Things to Do - Halloween & Random Links

Is it just me or did Halloween seem more more than a marathon than a sprint this year? Friday we marched in the grade school Halloween parade. After which we took seven girls to see Goosebumps for F's 10th birthday party, followed by a sleepover.

Saturday was a whirlwind of soccer games, after which I photographed our amazing friends dressing up as a family of Avengers (so so cool, click here to see the pics).

Then happy hours and trick or treating. I fell asleep at 9:30, while the girls counted their candy and Dan played poker with several neighborhood dads in our man cave/shed/backyard party room, thinking to myself "how are you all not exhausted by now?"





On the upside, our neighborhood was hopping and it was rather nice to see how many young families have moved in recently. Plus, every year for Halloween costumes I offer the kids the option of a trip to Party City (where they have to spend their allowance on most of the costume) or using their imagination for DIY ideas with stuff we already own. And this year they turned into an old man, cowgirl, and fortune teller without any extra help (with the exception of a few accessories from Amazon and a loaned cowboy hat). I wish I had more photos, but by the time I gathered my kids together the sun had set and I was grasping for any remnant of the fading light.

Anyways, HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!! Hopefully this weekend will prove more mellow, though we have P's birthday party/sleepover tonight, so it seems like life keeps going at full speed. Oh well, soon December, right?





RANDOM LINKS:

* Healthy pumpkin pie smoothies. These look yummy!

* 16 read aloud HOLIDAY chapter books the whole family will enjoy. Pretty excited about this!!

* I want this poster, I'm just not sure where to put it in our house.

* A new Miss Moss mixtape. Yay!!

* I'm a little enamored with this essay on travel and photography, though which I learned about Elizabeth Bishop's Questions of Travel poem, which I can't stop reading over and over again.

* A perfect weather year-long roadtrip of the United States. I now have a retirement plan (just not any retirement money).

* 12 fairy tale places that are actually real. Wow. I'm trying to avoid wanderlust for awhile, but I can't seem to stop.

* No one wants to be the snack mom. Hysterical and true.

* What American immigrants looked like when they arrived from Ellis Island.

* Oh Taylor, sometimes you're just so good at what you do.

* The effect of her being - love these photographs of a mother's everyday moments.

* The year's best documentaries.

* A desert full of flowers.

* Holly Andres's adolescent fairy tales. "Holly Andres’s photo series seem to unfold in the darkened corners of a fairy-tale dream space—a place where the private lives of girls intersect with the mysteries, and occasional dangers, of the adult world. The stories she tells—in lush, cinematic scope, like movies made up of only still images—are often drawn from stories in her own childhood: the adventures of a group of adolescent girls hungry for new experience; the trauma of two young sisters who venture too close to a hornet’s nest. Her latest series, “The Fallen Fawn,” which will go on display at the Robert Mann Gallery on October 29th, tells the story of two sisters who discover a woman’s abandoned suitcase by a river behind their house. Treating it as a valuable treasure, they bring it home, hide it underneath the bed, and secretly dress up in the “mystery woman’s” belongings at night. In this story, as in her other work, the young protagonists project both the plucky curiosity of Nancy Drew and the fragile innocence of a sleeping Snow White."

* What is an ideal childhood?

Things to Do - Halloween 2014

Is it me or has Halloween become an all-day affair? This year the holiday fell on a Friday, so maybe that made it seem more epic. Or just more adult focused (our neighbors cashed the keg by 9 pm). Luckily the weather was perfect and the kids were happy. But I'm exhausted.



Round 1 - The grade school parade.



Round 2 - Our last minute happy hour, part I. All I wanted was a group picture. This proved trickier than expected.



Round 3 - Happy hour, part II. Rum with hot apple cider and my second attempt at a group picture.



Round 4 - Trick or treating. My kids became candy obsessed.



Round 5 - F celebrated her 9th birthday with a princess zombie and a few other friends. How is it possible that we're now on the verge of tweenhood?



Round 6 - The post-sleepover present opening. F received $80 in Barnes and Noble gift certificates. Her friends know here well.

Round 7 - (Not photographed) - Darcy asleep on the couch before a full day of soccer games forces her to wake.

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!! I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A FANTASTIC HALLOWEEN!!

Things to Do - Cherish This Day, The Stories We Tell, and Random Links

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

This week for Cherish This Day & The Stories We Tell we're posting costume photos. Since I still don't have pictures of the kids in this year's Halloween assembles, I went through my archives for some old favorites. Doesn't T look so little?

Now click on over to Cherish This Day & The Stories We Tell to see this week's photos - lots of fabulousness today (and, yes, according to Urban dictionary fabulousness is a word; albeit a debatable one).

RANDOM LINKS:

* If you live in the DC area and are looking for something fun to do tonight, this Chinese acrobat performance looks amazing. There will be candy, toys, a photo booth with props, and children are encouraged to attend in costume. Also, the venue is offering half-price tickets for all children up to grade 12 on Halloween night.

* Room 3201 - I love this series of photos.

* These gluten-free, vegan donuts look yummy (really).

