Zoo Boo, Dojo Celebrations, and Halloween!

I almost forgot to do a post this week! Ha! I was so sleepy last night I went to bed crazy early. Anyway, we had a great time with Halloween this year. We went to Zoo Boo for the first time. It was fun but I'm not sure I'm dying to go back again next year. It was just really crowded. I think these guys had a great time even if we didn't get to see everything!

I didn't take many pictures of Halloween night so I am super happy we took some at Zoo Boo! Here's my new, short hair for anyone who hasn't seen it! Autumn dressed up as Doc McStuffins!

Originally, she was going to be Elsa in the costume I made her for her birthday. But Autumn has been able to wear that a lot since her birthday and I had a feeling that there would be a ton of Elsas. I asked her if she'd like to do something different and she said she wanted to be Doc. I'll be honest, because I LOVE HALLOWEEN I tried to talk her into something more complicated but she wasn't having any of it. :) I like that she knows what she wants. 

 Look at how cute this face is! I brought ears for Lindsay and me to wear. Ellie thoroughly enjoyed the swaying ears.

These two. They loved these bees! Before we left, we got to watch a magic show and some performers doing songs from Peter Pan. The kids all enjoyed it--Autumn was especially entranced by the magic show. I have to say, it was pretty good. He did one long drawn out gag that ended in an older teen leaping across the stage into the magician's arms out of fright! 

I made my own costume! I was Toph from Avatar the Last Airbender. And not the Avatar that has blue creatures. The cartoon. Some people were super confused about why I didn't have blue skin when I told them who I was. If you want to, you can watch this starting at 4:12. I showed this to Autumn early because we're watching the series but hadn't gotten to Toph yet. Autumn was entranced and said, "I want to be Toph next year." We'll see if she sticks to it!


And here I am! I'm probably going to post something on my blog about making the costume and you can see my gauntlets. We wore costumes in Aikido the who week of Halloween and this is my Tuesday elementary age class. We also played games, did a Japanese craft, and read Zen Ghosts by Jon J. Muth. Thursday, Autumn wore her Elsa dress to ballet. She said she was glad she decided to be Doc McStuffins because out of five girls in her class there were THREE Elsas!

On Halloween day, I read Zen Ghosts to Autumn's class and brought them cookies and juice. So fun! After school, we went to the hospital to see Penny who had to work. We have seen her every year since Autumn was a baby!! This year Autumn made out like a bandit with candy, medical tape, and TWO pen lights. On the way out she marveled at how her lights and tape make her a like a real doctor.

That night, we had friends over for chili, soup, and warm drinks. Several friends stopped in to eat and say hi and then went on to other trick or treating plans but this was our trick or treat group. We met up with another family from the cove and walked with them, too.

We have Kyle and Lindsay's fire pit while they are in between houses but I think we're going to have to get our own! We put the fire pit in the driveway and handed out candy. Kids who wanted to have a roasted marshmallow got one on a GIANT SKEWER. The ones I bought were too short but our neighbors came to the rescue! Mike said the marshmallows were a big hit. Definitely a do-again. Note that Mike is studiously avoiding being photographed. He said his costume was a "sleepy papa."

And so, Halloween is over and I am sad. But we had a blast and got to celebrate over several days so I suppose I can't complain. I haven't been able to bring myself to take down our wreath. IT'S JUST TOO CUTE.

A Very Happy Halloween

I hope everyone had a super fun Halloween! We did. Check out our pumpkins...I love it! Our friend Matt hadn't carved a pumpkin before so we invited him over to help us with ours. I gotta say, he way outdid anything I've ever done before.


I posted some about halloween on the pinwheel blog, first about Autumn's costume and then about our Not a Party but here are some fun pictures from Funny Bones at Mullins! We met Micah and Liana there and they had a really good time although Autumn got a littttle too happy at one point. I love Micah's face here.


We also found Josh and Aurora! I have another photo of Autumn acting completely insane while Josh is smiling but I thought this was so cute. I love Josh's magician rings.


I was pretty surprised that Autumn decided to get her face painted. She usually doesn't like people looking at her that hard but once in a while, the desire to be a butterfly overwhelms the whole DON'T LOOK AT ME thing!


