Daddy the Weather Doctor

Quote of the day from Timmy:

"Did Daddy become a weather doctor to help the weather feel better?"

He asked us this as we were walking through a parking lot in a foggy drizzle. He'd been cooped up indoors for the past 2 days and is ready for the weather to feel better.

Many of you probably didn't realize that Timmy had a series of meltdowns every time he heard that his Daddy is now a doctor. Timmy tends to associate doctors with needles and funny lights being shined in his mouth, eyes, ears and didn't want his Daddy to be doing stuff like that.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

My Jacob turns 6 today!

Enjoy the warp-speed trip through memory lane:

Jacob at age 1 month:

At age 3:

Just about age 6 (school picture):

An Oldie, But Goodie

Dave came across the film Biloxi Blues this evening on Encore when he was surfing channels.

This has to be one of my favorite movies! Matthew Broderick in the 80s was the cutest thing in the world. He's still pretty cute now -- he was a hoot in The Producers and I wish wish wish I could have seen that show on Broadway! But at age 46, his age is starting to show.

But his roles as that guy whose life seems fine and then undergoes an incredible unraveling, like in The Cable Guy, Road to Wellville and Election...hilarious!

(Okay, you can say it: he was typecast.)

My sister will tell you about how we'd watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off on VHS over and over and over and over and over again...we still quote that movie to each other, 20 years later!!!

I thought I'd share my feel-good movie of the evening.

Halloween -- Let the Sewing Begin!

How many of you knew that I could sew -- show of hands!

Yeah, that's what I thought. Not many. Enjoy this gallery of things I've made. Mainly costumes, as you will see.

Jacob wants to be a Jedi knight for Halloween. Okay, that doesn't seem too hard. He showed me his Mace Windu action figure and asked if he could be THAT Jedi. Mace Windu was the character Samuel L. Jackson played in Episodes I, II and III.



Sure, I'll help you with that costume idea! I always am enthusiastic to help my kids when they think of their Halloween ideas on their own.

Maryann helped us out too, showing me a link to this costume.

But I did a small inventory of what we had on hand and realized that between Jack Sparrow from last year for the pants and boots, plus a Joseph tunic from a Christmas pageant last year, Jake could be a pretty good Mace with simply the addition of a purple lightsaber toy and a brown cape.

The purple lightsaber was an easy birthday purchase at Toys R Us, and I decided I could make the cape.

So on Sunday I dragged the boys to Hancock Fabrics in Omaha, and subject them to the joys of browsing pattern books and thumbing through fabric bolts looking for the perfect color/texture of a brown Jedi cape. I had a good time, I hadn't spent significant time in a fabric store in a long time -- at least not in the fabric section -- and definitely not at all in North Carolina.

I found the coolest lightweight brown faux suede fabric and an online recommendation to use the Simplicity 5512 pattern. The bottom left corner of the picture shows what "view" I'd make for the Jedi cape. If you look closely at the characters, the Jedi cape has sleeves and a hood...so even though I'm going through the motions of making a Grim Reaper costume, it'll ultimately be a Jedi cape...trust me!

I cut the fabric and started piecing panels together today, but I'm stopping till tomorrow. I need to think...I am incorporating a lining into the cape (after all, it could be REALLY COLD Halloween night here in NE!) and I have to shoehorn that into the instructions. I'm a decent seamstress, when the directions are laid out in front of me. As for making up my own thing....well, I'm not that good.

I should be done by this weekend...maybe I'll let Jake dress up for his trip to Pottery Barn Kids this weekend to meet Star Wars characters.