Trick or Treat!

I just was not into Halloween this year.  I only made costumes because I was too cheap to buy them.  And felt that I would be failing as a crafty mommy if I didn't.  I feel like I have set expectations, especially after knitting three mermaid costumes last year.  I'm sure people would understand me not going that far this year, but I had to do something.

So, after much debate and having the girls veto every cool idea I had, plus me realizing I didn't really want to sew Jem costumes or a gnome costume, we went with fairies.  I just made some tutu dresses (basically long tutus pulled up to their armpits and cinched in at the waist), bought some wings and that's that.  The tutu dresses were super fast, because I used the 6" spools of tulle.

I wasn't going to  paint their faces, but Isabelle found the face paint from last year and insisted.  She was my first attempt at making a butterfly.



Ummm... it didn't go so well.  I offered to wash it off and start again once I figured it out, but she was completely happy looking like I shot her in the face with a paint ball gun.



The girls wanted their hair colored.  Until I started actually spraying it and they realized how awful it smelled.



They would have been just fine without all the paint and color, and definitely easier to clean up afterwards.  Which reminds me... I need to scrub the tub.  It's pink.



The girls waved at everyone who drove past while we were waiting on Daddy to walk with us to my sister's house.



She only lives a few houses down and is always our first stop for Halloween.  The girls insist.



That wasn't the first candy in their buckets this year, though.  Our across the street neighbor came out while we started out down the road to give the girls some candy even though they don't pass out candy.  I thought that was really sweet.  We also hit a couple other houses on our way back home, which was a first.  We don't go door-to-door usually.  We loaded up after that and worked a couple "trunk or treats" at local churches.  Their buckets are pretty full.  We somehow managed to keep them from eating everything as soon as they got it. 

And, up on my soapbox for a minute...  I swear if my girls ever try to leave the house in a costume that barely covers their bottom when they are teenagers, I'll be the scariest thing they've ever seen on Halloween.  We were at a church, for Pete's sake.  You would think they'd have at least a little respect.  I know it's "cool" to dress slutty for Halloween, I know I probably went overboard a time or two, but come on...  at a church?  Off my soapbox...

Anyway, now my kiddos are all scrubbed up, in bed (much later than normal - they are used to a 7:30 bedtime), and this Momma is wiped out.  I hope all of you had a wonderful Halloween!

After the afghan...

Do you ever feel the need for a break after a big project?  Now that my Stained Glass is finished, I have a ton of Christmas stuff to work on.  But what have I been doing all weekend?  Reading.  Except for last night when I got the urge to learn the crocodile stitch.  I did... I'm just making a triangle of stitches out of a skein of yarn that I bought for something else that didn't pan out.  So it won't be big enough to be a shawl or anything useful, but it looks neat.  Very fall colored... kind of reminds me of owl feathers.  I'll take a picture sometime.

I don't have time for all that, but I just need a break.  I need to work on my South Park amis... they're frustrating me though.  I have one fingerless glove finished and need to make the other one, but the pattern is pretty boring.  Then I'll have three sock monkeys and a mohawk, not to mention the things I hope to make for the girls.  I don't have time to read or experiment.

But sometimes you just have to.

I'm reading Eve by Iris Johansen.  I picked up the first of her Eve Duncan series forever ago and really liked it and read about half of them.  But I guess my tastes in writing style have changed, because her style drives me a little crazy now.  But this is like all the back story, and I'm too curious, so I'm trying to get past it to read this one and the two that follow.  You know, it's like some people can come up with great stories, but can't deliver them well.  I want to read the story, but her dialogue makes me cringe.  I don't care about the rest of the series that I gave up on.  I think one of her books was the second book I have ever just put down unfinished.  The first was The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway.  I detest Hemingway.  My teacher assigned it to me when I finished A Farewell to Arms early and I decided there was not enough extra credit in the world to convince me to finish that book.  It's rare that I don't finish a book, even if I don't really enjoy it. 

The most recent was one that I didn't finish of the most recent Sookie books.  I had to return it to the library before I finished it and I haven't even put myself back on the waiting list so I can finish it.  It's not that I didn't like it, but that I read some of Charlaine Harris' other series and they really turned me off.  I think she sold her soul to the devil for that series, because the rest of what I've tried to read of hers just was awful.  Or maybe she just finally figured out how to make a female character that wasn't totally unlikeable.  I guess I should give her some credit.

Stephen King has a new book coming out very soon and I'm super excited.  And Bag of Bones is going to be a miniseries on some network in December and I can't wait.  I know I loved the book, but I honestly can't remember much about it, so I might be able to enjoy the miniseries without comparing it to the book.  I have reading amnesia, I think.  I forget books almost as soon as I finish them.  I don't reread a lot of books, but I have been able to reread a few books and be just as amazed by them as the first time. 

