Santa is Real in Our House

In my post about our Christmas Party, I did mention that we had a certain visitor come to our house during the holiday season.  Yes it is Santa, and yes at 32 I must say… I still believe.  I know this may sound crazy for a grown woman to say, but in our house Santa is and always will be one of the symbols of the magic of Christmas.  I have had several conversations with some of my mom friends who have asked me how we handle Santa. I have even seen it on online forums.  I get questions like "Do you tell them he's real?"  "Will they ever trust me again when they find out I lied?" "Will they be devastated when they find out?"

To be honest, I don't know.  I can't predict the future.  But for this precious few years when they believe in magic and are only limited by their imagination, I want to let them.  I thought I would share how we handle Santa at our house.  Although in order to explain fully how we deal with Santa in our house I need to give a little background about myself.

You see, when I was growing up, I KNEW Santa and he was one of the most important people in my life.   I know it sounds crazy because I just said I knew Santa, but truly I did.  He came to our house for our Christmas Eve party.  He came to my Girl Scout troop, church, Indian Maidens, school, you name it… he was there.  I knew it had to be the real deal.  He always looked the same and he always brought Mrs. Claus with him.  When I was about five I remember saying to my mom, “Hey mom, Santa has a nose just like Pepe (that’s what I called my grandfather).  That’s so funny.”  I was quickly whisked aside and given THE TALK.

 
Me and my Pepe, one of the most important men in my life.

It may not be the same as in other houses you see, as my talk involved finding out that Santa was in fact my grandfather, but not just for me for hundreds of kids each year.  My mom talked to me about the spirit of Christmas and how some people want to be Santa’s helpers and my grandfather was one of those people.  He was the type of person who wanted to share the joy of the holidays with as many kids as he could.  Since I was his granddaughter, it was part of my job to help keep his secret and spread Christmas joy to all the other kids and I loved every minute of it! Even a few year later, when I found out that there was no real person coming down the chimney and giving gifts on Christmas, I would hear his bells at our door and my heart would fill with joy and love because I knew he was coming.  My Grandpa was Santa and it was one of the greatest things of my childhood.

Both my Grandmother and Grandfather played Mr. and Mrs. Claus well into my adulthood.  All through high school, my friends and I would pose for our Christmas picture with Santa and talk about how awesome my grandparents were with all the small kids.  My sister even had them come to her rehearsal dinner for her Christmas wedding. It was one of the last times they wore their costumes. As they got older, they knew they weren’t going to be able to do it anymore.  I can assure you there were a lot of tears the last year they played Mr. and Mrs. Claus. It wasn’t just our family. It was schools, churches and many other groups that my grandparents were able to touch in their years as the Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

Fast forward to a few years down the line, a new generation of Mr. and Mrs. Claus made their appearance and it also happened to be the first year I was a mother.  My mom made some new costumes to fit her and my father and they made their first appearance on Christmas Eve 2008.  I can’t explain how emotional I was as I saw my parents take over what my grandparents had done for so long.  James was only 7 weeks old at the time but he had his first picture with Santa as my mother and I tried to choke back tears as we remembered fondly the years we had with my grandparents

 
2008 with the next generation of Santa and Mrs. Claus

The magic I felt as a kid is alive tenfold in my heart because I get to see the wonder in my kids’ eyes.  Santa will forever be a part of our household just like it was for me when I was growing up.  In our house we talk about Santa and that he is a real person who delivers presents to all the children of the world on Christmas Eve.  We wrap presents in special paper just from Santa and talk about the magic of the season.  He fills their stockings with small toys and candy.  We leave a tray of cookies and hot chocolate (after watching the movie “The Santa Clause” Joe has informed  me that is what we are supposed to do, not milk, hot chocolate).  We make our lists to Santa asking for some items, and I try to get at least one thing off of it.

 
2009, oh my how fast our family has grown.

Back to those original questions about how my children will handle finding out that Santa isn't real and if I am worried.  My simplest answer is, “No. I am not worried.”  I love giving them the power of imagination and joy that comes with it.  I will handle it the same way my parents did with me.  My hope is that I can instill in them the magic and wonder of Christmas the way my parents did with me.  I never felt like I was lied to or that I couldn’t trust my parents.  I wasn’t upset or sad.  I still believe Santa is real in all of those who hold the joy and wonder of Christmas in our hearts, and I will teach that to my kids.

