I'm really happy with the way the costumes turned out. I used this picture as my inspiration. I used the simplicity pumpkin pattern as my guideline. Unfortunately the pattern came in the wrong size. The largest size was too small for Hunter and Walter, and the small size was too large for Quincy. But it was nice to use as a reference. I used felt for the outside and jersey knit for the lining. I bought the knit for Hunter's and Walter's and I used some of Weston's old t-shirts for Quincy's. I also stuffed them to give them extra roundness.
Quincy has learned to prop himself up and stand up. Isn't he so cute? I just love his smile. He is just growing up so fast. I need to take more pictures so I can remember all these sweet moments.
On Friday we went to the Fall Carnival at Hunter's school. The boys had so much fun. They had several bounce houses in the lunchroom. I think the boys could have played in the bounce house the whole time.
Here is an action shot of Hunter. He has such a big smile on his face.
We convinced the boys that we should see what other activities that they had in the different rooms, and the first one we came across was the rockets. The boys, with the help of their dad, made simple paper rockets.
Then we took them outside where they had a pump set up so the kids could launch them. Luckily the boys' rockets didn't end up on the school's roof and we were able to launch them several times.
Here they are setting them up.
Counting down.
Several other rooms were carnival like games, but the last one we went into was the Reptile Show. They had a huge turtle, and a huge snake.
I'm not a big fan of snakes, but I did let the boys touch it, and then I made them wash their hands really good.
This week we started our General Conference Review. We began with President Monson's talk entitled "Consider the Blessings" This talk was a perfect reminder for me to remember not just the big things, but to look around and notice all the small blessings that come into my life every day.
I reviewed the talk last week, and looked for a couple of key points that I could relay to the kids. Two things stood out to me.
1. We should take an inventory of our life and remember not only the big blessings, but the small ones as well.
2. President Monson keeps a journal.
President Monson shared five examples of blessings from his life, he said, For the next few minutes allotted to me, I would like to share with you just a tiny sampling of the experiences I have had wherein prayers were heard and answered and which, in retrospect, brought blessings into my life as well as the lives of others. My daily journal, kept over all these years, has helped provide some specifics which I most likely would not otherwise be able to recount.
I know that this might not have been the point of the message, but I was quickly reminded of the importance of keeping a journal, so that you can look back and remember all of the blessings that your life holds. These were the two points that I wanted the boys to remember. So this is what I came up with.
I started out by having the boys watch this short clip.
I asked the boys to tell me what President Monson asked us all to do. We had to watch the clip three times, but the boys were able to come up with the right answer- take an inventory and look for the blessings large and small that you have received.
Then I told the boys that President Monson shared five examples from his life.
1. Providing counsel to a district president in Australia
2.Visiting a friend that was in the hospital
3. President and Sister Monson visiting a elderly widow
4. The young man that stopped to help them when their car broke down
5. The cultural celebration of the Kansas City Temple
I told the boys that President Monson was able to remember all these blessing because he kept a journal. And so I thought that they should write down our blessings in a new notebook.
The boys already have a journal, but these notebooks are for them to write or draw about a blessing each day. Inside the notebook I wrote two quotes from President Monson's talk: I have found that, rather than dwelling on the negative, if we will take a step back and consider the blessings in our lives, including seemingly small, sometimes overlooked blessings, we can find greater happiness.
And also this quote: (which I think is my favorite from his talk) The Lord is in the details of our lives.
The boys loved the idea and started working on their notebooks right away. And even tonight when I reminded them to write a new blessing down, they told me that they had already worked on it, earlier in the day.
I have one as well that I'm writing in each night.
If you are interested I got the idea for the notebooks at Under the Sycamore.
I basically followed the tutorial, but I only put four crayons instead of five. The notebooks I brought were 3x5.
The longer piece of elastic was 7 inches long.
The shorter one was 4 inches long.
On the longer one the first mark was two inches in and then another mark every 1/2 inch.
On the shorter one the first mark was 1/4 inch in and then another mark every 3/4 inch.
I sewed the elastics together at the marked spots with the shorter one on top.
Then I overlapped the edges of the longer piece 1 inch
I thought the notebooks turned out great, simple but effective. Wouldn't these also be great to take to church to keep the kids busy.
Then we added our review card to President Monson's picture. On the card is a drawing of a small notebook- just like the one I gave the boys, but green. And then we listed four blessings that we have in our family.
In preparation for Halloween this year I thought I would provide a look back at the previous costumes I have made. I can't wait to see the boys in their costumes this year. I'll post those pics in an upcoming post.
