot!

Looking at the costume I'm trying to figure out what took so long since there wasn't much sewing (jacket was a brown jacket from Goodwill and pants were khakis from Target - both dyed) but trust me when I say it took us forever.

The hat was the hardest to create but since I'm married to the best man in the world I had lots of help.  Let's just say we can now understand why the hatter was "mad".

Megan was on make-up artist duty and I think she did an amazing job.  This was one costume where the make-up really added to the whole appearance of the costume.

Emily looked adorable in her "I didn't have to sew a thing costume"  I love those types of costumes!  The shirt and jacket were purchases from Goodwill (man, I love that store) and the rest of the costume was pulled together with stuff from Target and a local Halloween store.  

All Megan wanted for her costume was something that allowed her to carry weapons and wear boots.  She would have loved to have been Katniss but I was not feeling terribly creative with that idea so we went with Robin Hood.  The only sewing here was the vest which turned out cute but while sewing I decided that sewing isn't really my thing.  I don't have the easiest time with it so I'm not quite sure why I keep sewing costumes every year.  Her shirt was from a costume I made her in 7th grade and everything else was Goodwill or Target.

Then there is Luke.  He wins for easiest costume...church pants, shoes and shirt put together with a purchased vest and cape from the dress up box.  Oh yea, I forgot...also a sweet little Dracula necklace.  My little blood sucker looked fantastic.

I'm glad the costumes are done and that Halloween is on its way out but I am hoping I'll be back into the Halloween spirit next year.  I'm also hoping that all my kids want to dress as Dracula next year!


And just because I love these pictures I'm including some photos that my girls (and their friends) took Tuesday after our youth Halloween party at church.

attitude of gratitude

so we've been told to have an attitude of gratitude...having insomnia is a good thing when your child needs a Halloween costume for school on Friday and you don't start making it until Thursday.  


See how grateful I am for my 5 months of no sleep.


In all honesty...I'm hating costumes right about now.  Hopefully I'll feel different tomorrow (today, I guess) when Nate wakes up and puts it on.  It better fit and look good or I might just lose it!

even nerdier

Apparently Derek and I are raising a family full of nerd kids.  First it was these two

and now its this one...

Nathan had Nerd Day at school yesterday and obviously was inspired by his older siblings.  I was pretty impressed that he went off to school like this.  I don't remember the girls being quite so brave in 6th grade.  I think Nate has the advantage of watching his sisters and their friends who are in High School dressing up and having fun.  What Nate doesn't realize is that when they were all in 6th grade most of them probably didn't do this type of thing - they are more secure in who they are now than when they were in Middle School.  I'm glad that he is unaware and having fun now and not waiting 'til High School.  He'll have much more fun in life this way.

Oh how I love my nerdy kids!!

photos added

Homecoming photos were added to this post.

a 2 yr old

I need a nap...and it's not just because of my insomnia.  


We are watching my adorable 2 yr old nephew this week.  He is good-natured and easy but man am I tired.  Juggling the schedules of two teenagers, a middle schooler an active 4th grader and a toddler is taking its toll.


I have realized how self sufficient my kids are - no more wiping their bums, playing hours of hide and go seek, listening to non-stop questions, feeding them, bathing them, finding babysitters for them, etc.  I have been out of baby/toddler mode too long and have forgotten the time demands of caring for little ones.


A standing ovation to all those mothers that are juggling teens and toddlers - you are my heroes!  I couldn't do it for more than a week.

homecoming dance

I think I have had a total of 6.5 hours of sleep in the last three days - this insomnia deal is killing me!  


I sat down at the computer to post pictures from Homecoming but I am so beyond tired I just can't make myself do it at the moment.  So here is my lazy mans solution...click on this link to see all the pictures Megan posted of Homecoming.  There will be no fabulous commentary on the photos but you'll at least get to see something.


Eventually I'll have to post pictures here since this blog gets turned into a memory book but for now it just isn't happening.


I will give you a brief rundown on the night though so the pictures make some sense.

