My Princesses

Yep, you read it right. I have two princesses. Seriously, I never encourage him to wear a dress. He just sees everyone else play dress up and wants to participate. He was very adamant about wanting to be Snow White. Interestingly, the Girl ended up being Snow White as well during her class a day later.

Him:


Them:


Here is a video of her end of class performance.

Preschool For All

Now that the Girl is in school, I thought I'd let the Boy be educated as well. He is officially in the same preschool co-op that the Girl was in before he started real school. He will be getting two hours of preschool fun once a week. His first day fell on Halloween week so everyone was in costumes.

Some pre-lesson play time.


Totoro playing next to, not quite with, Yoda.


Circle time. Looks like he was escaping but really he was very good at circle time. He just had to get up because I got up to take his picture.


The Boy's first craft time. He was actually not very interested in the crafts.


There are 7 kids in the class and they are all very young. Wooohoooo! A new adventure for the Boy!

Costume Production Phase 3

Here are the rest of the pictures. We may do one more photo shoot on Halloween but this may be it.

Here is what we were trying for Hubby's costume. If you haven't seen it yet, Ponyo is a very sweet little movie.



Here is what we did:


This is Ponyo's front and back. Her back is arguably the most successful part of the doll. Ponyo is the only thing I hand sewed this Halloween. We made her 2 hours before the party.





Pumpkin head modeling the wig. His hair was maybe the hardest part of the project. I was inspired to make a felt hat after seeing this amazing work! Too bad I can't find the link anymore.



This is the costume I was trying for me:


Here is her wig. I can hardly call this sewing. This is more of a hot glue gun project.


I did sew the dress and cut up a white t-shirt to make the top slip. I think it's the mask that makes the costume though. Thanks, Carolyn, for loaning me the shoes to complete the outfit.



One last picture of Totoro caught causing all kinds of trouble before we headed out for the party.


Happy Halloween!

Recognizable Drawing

Since the girl went to school, her Chinese has improved, which I expected and hoped for. What I didn't expect or even considered is that her drawing has improved. She can draw things that I can recognize! Yeah!



See? Practically the same as this:


This one is a little more far fetched. She was trying to draw a Totoro.


Finally, she titled this one Mommy and Me. See the crazy looks in their eyes? Perfect!


Oh... here is a random video of the Boy in Totoro denial. He hates hats...

Girl Pumpkin

I went on a field trip with the girl's school to the pumpkin patch. She was super clingy and not so fun to be around and she only let me take two pictures. Here they are:




Are other kids like this? All her teachers say that she is self sufficient and the sweetest girl at school but as soon as I show up (to pick her up, to teach a class, to go on a field trip) she turns into a crying whining clingy maniac. Big sigh!

Little Sugar Freaks

I blame Hubby for the sugar freak gene.

Costume Production Phase 2

Lots of sewing, not very much of anything else happening around here.

"Check us out!"


"What's that in your arms? A friend?"


"You check out my friend, I want to see yours. What's in your bag?"


So girly girl.



"I am ready to party!"


Totoro and his friend.


Totoro momentarily distracted by a rubber ducky.


In case you are interested, here are the resources I used:

The black dress - Based on the Prairie Top in the book Seams To Me. I just lengthened the top and added an strip of elastic on the inside of the front to give it a little more shape.

The black kitty - Based on the Pointy Kitty by Wee Wonderful. I used fleece instead of cotton and stitched the ears a little differently. I placed the eyes and nose based on this picture.

The orange bag - It is practically identical to this.

The Totoro Plush - I didn't even use a pattern. I started with sort of an egg shape for the body. Then I put on the tummy patch and shaped the body by sewing a couple of darts on the bottom. Once the body was sewn, the rest of added on as I went.

The Totoro costume body - It's based on McCall 8938. I think I followed mostly the skunk instructions. I made up the tail by sewing a baton type shape and added darts.

Totoro cap - I used this tutorial for the hat part. Then I improvised based on this picture.

While I am at it, I thought I'd find the pattern I used last year as well.

Little Red Riding Hood - I knitted the hood based on this pattern and the girl just wore whichever dress she wanted.

Wolfie - The hat was based on this book. I can't remember much else. I don't even think I can do it again if I had to. :-)

So there. Still a week to go. Is anyone else still sewing like mad?

Pumpkin Patch

Hubby took a day off to go to a fancy pumpkin patch with the kids. It was pretty expensive so the crazy deal seeker woman in me made sure we were there for a long time and did everything.

We started the adventure off by visiting the goats. They were super cute. There were some baby ones there that were only a couple weeks old.




Then we went on a pony ride. The kids loved it. They each went on at least 4 times. I think the girl might have gone on 5 times.


The girl was totally in a trance when she was on the pony. At one point, she sang to the pony and looked very purposeful, as if she and the pony were going on a journey. Then there were times when she rode like a bobble head. Check it out.



The boy looked totally confident and comfortable on the pony.


Then we went on the train ride to Ghost Town. The Boy was very excited about the train. We ended up going on the train ride 4 or 5 times.


The Girl did go on the train ride multiple times but she and her friend were more interested in the bouncy houses.


Almost forgot the hay ride. It wasn't very exciting and was very dusty. We only went on it once and nobody wanted to go on it again.


While the girl was busy chasing her friend around, we took the time to take some nice pictures for the boy.








It was a long day but also a super fun family day. We concluded the day by decorating the house and having pizza. I love this time of year. Halloween is so much fun and then comes Thanksgiving and Christmas. 2009 is going to be over before I know it!

One Productive Morning

We got up, we ate, we got dressed. Then I set the kids off to do their own things while I sewed and cleaned.

The Boy probably figured he should start pulling his own weight. So he pitched in and helped vacuum the hallway while I was doing the bedrooms.

Then he saw me sweep the kitchen and thought he could sweep the play area too.


"Next up, laundry. Yep, I will just put myself in."

Meanwhile, the Girl did her homework diligently. She's been very enthusiastic about homework. She is, after all, a big girl who goes to school. (School doesn't give her homework. Mommy does.)


The Boy did some "homework" too. He was mighty proud of his work.


This was the Girl's complete work. It took her about half an hour. I was surprised such a simple thing held her attention for so long. She really enjoyed herself and has been asking for homework at night. I helped her with the first line and she did the rest on her own.


If you are interested, there is a great website that makes these printable worksheets for you. You can type in anything and they will make a sheet for you to print.

Oh, did you notice the kids' pants. That's what I sewed. Did I mention we accomplished all of the above before 10:30 in the morning? If that's not a productive morning, I don't know what is!

Costume Production Phase 1

Following with the dress up theme... I have been working on Halloween costumes. We are planning a theme. It all started with the girl. Remember this post? I've always loved Kiki's Delivery Service and I think my girl is a real life anime character. I still have to make her a bag, a cat and a radio.



Once I figured what I wanted the girl to be, the choice for the boy was obvious. Remember my obsession with this guy? Well, this is what I did. Obviously this is a work in progress. I am still trying to figure out the head. I will also make him a sack for like that little pouch Totoro is carrying for all his candy loot.


I am not making much progress on Hubby and my costume. So much sewing, so little time!