Happy Halloween 2010

The theme this year? Wizard of Oz!

It all started when Suzanne found a lion costume for Zoa. Well, I remembered that I had a Dorothy costume given to me, that I loaned to Lilah. Emelia, all of a week old, was Toto. This left my boys to be Scarecrow (Max) and Tin Man (Jake).

The scarecrow costume is what I started first. I had this great idea to make the shirt from scratch. Yeah. That didn't go well. I was a little upset. I sewed a collar in, elastic, a zipper into not one but TWO shirts. I gave up and bought a used green sweatshirt at a consignment sale. Sizing is not my strong point. The hat went similarly. The one in the picture (a little too big still) is my third attempt. I'm really proud of the headpiece. Not only did it fit well, but it kept is fat little cheeks nice and warm!

Jake's outfit is the second attempt. (I'm not Jenny Two Tries for nothing) I found some metallic fabric and thick interfacing to make body piece. The pants were simple and quick (thankfully). I had a grey sweatshirt for underneath already and I spray painted a funnel for his head. Mom supplied the hatchet which we trimmed down and spray painted as well.

The "coat" stayed together with hot glue and velcro. I had these grand intentions of sewing every piece together, but I'm glad I decided not to. I would have been very very frustrated. I'm happy with how he looked, but at times he was so uncomfortable. The thing didn't really bend well and certain embellishments started to fall off. Next time I design a costume, I'll have to take his activity level into consideration.

They were so dang cute! Max only made it to a house or two before he needed another meal, but Jake went up and down the whole block! I think he had a great time. His favorite part was ringing everyone's doorbell!

All Time Favorite Project

We have a very cheap table. There is no sugar coating it- it was a Rod Kush Special. It took several hours to assemble from about the size of a shoe box. BUT, it is an awesome sized table and it works for what we need it to. Besides, we knew we would have kids and they would destroy all of our belongings.

Well, the cushions are cream colored and Jake is now a toddler. A bad combination. I did plastic covers, I did towels, I tried lots of stain removers, but these cushions are showing their wear. Not to mention, we have lots of friends with children and it doesn't seem like that trend will slow down anytime soon. Stains are bound to happen.

My solution? Recover the chairs with cream colored vinyl. Heck yeah. I know that your legs might stick to it in the summer, but man oh man- it is so easy to clean!!

Can you tell the difference? Neither can the people who visit. Until they go to clean it of course...

Every day that my son spills something on those chairs I exclaim, "Best project ever!"

Gone So Long

I know- I have not posted in quite some time. What bothers me the most about this is that there are two people I know that regularly check back to see if I have posted- I'm so so sorry!!!

In my defense I had a baby, finished another semester of school, and went back to work. Adjusting to life with two kids is much more of a challenge than I anticipated. I'm lucky they happen to be such great kids. Life has again found some sort of routine and Mike and I are settling into life as a family of four.

I didn't stop all of my projects- so there are some that I will share with you hopefully over the next week. Enjoy!

Max's Place

Here are a final few shots of the nursery all ready for Max. I have two months, but I nest early I guess. Not to mention, there are several other projects that need to get done before his arrival. Hope you like it.

That last one is the Max doll from the movie Where the Wild Things Are. Jake calls him "Baby Max." I'm so excited!

Ahhh, the artwork!

Did you know my husband was an art major in college? He was. He liked installation art and painting, but he realized that there wasn't much of a future in creative art and graduated with a graphic art degree. Much more reasonable, although he doesn't use it. Go figure.

The awesome part of this is the free artwork for the house. I request it, sometimes it gets done. The problems arise when I request a specific piece of artwork. Something like what I had planned for the nursery. You would think he'd be all over that, but sadly no. It takes a lot of coaxing and work from me as well.

I can't say he didn't help- he did. In fact our friend Maria helped too. So here is what I came up with- not Mike- but he helped me execute it. So THANK YOU, HUNNY!

And his name is...

...Maxwell "Max" David Kolker

We will now have a Jake and Max in the house. When trying to decide on another boys' name (remember, we had all girl names chosen) we went back and forth. We tried out a few, taught them to Jake, and listened to him say the names. It was hilarious! His obvious favorite was Max- he said it all the time, and without prompting. So "Baby Max" it is.

Here is his new crib and bedding. I made the crib skirt from this awesome seahorse fabric I bought online. We did a "fish/underwater" theme for his room mostly because I loved Heather Ross's collection of fish fabrics. Too bad she retired her prints- they got expensive! So rather than the goldfish I first wanted, we ended up with a variety of sea creatures!

The crib sheet is flannel that I washed, dried, serged around the edges and put elastic on the ends. I didn't even make a casing for the elastic, I pulled it tight as I zigzaged down the middle. I had no idea how very very simple a crib sheet it. If you need a quick gift, this is an easy one!

The Chinese lanterns above his bed are supposed to be reminiscent of bubbles. I stole that idea from the Internet, and I like how it turned out. A non traditional mobile! The crib mobile is an aquarium themed one, and thanks to the awesome consignment sales I got this one for $6! It plays ocean sounds, can light up, and the fish move and blow bubbles. Jake thinks it's awesome, so that's a good sign.

Next post- more nursery....

WOW...it's been awhile.

I admit, I've been a little overwhelmed with school. HOWEVER, the semester is OVER!! Yea! Here's what we've been doing, that I haven't posted on.

After visiting a wonderful daycare that had a direct nature focus, I realized that I needed to get Jake involved in some of the things I grew up with. I take for granted that I was raised on a farm, and I wish we had the luxury of exposing him to the outdoors on a daily basis, but the reality is we have to make do.

Our first step- a garden! Since I don't really have the space for a planted garden, we did a container one. I decided on green beans, lettuce, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, mint, cilantro, and green onions. High reward foods. I'm hoping that if he grows it, he'll eat it. He already loves cherry tomatoes and strawberries, and I'm hoping he loves the rest too.

He loves loves loves spraying the plants with his "waterer." It keeps him busy for a good half hour. I didn't even know that some of these things could be grown in a container. I hope they turn out. If anything, Jake has gotten a lot of fun out of the experience.