Non-Traditional (my kids have never liked mashed potatoes)

Our day of thanks included Indian food, Kandle Park, and pie. Relaxing, and tasty!

(That's my no-sugar apple pie, sweetened with honey, that I pretty much only make once a year.  Not a lot of honey--less sweet, more apple.  I like it that way.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pin the Thingy on the Wossname

We had a joint Halloween party at church with the other ward that meets in our building. It's been a few years since we've had a Halloween party at all, so this was pretty exciting. Our Primary was in charge of the "pin the [variable] on the [variable]" booth, and I got to put the games together. (Linda found the ideas online.) I was also finishing up the vest for Kate's Bulborb costume (and having minor problems with the sewing machine), so it ended up being a really busy day. I had so many things I was getting together that I completely forgot to put Andy's costume on him as we were heading out the door.  He didn't seem to notice.



We had Pin the Tail on the Cat, Pin the Spider on the Web, Pin the Mouth on the Bat, and Pin the Nose on the Jack-o-Lantern. We had a lot of kids come through (some more than once). I helped out so we could have a couple going at the same time. (Pin with efficiency! Now with more blindfolds!) The spider was probably the most popular. Everyone wanted to try that one.



Kate tries out the spider...



...and the bat.



Molly Beecher is a fan of spiders. (She has a pet tarantula!)

With two wards it was really busy and crowded (and took forever to stand in line for dinner. They had hotdogs and treats for everybody, and I found some yummy vegetable soup that I could eat). Andy was a bit overwhelmed so Doug ended up taking him home early, but Kate had a great time.

Bulborb Kate

There's a Family Circus comic where Billy says to his Mom, "I forgot to tell you--I need an asparagus costume for the play tomorrow." This year for Halloween Kate decided she wanted to be a Bulborb. Fortunately she told me this in plenty of time for me to make her a costume.



I crocheted a hat to match her two Bulborb toys, and got some felt to make a vest.



When it was time to get pictures, of course we had to include Big Gulp and Little Gulp.







Can you tell she loves her costume? And now she has a cool hat for winter, too!

Preschool Pumpkins

Andy's preschool class took a field trip to Spooner Farms in Puyallup, and I got to go along. It was a chilly day! Drippy, and muddy.





There's a barn with some animals to look at and some activities for the little kids. Andy liked the chicks. We all liked getting in out of the cold for a while.



Andy was walking around these crayons and reading the labels, but the green one was facing the wrong way, so I had to help him fix it.



Andy got a kick out of riding the bus with Mom. On the way back we were having fun writing on the foggy windows. 

We had a pretty dry summer but now that autumn has hit we're getting pretty steady rain.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to do playing-in-the-leaves picture this year.  (Wet leaves are just not pleasant to play in!)

My Two Front Teeth

Kate lost her other front tooth at school yesterday.  The new one is already poking through, so it was definitely ready to come out.  Now she's got a great gap-toothed grin. 



She's been wanting to lose a tooth at school so she could get one of these tooth keeper necklaces.    (Apparently she was working hard on getting it out before the weekend.  Success!)

I asked Kate what it's like trying to talk with no front teeth.  She said, "It's kind of weird."  

A Brace of Bulborbs

A Bulborb is a creature from the video game Pikmin. Kate recently got a stuffed Pikmin figure (ebay!) and wanted a Bulborb to go with it, but we couldn't find one online, so I said I would make her a crocheted one for my Conference weekend project. Before it was finished we were having fun using it as a puppet, so I asked Kate if she wanted me to stuff it or leave it as a puppet.  Her solution was that I should make two--stuffed Bulborb and puppet Bulborb. I decided puppet Bulborb should be a little smaller, to fit Kate's hand.  She is thrilled with the new additions to her menagerie and has named them Big Gulp and Little Gulp. 



Kate lost a front tooth the day before, so she's looking particularly gappy. Grin!



I've never made anything with a mouth that opens like this before. I made the mouth inside part first (a long oval that folds in half) and then built the rest around it. Doug thought the eyes were cool.




