Halloween Bats

Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays, really I've never liked it at all.  Sure the dressing up is fun but that's where my enjoyment ends.  Hubby on the other hand loves the spooky and gross stuff that pops up this time of year.  When we were first married I tolerated the scary décor and jack-o-lanterns that would adorn our front porch.  (I did not want that junk inside my house) I will admit to being relieved when Kinsley came along and all things Halloween had to be removed.  She was absolutely terrified of anything remotely scary and we would even have to avoid the stores that decorated for the holiday.  I didn't mind one bit.  I'm much more of a harvest décor type of girl anyway.

However, we now have Kaitlyn who loves all things "poooky" and I can sense Halloween décor sneaking its way back into our lives.  The trick now is to find a balance between some of the seriously frightening things out there and the absolute lack of décor we have now.  Things that will make Kait's (and Daddy's) spooky little heart happy without driving Kinsley and I insane. 

Spiders are absolutely out and the stuff my nightmares are made of.  I have some very lovely friends who insist on sending me pictures of spiders just to brighten my day...I will get them for this one day, I promise.  I have managed to find a few things that we can all seem to agree on however.  Black cats, friendly ghosts, candy corn and maybe a bat or two.  I realize that for the Halloween loving crowd this is probably a huge buzz kill, but for us it is all we can muster. 

In an effort to make everyone happy I went back to my favorite place to get stuffie patterns and picked up the pattern for this little guy.  I intended to make a couple to list in the shop, just for fun, and to give one to the girls if they decided they liked him.

I was completely unprepared for how popular they were going to be.  Not only did they sell out in a matter of minutes, my own girls really loved them as well.  I shouldn't have been, I have yet to make a Bit of Whimsy Dolls pattern that didn't turn out great.  Kinsley's reaction was especially surprising, my girl that avoids all things Halloween related.  She absolutely fell in love with the little bat above.  I caught her trying to sneak him away several times before I had to tell her he was for the shop so he wasn't to be played with.  She was devastated, and promptly burst into tears telling me "I looked into his eyes and I just KNEW he was for me!" and just hugged him close.  What's a mama to do?  I, of course, gave her the bat and she squealed with excitement and ran off to play with him.  So worth it.

I hope these other guys will all be as well loved by their new owners as Angelcake is.  Somehow I have a feeling that they will.  They are pretty cute after all, a Halloween decoration that anyone can love.

Kinsley's Day

A day filled with laughter and love for my girl...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A day completely designed by the birthday girl featuring all of her favorite things and places.  It makes my heart happy to see the simple pleasures that are so important to this biggest girl of mine.  A dress with fabric she picked, making her own birthday cake, and spending the day playing with family...sounds perfect to me too. 

Goodnight Five...

Today was the last day of my biggest girl being five years old.  Tomorrow when she wakes she will be six years old and insisting we measure her to see how much growing happened in her sleep.  Tomorrow she will have to use two hands to show how old she is rather than the one it took today.  Tomorrow she will be excited to open her "big girl presents" and blow out six candles on her birthday cake.

 But today, today she was still five.  Today we ate her favorite breakfast (cinnamon toast) and played her favorite games.  Today we snuggled together and talked about her plans for her last day of being five.  Her plans included lots of her favorite things, wanting to get them all in one last time as a five year old.  Of course that included a trip to the lake.  A birthday tradition she started all on her own, just wanting to soak in a last view of her favorite place before seeing it with the eyes of a six year old.  Will it look different to her the next time she sees it?  Perhaps.   Oh to see the world through such young and innocent eyes, what a blessing it is to see this world right along with her.  I want to hold onto these days forever, these days when putting on some good exploring clothes and heading to the lake is the most important thing in her world.

 

Goodnight five...I am awaiting what six will bring to us.

Pumpkin Patch

We were finally able to make a trip to the pumpkin patch this year.  The girls were beginning to think it wasn't going to happen at all.  Unfortunately for us we waited until the weather was quite cold and windy to make our trip.  It certainly didn't stop us from having a lovely time and loading up on pumpkins.  And I might have used the cold as an excuse to spend a bit more time inside with all the lovely fiber...

