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Another Big Bite

Another Big Bite

Tag Archives: halloween

There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales from the glories of Halloweens long, long ago…

28 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by anotherbigbite in Nerd Alert, The "Joy" of Parenting, The Good Ole Days

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

brave, costumes, disneyland, diy, family, halloween, halloween costume, kids, merida, sewing, traditions, yeti

Another Big Bite Hal11

I could easily be listening to the song “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” on repeat right now.  Not because I am excited that Christmas is sneaking up on me like a White Walker.  Not because I particularly enjoy Amy Grant (truth be told, her version grates on my nerves like nothing else at Christmastime – you know what I mean, Mom).  Because THIS is the most wonderful time of the year.  HALLOWEEN.

Last year, we had the best Halloween costumes EVER.  This year, I knew there wouldn’t be any way to top them.  The kids are getting older (and so are Nae and I), and getting everyone on board for one cohesive theme is… Difficult.  Which is fine.  Pretty soon, Nathan and I will be left to our (my) own devices and we’ll get to choose what to go as together since neither of us wants to dress up as a Skylander or something from Monster High.  But for now, the kids are into the things we expose them to and don’t take notice of much else.  Not having cable – not having commercials – really cuts down on the crazy shit they regurgitate from television.

Finn at the Matterhorn

Since our trip to Disneyland this summer, Finn’s Yeti obsession kicked into overdrive and he firmly decided that he would be a Disneyland Matterhorn Yeti (not to be super specific or anything).  After balking at the cost of faux fur, I opted to stick with a white hoodie with a fur hood, gloves and boots.

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And (obviously) Nathan had to be a Yeti as well.  It was either that or a mountain climber.  Not some high-speed 2014-era adrenaline junkie, but a 1950’s, Swedish, Riiiiiiiiccccccooooooolllaaaaaaa-yodeling dude in Lederhosen.  Yeti it was.

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Oh, and the eyes HAD TO GLOW.  Because they do on the ride.  And we are all about authenticity in this family.

Alice in Scottish Highlands

I did a little happy dance when Alice picked Merida from Brave.  I was dreading making that stupid Elsa cape, but a Halloween miracle occurred and she burned out on singing “Let it Go” and watching Frozen daily sometime in July.  Merida – or “Orange Mother” as Alice refers to her – is a bow-and-arrow-toting badass compared to Elsa and Anna.  Brave centers on the struggle between her and her mother (who she has turned into a bear), so when Alice proclaimed that I was to be “Orange Mother’s Mother” I had a slight panic attack over twenty thousand yards of green taffeta and me in a floor-length gown with bell sleeves.  Queen Elinor?  Christ.  Here we go.

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Not to worry.  Alice wanted me to be the bear.  Orange Mother’s Mother as a bear.  Black hoodie?  Check.  Furry ears?  Check.  Crown?  Check.  Orange Mother’s Mother as a bear? Done.  Waaay easier than Alice’s Merida dress.  Which only took me a week and a half.  Only.

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Outtake alert.  Here is Alice “hunting yetis.”  Finn is not alarmed at all.  Which is somewhat worrisome when your kid doesn’t even flinch when someone is pointing a weapon at them.

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We went to Boo at the Zoo at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  We were fully prepared for pandemonium like last year, but it turns out that it is way less crowded two weeks before Halloween and we had more than enough time to do the whole lap twice.

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We went on the Skyride for the very first time.

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We went on the carousel for the fifty-seventh time.

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And thank god that everyone recognized who the kids were.  Not that anyone who complimented Finn on his Abominable Snowman costume was politely corrected by the little man himself.

“It is a Disneyland Matterhorn Yeti.  AND his eyes glow.”

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We also got to wear them to the grade school’s Trunk or Treat on Saturday.  And on Halloween on Friday.  After that, they go into heavy rotation via the costume/dress up pile where the kids will wipe peanut butter on them and roll around in the grass while wearing them.

