Happy Halloween!

This year I was at a loss as to what I wanted to be. I could have been a witch, I thought about trying to be Salvador Dali (he's an artist for people that are not art fans), and I thought about being a McDonald's worker (I have much of the stuff from a review).

Then I decided I wanted to be a cactus. 

One day I poked big toothpicks in a green sweater that I've had for a long time. On the backsides I hot glued buttons. Then trimmed them with a fingernail trimmer. By the end of that day I was done! I did great not hot gluing my fingers the first 1/2, but toward the second 1/2 I burnt them often. I don't even think I was careless. It's just that I had the task of getting them in the sleeves, which was tight quarters.

Then I had to get fabric to make blooms, for my cactus. 

I ordered a terra cotta skirt, which I was excited about. It  came in the mail, and was golden rod yellow. I bought dye, and dyed it too dark. 

It ended up being more work than I'd like, but at least I got to watch Man in the High Castle, while I put the toothpicks in. 

This is how it turned out:

Two students were cacti, so we grouped up together to get a few shots:

A detail you didn't see! My nails:

I hardly do my nails! I just use my hands too much. 

Lucky for me I didn't get poked too much. It was impossible to lean back in a chair though. The first green makeup wouldn't cover me, and the second was almost too strong. I'm not the best with makeup! I rarely wear any daily, let alone Halloween. 

I get to go home, wash my face, and dress Isaak up to be the girl he wanted to be. Travis said, "I just don't know how to get him ready!" Ha!

Mica's now too old for Trick or Treating. We'll hang back to deliver candy. 

What's your favorite costume that you or your child has been?

What's your favorite candy? 

Chifave Women's Dress Review

I have a little something special to show you. It's my favorite color and dress:

This is Chifave Women's Long Sleeve Deep V-Neck A Line Crossover Waist Swing Floral Casual Dress: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075R1397S?th=1&psc=1.

Colors:

My favorite color is red, but I like their blue color as well. 

Sizes:

Small $14.99

Medium $18.99

Large $18.99

Extra Large $18.99

Extra Extra Large $18.99

I went with a large. I'm heavy busted. 

I'm glad I got the size I did. It fits well. I love how it feels. I'm always worried about buying clothes online just because I like to try things on first. It's kind of risky to buy things that fit snug. I am so happy with how it fits. I can wear it with tights or pantyhose.

Materials:

Polyester 95%

Spandex 5%

Wash it in cold, and hang it to dry. I already had to wash it because I headed off to a park to take pictures of my sister's family. Let's just say that I had to go into nature to take some photos. It washed up great! 

I think it's perfect for Christmas Eve. It's not super dressy, but dressy enough for any place I'd go. I call it casual dressy. We go to my Mom's church for a service, and head over to my parent's for a Christmas Eve dinner and gifts.

What do you do for Christmas Eve?

Disclaimer: I got this dress in exchange for an honest review. This company didn't influence my review. I only review products I think will fit my family, or my readers.

Luchengyi Leather Belt Business Style Review

One thing is for sure: Mica likes to dress up at times! A lot of pants in his size are no longer adjustable waist. What does that mean for him? That he needs to wear a belt.

One gift under our Christmas tree this year is a new Luchengyi Leather Belt for Mica!

I love the box that it comes in! I'm able to wrap the box up, or just put it under the tree as is. It's a sleek looking package.

Colors:

It comes in 2 colors: Black and Brown. Those are pretty typical for belts like this. I would love to see grey as an option too. Mica has black dress pants, so I went with black.

I'm thinking of giving this to Mica early because we are scheduled for family pictures on Saturday, he has his concert at school coming up, and we go to church on Christmas Eve.

It's already sitting under our tree.

About:

• 1.3 inch wide
• Classic Brown or Classic Black
• Polished with a single-prong buckle
• Holes that are reinforced
• Different size options - they mention to order larger 
• Cost is $50.96, but on sale for $22.99

I like the classic, clean look it has. I also like rugged belts too. They're worn with different clothes.

It does buckle up easily.

The stitches are thick like they are meant to last. That is so important to me. This belt will go through my oldest, then my youngest, and will get passed down to their younger cousins when they grow into tweens. Everything is sturdy down to the buckle part.

Being a girl I never wear a belt, but my husband does daily. Men just do not have hips to hold up their pants like girls do. 

Will you be dressing up over this holiday season?

Disclaimer: I got this belt for a discounted price in exchange for an honest review. This company in no way influenced me on my review.

Fun With an Extra Napkin

We went out to brunch this weekend. While we were waiting for our check Isaak had fun with an extra napkin at the table.

His out on a ranch look.

His smolder face.

There was a dust storm in the restaurant. 

A napkin bonnet.

This one isn't the best photo, but it cracks me up. I picture him saying, "I feel pretty. Oh so pretty!"

He had one as an exercise sweat band to, but the photo was horrible. This boy loves to move!

An accident happened while we were there. A server dropped a whole coffee pot. It sort of exploded on the ground. All the workers were laughing. All I could think of was, "Geez I'm glad she didn't get burnt!"

We Have to Dress Up for Work

It's recommended. A few of my co-workers do not dress up. They won't get fired if they don't.

I work at a an art school. Many people go all out. Including myself (most years).

Myself as Frida Kahlo. She is a Mexican artist. This time Daddy did my eyebrows. He did a better job than I did. I used fake blood for my blush. My own blush just wasn't popping out against my dark skin makeup. I still somehow managed to make myself too dark. It's hard. I have very fair skin!

