Halloween//Part 4

I thought the next time I would have to take off work would be to welcome baby Liv. Not the case. I found myself curled up on the bed in my old room at mom and dad's yesterday during my lunch break at school. And I did not return all day yesterday or today. The dreaded stomach bug hit me. Only on the busiest day of a 1st grade teacher's existence--the day/night of our 1st grade musical performance. I had to miss it. I was so sad. Still am. But I feel better now. Thank goodness. Now, for a complete bombardment of photos!

Pumpkin Patch

Derek and I have been going to a pumpkin patch together since 2008. Our first year, we went to one near Little Rock with Neil and Katie.
2008

The following year, Amelia was here and we went to the same one with she, Heather and Ross.
2009

Last year we switched patches to one in Battlefield and added Ingrid to the mix.
2010

And in 2011, we brought along Elise and had a blast. Amelia helped Ingrid get ready by combing her hair. Elise was happy to see her DD!

This was Ingrid's first day out of the house since she had been sick and she was so excited for a little fresh air.


Ross thought of bringing the wagon and it was a big hit.


I had been looking forward to going to the pumpkin patch since September arrived and I really wanted to get Ingrid a cute "pumpkin patch" outfit to wear for all the photo ops I knew we would have. Turns out they are super expensive! So this was the first time I tried out my new embroidery machine and made her a little dress. I used some black and white polka dot fabric felt for the pumpkin and I love the way it turned out.




Amelia and Elise were so good the whole time. They had been to this very patch the day before when Ing was too sick to join them. But you would have never known it. They had just as much fun as if it was their first trip. This smile gets me every time!


Run like the wind, Ing!

The hay maze was a big hit.

But Ingrid's favorite part of the day was definitely the actual pumpkin patch. She wanted to pick up every pumpkin exclaiming, "HEAVY!" each time she bent down. She wanted to run as fast as she could through the tangle of vines and pumpkins. She loved every second of it.

This one was too tiny for her!


What about this one?

Or maybe this one?

"HEAVY!"

Victory!!!!


Notice anything similar?

I just love the pumpkin patch. Next year, Liv will get to join us for fun times four!

Halloween//Part 3

Trick-or-Treat

When we left the church's pumpkin patch party, we headed to our trick-or-treating spots: Meme & Pop's and Nana & Grandpa's. Ingrid was all ready to "knock, knock, knock" on the door. Meme and Pop had her a whole bowl full of candy. Ingrid was more than happy to throw it into her candy bag.


It was hilarious watching her bite into all her goodies. She loved them.


Next up, we headed to Glenda and Daniel's for more treats.

A big thanks to Alana for Ingrid's super cute candy bag! I got a bag for Liv too, but we'll let her debut it next year.

Speaking of Liv, she actually had her first costume this year. You caught a glimpse of her fishbowl in the last post.

I got this crazy idea for a fishbowl in my head and thought it would be so cute. Ingrid's costume took up most of my spare time so I found myself with no costume. I knew my kids would never let me live it down at school if I showed up with no costume, so at 10:00 the night before Halloween I sat down and started cutting out my felt pieces. I opted to glue them on for time's sake and they stayed on pretty well. I think it turned out great. I have to share a funny story about my kids at school. First of all, they loved the costume. It was definitely worth making. Secondly, we were standing in line and this conversation happened:

Kid 1: I sure hope Liv can swim.
Kid 2: Why? Why did you just say that?
Kid 1: Because she's been in that fishbowl all day!
Kid 2: Ohhhhh. I see.
Kid 3: I hope she can hold her breath for a long time.
Kid 4: So, Mrs. Henderson, you technically didn't dress up today.
Me: What? Of course I did. I'm a fishbowl.
Kid 4: NO, you aren't a fishbowl. Liv is. She's the one who is dressed up for Halloween.

So there you have it! Liv's first costume!!

16 months old

Dear Ingrid,

You are one year and four months old today! And I can't even begin to write you everything I wish to say. You are doing so much, saying so much, and learning so much. More than I can even comprehend. You are an amazing child. You soak up every single thing we tell and teach you every day. I'm so thankful you get to stay with your Gammy during the day. You know so much. Your vocabulary is astounding. You will try to say anything we ask, and it's usually pronounced very well! You are putting together more and more words to make little phrases. This morning on the way to Gammy's house you were talking to Strawberry telling her "Gammy's house" over and over. All of the sudden you said, "Uh-oh! Strawberry dropped Mama." You had dropped her over the side of your car seat. You didn't get too upset though. You just started playing with hippo! You love to talk when you're in your car seat and I love to listen to you. We get to have some good conversations to and from school each day. You will sing Wheels on the Bus and your ABCs. Today you sang your ABCs on the way home and got all the way to the letter S. You mumbled through LMNOP a little, but I was amazed that you could sing them so clearly. I'm really amazed by you every single day. I just love you so much and I'm so proud of you.

