A Very Potter Xmas

A while back, I pinned these super cute Harry Potter ornaments.  Now, my 2-year-old will be the first to tell you, "Christmas is NOT our holiday," but I knew I'd have to make these for someone and I knew just the person.

Those are obviously loosely based on the Potter Puppet Pals (DUMBLEDORE!), so I took my inspiration from them.  I opted to leave Voldemort and Snape out (much to my kids' dismay.  Severus' absence meant they weren't able to recreate their favorite Puppet Pal song (not that they've ever needed anything extra to sing the song in the past--loudly and in public.  You can't even imagine the looks you get when your 2-year-old yells, "It's a pipe bomb. Yay," at Home Depot).  I, however, added Dumbledore to the mix.  He, however, lacks robes which can be removed (once again, much to the kids' dismay).

The ornament who lived

I free-handed everything and tried to work with what I had on hand.  The heads are from felt.  They're basic round shapes with ears on the sides.  The red hats are cut from the Xmas tree skirts I bought on clearance (I told you they'd come in useful, even for a Jew).  There was still more than enough left for the kids to use as a cape.  I painted all the faces with fabric paint.  Ron and Dumbledore's eyes are the exception.  Those are nail polish.  Ron and Hermione's hair is felt.  Harry's is black duct tape.

On my trip to the craft store, I forgot to grab white felt.  So I had to use white ribbon I had for hat trim and white foam I had on hand for Dumbledore's beard.  There wasn't much which is why it looks a bit thin.

The 9-year-old's work

My oldest and I stitched around the heads and hats.  They're stuffed with sliced up clear plastic packing material.  We have a TON from all the Chanukah gifts, so we put it to good use.  The hats that could be stitched on were.  Dumbledore's couldn't, so it's sewn in the corners and then we used craft glue.

The white puff balls on top of the hats are from a foam menorah kit.  See, even when it comes to making crafts for my Christian folks, I'm still a proud Yid.  They're held on with craft glue.

There are tied bits of yarn on the back for hanging.

I must say, I love Ron.  Now, I've got a thing for sidekicks to begin with and I've always adored book Ron and I think Rupert Grint is pretty damn adorable as well, but I really liked how the Ron ornament turned out.  I didn't want to part with him.  He's cute!

Probably should have paid more attention to the back.

Through this craft, I found my youngest daughter is a Harmony shipper. My 2-year-old broke my canon-loving heart when she insisted on making the Harry ornament kiss Hermione.  My middle insisted, "No, she loves Ron.  Let me go get the Ron ornament and she can kiss him."  The youngest pitched a fit and insisted that was not going to happen.  I put Harry out of her reach after that.  I like Harry too, but, damn she can go Romione or go home.  Wait, this IS home.  Well, that complicates the matter a bit, doesn't it

Romione FTW!

Chanukah with the Goat Rodeo

My big 2 in 2006

Tonight, at sundown, Chanukah begins.  No, it's not Chanukah just yet (much to my children's dismay and Facebook's confusion).

I'm going on the assumption that everyone knows what "The Festival of Lights" is all about.  I realize, based on my friends' experiences discussing Chanukah at their kids' schools, that this may not be an accurate assumption.  If you really have no idea about the story of Chanukah, you can always set up a consultation with Rabbi Google.

Luckily, if that's too much effort, the Maccabeats exist.





Chanukah, like nearly every other Jewish holiday, can be summed up as, "They tried to kill us.  We won.  Let's eat."  It is NOT a major holiday at all.  People seem to think it is since it occurs around the same time as a major Christian holiday, but it's actually a pretty minor holiday.  It is NOT the Jewish Christmas (which doesn't even make any sense).

We celebrate in the standard way--lighting the menorah (aka hanukkiah) every night at sundown for 8 nights.

Our family has quite an extensive collection of hanukkiot.

There's the large silver one we bought right after we got married (pictured above).

There's the electric one Bubbe gave us the year before.  It doesn't fulfill the mitzvah (Chanukah candles must burn to do that), though, so we put that one in the window and use it in conjunction with another one.

Anyone who has Jewish children in any sort of religious programming/schooling will tell you we quickly collect far more hand-made hanukkiot than we can use.  We have two clay ones the big girls made in their pre-school Sunday school program 7 years ago.  We had sand ones the big 3 made as part of their yeladim group, but the sand didn't hold up well after being stored in the attic in the Great Big Box o'Chanukah.  What was carefully crafted layers of pretty color sand became a giant mess the following year.  One year, they made some out of painted wood blocks.  Those fell apart before we were able to pack them away.  Last year, they made some out of a long piece of metal, dominoes and nuts (as in nuts and bolts, not food).  They went into the box as hanukkiot  They came out this year as a jumbled mess of parts.