Here's some other costumes: 

Flo from Progressive Car Insurance got in a bad car accident!

A student, my boss' wife, and my boss as Duck Dynasty characters. I've never watched the show, but I know some people that get into it. I live in the dark ages, and do not have cable.

Someone from Venice.

A Roy Lichtenstein's girl.

Can you believe the costume below was homemade?

There were a lot of other sweet costumes!

Do you dress up? I know some people get into Halloween, while others do not.

Trick or Treat Smell Their Feet

Isaak's all about running from the camera these days. Mica's all about posing.

I've posted their costumes on here before. There was the Y Superhero Party and they just randomly wanted to wear their costumes every so often. I bought them last year after Halloween. I should do that again, but I've probably missed the after Halloween specials by now. I've just been too busy.

Here they are on the night of Halloween:

Some of my other nephew's were Batman as well. Emerson wore his Batman costume into surgery on Halloween. Terra had an outfit underneath that said, "Is this a trick or a treat?" Very fitting. He got a bigger G Tube to make feeding him easier, a pick line port to put his chemo in. He got his first chemo drugs. He was cranky and has been throwing up. Let's hope he does well. Halloween wasn't so enjoyable for them. Their Daddy took their big boys, both as Batman out Trick or Treating.

Mica and Isaak had fun. A few neighbors handed them over full sized sodas, or pops (whatever you call it) and full sized candy bars. CRAZY! Isaak was scared of any scary house. Mica claims he doesn't get scared of anything.

Both boys enjoyed splitting up their candy so much. In fact Isaak asked to, "Play that game again." What he wanted to do was to split up his candy again. Daddy and I were both like, "It's already split up Isaak." Isaak didn't want to eat candy because it would be out of his stash. He's a hoarder. LOL Mica on the other hand is always hungry for ANYTHING! He asks for candy morning, day and night.

BTW I'm not looking forward to Daylight Savings Time. It sucks! I hate Daylight savings time! The boys have been needing to go to bed early. Isaak won't nap lately. No nap = PUNK ATTITUDE! When I'm fed up, I'm fed up. Off to bed you go!

Girls VS Boys

Some people have asked me if we will try having a girl? The answer is, NOPE. We're done. Two little beings is a lot to take care of. I know if we would have had more, we would have found a way and we would have loved them just the same as we do our boys. We decided that with the crazy economy, our bad luck with having sick babies, what seems like a full house, and busy lives that we were done.

There was one time I wished I had a girl. I thought for some reason, Mica was for sure a girl. I had all sister's, Grandma Spiehs had all sisters and Daddy had a sister. I just thought it was in our genes to have a girl. Our girl name was Savannah Claire. I still love the name.

I realized awhile ago that boys can at times be similar to girls. They are very different to.


Here are the similarities:

•Mica loved playing with Fisher Price The Little People. Really they are just small versions of dolls. They all have names that I remember. They have movies and books with these characters in them.

We have 3 Sarah Lynn's and 3 Eddie's with his Frog Freddie.

•Isaak carries around a small bowlful of these babies:

I collected them after my cousin's baby show in March. Isaak keeps them in a blue bowl and just walks around with them. Sometimes he lines them up on the coffee table, sometimes he transfers them to a small case he has and other times we step on them. It hurts just like stepping on Lego's. One day while at work, I found one of these babies in my coat pocket. Isaak had tried taking one out of the house. I put it on the front desk at work. A student that happens to have my name had picked it up and claimed the baby as her own. Where did it end up? In her paint water of course. :) A floating baby:

•Isaak loves stuffed animals. He likes them just as much as I liked my dolls when I was his age.

•Mica in particular loves to play dress up! Sure it's not fancy lace gloves and purses like when I was his age. Instead it's a super hero, a pirate, a doctor, Santa Claus and every week he claims Sunday as Sheriff Sunday.

•This last Saturday both Isaak and Mica sat down and watched The Sound of Music with me. No complaints. Mica just rolled his eyes when I wouldn't stop singing along. LOL

Source

They sat through that musical better than a football game. Sorry Daddy!

They are all boy in other ways:

• Everyday there is rough play.
• Sound effects take over most conversations. 
• Balls are thrown throughout the house. Nope, we never made a rule not to throw a ball inside. Possibly a mistake. Nothing has gotten broken yet.
• They love to camp.
• They love to jump.
• Isaak loves cars.
• Mica loves Transformers.
• They both love to build.

Nothing is ever dull at our house. I love my boys! 

Arrr

Mica has been wanting a pirate patch for awhile. He carries around a plastic hanger; pretends it's a hook. Last night when we went to Borders, I saw a pirate dress up outfit from Melissa and Doug. Of course it was on sale! I bought it for both boys to share. It will soon go to Isaak because it's for ages 3 to 6. Mica loves dressing up. I love encouraging that.

Call it an early birthday present! His birthday is on Wednesday! We won't have his party until next weekend.

Wordless Wednesday - Digging Potatoes

The boy's loved digging for potatoes!

 A potato hand-off.

Working together.

Isaak called the potatoes, "Tomatoes" over and over again! ;)

Mica's into dressing up. He wants to look, "Handsome" everyday, all the time! Frustrating for me because he has all kinds of fun t-shirts in his closet. I found this t-shirt at Crazy Eight. It's both a t-shirt, and has a tie on it. Perfect combo!

Daddy found this gardener snake.

We had 2 buckets of potatoes by the time they were done digging.

Enter my latest giveaway for Organic Tropical Traditions Brown Rice Syrup!