 
2010, I love seeing the changes in the kids in each year's photo.

 
2011, we are adding one more baby into the family.

To be truthful I have already had a little chat with my boys about this.  Last year they recognized my parents, so this year before our Christmas party I sat them down and we talked about Santa and the people who come to our house and their school.  I told them about my grandfather (Joe was exceptionally excited because it was the Grandpa he was named after), and told them about the spirit of Christmas living inside some people's hearts. I told them everything my mother told me. I told them they needed to help keep our Family Secret safe for the kids that don’t know yet, including their little sister. They were thrilled to be a part of the mystery and excited about keeping the secret for everyone else.

 
2012, the boys recognized their Grandma and Papa

Their talk was a little different than mine because I had the same experiences they had as a kid and I can share it with them.  I told them about the bells my grandparents wore on their belts. We talked about that sound and what it meant to me as a child. I told them how Grandma made herself a new costume but that they wore the same bells from my grandparents' costumes.  They couldn't believe that they would hear the same bells that I did as a child. (I am pretty sure they think I am ancient and anything from my childhood should already be crumbling into dust.) As my parents announced their arrival with the jingling of their bells, my kids jumped for joy.  This year they knew it was my parents.  They knew it was just a costume and they thought it was one of the greatest things in the world.

 
2013, even though they know our family secret the joy of Christmas is still there.

I know in the next few years we will have our second installment of conversations with our kids about there being no person who delivers gifts, but that Santa is a symbol of the joy that we should share with each other over the holiday season.  I am hoping they will handle it well, but of course there are no guarantees in parenting. So in our house, just as it was in my house growing up, Santa is real and I will always believe and I will share that magic with my kids. Nick has already told me that when he has kids, it will be my job to be Mrs. Claus.  I gave him a big hug and told him I absolutely would be!

James Turns Five

To My Sweet James:

This week you turned five.  I look at you and I am amazed at the little boy you have become.  There is no more toddler left at all.  You are a full blown little kid.  We had a great couple of weeks celebrating your birthday with you.  You really ended up milking your birthday this year.  You had a cake at your birthday party (2 weeks ago), some cake the day before your birthday with our family dinner, a fun cupcake dessert at a dinner on your actual birthday while we were driving to San Francisco, and then your Aunt gave you a cake while we were visiting with her.  I think that’s a pretty lucky little guy.  Not many people get four birthday cakes and songs.  You loved every minute of it.  You laughed and sang along with us, then asked us to sing again.

Your smile is still infectious.  It always has been.  Since you were a baby, you have had the biggest and cutest dimples.  I love seeing your smile and hearing your laugh.  I think part of that is because you are a very serious little guy.  You are very thoughtful and quiet but then once you get started with your brothers, your laugh just fills the room.  When you get the giggles the rest of us can’t help but laugh along with you.

You are a caring and honest person.  Your preschool teachers are amazed at how sensitive and empathetic you are to your friends.  You still like to tease and you and your brothers really go at it sometimes, but if someone is hurt or sad I can see it in your face that you truly hurt for that person and that is a beautiful part of your heart that shines through.

We decided to put you in a second year of preschool this year and pulled you from the district's Transitional Kindergarten Program.  We thought it was a better fit for you and you have been thriving and learning in your new school.  You and your brothers are in the same class and the way you have handled the transitions makes me so proud of you.

Every day I see how you have grown and what you are learning.  In the last several months you have learned to spell and write your name.  It was a big accomplishment that brought tears to my eyes.  I have so much hope and love for you that every time you meet a goal, I am overcome with pride and joy.  You have almost mastered the two wheeler with no training wheels, but I think that is going to take a little more practice.  I know you can do it. We just have to build up your confidence.

We have had some rough days, you and I.  I think we are both very similar: quiet and stubborn.  Sometimes it feels like we are two bulls with our horns locked.  But I think in the quiet moments after a fit or tantrum, we have the chance to really connect and try to understand each other.  In those times when we get to talk about what happened and apologize (even mommy has to apologize sometimes) for our actions, I really feel like I can connect with you.  When you hug me and say I love you mommy, my heart just explodes.

To my oldest son, you are the one that started this whole crazy family we have.  You were the first to steal my heart away and call me mommy.  Every day is an adventure and I am looking forward to seeing what life with a five year old is like.

Love always,

Your momma

Celebrating our Adoption Day

I am so behind on some of my posts.  Many of these have gone up on Hellobee in the last couple of months but I wanted to post them here as well.  This was back from November when we celebrated the Adoption of our oldest son.

November is a big month for my family, and it happens to coincide with National Adoption Month, which I absolutely love.  In the month of November James’ adoption is at the forefront of my mind.  Not only was he born in November, but we also have visits with his birth family and just three days shy of his birthday we were able to celebrate his Adoption Day.

In the adoption community, there are a lot of different terms and ways to celebrate our children and how they came into our lives. A lot of people celebrate “Gotcha Day” for the day they met or brought home their child.  For us we met him when he was a day old and brought him home from the hospital at 4 days old.  So our “Gotcha day” is really his birthday. Instead, in our family, we celebrate the day that our finalization was signed -- it’s our Adoption day.

On the day of his actual finalization he was almost 1, his brothers were 3 months old and I was exhausted.  I was just so glad to have the whole messy contested adoption ordeal behind me.  We were able to bring people in with us so we had our parents and our twins with us.  We also had our lawyer, the director of the adoption agency and the social worker who had worked our case.  It was a simple gathering in the court room that took just a few minutes. It is all kind of a blur.  I don’t know whether it’s because I was sleep deprived or nervous, but I have trouble remember all the details of the day.  I remember talking to the judge and swearing to our adoption and I remember taking pictures.  I can’t for the life of me remember what we did afterwards to celebrate.  I am pretty sure we got take out and had dinner together at home.

Family photo taken a few days after James' Adoption Day

What I do remember is my emotions.  They are as clear as if I was sitting in the courtroom today. I remember thinking, “This is it, this is the day we finalize and everything changes.” But I signed the papers and I didn’t feel very different.  There was some relief that it was over and signed, but I looked at my little boy and all I saw was my son just as he had been the day before. He was my son the day he was born. He was my son the day I brought him home. He was my son when I wanted to protect him from a year of court appearances and psychological testing.

So legally things had changed.  He now had our name on paper.  We now had sworn before a judge that we would treat him like any biological child.  Our state now recognized us as his legal parents.  The thing that hadn’t changed was my heart.  A year before, I gave him our name.  A year before, I treated him like a biological child.  A year before, I was his mom. I do remember crying.  Not because he was finally ours, but because I had a paper saying that everything I felt was justified and that he had always been ours.

Three weeks old and my heart was already his

Now every year we celebrate as a family.  We celebrate how adoption has changed our lives.  This year we decided to take the kids to the Lego store. (It is a little scary how quickly they have grown to love legos and they are over taking our playroom).  They got to run around the store and play with the bins of legos and the mini people build station, plus we let them pick out one small set.  They were so excited.  We also took the boys out to California Pizza Kitchen.   Of course there was some yelling and running around that drove this momma crazy, but then I tried to remember why we were out to dinner.  We were out to celebrate our family, in all its craziness.

I love my family.  I love being their mom. Even when the not so pretty reality of four kids sets in and we are in public and I just want to get home before I lose my cool, I love being their mom.  And this crazy adventure I am on as a mother all started with my son’s adoption.

All we have to show is this blurry iphone picture because they seriously never stop moving.

Now every year I get to celebrate my family and the way it started.  I get to take a moment to think about the day I signed those papers and how it changed everything and nothing all at the same time.  I get to rejoice in being my kids’ mom and how it happened.  They might not know all the things that are in my heart as we celebrate adoption day, but they do understand that it is a day to celebrate and a day to rejoice in our family and the love we share.

Present not Perfect: My New Mantra for the Holiday Season.

