Halloween: 2012

I realize it's not even THE DAY yet, but our costumes had to be finished early for a couple of events, so I took pictures while the costumes still looked "fresh".

We'll do this youngest to oldest. For no reason.
First up:
Libby is a girly girl. She likes all things pink and purple and sparkly.

 And so, she is a princess. I made the crown. The outfit was a gift from my mother... I believe she paid an awesome $3. She also has a necklace (which she lost). Mostly, she just wants candy. This look is "I can't believe you aren't giving me any candy right now."

Next:
Lucas. We had to beg. Plead. Bribe.

 But in the end, I got my Dobby. Inspired by a pin with no link on Pinterest. I fashioned the skull cap out of nude lycra type knit fabric and attached the ears my husband designed. The "dress" is just a pillowcase that was already stained. Nice, eh? I have to be honest. It is my hands-down favorite.

 You should have heard people "Squee" with glee when they saw him.

And yes, apparently Dobby likes to pick up chicks. Or whatever this expression is.
Next:
Miles is mildly obsessed right now.

And he makes a pretty convincing Harry, right? We borrowed the cloak and tie. I made him a sweet wand (which you can only see the end of) and the glasses are just one of those pairs that have the comically large nose attached...with the nose detached. Believe it or not, Miles won our congregation's costume contest. It probably helped that he was casting spells on people all night. Method actor and all.

Next:
If you recognize Anna's costume without me telling you what it is, you win big points. BIG NERDY POINTS.

Still no clue? How about this:

This is Rarity. She's a My Little Pony. And yes, I made Anna a wig. 

Basically, I created tufts of hair and soaked them in fabric stiffener. Then wound them around a bat (covered in saran wrap) and stuck them in front of a fan to dry. Hint: the more stiffener the better. I then attached them to a hat I crocheted just for this project. Yes, this was easily the most time consuming project. What was I thinking??? 

And Finally:

Abbie has wanted this costume for several years. I finally consented.

 She is Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender. As reference:

In all honesty, the costume wasn't that hard. The hair is my nemesis. We did get it to look much better for our church party, but come Wednesday, I should have it down pat.

I actually think this costume will get played with again. 

Overall:

I am awesome. 

I feel like we should all get to say that more often. 

So, Then THAT Happened

 So, before the cruise we took in June, I had been working out with the end goal of:: I want to look hot in a swimsuit for the cruise! And I did! Or so the husband says. Admittedly, his point of view is skewed. So, when the cruise was over, so was my desire to workout. I knew I needed a new goal, ASAP. And so, the idea of a Triathlon was born. I know. It's crazy, right? I've never even run a 5k standalone race. Let alone Swimming and Biking before it. What kind of insane am I?

Just the right kind of insane, apparently. It was awesome! And I am hooked! There were times during training when I thought that there was no way I was going to be able to finish even the measly Sprint Triathlon (440 yard Swim, 10 mile bike, 3.1 mile run). For example: my first time in a pool when I couldn't swim more than 100 yds at a time. Fortunately, I picked that up pretty quickly and I now consider it my strongest leg. Or for example: after purchasing my bike with the clipless pedals and shoes, I quickly proceeded to crash with the bike (failure to unclip) four times in the first week. I was ready to give up. But I had an extremely encouraging husband and a good friend, Dave, who would also be doing the triathlon with me.  They kept me motivated. I not only finished the triathlon, but I came in 8th in my age group. 

Next up: train for an Olympic Distance Triathlon to be completed next spring. I just wish this sport were cheaper (anyone want to sponsor a mediocre mother of five?).

And Finally: Where I'm All Caught Up

We received the amazing blessing of a free piano a couple of weeks ago. We've been wanting one for years but just don't have the money. Fortunately, we have an amazing friend who kept her ear to the ground for us. Having music fill my home is fantastic: the husband plays, I do not.

Maybe one of these days, Miles will put on a shirt for group pictures but I wouldn't count on it.

Seven

 And then Miles turned 7! This doesn't seem possible. This means we've lived here in Florida for that long. Wow.
He requested donuts for breakfast, cheese sandwiches for lunch and  Lasagna for dinner. All easy requests. Make it so. (Yes, I am a Star Trek nerd sometimes.)

Miles got a new bike, some legos and a kick in the pants. Except not that last one, even though he deserves it sometimes. Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Sad Filled With Happy

 On August 15, 2012 my paternal Grandmother, Lillian Beatrice Solter, passed away. She was 91 years old.  And while we were sad that we won't get to spend any more time with her in this life, we were so relieved that she was freed from her body. It was really weighing her spirit down! To show support for my father, I flew to Pennsylvania for her Memorial Service. It was a really nice service followed by an awesome family reunion. Granted not everyone could be there (my sister and I were the only two of my nine brothers and sisters present), but it was great to get to see my cousins that I've not seen in YEARS.

 This is my Grandfather (on the left) and my Dad (his shirt says, "Grandfather means Been there Done that.")

And admittedly, seeing my sister Jenny was the highlight of my trip!

 Dangit! I miss her!

This is one of Jenny's brood. Benny. Don't tell anyone but he's my favorite.

 And Tab. He and Miles are two peas in a pod. 

 I'm including this picture because I didn't get shots of Paisley or Hobbes (Jenny's other kids). Deal with it. 

 My grandfather with all four of his children. That handsome guy all the way on the right? That's my daddy. 

