Trick or Treat!

Today is the day! Halloween!

The kids were very excited to dress up and go to a Halloween party

 

Both of them LOVED their costumes and wanted to keep them on all day/night!

I even got out some makeup. It is supposed to be a stencil, but it didn't work so I tried free-handing it from the picture on the box (it's supposed to be a butterfly)

 

Katheryn had absolutely no desire to take her 'carriage' out trick or treating, but she did pose for a picture in costume.

It was damp but not really raining that much when we started out.

Took some time to pose for some pictures on the front line.
My niece Madison (who is lalaloopsie) came trick or treating with us
I have no idea why Katheryn is making such funny faces...
It probably had something to do with 3 camera's pointed at her (and saying we couldn't leave yet)

And a quick picture with me

And we were off!

They girls were very excited to shout trick or treat.
And we had to collect Nick's candy for him.
There wasn't a single house where Nick could actually go up to the door for candy himself. We got him to yell out trick or treat! Just one of those things you need to problem solve.

He didn't seem to mind. He liked carrying his bag that was getting heavier and heavier.
And they kids eventually started to lose their steam.
It never started to really rain, but it was misting/spitting and we all got very damp (again I was really glad all of Nick's ship was waterproof).

And then we were home again!
Bags were full, kids were tired and wet

 

The kids took stock of their goodies

 

Then Katheryn took over handing out the candy

 

When we asked her what she liked better, handing out candy or giving candy she said she liked handing it out better!

So did the kids she handed it out to! Each kid got gigantic handfuls of candy when they came to the door (and we still have a ton left over!)

Now to think of what we'll do next Halloween...

Pumpkin Masters!

Pirate Ship Makeover

I already posted about creating Nick's Halloween jolly wheeler/walker. But when I looked at the pictures (and of course showed them around) they just didn't pop the way I wanted them to.
I wasn't happy about how plain it looked.

So I went out and got a whole bunch of foam 'paper' from the dollar store (including a whole roll of yellow, orange and red) and tried to make things pop!

So I needed some new inspiration.

I started with some bright accessories

A captain's wheel

An anchor

 

A pirate flag

 

 

A treasure chest

With treasure of course! (jewels, gold coins and a king's crown)

 

These ones can all transfer back and forth between the wheeler and walker.

To the actual boats I updated the look too
A nice sparkly name!

I added a new deck (this is where the roll of foam came in)
And a 'figure head' sticker (I did quickly consider trying a lalaloopsy doll to the front, but thought it might traumatize Katheryn)

I put on some port holes

I updated the jolly walker too

Some chain, port holes and water

 

Trying out the telescope

Can't forget the pirate!

 

Oh Uh a Sneaky Thief!

 

Sorry, no sneak peak for the costumes until Halloween!

Bippity Boppity Boo!

A couple of weekends ago, we spent a lot of time making Nick's Halloween costume, the jolly walker and his jolly wheeler. Katheryn was very excited and wanted to help.
By the end of the day she said she had changed her mind about what she wanted to be for Halloween (and what she has wanted to be for months). She said instead of Cinderella, she wanted to be a pirate.

I realized that spending all the time making something for Nickolas made Katheryn feel left out. So we decided to make her a carriage.

Today all 4 of us were home sick, so it was the perfect time to start.

Again, I started with an idea in my head (and attempted to put it on paper)

 I collected what I thought I would need for supplies

And of course I had my model

I trialed a couple of ideas to get what I had in my mind.
To get the circle of Cinderella's carriage, I wanted it to be light, portable and use what we had without a lot of glue or anything.

Katheryn was excited to help and model as I worked (for about 20 minutes)

Once I got the shape, I could do the final decorating

And we were done!

It's not a pumpkin, but I think it's going to work well

 

I don't actually think she's going to carry to umbrella... I mean carriage ... around on Halloween night, but I hope it makes her happy that she has her very own Cinderella carriage.

The Jolly Wheeler

I always knew I was going to do 2 costumes for Nickolas. The walker and the wheelchair, to leave his options open about how we would actually roam the streets Halloween night. But also to hopefully attend some Halloween events.

 

So like everything, I started off with a simple idea.

 

 

I wasn't sure how to start.

I knew I needed a lot of cardboard, and had already decided to cover it with garbage bags instead of painting (in case of rain), but needed to go searching for the right size box.

Katheryn helped us to do some searching

 

And we found it!
Taped it all up inside

Fit it over the wheelchair
(Perfect fit)

Kyle cut a hole in it
(I don't think he liked my knife-wielding skills)

It fit perfectly!!!
It doesn't drag on the floor, about 2 inches off.

Then it came time to start decorating it
I always wanted the wheelchair one to have the waves lapping - which ended up working perfectly with the shape of the garbage bags.

Nick got to try it out!
Yo Ho Anchors Away!

Nick loved it!The question now is how to get him NOT to play with it for the next 2 weeks!
 

 

This is the end of the sneak peak, there is much more I still want to add to make it more pirate-ship like. And there are some things I think I want to change to make it look better. So there is still more to do! But I think it turned out pretty much like what I had in my head!

 

Nick decided to celebrate his new ship with a visit to the pirate apple juice bar!

 

 

 

The wheelchair costume didn't take long - this one actually only took about 2 hours, maybe less, and because the box is so thick we were able to staple some of the things on instead of using tape - which was a big plus.

But I have a list of things to add on as well, the flag pole, telescope, treasure chest and parrot can change between the walker and the wheelchair, but also port holes, steering wheel, anchor, I'm sure I'm missing stuff...