halloween

I heard it exclaimed several times last night....while trudging through freezing rain, stepping in streams of water flowing down the sides of the streets, as paper candy bags burst and spilled onto the wet sidewalks, "This is the worst Halloween ever!"
But for some, I imagine it was the best.

Kermit!

Thanks, Aunt Nancy, for the photo! Here's that Kermit the frog costume I was talking about.
I can still smell the paper mache.

a spooky halloween!

Old halloween memories are so great.

There was the time my friend peed on someone's porch because she couldn't hold it anymore, and wasn't ready to go home. Or the time I froze as a hawaiian dancer because to wear a coat would ruin the costume.

You don't know this as a child, but what you choose to be for Halloween will be with you forever...although some costumes are more memorable than others.
There were the store bought ones, with the plastic mask that got all wet on your face after breathing in it for a few minutes. My odd choices were Woody Woodpecker, Woodstock (from Snoopy), and a storm trooper, which isn't so odd, except that Juan Pablo just told me that was for boys.

Then there were the homemade ones: a clown, a safari guide, and one of the most memorable--Kermit the Frog (picture a green leotard, green tights, yellow felt collar, and a GIANT green paper mache head. Oh, I hated that head!)

And when I was about three, I was a witch (gasp!). Nowadays, dressing up scary is met with mixed feelings...so when my kids chose 'ghost' and 'witch' this year, my initial response was NO.

But it's true that I'm easily influenced, so when a friend said her daughter was going to be a vampire, I thought, "Why not?"

And when they're this cute....

....and this silly, how could I not say yes?


Now this one, I'll admit, is pretty scary. It's homemade...out of a goodwill sheet...but the idea was from pinterest, of course.


There's nothing better than getting to wear make up at age 8...


...and lots of it!

Practicing his ghost face...and then it was off to the fall carnival.

Are they thrilled, or what? (There are those pumpkins I was talking about.)


Diego discovered party favors and blew it until it fell apart.

And I was shocked, but Joaquin won for scariest second grade costume. I'd warned them well that they would NOT win this year...so when Joaquin did, and Isabela didn't...it was upsetting for her. But she held it together well. I did my best to reassure her, and she agreed it was better for us to be happy for Joaquin, instead of being sad for her.


Diego had had enough by 8pm and was reduced to playing with a toy car in the middle of the school hallway.
And I let him.
He was happy, people were walking around him, so I just went with it.


And my favorite image of the night...waiting in line at the last stop, the giant inflatables.


And I thought I'd share how photo editing can change an awful image into a good one. In the first picture, I forgot to adjust the white balance on the camera.

Do I know what that is? NO.
But it's easy to adjust and makes the colors come out right on your picture. So if you forget, you can turn the picture into a black and white. But don't stop there. Increase the whites of the image by increasing the exposure or highlights. Then increase the blacks by increasing the contrast.
I learned that at Katie Evans Photography and I LOVE IT. Read it.
This image was edited in picnik, and best of all, picnik is free!

Fall Festival

I'm not sure what came over us this year. It all started with the Santa suit. We picked it up for Diego in a yard sale this summer. Then we thought of all going as something from Christmas. Rudolph, a tree, an elf....somewhere along the way, Isabela and Joaquin dropped out of the family Christmas costumes and went their own route.
But that left JP, Diego and me.

As we were stepping out of the car at the school, JP said, "It's not too late to turn back."

We debated about whether other parents would dress up. To say we were almost the ONLY ones who did, would not be exaggerating. If that's not embarrassing, I'm not sure what is. But at the same time, it was fun. I hadn't dressed up in a long time. And it will probably be another long time before I do it again.

So here's a few pictures we snapped before we left.

Isabela was an owl. The idea for this costume came from Alpha Mom. It was very easy to make...I added the feet, the wings and some feathers on the mask...otherwise it was pretty much the same. We loved this costume. Isabela would dance around in it throughout the house and you could tell she felt beautiful in it. I loved how simple it was to make, but how shimmery it was. I thought it might win "the contest". I did give her the "what if you don't win" speech before we left, but she was still so upset when she didn't. The little mask hid her tears.


Joaquin went as a lumberjack. This idea was from Family Fun and very simple. I didn't have to make anything except the suspenders and the ax.


Here's Diego and me. A lot of people thought I was a plain ol' grandma if I wasn't near the others. Nothing like people not getting your costume to make you want to rip it off.


Here's his stroller! A sleigh made out of poster board. He sat in it for a good while, and even rang a little jingle bell we'd given him. At some point he kicked it apart...and even threw a tantrum in the hallway, knocking over his stoller.... I overheard a passerby say, "Oooh...Santa's mad."


JP was an elf. A friend gave us the elf hat, and I made the vest....

...and the shoes! He loved the shoes and secretly wanted to wear them to work.


And would you believe....Joaquin won the costume contest?

dino sighting

I saw an elusive dinosaur running around our house the other day and tried to get a picture.


I did catch a glimpse of his face...wow, he's fast though!


A monkey tried to hold down the dinosaur so I could snap a shot, but he wiggled free. It was quite a zoo that morning.