But that’s not the end of our Halloween story.  Oh, no.  Here in Colorado Springs, the population is a wee bit on the Jesus-loving side and lots of people don’t celebrate Halloween.  I am betting this has something to do with the bizzaro Halloween Costume/Celebration norms that have sprung up in Finn’s school.  The kids aren’t celebrating Halloween at all.  Sortof.  I dunno.  They are having “Literacy Dress Up Day,” in which a pre-approved list of (not-Halloween) costumes was passed out.  Spoiler: Yetis were not on the list.  Little Boy Blue was.  Georgie Porgie was.  Abe Lincoln was.

Whatever.

Which meant I had another costume to make.  And though I would never dream of buying a costume off the shelf, it isn’t like they have The Little Red Hen costumes at Walmart anyway.

I begged for Teddy Roosevelt.  “Round Glasses!  Mustache!  You could ride Alice’s stuffed moose!!”

Shot down.

“Oooohhh!  Three blind mice!  Mickey ears!  Sun glasses!”

Nope.

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In the end, Finn chose to be the grasshopper from Aesop’s Fable The Grasshopper and the Ants.  It took me some time to warm up to the idea, but it was more exciting than George Washington.

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And here is an action shot….

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(And Alice is quite smitten with it as well.)

(And Alice is quite smitten with it as well.)

I am bracing myself for the onslaught on post-Halloween cavities and looking toward Thanksgiving to fill the vacuum that Halloween has left in its wake.  Something tells me that construction paper pilgrim hats and handprint turkeys won’t give me the same thrill as fashioning fishing bobbers and battery-operated votives from Ikea into Yeti eyes.

But it will have to do until Amy Grant starts belting out, “its the MUUUOOOST wonderful time…. Of the YEAR” on the Christmas station.

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Happy Halloweenie!

31 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by anotherbigbite in Party Hearty, The "Joy" of Parenting

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

halloween

A very merry All Hallow’s Eve to y’all!

Today, we have a full schedule…  There are many a Halloween-themed snacks to eat, spooky storytime at the library, pumpkin carving and (of course) trick or treating.

You know what I have noticed?  Halloween is turning into Christmas for me.  It is supposed to be one day, but it is slowly becoming a week-long celebration.

We went to Boo at the Zoo with my mom on Saturday (more on that in a few days)…

photo 1

Finn’s school party was yesterday; where I totally cringed when I saw that facepainting was on the agenda…

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Said preschool party kept me up all night on Tuesday making these bad boys…

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And we’ve managed to spook-ify all walks of produce; bananas, clementines and even hot dogs…  Which don’t qualify as produce, but whatev.

photo 1 (1)

And the kids went to bed in their Halloween jammies last night.

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How are you celebrating tonight?  If you tell me you are planning on being a candy buzz-kill and handing out glow bracelets instead of candy, I’ll silently judge you.  Even though I am doing exactly the same thing.

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A Halloween Dry Run

14 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by anotherbigbite in I'm a Crafty Mo' Fo', Nerd Alert, The "Joy" of Parenting

≈ 43 Comments

Tags

cosplay, despicable me costume, despicable me lucy costume, diy, family, gru costume, halloween, halloween costume, homemade costume, lucy wig, minion costume, purple minion costume, sewing

They are done.  OH EM GEE!!!  DONE!

Another Big Bite - DIY Despicable Me Costumes

Halloween costumes are done!!  I was so excited.  I arranged them all on the floor while Nathan and Finn were out and Alice was asleep.  And then I got out the camera because I could. not. help. it.

Which is when the guys walked in, with me standing on a chair, hovering over our costumes with a camera dangling from my neck.

Another Big Bite - DIY Despicable Family Costumes2

By some miracle, Nathan was easily persuaded to try them all on and shoot some pictures.  It helped that I promised if we took them now, we wouldn’t have to take a hundred of them right before trick or treating on Halloween.  And I was expecting Alice to have a mini-minion meltdown, but holy lord, she even kept her hat on the whole time.

The miracles just kept coming, ladies and gents.

If you’re new to this neck of the woods, we decided to be characters from Despicable Me (the second one).  Finn decided.  We all followed along.

