Making stuff

The past week and a half have been crazy. Crazy. We dealt with sickness (mostly Dan and Gwen), wrote and gave talks in church, and just had a bunch of little responsibilities to attend to. Most of all, I was busy making stuff. I was asked to make a "freezer paper stencil" shirt to display at a homemade holidays themed activity, which I did.

Honestly, this has been on my "to do" list for a long time. My friend Jen, who is an awesome designer, gave me the high-res designs of her robot coins almost a year ago, and I finally got around to using them. That is how I roll. (See Jen's original project here.)

I put some metallic paint in with the black. I like it. Asher loves it.

I also made a Halloween costume for my girl. She looks so much like an Alice right now, I just had to try and replicate the Tim Burton movie costume.

I know where all the mistakes are, but honestly I am so happy with the way it turned out. And I entered it into a costume contest. I probably won't win, but if you want to vote for me you can click this link and help me win some cash. Until Halloween, that is, when the contest will be over. You don't have to sign up for the site if you sign in through your facebook or twitter account.

I include this picture because she looks exactly like me when I was her age. I should find an old photo and prove it.

Last but not least, I have been working on my niece's Zelda costume. The dress and the crown are done, but the armor has been giving me some trouble. I have it all molded out, but the resin coating won't dry! Frustrating. Anyway, this is the picture my niece referred me to when she asked me to make her costume.

It is a bit detailed, don't you think?? I'll post pictures of that when it is completely finished.

Farm Field Trip

Today Gwen and I joined Asher's pre-school group on a field trip to Vertuccio Farms. My boy wanted to be pushed in the stroller from our car to the entrance, and then he demanded to be held as soon as he saw a bee... just a little sign of things to come. He also flipped out (and I mean on the point of tears) every time he saw a fuzzy caterpillar. I picked one up in the effort to show him that they were awesome. Asher remained hysterical and unconvinced.

This photo basically sums up the attitudes of my two children while we were there.

Gwen was so incredibly happy, I thought she might burst. Asher was probably wondering why I was torturing him. At first he thought the train ride might be fun, but then he tried to jump out just before it departed. I somehow made him accompany his sister, and he ended up liking it once it got going. He also liked the bouncy house for a few minutes, and he liked the idea of the bouncy horses. (You can almost make them out in the back of the first picture.) We tried them for a few minutes, but the kids found it hard to balance. So I ended up hanging out on the "horses" and bouncing with both kids. I'm sure I looked super cool.

The farm also had this huge thing that was a cross between a giant trampoline and a humungous jello mold. Asher liked that too. And he didn't mind the animals in cages. And he liked the "knock-a-crow-over-with-bean-bags" game because he could stand about two inches away from the crows and sometimes knock them down. We need to work on some of his athletic skills.

There was a "high striker" (you know, the thing you hit with a mallet that makes a bell ring at the top?) for kids, and one for adults. Asher had me demonstrate the little one for him, and he tried but did not do well. He lost the desire to play almost instantly, but cheered on a few other kids. I don't think he likes hitting games. He was terrible with a piñata at Sofia's birthday party as well.

The kids started looking hot and tired after a few hours. Asher asked to go home quite a few times. We didn't even go near the corn maze. But the last thing they tried before we bought two little pumpkins and took off was milking a cow. Not a real one. A pretend one.

The kids really thought this was interesting.

It is a good thing we don't live on a farm.

Fall, FINALLY.

I have no pictures of the amazing weather yesterday. Nor do I have any visual proof of our trip to the park, but it happened, and I was practically weeping with joy inside to be able to load the kids into the stroller and take them outside to play. Just to sit and talk with my friend Nancy while our children ran and jumped and played in the sand was exquisite. We didn't have to worry about our kids dehydrating or getting burned by the playground equipment. And they were so happy.

I hear that temperatures are going back up next week. Well, to use a Shakespearean term, I bite my thumb at that, Sir. But I know that the intense summer heat of the desert is finally starting to retreat.

Huzzah!