Halloweekend

On Friday Paul and James carved a pumpkin: Vampire Mickey (or as James would say, Vampirate. As a side note he calls witches "Wicker Witches" and jack-o-lanterns "Jungle Lanterns") and Mr. Oogy Boogy from Nightmare before Christmas.

We had our second annual Batman marathon. We also watched Nightmare Before Christmas 20 times at least this month. James loves the music and actually sings the tunes all day long.

For Halloween we went to my parents' neighborhood and James had a total blast. At first he seemed a little hesitant, but pretty soon he was shouting, "next house."  At every door he would say, "Trick or treat! Thank you! Happy Halloween!"

 

When we got home he dumped all his candy on the floor and started rolling around in it and making "snow angels." It was hilarious. Love that kid.

Now, bring on the Holidays!

Pumpkin Land

Last weekend we took James to Pumpkin Land in Orem with some of his Aunts. He had a pretty good time. There was a secret "room" with a bucket of beans in it. If you found it you could bring back a bean for a treat. James grabbed a handful and stuck them in his pocket. The next day was Sunday and while we were at church I realized that he had transferred a few of his "magic beans" to his church pants. Needless to say, there were a lot of beans in and out of the wash this week.

Spooky

My ridiculously adorable niece, Lorelei.

Bouncing.

With most of my sisters.

Holiday Crafts Preview

I realize that it's early, but I've been busy getting ready for the holidays. I like to be able to enjoy the season, so it takes a lot of planning! So this is what I've been working on for the past few weeks:

Fall Decor

Felt Leaf Garland

Melted Crayon Leaves

Still To Do: Paint Leaves, Fall Pillows

Halloween

Woody Costume. It cost me under $4 to make since I already had a yellow shirt and jeans. The fabric for the vest cost $0.63. The Sheriff star cost $1.99. The bandanna cost $1.00.  I wish he'd wear a hat, but it's not worth the money since he won't.
Still To Do: Treat Bag

Thanksgiving

the inspiration

Thankful Tree. The idea is that each day in November leading up to Thanksgiving you write something that you are thankful for on a slip of paper and put it a leaf pocket on the tree. I got the idea from pottery barn (what's new?). I'm not going to lie, it was a LOT of work. Cutting out all those little leaves, hand stitching the numbers and word, then using the sewing machine to put it all together. I'm so glad it's done. I got the felt at 4 sheets for a dollar. I used 5 sheets of felt and an old pillow case. The "dowel" is really part of a hanger. So it was an extremely cheap project. I just love how it turned out!

Still To Do:  Finger Puppet Favors, Table Runner

Christmas

Pottery Barn Knock of PJ's. I followed this tutorial. I don't have much experience making clothing, so this project took me a few days. Next time I think I will just purchase a real pattern. This one didn't quite line up and since I haven't really dealt with much clothing there was a little more guess work than I would have liked. Overall, they didn't turn out bad. They are a little big, but at the rate he's growing they'll probably fit by Christmas.

I'm excited to share what I've come up with for our Christmas Advent. After I've put it all together I make sure to post it. It's going to be awesome.

Still To Do: Stockings, More PJ's, Update Wreath, Advent Calendar, Update Tree Skirt, Christmas Gifts (you'll have to wait until Christmas to find out what I'm making!).

Halloweekend

On Friday we attended Orem's Pumpkin Walk. We got to look at jack-o-lanterns that had been entered into a contest, so we got to see some pretty cool ones. James had so much fun running around the gardens and seeing all the other kids dressed up.

On Saturday we watched the first 4 Batman movies. We filled up the air mattress and put the couches up against it so it was like one huge couch. It was SO much fun. James loved it.  We are thinking of doing this for every movie night.  We didn't have any trick or treaters. Not one. So now we have a ton of candy which I wish we didn't.  We had such a great time though. We also got our pictures taken for our Christmas cards this weekends. I'll make sure to post them once I get them back.

Super Cape

Picking out a costume for Halloween for James has been tricky. He refuses, and I mean refuses to have anything on his head or face.  I saw this cute idea over at ServingPinkLemonade for super capes and pretty much made up my mind right there that I would be making one. I had a black dress that got half eaten by my mom's old washing machine before I had one of my own.  I had held onto it in hopes of salvaging it someday. Today that dress became a batman cape.

I'll just put him in black pants and long sleeves. To complete the costume I made a yellow belt from 18 cent scrap fabric at Walmart. I'll make sure to take pictures on Halloween!

I love my little batman :)

Halloween

I've never been a huge Halloween fan...until I saw James in his costume. We handed out candy for Halloween this year! It's the first time we've been able to and while it probably sounds dumb, it was a lot of fun. Paul carved a pumpkin and James guarded the candy. He's such a cute Pooh!

He was growling in this one. He cracks me up. Every morning when he wakes up he gives us his biggest grin and growls away.

Paul was so proud of his pumpkin! `

And this is not Halloween, but it's cute:

Despite the mess he's a really good eater. He LOVES sweet potatoes. :)