how many days till halloween

halloween is just around the corner and today, almost one week before the day,
i started decorating.  the good news is, i started and finished in less than 30 minutes. 
we don't have that much thankfully.  before c left to hawaii, he asked if i wanted our
halloween storage bins pulled down from the rafters in the garage. YES, please, i said.
he was surprised i hadn't asked for them earlier.  me too.

a few years back, i'd have asked for them the first week in october,
but back then i had little boys. now i have big boys. with scout playing competitive soccer
and a tween son who has surf practice and competitions that last hours on weekends,
our weekends are full.
there was a time when the boys had no where to be, and when they were little, we kept life
pretty simple and spent lots of time together....knowing it wouldn't always be that way.

my fondest memories of those years with little ones are walking to the beach on weekends,
playing in the sand for a few hours, eating a picnic lunch {usually from taco surf},
and then we'd walk home, rinse off and take a family nap.  those were the days.


so we got a late start this year decorating and between scout's soccer game
this morning and explorer's fall festival, we pulled the bins into the living room.
there we found almost every one of the boys' past costumes {i'm sentimental and can't
seem to part with them}, styrofoam pumpkins to decorate our fireplace, a faux skull,
black rubber rats, paper bats that get taped to the fireplace facade, and even the doubled
layered halloween plastic cups from target that the boys have had since preschool.
between the two layers, pumpkins and ghosts float around in glitter water.
the boys think they are 'kinda cool' so i keep them around.


much to my chagrin, we aren't doing a group themed costumes.
we all enjoy star trek, so i suggested we dress as characters from any of the tv shows.
i specifically didn't say 'the next generation, as i wanted to allow the boys lots of flexibility. 

finn loved the idea and went back and forth between going as wesley crusher from star trek:
the next generation or spock. in the end he chose spock. {i was surprised lieutenant data wasn't
in the running}.  i purchased a simple red star trek dress on amazon and when i showed to the boys,
scout pointed out that i wasn't really going to look like uhura because i'm not black.
i had no specific character in mind, but apparently uhuru wears a red dress and is african. 
no matter.
scout proceeded to tell me he really didn't want to dress as anyone from star trek.
he really wants to wear his thomas muller soccer uniform. when i mentioned he wore
that uniform last year, he clarified that he wore muller's germany's national team uniform.
thomas also plays for bayern munchen, a club team in germany. they are different and he has
several jerseys.  so be it i said. he's past those years where i have influence on what he dresses as.
{thank goodness i dressed him as a penguin, skunk, frog, bird and owl when he was younger}.

i can hardly wait to see finn all dressed - he has the pointy spock ears and a black wig to complete his outfit.
he wasn't a fan of the black shiny wig, but with blonde hair, it's a must if he wants to be spock.
i'm looking forward to seeing him fully dressed before he goes off with his friends {middle schoolers
don't trick or treat with their parents}. luckily, scout and his friends are happy to have us tag along.

home in time for halloween

the boys and I had a wonderful time in beautiful minneapolis and
i can hardly wait to sit down sometime this weekend to
look through the photos we took and to post about our time there.
our days were filled to the rim with activities and family.
more to come....

while we were away, the boys missed a few halloween parties and were
very concerned we wouldn't arrive home in time to go trick or treating.
i assured them we would be.

the boys are more than ready - been counting down the days since we've
been home.  they have their costumes hung neatly in their closet and have
tried them on a few times just to be sure they are ready to go.   

this year finn and scout decided they wanted to be astronauts.
but didn't want to wear the traditional white spacesuits
{a good thing for finn as he basically disappears in white because he's so fair}.
instead, they wanted to wear orange flight suits which are cool too.
i couldn't find them locally, so i ordered them online.

once they chose their costumes, they asked me to dress to their theme.
i love to dress up, so no arm twisting was needed. did they want me to wear a flight suit? 
of course not.  finn had another suggestion for both c and me. 
{scout too, but I didn't have time to pull that one off}

finn's idea is much easier...and i think c and can both pull it off.
we just need to pick up a few more items.  i hope to sneak off to a goodwill store
during the boys afternoon piano lesson tomorrow.

i'll close with a photo of these adorable donuts from krispy kreme.
would love to pick up for the boys and a dozen for my coworkers
tomorrow but i need to be in the office early...very early.

it's probably for the best. 
more sugar will be the last thing any of us need after tomorrow night.

have a happy halloween!

xo

~ a coworker and mom friend of mine told me the 'candy fairy' comes to
their home and takes her daughter's halloween candy and leaves a really
cool toy in exchange.  a novel concept for sure, though i'm not sure it would work on older kids, or my two. mine enjoy their candy....even if it takes scout a year to eat it all. 

halloween 2013

october 31st finally arrived!