After playing and then running around in the small graveyard at Mullins (Literally. They ran in circles.), Autumn ran out of gas. I revived her with a visit to get cocoa at Starbucks but...


It was a temporary revival!


On Halloween night, she struck a super Wonderpet pose!


And gave out candy! We only let her do two groups because she was seriously generous. You'd think her tiny fist could only hold a couple pieces of candy but NO.


While Autumn took care of the kids, Mike played with a flying strawberry!


I'm not sure why Jeffrey, Aurora and Aleena didn't make it into this photo but I love these happy faces!


There's Aleena! We really did have a great mix of old and new friends this Halloween. So fun and I can't wait until next year.

Autumn IS Ming-Ming the Wonder Pet!

I'm cheating a little tonight!! Head over to Passing Pinwheels this week to see Autumn's costume for Halloween and a tutorial on how I made the wings. Click!!

No...energy...must post...pictures /collapse

So, in case anyone is wondering, it is chilly and rainy and so I am cold and unmotivated, haha. Donnie and Liz came over (pics later!) because they were in town for a short visit. I made mini chicken pot pies and an ice cream sandwich dessert. I ATE TOO MUCH. Then we had too much fun and cake at our friend Aurora's third birthday party. Mike was laughing at me and said I was "so pretty" in my Halloween socks, pink sweats, black shirt, and blue robe. I WILL GET MY REVENGE. But, later, after the naproxen kicks in. In the meantime, I wish I could just do this.


I haven't been a bum all week. I made stuff. I'll post the moss garden, the update of Autumn's fairy garden, and the cart I redid on the Pinwheel blog later but here's the Minnie Mouse tutu I made Aurora. Lindsay gave me the idea and I am happy with how it turned out!


And here's the birthday girl with her brother Josh and Autumn. Yay for Minnie Mouse!


I also made Autumn's cape for Halloween. She's going to be Ming Ming from Wonder Pets! I also have a yellow outfit and orange leggings to complete the look. I think we'll sew a boa to a shirt for the wings. TOO FUN. If you've never seen Wonder Pets they are so adorable. Mike and I even sing the Teamwork song even when Autumn isn't around, hahaha. The hat, by the way, is from when Autumn was Amelia Earhart!


I got to have lunch with Autumn. I tried to surprise her but Autumn caught me out. I filled her lunch bag with just stuff and let her teacher know what I had done. Unfortunately, Autumn decided her lunch felt or sounded weird so she looked in it. Her teacher tried to cover and say that she'd buy Autumn's lunch but Autumn was all, "mama is going to come todaaaaayyyyy!"


Happy girl with chocolate soy milk on her chin.


Oh, and here's that other tooth fairy drawing! It's pretty awesome. And I did get some pixie dust BUT Autumn is in here so a picture will have to wait. I have no idea when the tooth is going to finally go. It got loose and then decided it was loose enough for now.


This is my favorite part. Autumn is dreaming about the tooth fairy while the tooth fairy is flying in! Love it!


Next week, I think I'll introduce you to someone new! Kiri the Kiwi! Some of you have seen/met her but it's a fun story. :)

So Much Halloween Fun!

I love Halloween. Look what I made!


Red hots melted over marshmallows! Too fun! We had a great Halloween night. I made chili and soup and hot drinks and told people just to drop in. I think I might do it every year. Our community group and a few friends came. My mom, too! She was seriously hilarious.


Know who else was hilarious? Lindsay's cat Baxter.


Anyway, my mom cracked me up. Autumn, however, was not impressed. At all.


In order to get a photo of them together, I had to sit between Autumn and my mom.


Look at how cute Micah and Autumn were together!


It was so fun trick or treating with Micah and Liana. It was also fun to see all the trick or treaters. In the past, we went to Ridgeway so we didn't get to do much in the neighborhood. This time, we got to see neighbors when we went out but also when they came to us! Here's a crowd, some of these guys are from across the street.


We also ran into this little strawberry who lives in the cove.


Autumn did SUCH a great job being brave, as she calls it. She rang doorbells, said trick or treat, and said thank you very politely. It took us a couple tries to push the right button at that house. I see with the flash, though, it's really obvious where the doorbell is!


