Zelda's Link Costume

I was looking through some old photos and realized I had never posted my Link costume that I made for my son last Halloween. He loved it!  I had so much fun making it.  I just used fleece so there was no reason to hem.  Very easy! I used a pair of pajama to make the pants and undershirt the correct size.  I bought the green t-shirt and made the belts and the boot tops out of canvas. The buckles were the same material, just painted with gold paint.  The hat took some trying on... many times to get it just right.  I sewed the ears to the hat so they were in the correct place. 

The fleece was also great because it was warm on a cold night!  The shield and sword were from the dollar store and I panted them to match the shield and sword from Ocarina of Time.

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Musical and Thanksgiving Decor

Whew!  It has been a crazy few months.  I volunteered to head up the costume committee for the Middle School Musical, "Alice in Wonderland, Jr."  Little did I know the committee would be me and one other person.  LOL!  So I spent the past few months making cute little costume accessories.  It really was fun!  The kids loved their costumes as long as there was some glitter on them. 

This play included the little kids from grades 3-5 also, so my 3rd grader was able to be in it.  He was the King of Hearts. The play was this weekend.  All went well and the kids put on an awesome show.

Here are a few pictures!  I know you want to see them.  :-P

Ok... so now you know why I haven't posted much.... now on to today...
I decided to move furniture around today because I have a "formal" living room which was never meant to be formal.  Nobody sits on the furniture in there.  It is kind of annoying to me.  So anyway, I decided to move the leather couch from that room to our comfy living room.  This will make room for the Christmas tree in the "formal" living room.  I love the new look of both the comfy room and the formal room.  I can't wait to put up the tree. 

So, I am going to put the tree to the left of the fire place this year.  The tables will move over beside the chairs.  I love way everything aligned in this area now.

The couch on the left was where the red chairs are in the photo above.  I love it in this room. Why didn't I think of this before? Now we will sit on it for sure!  I may need a larger coffee table now though.  LOL!

The other thing I did today was decorate my tables for Thanksgiving.  I cut some branches of red berries from my yard and used them in various arrangements around the house.  I love them!  I also painted the white pumpkins for Halloween and I love them on my Thanksgiving table.  Of course, I will need to set up another Thanksgiving table for the rest of the guests, but that will be done on the day of.

When I lived in San Diego, my boss and I took an Ikebana class together.  It was really fun and i'm glad I did.  Not because I am any expert at Ikebana... not by a long shot, but I got all of the great kinzans and floral frogs and containers, so I can sort of make the arrangements look a little like Ikebana. :-)  Here are two in my kitchen.

 Here is the one in my living room too.  Love it!

I guess that should catch you up on what I've been doing.  What about you?  Have you decorated for this holiday?  Or will you be heading to someone else's house for dinner?

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  Gobble! Gobble!

Bird Feeder Tree

Taking the tree down after Christmas is somewhat disappointing .  All of that hard work putting it up.... all of that pretty glitter gone... that cute little tree lying on the ground on its side looking all sad. 

Well, this year, we decided to reuse the tree after we undecorated it.  I love it!  My boys and I made bird food ornaments out of two-day-old bread and some old English Muffins which were a bit dry.  We also strung popcorn for the birds. Here's my little guy with the bowl of goodies for on the tree....

It is on the deck outside of our kitchen window so I can watch for birds while I do dishes and cook.  Of course, let's hope it isn't a bird trap for these guys who also hang out outside my window all day.

And yes, they brought me a present.  This picture is taken from inside my window.  They are our neighbor's cats and I feel them about 10 pieces of dry food a day.  The way they hang around, you'd think I was feeding them sushi!  So sweet!  Look at those faces!

Thank you, Catz!  But Just SAY NO to Birdies!

Anyway, back to our tree...

We used a large cookie cutter (the new scalloped one I got in NY City) and cut ornaments out of bread. We put holes in the rounds and tied string through the holes.   We then spread peanut butter over some of them and "dipped" the pb side in sesame seeds and sunflower kernals.  We left some plain so that the birds can eat just the bread.  We also decided to use the outsides of the bread too so we won't be wasteful.  I think the birds are going to like it! 

We popped popcorn and strung it with needle and thread...  (don't mind the purple shirts... it was school pride day at school and our school colors are purple and white). Only two fingers were pricked.  It only takes once to learn that lesson!

