trick-or-treat!

So, after Clara's birthday party a few of her friends came over to our house so we could all go trick-or-treating together.

We put in a Halloween movie and had some pizza before heading out. The plan was to watch the whole movie.... but the kids were too amped up so as soon as they were fed, we were off.

It took several attempts to ever get a group shot.

Here's Clara's friend posing with Alex...
But then she decided to see what the hold-up was with everyone else, so now we just have Alex....
Okay.... we found Clara and another one of her friends....
... but we're still missing one.

So, in the meantime, I attempted some shots of my two.

Clara was having quite a time with the stray hairs from her wig....
Then they got the giggles...
And now, finally in character....
.... Pugsley and Wednesday Addams.

And now we have everyone!
(You've got to love that Clara "has" to be in character for all of the photos)

Even Mango went trick-or-treating with us...
... she had on her lady bug dress but the antennae just weren't going to happen.

And one last shot.... the kids in action...
After a couple hours of trick-or-treating and having their candy bags filled to overflowing.... we went back to our house for more pizza, the rest of the movie and candy trading!! They really had a great time!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

the monster bash....

Clara has fallen in love with sewing after the camp she was in this summer. She decided then that she wanted to have a sewing party for her birthday. However, we weren't sure where we would have it or what they would sew. This fall she started taking sewing classes with friends at the local Joann Fabric store. We saw that they did parties as well, so we asked. In the list of different parties they could do, the education coordinator mentioned Ugly Dolls. Clara jumped on that one... she loves Ugly Dolls!! We decided to push the party back a week after her birthday so it could be on Halloween and we would have a "Monster Bash"!!

Here is her invitation...
(made with the Monstrocity Bundle by Dani Mogstad @SweetShoppeDesigns.com)

When we were at Joann's one day for class we saw these bright colored bags and thought they would be perfect goodie bags (with a little modification of course) :-)

I printed out buttons from the Monstrocity kit on sticker paper. I intended to punch them out with my large circle punch but I couldn't find it... so we improvised by using my Mickey Mouse head punch and cutting off the ears. They were a little lumpy, but it was all okay.

Clara had fun drawing the different mouths on with a Sharpie....

Inside the bags....
... I filled bags with jelly beans and used the treat toppers which were also part of the Monstrocity Bundle. We also included sewing supplies like embroidery floss, buttons and a spool of ribbon.

Once the kids started to arrive, it was time to learn the basics of sewing on a machine...


Then they were paired up to start sewing...

Alex is very intense with his sewing....
Clara and her friend playing with their dolls (making them dance to the Halloween music mix we had going on my ipod)...

Alex stitching his Ugly Doll closed....
Some of the girls stuffing their dolls....




And now decorating....


Alex and "Drop Dead Fred"...

While some decorated their dolls...

Those that were done with their dolls, moved on to decorating cookies and cupcakes...


I love how creative the kids got with their dolls....
Then it was time for "Happy Birthday" and time for Clara to make a wish...

And open presents...
and read her friends' beautiful handmade cards...

The sock monkey hat!!!!

Reading more cards...

The kids with their Ugly Dolls.....
Clara had a great time and I think her friends did too!! After the party, a few of her friends went back to our house so we could go trick-or-treating together..... those photos coming soon!!!

just one...

My friend, Monica, and her daughter were in visiting from Texas for the weekend. Saturday Monica and I had a "photography playdate". We started our day at the Eye and the Cardinal. Above is the "eye" portion. That thing totally fascinates me and totally creeps me out... all at the same time. :-)

I took a ton of photos so there will be more later as I work my way through them!

Meet Mango!

This is Clara's new pup! She's a 2 year old Long Haired Chihauhua that we adopted from the Anti-Cruelty Society.
She is the sweetest dog ever!! She loves to be a lap dog, loves her crate, loves going on walks (she walked Clara to school this morning).... we still have some adjustment issues but we've had her less than 24 hours so I'm sure everything will work out with time and training. Clara is absolutely in LOVE with her!

please take me home!