* "Adelaide, born in Brazil in 1921, bore sixteen children, fourteen of whom lived into adulthood," Ellyn Ruddick-Sunstein explained on Feature Shoot. "After the bankruptcy of her husband’s grocery business, she supported her children by selling cakes. In her old age, it has become difficult to walk, and she no longer practices yoga. Her days are spent sewing and reading. She enjoys crossword puzzles."

* Each one just gets better and better.

Things to Make - Easy Skull Necklaces

I'm posting today at Honest Of Nod about making easy skull necklaces for Halloween. If you have a chance, click on over here.

HAPPY TUESDAY EVERYONE!!!

Places to Go - Trick or Treating at the White House (Washington DC)

This year the White House offered the girls' school a limited quantity of free tickets for their Halloween celebration. So we entered the raffle and believe it or not, we WON!! (This is sort of a big deal as we never win anything, as in EVER). I, along with most other parents, was over the moon about the whole venture (THE WHITE HOUSE!!). The kids' showed a slightly more muted sense of excitement ("what if we don't get enough candy? are we going to miss out on trick or treating with our friends?"). I swear it's true that childhood is wasted on children. Why couldn't we all just dance around the house celebrating our good fortune? Luckily, F's best friend also won tickets, which raised the happiness level somewhat.

Of course we arrived half an hour early because who wants to be late for the White House? Which meant standing in line for half an hour with an artist, a firefighter, Hermione, and Psy (the Gangnam Style guy) fighting over my iphone. As soon as the clock hit 7 pm (our entry time) everything moved really fast. After going through security, we walked onto a huge back lawn full of people on stilts, a band in skeleton costumes, a fairy in a bubble, decorations everywhere, and seriously TONS of Halloween overload. It was amazing, even without the White House cache.

I tried to take pictures, but it was dark and there was so much to take in. Plus, they kept moving everyone along. Eventually, each child received a goodie bag with dried fruit (I'm guessing this was Michelle's idea), a cookie, and presidential M&Ms (seriously, how cool is that?). I was in dork heaven. But my kids lamented the lack of twix bars (what is wrong with them?). Apparently, had we received tickets for the 4 pm slot, we would have met the president himself, but by 7 pm Barrack had left the party (see how we're on a first name basis now that I've visited his home?). Regardless, it was still one of the coolest Halloweens ever.

After finally making our way home (thank god, for Uber, because cabs were non-existent), we still had time to trick or treat around the neighborhood. Thus assuring my kids reached their maximum level of exhaustion. Exhaustion coupled with gigantic pumpkins full of candy (which Coco proceeded to steal and eat). So goes another All Hallows' Eve.

Things to Do - Post-Hurricane Halloween

Halloween seemed to come in a rush this year; after three days penned inside for Hurricane Sandy (luckily, Arlington fared pretty well, like several people, our basement flooded but the power stayed on), all of sudden the storm ended and Halloween arrived, accompanied by decent weather.

We started off the holiday by marching in the parade at the girls' school, sort of amazing to see so many different mystical beings all in the same place.



Instead of candy this year, I decided to try something new - we bought fortune fish, tattoos, parachute men, and bubbles from Oriental Trading. Most kids still wanted candy, but at least I tried. Plus, the parachute men entertained my children until trick or treating began and after we finished begging for candy, they sat on the porch and blew bubbles with their friends while handing out toys to other kids.



I have almost no good pictures from trick or treating this year, as I had to bring the dog and she pulled like crazy every time I tried to look through the lens. P (aka Wonder Woman) ran like crazy from house to house, trying desperately to accumulate more candy than her siblings. F (aka Spidergirl), on the other hand, decided to collect money for Unicef, causing her to move much more slowly than the other kids, as adults had to run back into the house to find some change. And T (aka Robin) had a cold, so it was sort of miraculous he kept going. All in all, our pack kept falling apart, but fortunately friends and neighbors helped to assure that nobody fell too far behind.

I always have such conflicting feelings about Halloween. I'm not really a costume person so all the pre-planning drives me a little crazy, especially since once my kids see a costume catalog that's all the talk about for days, I so envy and admire parents that continue to encourage homemade attire (how do you do it? how??). But once we're out and about, I'm always amazed at how the whole neighborhood comes together - watching random older people don witch hats to hand out candy, lawns that come alive with smoke machines, ghosts, and goblins, and just the general feeling of happiness and goodwill, not a bad way to spend a night.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Happy November everyone!

RANDOM LINKS:

*Out of Place. Funny.

*Happy Birthday, Pablo Picasso!!

*Pretty impressive thoughts from an 8-year old girl.

*Um, well, just wow.

Things to Make - Decorate Your Own Trick-Or-Treat Bag

A few weeks ago, AC Moore had a $1 sale on plain tote bags, so I bought some for the kids, figuring they could decorate their own Halloween bags with fabric markers. On the upside, everyone loved this cheap, easy project, but F was the only kid who wanted to decorate for the holiday, as P insisted that rainbows and flowers are necessary for every occasion ("who likes scary stuff anyways?" - P). F eventually caved and turned over her jack-o-lantern drawing for a butterfly.