To celebrate, we light the menorah (I usually light the silver one and the kids light the electric one.  The big girls take turns lighting theirs each night) each night, say blessings and sing songs.  Of course, Chanukah hasn't even started yet and I've been randomly bursting out into Sivivon* for more than a week now.

Here's a tidbit you may not have known: traditionally, women don't have to work while the Chanukah candles are burning.  Here's another tidbit: Our hanukkiah holds regular shabbat candles which are about 5x's as thick as the usual Chanukah candles.  ;-)

We eat traditional food cooked in oil to remind us of the story of the oil.  The most well-known ones include latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly donuts).

In our house, the kids get one gift each night, more than one if there are enough.  Some people plan out exactly which gifts to give their kids on each night.  We usually just plan for the first and last.  Back in his youth, my husband got "useful" gifts on some nights (the family cats usually gave him socks or underwear).  That's not our thing, though.  Our pets aren't allowed anywhere near the lingerie department.  The kids usually get toys, books, electronics and/or clothes.  This year, among Journey Girl dolls, DS games, dresses, books, and all things Harry Potter, my middle daughter asked (and will receive) a bath mat.  I don't understand it, but she's fascinated by those plush ones, so we put it on her wish list and Mémé bought it for her.  I can't tell you how thrilled she will be.  I also can't tell you why in the world she asked for one in the first place.  Well, she IS my daughter.  I guess that should be sufficient to explain all.




*The lyrics are slightly different in Israel.  Nes Gadol Haya Sham (A great miracle happened there) becomes "Nes Gadol Haya Po," in Israel (A Great Miracle Happened Here).  Dreidels are also slightly different to reflect that change .  The letters correspond with each word: Nun (Nes), Gimmel (Gadol), Hey (Haya), Shin (Sha), but the Shin is replaced by Pay in Israel.  

World Prematurity Day 2011

My twins were born 2 months premature.  Today, I planned to share their story, but, when I stop to think about it, I'm too bitter.  Nearly 10 years later, the anger behind nearly losing my girls hits me too hard.  We're finally at a point where I no longer dread their birthday and "Homecoming Day" goes by almost unnoticed.  Still, I hate that we have a story to tell.  I hate that others have stories with endings not nearly as happy.  

So here, I'll leave you with my bitterness, my anger, and my post from this day last year.  

In an attempt to put a more positive spin on it, I'll share this related story about how one nurse made all the difference in the world and how I'll be forever in her debt.  

A very Harry Potter Halloween

First and foremost, my apologies for the crappy photos.  I forgot to charge my good camera before Halloween and so, the battery was dead. *head desk*  Bad Dobby!  Bad Dobby!  So all the photos were taken on my phone.  I'm sorry about the quality (or lack thereof).

A very Harry Halloween (complete with Mischief-Managed in the corner)

We had ourselves a very Harry Halloween.  It all started with my oldest.  She couldn't decide if she wanted to be Harry or Hermione, so she decided to coordinate with her baby sister and posed the question to her.  Go as Harry and Dobby or Hermione and Crookshanks?  The youngest picked Crookshanks.

Inspiration 

Oldest daughter

Not bad, eh?  She has a red and yellow tie (which she got at a rummage sale a year or two ago specifically to use for Hermione) over her brother's dress shirt (which really is too small for her, but luckily, you couldn't see it).  I got that sweater for $1 on clearance last year at Volde-Mart.  It, too, belongs to her brother, but it's 3 sizes too big for him, so it works great for the sister who's 4 years older.  I got the skirt for less than a dime at a consignment store.  She had the tights and socks and she wore existing dress shoes (not pictured here).

She wore robes that we got ages ago on clearance.  They're perfect because they're black, lined in red fabric, and there's a hood.  The only problem is that the huge skull closure makes them look more like Death Eater robes (and when she put the hood on, her baby sister asked, "Hey, Death Eater, where did Hermione go?").  No problem, though, because Hermione needed a S.P.E.W. badge, so I made a huge one and used double stick tape to tape it over the skull.  

She already has brown curly hair, but in order to amp up the bushiness, she slept with her hair in 6 braids.  It worked.  She had perfect bushy Hermione hair.  

Hermione's bushy brown hair

Total cost for the whole Hermione costume: under ten cents.  

Crookshanks wasn't quite as easy to throw together.