One bowl for stringing... one bowl for eating!

Now we just have to wait for the birds to find it!  Of course, overnight we might have some furry friends who decide that this is all for them!  That's okay too.  We love our woodland creatures and it is so easy, we can make more in the morning for the birds!

Ithaca and Toughonnock Falls

We are certainly having beautiful weather here in NY. Last weekend we took a trip to Ithaca to do some hiking back to Toughonnock Falls. It is so pretty back there and it is pretty much a hike anyone can do. It is all flat and fairly dry. I have seen people in wheelchairs and people with strollers headed back to the falls, so it is a hike for all people. I even saw a girl with a cast on her foot walking back there?!? {Who does that?} 

I believe it is only about 3/4 a mile.

This time of year the river is fairly dry. I had never seen it like this. You could literally walk in the riverbed which, by the way, is a huge slab of dry rock. It is really pretty cool. I, naturally, had to take the opportunity to take my Cannon SLR and take some pics. Too bad the blog columns cut off my pictures.  So annoying.  Oh well, you can see the whole picture if you get email from my blog or you click on the picture to open it completely.

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This is the riverbed.  Why isn't it muddy or dirty? 

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Again, the riverbed.  Looks like camoflauge....G. barely shows up.

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Note my older son's went pants and change of shirt. Yes, he jumped on a slippery rock and fell right in the water... naturally... no change of clothing with us. He is wearing his dad's sweater.

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Love the fake smiles in this one.  LOL!  They're like, "Ok, Mom... if we smile, will you stop?"

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After the hike, we crossed the road and played on the playground by the lake.

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Love this picture by the water.... so peaceful...

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And this is a fav too... too bad he was pooped on by a seagull just moments later. He was a good sport about it though.

If you ever get a chance to go to Ithaca, I suggest you go. They don't say "Ithaca is Gorge-ous" for no reason.  It is a pretty town, lake and surrounded by gorges and Cornell is there, so it has all the fun stuff of a college town too.  We had Thai food and Starbucks before we went home, but not before going to Old Navy and buying both boys new clothing because they were wet and bird-poopy.  Thank goodness for clearance racks!

Where do kids come up with these things???

Do you ever wonder where your kids come up with things?  I was listening to my boys play.  They are 7 and 10.  The 10-year-old just said, "This laser is so powerful it separates you into molecules which then split into atoms which further split into quarks.  Next the quarks split into anti-quarks and quarks.  The quarks then collide and annihilate one another". 

What is up with that???

Tami

One Creative Day....

I follow a great blog called Whimsy Love and I always get great ideas there!  You really should check her

out she has a ton of great kid ideas.  We found a recipe for homemade sidewalk paint and made it up this afternoon.  The boys played and played with it.  It dries so nicely.  The colors really come out when it is dry.

The garden is now very colorful!  The rocks are so pretty.

Even my pole in the backyard was painted a pretty shade of blue.

Today was a very creative day.  I was doodling in a notebook which was sitting in front of me with these.

I was met with challenge after challenge...  My boys insisted that I couldn't think like a boy because I was doodling lady bugs and rainbows and flowers.  So, I took them up on the challenge.

The first thing I had to draw was a Cobra with bat wings and a scorpion tail.  The top one is mine and the bottom two are G's.

Next, I was challenged to draw a dragon.  I never laughed so hard as I tried.  He looks more like a kangaroo with an ardvaark head.  LOL!  Gs is much better than mine!  His looks mean.

Next came the Sea Serpent... mine...

and G's

A Cyber Falcon... (I had to ask what that was because I guess I just don't really think like a boy!)

He put electricity all over his.  I added mine at the last minute because I didn't "get it".

So, I guess this goes to show that moms can't think much like boys... or at least this mom can't.  All of mine turned out a bit girly.  We have lots and lots of comics drawn at our house.  Both boys have come up with their own special characters and they both draw for Meep Comix Inc.  This is their own company.  I will have to do a special post about that sometime soon.

Another part of our creative day? 
We also made some excellent food....   Jeff made salsa.... and ribs.

and I made blueberry muffins...  they were excellent and I will post the recipe on my food blog asap!

How were you creative today?

Tami