And my personal favorite. My grandfather with some of his 14 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren (and counting!). Oh Look! Just kidding, I did get a picture of Hobbes and Paisley! Not a total fail, Jenny!

We'll miss Grandma but as my grandfather said, "She's having a good laugh about this somewhere!"

In Which Mom Earns Her Freedom

 So, literally, we got back from the Disney vacation and the next morning sent the kids off to their first day of school. This year we have three in Elementary School (5th, 3rd and 1st grades), one in Preschool and one at home with Mom. 

 The truth is, folks. I haven't had just one kid at home during the day since before Anna was born. 

So, yeah. I'm more than just a little bit excited. And again, Abbie is too cool to actually make eye contact. 

 And yes, Anna is sporting some very bright shoes. I'm only a teensy bit jealous.

 And Miles. Man, what is up with that kid? He's officially reached space cadet status. I really think that he just thinks that the rest of us are mere mortals and whatever is going on in his head is MUCH more interesting. 

 Libby was a little sad when everyone left. I was not.

Because now I get to spend my morning with this one. Seriously spoiled. Her AND me.

And yes, I realize there's no picture of Lucas headed off to school. Parenting FAIL!

As Promised

After two amazing adult only vacations this summer, the husband and I (okay, probably mostly me) were feeling major guilt over having done virtually nothing for or with our children this summer. Unless you count yelling at them to clean up after themselves, I'm not sure why that doesn't count.

We managed to finagle a decent price to stay down at Disney's new Art of Animation Resort for two nights. It's so new that we were the very first people to stay in our particular hotel room. Awesome, right? 

Here's the part where I tell you that we did not have plans to take the kids into any of the theme parks. For our family alone, it would cost upwards of $400 for a single day pass. Nah... 

We figured that the Resort itself has enough fun stuff going on that we wouldn't have any problem filling our time. If we got bored, we'd head over to Downtown Disney (Free Disney!). Our poor children. Someday they'll realize how cheap their parents were and need therapy.  We can use all that money we saved by not taking them to Disneyworld! Everybody wins!

Warning: This post is picture heavy.

 Uhm. This probably isn't the best place to start. We were just being weird.

 This resort was probably the best decorated one I've been to. It was as if they dropped you into the movies themselves. The rooms (which I didn't take any pictures of) are awesome! We stayed in the Lion King suites, but they have Cars, Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid areas as well (The Little Mermaid area wasn't yet open when we stayed there). And yes, every room is a suite which can sleep 6 adults (or 5 kids and 2 adults in our case) and has a kitchenette and two bathrooms.

 They had a humongous Mr. Ray.

 This resort features the largest pool on Disney property (or so they say). We took the kids on over. It was fantastic. One of my favorite parts was that they developed special underwater speakers and the music playing underwater is totally different than that playing above the water. The pool staff even provide life jackets for non-swimmers. We had a blast. The only downside is that being in Florida we end up with a bunch of random short thunderstorms so the pools close frequently.

Lucas is starting to be slightly more manageable. Slightly. I strongly attribute it to the fact that he started PRESCHOOL! (Insert video of me jumping up and down.)

 You know you wanna give this one a snack. Please. A snack, mommy. Mommy, a snack. Please. (Repeat ad nauseum.)

 One of the great things about Disney Resorts is that they have quite a few programs running at all times to keep the kids busy/entertained. For example, we took the kids to this Learn To Draw class. They had an animator sitting there teaching the kids to draw Mickey. My kids ate it up. Except Libby who threw a tantrum. (Repeat ad nauseum.)

 Yeah, Mr. Ray is huge.

 This is probably my favorite picture of Lucas, ever. It's taken on one of their "playgrounds".

 Um. Yeah. Abbie, at almost 11, thinks she is way too mature for playing. Please notice the glasses (it's only a matter of time and they'll all be wearing them) and the incredibly long hair. Whoa.

 Fortunately, Miles and Lucas are still young enough to think posing with a car is still awesomesauce.

 And I'm not sure what was up with Libby but in every single picture we took that weekend, she was making some approximation of this face.

 Oh, I'm so cute. Look at me. Blurgh!

 There were TONS of these sculptures everywhere.

 I totally love this picture of all of my kids. Even though Miles can't be bothered to stop whatever pretend world he was playing in.

 And another of the whole crew. I think we had great success. The kids had fun. The adults didn't kill anyone. Yeah, we call that success.

What I Did With My Summer Vacation That I Didn't Tell You About

Also known as:
Stuff you most likely won't care about but get to hear about because this is MY blog and I'm just now getting around to updating so shut it, you jerks.

I knit stuff.

 As a favor to my mother, I knit this shawl: Henslowe.  Then I had a really hard time giving it away. But I did anyway because I'm awesome like that... and also, who needs another shawl when you have seven(teen) already.

 No, you may not see my face.

 Then I knit this for me! The pattern is Totally Biased and I knit it out of my own handspun yarn! I love it. So much I want to marry it. Yeah.

 Please, don't look at my face.

 I also finished the Epic Blanket of 2012. I think I mentioned that knitting this blanket was my only knitting goal for 2012. I'm such an overachiever! The pattern is Girasole.

It is just lovely. I'm really looking forward to this "Winter" when I can snuggle up underneath it and drink me some Herbal tea and watch Downton Abbey. If you aren't watching this show, you are dead to me.

Stay tuned for tomorrow so you can hear about more stuff you don't care about!