Halloweenies

This year's hunt for Halloween costumes was kind of a process. I really try to guide the kids away from mainstream costume stuff. I love homemade costumes so I try to make those sound exciting them. Sometimes it has worked, sometimes it doesn't.

 

 

Even Emily got in on the Halloween fun!

This year was actually a great costume year! Max decided pretty early on he wanted to be Harry Potter. It was perfect for him!! He and Tyler have been slowly reading through the books together. Doesn't he make the cutest Harry Potter every?? His clothes underneath (black pants, white shirt, gray sweater vest and one of Papa's old ties that had the perfect Gryffindor color stripes) were all his. We found the cape, wand and glasses on Amazon for less than $15!

Lia had a harder time coming up with a costume. On her list was a princess, unicorn, witch, princess witch, minion from Despicable Me and then finally, an owl! She had seen an owl costume at Target that was really cute, but was also $30. I decided I could totally make her one with some felt and an old dress at home and thought it would save us loads of money. Well, when all was said and done, after all the cutting and felt buying and feathers and mask it probably cost me way more than $30, including my time! But it was worth it. The finished product was adorable!! I hit a few snags while making it though. I used a cotton jersey dress that I got on clearance at Target. When I had glued all of the felt onto the dress though, it didn't stretch anymore and I couldn't get it over Lia's head! Costume FAIL! I had to cut a slit down the back and then make a little felt feather covered cape that hid the slit down the back. It ended up great! We put a turtleneck underneath and I made some felt covered wings to pin over it. The final product was ADORABLE! We even made the mask and glued on the feathers.

We of course went trick or treating at the Trunk or Treat at church! Best kids activity of the year! The Encinitas ward knows how to party, too! Danielle then took them out on actual Halloween, too. I think we got 3 kids at our house -- it doesn't help that we live on a giant hill. It was a good Halloween!

Hot Hot Summer

This summer was one of the hottest I can remember here in San Diego. It was also incredibly humid! It reminded me of summers in the northeast -- sticky and hot and at times almost unbearable (I really am a weather wimp). To help with the heat it was so nice to have our own backyard to set up our pool and play around in! The kids loved it!

(He's only pretending to drink that concoction, he didn't actually drink it).

This was actually a day that was a little cooler! It's not supposed to get that hot here on the coast!

$tanfurd

Upon hearing that Tyler would be interviewing for a residency position at Stanfurd (for those of you unfamiliar with the reason why I spell this wrong, please google Cal/Stanford rivalry and read up) Max broke down into a bawling heap on the floor crying "NOOO! Not Stanfurd!!!" I've never seen him so devastated in my life. I think maybe the only other thing that could have caused such a reaction was hearing that his dad was a Texas fan. Man we sure have brainwashed our kids. In a good way, of course.

Max Lately

I don't have as many Instagrams of Max because he's in school all day, but I wanted to make sure I remembered a few of the awesome moments of Max lately.

Showing off his Yoga skills.

He's now an AMAZING reader! According to his teacher he's reading above grade level. What a HUGE transformation we've seen in his reading since starting first grade! This was such a hard thing for me to deal with and I'm just so glad we're past it. He's REALLY into the "Magic Treehouse" books now and we just bought him some of the "Captain Underpants" series. He reads everything he can get his hands on now. I'm so glad it just finally clicked for him!

Mustache day at school!

Awesome mouse drawing by Max! He's always been a good little artist.

Somehow Max got ice cream in his ear.

Max had a cold that turned into a nasty case of bronchitis, poor kid. He didn't seem to mind the breathing treatments though! He said he felt like he was in Star Wars!