Cosplay & Halloween Crafting - Wreck It Ralph Couple's Costume

Halloween is a pretty big deal around here.  Last year I couldn't believe that Chris wouldn't bite when I suggested a Star Wars themed family costume, with all of us except for him hailing from planets in a galaxy far, far, away.  Because of his refusal to participate last year I had a leg up in getting him to participate in the second ever couple costume in 14 years of knowing each other.

This participation meant I was going to have to champion and sort out everything needed to make this happen.  I have to admit, while most people who don't have kids who enjoy the movie didn't quite get what we were up to, I was pleased, as was he for the most part.

Here's what I needed: spiked, wild, Wreck it Ralph hair (I used a werewolf wig we found at Value Village for $8.99), for Ralph's untamed eyebrows I purchased a pair of thick ones for $2.99 from Value Village), I also managed to secure an orange V-neck shirt for $3.99 used, and a gaming medal that Jack had received in a birthday loot bag.  For the fists (or Wreck it Ralph Punches as Jack likes to call them), I purchased a pair of Incredible Hulk fists and painting them with foam safe craft paint - Both kids can't wait until after Halloween to steal the "punches" and werewolf wig to get them into regular rotation in their dress-up play.  The hardest part of the costume to find, Overalls...If you ever want to do this costume you'll need to begin checking out thrift stops really early.  I ended up getting ours new at Walmart, and will end up making them fit with another costume in the future to justify buying new.

Time for the big reveal....

Here's what Ralph Looks like:

Image Courtesy of Disney Wikia

Here's my "punches" getting painted:

So the Paint will totally peel off on these babies (I've had to retouch them between our night out and today), but I also know that my kids can't wait to pretend to be Hulk, so there's added value here.

The Big Reveal...

Not Bad....

Finally a couples costume

Happy Halloween everyone!

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Cosplay & Halloween Crafting - My Venellope Von Schweetz Costume

I love Halloween.  This year I managed to spend a little more time on my costume than I have in a few years and am pretty proud of the crafting I've done to get it to all fit together.

Behold my costume for Venellope Von Schweetz from Wreck It Ralph...A non traditional princess with a little bit of gaming oomph, perfect for cosplay.

All I needed was a mint hoodie (which I found at a thrift shop for $5), pink string for my accents ($2.49 from Michaels), mint leggings (found at Value Village for $5.99), a brown skirt (I found a white one at Value Village and used clothing dye, also from Michaels to get the right shade),Hair clips from the dollar store ($5), and assorted candy from the Bulk Barn ($8 including samples for the kids), and clear nail polish and a glue gun to put it all together.  I topped the look off with black boots that I already own...

Here's what she looks like:

Image Courtesy of: All Womens Talk

Here are my crafted clothes:

The Hoodie will be warm for trick or treating and a night out on the town

Hand Crafted Candy Clips

The final product

Stay tuned for photos of Chris's costume...more from mine and the minions!

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Release - Fall reflections

Molly has taken to performing impressions of me.  They mostly involve me talking about how lovely a cup of coffee is, followed by my inhaling dramatically, and acting like this cup of coffee is made out of magic - which I'd argue some cups are.  It's always interesting to see yourself through the eyes of others, particularly your children.  Apparently I'm highly caffeinated in Molly's world.

I've been fortunate enough this month to get away from the family, not once, but twice.  As I've spent my 'girls time' doing stereotypical things that moms in their late thirties do (ooo and ahhh about coffee, go to spas, eat off of cheese boards, and drink wine, all while commiserating about middle age and parenthood), something clicked.  Maybe it's the age of my kids, cause let's face it twins at six are very different than twins at three or even four, maybe it's me getting better at knowing myself, but I think I've gotten better at carving out some me time, and know it makes me a better mom.  I also know that when Chris is left solo the kids are less likely to be hot mess time bombs of exploding diapers compared with just a few short years ago, not that he couldn't manage.

