happy halloween!

Another Halloween has come and gone. I have to say that I'm glad. I love Halloween but it gets crazy sometimes. :o) The kids had tons of fun trick-or-treating and running around in their costumes. And I'm happy that all the costumes were all done in time. :o) I actually did finish working on most of the costumes in September but only finished up with Eli's yesterday! I took a break to work on other things. So here are the costumes!

SHAILEY'S COSTUME

Shailey wanted to be a witch this year. I told her a witch would be fine as long as it was a cute witch. I'd say she's pretty cute. So I can't take full credit for this costume. I started out with a very basic costume for about $10.00 from Target (shown below the picture of Shailey) and added more tulle, a faux corsette in the front, cap sleeves, and a sash (I was so lucky to find all the material used laying around the house!). The total cost for her costume was about $15.00! I love bargains! Isn't she a cute witch?

ELI'S COSTUME

Eli wanted to be Peter Pan but we weren't too keen on him wearing tights. So after running A LOT of other ideas across him he finally dropped the Peter Pan idea and went with a classic aviator costume (we're pretty sure this had to do with his insane love for Soarin' Over California at Califronia Adventure.) His costume was easy in some ways and annoying in others. Easy in the sense that he's just wearing pants and shoes we already had and a jacket we found at Target. The hard part was making his cap and goggles. I won't bore you with the details but I'll just say that I hate sewing with costume pleather and never plan to again. It was so frustrating making that cap and goggles! I'm glad it turned out okay! His costume cost a bit more since we bought the jacket at Target for $25.00. But what you can't see in the picture is that the furry collar can be removed to reveal a regular leather collar--which will be a great jacket for an Indiana Jones costume next year (which we've already convinced him to be!). The scarf just has wire run through the edges so it looks likes the wind is blowing. :o) I think he gives Howard Hughes a run for his money!

ISAAC'S COSTUME

Isaac's costume definitely took the longest. His obsession with the movie "Cars" made it clear that he needed to be Lightning McQueen this year. His costume I made entirely from scratch. All of the decals on the costume were found by searching images on the internet and editing. Then I just used iron on paper to get it on the fabric. If I could have done anything differently I would have stiffened up the sides a bit more so they wouldn't bend in so much. Oh, well. He loves it and that's all that matters! His costume cost about $15.00 also. (I know, the second picture was taken while he was wearing pajamas but it was the only one I had of the back of his costume.)

I really enjoy making (or adding on to existing) costumes! It's so much fun and so rewarding to see how excited the kids are to wear them.

Shailey had a Halloween party at school today, also. The boys and I went down there to take a few pictures. It was fun to see her in her class. Here's a picture of her with her teacher, Mrs. Crenshaw.

And here's her whole class dressed up! :o)

And finally, Danny and I dressed up for a Halloween party that we went to last week. He dressed up as Waldo and I was Wenda (I didn't know Waldo had a girlfriend but apparently he does!) Here are a couple of pictures of us.

We were surprised at how difficult it was to find red and white striped shirts. It's a good thing duct tape comes in red. :o) Happy Halloween!

congratulations shailey!

Shailey's teacher, Mrs. Crenshaw, picked her for Student of the Month in her class. Each teacher picked one student in their class that demonstrated the "Character Trait of the Month" the best. September's "Character Trait" was "Responsibility" so she chose Shailey. :o) We were invited to attend the assembly where they handed out the certificates to the students. It was supposed to be a surprise so Shailey didn't know we were going to be there. She was the first named called and she was so surprised she didn't know what to do! Once she got up on stage and she finally saw us in the back waving at her the look of surprise on her face was priceless! I only wish I had my camera during the assembly.

After the assembly Shailey got to leave school 30 minutes early so we took her out to ice cream. She got marshmallow-flavored ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. At least her and the boys seemed to like it. I would never pick ice cream that tasted like marshmallows. Way to go Shailey! Congratulations! :o)

Prop 8

We've been working hard lately in any way we can to support Proposition 8 here in California, whether it be our time or donations. For any of you who don't know about Prop 8, you can read about it here. Or you can watch this really great video on You Tube that explains Prop 8 very well.

This past week our whole family has set aside time in the evenings to join others in our ward to do "sign waving" at different intersections to show our support. The kids have been real troopers each time we've done it. Shailey was so funny a few nights ago. While she's waving her sign she yells, "Remember, have a boy marry a girl!" It was too funny! The kids are always talking about our "Yes on 8" sign and "Yes on 8" sticker that's on our car. It's cute that they want to be involved in something that they know so little about. I think that deep down they know it's important. :o) We've got another busy week of sign waving and other volunteer work for Prop 8. We just all hope and pray that this passes. It scares me to think what will happen if it doesn't. If you don't live in California, we would appreciate all your prayers!

it's raining! (sort of)

Okay so we don't get a lot of rain around here. When it does rain it's a big deal since it reminds me of home (I really do miss the rain...is that weird?). The kids wanted to go outside and play in the so-called rain (more like mist) so we got them all dressed up to play! They had fun. :o) We can't wait to get a healthy dose of Oregon rain in December!

little ballerina

Shailey has been LOVING her little beginners ballet class. She goes with two of her friends from our ward which has been great. She's been going for about a month now and I just have to say that it's a real hoot to see a bunch of little 5-6 year old girls prancing around in their dance attire. You can tell which ones have done it before, which ones are just naturally talented and which ones look a little awkward (Shailey falls into the latter category). I'm sure as time goes by she will get better. At least she's having fun! :o)

eli's birthday continued

Okay so I said I'd post more on Eli's birthday and now I'm finally getting around to it! Sorry! I've been busy. :o)

So, Eli was determined to have blue and orange (his two favorite colors) for birthday decorations. So we picked up orange and blue balloons and crepe paper and hung it up everywhere. You get bonus points if you can tell me which movie is paused on my TV (here's a hint since the pic is so small: it's my favorite movie and it stars Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison...now that I've given it away!)

After opening up a few presents...

...it was time for cake!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY ELI!!

happy birthday eli!

Today is Eli's birthday! He is 4 now! He was so excited when they sang to him in Primary. :o) We are going to have a little party for him this evening with cake and presents so I'll be sure to put up some pictures later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELI!