There were several people who asked us what we were for Halloween. Which was kind of hard to answer because the Steam punk subculture doesn't have any characters - it's just a fun (read: totally awesome) way to dress up and tinker around.

Here's Connor's step by step:

Started the same way as his brother: white shirt (had to resize - I did so many alterations this year!), knickers (women's size 6 slacks. Don't tell him), and trouser socks and black shoes.

Added a vest (which I already had) embellished with more gears, and the tan silk scarf.

The hat and jacket we purchased at It's a Wrap, that tv/movie store. We got the black camera case at a yard sale, and craig added a lantern and one of the antiqued nerf guns.

The goggles were purchased from the surplus store (you can also get them on amazon.com), and the loupe was from amazon. (that is the magnifier attachment) Craig removed the rubber head strap and replaced it with a leather one he had me cut out and sew on. Then he added a buckle to it from one of his own messenger bags, and painted the goggles with the copper rub.

He looked fantastic.

I may have decided that petticoats and corsets are no longer on my list of Things That Should Come Back in Style, but can I just say that I wish I could dress my boys in these clothes every day? So stinkin' cute.

Fletcher's costume was put together as follows:

White dress shirt, knickers, trouser socks, and black church shoes. To make the knickers, I bought a pair of women's size 0 corduroy pants (the thrift store did not have any slacks in my boys' sizes, of course) and took in the sides and back to make the waist smaller. Then I cut them off just below the knee and put elastic in the seam allowance.

Add a silk scarf and vest. The scarf we got at a store here that has clothes from T.V. and movie sets. The jacket was another thrift store find - a women's linen jacket. I cut off the collar and sleeves, and took in the sides. The gears were from a package that I purchased at Michael's.

The helmet is one we had (it's actually a Harry Potter quidditch helmet). We got the vintage WWII goggles from the surplus store and the corduroy blazer from the thrift store (again, I had to size it down).
Craig put together the jet pack from items he got from the surplus store, yard sales, and things we had laying around in the garage. We wanted to have smoke coming out of the top via dry ice, but we were unable to find any. Still, it was a really great look. The clear tube on the pack has a flameless candle in it, and it looked great in the dusk.

I made a bustle for my costume using a tutorial I found online. 25 feet of plastic coated wire, and a couple hours of grunting (that wire is HARD to bend!) later:

It is very difficult to sit in a car with a bustle. One may or may not be able to buckle one's seatbelt.

We went to the DreamWorks trick-or-treat party on Friday at lunchtime, and then the Trunk-or-Treat at the church last night. We were wildly popular, and only partly because of our fabulous costumes. (oh yes, I DO say so myself)

Craig found a bubble machine that fills the bubbles with fog so whenever the bubbles pop you get this little puff ... we had a mob of kids and parents around our car the whole night, popping the bubbles and asking "where did you get that" "how does it do that?".

Oh yes, it's good to be king.

This week:

Sewed 2 baptismal dresses, and shipped them to Montana.

Changed 2 pair ladies slacks from the thrift store into breeches for my kids.

Altered a ladies jacket into a vest.

Sewed leather straps onto 2 pair of goggles, and made a holster for a nerf gun.

Altered a skirt to fit over my bustle.

Built a bustle.

Sewed a collar and bows onto a Lucy from Peanuts costume.

Sewed dozens of gears and buttons onto vests and jackets.

Constructed a miniature top hat.

Never went to bed before 1 a.m.

Made pumpkin cheesecake.

That last item on the list made all the other items no big deal.

I'll post pictures of it all after the trick-or-treating at DreamWorks tomorrow. We all got to go see the screening of MegaMind today and it was good. Very funny, and the boys loved it. There was some romance though, which disgusted Fletcher.

Right now, it's 12:30 in the morning and my 1 year old is wide awake (having happed from 7-10 pm, nice) and watching Bob the Builder.

again.

Craig convinced the boys to do a Steampunk theme this year for Halloween. Of course, this makes tons of work for him:

Taking apart nerf guns and painting, and rubbing, and sanding; and building a jet pack (dry ice compartment included) for Fletch.

Here are two of the nerf guns transformed. I think they look fantastic and the boys are so excited they can barely contain themselves.

He rocks my world, he does.

My 10 year old is murder on book covers, apparently. When he asked if I would make him some new ones, I asked if he'd prefer I sew them so they'd be guaranteed to last all year, rather than 5 more weeks. He was thrilled, and picked this fabric for his American History book.

It's padded and quilted (I sewed around a few of the stars) and he loves it. "It's a great pillow for when I get sleepy in class Mom!"

He was joking.

I think.

See? That's the rain. On my welcome mat. Because of lack of gutters. My welcome mat is totally thrashed now. Poor thing.

But we do love the rain!

got the sheers up in the dining room in time for our housewarming a couple of weeks ago. I love the blue tablecloth with the black/white/grey room. And I'm becoming a little addicted to having roses in the house.

Yesterday and today have been rainy and cold and just wonderful! I've had Christmas carols playing in the car and banana bread and cookies baking at home (thank heaven for neighbors and friends who eat them all for me).

Just one teensy drawback to the rain - we have NO GUTTERS on the house! If you want to visit me in the rain, you have to walk underneath a waterfall to get through the front door!