Hunter 2006- Hunter Green Crayon
My first Halloween costume. I remember sitting outside on the playground and thinking and thinking about what we should dress Hunter up for Halloween. And it just hit me- a crayon, a Hunter Green crayon. (I know it's a little cheesy) I didn't have a pattern for this costume, I just took a baby sleep sack that we had and traced it and used that has my pattern.
Hunter 2007- A Dog
This was the only year that I didn't make the costume. I was pregnant with Walter and wasn't really feeling up to sewing a costume
Hunter 2008- A Chef
Hunter loved helping me in the kitchen and would often play with my bowls and spoons so it seemed like a good idea for his costume.
Walter 2008- Mickey Mouse
Walter's nursery was a Mickey Mouse theme. So for his first Halloween he was Mickey Mouse. I really didn't have to do much for this costume, since we had everything on hand, besides the ears which I got a party store.
(sorry it's so blurry Walter was kicking his legs)
Hunter 09- Airplane
This was the first year that we asked Hunter what he wanted to be and he said, "An Airplane". And it was the first year that we used something other than fabric for his costume.
In case you guys are wondering here is the pattern from Better Homes and Garden that we used. We just made ours red, since that is Hunter's favorite color.
Walter 2009- Road.
Walter loved playing with cars (still does) so we made him a road. We just put him in black sweats and then added electrical tape and white reflective duck tape and then put Velcro on the back of some of his cars. He loved it. We got the idea from Family Fun
Hunter-2010 Robot
Hunter knew that he wanted to be a robot, months before Halloween. We used a tupperware, dryer vents, duct tape, silver spray paint and a colander.
Walter 2010- An Artist
Walter loved art time at school so we decided that he would make a pretty cute artist. I sewed the whole costume and I must say I think it turned out pretty cute..
If you want to read more about either the robot or artist you can read that year's Halloween post.
Hunter 2011- Firefighter
Hunter had decided that he wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up so he wanted to dress up as one for Halloween. I found a pattern and bought the material and went to work. I will say, I was so happy when this costume was done. Sewing on the plastic like material was the pits. If I made a mistake and had to unpick you could still see the holes from the previous stitches. I made the jacket and boot like shoe covers. Luckily Grandma had the helmet.
Walter 2011- Cowboy
This was the first year that Walter told us what he wanted to dress up as. I was able to find the cowboy hat at a party store and pattern for the chaps and vest at JoAnns. I used eyelets for accents on both the chaps and vest and he had the star pin from a birthday party that he had attended.
Making the kids costumes has become a tradition in our house. And I plan on making them for as long as the boys let me. I am a little ahead of schedule for this year's costume, which just means that hopefully I won't be sewing frantically on Halloween to get it finished. How are your Halloween costumes coming along this year?
Quincy has learned how to crawl!!!
I tried to take a video of him crawling last week, but I was when it came time to perform, he was a little reluctant. So I will try to get a better one soon. But just in-case you need proof, I'll share this short video with you.
Here are a couple of cute pictures of Quincy as well.
He drools a ton. I think he might be teething, but he has yet to have a tooth pop put.
Black-Out Game
Weston and Walter went to the BYU Black-Out Game on Saturday. I'm still not sure about the reason behind a black-out game, besides maybe making all the fans buy another shirt. Because that is exactly what we did. I was able to find a shirt for Weston at the grocery store, but they didn't have any kid sizes. So I went to Michael's and got a kids small black shirt. Then I came home and used my silhouette to cut out a Y. Luckily I had some blue heat transfer. And within a couple of minutes Walter had a BYU Black-out shirt.
Here they are super excited for the game. I only wish BYU had won. Weston told me that Walter started crying when he realized that his team wasn't going to win.
Halloween Treats and Activities
For Family Home Evening we made some Halloween Cookies and then delivered them to two of our neighbors. Since we made two batches each of the boys had a bowl. They like helping in the kitchen, especially if it means that they get a treat as well.
I put the cookies in bags, not so sure it that was a smart idea, since the cookies started to slide a bit. We actually Booed the two families. The boys really enjoy doing this simple, but fun holiday tradition.
We also made Name Skeletons. I made Quincy's first and showed the boys what we were going to do. I should have realized that this activity was more suited for older children, because Walter needed me to cut almost all of his. And this is actually Hunter's second attempt. But it was a good practice for fine motor skills, and they look pretty cool.
Then in my spare time I have been busy making a couple of Halloween crafts as well.
I made these two decorations also using my silhouette. They are currently on my mantle and they add a bit more color to all the white, black and orange that the rest of my Halloween decorations consist of.
I also have been super busy sewing Halloween costumes. Walter's is all done, Hunter's is about 1/3 of the way done and I haven't started on Quincy. Only 15 more days I better get busy.
