Why I Sew Costumes

I am a bad sewer...I would never ever lead anyone to believe that I could possibly make something with a sewing machine that should be worn in public.
Except for halloween costumes....

I get that halloween is a bit of a controversial event in some circles, but I like it. We have a neighbourhood of aging people and my kids are the ONLY kids in our block that go out. We might get a couple of teenagers knocking at the door, but that's it. It brings great joy for our elderly neighbours to see the kids all dressed up in a fun costume and give them some candy (handfuls, bucketfuls usually because they know no one else is coming).

There's nothing like the smell and feel of the once-annual use of my sewing machine that used to be my grandmothers. I pull it out of the furnace room (it's baby blue) and it runs like a dream as soon as I put my foot to the pedal. The smell is a cross between sewing oil, mildew and a fabric store. I breathe it in deeply...and then cough!

Here are the rules in our house regarding Halloween and costumes...

1. If I make it, I get to pick what you are being. This is very true. If I am going to sit at a sewing machine for hours and then walk around the neighbourhood with you, then I'm going to like what you are.

This started years ago when we just had the 2 boys. My best costume ever for them was when Ethan was Colonel Sanders and Nolan was the plump juicy chicken.
This is a bad photo of it, but you can see the Colonel in his white suit, black ribbon tie and moustache. The chicken refused to get in the bucket for us, but I just love his yellow juicy legs...if only I had some herbs and spices...

The kids have also been the three blind mice, cowboys, knights and a princess etc.

2. I must always ALWAYS sew with fleece. Because it's warm and Halloween is cold.

3. I must always ALWAYS sew with fleece. Because it's extremely forgiving and you cannot see your seams (hence it doesn't matter what colour your thread is, so use up all those old bobbins.)

4. I must alway ALWAYS sew with fleece. Because it doesn't fray so there are no hems required.

5. I must be inspired with a costume idea or it's a no go. Like the year I was pregnant with Jack and the kids wore their camo pants and I painted their faces green and they went as soldiers.

6. This is the only time I would let anyone in public with a costume I made on them...why, you ask? Because when you go out for Halloween, it's dark.

So that's why I sew costumes. I bet you're dying to know what the kids are going to be this Friday. Well I'm not going to tell you...but it's a good one. Not as good as the Colonel and the chicken but close. When I'm done I'll put them on the kids and post a pic for you to see....but you'll have to wait until Friday!

Company

We had company this weekend. All weekend. It was super fun and super busy but my house is super small for 6 children + 4 adults for a weekend.

The friends that came down are the friends we hadn't seen in 2 years that I had blogged about ages ago...and again our visit was so good. We fit a lot in -- some shopping, a hike, a visit to that darned place called Apple Land (which we now call Appleless Land because they sold us bags for $13.50 so we could go fill them up with apples and there were NO apples on the trees whatsoever!! As if!), the guys replaced the brakes on Nate's truck, church, playing and making candy apples.

It was a great weekend. And here I sit on the Sunday night...thinking about the laundry and cleaning I should be doing but can't. I just can't. I'm tired. I'm ready for bed at 8:17 pm. I know that I will have that "morning after" feeling tomorrow when I wake up and have to start scrubbing, laundering, dusting, sorting, washing and putting away.

But was it worth it? Of course it was...what would life be if I had just a clean house and nobody but me to enjoy it? Hmmm....that actually sounds sorta good right now...if you throw in a Dairy Milk bar and a good book I might reconsider.

Cooking Help Wanted!

What the heck do ya do with a "round steak?"

Does anyone have any killer-diller recipes that use this form of beef?? Nate and I bought a bunch of beef from a local farming-friend and we ended up with 3 or so of these big steaks.

The first time I cooked one was a disaster. I guess because the meat has no marbling and no fat on it, it makes it a tough one to cook. Let me tell ya, it's true. I cooked this steak on low in the crock pot with a bunch of bbq sauce and other ingredients and when I pulled it out, it tasted like SAW DUST. No flavour, just dry, choke-me-up, beef. And lots of it.

It all went in the garbage and we got some Hot and Ready Pizza. However, I found another one in the freeze and wondered if there was any recipe that can make this particular cut taste good? If you can help, please do!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just thought I'd send a little post out to all my family and friends. Thank you so much for your love, support, and friendship. Thanks for the fun and funny you bring to my life. Thanks for caring about me and Nate and our kids.

We have so much to be grateful for...and you are definitely on the list.

