Can you guess who we were for Halloween?

We had a wonderful Halloween this year.

Mr Man was...

...Dilbert!

K was...

...Nudge from Maximum Ride. (Yup, jeans, a tshirt, windbreaker and wings. All I had to do was paint the wings like a tauwny owl. Least time I've spent on a costume this decade.)

And I was...

...Merope! I just wore my locket and had fun watchings peoples reactions. Several people understood at first sight, several thought it was cool after I explained, and several looked at me like I had really bad fashion sense. Pretty much a normal day then. :)

And even more Squeeee Mail!

Our dear friend Pren surprised us with Halloween Squeee mail! K and I literally danced when we saw who it was from.

The moment we opened the package we were met with the most wonderful aroma. She sent us a bar of handmade soap, made by her friend Libby (her etsy store is Maylees Garden.) The scent is Pumpkin Cider and it smells lovely, but not overpowering. And it leaves your hands soft, with just the most delicate hint of fragrance. It is really, really lovely. I have it by the kitchen sink and I am going to buy a pretty soap dish for it, because it is just that special.

Pren also sent us some Halloween erasers, K has an eraser obsession, and Halloween Pencils and Halloween straws. Fun!

Now Pren, don't make me get all over you AGAIN about being all kind, generous, sweet, and thoughtful woman!

You are here by forbidden to send us anything else, until we finish your housewarming surprise! Seriously, I mean it, save your pennies for your new house. Roofs and A/C cost big bucks Babe and die at a moments notice. Hail is no ones friend.

We will finish your presy before Christmas (fingers and toes crossed.) But till then,... *glaring with one eyebrow raised high*

P.S. K hit little Voldy. He's been buggin' her for a while now and yesturday he started poking her and she told him to stop and he didn't and she asked him to stop again and he didn't and she put up with it for as long as she could and she just hauled off and smacked him a good one. Teacher didn't see. He's leavin' her alone. I didn't punch the air,... while she was looking. Go K!

Swappity, Swap, Squeeee!

We participated in a Halloween Swap and did we get the goodies! Hermione_jean is a cheater pants and sent us a BIG box full of goodies, wrapped up in brown paper and strings:

We love glowey necklaces!

She made the dish Towels! Love Them! And the potholders are sooooooo cute! I put them out, but I wouldn't use the potholders or the towels, they might get messed up. The orange fuzzy yarn will soon become a fuzzy orange pumpkin.

K ate the pop rocks with a coke and lived to tell the tale. :D And Halloween Socks! We'll wear 'em till Christmas!

K put the ghosts together and hung them in our front tree. Yes, they're still there. We'll probably just put Santa hats on them and wave at the neighbors on Christmas.

Needless to say, we we're well pleased. Thank you Hermione_jean! We loved our Goodies!

We sent a goodie box to Dragonsinger954. It was regulation size *pointedly staring at hermione_jean* but we compression packed that little bugger with everything we love for Halloween.

Of course there were erasers and glow stick bracelets. And eyeballs! Can you see all the eyeballs? Googley eyeball glasses

A crocheted eyeball,

Bouncy Rubber eyeballs

Evil vampire eyeball dishcloth (that was Dragonsinger954's idea after all)

Why eyeballs, because I have a problem. But admitting a problem is the first step.

I love these crochet pumpkins. I made a bunch for gifts for Halloween and I'm making more for Thanksgiving. Quick and cute, just the thing.

And pom poms and cauldrons and ribbons and the loudest noisemaker on the planet and gel decorations and crochet candy corns and stickers and ironons,... Oh MY!

We had such fun putting dragonsinger954's goodie box together! Hope you liked it!

And she didn't fall to her death because...

...An adorable little girl attempting to carry her big string bass down steep stairs in a long skirt and dress shoes, induces directors of symphonies, sound men and random daddies to RUN!