I guess my brain just can't absorb much more than what's already in it.  Too many medical billing codes and song lyrics rattling around up there, I guess.  I can spout off colonoscopy codes like nobody's business and sing along with songs I don't even like, but I can't remember what the book I read last month was even remotely about.  It's kind of scary since soon I'll have to learn an entire new set of diagnosis codes when they switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10 (yeah, it's all Greek to me, too... don't feel bad).  My brain is going to short circuit.  They'll find me at work, under my desk, chewing on electrical cords or something.  I wonder if a nervous breakdown would be covered by worker's comp?

Stained Glass Window - the finale!

I gave myself a deadline of Thanksgiving to finish it.  I felt that it was a pretty generous deadline, but I'm always nervous of deadlines when it comes to my crafting because I tend to crack under pressure and flake out.  It turned out it was very generous.  I told myself Friday morning that I'd probably have it finished by the end of the weekend.  I finished it Friday night.  Almost a month ahead of my deadline!  Go me!



I began this afghan on our Florida vacation at the beginning of August.  So it only took me 3 months.  My other afghans have taken me 5 months each.  This one is quite a bit smaller, but far more complicated, so I think it's still impressive.



This is my third afghan... well 4th if you count the baby-sized one that I made last Christmas, but it was so boring to make that I always forget that I even made it.  It was shell stitch all the way... row after row after row.  I think that's why my others have all been squares.  They're not so monotonous.  It's also one reason I'm still a little reluctant to try a ripple blanket, I'm afraid I'll get bored really quickly.   That and I just can't get the image out of my head of the ugly, scratchy brown and orange chevron afghan my mom had when I was growing up.  I've seen such gorgeous ripple patterns lately that I am very tempted to try.

I digress.



Yes, I know my curtains are different lengths.  I didn't pay attention when I bought them.  Yes, I know I own a sewing machine and can fix that.  I'm too lazy and apathetic.

I really loved making this afghan.  It was definitely challenging, but not so much that it was frustrating.  The pattern is from a big book of patterns, and two of the pages from this pattern eventually just fell out of the book from me flipping back and forth.



Even though it's finished now, I will probably still hang on to this until Thanksgiving before I give it to my boss.

I really want to make another one for myself, possibly in a different color scheme and probably bigger... at least another row of three to fit across the end of my bed.  I saw a pink and green variation on Ravelry that caught my eye... not quite so stained glass-esque, but still very pretty.  It will be a little while before I can, though.  After my enormous list of Christmas crocheting, I have promised to make afghans for Olivia and Isabelle.  My plate is full, but I absolutely love it.

Not to freak you out or anything...

... but do you realize it's only 2 months until Christmas?  *gasp!*

For most people that's no big deal, but for crafty people who try to make a lot of their gifts, this is crunch time.

If you look over to the right, I've started a little To Do list for myself.  I'm extremely honored that I've had a few people commission me to make things for them this year.  So far, that's what's on the list.  There will be more.  I have to make stuff for the girls, and Zoe's birthday is right after Christmas, so I have to keep that in mind also.  (People with post-Christmas birthdays always get the short end of the stick, don't they?)  And I'd love to sneak in a few decorations.  We'll see how it goes. 

But today.... today I really need to make the girls' Halloween costumes.  I've been procrastinating because I am totally not excited about them.  They vetoed every exciting idea I had.  Now they're just going to be fairies (possibly wing-less) in tutu dresses.  Meh.  At least they'll be easy.

On a different note... we had parent-teacher conferences yesterday.  It always blows me away to hear how my kids are at school.  Heaven knows that at home they're crazy little goblins, but at school they're just everything I could ever hope they would be.  Sweet, patient, smart, helpful.  Olivia's apparently painfully shy in class, which she comes by naturally, but that was probably the worst thing I heard out of their teachers.  I am a very proud Momma. 

He's really just a softie...

When Bill's aunt requested that I make a Michael Myers amigurumi, I was kind of nervous.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to find a pattern and would have to wing it.  The only amigurumi I've ever improvised was my stuffed stick figure, which was pretty much just a ball and some tubes.  But I was determined to give it a try.

After getting really frustrated trying to improvise South Park dolls (I broke down and bought the pattern... I couldn't get the proportions right and was tired of ripping out my work), I grabbed a ball of light gray yarn and decided to take my frustrations out on the serial killer.



It took me a few tries to get the nose to not look too button-like.  Then I decided I would try to do this without having to sew on arms or legs, because I really hate sewing on body parts.  I've done this with legs before, but never arms.



The arms were almost more trouble to do this way than if I had worked them separately and sewn them on.  I should have made them a tad bigger to make it a little less fiddly, but I think they look OK.



I tied his hair on but, unlike Olivia's doll, I decided to not go overboard.  I knew the yarn I was using would fluff out enough to cover any bald spots.  I originally was going to use felt for the eyes, because I'm not really good at embroidery, but I didn't have any black felt.  Well, I probably do.... buried somewhere.  I was in my "I'm almost done so I must not stop for anything" mode, so I didn't do a thorough search.



