Trick-or-Treat

Can't you see the anticipation for candy written all over his face!

Columbus does trick-or-treating the Thursday before Halloween when it falls on a weekend (so as not to interfere with any high school football games or other sports...gotta love the midwest). It was a cold night but the kids were so cute that I didn't even mind (and that's sayin a lot!).

Here are a few highlights:

I'm really glad he enjoyed this monstrosity of a project...at least for a good 10 minutes or so.

And a video of Luke riding his train...

Never Paint a Balloon

This year, Luke was given a train conductor costume which is a pretty good match for him because he LOVES trains. I decided (today, of course) that I should make his little car/bike into a train so he can ride it around for trick-or-treating. It took me a while to figure out how I was going to do this without buying anything, but about an hour into it, I was thinking that I might actually be able to pull it off. The BEST idea, or so I thought, was that I would attach a balloon to the top and make it look like smoke coming out of the smokestack (I originally wanted dry ice, but that seemed a little extreme). And how would I make a balloon look like smoke?? By painting it with grey and black swirly marks of course! So that is exactly what I did.

Some of you are smart and can already see where this is going. I had a great time painting my balloon. As I did, I thought about how creative I was being and how much Luke would love his train...I really was feeling quite proud of myself. And then, as I was finishing up...it suddenly POPPED! As I looked around, I saw that there was black and grey paint splattered EVERYWHERE. The walls, the floor, the chairs, me... it was a mess. That's when I realized how silly I had been! You don't paint a balloon!

I didn't cry (I've been pretty emotional lately so I'm very surprised I didn't), but my heart sank to the lowest degree possible. Not only was my smokestack a complete bust, but my kitchen was in utter ruins. I didn't even know what to clean first. I ended up starting with my clothes, because honestly, if you find pregnancy clothes that are comfortable and look decent, you'll do anything to salvage them. Unfortunately, by the time my clothes were in the washing machine, the paint had dried to the walls which means I'm going to have to re-paint my kitchen.

I took out my mop to begin mopping the floor (oddly enough I probably should have been mopping the floor instead of making Luke a train to begin with). Then the mop broke. I took a picture because I actually couldn't believe that my mop broke on today of all days.

Eventually everything but the walls got cleaned up. I'm still too afraid to go check on my clothes. We went and bought some more balloons. This time I decided to draw on them with a marker instead. When Dad came home we ate dinner and went trick-or-treating. Luke warmed up to the idea of having his car turned into a train (he wasn't so crazy about it at first). Everything ended happily because nothing is quite as cute as little kids dressed up in crazy costumes.

Was it worth it?

I wish that Halloween had some deeper meaning besides just getting hooked up with candy. I love the excitement of getting Luke all dressed up and having a chance to get to know my neighbors a little better face-to-face. Everyone is feeling festive and friendly, even the neighbors that normally seem a little avoidant or hurried. It's fun to see the kids happy and the parents going nuts with their camcorders. We have to find a way to incorporate trick-or-treating into Christmas...without the candy or creepy decorations. Any ideas?

Some pics...

We went to a metro park a few nights ago. That is a common practice for our family during Ohio's beautiful Fall. I wish there was more daylight to enjoy it. Here are a few pictures:

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Before I got pregnant I had a goal not to look so scrubby this pregnancy... you can see how well that is going.

Notice his name...promise we didn't do that. By the way, he absolutely LOVES wearing his hat. Sometimes it is too warm to wear it but he gets mad at me if I take it off.

Happy Birthday Erin!

This lovely lady is my sister, Erin, and today is her birthday.

There are so many remarkable things about Erin that I have been looking forward to bragging about her on this day for a long time.

Erin is a woman of great patience. When she was a teenager, she had to share a bed with me (I was very young). Needless to say, she had to deal with grinding teeth, snoring, and occasional wetting the bed (gross! but really, I was young). But through all this, she was always kind to me and I never remember her complaining about this obvious inconvenience. She loved to spend time playing with me and dressing me up. To this day, she still loves to give me little makeovers when she can and I know that she will never let me get too "far gone" without some kind of fashion intervention. :)

Erin is in the middle of the family, sandwiched between two boys. Perhaps that helped mold her personality into someone who knows how to put herself out there and be heard. She is very confident and doesn't shy away from a challenge. I often think of her as the "glue" in our family. She keeps everyone connected and informed. She plans all the family events. Is there someone like that in every family? I hope so, because I rely on her to keep me thoughtful and involved with my brothers and sisters even though we live so far away.

