Creative Brain Cells a Flowin'

The 2nd grade classes at Plano had an optional pumpkin painting project showcasing their favorite book characters.  They asked that the kids not carve the pumpkins but to paint or decorate them.  I knew immediately which character Isaac would select, the world famous Captain Underpants.  He just finished reading "Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People".  He was ready to make multiple characters from the book, but we settled on the MAIN one, Captain Underpants himself.  Isaac and I painted to body with pink acrylic paint, and Miles wanted to paint the head.  I did all the detail involving black paint which doesn't fair to well if mistakes are made.  Isaac drew the face, I filled it in, and viola, a character pumpkin was formed.

Isaac went to a superhero birthday party years ago, and all the kids received superhero capes.  I have no idea how I managed to hang onto the cape through the years.  I'm a classic NON-hoarder and have massive throw-away sessions so how it survived, IDK?  I'm glad I didn't get rid of it in this case.  We taped  a Captain Underpants logo on it and attached it to the pumpkin.  We hauled it to school on Wednesday.  I thought my arm was going to fall off by the time we made it to his class.  His teacher's jaw dropped.  She wanted me to parade it around to the other 2nd grade teachers.  I was beaming with pride and so was Isaac, I guess?  He was sheepishly hiding back in line with his classmates.  He's not a big attention seeker so it may have embarrassed him all the attention the pumpkin was getting.

The kids tried out their Halloween costumes on Wednesday night.  We went trick or treating at our church neighbors--Grant Village.  The residents there love it when our kids come over and trick or treat.  They spoil them rotten.

Isaac wanted his face painted.  It took quite a while to paint his face AND his neck.  He didn't want any of his skin showing.  He actually asked me to paint his hands too--I said, no.  This isn't his complete costume either.  Isaac is big on blending two characters.  Last year he wanted to be a Zombie Doctor, the year before A Wolf Ninja and this year he was a Gangster Skeleton.  He wore a Detroit hat and carried around a T.Pain microphone all night.  Sheesh, where does he come up with this stuff?

All of our happy Halloween campers!

Cat Girl Elizabeth, Twister Board Karson and Pink Lady Jessica posing for a picture.

I got extra creative this week and decided that it was time to buckle down and figure out a costume for Matt and I for our annual Halloween party with our friends The Evans's.  The party was on Friday night so I had an entire week to try and come up with some fabulous idea.  We talked about a number of different things and eventually decided we'd be tourists.  Then, I got the notion, we could be Malibu Barbie and Ken.  I already had the Hawaiian printed dress, and my dad had a variety of Hawaiian shirts Matt could wear.  Matt has an advantage in that he looks like Ken, but I have the dark hair and eyebrows so I had to break out the nasty blonde wig.  I have no idea how long we've had this thing, but it's in terrible shape so a side-ponytail was a must.  I jazzed it up with flower barrettes and a tissue paper poof.  It literally took the ENTIRE week to make these boxes.  Here's the rundown of what all it takes to make a Barbie box:  wardrobe boxes, four cans of pink spray paint, loads of yellow stars, superb painting of the names (I was most impressed by my skill-set with this--it was hard), a couple of print outs, tape and rope.  How crazy is that!!!!  It was a fun little project though, and everyone at the party got a kick out of it.  We even won the Most Creative award =)!

Here are a couple of other characters from the party.

Paul and Shannon had great costumes.  He came as Lloyd Christmas, and she was Black Swan.

 Lisa the Barbie Head and Daniel as the guy from the game Operation.

Kim Kardashian.

Weston came dressed up as our party host Dax.  He nailed the look.   Dax sported Magic Mike as his costume.

Me and my nemesis Barbie Head.  Barbie Head is lucky because all young girls want to do is style her hair and put make-up on her.  Barbie Doll is put through the ringer and practically tortured with constant outfit changes, potential hair cuts-or- even worse, curling/frying hair mistakes, scary younger brothers and their markers, and the list goes on.  I LOVED Lisa's costume, it was awesome!  She even let us do her make-up.

Our funny guys!

Our fan-tabulous gals!

I love that the Evans's host this yearly gathering.  You forget how fun it is to dress up in costumes and have a good ol' fashioned party.  I look forward to this event every year! I may even start working on my costume NOW for next year =)!  This week should be full of excitement with lots of fall parties and Halloween night.  Let's hope the sunshine keeps on coming out!  I can stand the cold if the sun is shining bright!

Double Digit Darling!