The kids are Minions, and adorable…

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Minion and Purple Minion Costume

Nathan and I looked like complete freaks, but I ‘spose that is what Halloween is all about.

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Gru & Lucy Costume17

For the kids’ costumes, I whipped out very simple pairs of overalls – just pants with a bib on the front (Finn’s were an old pair of jeans in a past life).  They each got a pair of $.87 gloves from Walmart and I made them each a coordinating hat (you can read all about the hats here) to got with their fleece sweatshirts.

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Minion & Purple Minion Costume

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Purple Minion Costume

Nathan’s Gru costume was the easiest and cheapest costume of the bunch.  I made the striped scarf from black and gray fleece.  We dug one of his old coats out of the basement, I tacked on the “G” logo as a pretend zipper pull and made a nose out of Fun Foam.  A not-fooling-anyone kinda nose.  One that is hilariously unsophisticated and not awe-inspiring at all.

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Gru & Minion & Purple Minion Costume

We had two options – buy the “witch’s nose” kit from one of those Halloween pop-up stores or get the Gru mask.  The witch’s nose was all wrong and had an enormous wart on it.  We found the mask, but besides the fact that it felt like cheating and not half as much fun, when I tried it on, it sent Alice into a panic.  So no to that idea.  Fun foam it was.

And his skinny pants?  I have to hand it to him; he is totally rocking out a pair of his long underwear.

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Lucy & Minion Costume

My costume, Lucy (Gru’s love interest), was the hardest one of them all.  It sucked up the most time and funds.  I found a pattern at Joann’s for a trench coat and made a few alterations to it – and used fleece to cut down on the cost.  Never in my life have I wanted to murder a piece of fabric more….  The collar was a disaster and I spent over an hour staring at the instructions trying to figure out what I was supposed to do next.  I spent the entire night dreaming about it.  I wish I was exaggerating.

I bought a pair of cheapie sunglasses at the dollar store and painted them with blue nail polish.  Want to know how to entertain yourself for an entire nap time?  Try painting pink polka dots on a scrap of white fabric one day to make a scarf – that was fun!  (Eye roll.)

And the wig?  Ahh.  A hot mess.

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It is actually two $6.00 orange bob wigs from Walmart.  One wig is balled up and pinned to the top of my head for Lucy’s bun.  The one I wore got pinned up and under – and I’m lucky that she popps her collar – since the back is even worse than the front.

Another Big Bite - DIY Despicable Me Gru & Lucy Costumes

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Costumes

I can only imagine what Alice is thinking about her brother in this pic.

Either way, it is fine – since all we plan on doing is trick or treating at the zoo and around the neighborhood with all of our costumes on.

The only thing left to be decided is this… Nose, or no nose?  Nathan’s fake nose is terrible…. but it is kinda what makes Gru “Gru.”

Whaddya think…. should we keep it?

photo 1 (2)

Totally thinking this should be my new “About Me” photo.

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The Hunt for Rad October

12 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by anotherbigbite in Nerd Alert, Party Hearty, The "Joy" of Parenting, The Good Ole Days

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

baby wonder woman costume, costumes, diy costumes, halloween, jessica and roger rabbit, robot costume, roger rabbit costume, wonder woman costume

Holy crap.  It is halfway through September.  Where does the time go?  Many a year ago, I would turn the page on the calendar to August, and one word would cross my mind…

Halloween.

I would plan costumes in August, hunt for supplies in September and assemble in October.

I love Halloween.

You see, I’m tremendously geeky, yet not so geekish that my geekdom requires me to fashion and don costumes the other 364 days each year a-la Comic Con or Dragon Con, or ComicCon Con, or whatever other Con you can think of.  I wish I had that much free time and capital.  So my creativity gets channeled into one day.

Nathan used to fight me tooth and nail about Halloween.  I would beg him all year round to fulfill my costume fantasies – not THOSE kind of costumed fantasies, because lets face it; dressing up as Mystery Incorporated (The Scooby Doo gang) isn’t sexy in the least.  Unless maybe you dress up like Daphne.  But I’m no Daphne, and Nathan is neither Fred nor Shaggy.