As fun and lighthearted as Erin is, she also is compassionate and thinks deeply about people and what she can do to make their day brighter. She frequently surprises me with thoughtful gifts and trips to the salon. A week before Andrew and I got married, she surprised us with a day at the spa which she must have known we would desperately need with finals going on and last-minute wedding planning (Erin spent many years in the spa business, so she always knows the best places to go!). No matter what sacrifices she has to make, she is always very generous with everything she has. She makes sure the people around her are well taken care of.

The most amazing thing is that she can be kind and compassionate without being a push-over. I remember when we both took turns babysitting my nieces and nephews for a week. I indulged them with late bedtimes and sugary snacks. I didn't really know how to lay down the law and basically the kids were running the show. When Erin took over, it was like an episode of the Super Nanny. She was still fun and energetic, but the kids were in bed on time and the chores were done. No wonder she always finds herself in management.

I am proud of everything she has accomplished. She has set very lofty goals and I have watched her steadily and consistently work towards them. She inspires me everyday to work harder at making myself a better person in every way. I love you Erin! Happy Birthday!

Using My Sewing Machine

I made a goal this year to learn how to use my sewing machine. Most of my goals pretty much got thrown out the window when I became pregnant and very sick. But I'm slowly trying to work at them again. Here are some projects I've done in the last few months.

Here is a crayon roll I made for Luke. I saw him playing with one at church months ago and he really liked putting all the crayons in and out of the compartments. Now that I've finally made it, he is less enthralled, but I'm glad I did it anyway. Tutorial is here.

Love that Logan is manly enough to pose with a doll.

I made a few little dolls for some cute baby girls born this summer. Although I confess that I did most of the sewing by hand because it is just faster for small projects. These were easy and really fun to make. I first read about them here (these ones are SO cute!) and got the pattern here.

p.s. did you know that you can make really easy dolls to donate to children's hospital? The pattern they ask you to use is VERY plain, but they look beyond simple to make. See here.

And of course my sister-in-law's diaper and wipes tutorial was put to good use! This was really easy to make but I couldn't do it in 4 minutes like her.

Next on the list...

I really want to make a quilt. Well, two quilts actually. One for baby on the way and one for Luke's bed (when its time for him to quit his crib). I really like something like this for Luke (maybe with more "boy" colors):

And this looks fun for baby:

This also looks cool but waaay out of my league:

To tell you the truth, I'm scared out of my mind to make a quilt. It's so intimidating. I don't think I know of anyone who isn't a very skilled sewer who just decides to whip out a quilt one weekend. Quilters just seem like they are in an entirely different field of sewing dedication. Plus, how do you pick the fabrics? How can you tell that all those squares are going to look great together until they are actually together? If anyone has any tips for a novice...I'd really appreciate it. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into.

By the way, all these quilts were made by this blogger, here.

TWO Birthday Parties!

I still remember the year I got to have three birthday parties. My parents had to leave town unexpectedly before my 8th birthday. So I had a raging party with my young adult siblings and all their friends (I'm pretty sure it went well past midnight), a party with friends my age (only because it was already planned and ready to go) and then a third party when my parents got back into town.

Luke probably won't remember the year he got to have two birthday parties, but I think he enjoyed them nonetheless. The party we threw for him was extremely last minute. I woke up one Saturday morning and realized that if it didn't happen that day, it just wasn't going to happen. Andrew's sister and children were in town and we had just a few hours to pull together a party.

There was no time for a fancy cake or to order one of my best friend's adorable party printables. But throwing a party in a rush taught me a few things: Luke can have just as much fun playing with a helium balloon as any other toy on the market; the decoration on the cake doesn't matter to Luke as long as it is chocolate; and, the secret to the best party ever is to be surrounded by energetic cousins.

It is sooo hard to get a picture of this kid smiling. He smiles all the time but it is too fast for me to capture it!

basically Luke is stuffing his mouth in all my pictures (check out that awesome cape)!

Luke's Birthday

Luke's 2nd birthday was at the end of August.

I haven't mentioned it on our blog because I felt really, really guilty. We missed it because we were on our cruise. I know that Luke doesn't care because he doesn't even really get what a birthday is yet. It was much harder for his Mom to miss out on the festivities.

Luckily, Andrew's Dad still made it a special day for him. I'm sure all Luke really wanted for his birthday was to hang out with Grandpa anyway. A friend helped them celebrate and took some pictures. I wish I could add some captions, but I wasn't there either :(

I'm guessing that Luke is picking out the chocolate chips because he would totally do something like that.

Thanks for the pictures Heather. Even though I cried when you sent them to me, they were happy tears (kinda) because it meant a lot to see him on his birthday.

We did have a little party of our own last week (I know, VERY BELATED). Those pictures are coming...