This is the last letter I will get to write to you as my only daughter. You are about to become a big sister and I'm so excited and nervous all at the same time. I have lots of fears about how you will handle Liv's arrival. Everything will be different and I know it will be hard on you with so many changes. I love our little family of three and I'm certainly aware of how much the dynamic will change when baby Liv comes. I know there will be issues with time. Right now I devote every second to you. And I wouldn't trade that for the world. But when Liv comes I will have to share my time between the two of you. I hope you understand that I still love you just as much as I always have, but now I love your sister too! I am praying and praying that you will have a smooth transition. I am praying for God to take away my fears and allow me to lean on faith that everything will work out according to His perfect plan. I am praying that you and Liv will grow up to be best friends and never question what it would have been like without the other. I am praying and will continue to pray for you every single day.

Ingrid, you are such a precious gift to me and Daddy. We thank God for you every single day. I am so lucky to be your mom and I hope you always know how much you are loved. Kiss, kiss!

Love,
Mama

Halloween//Part 2

Church Pumpkin Patch Party

Our church has a community-wide Pumpkin Patch Party complete with games, balloons, food, a hayride, bounce house, the works! I was so excited to take Ingrid this year, but I had a little trepidation. I knew it would be really crowded, no matter how early we went and I was worried Ingrid wouldn't want to get down and play any of the games with such a crowd. She was definitely a little nervous when we first walked in, so I was that mom who was acting OVERLY excited so her kid would have fun.


Mom and Dad met us at the church and walked around and played games with us. We had so much fun. Once Ingrid started playing games, she didn't want to stop! There were so many games she could do all by herself.





Ingrid loved putting her candy prizes in the cute bag Alana made for her!

She really got into character "Hooting" for everyone too.

I think the wheel spin and feeding the monkey were her favorite games.





The pumpkin patch party was a huge success! Next up, trick-or-treating. At this rate, I might get all my Halloween posts done by Thanksgiving!

Halloween//Part 1

Wow, Wow, Wow---> Is it really November??? I'm so far behind on posting all the fun Halloween things we've done during October, so I'm going to break it down into different parts. First up...

Evolution of the Owl Costume

I've always loved making things. Even when I was really young--crafting and creating were the things I loved the best. I realllly wanted to make Ingrid's first Halloween costume last year but time slipped up on me and I didn't get it done. Or even started for that matter. Plus, she was so little, we didn't take her anywhere--just passed out candy at the house. This year, I made sure to start nice and early on her costume. I used the same idea as last year. Inspiration was this little owl costume I saw online. I wanted mine to be a little different though. I wanted sleeves in case the weather was cool, and I wanted feathers all down the sleeves for a "wing-like" look. I bought this pattern on Etsy for a tunic that would be the perfect base for the costume. This was daunting to me, because A. I've never made a piece of clothing from a pattern, B. I've never made anything with sleeves, C. I'm a full-time teacher with minimal time to do "extra" projects. But I plowed ahead.
I cut out my pattern pieces and began sewing.

It actually worked! I made the tunic that looked pretty much like the pattern. I was thrilled and tried it on Ingrid for a test run.

The hard part was over. I used the feather template from my inspiration photo and starting tracing feathers. I didn't want my feathers to fray, so I ironed a stabilizer to the back of all my fabrics before I started cutting. I picked up all the fabrics at Wal-Mart for super cheap. So it turned out to be a very inexpensive costume. Another plus!


When I got to this point in the costume I was a little stumped. The feathers looked strange at the top because they were so big and I didn't know what to do. Amy suggested making smaller feathers to finish up the top and sleeves. And that's just what I did! I made two more sizes--a medium and a small--and finished it up. The feathers on the body are all sewed on. I couldn't fit my sleeves under my sewing machine and didn't want to hand-sew them all, so I used fabric glue. Worked like a charm.

I was pretty sure Ingrid would not keep on any kind of hat or mask, so I made her a headband out of felt for the eyes and nose. She loved it. She kept saying "EYES", "NOSE", and then holding up her hands saying "NO MOUTH????" It was hilarious. She did great in her costume. Pics of her actually in it to come!