the boys were so excited and had been waiting anxiously
for the day they could trick or treat.  scout didn't wait to
wear his costume before then though. he strutted around
the house in his aviators looking utterly cool.

the days of me picking or even suggesting a costume is over. 
no more cute lobsters, penguins, chickens, owls or skunks.
the boys want 'cool' {at least it's not scary yet}.

since they LOVE top gun,
specifically the ice man and maverick and the air combat scenes,
they chose to be fighter pilots.

finn already had a flight suit that he wore for his 9th bday party,
so i ordered one from scout online and a cute little dress for me.
scout wore his grocery shopping and around the house and
was quick to show anyone who commented on his uniform
that he was wearing dog tags too.

the costumes were so fitting and so easy. {no sewing or gluing required}
we had a fun night and as always, we have waytoo much candy around the house.
i brought most of what was leftover to the office for my coworkers.

fighter pilots maverick and ice man

 

healthy halloween treats

my coworker shared this with me a week ago

it's adorable!  i especially love the banana ghosts
standard and mini chocolate chips are used for the eyes and mouths.
the pumpkins {clementines} are cute too.
i'm still trying trying figure out what the stalks are made out of.
maybe celery?

since explorer only allows for healthy treats,
these will be perfect for scout and finn's class halloween parties
next month. i haven't shown to the boys yet, but i think they will like.

~ the boys have finally decided on their halloween costumes.
scoutie's is on it's way in the mail, and i think i found one for myself
that will coordinate perfectly with theirs. i just need to order it or hit
the neighborhood spirit store before it gets too crazy.
{oh i just love halloween...probably as much as the boys}

easy halloween costumes for book lovers

happy friday folks!

i discovered the london-based children's magazine, lmnop a year ago
or so and signed up for a subscription to their magazine.

this popped up in my mail yesterday and i just had to share on my blog:

via

 

what a terrific {and cute} idea,
simple halloween costumes based on book characters!
i'm partial to freckleface strawberry and iggy peck.

easy, cute and unique - what's not to love?!

if you remember the book iggy peck architect i posted on
a few weeks back, you must check out the recently published
book by the same author. i couldn't resist purchasing for our
home library last week.  it's titled rosie revere engineer

even though i'm not a mom to daughters, it's refreshing to
see a book that inspires through engineering, and reminds us
all through young rosie, that it's ok to fail.
and the key to success is to never give up.

another gem!

~ are you ready for halloween?
the san diego gerbers aren't but we are getting closer.
the boys keep going back and forth on their costumes.

halloween 2012

i can't believe halloween has come and gone!

i feel like we just put up the cobwebs and tombstones
and it's time to take down?  geez.

this year i didn't have a chance to be remotely creative with
costumes since the boys insisted on being star wars characters.
i don't sew at all, so i picked up generic store bought costumes.

since i love dressing at halloween,
i bought a princess leia costume and borrowed a pair of tall white knee
boots from a girlfriend who wore the same costume a few years ago.

here we are before we went out for the evening.

glow-in-the-dark pjs from cousin isaac

after trick or treating around one block,
scout and his friend logan were done for the evening.
scout join christopher and handed out candy.
{he loved this and was very good letting each
trick or treater know they could take 4 pieces}

finn, on the otherhand was determined to go to visit every home
in our complex, so auntie jen and i followed after him for another hour.
{my go go-like boots were not the best walking shoes}

the boys have enough candy to last until next halloween.
i hope you had lots of spooky fun!

~ i'm off to phoenix tomorrow to attend a conference for a few days.
i'm excited to hang out with my colleagues from across the
country and to see my girlfriend connie who is driving up
from tucson one evening.

explorer's fall festival

the family spent all morning at soccer games and all afternoon
at explorer's fall festival.

finn wore his new luke skywalker costume and i convinced scout that wearing his
white stormtrooper costume wasn't a great idea because it would get really dirty {the truth}
instead, i suggested he wear the owl costume that finn wore 2 years prior. 

he furrowed his brow at my suggestion.
i responded with "did you know owl's are fierce predators".
{cool or scary costumes are preferred.  'cute' costumes aren't}.

after he tried it on, he went to a full length mirror and exclaimed "i look ridiculous!"

i begged to differ and convinced him he would be unique and that owls are VERY cool.
finn agreed and shared some some owl knowledge with him.

he also shared that he wore the costume when he was 6 and in first grade,
a whole year older than him.  that upped the coolness factor a lot for scout!
he ended up wearing it AND the black tights too. *yay*

the boys ran around from booth to booth with their limited number of tickets we purchased for them. i spent half the day volunteering at the pumpkin bowl booth which was more work than i anticipated. setting up toilet paper rolls into pyramids over and over again proved exhausting, so i eventually recruited some helpers: finn and his friends. {and rewarded them with candy}

 

 


























it was a little bittersweet seeing scoutie in this costume.
i worked so hard on it for finn a few years back.
now, my last little boy is wearing it.