My title changed to mommy on Tuesday, October 22, 2002.  My precious Karson Ann was born.  I can hardly believe that she turned 10 years old this week.  I remember the moment above--the moment I held my daughter, MY DAUGHTER, in my arms for the very first time.  I had no idea what I was doing and quite frankly, still don't have a clue.  Thank goodness my children give me more grace than I deserve.  I didn't realize how much of a bond I would share with this little girl at the time, but she has forever changed my life.  I love having a daughter.  I love spending time with her.  I love that she actually loves spending time with me.  I am simply amazed at the young lady she is becoming and so grateful to have her in my life!   I wanted to smack Matt the other day when he said, "in 10 more years she won't be with us anymore."  Those words hit me like a TON of bricks.  Where in the world has 10 years gone?  and what will the next 10 years have in store for my baby girl?  Just the thought makes me tear up.  Is there anyway to freeze time and keep my 10 year old 10 forever? 

Turning 10 is a BIG DEAL people.  You are officially entering into the world of double digits, and that's significant.  I told Karson that she could have a sleepover for her 10th birthday.  I don't think she's ever been as excited about a birthday get-together in her life.  Of course, the sleepover came with a few minor stipulations. I limited the number of guests to six total. For one, our house cannot accommodate lots of children.  And secondly, I only have six spots at my dining room table and in my vehicle (in the event we needed that). SO, we invited five of her closest gal pals for a sleepover last Friday night.  I had intended to begin around 6:00, but Plano had the school talent show scheduled for that time.  

Sidenote:  Miles was totally psyched about trying out for the talent show.  I certainly didn't want to discourage him from doing so; however, I knew it would conflict with Karson's plans for the BIG night.  Matt took him to try-outs (sometime at the end of September) where he showcased his best moves to the song "Gangnum Style" by PSY.   Matt said at first Miles was a bit shy (he was performing for four teachers at Plano) but then really got into it.  They only selected 10 acts for the primary kids so we weren't holding our breath that he would get chosen, although, Miles knew he NAILED it. I tried uploading the video twice but did have any luck.  Miles got the note home the week after fall break stating that he MADE the talent show.  However, he decided at that point that he didn't want to do it anymore =(.  Maybe next year?

Party Time!  Karson was super excited about giving everyone mustaches that she had gotten from school for selling Smart Cards. Funny girls!

Just Dance 4 was a hit!  Miles got it for his birthday, and the girls were the first to try it out.  We LOVE this game on the Wii!

I wanted a project to do with the girls at the party.  Since Karson's  birthday is so close to Halloween, I decided to do a Halloween themed birthday.  I came across some adorable lanterns on Taste of Home's website: Decoupage Lanterns This was an easy, expensive project to do.  The girls had fun decorating their lanterns and got a nice take-home gift complete with LED light.

A Friday night with great friends, lots of laughs, and ear to ear smiles.  Life doesn't get much better than this!

The finished products!  Spooktacular!

After the girls finished up with the lanterns, we decided (at 9 p.m.) it was time for CAKE! I did a table full of snacks for the evening.  I figured none of the girls would be hungry since the party began after dinner time.  I supplied all of Karson's favorite goodies.

Why can't my table be filled with yummy treats every Friday night?

Happy 10th Karson!

 Opening up her presents!  She got everything on her wish list including a new Furby, Winx Club dolls, Barnes and Noble and Hobby Lobby gift certificates and a new diary.

I wanted all the girls to get to sleep together so I rearranged the furniture and put a couple of air mattresses in the living room.  Viola, a bed for six!  They watched a Barbie movie and The Three Stooges.

The girls stayed up late.  At 12:30, they were doing a Barbie fashion show and announcing it on the TPain microphone.  Matt was out cold in the bedroom.  He said the last thing he remembered were some little girls peaking into the room and giggling at him.  At 12:30 a.m., I was doing Shimmer glitter tattoos on everyone.  By about 1 a.m., I told the girls it was time to wind down and go on to bed.  I hated spoiling their fun, but two of them had to leave early for sports-related stuff so I didn't want them up much later than that.  They went down without a fuss and were up BRIGHT and EARLY at 6:45.

Matt made a Chick Fil A run for cinnamon rolls which have recently become one of Karson's favorite breakfast foods.  They are sweet, buttery deliciousness!  I was completely WORN out after a week full of celebrating birthdays.  However, I know these memorable times with my kids won't last forever.  I'm thankful for wonderful family, friends and fun birthday DAYS.

 Donut celebration with Karson's class on Monday afternoon.  The tradition lives on!