This is what happened. K wanted to carry her bass everywhere during the concert, because she was told that students should take responsibility for their instruments and K is Miss Responsible. Seriously, it's her middle name. I told her that yes, she is responsible for practicing, cleaning, and packing her bass, music, stand, rosin,... but that her bass weights 25lbs in its case, 20 out of its case and no one expects her to carry it for more than 20 feet. No, she said she had to do it.


So, we arrive at dress rehearsal and everything goes fine. She's carrying her bass, and her bow and her music all over the place: down this long hall, up stairs, onto the stage, back down the stairs, back down this long hall. The sound man, who is a really nice guy, tried to help her, and we tried to help her, but no, she's got it. The sound guy joked about how he would be there to catch her just in case and we all laughed. Mr. man and I take our seats, in the middle of an aisle a few rows back.


So, it comes time for her group to play in the concert. The hall is quiet and she's carrying her bass up these steep stairs to the stage, and she bobbles,... and there's this resounding sound of expensive wood hitting hard floor, and she totters,... but there's a wall to lean on and she recovers. She makes it to her place and all is well.


Her group plays, they do a wonderful job, and we all clap. So, now she has to get back down those stairs. She tucks her music under her arm, hoists her bass and bow, takes a step, starts to teeter,... and the sound man and half the front row are out of their seats. The director of the youth symphony was the first to her aid, I think he started moving before we stopped clapping, so he grabbed her bass, and I believe the sound man held her hand on the stairs. One daddy just kinda took up a catch position.


Needless to say, we all learned something. K now understands that if the director of the symphony feels he needs to carry her bass, he can't possibly think she should carry it. And Mr. Man and I are going to sit in the front row and carry the bass up and down the stairs until she's at least 5 feet tall. Or 13, whichever comes first.

Concert number 2 is this Saturday, same stage, different orchestra. Prayers gratefully accepted.

"Mom, there's another bass player, and she's a GIRL!!!!"

K's concert went really well. She had a great time, played very well and looked lovely.

But best of all, she got to meet a another GIRL who plays bass! Yes, in the youth orchestra system there are somewhere around 200 kids, but only three bass players and two are girls! K was over the moon! The other girl is in high school, we have seen her playing the electric bass in the drum line at the local high school and she is so much like K it's astounding. I guess it takes that kinda girl to say, I want to play that big thing. Too cool!

What the young lady bassist is wearing this season.

K has two concerts coming up, one this Sunday and one next Saturday. K needs a white blouse, a longish black skirt and dress shoes for her concert on Sunday. She has to be able to carry and play her double bass while wearing said shirt, skirt, and dress shoes.

The skirt was easy, she can fit into one of mine and it looks great. We found some shoes that I think will work, or at least not hurt too much. We couldn't find a single blouse that fit, looked nice and allowed for movement. Not surprising, she's really hard to fit. So we ran to Hancock's, found a pattern, some crepe back satin she liked and I have successfully altered it to fit. *happy dance*

Here's the pattern: Kwik Sew 3319





She liked view C because of the pretty flair on the sleeves, but she wanted a Peter Pan collar. I was a bit worried but, it went pretty well actually. I made the collar flat, added a back facing to the neck and it worked.



I like the buttons she chose, so sweet.



I widened the sleeves and they ended up more 3/4 length which keeps them out of the way when she plays and gives her room to move. The crepe back satin she picked was a bit heavy, but not too bad to work with really, except on the sleeve edge. (Redid that a few times.) The size 14 fit in the shoulders and the length is perfect, it looks so nice not tucked in, so all I had to do was increase the waist and hips so it flairs nicely and add some ease in the shoulders so she could bow. The back pleat worked, thank you Pren, and looks quite nice. K didn't want the under bust tie, I think that was just a bit too fancy for her, but it really doesn't need it.

I made up a muslin first, the satin was $7.99 a yard, and it worked ,so I crossed my fingers and started to cut. (I am such a fearful cutter, I have to measure a thousand times, have a cup of coffee, think, make notes, measure again,... pathetic, but did I mention the satin was 7.99 a yard!)

And Tada!



K loves it, she can play in it comfortable and it looks so cute on her. Win!