Dear Mom,

I was thinking the other day about how horrible it is that you can't eat yogurt, because I finally like the stuff after 30 odd years and this particular brand is very very scrumptious-albeit-expensive.

And I was feeling like I was really awesome for not eating ice cream anymore because I was having this instead:

Well I did a little light reading the other day and this lovely honey yogurt has 47% of my daily saturated fat intake. So I can eat this, and salad. All day. And that's it. 0_0

I got a new haircut the other week. I love it. Don't worry, it's not dreadlocks. Dreads would be too hot in this crazy weather.

hi mom!

Also, my baby is still incredibly cute. See? Can you believe it hasn't even been 3 months since we visited you? It feels like half a year. I miss you.

Love, Kristie

This giant sign is hanging randomly on a fence between our house and Connor's school. I don't know who put it up or why, but I think it kind of....rules.

Rosebushes, I have them:

I think i have 4 different types of roses out back. They are lovely.

and I painted the door red! We also have got up our house numbers, big black ones that we put vertically down the wall on the left side of the door. It looks great!

snagged some photos from Maxine yesterday. I had to show you the fruit salad. I should include the recipe but I don't have it. If Maxine is in a good mood, maybe she'll put the recipe in the comments. :)

And a better view of the decorations, guests, and my backside.

The "theme" if we can really say we had one for the baby shower, was "going places". I made a couple of banners with black and white photos of babies and of places around the world. I was real happy with how they turned out.

hobo bags full of m&m's were the party favors, and the awesome spread was, as I said, the brainchild of Maxine. She brought the best fruit salad I have ever had (a lime/mint sauce! so good!) and her homemade cranberry orange scones were to die for.

the cupcakes were from a box mix (i do not apologize) and the frosting was "the best frosting i've ever had" from Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website.

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a baby shower for Hannah. I had some super-cute decor ideas but needed help with planning the food. Enter Maxine.

She made me make a quiche, which I had not done before. It was divine! And fun to make! And even my pie crust turned out well and also kindof pretty! The cosmos aligned!

The first layer was sour cream, with bell pepper and spinach and garlic and green onion.

Then crumbled bacon.

Twenty pounds of shredded cheese.

And the egg-and-spice mixture on top.

If only I wasn't the only person in my family who would eat it! Then I could make it every. single. morning.

we're still getting curtains, but the stripes in the dining room are lovely and I'm glad I took the time to paint them:

I still need to get an extension cord for my sewing machines, and curtains for the window (oh, those curtains!) (and maybe some organizing)

found a perfect spot for my mini teapots! And now i need more! :)

the fabric/book shelf in our room is all put together, and mostly-sort-of organized.

we're starting to feel like grown ups. finally!

Domestic Bliss.

Finally, the hammock from Brazil that has been living in a closet or a box for the past 13 years has a home. And 4 boys who love it. Poor Daddy - the kids usurp it every time he thinks he's going to "get away for a bit".

It must be a guy thing? Because I just get bored...

I have a friend who recently moved across the country with 3 kids. And I have another who recently moved to a different country with 4 kids. And I do not know how they managed; because moving to a nearby city with 3 kids was quite the experience!

We slept in the back yard in a tent while we were painting. The boys loved it. They wanted to do it every day until the end of time.

And now that we're all (mostly. kindof) settled in, they have adjusted to the new location and new schools (more on THAT later) and more space.

During the two weeks before the move, my good friend Robin and my neighbor and friend Maxine took turns taking my kids and feeding them and keeping them sane.

Connor was out in the sun too much one day and started peeling - if you look closely you can see his skin is peeling off in a heart shape between his shoulder blades. heh.

Once I convinced him he wasn't dying of some weird disease, he thought it was pretty funny.

They stayed up late and played with random things left behind from the last tennant. Hopefully we didn't keep anyone awake.

It was tough at times, and we all stressed out a little bit, but we're back to normal now and everyone is happy.

especially mommy.

Nobody kept a straight face while I was taking pictures during the move. Which means now they get to see their goofy mugs on my blog. Ha!

This is Ty. He really likes peeling tape.

He isn't as fond of putting ON the tape,

painting our house,

for two days in a row...

and helping assemble our bookshelves.

But he did it anyway.

Thanks!

(also, credit to Hannah for coming over with an air mattress (she's on bedrest) and hanging out while I taped, taped, cleaned, and taped the whole week before). You guys rock.

This is a few weeks late, I know. This move kinda kicked our butts for the first little while. But we're settling in!

We painted the house on the Friday/Saturday before we moved in. And we learned that there are a few key things to have on hand when painting an entire house in a day and a half:

1. junk food. mostly to keep the kids occupied. go ahead and judge! it saved us!

2. Friends who show up unexpectedly and then drop all their plans for the rest of the day to keep on painting until it's all finished.

3. Did you know that there are two Round Table Pizzas in Burbank? TWO! You don't want to know how much money we spent there in August. My parents would be horrified.

4. This little guy insisted on helping. And being nursed every hour or so, just in case I had thought about weaning him too hard.

5. Did I mention good friends?
Thanks Nick and Kamy!