Pre-kids as Jessica and Roger Rabbit

Pre-kids as Jessica and Roger Rabbit

One year, he caved.  Jessica and Roger Rabbit.  Costume success.  Though many of the younger party-goers had no idea who we were.  After the Rabbits, the seal had been broken, and we ushered in matching troll dolls, Ghostbuster characters and the cast of Toy Story…  (You can see our Halloween yearbook here.)

Now I have two kids – hence zero time for planning ahead.  Last year worked out pretty well.  Finn now has 89% control over what he’ll be, though I have total veto-power.  Alice went as Wonder Woman and her costume was adorable.  But as many ten-month-olds, she had little hair at the time and looked more like a random patriot once it was on.

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Finn chose to be a robot, and I’ll be damned if I let an opportunity to bedazzle something with twinkle lights pass me by.  His costume was off the fa-shizzle.  (Or whatever the hip cats of today are saying.)

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A few years back he was Spiderman – this year he wanted to be Spidey again, but I urged him to think of something a little more original (something that allowed me to selfishly spread my creative wings beyond stitching miles of webbing into polar fleece again).  He came up with Venom, wich is really just an all-black Spiderman.  I begged him to be Jack Skellington.  He would have none of that.  How cute would this have been??

Finally, he decided to be a Minion.

And Nathan is going to be Gru.  (or as Finny puts it, MR. Gru.)

Actually, other than a scarf, Nathan is pretty much a dead-ringer for Gru. The nose is a little off – maybe.

As for Alice and I, I’ve decided to make an executive decision and make her costume soley based on something I’ve always wanted to be.  Next year, she would never allow me to choose for her.  Instead of a super cute My Little Pony, I’m going to be an asshole and dress the two of us up as something so obscure and Disney-World-Epcot-1980s-Nerd-Alert that even I am having second thoughts.

NO.  Not Michael Jackson/Capitan EO – Jiminy, I’m not that weird.  My studded, white leather jacket and rainbow tee will have to live in storage for yet another year.

These guys.  Alice can hate me later.

Dreamfinder and Figment from Journey into Imagination, a ride that is now somewhat defunct at Epcot (only Figment is still around), but is such an endearing part of my childhood that I cannot resist.  No, I am NOT wearing a beard.  Again – I’m not THAT weird.

This weekend, while Nathan is hopefully finishing Finn’s bed (rock holds came in today, yippee!!), I’ll be cutting up old pairs of jeans and scouring Goodwill for a navy blue blazer. I’ll be swearing at my sewing machine and berating myself for buying too much lilac fabric.  And I’ll be scouring the internet for a reasonably priced top hat – since I’m cool like that.

What are you all up to for Halloween?  Any ideas yet?  Please tell me that you are not going to dress your three-year-old daughter in a Snow White/hooker costume from Party City, are you?

Or let me know (gently) that no one else cares about Halloween besides me and the pop-up Halloween stores on September 12th.

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I swear to god, my mom is NOT racist.

18 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by anotherbigbite in My Two Cents

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

decorating fail, gnomes, halloween, halloween decorating, yard art

But you might think otherwise if you saw her choice in “yard art” for Halloween.

(I know I am interrupting your Lord of the Shower Curtain Rings marathon, but trust me, this is totally worth it.)

My mom has this giant gnome in her otherwise classy front yard.  He is easily three feet tall.  She also loves to decorate for Halloween.  She texted me this picture of her gnome in costume:

I didn’t even bother texting her back.  I called her immediately.

“Mom.  Take it down.  Now.”

“Why?”  she laughs nervously.

“Do you also plan to include a burning cross to your Halloween ode to the KKK?  Mom… Pointy white sheets with holes cut in them.  Really??”

“Oh.”

A little while later, she texted me again.  She put a bowl over his head.

 

Way better, mom.  Now the nice Jewish couple down the street can rest easy.

 

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