Halloween Fun

Big Sis was actually off school for the Monday holiday, and some dear friends invited us to Greenfield Village for the Macy's 2nd Monday activity.
If you're in the Detroit area, and looking for something to do, I highly recommend you check out Greenfield Village and The Henry Ford museum.   

They each got "spooky" glasses.  

Big J kept telling me "Not spooky, Mama.  Just a-tend". (pretend)

They also got to color in a mask....

Ride the 100 year old carousel...

And we ended the day with a ride on the Steam Engine.  

It's hard to tell, but he was very excited about the train. 

Enjoy it, kid.  

This is about my maximum level of interest in Halloween. 

Other than the anticipation of a Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkin. 

Halloween Happenings

I am so glad that Halloween is over. Although I like to dress up, and carve pumpkins, I don't really like decorating for the holiday, and I definitely don't like getting spooked. This year, Halloween dragged out over the course of a week, beginning last Saturday with Trunk or Treat. Big Sis then got to wear her costume to Ballet on Tuesday, to school on Friday for a costume parade, and then we dressed them both for trick-or-treating on Halloween. Although there's something to be said for getting my money's worth out of the costumes, I am still happy to be DONE for the year!

Big Sis was a "Night Fairy". Night Fairy because she wanted to be a fairy, and I wanted to re-use her black tutu from a previous ballet costume. I purchased a black leotard (which she can wear to ballet class), and we had white tights, her tutu, and silver glitter shoes. Her wings were from her Tinker Bell costume (2 years ago), and she had recently torn them by accident. I deconstructed them, wrapped them in tulle, then painted them with glitter. I bought the headband from the dollar store (a pack of 3), and wrapped a black rose pony tail holder around it for decoration. We accessorized with silver and opalescent eye shadow and crystals on her face. I think the makeup was her favorite part. She also won "Cutest Girl" at Trunk or Treat!

Big J was Indiana Jones. We had the shoes & pants, and I purchased the shirt & jacket from Children's Orchard. I made his messenger bag from some tan fleece I already had, braided the whip from some leather cording, and bought his hat from the Dollar Store. I trimmed the hat down a bit & added the brown ribbon hatband to make it look more like a fedora and less like a cowboy hat. Most people got that he was Indiana Jones, but some thought he was an explorer. Close enough. He wasn't that into trick-or-treating, but once he realized that people would put candy into his bag, he was VERY excited.

Halloween night was clear but cold & windy. We hit about 6 houses in the neighborhood, with Big Sis and Big J hand in hand up to the doors. J did not master "trick-or-treat", but would wave when he received candy. I retired home with Big J while Big Daddy and Big Sis continued around the block. Several nearby houses take Halloween very seriously, with adults all dressed up & "haunting grounds" constructed with places to jump out & scare passersby. I also noticed that several families drove & unloaded packs of kids to canvass the neighborhood. We were prepared with some candy, but will need to buy more for next year.

Hope you had happy hauntings!

Kid Update

I feel like it's been months since I have posted any update on the kids. They have weathered the transition to Michigan, and are doing really well.

Big J is now 19 months old. He is doing more running than walking, and loves to be outside. Every morning he stands at the back door pointing to go and play in the backyard. He likes boy-ish toys (cars, trains, trucks, fire engines, dinosaurs, robots, monsters, anything that makes loud noises) and has displayed his creative side by coloring on anything that doesn't move (walls, chairs, sofa, TV..... thank goodness for washable crayons & the Magic Eraser!!). His appetite is strong but he's not an adventurous eater, preferring to stay within the toddler food groups of graham crackers, hot dogs, bananas, and milk. He likes to express himself through various hoots and hollers, leaving the interpreting to us. He does have a handful of words, and understands almost anything you tell or ask him. He will respond with head shakes to nearly any question. He is still shy around new people & crowds, but at home he likes to be with others - playing quietly (or not so quietly) as I work in the kitchen. He has been growing and gaining weight at a more appropriate rate, and we're backing off his medications to see if the trend continues. He's a good sleeper, going to bed between 7:30-8pm, and usually sleeping until 6:45am. We've recently adjusted to one longer nap, and I think we both enjoy the 2-3 hour rest in the middle of the day. He also enjoys being read to, and will bring me various books throughout the day. His absolute favorite is the board book I Stink by Jim & Kate McMullin (a story of a garbage truck). He also enjoys watching Dinosaur Train in the morning, and loves seeing Elmo on Sesame Street.