I recently read the book Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist with my moms' group.  One chapter that particularly resonated with me was called "Present not Perfect."  In it the author talked about how sometimes in the holiday season we tend to overdo it.  We overspend, overindulge, and overcommit ourselves.  We often forget what is really important about the season while we are busy putting together the perfect holiday.  We have to buy the perfect gifts, bring the best homemade dishes to parties, and show off our perfectly decorated and cleaned homes. As I read this chapter I found myself laughing and nodding at so many things that I related too. I can’t even begin to explain how frazzled I can get during the holiday season.  The thing that struck me the most was when she wrote about being present with a whole and healthy heart and mind. Instead of showing up to an event frazzled and stressed, all while yelling at our kids to hurry up and not get messy, we should say no to a few things and be truly present in the moment for the things we do agree to take on.  

This year I have decided to do just that.  I am not going to get frazzled or stressed. I am not going to let myself get worked up about being perfect or having the perfect holiday season for my kids.  I have been able to see that no matter what we do my, kids will be happy and we will be making great memories together.  This weekend I actually had the chance to put this into action, and I have to say I surprised myself with how calm I remained and how much more I enjoyed myself.

Each year my family puts on a Christmas party for our close friends and family.  All of the kids make graham cracker houses and then we have a special visitor from Santa, followed by a meal together. This is usually a major source of stress for me. I love doing it, but I panic about the state of my house, which always looks like it has been hit by a hurricane (four little hurricanes to be precise). I panic about having a great spread of food for everyone. I panic about people RSVPing and having enough supplies or presents from Santa to pass out.   Although I have a great time during our party, I am always running around making sure everything is going well, and it is just plain exhausting.

This year I promised myself not to panic.  I decided to let go a little.  I was going to concentrate on being present in the moment instead of striving for perfection.  I realized that my house is a cluttered mess and that is just the way it will be.  I did clean before everyone came over, because let’s face it -- houses do in fact have to get cleaned.  But instead of staying up until all hours of the night scrubbing the house from top to bottom before allowing a single soul to step through the house, I just did some quick cleaning and picking up and let it be at that. I bought almost all of our food -- some sandwich platters, fruit and veggie platters, chips and salsa -- pre-made straight from the grocery store.  The only thing I made from scratch was two soups (potato and butternut squash), which were requested by my family. It was as simple as throwing things on the table when it came time to eat. I bought supplies for houses even for those people who never RSVP'd, instead of worrying about who was coming and who wasn’t.  I figured if people showed up they would be welcomed with open arms, candy for houses and a small gift from Santa.

It's about getting messy and having fun -- my Joe with his mouth full of candy and a hand covered in frosting building his house with his Aunt.

It was hard for me to let go of some of the things I usually obsess over.  I even tried to sit down and eat dinner with some of our friends.  I of course had to get up about ten times (not because I was the hostess, but because I am a mother of four and getting up ten times during a meal is pretty normal for me).  When I took the time to let go and relax, I was able to be present completely. I joked and laughed with our friends.  I marveled at the joy in our children’s eyes as Santa came in the front door.  We have been doing this party with this group of friends for years. We smiled as we watched a little one run up to Santa to be the first one on his lap.  Her mom was shocked since last year she wanted nothing to do with him.  We gathered around and talked about how our kids have grown and changed from year to year.  In past years I may have missed these little moments while my brain was striving for perfection instead of just being present in the moment.

Our friends and family look forward to their yearly picture with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Lilly is still a little unsure but the boys get so excited.

I was still exhausted because let’s face it -- a big party is still a lot of work, but I was not stressed.  My new mantra had worked for our big Christmas party.  I have several more hurdles to overcome this holiday season that would usually trip my mommy panic triggers.  We have a weekend trip to San Diego and my moms' group Christmas party, but the biggest thing is that the Train family will be on a road trip for Christmas.  We leave in about a week and a half and I would normally be freaking out by now.  Not only because I have to pack for six people for possibly two weeks (oh yeah… did I mention I am not sure exactly how long our trip will be or when we will be coming back?), but it is also over Christmas.  I am truly excited for this trip, but it's a lot of to take this whole crazy show on the road.

I am going to keep telling myself “be present not perfect” over and over again.  I will make plans and pack for our trip, but I am not going to get overly worried about how our holiday will look while we are away from home.  Whatever we do, it will be fantastic.  My little southern California babies are looking forward to seeing and playing in snow.  They will not remember if I spent hours trying to make it the perfect holiday.  They will just remember the time we spend together as a family, and that is what truly matters for me this holiday season.  I will give my family the gift of a less stressed out mom.  I will be present in the moment and enjoy our holiday without worrying about making it perfect.