Hermione and Crookshanks 

Our Crookshanks

Note the tail.

For this ginger cat, I wanted an orange top with a hood and orange pants.  Problem is, it's damn-near impossible to find solid orange clothes, even this time of year.  So, I hit the thrift stores.  I found this orange sweater for $3 at Value Village.  I found the pants (size 6-9 months, which is why they're so short.  My daughter is 2 and 1/2 and isn't tiny) for a quarter.  My big girls had an orange boa, so I cut a strip of that for the fuzzy chest (to cover the zipper) and used a piece of it for Crookshanks' bent tail.  I used orange felt I had on hand to make the ears (and pinned them on so that we can easily remove them and still use the sweater).  She had orange socks.  We grabbed a few makeup kits last Halloween for a few cents when they went on huge clearance, so I used those for her face.

Total cost: $3.25.

Harry

When I found the Nimbus 2000 replica at Value Village, brand new and on sale for 99 cents, I had to get it.  Actually, I got 2.  When the guy at the register rang it up, he congratulated me and pointed out that they usually sell for $20 each.

That broom is what convinced my son he wanted to be Harry for Halloween.  He was torn between Harry and a Storm Trooper before that point.  Luckily, this is not his first time taking on the Chosen One's identity, so he already had much of what he needed.  He wore his white dress shirt with his red tie (I used the official Gryffindor tie as a model and painted gold stripes using fabric paint).  I cut an old grey sweater vest to make more of a V-neck, but it looked awful.  So, when I found a grey tank top at a consignment store for a few cents, I grabbed it for him.  He wore his existing grey pants and dress shoes (with red socks because he is a Gryffindor after all).  Once again, we headed to Value Village where I found the robes on sale for half off.  So they cost me 98 cents.

Years ago, we stocked up on these glasses for goody bags.  They have big freaky eyes attached.  We still have a few pairs left, so I pried the eyes out of them (much to my youngest's dismay.  She cried actual big tears and screamed at me, 'You ruined my Mad-Eye glasses.") and my son used them for Harry.  Yes, I realize they're purple.  Yes, I'm typically a stickler for details, but, by that point, I didn't much care.

His oldest sister used the same makeup sticks Crookshanks used to draw a scar on his forehead.  For those who are new, we're Jewish and my son wears a kippah (yarmulka).  So he donned his Harry Potter kippah yesterday.  It's his favorite.  FTR, his father clipped it, not me.  If I had done it, there wouldn't be a kippah clip straight through poor Harry's face.

Total cost: about $1.




Next up, we Luna Lovegood.  This was the most expensive of the costumes.  If you've been hanging around for a while, you know my kids adore Luna.  My middle daughter was going to be Darth Vader, that is, until we found the blonde wig (again, at Value Village.  They really should pay me for the advertising).  It was new and $6, but I had a 25% off coupon.  The promise of a long blonde wig was just too good to ignore.  She swapped costume ideas that minute.

Long blonde curls 2009

The funny thing is that my daughter IS blonde, although she chopped her hair off a few years ago.  Before that, she actually had perfect Luna hair.  So there I was buying a wig that wasn't nearly as close to Luna's hair as the child's natural hair was.

So we had a wig, but it needed something more to make her unmistakably Luna.  My mind immediately went to Luna's famous lion hat.  We opted to go with the movie representation rather than the books just because it seemed like it would be more obvious (in the books, it was more of a stuffed lion on top of her regular school hat).  I scoured Pinterest for ideas and headed back to Value Village (seriously, I need to start charging for ad space).  There, I found the jacket from this Old Navy costume for $2.  It was 12-18 months, but I had her try on the hood in the store and it worked.  Poor kid actually tried on every single hood and hat that was even remotely lion-shaped.  That one worked the best.  I took it home and cut the hood off.

Not the best shot, but all I was able to get

When I got my son that $1 grey sweater last year, I also grabbed a black one in the same size for the same price.  So we opted to scrap the standard grey and go with black using this photo as inspiration.  Unfortunately, the only cork we have in the house is firmly pressed into a bottle of wine for the time being, so we couldn't replicate the cork necklace (although both my daughter and I pictured it as a necklace of bottle caps when we read the description in the 5th book).  The hat and wig covered her ears, so we skipped Luna's signature earrings.  We did, however, print Spectraspecs (just without lenses because I didn't have anything on hand that would work).  I also printed a Ravenclaw patch which she wore on her sweater (held on with double stick tape).  She borrowed her brother's dress shirt and blue tie (it killed me that it was blue and silver, like the movie, instead of blue and gold. I'm a Ravenclaw and I'm a stickler for the book representation.  FWIW, her patch was cannon and had an eagle, not a raven).  She wore rainbow knee highs over her black tights and she wore sparkly pink sneakers.  It just seemed like a very Luna thing to wear.  She also spent a lot of time staring into space.

