First "Real" Movie

Forget Frosty, we have a new favorite Christmas movie. Not only was Arthur Christmas one of the most charming and funny holiday films I’ve seen, it was also the first movie my children have seen in a movie theater so it will always be special. I’ll never forget their look of wonder staring up at the big screen and their joy with the fancy springy seats and “oh my gosh, Mom, cup holders right on our chairs!”

In awe of the candy selection (we kept it simple with just popcorn)

After spending the morning visiting with her and another dear friend and her daughter, my former employer and the kids' Fairy Godmother Paula treated us to this impromptu matinee. I could tell she was a little shocked that I had never taken the kids to a movie theater but when I explained that I simply haven’t felt that the enormous screen and surround sound is necessarily good for their ears or brains, I think she understood. Plus, you never know how much sarcasm or bathroom humor is going to be included in kids’ movies these days (not age appropriate for a 3 and 5-year old if you ask me) so I’ve just chosen to avoid it.

But I have to say that there couldn’t have been a more perfect first “real movie” than Arthur Christmas. With just the right balance of plot and action, it kept my kids engaged and entertained throughout. Futuristic touches made it “cool enough” for my boy while the friendships and cute factor made it great for my girl. Both of them laughed hysterically at several parts. Only a couple of scenes made Sara ask to hold my hand and William just came and sat on my lap once…. pretty good for a couple of kids who have never sat in a vast dark theater while a big screen whisked them away to another world.

Too bad it doesn’t have much longer in the movie theaters at this point (sorry, we’re a little late to hop on the movie bandwagon) but this will be one we watch for on DVD to watch every year together.

Christmas Greetings

Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas!

Last Minute Costume Gift Making

Feeling guilty that there wasn’t a handmade gift under the tree for my boy, I went commando craft-o while Daddy took the kids out today.  Since last Halloween, William has wanted a S.W.A.T. team costume that he saw at our friends’ house (and has borrowed a couple times since). I decided to make him one of his own.

S.W.A.T Vest
The store bought costumes aren’t all that elaborate, just a black vest with SWAT written on it and usually some pockets and fasteners. Once again my strange abundance of crafting supplies came in handy. I used a large sheet of firm black felt for the front of the vest and a rectangle of soft black felt for the back (now it looks bulletproof from the front but it’ll still be soft and comfortable to wear). Trusty glue gun in hand, I turned it into an over-the-head vest with two strips of felt across the shoulders, attached a couple of felt pockets, some old badge clips, and modified an old black pocketbook that was just collecting dust in my closet. The change purse and interior slots for credit cards and a checkbook will be a great place for him to store a pen and pad of paper in case he needs to write someone a ticket. Old wires and broken chargers from cameras and cell phones were a nice touch too. I put one toward the top so he can pretend it’s some kind of headphone and clipped another one lower, to use like a radio. The finishing touch was a big S.W.A.T. painted across the top front. I used acrylic paint because that’s what I had on hand but fabric paint would have been better (letter stencils would have helped too but my boy won’t care that the letters aren’t perfect).

S.W.A.T Helmet
Grammy might recognize this when William opens it on Christmas morning… it’s actually from a set of plastic Kitchen Aid bowls she gave me a few years back. It’s so lightweight that it was never great for mixing but it does make a superb helmet. The smooth surface was a little harder to paint and I’m not thrilled with how it turned out but it’ll be a fun addition to the costume. Glue gunning on a weird plastic doodad from some kind of a container made a nice breathing mask in case the little pretender encounters any poison gases.

Bad-Guy Catching Cuffs (not pictured)
When searching for a box, I came across the lightweight cardboard “sleeve” supports that came with his last pair of Bogs boots and remembered with him playing with them when the boots were new. Starting with those as a frame, I wrote SWAT on each one and glue gunned on some black tech-y looking items left behind from broken toys, an old buckle from a car seat (the red button will look like something important, most likely some kind of weapon), and some weird bits we accumulated the last time we went to Creation Station up in Lynwood (more about that place on another day, it’s a great destination for inventive kids).

Follow up Note:  Click here to see how it all turned out Christmas Morning.

Accessories Fit for a Fairy Princess

Discouraged by high prices for cheaply made princess paraphernalia and the insanely long line at the toy store, I decided to make some last minute handmade Christmas gifts for my girl. I’m no seamstress but I do have plenty of sparkly craft supplies on hand and I know how to wield a glue gun!

