P365 - 2013 - Day 304 - Happy Halloween 2013

P365 - 2013 - Day 304 - Happy Halloween 2013

Happy Halloween 2013 from The "Jersey" Devil, Bob Marley, and the genie. 

*Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen, Voices whisper in the trees "Tonight is Halloween!" - Dexter Kozen*

P365 - 2013 - Day 303 - Mischief

P365 - 2013 - Day 303 - Mischief

Making a little mischief the night before Halloween......  ;-))  Boo!

*I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. - J.K. Rowlings*

P365 - 2013 - Day 302 - home...

P365 - 2013 - Day 302 - home...

I can not believe that we are this far into the semester and we have been doing this slightly crazy schedule since August.  This week, for Tuesdays with My Wonderful Husband he sent me a photo of the hotel where he is staying.  His home away from his home away from home as it were....  ;-)

*Home is the nicest word there is. -Laura Ingalls Wilder*

P365 - 2013- Day 301 - I love Halloween

P365 - 2013 - Day 301 - I love Halloween

 

Tye dye, fabric paint, and of course duct tape... the tools of my Halloween trade.  These shirts will transform The Boy and The Bear into their Halloween disguises...  I may be working into the 11th hour this year, but I still got it.   Can't wait to see all three of them put together, marching in a Halloween parade at school!  I love Halloween.

 

 

*There is a child in every one of us who is still a trick or treater looking for a brightly lit front porch. - Robert Brault*

P365 - 2013 - Day 300 - Halloween save!

P365 - 2013 - Day 300 - Halloween save!

I was a clown, a puppy, an angel, a cowgirl, a witch, a cheerleader, a genie, a 50's girl, Dorothy, and a cat....through the years those were some of the costumes that my mom made for me.  She sewed them herself and it was never a question when I requested a costume that she would be able to make it.  I was blessed with some creativity of my own (if not the sewing skills of my mother - although she tried very hard to impart that knowledge) and over the years, I was an elf, a goddess, a baby, and a witch  - all thrown together on a wing and prayer - because along with being a touch creative I am a procrastinator who works best under pressure.  Then came my children and Halloween took on a whole new meaning.  I now realized that I was the mom and I wanted my children to be able to look back fondly on the costumes that I made for them just like I looked back on the ones my mom made for me.  I started slow...there was the skeleton costume that has seen two Halloweens.  I learned that you can make almost anything out of sweatpants, felt, fabric paint, and hot glue.  Then there was the mummy costume- which also saw two Halloweens - I tried my hand at tea dying fabric and again wielding a hot glue gun like a pro.  That was the year that I realized that sometimes it was the accessories that make a costume too... I made a pair of "witch" shoes and a broom that were my crowning glory that year.  There was the year of Scooby and the gang when I realized that some costumes can be simple and yet perfect.  There was the year of the monsters - Frankenstein and his bride...poster board, boxes, real screws, furry fabric and voila! you have heads and hair and scary monsters!  There was the year of characters - I made The Princess into her favorite doll, The Boy into his favorite cartoon character, and The Bear a mad scientist.  That year I discovered the benefit of second hand stores - the things you can find are just amazing!  Finally, there was the year of the decades - once again, costumes can be so simple sometimes... and yet so perfect.  I have taken this very seriously as you can see.  So this year, with all of the aforementioned packing and moving... Halloween has taken an unfortunate and unintended backseat.  I still have it under control but I felt like I had no great idea..... and the kids were behind schedule coming up with ideas.  I have been working on it slowly but surely and I still have a few more days so don't count me out.  But yesterday while finishing up the last of the re-moving of boxes, I found one of my old costumes that my mom made for me when I was in 5th grade.  The Princess has been unsure of her costume until now but when she tried on this costume, it fit perfect, she loved it, I had a major flashback of me in that costume in 5th grade, and somewhere my mom smiled at the thought of that costume being reused for her granddaughter.  I smiled too - even without my mom here to help she came through.  Thanks Mom - for always making me great costumes, for sharing your creative gene with me, and for coming through with a great Halloween save!! 

*Use your imagination, not to scare yourself to death, but to inspire yourself to life. - Adele Brookman*

P365 - 2013 - Day 299 - Moving

P365 - 2013 - Day 299 - Moving

We started moving stuff in May.... we decided to do it ourselves (with the help of some friends) and it took several trips.  I packed our house in PA - My Wonderful Husband loaded trucks, we packed cars, we unloaded, unpacked, stored, purged, and sold...  It was a process that took over a month all told.  But when we were done, we had about 1/3 of our belongings stored under the house, the kids rooms set up, and the remainder of things unpacked and put away.  When construction was delayed, we sat back and enjoyed summer.  Then the day came when the construction started and we slowly started moving things again...small things at first... the furniture needed to come off the deck and some decorations needed to be moved to safety from the banging.  Once the addition was framed, we received the (very short) notice that we needed to move out and move our things from the first floor.  So, we packed and moved our stuff once again...we were lucky enough to have neighbors willing to let us use their spaces for storage - so in the end our belongings were split three ways...but safely out of harms way so they could begin construction.  We thought at that point that we were done until the move back.  Wrong.  Once again we received (very short) notice that we needed to move our stuff out from under the house to make room for the plumber to work.  So, we packed, loaded, unloaded, and moved our stuff once again.  I am beginning to think that we are out to set a record here for most times moving in the shortest period of time.  It's like a game of Jenga or Tetris...where can the stuff go, how can it fit, can you get around it, and oh by the way - where is everything?  I should have drawn a treasure map to find it all...  I look forward to, what I hope is, the last move we will make when everything comes back inside our home.  Then, finally, I will unload, unpack, put away, set up, and sit down. 

*Anyone who looks for honey in the forest, must have the courage to face the bees. - Ejike Henry Akuniziri* 

P365 - 2013 - Day 298 - Tuckerton Haunted Seaport

P365 - 2013 - Day 298 - Tuckerton Haunted Seaport

Our kids have been lucky enough to meet some pretty great friends since we have been here.  Some of them got together for the Tuckerton Haunted Seaport.  It was a spooky night...but a fun night with great friends! 

*I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, then alone in the light. - Hellen Keller*