Halloween is creeping up on us.  It's a favorite holiday here.  I told my kids I just wasn't feeling up to making costumes.  So, of course, now I'm making 2 different costumes which include the most intricate work I've ever done (I can hand stitch [poorly], but I can't use a sewing machine and I've never actually made clothing from scratch).

This ought to be fun where "Fun" means horrifying, anxious, frustrating, and awesome in the end.

Unfortunately, the whole goat rodeo won't coordinate this year (it's so much fun when they do).  My oldest and youngest will, though.  But shhhhhh, no one can know what they're going to be just yet.  Whenever I finally win this battle with mount fabric (aka finally finish these blasted costumes), I'll post pictures.

Conversations at Chez Goat Rodeo

These conversations both happened yesterday.

6-year-old son playing Mad Libs: It asks for a thing.  Everything in the world is a thing.  Even the world is a thing.

Me: The world is a vampire. 


Later in the day, my son was playing a game with my youngest daughter (age 3).  She won a surprising number of games in a row.  He made a comment in an astonished tone.

Son: You won AGAIN.

Daughter: Sorry. I just can't stop myself. 

If you give a Whovian some sneakers...

For a long time, it seemed as though this blog would become a Harry Potter-themed craft blog.  It did not.

Now, I'm going to risk it becoming a Doctor Who themed craft blog.  Woo hoo!  Come along for the ride.

 I made TARDIS sneakers/trainers for my kids.  I pinned these a few months back.  I loved them and thought I could use them as inspiration.

A few months ago, I found 3 or 4 pairs of Converse sneakers at a children's consignment store for a quarter each.  They included these perfect blue ones.  There was a spot of purple paint in the upper left corner, but I just painted over it with blue paint.


 Using those pinned sneakers as inspiration, I did all the painting freehand (which I think it pretty obvious).  I'm just not much of a planner.  I'd rather get straight to work.  So the outsides of the sneakers have the TARDIS doors painted. I printed the telephone signs on fabric and sewed them on by hand (I used iron-on fabric, but it's too old and doesn't stay put on its own).  I thought the strips on the back worked perfectly for the "Police Pubic Call Box" sign, so I mimicked that.  I'm horrible at copying fonts, but I did my best.  I asked the kids what they wanted written on the white toe portion and they all agreed on "Bad Wolf."







I'd like to replace the white laces with blue ones, but the ones we had on hand were too short.  So I'll need to find longer ones.  Still, I'm very happy with how these turned out.  My kids love 'em.  They fit my oldest, so they can be handed down to all the others (assuming they can keep them in one piece).

These will go nicely with the whole collection of Doctor Who-themed t-shirts I've made them, but that's another post for another day.

How have I survived without this?

We were lucky enough to find a house with a pool when we moved.  I'm a fish (both in that I love the water and I'm a Pisces).  My children are also fish (they all love the water, but only the youngest is a fellow Pisces).  The twins learned to swim years ago in day camp, so they're fine in the pool.  My son is timid and very careful, so he spends most of his time either outside the pool skimming it or in a tube in the pool.  My youngest, however, has no fear and loves the water.  Last year, that meant I had almost no time to myself because all my time in the water was spend holding desperately on to her in an attempt to keep her from diving in face-first.

A friend once posted to Facebook, pictures of her two children wearing these floatation devices I'd seen at the store, but just brushed off as any other device.  In fact, they were a little more expensive than most floaty bathing suit, so I never even considered them.  Then I saw her picture with a comment about how they were the "The best invention EVER."

So, this year, I sucked it up and bought a Stearns 3D Puddle Jumper and I agree with her completely.

We've used floatation bathing suits and they're just okay. They provide a wee bit of extra safety, but they were never great.  They still require watching like a hawk because they have a tendency to push your child's face in the water.

This, however, actually hold my daughter up and keep her face and shoulders up straight.  My 3-year-old is learning to kick and she feels completely independent in the water.  I don't have to hold her the entire time, so we can all have fun swimming together.  I could kiss whoever invented this thing.