Little Gulp checks out a mushroom.




nom nom nom



Mmmmmwah!

Art Time with Andy

Andy's preschool teacher sent home some of his artwork.  All he wants to do is make letters.

Octopus's Garden (and a Crab)

Stanley the Octopus at the Playground by the Sound is all done! This was Anne Marie's baby, and I got to help out a bit. We've been painting Stanley since mid-August.  It's great to finally be finished, and Stanley is looking pretty awesome!



The bit above Stanley is meant to be the Narrows Bridge, and Stanley is the giant octopus who lives under the bridge. Just this last week they got the "Galloping Gertie" sign attached, in honor of the original Narrows Bridge that collapsed in 1940. The wreckage is reportedly home to some of Stanley's relatives and other sea life.



The last couple of weeks have been devoted to painting suckers.  I got close-ups of some of Anne-Marie's detail that I thought turned out really well.



A Giant Pacific Octopus can have up to 1600 suckers. We didn't do that many!



I got to paint a hermit crab on the back side, coming out of one of Anne Marie's shells.



His name is Hermie.  (Anne Marie named him.)



And here's Stanley getting his urethane coat this morning. (We had some extra help for this part.) We've been pretty lucky with the weather holding up. But now we're all finished, so let the rains come!



We were out at the park last Saturday, so I got some pictures of Kate with Stanley. She thought he was pretty cool.



I painted these Orcas last year and never did get a picture.  Now I have!



Anne Marie in the sucker-painting zone. We enjoyed working together! Hopefully we can do it again.

new dress (and a haircut)

I made another crochet top dress for Kate, using the yarn left over from my sweater.  I wanted the bodice to be shorter than the pink one that I made, but I crocheted it pretty loosely, so it stretches quite a bit with the weight of the skirt, and ended up being just as long.  I think the hang is nicer, though, and I like what I did with the skirt.  It's two tiers, and the bottom one is two full widths of the fabric.   



I love the fabric, and the whole thing looks good together, but after she wore it to church I realized it just isn't going to work right now. When she moves around her shirt rides up underneath, and then she gets this weird gap. So I either need to add something to the bottom of the shirt to keep it down, or just wait until next year and hope that it fits better when the bodice isn't quite so long on her.



I got Kate to model the dress for me along with her new haircut. With hair-brushing sessions becoming increasingly unpleasant, we decided a short cut was in order. (It ended up a little shorter than I was expecting, but it's cute!) Kate likes it, and we have a lot less trouble getting ready in the mornings. This is good.

Andy Goes to Preschool

Andy started preschool!  He's going two mornings a week for two-and-a-half hours, and he gets to ride the school bus, which he thinks is great fun.   (Buses are cool!)



Here he is all conked out after his first day.  All that excitement is exhausting.

We had Andy evaluated through Child Find for his speech issues (I'm not exactly clear on what Child Find is, but something through the schools) and he qualified to get some help through the preschool program. What he has isn't technically a delay, since delay means that the child is still developing normally but behind schedule. In Andy's approach to communication he seems to be trying to come at it from the other side. He's reading like crazy, and he chatters away reciting things that he's memorized (over and over and over), but it's more like he's practicing talking than actually using it to communicate. If we want him to say something we have to write it down and get him to read it. This is definitely atypical. At school he'll be working with a speech specialist.  We hope he enjoys it!

16 years

Doug and I have been married for sixteen years. (Yes, our marriage is old enough to drive!)

Lisa Benedict came over and took some pictures for us. We do this every year--sometimes it works out better than others. We actually got Andy looking at the camera in a couple.  Score!



Color correction was a little tricky, but I love the light!  (Kate is doing moose antlers.)




I think this is as long as my hair has ever been. (It's more "fluffy" than normal from being twisted up in a hair clip all day--it doesn't do that by itself!) I need to get it evened up.



What goofy kids we have.  They keep things interesting!