{Costume parade} year 2

We don't really celebrate Halloween, but unfortunately it's a difficult holiday to ignore altogether. Especially with the creepy decorations all over our neighborhood, the scary and disgusting displays at every single store in town, and, oh yes, the hordes of kids that show up at our door each year. Every year Robert and I struggle with just how much to do - or not to do - on Halloween, since it's not possible to ignore it or, even better, just fastforward to Nov. 1. Usually we buy some candy for the trick-or-treaters and let the kids each eat a piece while we watch a movie. Since 3 of the 4 are now in Awana, there is also a "Costume Night" on the Sunday closest to Halloween, and we allow them to dress up for that. Since I love sewing costumes, usually I make some or all of the kids' costumes for that - it's one project that actually "stays done" and you can never have too many dress ups, right?

This year Gabriella kept talking about how she wanted to be Strawberry Shortcake, one of her favorite characters, and Elora would Strawberry's baby sister, Apple Dumplin'. That seemed appropriate! (She also decided that Auntie Dano was going to be Strawberry's friend, Blueberry Muffin, despite the fact that said auntie lives in Colorado...she was an honorary member.;-)  There aren't really a lot of boy characters in Strawberry Land, so the boys picked characters from some of their favorite shows, Bob the Builder and Fireman Sam. Luckily we already had most of those costume pieces, so I got to focus on making the girls' dresses.

They were pretty simple, really - I just cut off the top of a t-shirt, made a little gathered skirt, and sewed them together. The hats were actually kind of a bigger pain. I bought them at the store and then hot-glued the fabric on, but they didn't stay on very well, especially Gabriella's.  Here's the finished product:

All four looking at the camera and smiling at once! That's gotta be a record.

 James as "Bob the Builder"

 

 Joseph as "Fireman Sam"

 

Elora as "Apple Dumplin'"

 

 Close up of Elora's dress. Her favorite part was the "hattie" as she kept calling it. She insisted on wearing that hat everywhere. And yes, the little buttons on her bows are apples. ;-)

Gabriella as "Strawberry Shortcake." Her dress isn't an exact replica of the character's, more like my interpretation of what Strawberry would wear. But the colors, especially the green and white stripes, are authentic.

 I was just not happy with Gabs's hat - it was a funny shape and wouldn't stay on, so we tied it under her chin with bows. But she liked it anyway. The hat is covered with Strawberry Shortcake fabric that Sophie gave her, and her buttons are strawberries.

 

The two sisters. I love the fact that I have little girls and can make dresses for them. I think they can even wear the dresses, minus the hats, as regular clothes. Maybe to church.

 

That's the costume parade from the Voss house this year. Hope you enjoyed it!

 

 

Monday's Top 10: Things You Don't Want to Hear

The Top 10 Things You Never Want to Hear as a Mom

Someone snobby (aka my husband) pointed out I should be doing these in reverse order. You know, counting down FROM 10 TO 1. I guess that makes it more dramatic. And...suspenseful. Or something. Anyway...I will do it just to test if he actually reads my blog. (He doesn't. Do you, honey?)

10. The door of the refrigerator shutting.

9. The handle to the pantry being jiggled open.

8. Glass shattering.

7. The front door slamming.

6. "Mama! Do you know what Joseph/James/Gabs/Elora did?!"

5. "Sorry, Honey, I probably won't be home before bedtime."

4. The faint whimper that indicates the baby just woke up.

3. A loud "thunk" followed by screaming.

2. "EWWW! Ma-ma! There's poopies ________"

1. Absolute silence.

Monday's Top 10: Big Families

In today's world of 2.3 children (that poor .3rd child just HAS to feel inadequate compared to his whole-number siblings), large families are not viewed favorably by most people. In fact, despite the fact that it is considered politically correct to claim each person "choice" is their own business, many seem to have no problem with telling parents of large families just how wrong their choices are. With only four children so far, which I don't consider to be a terribly big family, Robert and I have certainly come up against MANY people who think it's their right, nay their responsibility to make comments about the fact that we have four kids five and under. This attitude, which I expect from the world, has sadly come from fellow believers in many instances. I've gotten tired of trying to explain that we don't "plan" our children but have chosen to trust God to send them to us in His perfect timing. Generally the person either thinks I'm trying to be "holier-than-thou" or they give me a blank stare. So I've come up with a list of 10 ridiculous answers to give them instead:

Top 10 Responses to "Why do you have SO many children?"

