Star Wars Halloween

Rylee loves "Star Wars" (like her Mommy and Daddy) so when she declared that we should all go as Star Wars characters for Halloween, we were pretty excited. 

Rylee knew she wanted to be Princess Leia from the get go - duh!...

... but the rest of us had some indecision about our costumes with so many iconic characters to choose from.  So, drumroll please, introducing....

...Jedi Jace

 

 

We really wanted Jace to be an Ewok, but all the costumes seemed too big, too hot, too something.  In the end, I remembered that I had an Obi-Wan-like sweater.  A few strategically placed safety pins and a dollar glow-stick light saber turned him into Jedi Jace!  I wish the pictures did his light saber justice.  It was a big, foam stick that glowed bright green.  Jon wrapped one end in duct tape and "walla" (as Rylee says), we had a toddler-friendly light saber.

I wasn't fond of the Princess Leia costumes they sold either.  I wanted to use Rylee's own hair (with the help of some donut buns) so we didn't need the wig.  This Angel dress was cute and super cheap.  A ribbon belt and the light saber her Dad made her for Christmas last year was all she needed to complete the look.

 

...C3P0 and Yoda

 

 

Originally Jon wanted to be Chewbacca, but when I wouldn't allow him to purchase the $350 full hair costume (go figure), he opted for "3CPO" as Rylee mistakenly (dyslexically?) calls him.  Poor Rio got forced (get it!) into this Yoda costume.  I couldn't resist, even though she only wore it for this photo op.  

 

 

 

...and finally R2D2



 

 

 I decided to ignore Rylee's request that I go as Han Solo (although in retrospect I'm not sure why).  I wanted a cheap costume so I looked online and found a do-it-yourself R2D2 costume out of posterboard, blue painters tape, and duct tape.  I went my own way with the "hat" - duct taping and decorating a colander.  I even added the three dimensional parts by duct taping on Dixie cups.  Although I look ridiculous, I was quite proud of my skills.

 

More on our Halloween and trick-or-treating success tomorrow, R2D2 needs to power down for the night.  Happy Halloween!

 

The Doc Is In

Rylee had a Halloween party at her dance class on Monday night.  Since she had to be able to dance and tumble in her costume, we decided to reuse her "Doc McStuffins" costume from last year.  Her hair is much longer than last October.  She looks more Pippy Longstocking than Doc, but the curvy braids are too fun not to do.  :)

Of course, Jace wanted to get into the picture too.  :)

 

Here's a blurry cell phone pic of her class.  Jake, Izzy and Cubby (from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates") are triplets (two girls and a boy).  Rylee adores those three!

 

 

Pumpkin Patch Pics

We finally had time for a family trip to the pumpkin patch on Sunday morning. We went early (before the festivities) so it was pretty much just pumpkin picking and fall picture posing.

We were excited to see Mater this year - a new addition to our pumpkin patch.
 

Pumpkin pics...

 

Not sure if these are exactly smiles, but close enough!

 

The "big chair" pics...

 

 

 

 

I have a love/hate relationship with this pumpkin patch.  Or rather it has a love/hate relationship with me.  Two years ago, mid-visit, my camera just stopped working for no reason and I had to buy a new one.  Last year, I fell on my butt (with Jace in my arms).  We weren't hurt, but it did happen right in front of my old Assistant Principal!  This year, Jon accidentally dropped my camera on the ground.  Next year I'm going to wear padded underpants and leave the good camera at home - just in case!

Trunk-or-Treat!

Saturday night, Rylee and I were invited to go "trunk-or-treating" with one of her friends from VPK.  Everyone was encouraged to dress up so I pulled out my Renaissance bridesmaid's dress to go with Rylee's Rapunzel.  Not sure if I'm Mother Gothel or the Queen, but it was fun to wear my dress - it is really beautiful and the only bridesmaid's dress that I've ever "worn again!"  :)

 

I made the braid for Rylee's Rapunzel dress out of yarn and decorated it with flowery hair binders.  It turned out really cute and was light and easy to wear.  I just fastened it in with a hair binder. We bumped into a few other Rapunzel's that night, but she was the only one with the braid.  :)

Below is a pic of our friends aka the Von Trapp family from "The Sound of Music."  It was fun to hear people's comments when the recognized their costumes: "the hills are alive" and "do re me!" to name a few.