Lilly Turns Two

My Dear Daughter,

I started this letter the day you turned two.  Like any mother of an active toddler will tell you, it is hard to get anything done so I am finishing more than a week later.  This one is hitting your momma a little hard for some reason.  My little baby is not a baby anymore.  In my heart I know that this time as a toddler is so fleeting and I am trying to soak it all up.  I had great plans for us on your birthday.  After dropping your brothers off we were going to go to the library and the park, then off to a fun lunch together.  I wanted to document the whole day in pictures for you as we enjoyed your special day.  Unfortunately your brothers had some others plans for us.  Sick boys staying home from school means all plans must be changed.  Instead of taking fun pictures at the park, I was cleaning up after sick kids while trying desperately to make it a nice day for you.  I did manage to snap a few pictures of you on the porch to remember the cute outfit I picked out for you, and surprisingly got you to agree to wear.

Even though I canceled all our plans, I decided to take the time to jot down some of the things you are doing that just make my heart melt, or make me laugh.  As you did things throughout the day, I took a note in my phone so I would have it to make this list and tell you about each thing.

1)      You wake up perky in the morning just like your mommy (I should say pre-kid mommy because now I feel like I drag my bones out of bed most mornings).  You are an early riser and you wake up ready to go.  It's a good morning if you make it to 6.  The minute you see me coming down the hall, you smile and say, “Morning Mommy. All done, get up now.”  You gather up all yours toys for some couch snuggle time, but you can barely hold them all.  I love your beautiful smile and seeing it in the morning just brightens my day.

2)      You like to pick out your own clothes. Actually I should say you insist on picking out your own clothes. Today I really had to sell it too you in order to put a matching outfit together. You started at about 20 months insisting that you pick out clothes like your brothers.  You definitely have your own style and favorite color -- pink.  Right now your favorite things to wear are t-shirts and soft cotton pants.  Some of your combinations just make me laugh.  Also, if I washed your Ariel shirt every night, I am pretty sure it would be your top choice.  You are not a fan of dresses or frilly things.  When I do put you in them, it usually results in a 15 minute fit before you resign to wearing it with a giant pouty face.

This is what happens when I pick something you don't want to wear.

3)      You are talking up a storm.  I can’t even keep track of how many words you have anymore.  You have always been good at communicating.  Since you were about one, I could always understand what you wanted.  Now we get to have full conversations. It really gives me the chance to see more of your personality and what you are thinking about.  You say some things that are so cute, I can't help but laugh.  You use “Mommy is” or "Daddy is” whenever you want us to do something.  If you want me to fill your sippy  cup, you hand it to me and say, “Mommy is.”  I have to ask, “What is mommy going to do?”  Then you reply with “Mommy is going to fill cup.”   You walk up to me and give me a hug around my leg and say, “I love you mommy” for no reason and I melt. You go up to people and say, “I tickle you. It’s funny, you laugh.”  You have so many cute things I really can’t write them all down.

4)      When you see a camera, you flash your lovely smile for about 3 seconds then switch to sticking your fingers in your mouth and making a silly face.  I have learned that in order to get a picture of that beautiful smile, I have to be extremely fast.  I usually get one nice smile picture followed by ten silly face pictures.  Some day I am going to make a collage of all your silly face pictures that I have taken over the past few months.

5)      You do not let your brothers get away with anything.  People have told me since the day we found out you were a girl that you would be tough.  That any girl with three older brothers would have to be tough to survive.  You have lived up to everyone’s predictions.  If they try to take a toy from you you scream, “No brothers, not your toy.”  You sometimes hit and pinch, but we are working on stopping that behavior.  You can hold your own in wrestling matches and light saber fights and it makes your daddy proud.  We have used the word "spirited" and "feisty" to describe your personality quite a bit.

6)      You are very interested in princesses, dolls, R2D2, pretend kitchen toys and tools.  You are a perfect mesh of girly girl and tomboy. You love your princess shirts but want to wear them while rolling in the dirt.  I love this part of your personality.  You are just a well-rounded mix of interests.

