artsy fartsy,  Buddies,  Bug,  crazy stuff,  Tis the Season

Happy Pumpkins and Costumes Day!

October 31, 2008 /

the outside crew

Happy Halloween everybody! I’ve never liked this holiday but I sure do love dressing up and carving pumpkins. It has been non-stop fun around here. Before I get into my crazy stories about paper maché and giant messes, I just wanted to show you my really easy Wall-E costume:

my wall-e costume

Ghhirr! Vhwhirr! All I need now is a cockroach, some goggles and I’m set.

Do you need a last minute costume? I can’t recommend this enough. It’s SO easy. Walk down to your nearest mailbox store, buy a cube box that will fit you, cut some holes, write the word Wall-E on the bottom and you’re done! Of course you can be like me and paint in the logo (badly) and some buttons. I didn’t feel like painting it yellow though (too busy and I have a toddler who likes to “help” and then go run and jump on my white couch in a single breath). So I borrowed some of Bug’s yellow chalk and rubbed my color on.

Big mistake.

Later when I was putting my Wall-E box up high on the table so my super toddler wouldn’t try to use the arm holes as a bean bag toss game, I accidentally put my box too close to Bug’s brand-new-just-finished-hand-sewn Eva costume and now there is a smudge of yellow on it! DOH!!!!! Grrrrrrrr.

Thankfully, it’s just a small smudge that mostly blew off but I was not happy about it. You see, I traded her hand-sewn Eva costume for a painting (that I have yet to finish) with my friend Tammy. Remember Tammy? The girl who sewed Baby Bug’s mermaid tail when she was an itty bitty baby? Tammy is so sweet and talented. And guess what?!!! Before she could deliver the costume to me, she got sick with appendicitis and went to the hospital for surgery!!

Going to the hospital with a burst appendix has to be top of the list for reasons to not come through on a costume trade. Well, guess what? Tammy came through. From the hospital, while she was probably gasping on her hospital bed, Tammy’s husband emailed me from his phone (They didn’t have my phone number because I never gave it to them!) that Tammy could not make it and needed to reschedule.

Reschedule we did and one day later an appendix-less Tammy stood up, walked from her car and gave me Bug’s Eva costume. Chariots of Fire should have been booming from the sky. It was one of those moments. I should have hugged her but Bug beat me to it first. Bug doesn’t hug many people but she looooooooves Tammy. I love Tammy. She’s a real-life super hero and I’m not being sarcastic.

Now, if I can just get Bug to wear her costume so we can all see how cute she looks as Eva! She is so TWO sometimes. I’m hoping that tonight with all her cousins and buddies dressed up, she changes her mind about the run-like-crazy-so-mommy-can’t-catch-you every time I suggest we put on her costume.

Bug and her Eva pumpkin

We do have photos of an Eva pumpkin! This pumpkin looks more like a ninja to me but the toddler queen of the house has declared that she is just fine and then she ran around and exploded things. We haven’t been ingesting any sugar around here, noooooooooooo. Not us.

Ha.

ninja pumpkin

Do you see that little scribbly black line on the forehead of my Ninja/Eva pumpkin? That would be Bug’s design. I know she’s technically not old enough to use a sharpie and mark up a pumpkin but she’s getting really close!

"Eva"

Just look at this sketch and tell me I don’t have an artist child. Okay, I guess she’s almost three and it’s normal for three year olds to be able to draw a face but I think her illustrations are the cutest things ever! I just want to make stuffed animals out of them and hug them. I LOVE kid art.

her pumpkin plans

I think her plans for our pumpkins were quite clear, don’t you? Too bad I have issues with letting go and refused to carve three noses. Maybe next year. Who knows what she’ll come up with by then.

I lied, I’m not getting to the paper maché stories today I guess but I will soon! I promise. I have lots of photos to share that are hilarious. Until then, have a fun Halloween! See you on the flip side!

having some trouble sitting on a wire

19 Comments

  • lynne

    October 31, 2008 at 6:19 am

    Happy Halloween! I love your birdy ornament. I have prepared in advance this year and have a perfect little pumpkin waiting to be carved shortly and a bowl full of sweeties for visitors. I hope everyone who visits is as nice and cute as last year. Even the teenagers where polite.

    I think your friend Tammy is a true pro and deserves a round of applause for her valiant effort.

  • Annika

    October 31, 2008 at 6:38 am

    Sam screamed every time I got out his costume. We had a party last night and I got him to wear it by taking him into the shower with me right before we left, so when we got dressed it was into costumes, not regular clothes. His hat, though. Only Daddy could convince him to wear that.

  • Mama Zookeeper

    October 31, 2008 at 9:12 am

    Wow, Bug is talented! I love her drawing, kid art is my favorite. It is advanced stuff for an almost 3 year old.

    Hope she is into being in costume tonight. We’d love to see pictures!

  • BeachMama

    October 31, 2008 at 9:52 am

    Uh… J only learned how to draw a face this past year, at 4.5 years old. I guess he is a boy and boys are different, but really. BB has a super advantage to be around such an artiste as you and then add Toby in there and well, she is destined for Art of some sort. Great job on your pumpkins and costume. I am not a fan of this day either, but somehow come through in the end, we just finished up the front porch ready for trick or treaters and now I am off to finish Apples’ chicken costume, lovely.

  • lynne

    October 31, 2008 at 9:57 am

    I’ve just had my first trick a treaters. So cute. I hope more come else I am going to have a load of sweeties left over and will have to make one of your advent calenders. I think next year I will buy a witches hat to go with my black cat – my wooly tea cosy hat just ins’t scary enough. :)

  • Gramma

    October 31, 2008 at 10:41 am

    Not so very, very long ago we had a Hallowe’en party at our house on the hill in Japan. We had a genkan (entryway) all strung up with black yarn cobwebs that guests had to crawl through. We bobbed for apples, had popcorn, cider and gingerbread cookies after we had passed aroung body parts in the dark: dried apricots for ears, peeled grapes for eyeballs, unpopped popcorn for teeth, cornsilk for hair, a skinny limp carrot for a finger, wet spaghetti noodles for brains, slivered apple skins for lips, a piece of bell pepper for a nose, etc. We played “telephone” and “I see a star…”

  • junebug

    October 31, 2008 at 11:27 am

    Cute jack-o-lanterns and I love the green papermache thing!! Also love the porch ceiling… looks very beachy! I’m sure Babybug will be just as artistic as you as she gets older!

    Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!!

    – Junebug (Soleil)

  • Jennifer

    October 31, 2008 at 11:57 am

    I have always loved Halloween. I think maybe because I would get gifts on my bday and then two days later, TONS OF CANDY.

    Good job on Wall-E. I think roller skates would be a great touch but probably dangerous while trying to keep up with an almost 3 year old. I don’t think I’d risk it.

    I think that Tammy is amazing to get that costume to you. Is that a green H on Bug’s pumpkin drawing? I love kid art too. Audrey has a monster picture that cracks me up.

    Hope you guys have lots and lots of fun tonight.

  • Bethiclaus

    November 3, 2008 at 7:51 am

    I think I keep coming back here to read because I’m completely jealous of your creative life with your children. And Alliclaus is 2 1/2 and so cannot draw a face at this point. It’s not for lack of practice. She’s always got a crayon in her hand.