Halloween 2011: updated

It's very unusual for me to post a bunch of pictures and NOT say anything!

I usually have a lot to say.

Sometimes too much, I hear.......

I am here to rectify the situation. I was off to an out of town party and my mom requested pictures so up they went without time to do anything else. I expected to fix it on Sunday when I got home but after unpacking, I was too tired.

Actually busy and too tired is kind of a theme for this Halloween.....

Carly and Rachel didn't even dress up. Rachel did put on her racing shoes and her Halloween Half Marathon shirt that she got for working the race with her cross country team and declared "I'm a marathon runner" when she kept me company Halloween night as I took the 3 youngest out Trick or treating.

Samantha took pity on me and said "yes" when I suggested a beautiful Asian dress we already had in the Halloween box. Rachel wore it in 7th grade so it was a little big on Samantha but she's a lot taller than Rachel was in 5th grade so it worked. She borrowed this gorgeous fan that Rachel got at girl's camp this summer, we twisted her hair up and stuck some chopstick looking hair clips in it and put some make up on her and Voila! her costume was complete with minimal effort on my behalf.

Mark decided he wanted to be Abinidi for the ward party. We already had the tunic part from a christmas party a few years ago where we were encouraged to dress as if we were from Bethlehem.

I cut flames out of felt I had on hand and glued them together

and then sewed them onto the bottom of the tunic.

I wish it had been longer but "it is what it is".

We added some paper chains and sprayed white in his hair and he was happy. There had been talk of making a beard but I didn't get that far.....

This adorable guy wanted to be a "spy/secretservice/FBI guy" It was different every day but they all basically look the same right? so it was all working out for me. We had to buy the jacket at DI but he already had the rest. We bought the sunglasses at DI and he REALLY wanted a "spy watch" so we looked and looked for something cheap that would fit the bill but the dollar store who ALWAYS has cheap watches had none and Savers wanted way too much for their old dead batteried watches. It was as much to buy a new one which I was not going to do b/c it would be lost in a week. We looked in toy departments, etc. It just didn't happen.

He carried an old briefcase of Mark's to school when he dressed up on Halloween day and when we went trick or treating but I forgot to get a picture. He looked cute holding it. I thought later I should have had him wear one ear phone tucked in his ear with the wire going down into his jacket pocket......

Oops. I thought of it too late. If I'd only googled secret service costume.....

This guy, as usual, had some big ideas. Do you remember when I told you about the kids liking this movie and this dance?

He wanted to be "an Indian guy, not a cowboy & indian guy but an Indian guy."

I helped him define it a little.. "East Indian? Like in Bride & Prejudice?"

"yeah, that's what I mean!"

We spent an entire morning of our Fall break from school at Savers just looking ALL OVER the store and, miracle of miracles, found just what we needed. I was sure I was going to have to sew the long vest which I was nervous about but my friend said she'd help me so that helped ease my fears going in but as it turned out that was unnecessary.

We found the burgundy shirt first with gold and black "indian looking" embroidery on the front and hidden buttons down the front and the right kind of collarless collar.

I didn't think we'd really find them but then we found a pair of scrub pants that were exactly the same color. How is that possible?????

Finally we found this truly horrible, but perfect, long stretchy yellow vest that matched the embroidery on the front of the shirt. I had to cut and sew a bit on the collar and front of the vest a little to make it just right but that was easy copared to having to sew the whole thing.

Then we needed a turban.

We found a pattern online and it was surprisingly easy. We cut off the bill of an old baseball cap and bought some material and a fake jewel, plugged in the glue gun and we were in business!

They all looked great and were happy which, of course, is the point. While my efforts were minimal this year they still had fun.

.....til next year

In defense of the treasure hunt.

I love author, Robert Farrell Smith's, quirky sense of humor. He has written several LDS romantic comedies. He uses silly metaphors, eccentric characters set in Hick towns and his main character is usually a good hearted, endearing returned missionary who's a little lost personally and finds redemption through falling in love with a wonderful girl and a goofy congregation who he comes to love and who love him back unconditionally. They're not realistic but they're fun!

My all time favorite is Captain Matrimony:

Recently I was at my parent's cabin and had time for relaxation and reading. They are also fans and had a new one I'd not read before called "The Miracle of Forgetness".

It was a little harder to get into but I kept at it simply because I had liked his other books so much and about halfway through I was sold.

In this book the main character gets involved with a girl who turns out to definitely NOT be the girl of his dreams and she kidnaps him and takes him on a terrible theme date; part of the horror is a treasure hunt. He despises the entire thing, especially the treasure hunt which made me a little squirmy because I have sent Mark on many treasure hunts during our almost 20 years together. Mark, however, loves the treasure hunt. (At least he always looks like he's having fun and seems very happy during and after)

The first treasure hunt I sent him on was for his 23rd birthday. We had been dating a few weeks and he knew I was planning something because I had come to his work to pick up his condo keys. I told him I was making him dinner. I decorated his apartment with streamers and balloons, even taping a balloon to the outside of his door so it would be the first thing he'd see.

I placed a card with the first clue up against the TV and then I left. When he got home he thought he had me all figured out. He decided I was acting so cagey I must be throwing him a surprise party. He saw the balloon on the door and was sure he was right. He threw open the door to make his entrance and nothing. He wasn't perplexed, we must be hiding in the bedroom! He flung open each bedroom door with a surprised smile prepared. Now he was flummoxed. He sat down on the couch wondering what was up.....

