A Halloween post

Halloween was a Hoot this year! 

Literally.

Ahem, anyway.  I made this costume for Big D.  As I was making it I thought about doing a DIY tutorial...but I changed my mind.  I felt like I was cheating anyway.  I put the whole thing together using a hot glue gun.  Haha!  I love Halloween!  It's really the only time I could ever brag about making my kids "clothes" using hot glue!  I got this idea from Pinterest.  My cousin introduced me to pintrest about a week before Halloween and I have to say, she was right, my life is forever changed! 

I took an old Hogs t-shirt and cut the long sleeves off of it.  I drew the pattern for the "feathers" and then had an army of family and kids to help me trace them  individually on the fabric and cut, and cut and cut!  After the fabric was cut I hot glued the "feathers" one big long spool of ribbon...two or three spools of ribbon, actually.  After I had the feathers glued to the ribbon I glued the ribbon to the shirt in layers.  This part was a bit tricky believe it or not.  I had to make sure that the feathers lined up just so because if I didn't that big ole maroon shirt would just shine right through!  The mask was a bit tricky and the pattern had to be tweaked several times.  16 long hours later, the picture above was the finished product.  I was pretty pleased. (:

Little d's costume was really easy.  For like, ever she insisted on being Snow White.  I was totally cool with that  but, while I was looking at costumes on pinterest she fell in love with the little lambs and insisted that she be one, too!  The most expensive thing about her costume was the 6 bucks I invested in cotton balls.  How many cotton balls does it take to make a four year old child sized lamb??  I'm glad you asked!  It takes 400 to be exact!  How much hot glue does it take to glue 400 cotton balls to a t-shirt??  Um, at least 30!  Yikes!  Felt ears and a little felt tail and Viola!  A little lamb!

Middle D's costume was my favorite!  It was so much fun and super easy to make!  Well, I say super easy because I had a very small part in making it! Ha!  I found the idea, and helped shop for materials  and .....hot glued (you got it) felt here and there!

His "head was made with a canister tupperware.  Steven  cut holes in the front where the eyes and mouth go, spray painted it yellow and drew the face.  I hot glued an elastic strap and some padding on the inside of the top so that it would stay on and in place when he wore it. The body part was made from my steam cleaner box.  Steven spray painted it with glossy paint, so that it would look like plastic and he drew the outline of the suit and stuff.  The tie  and belt were cut from an old gift bag.  His hands were from that left over card board stuff that carpet comes on.  They were also spray painted and then lined with yellow felt handles for him to hold on to.  It only took about 3 hours to make MD the "coolest kid on the block"  *pun intended*

Oh, and a little bitter-sweet note.  This year marked ld's first Halloween party and BD's last Halloween party.

 

That's all for now!  Hope y'all had a craftastic Halloween, too!

Happy Friday, Everyone!!!

Shall we discuss football?

So, football.  Yeah.

When this season started (first for us), I only knew a handful of things about football.  Literally, like, five.

1.  Football season is in the fall.
2.  A touch down is worth 6 points.
3. Football requires a lot of work.
4.  Football players have shiny, padded pants, and they're my favorite!
5.  ....just kidding about the fifth one...I really only knew four.  ;)

Anyway, August rolled around and we got the phone call (or maybe it was a text) that started the season off.  We were instructed to go to the place where the equipment was kept and pick up our necessary things.  Steven took Big D to pick up her gear and I took Middle D...three trips and a pant swap later and we were ready to do this!

Our first practice was on the hottest day of the year.  Temperatures were well in to the 100's and I was sweating my shorts off just sitting out side watching them.  The first practice was all about stretching, physical work outs, and stretching while wearing a helmet.  That was a Monday.  Practice lasted from 6 p.m. to right around 9 p.m.!  I was very shocked to find out that this was "normal" and that every practice would last this long!  We did this every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for nine, very long and exhausting weeks!

The first game was a home game.  My kids played a whole 5 minutes combined!  I was so disappointed!  They worked so hard for so long and they barely go to play!  That day, we decided, that if the next game was like that, that we would be good ole quitters!  Were all about some team spirit and all...but seriously??

Their next game was like a two hour drive and I was really hesitant about taking them but I am so glad that I did!  They played a lot more than they did at the first one!  And it just got better and better as the season went along.

I'll be the first to admit that, for a while, Big D and I literally hated going to practice!  The boys on her team treated her like she didn't belong and for the most part acted like she didn't exist.  She cried  big alligator tears on more than one occasion because she was so frustrated (and probably exhausted).  She begged to quit (though she didn't really want to, she just wanted acceptance).   She was lonely and I was sad.  Steven "made" us keep on truckin' and I'm so glad he did.  We ended up loving it and the boys eventually starting treating her like a valuable-ish team member.

Middle D, on the other hand, loved football from the start!  He loved being a line backer and he was really good at it!  He played a lot of defense and a little bit of offense.  He didn't like being offense because he "couldn't wrap them up and tackle them".  He could only "push them really hard" and it just wasn't his thing. (:  At the games, his name was called over that speaker just about every play he played in.  He was serious about being serious!

"Hey, guys.  I promise to behave my eight year old impulsive self to the best of my ability.  Yeah, we'll be all sportsman like and have good conduct or whatever.  And by the way, we call tails as in were gonna kick your tails.  What?  that's not sportsman conduct?  Oh, well, I promise to start over, right now...but we still call tails!"

They all in all had a really fun time with football.  They really loved the parade's they got to participate in and Big D loved the idea of her jersey.  They don't tell you exactly how hard you have to work for that jersey.  But seriously, it's hard work.

  Friday's were always looked forward to because they got to wear their jerseys to school.

So, five more things I learned about football.

1.  Football Mama's are in a category of their own.  They rock bedazzled t-shirts and matching cow bells!

2.  The position "safety" is the team's "last hope" and "line backer"  is someone who is very aggressive and tackles people (i think)...at least my line backer was/is.

3.  Football players do not get to eat dinner until after 9 p.m.  because if they eat before practice, they will surely vomit on the practice field and all over their jerseys and helmets and shoes ....  so anyway they and their families don't eat till very late.

4.  Most football  Mama's are on the healthier side because they're like me and don't want to leave their child's side, while at practice, just in case something happens.  And maybe they're evolving nice, round, cushy bottoms to better accommodate themselves while sitting on those cold, hard bleachers for what seems like weeks on end!

5.  Football is hard work.  It takes lots of support from the whole family  in order for the season to run smoothly.  It is an amazing experience and I am so glad Big D and Middle D got to experience it!

More to come!

Happy Thursday, Everyone!