*getting ready for the dance with friends

*a game of air hockey while waiting for dates

*7 couples

*pictures at the local lake

*homemade (and incredibly creative) corsages and boutonnieres

*dinner at Ruby's

*shennanigan's at the mall

      playing in the Disney Store

      trying out the cars parked inside the mall

      taking a seat on the floor in the middle of the mall for a rousing game of "down by the banks"

      impromptu modeling

*actual Homecoming Dance - no pictures of this event though

*after dance hang-out session for some food and pool/spa action

homecoming

NOTE:  Pictures added 9/30

Tonight Megan is off to the Homecoming dance.  Can't wait for her to come home so we can hear all about it and see pictures.  

Here is a quick photo of Megan and her date (once she brings the camera home I'll post more) but this can at least satisfy grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. for the time being.

Take a look at their corsage and boutonniere.  They, along with the group of kids they went with decided to hand make their "flowers" instead of buying them - best idea ever!!  The creativity exhibited was fantastic (I'll post pictures once I have the camera back)

Meg and Austin made theirs using the crime scene tape from Austin's invite to the dance.  They worked on them themselves, rolling the crime scene tape up into roses.  Megan also added a little pipe cleaner parrot for some added punch. Cute, creative and they recycled!  

A few photos from the pre dance activities.

Dinner at Ruby's

 

Hanging out the Disney Store in the mall - playing around and taking pictures.

I love these next shots of the kids plopping down in the middle of the mall to play games.  

And of course, the night wouldn't be complete without all the girls heading to the bathroom at once.  I love that they documented it!

we've got spirit yes we do

Final day of Spirit Week was Spirit Day so the girls went all out with Tesoro red, white and blue.  They definitely showed some school spirit today.

Their outfits today made me way happy.  


You see when I was in high school (forever ago) I was in ASB serving as the Commissioner of School Spirit.  I was head honcho in charge of pep rallies, spirit week and all around general school spirit.  I was the obnoxious cheerleader that was always on the mike at pep rallies encouraging kids to dress up and participate in school spirity jive.


So this school spirit thing runs in my blood.  I loved seeing my girls all decked out in school colors - it made my Commissioner of School Spirit heart jump for joy.  I loved that they participated all week during Spirit Week with crazy clothes and good attitudes.  I love that they had fun!!


Next week is sure going to seem lame watching my kids walk out the door in jeans and boring tops.  

ummm, hello beautiful??

Perhaps the most stressful day of Spirit Week was Thursday's Ugly Outfit Day.  This seemed to be the day that was hardest to pull off but after a 9:30 pm jaunt to Ross the night before the girls managed to put together some ugly outfits.

Excuse the poor pictures.  The lighting at 6:15 am is not ideal especially when using the point and shoot camera or cell phone.

Now for the outfits...

I had to include this close-up shot so that our devoted blog readers (who am I kidding - we have none) wouldn't miss any of the fine details on this outfit.  The intense look of the animal, the natural foliage set off with just the right amount of sparkle thanks to the strategically place metallic studs, not to mention how fantastically the shirt pairs with the purple and black herringbone pants.  Emily, you make me proud!


Is it good or bad to admit that the pants were not from my shopping spree at Ross - we actually had them in a closet.  I'm not sure why they were initially purchased and I think we had forgotten we owned them but now that they have seen sunlight the girls may need to be rockin' them more often.  They're kinda so ugly that they're cool.

Megan went for ugly AND comfort.  No lie...if she thought she could get away with it without experiencing total ridicule she would have a closet full of these silky moo-moos and wear them everyday.  


She tried this little number on before going to bed and refused to take it off.  She climbed into bed wearing her new outfit of choice and then sang it's praises more when she got to sleep in because other than hair and make-up she was ready to go.  No precious morning minutes spent trying to put an outfit together.  Go from girl in jammies to dressed to impress simply by stepping out of bed.  I'm telling you, she may spearhead the effort to make silk moo-moos popular with teens.

One more day of Spirit Week wear and than we are back to old, boring outfits.