Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween Tay Bug decided he wanted to be a dinosaur. He loved his costume and would stomp around the house and roar every time I put it on him.

Isn't he the cutest t-rex ever?


I love the tail.


On Friday we went to my mom's work to trick-or-treat to all her co-workers. Taylor got so much loot there and everyone loved his cute costume. Later that night we went to a Halloween party hosted by my Uncle Doug and Aunt Leanne. It was so great to see my extended family and all the cute kids and adults in costume.

Saturday we took Taylor trick-or-treating at Macey's grocery store by our house. They had a live band there and Taylor thought it was so cool to get treats at all the different departments in the store. Afterward we went to Harmon's grocery store to find a pumpkin to carve (yep, we waited until the very last minute).

Daddy loved showing Taylor how to carve a pumpkin.


Sean also had to do the icky job of gutting it. Pumpkin guts gross me out anyway, but because I'm pregnant I literally couldn't even stay in the room while he took the pulp and seeds out. It made me so woozy.


My goofy kid:


After the gross part was done I carved out the face. Taylor was a little confused as to why I was cutting the pumpkins eyes and mouth out, but he finally understood after it was done and we put a light in it.



Since Taylor didn't really get to help much in carving the big pumpkin, I got out some little pumpkins I was using for decoration and let him draw faces on them. He thought it was so neat.


Proud of his little pumpkin family:


Daddy and Mommy's pumpkins:


Later we went to my Uncle Bubba and Aunt Holly's house to help get their girls ready for trick-or-treating. Taylor and Laura made pizza mummies (with some help from the men) while I did Marie's hair and makeup. I'm very proud of her hairdo. I came up with a way to pin it up to look like the bride of Frankenstein without having to use a wig. Yep, that's all her real hair. Oh, and I did her makeup too. Doesn't she look great?


This was actually the third time I'd styled her hair this way; I did it once on Thursday night to practice, then again early Friday morning before school. Here's a gorgeous (insert sarcasm) picture of me pinning her hair up in the wee hours of Friday morning.


Laura was a queen this year. I helped tailor both girls' dresses to fit them better and made the cloak for Laura. She was so happy in her "royal costume."



Once all the kiddos were ready we braved the rain to go out trick-or-treating with my aunt's brother Michael and his kids. Here's a little clip of the first house we went to:

Taylor only lasted a few blocks before his little legs just wouldn't work anymore. I thought maybe he was just being whiny, but he was almost asleep by the time we got back home. It was so sad to see him struggle to stay awake because he wanted to keep trick-or-treating, but he was just too tired. On our way home he kept saying that all he wanted was two pieces of candy, two stories, and his soft blankie, and then he would go to sleep. When we got home he found his blanket, picked it up and snuggled it, and said, "Oh sweetie! I missed you so much!" It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.

After Tay went to bed Sean and I curled up on the sofa with some hot chocolate and candy and watched the Halloween episodes of "The Office," "Outsourced," and "Community."

Oh, and here was my Halloween costume. A little morbid, but I think it fits my sense of humor:


It was a great Halloween and part of me is sad it's over. The other part of me can't wait to take down all the decorations tomorrow and move on to the next holiday.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Spooky Sugar Cookies

Taylor and I made Halloween sugar cookies today and then decorated them (or rather, he decorated one, ate it, then decided he was bored).

Aren't they cute?


Even though these are super basic, I thought I'd post the recipe for the cookies and the frosting for anyone who might be interested.

Sugar Cookies
(From Mrs. Field's Cookie Book)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions:
In a medium bowl combine the flour and salt with a wire whisk.
In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well mixed. Scrape down sides of bowl, then add the flour mixture. Blend on low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.
Gather dough into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. Refrigerate 1 hour until firm.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
On a floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. With cookie cutters, cut dough into desired shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, being careful not to brown. Immediately transfer cookies with a spatula to a cool, flat surface.
Yields 2-3 dozen cookies.

Sugar Cookie Frosting
(from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients: (You can easily double this recipe if needed)
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup shortening or softened butter
2-1/2 tablespoons milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Food coloring

Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening with electric mixer until smooth.
Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes.
Color with food coloring if desired.

I divided the frosting into three bowls to make different colors. I reserved a little of each in small ziplock bags, clipped the corners, and used them to pipe the details and letters on the cookies.

I just love Halloween!

Playing with dough

Tay and I were bored yesterday and decided to break out the playdough. Here are a few of our creations.

Mommy's kooky monster:


Taylor building a snowman:


Notice the awesome cowlick he's rocking:


Mommy's snowman, complete with dreads. Her day look:


And evening look:


Taylor making all the planets (the sun, moon, Earth, Mars, and Mexico. Yes, he's convinced that Mexico is a planet.):


Pizzas for Tay and Grandma:



I think today I'll make some homemade playdough so we've got more colors to choose from. Gotta start stocking up on indoor activities for the winter. :)

Playing in the rain

We've had lots of rain this month, and Taylor has been absolutely LOVING it because rain makes two things: mud and puddles. What could be better than that?

Here are some pictures of Tay Bug enjoying the gloomy weather.











Gotta love this little monkey!

Doba Day 2010

As I hinted about in this post, Sean wanted to dress as Doba Wonka this year. I wanted to make him an amazing Willy Wonka costume and decorate his office as a chocolate shop.

We found an overcoat at Deseret Industries that fit Sean pretty well and I was able to tailor it to fit him perfectly. Then I bought several yards of crushed purple velvet to sew over the coat. It was incredibly time-consuming and I had a few emotional meltdowns while putting it all together, but I think it turned out great in the end. I made him a gold bow tie and striped vest to match and he took an old pool stick and turned it into a cane. We added to that a top hat with a band that matched his vest, some black slacks and dress shoes, and he made a perfect Willy Wonka.



To transform his office into a chocolate shop, we started with yards and yards and yards of pink and blue striped fabric that I got for super cheap at Walmart. We used it to drape around his office to form faux walls. We then decorated the walls and ceiling with colored cellophane, pink bubble wrap, balloons wrapped in clear cellophane to look like huge pieces of wrapped candy, and the over-sized Wonka bar I made. On one side of his office we had a shelf for "Fizzy Lifting Drinks" (a.k.a. Martinelli's sparkling cider).

On the opposite wall we hung candy dots that I made from scratch that spelled out "Doba Day 2010." We calculated that there were over 5,800 dots, which makes me feel equally proud and crazy.



On his desk we set up a chocolate fountain and a spread of food to dip in the chocolate.


The TV on his wall played the Chocolate Room scene from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and to top it off we filled the floor of his office with balloons. Outside his office we hung a large "Wonka" sign and had a bubble machine (thanks Christine!) blowing cherry-scented bubbles into the hallway. His office was definitely one of the most popular on Doba Day and Sean had fun playing Wonka for the day.


Here are some of the other costumes and decorations I loved.

Jake, the Doba Naughty Hottie:


Jer, the Doba Dude (he seriously looked JUST like the Dude on "The Big Lebowski"):


Angie's candy store set up, before it opened to the public:


The Doba Three Dot Circus:


Jared, the Doba Gras:


Rachelle, the Ringmaster:


Wes, the Doba Leprechaun:


Whitley, the Bearded Lady:


Josh and Cody, the missionaries from the Church of Jeremy Hanks of Doba Day Saints:


It was a fantastic day! Sean and I love Doba Day and are already making plans for next year!