Kyle and Lindsay set up their firepit in their driveway. It is so fun living close to the two of them! I sent our guests over there with marshmallows to roast over the fire!


Kyle, of course, got a huge kick out of my mom's costume. I made her wear it out when we went around the neighborhood.


Micah had to try on the glasses, ahaha.


Here's a full view of Autumn's costume. She, in no uncertain terms, told everyone she was NOT Ariel but a mermaid. I love it! This is at the Mullins Funnybones Festival last Saturday. I took Autumn so she could see old friends and teachers.


Broom ball: hysterical.


Autumn, Ella, and Evie make such a cute group! Evie has been one of my students for as long as I have been at Mullins teaching Aikido. It is so fun getting to watch the kids grow up!


OH! Back to our house Halloween night...here's Penny taking out Mike's stitches. Thank you, Penny!


And, of course, our yearly Halloween photo!


For more Halloween fun, check out this post. The story I tell is a little crazy but the photo is priceless. Click here for details on our costumes and the banner. And click here for information about a friend's adoption fundraiser.

Halloween! Continued!

I wanted to be creative with this one but I have a raging sinus infection which appears to be stifling the creative juices. They are apparently all stuck in the front part of my face. T_T

Fortunately! I don't have to be creative because I have cute. Like Autumn her second Halloween at Aunt Penny's house which is one of our yearly traditions. As you might already know, Autumn can be a little shy. Ha! So I've always just taken her to friends' houses and close neighbors we know for trick or treating. We've been to Penny's house or her work every year.


Whenever we go to her work, Penny makes sure her coworkers have candy for Autumn. How sweet is that? Of course, it mildly terrifies Autumn but after she warms up a bit she usually gets up the courage to toodle up, hold out her bucket, and whisper "trick or treat." She reserves all her snuggles and enthusiasm for Aunt Penny.


We got to have a short coffee break with Penny. This is a picture of contentment. Aunt Penny, a pretty costume, chocolate milk, a light up ghost...does life get any better at 4 years old?


After we left Baptist, we headed to our next yearly destination. We always stop in to see Stephan and his mom on Halloween. I love Stephan's mom and I'm so glad I've gotten to know her since we moved our office to her spare room. Seriously, she tells stories about a life and time that's like a book to me. I didn't get any good photos of them this year because Autumn absolutely did not stop moving the whole time. Stephan let Autumn hold Zoe's leash and walk her around the kitchen. Which she did over and over again. And when she wasn't walking Zoe around, Autumn was climbing under the table and around things following Annabelle!


On the way home, we stopped and picked up a bouquet. Penny got me a bouquet a month card and I wanted to wait until the end of the month to get it since Mike had given me anniversary flowers (yay, Mike!). I asked Autumn to pose in front of the display but she wasn't having any of that after all the socializing I had her do.


This lady drove up and was talking to Autumn in this high pitched voice about how cute Autumn is. I caught this reaction. Hilarious. Fortunately, she hid her face in the flowers next so the lady caught that Autumn is kind of shy. Antisocial. Whichever. Ha!


After a needed nap and recharge, we headed over to Ridgeway. They do a really great fall festival every year. I also love getting to see all the people we know there because, seriously, the Ridgeway folks are some of the nicest, best people I've met. I know many of them have been praying for us, sending us notes and, most importantly, supporting Mike's parents in the last 5 months and this was the first time I got to see most of them since we lost Garrett. After eating and visiting (you can be sure to find all of our friends and Mike's parents friends in the food and hospitality area! It's their thing!), we headed to the games. Autumn loooooves this plinko game.


Ok, how adorable is this? The photo was kinda blah because I'm still terrible with taking photos in the dark so I processed it with a 70's style coloration. For some reason, this picture just seemed to be asking for it.


Here she is with Nanny and Boppa after they gave her a couple flashlights and made her NIGHT. Seriously, the kid loves flashlights. She has one in every room. And her closet. For when she needs "a quiet place."


And that was our cheerful, social halloween! After we got home, Mike handed out candy while Autumn and I visited the neighbors and then a very, very tired Princess Presto went to sleep and dream of dogs and dances and lights and candy!