Three, Two, One...

AAAAHHHHHH!!! We're at the final days of prep for Halloween. I LOVE this holiday. It's become one of my favorites. Decorating, thinking of crafts, getting creative with costumes, carving pumpkins, reading spooky stories, trick-or-treating, it's all good.

But, of course there's a but, I tend to be a perfectionist. For the anal side of me, there's never enough time to get everything done that MUST be done. And, I over plan and don't spend enough time actually doing things.

Laurel will be Tinkerbell. We bought her dress and shoes/slippers. Easy, right? NOT. I found out on a trial run that the dress is too big and the shoes won't stay on her feet. Taking in the dress is not that big a deal, except that I DO NOT sew. I do not own a sewing machine and refuse to get one. Why? I just don't like to sew. However, I did learn how to hand stitch in a junior high school class, so I dusted off my extremely underused sewing kit and set it out for one of today's tasks.

As for Laurel's slippers, hmmm. Fortunately, there's a bit of gold lace across the top. I bought some elastic gold cord and just sort of weaved it along the edge and thought we'd tie them on her feet. Then a spark of creativity came into play: I weaved gold bells along with the cord. Now when she walks/runs/skips Halloween night, she'll sound like Tinkerbell. Cute, huh?

Now, I'm starting to think about Tinkerbell's hairstyle. Sure, I can do a ponytail on the top of her head and add a little bow. But, oh no, the perfectionist in me nags, "You can do more!" The problem is, I'm not exactly a hairstylist. My idea of fancy IS a ponytail. All last night I tossed and turned thinking about this little detail. I finally decide at five this morning to get up and turn to Google for help (I heart Google). Within minutes I find a site that gives me peace of mind: She Does Hair. The wonderful woman of this blog demonstrates how to achieve the Tink hairstyle step by step with pictures. She explains it so well, I think even I can do it. Today, Laurel and I will do a dry run. I just need to purchase some hairspray and possibly some glittery hair stuff.

As for Ian's costume, um, well, let's just say I've been very busy painting and cutting and Googling (of course), and making many trips to the craft store. I swear the cashier looked at me yesterday and muttered, "What? You, again?"

Yes, me again, I have made about a bizzillion mistakes.

Have I really been to the store that much? Let's just say, Laurel, all of two and a half years old, knows the layout of the store well enough that she can locate the felt and glue sections without blinking an eye. "Over here, Mommy," rings through my ears as she and I trod through aisles of crafty fun.

Farm Time

Our quest for fun lands our little family at a farm. This is the third year we have gone to Schnepf Farms. Some things we have done before...




The goats and other farm animals were quite patient with us.








We had to ride this monster slide. Climbing up the hill ensured both kids were tuckered out by the end of the day.









Thank goodness we brought the wagon or we'd have had to carry both of them.






Corn on the cob is a must!!!




















Of course we had to pick pumpkins!!!















With so many cute pumpkins to choose from, it's hard to decide.




















And some things the kids tried for the first time...



Flying is a huge hit.










Laurel wants to join a circus just so she can be the trapeze artist.













My little girl had to ride a pony. She chose the biggest one. Not exactly a pony, is it?










Oh, my, we're overheating. What to do, what to do? I know...





















...eat
ice cream!

Something I Never Thought I Would Say to My Son

It's almost bedtime, so our little family busily cleans up the toys downstairs. I notice Ian is wearing Laurel's princess shoes, a common sight these days.

Once finished with picking up the day's mess, I announce, "Alright guys, it's time for bed. Let's go upstairs and put on your jammies."

Ian meets up with me at the bottom of the stairs and states, "Mommy, I'll race you upstairs."

"No, Ian, I don't want to race you while you're wearing heels."

Ian, the Chip Eating Soothsayer

Ian sits with Laurel and I eating lunch. Like most times before, he happily munches on his potato chips first. About halfway through, he briefly stops to inform me, "Mommy, when I'm done eating my chips, I'm going to ask you if I can have more chips. And I know you will tell me to eat my sandwich first."

He then returns to crunching away on his Pringles.

A couple minutes later, he finishes and asks, "Mommy, may I have more chips?"

I simply reply, "Ian, what do I usually tell you?"

He smiles and answers, "To eat my sandwich first."

I laugh and say, "Ok, Ian, go for it!"

Still Here

We're still here, just busy. I've been wanting to post more about our California trip - the beach, the aquarium and Legoland, but of course life interrupts and the computer is not cooperative in allowing me to view, let alone edit pictures. Sigh.

Recently, Ian, Laurel and I had a wonderful opportunity to spend a week at a friend's time share beach house in Rocky Point, Mexico. My friend brought along her two children, so there were us two mommies and four kids ages 4 (Ian), 3 (Riley), 2 (Laurel) and 1 (Connor).

The beach was awesome. At low tide, there were tide pools everywhere and we could wade in the water and chase Kermit Crabs, fish and some other bigger crabs. I have to laugh because not only do my kids cutely say "Kermit Crabs," but so does Riley.

On the last day we collected seashells in our buckets. Ian excitedly scooped up piles of tiny shells. Looking inside his bucket, we discovered it's entire contents were on the move. I informed him he needed to release his prisoners. We then tried to find unoccupied shells, a difficult thing to do. After rinsing the shells and laying them out to dry, we found several still had residents.

Non beach activities included making bracelets, a huge hit with Ian who made about ten of them. The kids also loved frosting, decorating and eating cupcakes. Of course the week was a huge party, so we made crowns. There was lots of chasing, singing, reading books, coloring, watching movies, Laurel and Riley pretending to be princesses and playing in a bunkbed turned castle, some squabbles, some crying (and not just by the mommies), and sweet hugs.

A wonderful week!!! Hopefully, if a certain computer gets fixed soon, I'll be able to post pictures.