1. We're trying to beat the Duggars. 4 down, 16 to go!

2. We just want to make sure we're REALLY well taken care of in our old age.

3. It's an addiction. Like cocaine, only more expensive. We're addicted to babies.

4. We're doing our best to contribute to global warming. Did you FEEL how cold it was last winter? Brr.

5.  We have all these baby clothes that are just going to go to waste otherwise.

6. We keep trying for a redhead.

7. We're working on a starting lineup for the NBA. And the WNBA.

8. Once we're done having babies, I have to lose all the ice-cream weight I packed on during pregnancy.

9. 15 passenger vans are TOTALLY stylin'!

10. We'd hate for our midwife to go out of business...

You can't please everyone

 You can't please everyone - so the saying goes. Nowhere is this more evident than in the life of a mother. The more children you have, and the older they are, the more opinions they seem to have between them, and it can drive you crazy trying to keep up with all their likes and dislikes, especially since those likes and dislikes can change daily, if not hourly. ("What do you MEAN you don't like carrots? Yesterday you refused to eat anything BUT carrots! I bought 6 bags of carrots and now...") And yet, somehow we still find ourselves trying to make everyone happy.

A perfect example of this is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "PB&J?" you say. "But that's so simple. How could it possibly be complicated?" Watch and learn, my friends. Watch and learn.

1. The bread. James and Gabs are gluten intolerant, which mean they have to have special gluten-free bread. Daddy has a strong dislike for gluten free bread, even the homemade one, so he has to have regular bread from the secret stash. Joseph and I can go either way, depending on how we're feeling and how much gluten free bread we have left. Elora isn't supposed to have bread at all yet, although she likes to scavenge for crusts on the ground when I'm not looking.

Then, of course, is the question of toasted vs. untoasted. James wants his untoasted. Gabs and Joseph like theirs toasted. If it's gluten free, I like it better toasted, but if it's regular bread, I like it untoasted. And Daddy always wants his toasted.


2. Peanut butter. Once again the allergies come into play. James, Joseph, and Daddy are all peanut butter fanatics, so we buy peanut butter in the giant container at Sams. Gabriella isn't really supposed to have peanut butter yet, because she's only 2, and I am allergic to peanuts, so we have almond butter. Fortunately I think everyone likes creamy (unless grandparents are over, in which case the crunchy question enters the equation...) And don't get me started on thick vs. thinly spread!


3. Jelly. Or jam, depending on which you prefer. Everyone seems to have a different favorite flavor. Daddy likes grape jelly. James like "orange jelly" which can mean either apricot or orange marmalade depending on what we have in stock. Joseph likes strawberry. Gabs likes strawberry or raspberry. I like apricot or raspberry, but I'm rather particular about my brands, because I really hate the taste and idea of high fructose corn syrup, and it's hard to find a jam that doesn't contain it. (Trader Joe's has some good ones, and Bonne Maman, which you can get at the regular grocery, is also a good HFCS-free option too, although it's expensive!) And then there's always honey...

4. Presentation. Once all the options have been chosen, there is the question of how everyone wants theirs served. James freaks out if you cut his sandwich in half (which is unfortunate because then the jelly from his giant sandwich runs all down his arms...), while Gabs can't actually bite into her sandwich UNLESS it's cut in half. Joseph doesn't want a sandwich at all - he wants one slice of toast with peanut butter and the other with jelly. Daddy usually opts for just peanut butter toast, unless he's in a particular sandwich mood. And I...well, at this point I am just lucky if I get to eat at all.

And did I mentioned that Elora doesn't even EAT PB&Js yet? I'm sure that will throw a whole new level into the madness.

Forget it. From now on we are all eating steak. It's one-size-fits-all!

Someday

"Someday my prince will come," sings Snow White {in that annoyingly shrill, high pitched voice} as she {looking to be about 12 years old} cooks and cleans and waits for her prince {who is clearly also no older than 12} to come and sweep her off to her real, romantic life.

As a mother with young children, I also spend a lot of time daydreaming about "Someday," only mine is a bit less "Someday my prince will come" and lot more "Someday my house will stay clean." Someday I will be forever done with changing diapers. Someday I will get to go to the bathroom by myself. Someday I sit down on a peanut-butter free couch. Someday I will dress nicely again and be able to leave the house without worrying about what's happening while I am gone. Someday I will have regular dates with my husband where the romance isn't dampened by being home in time to put the kids to bed. Someday I might even go back and get my master's degree, or teach drama again.

Some of my "Somedays" involve less long term goals. Someday this child will potty-train. Or that one will learn to read. Or the baby will be less clingy. {Or I will fit into that pair of jeans again!} Someday the kids will be able to do their own laundry and dishes and be more help than hindrance with the chores. Someday they'll put themselves to bed on time without 6 songs, 2 prayers, 8 rounds of hugs and kisses,3 glasses of water, and a partridge in a pear tree.