It wasn't, by far, the best representation of Luna, but it worked.

Total cost: $6.50

While trick-or-treating, we heard quite a few people exclaim that we were the only Harry Potter characters they'd seen.  We thought that was odd.  With the last movie coming out this year, we were sure Harry would still be popular.  Two people caught that the youngest was Crookshanks.  One of those declared us their favorite costumes of the whole night.  I wanted to kiss those people.

See the pink tea cup in my right hand?

For the first time since I was in college, I dressed up too.  I was Trelawney (which is another post for another day).  I even managed to convince my husband to dress up, well, kinda.  I found inspiration here and printed him a name tag. 

Dr. Wendell Wilkins

Getting My Craft On

I haven't felt terribly creative lately.  I've had a few ideas and I've spent hours on Pinterest marveling at other people's creativity, but I haven't actually felt compelled to make anything lately.

A few weeks ago, I had an idea for a t-shirt for my youngest (inspired by her current obsession), but I just didn't have the motivation to make it.

So, last night, creativity and inspiration combined to bite me on the butt and I got to work.

This was super simple.  I don't know what took me so long to get started.  It didn't take more than 20 minutes to make it.

Luna's glasses were my inspiration.  I toyed with the idea of adding her earrings or possibly a Ravenclaw tie and sketch a blouse collar, but decided to keep it simple.

Collar reads, "Luna Loony Lovegood, you're okay in my book." 

I created the design free-hand.  The pink of glasses are painted with paint markers.  The lenses are fabric paint.  The text was done quickly by hand using permanent marker.  I usually prefer transfers for fonts because I'm lousy at free-handing letters, but I have a huge font collection.  Today, though, I knew the t-shirt would get tossed aside unfinished (like far more of my projects than I care to admit), so I just grabbed Sharpies and did it myself. 

Around the bottom and the glasses, I used my very favorite Luna line, "You're just as sane as I am."  Around the collar, I used a line from Harry and the Potters' "Luna Lovegood is OK."  It reads, "Luna Loony Lovegood, you're okay in my book."  

She loves it.  Her big sisters have put in requests for versions in their sizes.  

It's not by far my best work, but, hey, at least I put my toes back into the creativity pool.  

Show Me What Ya Got #42 at Not Just A Housewife

Looney Luna Lovegood is Full of Awesome

Luna Lovegood is a character in the Harry Potter series who marches to the beat of her own drum and comes off a bit daft at times.  I grew to like her through the books, but Evanna Lynch's performance (and story) made me love her through the movies.

I Luna

Lately, my 2-year-old has become obsessed with Luna.  I don't know where it started (although I suspect her big sisters and brother listening to Harry and the Potters' "Luna Lovegood Is OK" on repeat had a wee bit to do with it).  Every chance she gets, she puts on her sunglasses, grabs any wand-like instrument in her vicinity (be it knitting needle, paint brush, or insanely noisy plastic wand [Thanks a lot, mom]), casts spells and demands that either, she IS Luna or that she wants to meet her.



Now, I agree that Luna's cool and all, but I admit that the toddler's obsession has left me a bit baffled.  Most kids her age love Elmo, Winnie the Pooh, Caillou (G-d save us all from his unending whininess), Thomas the Tank Engine or the cast of Yo Gabba Gabba.  Why is my youngest so enamored with Luna Lovegood?  What on earth should I make of it all?

Recently, there's been a resurgence in sharing this post from Pigtail Pals and suddenly, a light bulb appeared over my head (or perhaps the 9-year-olds yelled, "Lumos" and aimed their wands in my general direction [The younger of my 9-year-olds {who was Luna for Purim} would like me to pause and point out that for the sake of accuracy, neither of my twins can actually have a "real" wand because they're 2 years shy of the required age]).

Luna wakes up full of awesome every day.  That article celebrates the fact that 5-year-old Amelia loves herself--celebrates herself just like many other young children do (my toddler included) without sacrificing her strength, her beauty, or her brilliance to anyone else.  The vast majority of girls don't make it through adolescence with that intact.  There are few (if any) depictions of older characters who feel that way; who simply ARE without restraints.