The little black cat who crossed my path on an autumn walk

On Saturday, as I lay in a hammock watching the fall leaves drop onto the ground all around me, I couldn't help but feel incredibly thankful and grateful for being able to plan get aways with friends like this, but also for the smaller moments that literally belong on a coffee commercial.  Moments big and small can be about rest and recovery, and I'm beginning to realize that instead of feeling guilty because I'm spending too much time looking at my phone or working on my laptop when the kids are around, that sometimes this fatigue is telling me that I need a time out from everything in order to be a better parent.

Yesterday I came home happy to take my kids for an autumn walk at their pace, not mine, and to play a game of Go Fish with Molly even though the dishwasher never got loaded.  The next time I feel myself losing my patience, instead of feeling guilty and pushing through grumpily I may just need to send myself to timeout with a good cup of coffee or for a nice long run.  I'm fairly certain either way I've just described my zen as a Tampax commercial.

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Sharing My Writing On Other Sites

It's that time of the month again when I share some of the writing I've been completing for other publications.

Nowadays as my full-time job I write and ghostwrite articles for online publications, organizations and blogs, in addition to providing public relations services.  While I can't really share my ghostwritten articles on this platform, cause then I wouldn't really be a ghostwriter would I, I can share some of the other stuff I have been working on.

Click on the links for the topics that interest you most, and if you enjoy what I wrote please share, like, and follow, and keep parenting and reading on!  If you have any ideas for a story, a playground review, or article on any front, feel free to shout it out!  I'm always looking for new sources of inspiration!

Parenting Fails

13 Posts Moms Made That Got Them Into Serious Trouble

15 Times Mom Didn't Know She Was Breaking The Law

Parenting Like A Boss

Back To School - September Family Resolutions

Pregnancy & Baby Care

25 Of The Girliest Baby Names All Moms Will Love

15 Of The Most Childish Mistakes Parents Make In The First Year

20 Bohemian Baby Names That Are Taking Over The World

15 Pregnancy Milestones Dads Always Miss But Later Regret

Can't Lose The Mommy Pooch?  Here's Why

Entertainment & Celeb Gossip

Stars Who Are Poor Next To Stephen Hawking

Check Out These 15 Game of Thrones Stars In These Other Roles

15 Confessions From Celebrity Doctors

There's A Hole In My Bucket - Autumn 2017 Bucket List

The minions really loved knocking items off of bucket lists since we started the project last winter, and we've continued it each season.  I'm happy to report that we keep getting better at knocking things off of our list and actually managed to complete 24 out of 34 items on our summer bucket list, 18 out of 30 items on our spring bucket list (both much better than the 14 we managed on our winter bucket list!   Bucket lists have inspired us to book activities, appreciate what each season has to offer and get out and move, even when we were tempted to just curl up and binge on some Netflix.  Since some of the items are still doable for summer we moved a few from spring over to our summer bucket list that we worked on collectively as a family over the past few days.

This list is designed to get us out there and enjoy everything that fall has to offer; I'm hoping that we keep improving our records and eventually complete all the check marks.

Feel free to steal ideas from our list, and if you have any must see / must do suggestions please let us know so we can keep adding to our own list.  I'll be adding check marks and writing posts as we cross stuff off our list.

One of my fav pictures from a hike looking for leaves last fall

1. See Ninjago In Theatres✔
2. Jump into a pile of leaves✔
3. Decorate for Halloween✔
4. Design and pick out our Halloween Costumes✔
5. Host Thanksgiving✔
6. Ride our bikes (learn to ride a bike)
7. Go on three hikes✔
8. Fly our kite
9. Carve our pumpkins✔
10. Create some leaf art✔
11. Go Trick or treating✔
    

    

    Two Spidermans at Dollarama

12. Watch Halloween specials: Garfield✔, Snoopy✔ & the Nightmare Before Christmas✔
13. Bob for apples
14. Use outdoor fire pit
15. Visit Pioneer Village✔
16. Take pictures of the fall leaves changing colours✔
17. Make a list of things we are thankful for✔
18. Go to an outdoor flea market, harvest, or craft market✔
19. Make a fall soup together✔
20. Celebrate Nana and Papa's 50th wedding anniversary✔
21. Drink hot apple cider
22. Walk around in crunchy leaves✔
23. Go to a Marlies Hockey game✔✔

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