7)      You are not afraid to try new things.  Even if things are tricky or scary, you keep trying until you get it.  For the last 6 months you have been climbing up on your brothers’ trikes, but you were not able to reach the pedals.  Finally the day you turned two, you were able to pedal yourself around the front yard and you were so pleased. You have also been taking after your brothers and learned how jump off the couch.

8)      You like to hum and sing with me while I sing you a lullaby.  Your bedtime is truly a special time for me.  We sing songs and read books and I love that you participate with me.  Right now you always want me to sing Baby Mine, It’s a Small World, and Part of Your World.  I am sure the songs will change and eventually you won’t need a lullaby, but for now I will enjoy our time together.

Today didn't turn out like I planned.  We didn't go out on any grand adventure and we ended up just getting take out for dinner, but I still spent the whole day thinking about you.  I watched you and smiled as you played on the floor.  I watched you and thought about who you are becoming and who you will be. I chatted with other moms about how weird it will be when you are a teenager.  I know that those days will come sooner than I expect, but for now I will just watch and enjoy you as a toddler.

Today, my dear daughter, you turned two and you are a beautiful, resourceful, creative little lady. I do get a little sad to think my baby girl is getting older but  I am excited to see what the next year will bring us.

With all my love,

Mom

A Legacy of Homemade Costumes

My family has always been big on holidays, celebrating with big meals, treats, and decorating our houses. We would gather together and celebrate even the smaller holidays like St. Patrick's Day and Valentine's Day. But by far one of my favorite holidays (coming in as a very very close second to Christmas) was Halloween.  I love the fun and fantasy of dressing up and being with family.  I have fond memories of trick or treating with my family.  But more than that, I have love and admiration for my mother surrounding this holiday.

When I think about Halloween, my most cherished memories are not about candy or haunted houses; they are about my mom's homemade costumes. Each year months before Halloween, we would start planning our costumes and the pieces we would need to put everything together.  I know for most people this sounds crazy, but it was a wonderful time for my mom and me. I loved going with my mom to the fabric store and looking at patterns. It can be so hard to choose, but it was so much fun.

I would get so excited  (and still do) when we found the perfect fabric for our projects.  My mom worked when I was a kid, so she did all of her sewing in the evenings.  Sometimes she would let us watch and talk about sewing and how the projects were going.  Other times she would work when we went to bed.  Not only did she make our costumes, but she often made a matching dress for our cabbage patch dolls.  (I seriously don't know how she found the time).  I was always so excited to go to school and show off my mom's creations.

My unicorn costume in second grade, with my baby doll unicorn to match.

There was one year that I remember in particular.  My sister and I wanted to be Rainbow Brite.  I remember my mom telling us we couldn't be Rainbow Brite; we had to pick one of the other characters.  I don't remember her giving me any reason or being really upset by it.  She made my sister an awesome Patty O'Green Costume and I was a beautiful Lala Orange.  I loved those costumes and we had a great year.  I found out as an adult that she was so sad that year.  The reason we couldn't be Rainbow Brite was because the fabric to make her costume was too expensive (there were a ton of different colored fabrics and accents on the dress), so she told us to pick a character that was made from one color of fabric with just white accents. I had no clue.  All I remember is the great Halloween she put together for my sister and me.  I wish that this Halloween in particular didn't bother her so much.  I wish she could see it through my eyes.  I never saw the lack of money.  I only saw the love she put into our dresses.

My sister and I were a hit that year

Now as a grown up, I still love dressing up.  One of my greatest joys as a mother has been sharing this legacy of homemade costumes with my kids. Since my kids were born, my mom and I have taken on the challenge of making costumes for not only my kids, but us as well. What can I say -- she is my mom and she still loves making her little girl a costume.  I love doing family costumes.  I am sure at some point they are going to figure out how uncool mom and dad are and want to be on their own at Halloween, so I figure I am going to milk it for as many years as possible.  My boys' first Halloween (yes they all had their first Halloween together) was in 2009.  Mr. Train is a huge Star Wars fan so we knew what we were going to do before the twins were born.  Mr. Train and I both had costumes already so it wasn't a big project that year.  But I have to say my kids were the cutest Ewoks and Yoda on the planet.  (I know it's what all mothers think but still...they were.)