Oh well, now the bags work for multiple occasions. I hoped to take some better pictures of the final project, but then this hurricane got in my way. Stay safe and dry everyone!! Hopefully there will still be costume wearing tomorrow.

If you're interested in trying a similar project, this kit from Oriental Trading looks fun.

Things to Make - Paper Spiderwebs

Lots of Halloween decorating going on over here. The kids keep painting and I keep cutting out spiderwebs, the front of our house sort of looks like a goblin's art studio exploded. As it should (I guess).

Anyways, how to make paper spiderwebs:



Step 1: Fold a piece of paper over to make a large triangle. Cut off the excess strip.

Step 2: Fold the triangle in half to make a smaller triangle.



Step 3: This is the tricky part. Fold the sides of the triangle over almost like a blanket, so they look like the picture on the above left.

Step 4: Cut off the bottom of the above shape, so you have a triangle.



Step 5: Draw the above design on one side of the triangle.

Step 6: Cut out the blank space.



Step 7: Unfold.

Things to Do - Halloween

The radio announced that this Halloween was especially dark, they didn't explain why, perhaps because daylight savings time doesn't start until next week. On the upside, at least the snow fell two days before the festivities began.

T trick or treated with us for the first time this year (usually he stays home and hands out candy with Dan). He seemed both confused and amazed; at first T had no desire to wear his costume, but when he saw all the other kids he asked to put it on. P remembered to tell every house about her peanut allergy (seriously, what's with all the Reese's? I felt like we were dodging bullets all night), one couple even went back inside and gave her oreos from their pantry because they didn't have anything peanut-free in the bowl, how nice is that? Our friends went as Blu and Jewel from the movie Rio, aren't their home-made costumes amazing? The best part was watching them flap their wings and "fly" through the night. And F's favorite part of the evening? Going home and giving her candy out to the new trick or treaters, hence how we recycled the peanut butter goodies. So goes the cycle of Halloween.

Hope you all had a good All Hallows Eve!!



I had to take a few pics of all three kids before we attacked the night. Wish T would have worn his Elmo, but perhaps the sword better demonstrates his true warrior personality.

Things to Make - Halloween Stained Glass with Tissue Paper and Liquid Starch

When I read about using tissue paper and liquid starch to make stained glass on the Artful Parent I decided it would be the perfect method for crafting Halloween decorations. I bought black, orange, and yellow tissue paper at AC Moore, poured some liquid starch into an clean old yogurt cup, gave P a paint brush and let her create. P decided she wanted to make a pumpkin, so we worked together on creating the circle. I thought it would be cute to use the black tissue paper to make the face but P stated that jack-o-lantern faces looked "too scary." So she decided to let it dry and color on her pumpkin with markers.

When T woke up and F returned from kindergarten they really wanted to make their own creations. I was pretty impressed that this project was so toddler-friendly, T spent over a half hour making a collage with not that much parental involvement. F made a pumpkin and a collage. She also liked coloring with markers on the still-wet tissue paper and watching the color swirl. All in all a pretty easy way to fill an afternoon. And now we're prepared for Halloween.

Here's the scoop: You'll need: liquid starch, tissue paper, wax paper, and paint brushes.

1. Buy liquid starch at the grocery store. Pour a small amount into a container.

2. Cut tissue paper into small pieces.

3. Using a brush, "paint" a small amount of liquid starch onto the wax paper (you may want to put newspaper underneath the paper, it gets messy fast).

4. Arrange tissue paper on the wet wax paper then paint over the tissue paper with more liquid starch.

5. Let dry.

6. Hang in windows. Lovely!!



CREATIVE IDEAS FROM AROUND THE WEB:

*LOVE these DIY popsicle-stick magnets for the fridge.

*Leaf printing on fabric from the Artful Parent.

*This pinterest collection has TONS of great project ideas. Check it out. Also, I have a fall craft project Pinterest collection - click here to view it.

*A face sticker pad!! I need to purchase some of these. This looks like a great activity for a wide variety of ages.

Things to Do - Trick or Treat

Happy Monday!! I hope everyone had a great Halloween. As for us, the princess wardrobe finally got some use. Sadly, T refused to wear his lion costume. Though it all worked out for the best -my husband had friends in from out of town and T seemed happier to watch football with the guys (and answer the doorbell) than to trick or treat with the big kids. Now what to do with all this candy . . .

Things to Make Tuesday - A Painted Pumpkin

I realize most people don't paint pumpkins, they carve pumpkins. But in order to carve a pumpkin you need a knife (or a similar sharp utensil) and I have three children under the age of five. And Knives are dangerous (remember The Outsiders?). So, all things considered, one day I would love love love to carve pumpkins with my children. But that day hasn't come yet. Kudos to you who are more brave. If you want to take the easy route, however, painting is really fun. My kids loved it. We used 10 ct. 2 oz. Bottles - Assorted Color Washable Kid's Paint, which worked pretty well, but does rub off once dry, so be careful. Now we're ready for Halloween. and fall. Good times.



The finished product. I think the stripe of red really adds something special.