Costume photo shoot

On Sunday, I had the kids put on their costumes so I could take a few pictures without the stress of having to get to school or get to a party.  

Ever since Leo got glasses at six years old, people have remarked on his resemblance to Harry Potter. This year I promised to buy him a creepy mask from the Halloween store if he agreed to be Harry Potter during the day at school.  

He makes a great Harry Potter.   

Serafina declared on Halloween last year she wanted to be a zombie ballerina.  She didn't change her mind, so here she is posing with Harry Potter.

And some solo shots.

Here's Leo in his creepy mask.

The label said "Sack Monster".

I didn't want him creeping out the little kids at school with this thing so I'm glad he was willing to be Harry Potter.

Serafina found the ballet costume at the Goodwill for seven dollars.  A couple of cans of fabric paint later, it was completely zombified.  She did almost all the work herself.  

Pumpkin Carving

It's messy and slightly annoying, but it's a tradition so we carved pumpkins today.  Fortunately, the kids are at the point they do it almost all on their own.  

 Serafina still had on some make-up left over from a trial run of her Halloween look.

 End results.

 Serafina's pumpkin.

 Leo's pumpkins.

Halloween Creepy Crawl 2018

Last night my house was the last stop on a progressive party we called the Halloween Creepy Crawl. For the past two years, we've done a St. Patty's themed pub crawl as a PTA fundraiser.  I told my co-hosts after the last one that I couldn't do it in March anymore because it's during ski season.  We decided to move it to October and this Saturday was a date that worked for all the hosts, so we made it Halloween themed and it was a total blast.  

 Here I am with two of the other hosts, Mary and Lizzy.   I am Marvin the Martian.  He's always been my favorite Looney Tunes character (I fondly remember watching the cartoons with my dad) and when I found the costume for six dollars at the Goodwill, I had to get it.  Mary is Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Lizzy is a Pink Lady from the movie Grease.  Lizzy's house was the second stop.

 Mary's house was the third stop.  She had a make-your-own nachos bar with chips, queso, veggie chili and tons of toppings.  It was genius and delicious.  Her husband set up a photo studio in the garage. Tom is a granny in a borrowed wig from Nana.

Here are some of my favorite people: Mary, Lizzy, Kristi (also dressed as RBG!) and Aida who recycled a costume Lizzy made for her son Navid in 2015.

We had to leave Mary's early to set up for the final stop of the night.  I still managed to eat two plates of nachos.  As the last leg, we got to be dessert which is definitely in my wheel house.  I made two kinds of cookies - pecan cookies with a brown sugar icing and chocolate cookies with Halloween M&Ms.  I also made two cakes - an apple cake with a nut topping and a pumpkin cake with a cream cheese frosting.  I was really happy with how everything turned out.  I also had lots of salty snacks out for munching.  

 Once we were home, Tom's granny costume took a naughty turn and our guests were shocked and  thrilled and deeply amused.  It's not exactly appropriate to post on the blog because my kids still think he was just a regular granny and sometimes they look at the pictures, but I'll show you some reaction shots.

Here's Ricky seeing what's under the granny robe for the first time.  And Ricky's reaction cracked up Lizzy.

 Everyone had to snap a picture.  Sitting at this table is Serafina's teacher (who is also Kristi's sister).  I did have a moment of hesitation when Tom picked this costume and I knew Kourtney would see it, but fortunately I know Kourtney well enough to know she would just laugh along with us.

 I was proud of my cat-eye make-up and my DIY brush top for a more accurate Marvin the Martian.

Leo gets a bite plate

Leo has been seeing an orthodontist for two years.  We go every six months and the orthodontist checks everything out and says "not quite yet".  He is in no rush to put Leo in braces even though it is clear he will need them at some point.  I mean, check out this overbite.  

 

Poor kid inherited my bad vision and funky teeth.  Serafina has been going for a year now too to keep an eye on things.  She still has plenty of baby teeth to lose so it will be a while before she's in braces.  

 Last week we had our usual appointment for both kids.  Serafina is still in a holding pattern, but the ortho decided it was time for Leo to get a bite plate.  His bottom teeth are making too much contact with his top gums.  The good news is he only has to wear it at home - after school and overnight.  

He was a very good sport about getting the impressions made.  It's a lot of goop in the mouth, especially for a kid that is sensory sensitive.  

 Today we picked up the finished bite plate.  The assistant first showed him how to put it in properly.

 Then he got to do it himself.

 He was not a fan of how it felt.  It will take some getting used to but it will also help his bite and delay braces a bit longer.

Serafina's Reflections Dance

Laurelwood Elementary School's PTA participates in the Reflections Art contest every year.  There is a national theme and kids can submit artwork in several different categories.  This competition has been going on for a long time.  I submitted an original piano piece (I wrote out the sheet music) when I was in elementary school.  My kids haven't shown any interest in years past and the theme is always a little cheesy and obscure.  This year I mentioned to Serafina that she could submit an original choreographed dance.  She decided she wanted to do it.  The theme was Heroes Around Me.  She chose "Fight Song" by Rachel Patten and performed it after school on the cafeteria stage while I recorded it with my phone.   

She was apprehensive about recording and submitting the video.  She was worried she wouldn't win.  I reminded her that it isn't about that.  It is more important that she's brave enough to put herself out there and share her love of dance with the world.  

Last night was the reception for all the participants.  We came late because she had dance class, so when we got there people were already milling around looking at all the entries.  It looked like all the entries were paintings or drawings.  I think there was one photograph display and maybe a written work (story? poem? I'm not sure).  She was definitely the only dance.  They set up her video on a continuous loop on a laptop.  When we got there, several girls were huddled around watching the video.  The principal and vice principal came up to compliment her dance and express how impressed they were with her.  

 Here she is receiving her medal for participation.

 Here's principal Dr. Rogers, vice principal Mr. Fuller, 4th grader Allison and Serafina.

 All the participants with their medals.  A pretty small group when you realize there are close to 700 students at the school.

 She was proud of herself and I reinforced how great it was that she put herself out there when so many people don't even try.

 Here's Leo, Serafina and Tom watching the video.

The chairperson will form a panel of judges and some entries will move on to complete at the district level.  I'm not sure when that will be announced.  I also don't know if being the only dance submission will work for or against her.  

Here's the video of the dance she created for the competition.  I'm very proud of her, especially when I think about the fact she is only nine years old.    

Diving Season Kick-off

It was the diving club's season kick-off party today.  There was tons of food, team t-shirts and a group photo.  

 Both kids had lots of funs with friends and ate plenty of junk.

Sierra School Bike Day

Yesterday was Bike Day at Leo's school.  What a fun idea!  Until you have to haul a big bike in and out of car so he can ride it around on a black top with a few dozen other kids.  This is definitely something that couldn't happen at the public elementary school (too many kids), but would have been easier to get the bike there since we are just a few blocks away.  

 Of course, he bumped into another kid while riding, crashed his bike, scratched it up and banged up his knee.  But he survived.

 Here's a few pictures of Serafina having fun trying on some Halloween accessories.