Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Thanksgiving Weekend

The kids Thanksgiving outfits were a success! It took longer then anticipated but what DIY project doesn’t. Tess’s outfit was actually really easy to put together. The tie for Colin was a bit more challenging. Reading a pattern is seriously much harder then you would guess. The instructions are vague and they use lingo that only an experienced seamstress would understand. Thank God for my mom’s help. There is absolutely no way I would have been able to make Colin’s tie without her. It took me probably 10 minutes just to identify which pattern I was supposed to use after I opened the pattern packet. For clarification patterns get sold in bunches. So when I bought the pattern of a tie for a little boy I actually got the patterns for 2 different kinds of ties for little boys, 2 different men’s ties and a couple of different vests. It was intense. I was relived when I saw the pattern I needed was the smallest in the packet. Things went pretty well until we were doing the final stitches and realized that we laid the pattern upside down on the material so all of the words on the tie were facing the wrong way. No big deal though just had to start over completely. Ha, actually it went about 10 times faster the second time around so it was too bad. Tess’s outfit was super easy to put together. If you ever want a tutu made I would be happy to offer up my services. They are so simple, and so cute!


After all of the work of putting together the outfits the real challenge came into play. How do we convince Colin that wearing a tie all day is a good idea? And how do we get Tess to wear a tutu without trying to eat it? All I can say is we did get the kids to both wear their outfits at the same time long enough to get a couple of family pictures. It might be a couple of years before we are able to get a picture where all 4 of us are actually looking at the camera and smiling.



Keith decided to brave the crowds and do a little Black Friday shopping this year. I think we are the only family in America who doesn’t have a flat screen TV and we figured if we were going to breakdown and finally get one that this would be the time to do it. Now there was no crazy standing in lines in the middle of the night or anything like that but Keith was able to snag us a really good deal. He woke up when the kids did around 6:15 on Friday morning. He headed out to Wal-Mart to see if the TV we wanted was still
available. The TV’s didn’t go on sale till 8am but we were unclear when people would start lining up for these since the store was open all night. Turns out they handed out line tickets so Keith knew he had no shot of getting the TV. Just for kicks he stopped by SAMS on the way home and there he found the TV he wanted for the same price that Wal-Mart was advertising. So we now finally have a flat screen tv. And I have to say it does look pretty nice. Granted we spent a couple hours adjusting the wall mount and cursing our plaster walls. In the end though I think it was a good purchase. And I feel like we proved we can do some home DIY projects after the whole ordeal with getting the TV mounted. If you don’t have plaster walls you are just going to have to trust me that this was a big feat. Now much to Keith’s delight (please insert heavy sarcasm here) I have started a nice little home improvement to do list. I wonder if he will be as willing to work for a new back splash in the kitchen as he was for a new TV…

Friday, November 4, 2011

Holidays

The one thing that helps me deal with the fact that summer is ending and that winter is beginning is that it means the holidays are right around the corner.  I have always loved Thanksgiving and Christmas but have never really been big on Halloween.  That has changed though over the past few years.  Having little ones to dress up is really fun.  And this year being the first year that Colin actually understood what was going on was especially exciting.  Tessa was a kangaroo and Colin was Woody from Toy Story.  Keith was amazing and was somehow able to track down the last Woody costume in St. Louis.  The only size that was left was 2T.  We thought that would be perfect seeing that Colin is just shy of 2 and a half.  What we didn't factor in is that Colin is taller then most two year olds.  So although the costume fits you will see that it is a little snug.


At first we had a difficult time trying to convince Colin that he should wear the hat but once he realized that neighbors were handing out candy to kids in costume he was all for putting the hat on.  He was willing to do anything to get his little hands on some candy. 


Here is our sweet little kangaroo, yes, this was Colin's costume from when he was a baby.  It was just too stinkin cute to pass up using again.


I learned two important things about Halloween this year 1. It is ok to bend the rules a little for one night and allow your kid to eat candy and stay up past bedtime.  We have video of Colin in his costume talking about how much fun he had trick or treating.  That video alone was well worth breaking a few rules for and 2.  Leftover Halloween candy is excellent bribery to use for potty training.  (yes we are still potty training, yes it has been months, yes he is out of diapers and in big boy underwear, yes sometimes it still takes a little bribery to get him to use the potty, no you are not allowed to judge me for this).

With Thanksgiving and Christmas quickly approaching I have been thinking a lot about what outfits I want the kids to wear for the holidays.  Is it weird that I have already spent time thinking Tessa's Christmas outfit?  There is just something so cute about little girls Christmas dresses!!  Realizing that it really is probably a little earlier to start shopping for Christmas outfits I thought I better focus in on Thanksgiving.  I had this idea to get a white long sleeve onesie and put a little Turkey applique on it for Tess to wear along with a matching tutu.  I know several stores where I could buy this exact outfit but I figured I would give myself a little challenge and will try to make it myself.  When I told Keith about this he suggested that I make Colin a tie to match the outfit I make for Tess.  Well I talked my mom into going to the fabric store with me today.  Here's hoping that the actually assembly of the outfits will go smoother then the purchasing.  If you have never been to a fabric store before prepare yourself to be overwhelmed.  Oh and you might want to leave your 2 year old who is in to everything at home for this shopping trip.  Here is a little sneak peak at what I bought today.  I will be sure to post updates regarding my progress and the finished product.