Crown
Digging in my various craft boxes, I was able to find supplies for a flower crown with flowing ribbons. Using two chenille pipe cleaners as a base, I connected them to one another, tied a long ribbon to one end (having previously measured it to leave long strips of ribbon at each end)then wrapped it around and around until it came to the other end at which I made another tie. Next came a string of pearl beads and I used the same technique, tying it at one end, wrapping it around and around then tying it off at the end. That actually looked pretty good but the perfect finishing touch was 5 little red ribbon roses. I glue-gunned those on and also used spots of glue to better secure the pearls. I will wait until Christmas morning to fit it perfectly to her head but it should be as easy as twisting ends together to make a custom Princess headpiece!

Shoes
Do you have shoes in your closet that your kids always play with but you never wear? For me, it’s a few “clip clop shoes” with low heels that my kids love to thump thump thump around in. I’ve always worried that if I bought my daughter some of those little slightly high-heeled dress-up princess shoes, she’d want to wear them all the time. However, if my ridiculously-too-large-for-her clip clop shoes are her dress up shoes, it’s likely that she’ll only wear them for dress up… at least that’s what I’m hoping. I glue gunned on some faceted acrylic jewels and used glitter glue to make some one-of-a-kind fancy shoes.

Magic Wand
Glue-gunned onto a broken old wand, one of my handmade paper stars became a perfect topper for a elaborate new wand. Final touches included more strategically placed “jewels” and glitter glue.

Follow up note: Click here to see how it all turned out!

Advent Adventures: Face Painting

Silliness runs in our family, primarily on my side. I'm afraid mess-making is another thing we’re known for. In honor of Cuckoo Grandma’s (my Mom’s) pre-holiday surprise visit, we pulled out all the stops. 

William became a superhero: fire and lightning man, to be specific. Sara became a blue kitty. Then Cuckoo Grandma wanted to join the fun as a clown. She is such a good sport.

Like so many of our activities, face painting started out tame…until it wasn’t any more. Itching to get their hands on makeup sponges and brushes with the face paint, the kids talked me into letting them “just paint something small on my cheek.” 

Um, William? I'm pretty sure that's not my cheek

Nice! I'm all set for my audition for Braveheart 2

Solstice Snowflakes

A serious chill is in the air but our first days of winter have been bathed in sunshine. Dressing up, marching with drums and flutes, singing and dancing, running around naked, and general merry-making seem to be a part of most of our days so we’re right on track with pagan rituals but I hoped to come up with something meaningful for Solstice.

Keeping it simple, we honored the shortest day of the year with a candlelit breakfast, making paper snowflakes (without the lit candles on the table, by the way) and we spent a lot of time talking about the earth’s relationship to the sun. Next year we may have dinner (or at least dessert) by candlelight too but the kids were wiped out after a day of fun with Cuckoo Grandma and friends. I had the pleasure of ending the day with a Yoga class taught by one of my favorite teachers which felt like a beautiful way to welcome the light's return.

Christmas in Downtown Seattle

“What store were you in today?” Daddy asked at the dinner table. Since a special “Santa House” is built for the holidays (and they were so busy enjoying being downtown with their sweet Grammy) the kids didn’t realize they were even near a store when visiting Santa. When I answered “Nordstrom,” Sara perked right up and asked, “da North Pole?!” Come to think of it, those names do have a similar ring to them. It’s our third year making the trek into Seattle to visit the jolly old guy at the flagship Nordstrom store and I have to say that even though the line was long, we’ll keep going back because Nordstrom pulls off a mini North Pole experience beautifully.

Something new for us this year was getting a phone call when our turn came around. Leave it to Nordstrom to think of something like this instead of making us wait in the cold for more than an hour. Once we finished our hot cocoa and lattes across the street and received the call that it was our turn, friendly “elf” employees offered apple cider and cookies while we waited. Unlike many mall setups, parents are invited to take photographs of the kids with Santa in addition to the professional photographer selling packages there. The dear Nordstrom Santa greets every child by name and takes his time visiting with each one, gently asking questions and listening to all their requests. We also witnessed the very patient photographer pull a crying 1 year old out of a complete tizzy by pretending to sneeze and making a beanie baby fall off her head each time (I’ll have to try that one at home sometime). The whole experience was a pleasure.

Telling Santa "I want YOU to surprise me"

 Seeing Santa then heading to the carousel and either the Sheraton for Gingerbread Houses or The Fairmont for the Teddy Bear Suite has become a beloved tradition for us with Grammy.

Stopping to read a book in the sumptuous Teddy Bear Suite at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel (we wandered around a bit and showed the kids the room where their Daddy and I were married too)

After our carousel ride