Wordless Wednesday

Samhain 2009: The Fellowship of the Ring!

(Alternate title: Lord of the Rings Geekery, The Next Generation)

Here I sit, in peace and quiet, sipping coffee and goofing off on the computer. Aaah: a vacation!! It's been a whirlwind getting the boys ready for Halloween tonight, but I've finally gotten them all decked out and sent off for a day of fun with Daddy.

Courtesy of Billy's iphone, I have some pictures for you. I present to you. . . the Fellowship of the Ring!

(photo by Billy)

The Halloween costumes this year have been an adventure of sorts. It all started last Spring, when Littleman apparently decided that he was going to be Gandalf for Halloween this year. (Have you EVER known a kid to plan that far ahead, and then stick with it?!?)

I vaguely remember a conversation:
Littleman: Mommy, can you make me a costume?
Me: I probably can, as long as it doesn't need much sewing. I've never learned how to use a sewing machine.
Littleman: Do we know someone who uses a sewing machine?
Me: Oh, sure- several people! [Here I name a few folks, including my Grandmother.] Grandmother's really good at it, in fact. She used to make all sorts of clothes and stuff.
Littleman: Hmm. OK.
And thus, I thought, ended that conversation. However Littleman remembered what I'd said until the next visit with Grandmother. Unbeknownst to me, he asked her to make him a Gandalf costume for Halloween. She said she'd try. The first I heard of all this was a couple months ago, when she called me to schedule a time for Littleman to try his costume on.

Upon seeing Littleman's cool costume, The Pirate promptly decided that he would be Legolas. Then just as promptly he changed his mind, deciding he'd rather be Spiderman again like last year.

(photo by Billy)
Over the last few weeks, I've checked with him several times- letting him know that he could choose either costume, but if he wanted to be Legolas then I needed him to let me know ahead of time so I'd be able to make the costume. Long story short, he changed his mind at the last minute and on Thursday morning he just HAD to be Legolas for Halloween. Luckily I'd already researched some possible ways to pull that off (just in case), and made a quick trip to the craft store. Yesterday after Littleman's birthday lunch, I got started. Just a few finishing touches this morning, and I was done!

(Last night as I was working on this, he told me he'd rather be Spiderman after all. I decided to forge ahead, trusting that the finished costume would be cool enough to entice him. Luckily, he decided it is.)


We have a cute dog costume that we've used for the boys when they were very small. However, we weren't sure if that was going to work for Babyman because he wanted nothing to do with the thing. Yesterday Billy and I were wondering what costume we could get Babyman to wear, when the obvious occurred to us: he could be a hobbit! He was already short and had the curly hair. I felt sure I could find a ring on a chain and some hobbit-like clothes for him. After a little digging about this morning, here's what I came up with:

He wasn't too thrilled with the picture-taking, but he seems to like his "costume"!


Hee hee. I admit I'm a little proud of Grandmother and myself. Too bad it's too cold and wet tonight for Babyman to trick-or-treat barefoot! But he still looks hobbit-like enough that I think anyone who's seen the Lord of the Rings films will recognize this miniature version of the Fellowship of the Ring. And these fans (Mommy included) are more than a little thrilled with the result. :)

(photo by Billy)

Wordless Wednesday

Showing Love: A Question

I have been pondering something, and would really love to get some feedback from all of you. This has the potential to reawaken some warm fuzzy feelings in all participants. :) Here's my question:

What does your spouse or significant other do (or did, as the case may be) that replenishes your soul, and shows you that you are loved?

I'm looking for any thoughtful answer to that question, though the spirit of the inquiry leans toward those small things that happen often and truly keep us going. Tiny treasures of actions that mean more than all the words in the world.

Thank you so much for thinking on this, and responding.

Out of the Mouths of Boys

Overheard yesterday:

The Pirate: (apparently referencing something I told him about yeast) "Did you know that there's tiny little creatures inside bread? And we eat them!"
Littleman: (dismissive) "Nuh uh"
Pirate: "Ah huh!"
Littleman: "Nuh uh"
Pirate: "Ah huh!!"
Littleman: "Nuh uh"
Pirate: (irate) "Ah HUH!! Mommy TOLD me so!"
~pause~
Littleman: (imperiously covering his ignorance) "Oh, yeah. Well that's just in SOME kinds of bread."


The Pirate: "How are oranges made?"
Littleman: "From seeds! Foods that have seeds can grow to make more of them."
The Pirate: "Oh. OK. So how are noodles made?"
Littleman: "I don't know. Someone just makes them."


Today Babyman climbed onto my bed. He arranged himself next to me, sighed mightily, collapsed back into the pillow and said with theatrical weariness: "Oh me, Mommy."


Littleman has been checking his mouth for loose teeth. He thinks he found one, though I'm still not sure. He asked if I have any, and I exclaimed "I hope not!". After I explained how people get only two sets of teeth, and the grown-up teeth have to last the rest of one's life, Littleman then informed me that I was mistaken. "No," he corrected, "we get three sets. First the baby teeth, then the grown-up teeth, and when you're really old, you get your alien teeth." (Dentures? I wondered, but didn't go there.) "Oh, I see," I said, "and how old do you have to be for your alien teeth to come in?" "REALLY old," he said. "Like, older than an old book that's so old all it's pages are yellow and dusty and breaking up." Wow.

Wordless Wednesday

Of Birthdays and Spontaneous Forts

Wow- the end of October is already around the corner. Soon, my big Littleman is turning a great big 6 years old! I am still without a camera cable, so have no new pictures to upload. But, I remembered a bunch of pictures that I took last year, at Littleman's 5th birthday.

(The birthday boy, 5 years old)


(And the Pirate, looking sweet and shaggy.)

It was a gorgeous, perfect October afternoon.


Babyman was having a ball. He was crawling, and loved the warm sun, pinestraw, and all the attention from adoring relatives.

There were bunches of kids running about, and after awhile I noticed a certain "purpose" to their busyness. There was much discussion and collaboration. I looked over, to find an interesting sight.



They were working together to build a small fort. Framed in sticks, "thatched" with pinestraw, it was really an impressive little structure. And, it was growing.


Soon it was attracting admirers. Still, the work continued.


I was impressed with the communication, cooperation and all-around teamwork that was operating to create the fort. Mostly cousins, the kids are a wide range of ages. Everyone put aside differences and simply enjoyed working together to make a great structure and have fun. Older kids let younger kids do their part, while helping ensure that the final product would be structurally sound.

I love thinking about all the skills they were building: teamwork, cooperation, compromise, empathy, assertiveness, problem-solving, creativity, communication, motor skills, hand-eye coordination, leadership. . . Then there's the "school" topics they were covering:

Natural Sciences, Social Studies, P.E., Art, even a little basic Math and oral Language Arts.

Not to mention the pure, healthy benefits of being active outdoors, working with natural materials to create for the pure joy and accomplishment of it.



There were many wonderful artistic touches and details.








It was a perfect project, entirely conceived and executed by the children. The ideal example of the rewards of hours of free play outdoors.


It was my kind of birthday party- outside, in gorgeous weather, with room to roam in natural surroundings, and plenty of wide-open time for plain old play. I'm a slacker party planner- and I like it that way. ;) This year we'll be trying something different, though- hopefully it works out well, and hopefully I'll have my camera working again so I can take lots of pictures!

(sigh) They're growing so fast.