Our Star Wars family, and first Halloween with kids.

People thought we were crazy for putting so much time into a costume for kids who wouldn't remember, but I couldn't help it.  It was such a big part of my childhood and I wanted to share it with my kids, even though they were so young.  Very quickly after our first Halloween, I knew what we would do for our second.  James loved Captain Hook and Peter Pan so we decided to go with pirates.  This year we got the whole family including my parents and Mr. Train's Parents.  Even at this point my kids didn't understand costumes and the time it took to make these, but I did it anyway and I am happy I did.  Recently my kids have started to go through their baby books.  Some of their favorite pictures to talk about are their Halloween pictures.  James loved that we made him a Captain Hook jacket.  He laughs at all our pictures and tells me he looked good.

A pirate family portrait

The next year was a little tricky because I was scheduled for my C-section on October 25.  That meant on Halloween I would have a 6 day old baby and be 6 days post-surgery.  I didn't let it stop me though.  I still wanted to have a great family Halloween.  I saw a cute baby and mommy costume with the baby as a spider and the mommy as a web.  I decided we could go with that.  We dressed the boys up as little bugs, my husband was an exterminator and Lilly and I were a spider and a web.  I didn't make a form fitting dress.  I just had a witch's cape made out of spider web material.  I had no idea how deflated (or not deflated) I would be 6 days postpartum or how sore I would be.  This was yet another year where all of my friends thought I was crazy.  I wasn't able to trick or treat with them, but I sat outside and watched them go and enjoy their holiday in their homemade costumes.

Bugs and an exterminator

After bugs my mom REALLY wanted to make them the three musketeers.  I am pretty sure she has wanted to do that since they were born.  It was going to take a little convincing though.  After all, they didn't even know who the three musketeers were.  I worked on them the entire year.  I even bought the Mickey Mouse Three Musketeers movie to show them how awesome the characters were and how fun it would be.  I am lucky that my three year olds were easy to convince because I am pretty sure my mom would have been heartbroken if she didn't get to make these.  I think a big part of it was that they would get to have swords, so I used that as my selling point.  This has to be one of my favorite years so far.  Mr. Train, my cousin and I got to be the bad guys and the kids had a great time fighting us.   My mom and I loved dressing Lilly up as a little lady in waiting.  Of course my little delicate girl twirled in her dress smiling like a little angel.  Then she picked up one of her brother's swords and chased them all around our yard, all while yelling at the top of her lungs.  That's my girl; she still has that feisty personality.

All for One and One for All!

This year the boys were a little harder to get everyone on board with one family idea .  We tossed around characters from How to Train your Dragon, or X-men but  Star Wars has won again.  This time they got to pick which character they wanted to be.  They of course picked characters with light sabers (because what boy wouldn't?).  They told me they wanted me to be a bad guy again, so I had to find a new costume for me.  They picked a more obscure costume for me from one of their books, Asajj Ventress, so it was a little tricky for me to put together, but I think it worked out.  And Lilly is probably the cutest R2D2 around (again, a mother's opinion) and again my parents are joining us in our little costume adventures.

Sorry for the not so good iPhone photo, I promise to have better ones after Halloween.

I hope when my kids look back they see the love that my mom and I out into these costumes.  I don't care about them appreciating the work, money or hours.  I just want them to see how much they mean to me and the joy that we can have as a family.  My mom gave that gift to me and I love continuing it with my kids.

Making Decorations the kids can enjoy

My Halloween Block heads

Last year I was in charge of a craft day with my moms' group.  I had to consider that each of the woman in that group had varying levels of abilities when it came to crafts.  My craft day was around Halloween, so I thought I would do something everyone could take home and use in their house.  I also wanted it to be something that kids could both enjoy making and playing with.  So often decorations are breakable or valuable so kids can't play with them, but I like to have a few things that they can help put up and play with throughout the season.  I started looking on Pinterest to find some fun inspirations for kid friendly decorations and I found this post that had a very simple looking craft.  I did  not have the tools to make it exactly like hers, so I decided to come up with my own set.  While making my sample set the kids absolutely fell in love.  They ask to play with them all the time.

Kid tested

Here are the basic materials.  Some of the characters have a few extra accent pieces.