Rylee and her friend, Devri...

 

If you're unfamiliar, "trunk-or-treating" is becoming a fun alternative to traditional trick-or-treating.  People set up trick-or-treating stations in the trunk of their car.  Most of the car trunks were decorated or had a game element to getting the candy.  For instance, Rylee had to walk the plank (a balance beam over a blue tarp) at one and played that ladder toss game at another (the rung you got determined how many candy pieces you received). 

 

At our friend's trunk, they made these cool soap bubbles that you can play with out of dry ice and dish soap.  Here's a blurry cell phone pic of Rylee enjoying their squishy texture.

 

A great time was had by all!

 - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Halloween Kickoff

When I last left off, Jon had just left for his duck hunting trip which meant the kids and I had to take care of ourselves for 12 days. Easier said than done! It certainly makes me appreciative of all the things that Jon does to help out around here. Of course, his trip always coincides with some drama. This year it was broken car seats, a flat tire on the freeway with two hungry and tired kids, fevers and colds for both kids (Rylee missed two days of school). We also had some fun play dates and park dates so it wasn't all bad!

Since he's been home, Rylee and I have left him to single parent Jace four nights in a row. What can we say, we are busy girls! Rylee joined Awana Club (a bible study class on Wednesday nights) so we were gone that night. I snuck out for some girl time on Thursday night with my Book Club. Rylee and I attended our first Halloween party of the season on Friday night (finally getting to what this post is about) and then we girls were gone again for another Halloween party on Saturday night.

Here are some pics from Friday's party.  Rapunzel Rylee...

With mermaid friend, Shannon...

Party guests minus a couple...

Feeling inside the mystery box...

Bobbing for apples...

...and strawberries.

"I vant to bite your neck!"

 

Silly Jace

Like his sister, Jace loves to sing and dance. Last week after her dance class, she was showing us her moves and Jace was copying everything she did. It was adorable! Of course, when I tried to get some video, he stopped completely. I did manage to get some awkward photos the night of the party.

Jace's favorite thing to sing is actually Ariel's "aah aah aah, aah aah aah" from the Little Mermaid.  He constantly carries around Rylee's shell necklace (that plays this tune) while he "aahs" along.  Since his vocabulary is extremely limited, he mostly makes up his own jibber jabber to go along with whatever song the rest of us are singing.  That night we were dancing to Rylee and Papa's song, "I Like to Move It."  He really got into the "move it" part since he can say "moo."

Some goofy dance moves...

Rylee copying her "broth" for a change. 
(Rylee never calls him "bro" for short, it's always "broth.")

 

Jace also loves the crazy games he plays with his Daddy like "spider pig" (walking upside down on the ceiling) and "tick tock" hanging upside down and swinging like a pendulum.  This was just regular upside down fun.  :)

 

 

Camo Cuties

I was trying to get a cute sibling pic the night of the birthday party.  On top of the Thomas the Train tracks, why not?

Giggly Jace...

Smiley Rylee...

 

Happy Birthdays!

We celebrated two special birthdays last week. First up, Rio turned 11 on October 8th (there is a pic at the end of this post).  She got pampered with a hair trim, a couple of walks, some doggie treats, and a new dog toy the kids picked out for her.  It's hard to believe our "puppy dog" is 11 already!

Next up, Jon turned 37 on the 11th.  Rylee drew a nice picture of him (inside of his Duck Dynasty card) next to some balloons and a birthday cake. 
Rylee: "How old is Daddy going to be again?"
Me: "37."
Rylee: "I'll just draw three candles on his cake."
Me: "Good plan."

Opening his card...

 

 

 

Birthday hugs....

 

 

 

 

Since Jon's duck hunting trip is really his present, he only got two small things from me and the kids: Duck Dynasty band aids and DD playing cards.  In keeping with our theme, I also made him a camo cake.



 

 

The frosting wasn't that impressive, but the camo cake inside looked cool.  And the overall taste was marbled and delicious!  I will definitely make this again.  Rylee has already requested a pink camo cake at some point.

 

 

 

A little out of order, but here's Rio with her new toy that Rylee named "Howl" the Owl.  :)