I still need to make him a knife.  I thought about crocheting one... I have some sport-weight silver yarn that would work.  I thought about some lightweight cardboard.  A friend of mine suggested felt.  I'll have to see if I have any thing that will work.

I think he looks more cute than creepy.  I'm not sure I'll add details to his coveralls.  He was fun to make and I'm pretty sure I could make more like that.  I didn't write down a pattern or anything, but it wasn't all that complicated. 

Confession:  Until yesterday, I didn't even know what horror movie franchise Michael Myers was in.  I don't watch them.  If asked, I would have said Jason was the Halloween guy.  Now I feel a little obligated to actually watch at least one Halloween movie to know what I just made.  I have never seen a single Halloween movie.  You'd be amazed at the number of popular movies I just have never seen.  Netflix doesn't have the original on instant play, so I set the DVR to record it on Monday so I'll get to watch it Tuesday (maybe).  Unfortunately, my husband will not watch horror flicks (I've never minded... I'm not big on being scared myself), so I'm on my own here.  Let's hope I don't end up calling my sister and brother-in-law to check under the bed and in the closets before I go to bed. 

Motherhood = insanity

Olivia is going on her first sleepover tomorrow night.  She's going to stay with the girl that came over here a few weeks ago.  At first, when it was planned, I thought it would be really cool.  I would have a little bit more attention to share with the other two that night. 

But now that it's almost here, I would love for it to fall through and keep her home.  Or for her to get homesick and ask to come home.  The one and only time she's spent the night away from us was when I was in the hospital after having Isabelle and she stayed with my sister.  Bill didn't even stay with me when I had Zoe... he stayed with the older two.  My parents can't handle keeping a kid overnight and Bill's family is too far away.  So this is new territory and I don't like it much right at the moment.

I would never describe myself as an overprotective parent.  I'm not all that paranoid.  I probably let my kids do things that a lot of parents wouldn't agree with... like let them play outside without my constant supervision.  But this... this is freaking me out.

I just imagine every possible terrible thing that could happen while she's gone, from her losing her manners to things I won't even make myself put into words.

And, at the risk of sounding really judgmental, the girl comes from a really messed up family situation.  She lives part-time with her grandparents... and that's where Olivia is going, the grandparents' house.  To be honest, I am not sure I'd want her to go to the girl's mother's house at all.  Just the things I've been told and the bits and pieces I've heard from Olivia, I just think it's a shame that the poor girl has to deal with it all.  Growing up, I had quite a few friends who came from broken homes and dealt with similar situations.... I always kind of felt that I was a bit of an anchor from them, being from a very stable, relatively drama-free home.  And Bill and I strive to provide that type of home for our kids.  I should be proud that I'm raising children who can be that type of friend, but in some ways it makes me a little sad that anyone would need an anchor.

I try to keep an open mind, but it is just very difficult for me to comprehend people handing their children over to their parents to raise.  I can't imagine going to bed at night not having kissed my kids goodnight.  I mean, I think about this cruise I'm going on in a few months and really think I will at some point have a breakdown from being away from my kids that long.  Obviously... here I am worrying about ONE kid being gone ONE night.  I don't know how I'll handle over a week without the three of them.

I am sure that all will go well.... she'll come back happy as a lark, in one piece, with a good report on how well-behaved she is.  Until she is back, I'll worry though.  It's my job....

Oh, happy day!

My husband stopped by our local camera shop yesterday while he was out and about on his day off.  He didn't have my camera, however, but they told him to bring it in with the charger so they could take a look at it.  He said he'd do it today after dropping the girls off at school, but I was pretty sure that he'd forget.  I forgot to ask him about it when I talked to him, so I certainly couldn't blame him for forgetting about it himself.

Well, I got home today, opened the door and Bill went all paparazzi on me with my now-working camera!!  It was a bad battery.  They don't last forever apparently.  He just had to buy a new battery, which has to be much less expensive than a repair and definitely less expensive than a new camera.

I'm a happy girl.  And I'm so grateful for a husband who is so supportive of something that means so much to me.  If it weren't for him, I wouldn't even have the camera... he insisted on it. 

I think one reason he was so adamant that we get the camera working is that he knows how many pictures I normally take this time of year.  We went to the state fair last night and I had to make do with the camera on my phone.  I think he was more disappointed than I was that I didn't get a lot of good pictures of the girls enjoying the rides for the first time.  Of course, I'm sure they'll appreciate one day that there aren't more pictures of their panic on the kiddie roller coaster. 

All systems are go for our pumpkin patch visit... this weekend hopefully.  =) 

I've made some serious progress on the ol' Stained Glass Window.



I actually have one more attached since I took that picture and I'm working on the 5th one today.  They way the pattern is written to attach the squares is a little confusing, and different from any other method.  But I'm still loving it.  I'm setting a goal of having it finished by Thanksgiving.  Shouldn't be a problem, I don't think.