The Making of The Incredibles

 

I've been so sick with my pregnancy that everyone kept asking me, how did you manage to make these costumes while you felt so sick. Well, here's the secret. I've wanted to do this for a LONG time. Years actually. 

This year I realized it was the perfect thing to do.  So a few months ago when we were driving by DI (which isn't super close to us here) I said we should go grab the basics for our costumes. At DI everything was color coordinated so it was easy to find enough sweats and shirts for everyone.  I also bought the black pants for the boys and Rebecca. I already owned mine.  Then we didn't do anything about it except buy the iron-on papers that you put in your printer.  My friend Paige printed them out for me because we have the wrong kind of printer.  (Thanks Paige!)

We were at another thrift store waiting for Rebecca who was at an activity at church and I looked in their blankets for an orange one. I got lucky and got a cheap piece of fleece that I cut up into strips.  

 

A few hours before the Trunk-or-treat I decided I better make these costumes or my dream was going to fall apart.  I cut out the Incredibles symbol, ironed them on the shirts, cut up the pants, cut up the belts and cut the masks a little smaller, too. (They were just the Zorro type masks from the party store).  Warren used black socks to make up for a lack of boots, Joseph had boots but his sweats slipped out, oh well. 

We spray painted Rebecca's hair black for the full "Violet" effect.  We combed "Dash's" hair back, tried to spike "Jack-Jack's" hair and tried to turn Warren blond. But as we all agreed, it looked green, so at the last minute he washed it out after all. And that was it! 

Voila, the Incredibles! 

(After the party. Do you like Theo's chocolate covered face?) :)

I think my favorite thing was trick-or-treating on Halloween.  We rounded one corner in our neighborhood and saw some people had a movie screen set up on their driveway.  They were watching "The Incredibles" !!! They were so excited to see us and asked to take our picture.  Everywhere we walked the junior high aged kids would exclaim: "Cool costumes!" or "I LOVE your costumes." Needless to say I was flattered! :)

When we were trick-or-treating Theo kept asking people whether they had a "doggie?" and would bend over to try to see inside their homes to try and spot a dog.  He was adorable and people loved him.  He often said thank you, but had already turned his body around so the people didn't always hear it. but for an 18 month old I was impressed. We had a great Halloween!

Rebecca's Baptism

Rebecca turned 8 and could therefore choose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  She made her own choice to do so.  She was ready and excited.  It was a beautiful service.  She sang two songs in front of the whole group in attendance with the two other children who were getting baptized. They sang: "When Jesus Christ was Baptized" and "I Like to Look for Rainbows."   Warren baptized and confirmed her.

 We are so proud of Rebecca and the wonderful daughter and big sister that she is.  She is mature, loving, kind, forgiving and a good friend.  She asks intelligent questions and has developed her own testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 We all love you, Rebecca! It was a beautiful day. 

My Marathon

I am not a runner. I never have been. I only like to run if I'm chasing a little yellow ball on the court.  But I'm on my 4th marathon right now. 

No, no, not that type of marathon, I'm talking about being pregnant.  It's something to be grateful for, for sure.  But it's hard for me. Really hard.  Never has been easy. 

It's not only the nausea, the leg pain, the complete exhaustion and other maladies that I experience, but I think with the change in hormones there is some depression, too. Maybe it's depression due to the nausea and the fact that for months I can hardly accomplish any little task around the house, let alone take care of my three children decently.  I'm incredibly grateful for the help I have received from dear friends.  It's not only the actual help they provide, but the feeling that someone cares. 

If you're a friend and we haven't talked in awhile, I'd love to hear from you.  There is more to talk about, but not in a public forum like this (even though my stats indicate that no one is reading this blog anymore anyway!). I got out of the habit of regular posting during the summer when we just relaxing, and then after that I got so sick that I've just been in survival mode.

On a happier note, some of my favorite words around here lately:

Theo: rah-ry (butterfly)
Joseph: cracknacker (nutcracker)

Rebecca is getting excited for her baptism next week. We're all excited about Grandma Julie's upcoming visit next week. It's giving me something to live for.

Until next time.
Ciao.

The Official-no way to miss it- announcement

I tried to announce our news with the video on facebook, but I guess facebook is hit or miss and I think a lot of people missed it this time.  So, here is the news, plain and simple.

Baby Williams due May 2nd, 2012.

Warren: excited but exhausted (from taking care of the household on top of everything else)
Dorothea: happy but nauseated as usual-in survival mode
Rebecca: hoping for a girl
Joseph: hoping for a boy
Theo: mostly oblivious to the whole thing
All kids: eating lots of cereal, waffles and anything else that doesn't require cooking

That's all folks!

Rebecca is 8: a Tangled Party

What a great day.  Rebecca turned 8! We celebrated in the morning with our family. Rebecca received her own scriptures and some "Tangled" toys to go with our party theme.  

 

In the afternoon 6 of her special friends came to celebrate a "Tangled" Rapunzel Party with us.  We played pictionary, sherades, and made candy necklaces. We also played "Pin the frying pan on Flynn," and Rebecca got him smack in the nose.

 We had fantastic decorations, if I may say so myself.  The theme was purple and yellow like the party theme in the town in the Rapunzel movie.  We had a purple tablecloth and yellow plates and my pride and joy, the sun banner.  We cut the banner out of felt, made a sun stencil and sponge painted the suns.  The kids all got in on the action, but it was a little harder than I thought it would be and I needed to do most of it myself. 

We made "Lanterns" in honor of the floating lanterns from the movie.  We modgepodged pieces of tissue paper onto glass vases and put tea lights inside to glow.

 
We did a conga line to cross the street to find a tree to use for our pinata. (We don't have any big enough trees in our yard, but our neighbor had a perfect one.)
We haven't done a pinata since Rebecca was 1, so it seemed like it was time to do it again.

Mad scramble for the candy

Rebecca actually broke the pinata on round 2 (after everyone had had a turn). It couldn't have been better.

Rebecca requested an unfrosted Angel Food cake, so that is what we did.  We served it sliced with fresh whipped cream and cut strawberries (coated in a little sugar).  We had trick candles that kept coming back on and got lots of squeals out of the girls.

Rebecca made the signs herself.  "Welcome to the Snuggly Duckling" (the tavern in the movie), a "Wanted dead or alive" sign and a Happy Birthday sign.  I believe it is important to let them be involved in the preparations as much as possible. 

What a fabulous party for a fabulous girl.  Thanks for coming to our family and making me a mommy! I love you, Rebecca! 8 is GREAT!!!

Announcing...

If you're friends with me on facebook, check out the video I just posted. Enjoy!

Knott's-Thanks Grandma!

Grandma Darlene used to work for Knott's Berry Farm and received some free tickets here and there.  Philipp, Fred, the kids and I got to use the last 4 tickets there were for a wonderful day at Knott's.  The kids did every single kiddie ride they could. Joseph was fearless. He went on everything he was tall enough for.  Theo went on anything he could and loved it, too. We were there from opening to closing and saw lots of shows and had a great day.  The kids favorite ride was the log ride, which they had never done before. Even Theo and I went on it, too! That was fun since that is one of my childhood memories, too.  Thanks, Grandma Darlene for making such a fun day possible for us.