Halloween Preview

Billy and the kids got a chance to try out the Halloween costumes at our ward's trunk or treat tonight.  Not me.  I was working... and feeling sorry for myself.

Henry wanted to be Kai.  Who is Kai, you ask?  

This guy:

 Lucy wanted to be Hermione (from Harry Potter).  While I was curling her hair, she practiced introducing herself in her best British accent.  A pretty good one, too!

While I really did try to be on top of things this year, I had a hard time finding a gray pleated skirt or even a pattern for a pleated skirt, so I improvised.  Usually anything I try to make without a pattern turns out "rubbish", as Hermione would say, but this skirt kind of worked!  Yeah!

 Watch out!  These are some powerful kids!

Seat of Learning

I was substitute teaching for a fantastic junior high social studies teacher the other day. Before she left for a doctor's appointment, she apologized for the stained seat on her desk chair. She said she usually draped a silky flag (from some obscure country) over the seat. But it always slipped off. So while she was out, I made a paper pattern of the seat and envisioned myself surprising her with a seat cover. If I could only find fabric with a world map on it!And wouldn't you know, but on my next trip to Jo Ann's I found this world map panel fabric.
I cut out the shape of the seat top with an extra 1/2 inch for seam allowances. I stitched red piping 1/2 inch from the cut edge with a zipper foot. I also used the zipper foot when I stitched a 7 inch strip all around the seat shape, right sides together. I had to ease around the rounded corners. On the other side of the strip, I made a 3/8 inch casing and inserted 1/4 inch elastic.

I hope she likes it!

Getting Chilly at Night

Pre-school age grandsons in Kentucky have been complaining that it is getting chilly at night.

So they asked this grandma to make them some pj pants. Of course I couldn't disappoint them.

Some long sleeved tee shirts were begging to be appliqued to go with the flannel pants.

Handmade World

Me: "Henry, do you like your new shirt?"

Henry: "Did you make it?"

Me: "No, I bought it."

Henry: "What does 'bought' mean?"

Pumpkin Patching

It's officially fall.  

Friday, we headed over to a local pumpkin patch to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday.  

 Things were going pretty well (aside from me locking the keys in the car) until the kids went to explore the sunflower maze.  They found a sunflower that had two caterpillars on it and and very large fire ant nest beneath it 

(well, beneath Henry to be exact).

20 ant bites, one Coca-Cola, and a hay ride later, Henry was feeling back up for pumpkin hunting.

Which we did.