Group shot up top even though we're starting the month with different pumpkin patch visits.
Gion and Phil started feeling very festive as October began, so they took the kids to the pumpkin patch! First they took Rosalind to Chesebrough, and another day (Friday, as you can see by E's school spirit) they took Lydia and Everett to Jack Creek.
Mom had knee surgery in September, but unfortunately she's had some complications, so she's spent the last month in rehab. We visit and call as much as we can. We can't wait for Grandma Kathie to be healthy and active again. She's been such an inspirational trooper during this whole ordeal.
We started reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban illustrated edition!! We waited so long for this!! I suppose a year, since the illustrated editions are released every year in October. But Everett insisted we wait for the illustrated version. I get it. They are incredible.
The gremlin I'm still squeezing into the Gremlins shirt because it's just so fitting. Fitting/not fitting. Ha!
And the beautiful Lydia. We have fun at E's soccer practices.
Lydia's bed got a classic upgrade. A place for her many, many stuffies. If Rosalind can control herself and not knock them all down (spoiler: she can't).
Festive Trader Joe's.
We actually decorated a little for Halloween!! Everett was proud of himself for turning all the letters around so they could be read from outside.
We made it to Avila Valley Barn in October! It was PACKED!! I've never seen it so busy. Good thing we knew that was a possibility and just enjoyed the crowd.
We LOVED having Aunt Sue in Atascadero! She came to help my parents during Mom's recovery, and we hung out with her whenever she needed a break. This was her last day in town, and we miss her!
Lydia's school had a Halloween party. They let Everett decorate a cookie too. Roz was happy at her favorite toy, the tool bench.
Colony Days!! We were so excited to watch it with the Hunters. They even saved us a spot! Ha.
Brian had a garden day that day, so I had to take a few deep breaths and cart all three kids there by myself (our grands were occupied--two patients, a caregiver, and an artist doing Open Studios).
I was surprised how upset Roz was by the loud noises, but she warmed up to the idea.
We saw a bunch of friends (Anna, Paloma, the Shawzeolis, and more) in the San Benito float.
I grabbed a few pics from Rachel. Such fun, goofy kids. And all those blonde streaks!
I met up with some of my new political friends at the Democratic/Progressive Club booth! I manage the Atascadero Democratic Club Facebook page, so I put my good/respectable pictures there.
Classic kid train. Lydia loved it. Roz had her head down for the first half until she started to get into it. Everett was too big. Boo.
Another trip to visit Grandma Kathie. Now she's in a rehab center in San Luis Obispo that is MUCH better than the first one she went to in Templeton. The kids run around, scribble on cups and pads of paper, and I try to keep them from tiring Grandma out too much or creating chaos throughout the center.
A cute picture of Lydia, the butterfly we got to hatch and Lydia watched fly up into the liquid amber, the kids have been enjoying playing in the mud, Roz and I have been attending story time at the library, Lydia in her Halloween shirt with some Halloween decorations behind her and her costume being altered, and Everett picked out this outfit--pink shoes, wild patterned shorts, and a shirt of the woman who should be President. *sob*
Katie surprised her parents!! She had broken the news that she wouldn't be able to come out for Thanksgiving but texted Brian and let him know she'd be coming out to celebrate Phil's birthday!! I can't tell you how happy they were. We all went to lunch at Ninos in Templeton, and then the group spent some time together in the afternoon. I stayed home and worked on costumes, so I can't tell you exactly what went on, but I'm fairly certain in included cribbage and wine.
These two sisters are the sweetest!!!!
Everett went to costume dress-up day as a vampire (he has the fangs naturally!!). And when he came home, He looked like Steve from Stranger Things.
And here are our costumes!! Wizard of Oz, of course. The Wicked Witch of the West, her flying monkey, Dorothy and her house that fell on the Wicked Witch of the East, and Glinda!
I've always wanted to do a Wizard of Oz costume. We've talked about it for years, and somehow I got it in my mind that Everett should be a flying monkey when it happened. It may have even been his idea (when he was 4 or 5). I bought the outfit for my McGonagall costume last year knowing that someday I'd use it to be the Wicked Witch (I didn't think I'd get to use it again so soon).
When we started talking about Halloween costumes this year, Lydia insisted she wanted to be a princess. She wanted to be a fancy, beautiful princess and that was that. Could we still do a family costume?? Were we going to go our own separate ways?? With a little brainstorming, we came up with King Arthur, she could be Guinevere, maybe that would work. Then one day I put on The Wizard of Oz, Lydia saw Glinda, and that was that. She's the most glorious princess with magical powers ever! Hooray!!
At first Everett wanted to be the tin man, but I think he picked up on how much I wanted him to be a flying monkey. I really tried not to influence him. He made up his own mind to be a flying monkey. Maybe subconsciously he knew how happy it would make me.
I don't remember the exact interaction that brought about Brian's house, but we were at the dinner table one night chatting about our costumes, and it was Everett's idea! Brian immediately said, "yes! That's my costume!"
We didn't immediately think of Roz as being Dorothy. She's so little and blonde! But we needed a Dorothy to make our costume work, and she ended up being a perfect and adorable little Michelle Tanner Dorothy.
Everything was pretty much semi-homemade. Our amazing friend Kelli sent us the Dorothy dress from Southern California! It was a couple sizes too big, so I brought in the torso and sleeves. The ruby slippers were Lydia's shoes!! She used to wear them all the time. And Toto was a stuffed bear I wrapped with hairy yarn.
Luckily there's a whole line of Wizard of Oz branded costumes available on Amazon, and they're so inexpensive I couldn't justify trying to make the Glinda or flying monkey costumes myself. The Glinda dress was quite long, so I hemmed both layers. I also added tulle and a petty coat underneath. It just wasn't puffy enough! And If I'd had more time, I would have opened up the back, added material, and puffed it way out! Maybe if anyone wants to be Glinda again in the future. Brian made the wand and we painted it and added glitter and rhinestones. I added glitter spray and rhinestones to the crown and a few rhinestones to the dress. This girl wanted to be fancy!!
The flying monkey wings that came with the costume were pathetic. Barely recognizable as wings, this floppy foam. So I ripped apart the foam wings and glued cardboard in between. I found a feather wreath at Michael's that was the exact color of the foam wings. So even though the foam wings from the store bought costume were in no way the same color as the monkey wings in the movie, I went with it. I used a 60% off coupon the buy the wreath and ripped that sucker apart! Then I went to work with my hot glue gun!
Brian got a box from Idler's, made the house shape, primed, and painted the walls and roof. I came in and painted the simplest door and windows I could. I would have loved to spend more time on it, make some sepia-toned siding slats, but I didn't have the time.
I tried to take the "classic" photo of Brian and the kids walking down San Pedro, but it was too dark! He got some sweet pics of the Oz kids trick-or-treating. It's fun when people recognize your costumes. It's also fun that we actually saw some other kids trick-or-treating!
After trick-or-treating, we came back to Phil and Gion's house for pie! My dad had come over to take pictures of our costumes and stayed for dinner (chili!) and dessert.
Playing with the house the day after Halloween. Roz remembered how the feet were supposed to stick out. Yes, we had a popcorn disaster on the floor. It has since been vacuumed.
And a sleepy baby at Everett's last Thursday soccer practice.
*Proud parenting moment*
"Who Runs the World Girls!" is playing.
Lydia: girls are the best! Girls are better than boys!
Everett : Blah blah boys girls, I don't care about gender.
Ha! I wish they were nicer to each other, but I think we're on the right track!!
Until next month!
No comments:
Post a Comment