For those of you wondering how the costume went, I was all set to stitch up a bedraggled costume out of an adult-sized bridesmaid dress. Luckily, Mom saved me from having to do that, and probably also saved me from bursting a blood vessel from stress, by finding a store-bought costume big enough to fit Em. Thanks, Mom! The pretty princess is all set to go tonight!
Happy Halloween, everyone!
ETA: Halloween night update! Before trick-or-treating, we went up to her school’s “Family Fun Night.” I’d say three out of every five girls were dressed as princesses. She got a little candy, did “ghost bowling” (ghost outlines taped to empty milk jugs knocked down with a plastic ball) and bounced on a giant bouncy castle with attached inflatable slide.
As we were getting ready to leave, her best friends from her class came in. They were also dressed as princesses. They exclaimed, “EMILY! YOU LOOK SO PRETTY!!” and they rushed up to hug her. Man, that was gratifying. They were going into the cafeteria, so we encouraged Em to go in too. It worked out well. They all got cotton candy and sat together for a little while, but not too long, since Em was keen to trick-or-treat.
We went to about eight houses – a record for Em. She was doing her level best not to break into a run going up the sidewalk. She ate some candy and then we watched Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. Now Em’s completely worn out. She just this minute went to bed, and I predict she’ll be asleep within five minutes.
“Halloween was so exciting! I hope I can do all these things again next year for Halloween!”
If you have a prom/bridesmaid dress that you don’t want anymore and don’t mind seeing destroyed, let me know. My daughter has just decided that I can make her a princess costume for Halloween. Which is next week. Great.
I figure I can do a really bad basting job on an over-the-top dress that nobody’s going to want, add a tiara, and we’re good to go. I’ll be hitting Goodwill later on.
Yesterday I went to Michael’s craft store and saw one of my local Starbucks baristas. It led to this exchange today:
Different barista: I heard from a little bird that you went to Michael’s the other day!
Me: Yes, I saw that little bird! I did go to Michael’s!
Emily, to me afterward: What did the little bird look like?
Heh. Language is funny. I explained the phrase, and it led to great comedy wherein we laughed about how birds don’t go shopping. Good times.
The nice thing about longer nights in Fall is that we have dark mornings, too. This may not seem like a plus sometimes, but this morning my daughter and I were able to go out the front door and see Orion in the sky. It was a good way to start the day.
Our family went to the Carolina Renaissance Festival this weekend. My husband had won free tickets, although we would have gone anyway. We had a good time. I saw a couple of journals I liked from the booth of The Journal Guy. I’m looking for a good journal for writing down dye combos. Unfortunately, many of the ones he had in person at the fest didn’t seem to be up online (he had a nice green one I was eyeing pretty hard), and I only got a chance to look for about two minutes before my family started wandering off and I had to hotfoot it after them. Ditto with a spinner and fellow ravelry user. I stopped to talk to her for several minutes, and my penance was quick-stepping all the way back to the entrance and then back to the rear of the fest again to figure out where my husband and child had gone. Answer: watching the belly dancing. Em was fascinated with the belly dancers. I have a cousin who belly dances; maybe I can get her to give us a few pointers.
Sadly, I do not have a picture of the belly dancers, so here’s Em on one of the rides. There was a good Browncoat showing among vendors and staff, by the way. Mr. Tvini wore his Captain Hammer shirt and I wore my Serenity shirt. Mr. Tvini got maybe two “hey!” recognitions, and I got about ten (including Journal Guy). I handed out Jayne hat cards liberally (which is the way I do everything – heyo!). Renfest is a good venue for geeks of all stripes.
A giant package of 100 6x6x6 cardboard boxes came in, so I’m ready to stamp up some more and ship out some Jaynes. The wait right now is about seven weeks, so I want to stay on top of things so that the maximum number of people get theirs by Christmas. Everyone in line now will, of course, but I want to be sure there are many, many happy Browncoats this holiday season!
Right now, I’m going to finish watching Ran and knitting, then go for a little run while it’s still cool. Good times.
Today is school picture day, a day when the students don’t have to wear a uniform but can wear street clothes. When wearing regular clothes, Em always picks her own out of the drawer, and she has very definite preferences for certain outfits. For a school picture, you really want something rather plain that won’t draw attention away from the face. No busy patterns, no outrageous colors.
Last night, I stuffed her more colorful outfits into the back of her drawers and put the plainer clothes to the front. I was curious to see if she’d pick whatever she touched first, or if she’d actively look for her favorite outfit. I should have known what my fashion plate would do.
The result was this, but with a purple patterned skirt, a purple plastic headband, and a bandaid with a fairy on it on her knee. That’s my girl.
I WANNA ROCK!!
September 30th, 2008
admin
Emily wants to sew her own dress, like Giselle did when she cut up Robert’s curtains and made a beautiful gown in Enchanted. Picture is at right. She’s mentioned it several times over several days, so I don’t think it’s entirely a whim, so I’m willing to pursue this.
We’re not cutting up my curtains, and I’m not capable of making a dress that doesn’t look like it was stitched by a drunken seal. Therefore, I’m looking for very basic patterns suitable for a child’s first sewing project. Clothing would be preferable, but that’s not critical. I have a sewing machine, fabric, thread, pins, needles, scissors, chalk, and assorted other tools already. Anything she can learn a little about sewing from would be good. Ideas for projects, anyone?
September 30th, 2008
admin
After staying up too late Sunday night, I decided not to run on Monday. I figured I’d get back on the horse this morning, but I forgot that today is a teacher workday. So no running this morning. And tonight’s the night Mr. Tvini does his regular 30 mile ride on the bike, so if I do go tonight, it’ll be late. I guess it won’t kill me to wait until tomorrow morning.
The rest is a LONG post about Em’s schoolwork.
September 21st, 2008
admin
Often, when we take Em to a special event, it looks like she’s not having fun. She’s sitting on a pony, unsmiling. She’s riding the carousel, stonefaced. But for those who know her, there are subtle clues that she’s having a good time.
Today, a good time was had by all.
September 20th, 2008
admin
Your result for The Classic Dames Test…
Rosalind Russell
You scored 29% grit, 48% wit, 19% flair, and 21% class!
You are one wise-cracking lady, always quick with a clever remark and easily able to keep up with the quips and puns that come along with the nutty situations you find yourself in. You’re usually able to talk your way out of any jam, and even if you can’t, you at least make it more interesting with your biting wit. You can match the smartest guy around line for line, and you’ve got an open mind that allows you to get what you want, even if you don’t recognize it at first. Your leading men include Cary Grant and Clark Gable, men who can keep up with you.
Find out what kind of classic leading man you’d make by taking the
Classic Leading Man Test.
Take The Classic Dames Test at HelloQuizzy
Em, by the way, did not wake us up to fix her clock. She did, however, wake up EXACTLY at six o’clock and ask what time it was. That girl’s internal chronometer is amazing.