The Birthday

Kylie turned 6 yesterday. If you've read an earlier post, you'd know that this birthday was not an easy one to work with. Kylie is a very lovely little girl but she had no idea what she wanted for her birthday and I had no idea what to get the poor thing either. I'm sure you're dying to know what we got her...so here's the list.

1. A dollar store note pad.

2. The camouflage robe I told you about. (She loved it...had it on this morning.)

3. A pair of sweat-pants (she told me 2 days before that this was what she absolutely wanted.)

4. A little horse stable toy from TSC.

She was thrilled. She played with the horse stable and put on the sweat pants immediately. My mom takes each child shopping on their birthday so she also received a big camouflage safari truck from the toy store. How girly...but she did pick it out herself. She and the boys have played with it every possible moment today.

I also wanted to say that I loved the cook book and measuring cup idea, so I gave that one to my sister and she'll be giving it to Kylie this weekend. Thanks to all of you that shared ideas. It was a fun little party (just me and Nate and the kids) and she couldn't have been happier with her birthday!

Musings at the Grocery Store

Tonight the boys and I went to our corner grocery store to hand out brown paper bags for the local Food Bank. We stood in the doorway and offered people a bag so they could fill it up and donate it -- the bin for the Food Drive is right there at the end of the cashier lines so it's fairly easy.

It was funny, actually. First of all, people were much more likely to say yes and take a bag when the boys asked them (rather than me asking them). The other thing we noticed is that the men were MUCH more likely to refuse the bag than the women. Most women said yes (but dumped the bag once inside the store on shelf somewhere).

Overall, it was good experience and the kids thought it was fun. My oldest was much braver and was happy to step in front of a shopper and ask, "Excuse me, would you like a bag to fill for the Food Bank?" My other son was much more shy. However, he found that if he "woo-hoo-ed" right after people said yes, he got a good laugh out of some of them. So the evening went like this...

Boy 1: "Excuse me sir, would you like a bag to fill for the Food Bank?"
Man Customer: "Nope."
(Silence.)
Boy 1: "Excuse me, would you like a bag to fill for the Food Bank?"
Lady Customer: "Sure."
Boy 2: "Wooo Hooo!"

And for about an hour and a half this went on.

I had a great time too. Because it's our local store, I saw lots of people from our old school and soccer league...it was rather social.

All in all it was a good experience...and the food drive bin was a bit more full when we left.

Little by Little

It's a strange thing when you start to let your kids have more and more independence. I'm a homeschooler, right? So by nature, I keep my kids close and try to be very careful (read: controlling) about how and when they get to exercise some independence.

The first independent activity they got to do was hair cuts. Around the corner from our house (with no crossing of streets at all) was the cutest little barbershop, owned and run by a 30-ish guy. He was great with the kids and they loved to go there. The first time I let the boys bike there on their own was a couple of years ago. They took off with a Ziploc of money in their pocket all excited to be out on their own. I was fine -- till about 20 minutes later and my wild-brain took over. Within a few minutes however, I got a phone call from the barber letting me know the boys had just left and should be home any minute. I didn't even ask them to have him phone, he just knew.

Sadly, he's moved his barbershop across town, so this little outing of independence is no longer. It was funny how much they loved going there, all on their own to get their haircuts and lollipops.

This afternoon, they wanted to go to our local pond and I didn't have time to take them. So (without Jack of course) I let them walk there in their rubber boots all on their own. It was just before supper so I told them they could walk there, have about 20 minutes at the pond, and then walk home -- about 35 to 40 minutes away from my apron strings.

As they walked away, I was fine. I was actually just plain fine the whole time they were gone. For a moment, I realized that kids really have no concept of time and wondered what time they would actually come home. But when Jack and I walked to the corner, they were just coming over the little foot-bridge, right on time.

I realize it's good for them and it's good for me -- and may be I try to hang on to them a little longer than I should, but man, they're already growing up so fast, why would I want to rush them off, away from me? Plus, I like the pond.

Apple Land

We went to Apple Land today. Why, in the name of all things good and wise, did I go to Apple Land on a sunny Saturday afternoon?

I'm a homeschooling mom, for heaven's sake. I could easily take the kids on a Tuesday morning when the place is dead. But no, my brain left me momentarily and I went when all the rest of London and surrounding area decided to go as well.

The place was crazy, line ups everywhere -- the cashier, the pies, the baskets to put your apples in, the dang train ($2 a person?? get real.)...you name it, there was a line for it.

I love apples and normally, I love Apple Land but this was ridiculous. I know it's all my fault, I chose unwisely and must live with the consequences. I can accept that. But $13.50 for a small bag of apples is bit much...do they up the prices on weekends??