Dancing Sisters

This week was the first parent observation week of the new dance year.  We were all very much looking forward to going.  Kinsley was more excited to watch her sister dance than she was to show off her own new moves.  I love that she is so excited for her sister and that they have something that they love to share with each other.  We have so many dance performances at home these days, it seems that daily we are presented with an entirely new dance routine we just must watch.  And watch we do, quite happily.

 

 

I will admit that I was a bit nervous about Kaitlyn dancing this year.  Remembering how her soccer career ended in the second practice with a flood of tears I was worried.  Dancing though, dancing wasn't just something she said she liked.  Dancing was something she begged to do.  Watching big sister get to dance each week and wishing she could go in as well.  The dance teacher assured me that it was a great decision to let her join, that I would understand this week.  She was absolutely right.  Kaitlyn just beamed as she performed all her new dance moves for everyone watching.  Not a hint of shyness or concern about the audience, just pure happiness over finally getting to dance.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was time for Kinsley to dance.  She is much more aware of the audience watching her at first, but once the music starts she is complete focus.  She is already learning so much this year.  I was surprised since we are still so early in the new season.  Though I shouldn't have been, she practices so much on her own at home.  Eats, sleeps, and breathes dance this girl of mine.  She is already talking of adding on a new class next year, though mama is not so sure about the extra work load for her.  That is the beauty of homeschool I suppose...the ability to manage our time to include what we are most passionate about.

 

 

 

 

Sally Doll Makeover

Two years ago at Christmas I made Kait her very first Waldorf baby doll.  Sadly, she sat mostly unused after the first couple of months.  And even more sadly her hair was in a wild state of unravel.  It wasn't the fault of the yarn used but more the stitching in place to hold it down.  I'll admit I was always a bit sad that Kait didn't seem to love her the way her sister loved her dolls.  Though it wasn't only poor Sally that didn't get any love, Kait never played much with any of the dolls.  It was always her stuffed animals that took the place of babies in all of her play, usually a bunny or a stuffed cat.

This year we were discussing her lack of interest and hubby suggested that maybe if she had a really special doll that she would enjoy playing with them more.   I just couldn't see spending so much on another Waldorf doll that would like just sit in the basket unloved so I decided dear old Sally doll would get a makeover.  After all, even if she still didn't love her I would only be out some extra time and a bit of yarn. 

Her eyes were the only thing that stayed.  The hair and mouth were quickly snipped away ready to be redone.  In these pictures she already has her clothing on because the girls were worried about her being cold just sitting around being naked.  The adorable pants came from the amazing Sam at Inkwood Forest.  I just love them, and now Kinsley insists that her dolls need some pants as well so they were a huge hit.  I cut down a blank onesie I has sitting around to make her t-shirt.  Since I was trying to have her finished before we left on our weekend trip there wasn't a lot of time to devote to it but I think it turned out cute enough.

 

 

 

 

 

I used this method for her new hair and I really like the way it turned out.  It was a bit more time consuming but I think in the end it was definitely worth it.  

 

 

 

 

 

Kaitlyn approved of Sally doll's new makeover and I was happy to see her get a bit more play time than before.  She has since been moved to the honor of sleeping on Kait's pillow with her so I'll call it a win.  Even though right at this moment she is playing tea party with a bunny in place of a baby doll...that's my Kait.  



Simple Weekend

It seems as though our days are getting to be so busy during the week.  I know a lot of it is the time of year we are in, but I still can't help resisting the change of pace.  To combat our weekday hustle and bustle we've been trying to keep our weekends as simple as possible.  This weekend we were really feeling the need to just pull away and hide for a bit so we took a picnic out to one of our favorite spots.  We all need some time to decompress and this was exactly what we did.  Within minutes you could feel the change taking place.  The stress of the days before melted away as we soaked in the sights and sounds around us.  The only noise heard over the waves was the sound of the girls' delight in finding new treasures while exploring the vastness around them.  Music to this mama's ears for sure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed, soaking up every last drop of sunlight before trekking back out the trail that had led us in.  Heading back to the real world with a renewed sense of calm and a promise to come back just as soon as we could manage.