Finally, he spied the card, opened it up. The first clue led him to a couple clues in the condo and then to the laundry room down the hall. Aha, a strange place to be surprised but that must be it. We were all waiting in the laundry room! He walked down the hall to find nothing but another clue in the dryer. This clue sent him down to the BBQ pool area. It was all making sense now. We were waiting at the pool. An evening BBQ and swimming pool party would be just the ticket for an August bday boy in Palm Springs California. What a smart little girlfriend he had! He was so sure he even went back to his condo and changed into his swim trunks so as to be ready for the party.

He hurried down to the pool area and SURPRISE!! nobody was there. He was really confused now. He found the next clue in the BBQ and went back upstairs to change. This clue sent him to a waterpark in town where a mutual friend worked. He wasn't taking anything for granted now and left his swim trunks at home. At the water park he got a present (a new tie)& his final clue that sent him to a fabulous little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant we both loved called El Gallito where I was waiting for him. It was a party for 2! He got a kick out of the whole thing and we had a great evening.

Through the years I have sent him on anniversary and birthday and father's day treasure hunts, some all at home, some where he has to drive around and find me. If he didn't enjoy it, knowing him, I am certain I would hear about it.

The most recent treasure hunt I sent him on was for Father's day.

This time the kids were in on it. I always write little rhyming clues and this year Carly wrote the clues with lots of help from her brothers and sisters.

We had bought him a few of his favorite treats for Father's day.

There were 2 boxes of ACT II butter Lover's popcorn, one package for every night he was going to be in North Carolina training for his new job the first half of July. Rachel usually makes him popcorn almost every night and we didn't want him to be without!

There were also Cheez-It crackers, Oreos and a red Tshirt that says "Awesome DAD".

The kids wrapped each present individually and hid one present with each clue so he would be collecting presents along the way.

He was like the Pied Piper.

He would read his clue and then march to where he thought the next clue would be

singing "left, left, left, right, left"

The kids would march behind him singing too.

He made it fun for them.

Now you tell me-

Doesn't this guy

look like he's having fun?

undyed easter eggs

We started doing our easter egg hunt on saturday a few years ago so we could focus on more Christ-centered activities Easter Sunday.

This meant we needed to get our eggs done tonight! It was a little difficult with Rachel at track practice until 5ish and Carly leaving on a pre-prom date at 6ish...

When I got home from work I boiled a dozen eggs and left for the store for more. Mason accompanied me while carly was in a whirl of baking at home. She decided to make bread for the family and for the sacrament for one of her Personal Progress goals and crepes for a friend's birthday and for the family. Believe it or not she said "I had a stressful day... I wanted to cook!" I think she may have taken on a little much because she was in a whirl when I got back from shopping. I helped her with the Raspberry sauce and the pudding but she was doing pretty well on her own. I dunked the 1st dozen eggs in ice water to cool and started the 2nd dozen to boil.

Rachel had gotten home at 4ish and Carly wasn't leaving til 7ish so that gave us a little more breathing room! I set the kids to putting away groceries, cleaning off the table, cutting up tissue paper and grating crayons.

I know those last 2 don't make a whole lot of sense when you think our objective was to decorate eggs but wait! It will makes sense momentarily.

I decided to try some nontraditional egg decorating this year.

Samantha grated several colors of crayons on separate plates and we set the whole tub of crayons on the table. You have to use really hot eggs so this wouldn't be good with real little kids and the wax can really make a mess.

You need something to stand your egg on. We used egg carton cups cut down to a small size. you either sprinkle your egg with crayon shavings and watch them melt and drip

or put some shavings on your disposable tablecloth and roll the egg around in them

use a regular crayon to draw right on the egg

or drop a few shavings on and smear them around in designs with your fingers.

The possibilities are endless.

There is a lot of melding of colors, dripping and so forth. You don't have a lot of control over what the colors will do and we learned a lot of "what to do's" and "what not to do's" if we ever want to do it this way again.

The eggs were really hot and they have to be to get the desired melting so that was interesting but the kids were all old enough to handle it. This was Samantha's "hurry and take the picture this egg is burning my fingers! face"

The 2nd kind of egg decorating we did was with watered down white school glue and tissue paper.

You start with cold eggs on this one.

Thank Goodness.

You just cut different colors of tissue paper into squares

water down some glue

get some paintbrushes

and start layering tissue paper

and "painting" the glue over each piece

I really liked the way these turned out.

There was more creativity this year

a little more mess...

and a lot more fun!

We had it all done & cleaned up when

he showed up to whisk her away at 7ish

Valentine boxes: 2nd generation

In years past, Carly & Rachel set a pretty high standard for making Valentine boxes which they only do here in 4th, 5th & 6th grade. Sometimes the classes have contests with prizes and sometimes they don't.

Samantha wanted to make a Valentines castle. This is a scaled down version of something I saw in (you guessed it..) Family fun magazine several years ago and ripped out and saved in my little book of someday projects.

It took a few days to put together. We started collecting boxes. We sat down one Friday night and cut and glued and made a basic floorplan. Several days the next week we refined and trimmed and adjusted til we had the final product ready to be painted. The painting took less time than I thought it would. We sat down one night for about an hour and got it all done. She took some time the next day to add some detail with foam stamps.

She won the prize for most valentine-y.

(and best hat)

Jacob wanted to recreate Carly and Rachel's prizewinning hot air balloon box. He didn't have the kissing Ken that Carly had to clinch her win but we had fun figuring out how to do sandbags and weaving the paper into the design around the box.

We filled water balloons with salt and tied them to the sides. I rushed out Monday morning to buy the balloon and he used his Playmobil guy to stand guard with an instructive sign. He didn't win because a girl in his class made a pretty impressive grand piano box. I saw it. It was seriously detailed.

We practiced the phrase "well, it's not all about winning!"

a lot.