I like that it's not attached to a bathing suit.  Have you ever tried to wash one of those floatation suits with the built-in styrofoam?  It's a pest.  It floats in the washing machine, so it doesn't come completely clean plus the machine can damage it.  Plus we swim A LOT and needing one specific suit is a problem.  We have a number that we use and then toss in the machine.  So being able to just put this on my daughter with whatever suit she happens to be wearing helps a lot.

This thing is awesome.  I can't put into words how much it saved my summer.  I've been able to actually swim in our pool rather than just drag my daughter around the shallow end.  I do wish they were cuter (we have that frog one and it's okay, but nowhere near adorable) and I sometimes worry about catching my fingers in the clip in the back, but those are the only drawbacks (and so far so good).  It's a little pricey too ($19.96 at Walmart and $18.99 at Target) which is the biggest con for me, but I found out in the end that it's so very worth it.

Give me a head with hair...

There are a number of things you don't typically think much about until you have kids. Other people's haircuts fall into that category for me.

Before

My twins didn't have much hair as babies. They were constantly referred to as, "Boys," because they had barely any hair. So when they got older and suddenly had some hair, I was thrilled. By the time she was 6, the younger of the pair (who was bald until she was a toddler) had a head full of gorgeous blonde curls.

 Now, my theory on most things parenting is, "It's your body. It's your decision." It was awfully difficult to hold to that, though, when my middle daughter came to me asking for a haircut when she was 7. I loved her hair. We had waited so very long for it to grow out. I desperately wanted to make her leave it alone. Yet, I had to remind myself that it was her body and her decision. So she got a few inches cut off. A month later, she asked for more. So she got it chopped up to her ears. She loved it. I preferred it longer, but I kept my thoughts to myself and reminded myself that it was her body and her decision.

After

A few months back, my son (who has always had a head full of gorgeous curls that makes people stop and comment on them) asked for his hair to be cut "Like daddy," (aka super short). I hemmed and hawed, but eventually agreed to it. I couldn't stand it, but he loved it. Again, his body, his decision.


This past week, both my big girls asked for haircuts and my son asked for a mohawk.

My girls had quite a bit of hair chopped off. I actually love their haircuts, but they look so mature. My son's mohawk suits him well. I still miss his curls, but it looks cute on him.

My shaggy-haired son

Mohawk boy

I want them to be able to express themselves. I don't want to be the over-bearing parent who forces her ideas on her kids. Sometimes, it can be tricky to find a balance between the two.


 

Harry Potter and the painted t-shirt

I realize this blog is on the verge of becoming exclusively about our Harry Potter obsession. I'm sorry about that. I swear I'll fix that soon, just not today.

 We leave for our surprise vacation  to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in ONE DAY.  I'm so freaking excited.

Remember, we're going in honor of our twins turning 9 and 3/4.  Through Pinterest, I found this awesome 9 and 3/4 shirt.  I decided to follow her lead and make one of my own (well, two, since they were for twins).  I, however, cannot leave well enough alone.

So I ran with that idea and decided to make a HP charm necklace shirt complete with 9 and 3/4 painted on the side.

I admit I did a somewhat sloppy job.  The red "beads" are dots of red paint, but the paint was too watery and they bled a bit.  The blue chain is painted using a straw as a stamp.  I love the way it turned out.  

Can you identify all the charms?  

I was particularlly interested in whether or not people had any clue what the blue shape next to Luna's glasses was.  

Any guesses?  

Spoiler alert

Take a guess.

Okay, if you're here, I assume either you guessed or you gave up.  It's Merlin's Pants.  Yes, I realize "Pants" refers to underwear, but I left that up to my kids and they decided they didn't want a pair of underwear on their shirt.  So American pants it is.  

Let me identify them all for you.

Gold "Chain":
That is, of course, the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.  It's also traced in glow-in-the-dark paint so it will, (duh) glow in the dark.

Hanging from the long blue "chain"
You'll find an owl.  I used iron-on fabric patches that you can find at most grocery stores.  This particular one was purchased at a Shop Rite 25 years ago, but, hey, it worked.  I sewed buttons and felt on for eyes.  There was a felt beak, but it fell off in the wash, so I'm just going to paint one on.