• 2x4 cut into 6 inch blocks
• Paint (I used spray paint for the green and orange but I had left over paint from our house that I used for the white)
• Paint pen
• Felt
• Glue
• Googly eyes (if you want them)
• Pumpkin - has a pipe cleaner and either a cork or a wooden handle painted green
• Witch - black curling ribbon
• Frankenstein - 2 wooden knobs painted silver
• Mummy and Frankenstein's Bride - white material, I used left over flannel I had in my craft supplies but any material would work.  The mummies look better if the material frays a bit.

Directions
1.  Cut the 2x4 into blocks.  Mine are about 6-7 inches tall.  If you don't have a saw, the store where you get your wood should be able to make the cuts for you.
2.  Sand and paint the blocks.  Depending on your wood it might take a couple coats.  Raw wood can absorb a ton of paint especially if it is a light color.  I also left the bottoms unpainted so I didn't have to let them dry and flip it. That saved on the painting time.
3 Cut felt pieces and material strips for each of the monsters you wish to make.  I cut all the pieces free hand.  At first they might look a little tricky, but really they are all just basic shapes.
4.  Glue all of the pieces on with Tacky glue.  You could use plain white glue as well, but then you might have to sit and hold things in place longer.  Most of the characters are pretty easy to put together.  Some have a few extra parts that I will describe below.
5. Add in extra features that aren't made of felt.  I made two different sets.  I made one that had a simple face that I painted on with a black paint pen.  Each face had a straight  line smile and dots for eyes.  My mom preferred the silly face set.  I glued on googly eyes and then painted a wiggly line for a smile.

Bride of Frankenstein -This one needs a large rectangle of black felt with a rounded top and four white strips for the hair. I cut them into squiggles to make make it look more flowing.  One small strip of white fabric is used to make the shoulders of her dress.  To make the dress, I took a long strip and glued it flat onto the back side of the block.  As I came around the sides, I only glued the top of the material to the wood and angled it down to look like the collar of a dress.  Then I just trimmed the excess material.



Frankenstein's monster - He takes four pieces of black felt, one rectangle for the top and three rectangles with one side cut to look like hair. Frankenstein has two extra knobs that need to be glued.  Even with Tacky glue they need to be held in place for a few minutes until the glue dries a bit.

Frankenstein's Monster and The Bride

Ghost - I just used black felt to cut out two eyes and a mouth. I think the ghosts can be really fun because there are so many ways to do a Ghost face and it leaves a lot of room for creativity.
Pumpkin - It needs two eyes, a nose and a mouth out of black.  I also made two green leaves out of felt. After gluing the face on I started on the top.  I glued the felt leaves to the wood block.  Then I twisted the pipe cleaner around the cork and glued them down together.
Skeleton - He is just some blacks eyes, a nose and a mouth.   I made one with a black mouth and small white pieces cut out for teeth.  I made another one by just cutting out chunks of the black felt and letting the white show through to look like teeth.



Vampire - This one needs a rectangle for the top.  To make the widow's peak and shirt, I used one rectangle and cut it into three triangles.  I also used a piece of stiff red felt to make the collar of his cape.

Just a little Tacky glue and he's all put together.

Mummy - This one just needs several strips of white fabric.  I tried to make it fray a little so that it looked a little older.  I started at the top and wrapped the block in the fabric.  I left a small spot for eyes to stick out of the wrapping.  As I wrapped it, I glued the fabric down so it was held in place nicely.

Witch - This one needs a black rectangle for the top, a black hat with an accent strip of color, and a green felt nose.  I made the hair by cutting several pieces of ribbon and making a knot in the middle.  I glued the knot to the wood then glued my top rectangle over the hair.

An example of the two different styles.

After they are all dry, put them out and let the kids enjoy.  I was so pleased at how they turned out and my moms' group loved making them.  I also like that they are cute versions of monsters.  It can be so hard to find cute Halloween monsters versus the gross scary ones.  I used to really like the super scary side to the holiday, but since having kids I have drastically changed my decorations and style.
I am hoping to add a few more characters to my set.  I was thinking about an owl, a cat, and maybe even a werewolf or monster from the blue lagoon.  I am running out of time for this year but maybe next year I will add them in.