Seriously.... could you have left that face?

Clara has wanted a dog/puppy for two years now. She has extensively researched dog breeds, read training books and watched dog training shows. We toyed with the idea of getting her a dog off and on... but ultimately we told her that when she saved the money, she could get one. Well... she finally had enough money. She had decided a while ago that she wanted a shelter dog. I think originally she was motivated by cost... but then she really became adamant that she wanted to give a dog, who had had a rough life, a home. She regularly checks the shelter websites for potential dogs for her. Tuesday night she found two that she liked at a local shelter. The front runner was a Cairn terrier mix named Lola with Mango, a long haired chihuahua, a close second. We decided to act fast. The next day, when the shelter opened, Jeff, Alex and I went to see the dogs (Clara was in school). Jeff met Lola first and although she is an adorable dog, she is very high energy.... needing lots of exercise and training. Across from her was Mango. She is a sweet laid back dog, who yearns to be a lap dog. Clara is a high energy girl.... however, between school and dance right now, her time at home is very laid back. We decided Mango was the perfect pup for Clara and started the paperwork.

Well... she's ours and Clara is so excited to meet Mango today (she had to stay overnight so they could spay her)! Clara so amazes me. Her time at home last night was spent reading training books, watching the "your new dog" video we got at the shelter and setting up the supplies we picked up at the pet store. She has talked endlessly about her training plans and has her preferred training methods already figured out. She definitely is not taking this whole thing lightly... she is very serious about the responsibility of having her own dog.

first day of school

Seems like forever ago! We were all so nervous about Clara venturing out to try traditional school this year... but here we are, halfway through first term with a really good mid-term report and girl who loves to go to school every morning.

The traditional first day photo...
... the shoeless one is staying home again this year :-)

You know they can only be serious for so long...

Sadly, they tried this the other way around and it didn't work out....
So excited....
Joining the other neighborhood families on the walk to school....
Lining up outside...
I know her eyes are shut... but it's the only photo I took before I got the "mom, you're embarrassing me" look...
Okay.... still waiting for the boy to get up! He is in a show right now and didn't get home until after 11:00 last night.... I think he deserves to sleep in a bit.

decisions, decisions....

I have finally made a decision... I am not going to password protect my blog. I agonized over this for quite a while and it was finally Jeff who was the voice of reason. :-)

What prompted this whole thing was nothing scary.... just a person who voiced a strong opinion as to how we are raising our kids (mainly our decision to let Clara try school this year). My first instinct was to shut everything down and keep everything to ourselves... people can't form opinions if they don't know what we're up to, right? But I got to thinking... why would I do that? We're proud of our decision to let our daughter have a say in her education. We didn't enter it lightly, but only after hours of family discussion. And most of all.... this was a decision we made for OUR family for this particular child. I'm not projecting my opinions or past experiences on anyone else.... I know every family, every child and every situation is different. Heck... when it comes to school, my two are as different as night and day. What works for Alex does not work for Clara and the opposite is true as well. For me to let someone's opinion get to me would imply that they know my child, my family and my situation better than I do... and given that I live this 24/7, I highly doubt that. :-)

So... enough of that.... moving on.... let the posting resume!!

the last non-password protected post...

I'm so excited to find out that I still have some readers out there! I will hopefully get the password set up by the end of the weekend once I make sure I have contact info for all of you so I can send you the password.

So... in the meantime, for your entertainment, I give you Clara on the first day with her new expander...



This was from back in July and, yes, she did ask me to record her (and post the video). She cracks me up!

changes....

Hi everyone (if there still is anyone out there reading this!)....

I know I haven't posted much lately, but part of that has been due to me rethinking the whole public blog thing and the other part is that I've been sucked into the world of facebook :-) I am currently thinking about password protecting my blog so I can continue to keep in touch with non-facebook friends. If you would like the password, please let me know either by posting a comment or sending me an email via the link on the right.... or find me on facebook!

I'll leave this up for a bit and then set it up with the password!