Towards the right, you'll see an F and G from the same iron-on patch.  Those are, of course, for Fred and George, or Gred and Forge.  My twins refer to themselves as Fred and George.  At camp, some of their friends didn't know their real names.  They knew them only as Fred and George.

 Red charm necklace

Starting from the upper left is an orange sock.  It's a sock for Dobby.  It's orange because Ron loves the Chudley Cannons and orange is their color.  

Next is a crown because "Weasley is our king."  

Next to that is a pair of glasses and a lighting bolt for Harry.  

Next comes a time turner.  I was inspired by this one on etsy.  I drew it with paint marker on iron on fabric transfer paper (It's not transfer paper where you have to print backwards and iron it on to fabric.  It's actual fabric treated on the back with iron-on webbing.  You're supposed to print directly on it and then iron it on.  I don't know if they still make this stuff.  It's from my stash and it's really old)  and then used some fabric paint and added glitter.  I then ironed it all on when it was done.  It was the only way I could think of to contain the glitter to a specific area and not get it all over the shirt.  I originally painted a light bulb there for Hermione, the "Brightest witch" of her age, but I didn't like the way it looked.  So I ironed the time turner over that.  

The next one says 62442 which not only spells "Magic" on the telephone, but is also the code used to access the Ministry of Magic from the guest entrance.  I used the same technique with iron-on fabric and wrote the numbers with marker.  

Next to that is an HP for "Harry Potter."  

After that you'll see Trevor, Neville's toad.  It's actually a frog charm that broke off of one of my daughters' necklaces.  I sewed it on through the ring and added a bit of stitch glue for added security.  

Then we have Merlin's pants.  I cut the shape out from the same patch used for the owl.  These are covering up a snitch I tried to paint, but which came out looking awful.  

Next are Luna's spectrespecs.  You might recognize those because I've crafted with them in the past.  I did these freehand using just the tip of the handle of the paintbrush.  

You'll see a lightning bolt next for Harry's scar.  

On the far upper right is a black cauldron.


Yellow "chain" in the center:

On the far left is a spider both for Aragog and for Ron's fear of them.

Center is a winged key from the challenge in the Sorcer's Stone.  That's another one I did freehand using inspiration from the Graphics Fairy and the tip of my paint brush handle.

Could you tell that was the sorting hat?  I added that to cover one of the warped wings from the snitch.  I think it turned out okay, but I'm not certain if everyone can identify it as such.

And, of course, there's the 9 and 3/4 painted on the side.

I want to add an F and G to the back of the shirts (I have another HP-themed t-shirt not shown here), but I haven't yet.

I should get on that, shouldn't I?  I'm running out of time.  

On Valentine's Day

When I was in high school, I wore black and protested the stupid made up commercialized holiday that is Valentine's Day.  When my husband and I started dating, we found we shared the same view of the day, so we never celebrated.

Once we had kids, though, my attitude changed.  I found myself longing for the school parties, the hand-made valentines covered in glitter and glue, the heart-shaped cookies.  The more I thought about it, the more those were all very much NOT what the day had come to symbolize for so many (expensive dinner and flowers or jewelry to flaunt in front of everyone else.  I saw someone share a photo of roses today with the note, "I have a good husband."  Um...what?  "Sit!  Stay!  Buy roses!  Good, boy.  Good husband.").  I can get behind a celebration that's about friendship and love.

We do tend to give the kids little trinkets, but that's not all the day's about.  Yes, one year, the big girls got giraffe rain boots they wanted, but another year, they got book marks I made out of cardboard, ribbons and stickers.  This year, they all got recorders I bought for 50 cents.

They decorated and sent cards to their grandparents and some friends.  Last year, we went to a party with one of our homeschool groups (and we all had a blast!  That was probably the most fun I've had on Valentine's Day as an adult).  Everyone gave and received tons of cards, we all shared awesome snacks, and we had a blast playing and chatting.

This year, I see more people than ever venting about Valentine's Day (or "Single Awareness Day").  Oh how I understand!  I am not at all a fan of what the day has come to symbolize.  But, hey, the day is what you make of it.  Cover it in glitter and top it off with heart-shaped cookies and you might just find you enjoy the day.