Hebrew school bound

In this family, we try to raise our children to be themselves and not let others force them into society's preconceived notions.  This often leaves them the odd ones out when they follow their hearts and go against the norm.   My oldest headed to Hebrew school in a getup designed, not by fashion magazined geared towards tweens, but by her own likes and desires.  My big two were the only girls in their karate class.  My son's favorite color was pink for the longest time.  Whereas some of their female friends absolutely refuse to get dirty because it's not "Pretty," my kids run out in the yard to roll around in the mud.
 

Muddy & loving it

My 2-year-old insists on wearing her clothes backwards.  Yes, it's intentional.  Yes, it's odd.  My 2-year-old has her own obsessions which are very different from other kids her age.  My 2-year-old is awesome (as are her siblings).

Luna Lovegood is looney.  Luna Lovegood is out there.  Luna Lovegood is certainly not a red fuzzy monster singing repetitive obnoxious songs.  Luna Lovegood would never be mistaken for a Disney Princess.  Luna Lovegood is true to herself.  Luna Lovegood is awesome.

"Looney Luna Lovegood, you're okay in my book." 

Darth Daughter

Some people think it's stupid, but they like Quidditch.

Boys like sparkly face paint too.

Girls kick butt, even if they're the only girls in class.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Grandparents' Day

This past Sunday was Grandparents' Day.  We were lucky enough to have my parents out for a visit.  This gem was captured during that visit.

My daughter is up to something.  My father is exhausted.

My mother was asleep on the other end of the couch.  Unfortunately, she's a much lighter sleeper and woke every single time I tried to snap a picture.  

###

Wordless Wednesday

And Ode to Harry Potter

We LOVE Harry Potter here at Chez Goat Rodeo.

Our Harry Potter Purim was the best Purim ever.

We plan to decorate our basement to look like Hogwarts (I kid you not).

I even scrapped about the final book.

My middle daughter knows every single little detail about these books.  Seriously, it's scary. It has gotten to the point where I'll say, "Well, I thought I remembered X, but she's saying, 'Y," and it's her after all, so I'll go with Y."

One of her camp counselors last year posted a status update about how he was never going to argue with his campers about Harry Potter again.  I replied asking, "What did my daughter do now?"  Sure enough, she had argued with him and SHE WAS RIGHT.

She's read all the books at least 3 times each.

Our Chihuahua's nickname is "Dobby Dog."

My children commonly run around the house shouting spells at each other.

Yet, through all that, we never even considered going to the movie premier early this morning.  #1.  We have the rule that you must read the book before you see the movie.  My oldest has yet to read the 7th book.  So she couldn't come with her twin sister to see the movie.  I wouldn't leave her behind and only take one.  #2. While I was a night owl back in the day and still stay up pretty late now, the thought of having to give up those few hours of sleep--precious wonderful gorgeous sleep, was not something I could stand (most especially because the youngest has decided sleep is for the weak, or more precisely, not for me, over the past few nights).

So, we didn't go.  I noticed a number of my friends complaining that they, too, weren't able to go last night.  So we're banding together and forming our own little group scattered all over the country, where we go next Saturday night instead.  That should give the oldest time to finish the final book (please, G-d!).

I've never been a huge fan of the movies, but still, this is the absolute end.  This is it.  It's over.  I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it all the same.

Wordless (day before) Wednesday: Nightstand redo

I'm horrible about getting my WW posts up in time, so I'm doing this the day before Wednesday in hopes of FINALLY having one up for Wednesday.

When my daughters wanted a nightstand, I decided to find one and redo it for them.

The end result isn't anything I'd pick for myself, but it's what my girls wanted and they love it.

I used the turquoise paint we have for the youngest's room because it goes well with the pink in the big girls' room (I also used it on their dresser which isn't quite done yet).  We scoured the scrapbook aisle for papers they liked and I cut those into squares and decoupaged the top and side with Mod Podge (inspired by this adorable dresser I found through Pinterest).  I used the leftover paper scraps and the same dark pink paint I used for table accents on this "Magic" canvas I made for their room.  Somehow, I screwed up and got paint drips on the top, so I covered those with butterfly wall stickers from the Dollar Tree (which are also on their dresser).  I sanded down the edges to distress it.

After

Before

During

side

Top

I'm not happy with the handles, but I just painted and reused the existing ones for now.  Anyone have any ideas for alternatives?  It's so busy that I'm not sure what to do.  I'm leaning towards these.  I saw a turquoise painted dresser on pinterest with these black half-circle pulls and I loved the look.  What say you?  Do you think they'll work?

###

Wordless Wednesday