Friday

We went to a neighbor boy's superhero birthday party on Friday, and I tried shooting in manual for the first time--thus the pictures below.

Clara is toddling all over now. She loves nothing better than to roam the yard, parks, sidewalks, paths, etc. She plops down now and then to examine a patch of sand, or she leans over to pick up a stone or stick. Then up she gets and continues on. She wears herself out with all her exploration! Now if only that would translate to sleeping through the night . . . 

She enjoyed the birthday party because it meant new places to explore. She's not anxious about being right next to me when strangers are about (though she isn't fond of unfamiliar men). She liked to follow the kids playing football, sip out of unattended juice boxes, gather rocks, and try out the step between the concrete ramada platform and the grass.

The older three were so excited to go to the party. But when we got there, they turned shy and stayed close by me for awhile. Leo, the birthday boy, was turning six. His parents had hired Batman to come and show the kids some superhero moves, run games, paint faces, etc. All the kids were impressed with Batman's get-up and presence, but Josiah, Lydia, and Abby didn't want to join his superhero training course.

The girls opted to wear the provided masks and capes, but Josiah didn't want to dress up--until the very end of the party, when he finally chose a red cape and mask. Then they all wore their regalia to Trader Joe's and got lots of smiles!

Abby

Lydia

Cutest superheroes ever!

The girls warmed up enough to Batman to get their faces painted. Lydia wanted to be Spiderman (probably because the girl who went before her got that). Josiah called her "Spidergirl," and she retorted that she was not Spidergirl but the real-deal Spiderman!

It's fun to see them wear their masks and capes and let their imaginations run wild here at home.

Trick or Treat

In an effort spearheaded by Josiah, the kids had been planning their Halloween costumes for several months . . . possibly even since last year! They waffled a little once in a while, but for the most part, they staunchly stuck with their plan to be Robin Hood, Little John, and Maid Marion. 

When our church announced we wouldn't do our usual neighborhood Halloween night trunk-or-treat/outreach, we looked up some local churches that did something similar, not sure if our neighborhood would work well for trick-or-treating. 

Robin Hood

 

We ended up taking the kids to a church trunk-or-treat on the Friday before Halloween, but then last-minute decided to join some neighbor friends for a brief stint of trick-or-treating on Halloween before it got dark. The latter surprised me by being quite fun!

Maid Marion, Little John, and unidentified sidekick

This was my first experience with trick-or-treating, since my family didn't do Halloween when I was growing up. I was leery of taking our kids around the neighborhood because of the few houses with scary decorations, and I wondered if the un-decorated houses would just not answer to trick-or-treaters.

The merry gang

Well, it turns out most people happily pass out candy to cute kids on Halloween, at least around here! Lydia corrected everyone most seriously when they asked her if she was Robin Hood: "No. I'm Little John. 'Siah is Robin Hood." (She pronounces "John" with a French "j"--softened.)

Clara in some sort of little outfit I threw together so she wouldn't look entirely out of place

The kids were giddy with the excitement of running up to doors and getting candy, candy, and more candy. They had lots of fun with their friends Leo and Massi (neighborhood kids) as we slowly went about a block and a half before heading home. It's amazing how much candy they accumulated in just that distance . . . enough to last a looong time if Mama and Daddy didn't dispose of some of it.

When we got home, they had just about as much fun passing out candy to the kids who rang our doorbell. They'd race over, carefully pick out three pieces each, and importantly drop the candy into the kids' buckets. "My turn! MY TURN!" they'd yell whenever we heard the doorbell . . .

Last year I failed in the costume department (Clara was born the day before Halloween). This year I started earlier and came up with pretty easy but decent-looking Robin Hood and Little John outfits. I found a tutorial for the hats online, and I let Josiah and Lydia pick out a fake feather to glue in. I cut their short cape-things out of the same green felt as the hats and then criss-crossed a brown felt strip through holes in the front to look like lacing. They wore long-sleeved tee-shirts underneath the quickly fashioned tunics (Lydia's I cut and sewed up from an old tee-shirt of Jer's; Josiah's was a too-big sweatshirt). In the full-length picture of Josiah at the beginning, you can see his spats. I made those out of felt, and then we held them on with leather thongs and twine. Jeremy made the bows out of PVC pipe and string. All in all, I think those costumes turned out pretty well!

Abby's was more haphazard. I found the skirt at Goodwill, paired it with a white tee-shirt, and wrapped and tucked some stretchy white material over that. I used the same material to fashion a sort of headcover for her. Because she was with her siblings, most people figured out what her costume was pretty easily.

So Halloween was a success: the children had lots of fun, we didn't run into any traumatizing/frightening decorations or characters, and they're already planning their costumes for next year . . .

A Few from August

I was glancing through pictures and noticed some I hadn't posted but meant to--from the end of August. Whoops.

First up: curious Clara. She has increasingly loved being outdoors with the big kids. This was before she started walking, but she still liked cruising, crawling, and climbing!

Every day I just can't get over how cute and how much fun she is! I can't give those cheeks and that head enough kisses! Too soon the chubby thighs will slim out and she'll have a thick head of hair. I love how she loves to sit in my lap after she wakes from naps, letting me kiss her as she plays with a toy. She has started to bring me books to read to her, too!

And next up: the big sisters . . .

 L on left, A on right (and Clara envious below!)

One day I did their hair in princess braids. I think it was a few days after the last washing, with the frizziness and knots starting to take over, and I figured I had to do something to tame it. So I recalled my hair skills from the days of fixing younger sisters' manes, and here's the end product:

 A on left, L on right

I love how their natural highlights make the braids stand out. I'm also surprised they allowed me to finish the braids! (They certainly did complain during the process, though.)

Oh, Lydia 

 Abby

Alright, now we can go back to the fall programming. :)