Big Sis loves school. She doesn't love waking up in the morning, and we have learned to allot extra time for the getting-out-of bed process (that girl is more like me every day). She has homework each weekend, and asks to do it every Friday evening after dinner. She has enjoyed making new friends, and getting to participate in her first bus ride & field trip to a local farm. Her artistic sensibilities continue to blossom, and I am continually amazed at both her skill and her creativity. Each week's homework includes coloring & cutting out a letter, gluing it to another sheet, then drawing & labelling 4 items that start with that letter. For T she chose tornado, tomato, tire, and turn. What 5 year old thinks of tornado, then draws a perfect spiral to represent it??? Our lack of TV programming has re-ignited her interest in her own collection of toys & movies, and removed about 90% of the "I wants" that we were experiencing from too many toy commercials. A good thing for all of us. She's also becoming more cognizant of the fun to be had from board & card games. Big Daddy plays War with her, we had a family game of Monopoly last night, and I think Old Maid and Go Fish might be part of this weekend's entertainment. She loves her new ballet class, and I am only a tiny bit biased in saying that she is the most skilled in the class. She is learning the ballet positions, appropriate hand placement, and the other foundational skills that will serve her in future ballet endeavors. She worked hard to memorize her part in last week's Primary Program, and had a flawless delivery. We are so proud of our girl!!

Party Time!

Cue up the Hallelujah chorus, Birthday Week is officially over!!

Today was Big Sis' birthday party. It's not the first party she's ever had, but it's the first one to include friends, and I have been super-stressed over the entire ordeal. The theme was Princesses & Pirates.

I spent last night making cupcakes & this morning frosting them. This included a last minute run to Wal-Mart for more red gel coloring, as I forgot how hard it is to achieve a true red (Particularly when beginning with snow white buttercream. Duh.). I also put together all the party bags last night, adding in a few extra of each type "just in case". And I started packing up all the stuff we needed to haul with us.

We held the party at Cici's Pizza - a chain-store, all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. Not our usual type of hangout, but the price of the party room was appealing, as it was FREE. It was actually great. The manager was really awesome about everything, and the room was furnished with tables & chairs for up to 70 people, tablecloths, a TV & DVD player, and was secluded from the rest of the restaurant. I packed up the car, jammed in 18 helium-inflated balloons and raced down there to do some mad decorating before the first guests were to arrive at 4.

I was still decorating when the Princesses and Pirates started to arrive, but managed to wrap it up relatively quickly. I am glad I made a few extra party bags, as we had some unexpected party guests arrive (And yet still had the right number of total guests - go figure). We had a bit of a slow start until we got the bubble machine going, then it turned a little chaotic as everyone wanted to pop, chase, stomp, whack, touch, blow, and bite as many bubbles as possible.

I turned their attention to some coloring sheets, and managed to get them to focus on that for a few minutes. The girls were mesmerized by the Barbie and the Diamond Castle DVD that was playing, while the boys had ants in their pants. I still need to expand my knowledge base on boys. I probably should have planned a sword fight, or walking the plank, or something, but I had images of contusions and severed eyes popping in my head every time I thought about it. (Yes Big Daddy, I know you can't actually sever your eye. Just chalk it up to literary embellishment.)

We moved on to the pizza buffet, and once their tummies were full, we broke out the foam tiaras and pirate hats for decorating (found at Oriental Trading Company - don't you just love it?!). They had lots of fun customizing their headgear, and enjoyed modeling them when I pulled each child aside to take their pic. I'm going to print the pics and include them in the thank you notes we'll send to each guest. (Sorry to spoil the surprise for anyone who attended).

We then proceeded to what turned out to be the surprise hit of the party: Digging for Buried Treasure! I found the idea on some website (I looked again last night - no clue where I stumbled across this). You take a container of any size, fill it with cornmeal for 'sand', and let the kids dig for some sort of buried treasure. I used an oversized pink plastic bin we had in the garage, found Big Sis' little trowel she likes to dig in the dirt with, filled the bin with 10 lbs. of cornmeal, threw in a few handfuls of plastic rings, and the kids went to town! Each one got a turn, and was allowed to dig until they discovered a treasure. Everyone clapped and hollered when they held up their find, and they totally loved it.

We wound down the evening with Princess & Pirate cupcakes (frosted & topped with "confetti"), gave out the party bags & called it a night. Everyone seemed to have fun, Big Sis enjoyed herself, and it was so awesome to see all the kids dressed up. I consider it a success. But I am still SO glad it's all over. And now I plan to curl up under my down comforter and catch up on the latest issue of Bon Appetit. Gotta plan for Valentine's Day.....

Look at all those cuties!

The Big Reveal

I am blown away by how clear these pictures are. And how easy it was to take them. I am also stoked that my 4GB card will hold 1,000 pictures at the highest resolution!

Good thing, as I many need all 1,000 to catch the perfect photo (due to my poor photography skills, not lack of subject).

If anyone can recommend a good book on digital photography, suggestions are appreciated.

PS - it's a Nikon D80. Way too much camera for me right now, but I'm hoping to grow into it.