But then all these "Somedays" got me thinking about other Somedays that will also be true.
Someday Gabriella will stop crawling into bed with her brothers and "snuggling up" to them because she doesn't want to sleep alone. Someday James will stop grabbing hold of me and insisting "I want to sit your lap." Someday very soon Joseph will be too big to physically even FIT in my lap, let alone have me pick him up, and he will stop telling me every little thing that pops into his head, even if it's "I love you more than anyone else in the WHOLE world, Mom!" Someday I won't be able to hold Elora is one arm or have her scootch up close to me even in her sleep so she can be sure I'm still there. Someday all the baby lisps and cute sayings and mispronounced words will give way to correct adult speech, and the snuggles and hugs will be more restrained and less full of joyful abandon, and the nursing will be done entirely. And realizing this, it makes me want to forget about Someday and snatch every last bit of joy from Today while I still have it, because it will be gone so fast! Someday is always rushing toward me, and while it will bring it's own joys, and it's own challenges, I don't want to live in Someday when Today has so much to offer right here and now.

Into the Wardrobe

Friday was quite a day for our family. For the kids, it was the first real play they had ever gotten to attend. For us, it was the first time we got our kids to sit through an entire play - and boy were we shocked!

Encore! Theater is a local amateur Christian drama troupe composed mainly of high school and college students, and they offer several plays a year, their current show being The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Lydia has been in several of their productions, as Lady Brachknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, and as Corrie Ten Boom in The Hiding Place. It was Mom's idea to take the kids, as Lydia and Sophie were both working on the stage crew for the show, and although I wanted to take them, I was hesitant at first. I am lucky if I can get all 4 kids to sit still during Bible time every day. And by "still" I mean "not running around screaming and bouncing off the walls and throwing their Bibles at each other!" Bible is still a daily struggle logistically - they act like "what is this strange thing you are trying to make us do?" when I think they should have learned by now that this is something we do EVERY DAY! There are good days and...well, days when there is more "Biblical discipline" than "Biblical instruction" if you know what I mean! So I was a bit skeptical about taking them to a long play where they had to sit still and be quiet, but Mom persuaded me that with a good enough adult/child ratio, we'd be fine. So I agreed.

In anticipation of the play, I started reading The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe to Joseph so he would know what was going on when we got to the play. Since I didn't think to start this soon enough, we only got through about the first 8 chapters - but that was ALL in one sitting! He kept begging to read more, and I was happy to oblige until my voice finally gave out. (Yes, I do the voices. Including British accents for the 4 Pevensie children. Former drama teacher - what else did you except?)

Well, we got to the night of the play, and my dear sisters had saved us seats right up near the front, so the kids could see and hear everything. And the show started, and I was blown away - not by the show, but by how well my children behaved through it. Still as if they'd been turned to stone by the White Witch's wand. Quiet as the mice that gnawed the ropes off Aslan's dead body. (Am I exaggerating for dramatic effect? Of course. But they WERE awfully good.)

Joseph had a few questions, however. He was super interested in everything that was going on, but having read the book, he found the quality of the show a bit lacking. The actors had chosen not to do full animal costumes, but to wear clothes in the proper colors (golden brown for the Lion, black for the wolf, grey for the beavers, etc), with bits of fur sewn on and some animal face makeup. So when Aslan appeared, Joseph piped out, "Who is that man?"
"That's Aslan," we told him.
"No," he insisted. "Aslan's a Lion. Where's the REAL lion?"

Well, that drew a chuckle from everyone around us, but things went on pretty smoothly for a while until the White Witch began her tirade. Threatening Aslan with death and Narnia with destruction, she paced up and down in her long white gown, her fur robe swirling behind her, waving her magic wand, cutting quite an impressive figure. Suddenly a loud childish voice burst from the front row:
"Why is she so ANGRY?"

That poor girl should have won an Oscar. She managed to keep her face straight and finish her speech amid the laughter that rocked the audience. I suppose if you put on children's plays, you have to be prepared for...children. And their comments.

All in all, though, the play was a huge success. My children had a great time and proved that they can behave properly when the occasion requires. I will never again let them get away with shenanigans when they are supposed to be sitting still because now I KNOW. I know they CAN behave.

My four favorite things

Yep. There they are. All smiling for once!

And if you'd seen what they did to my house with paint, and then with sopapilla mix and jam, you would know just how generous and forgiving I'm being with this post.

Cuteness: God's way of ensuring children survive until adulthood.

CORRECTION:
I take it all back. After publishing this post, I discovered that the kids had gotten into the paint and painted the walls of their bathroom. Cuteness will not save them this time. They are soooo dead!