At least we got an apple crisp for dessert out of the deal. And yes, I doubled the butter and it made all the difference.

Baking

I'm an "ish" baker. I do like to bake but I don't follow directions that well. If the recipe says 2 cups of flour...I put in 2-ish cups of flour. If it says a tablespoon of butter, I toss a glob in the bowl and consider it "tablespoon-ish"

This drives my sister crazy. She is, by personality, a First Born. That means you follow the rules, and if the recipe says 2 cups of flour, then by golly, you fill that 2 cup measurer and then get your knife out and evenly slide it across to cut out any extra.

I, on the other hand, think "If 1 cup of chippits is good -- then 2 is better." And toss handfuls of chippits in the bowl. This rule of thumb is only allowed for certain ingredients: sugar, butter, chippits, skor bits and vanilla. Raisins, nuts, flax seed and other dried fruits do not make the list.

Wanna make your next apple crisp even better? When it comes to the topping of flour, brown sugar and butter...double the butter. Mmmmmm -- so good.

There is one problem with baking like this. Things don't come out the same way every time. I might be a creative baker but not a consistent one.

All this talking about baking, makes me feel like sharing a recipe. Only try this one if you like squares with a soft oatmeal cookie like "crust" smothered in caramel sundae topping, milk chocolate chippits and skor bits. IF you feel an aversion to any of the ingredients I just listed...you can stop reading my blog. :)

Chocolate Toffee Squares

2 cups-ish of flour
2 cups-ish of quick oats
1 cup-ish of br. sugar
1 tsp of baking soda
1 cup of butter -- at least!!(melted)

Mix the first four ingredients in a big bowl and then pour in the butter. Mix it well and then reserve about 1 and 1/4 cups of it for the topping.

Press the rest of the mix in a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 deg. for 12-15 minutes-ish.

While it's baking, take 1 and 1/3 cups of caramel sundae topping and mix in 1/3 cup of flour so it thickens. Get 1 package of milk choc. chippits and 1 package of Skor bits ready to roll (while you're waiting, try taking small pinches of skor bits and dropping them in your mouth followed by small pinches of chippits -- totally tastes like a Skor Bar, eh??)

When the crust is ready, sprinkle the chippits and skor bits evenly over the crust and then pour the sundae topping/flour mix over that. Lick your fingers -- twice.

Sprinkle the last of the "crust" over the top of it...evenly, of course. Bake at 350 deg. for another 20- 25 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

Yum. If you'd like a sample, I'll have some ready and waiting for you!!

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down

Today was supposed to be a Weston Academy Field Trip. We were going to go to Appleland to pick apples, pet the farm animals, play on that massive sand hill (which half of comes home in our van) and shop in the cute little store. No such luck.

It's cold and rainy. So...we went to the mall. Now, I must preface this with We Had to Go to the Mall because Nate's license plate sticker was due today...so we went to purchase a $75 sticker. I wouldn't willingly drag four children to the mall for fun. But we wandered a bit looking for a birthday gift for my 5 year old daughter -- soon to be six in a week.

She's a tough one to purchase for and I need some serious inspiration. She is obviously a girl, but not a girlie girl in any sense of the word. The Big List of NO's includes dolls, Barbies, stuffed animals (even Build A Bear doesn't make the cut), Polly Pockets, Little Pet Shop thingys etc.

She doesn't want Hot Wheels or Lego, like her brothers. All the poor child wants is a guitar. Heavens, the last thing I want in this puny little house is a noisy toy. So...what to do?

I think it's sort of unkind to have NO presents for her. But really, she doesn't want anything. She did ask for a bathrobe, so I picked up a camouflage one ('cause pink and purple are on the Big List of NO's) that I got for less than $20.

I'm sorta happy that I don't have this 8 foot long list of "wants" from my daughter. I would love to think that I've raised some sort of non-materialistic offspring, but alas, she's heard her own mother and father speak of all the things we want. So that's just not the case....quite the opposite, to my shame.

The plain and simple fact is ~ she has everything she needs...and more. My dear friend (aka Big Liver Girl) tries with all her might to fight the senseless gift-giving that happens in our culture. Not that she's cheap but she doesn't believe that "stuff' expresses true love, gratitude or blessing. I think I need to think more like her....but in the mean time, what do I do about my daughter??

I know some of you out there in reader-land have daughters....stop reading and start typing. I'm begging you! I'll go whip up a cup of tea and a Mars bar while I wait to read your responses. I've got 7 days till B-Day...