i'm so glad that scout wore it proudly in the end.
i will never tell him he looked absolutely adorable, instead of fierce. *wink*

at bedtime, he reminded me that on halloween, he is going to be
a stormtrooper from star wars, NOT an owl. 

absolutely i said.

halloween 2011

trick or treat day finally arrived, and the gerber boys were full of excitement!

i made sure to write happy halloween on the napkins i put in the boys' lunchboxes
{a daily ritual i started after scout told me miley's mom always writes her notes on her napkin}.
it wasn't enough i put fun stickers on his apples and snack bags, but he needs a note too. *geez*

i left work a bit early, picked up jen {who works just 10 minutes from me now},
and headed home to warm up chili and prepare for a few kiddos and their parents.

before we had dinner, the kids busted open an adorable bat pinata that auntie jen
brought over. it was almost too cute to hit.  i wanted to tuck away and save as a decoration,
but i knew that wasn't auntie jen's intention nor would the kids go for that. here it is:

didn't i mention it was cute?!

for trick or treating, finn was a scientist and wore a lab coat and goggles
{the same thing he wore at his science-themed 7th birthday party}
scout was a skunk {finn's recycled old navy costume from 2007}

and here are a couple fun photos from earlier in the day.

for school, finn dressed as dennis the menace and carried a homemade slingshot,

and scout was a frog. he wore green hanna anderson pajamas and a cute wool 

frog hat i purchased from etsy. {his preschool only allowed pajama costumes}

~ since scout was the only skunk i saw halloween night,
i think it's safe to say he was the cutest
lil' stinker on the block!

halloween's almost here

are you ready for halloween?

this momma isn't.
soccer has kind of taken over my life the last few weeks and
finn and i started piano lessons 2 weeks ago! {i'll share more in another post}.
i'm feeling a bit behind the eight ball this year with this holiday that i love so much,
but i have been thinking about costumes for weeks, so that counts for something right? *wink*

i brought up my costume idea around the dinner table last week.
i thought it would be fun to do a themed 'family' costume.
i suggested the little guys go as lobsters {we dressed finn as one for his 1st halloween}
and christopher and could go as divers {this is how we dressed for finn's 1st halloween}.

c loved the idea of wearing wetsuits, masks and walking around in silly fins again,
especially because finn has no recollection of it, but the short guys in the house had other plans.

finn wants to be dennis the menace for pre-halloween parties and at school,
and an inventor on halloween night. 
scout wants to be an skunk after finding finney's lil stinker costume
in our halloween bin that c pulled from storage.  at size 3, it fits him like a glove.

now here's where i get to have a lil' fun.

scoutie's skunk costume is too hot to wear all day at preschool,
and because his school is asking students to wear pajama costumes,
i brought up the lobster costume idea thinking red thermals for the body.

he shot me down {again}, but said he could be a frog.
i loved this idea too and found it perfect since he was into frogs last year.
first, i needed green clothes - thermals, pjs, sweatpants/shirt, something.

after a few days of searching, i found the perfect green thermals at hanna anderson.
they arrived today, along with a cotton pilot cap {that i need to dye green}.
i just need to figure out how to make the eyes. styrofoam balls cut in half maybe?

i'm getting excited just thinking about it,
but i must run and pack two lunches for two little boys.
i've pulled out the pumpkin and ghost cookie cutters this weekend to
make their sandwhiches a little more FuN and FeStIvE!

halloween 2010

after MUCH anticipation, the big day finally arrived!
i think i was just as excited as the boys were.

fortunately, the costumes were ready and just in time.
i admit, the bluebird costume was completed late friday night
thanks to my talented and patient hubby.
scoutie had a costume/bday party the next morning, so it had to be done.
after working on the owl costume so long, my patience was shot.

overall, i was pleased with the way these these little bird costumes turned out,
and most importantly, finn and scout were all smiles as they ran door to door.
if anyone commented on the costumes, finn was quick to share
he was an owl, scoutie was a bluebird and mom was a birdwatcher.
he followed with a "and they are HOMEMADE", emphasizing that in a big way.

auntie jen and i stood on the sidewalk watching and chuckling at this.
i mean what 6 year old even cares about homemade??
maybe it's because he likes to construct/create and appreciated that it wasn't store bought.
or maybe he knows mom put alot of work into them and that she isn't what one would call
'crafty' by any means.  whatever the reason, it made me feel warm and fuzzy, and appreciated.

so here are the final creations. promise me you won't look too closely.
since i don't sew, fabric glue quickly become my best friend!

i hope you had a happy halloween!!

~ the inspiration for scoutie's bluebird costume came from martha stewart and the owl template from alphamom

halloween 2009

i just heart halloween and since having children, i enjoy it even more.
this year was no exception!

we were lucky to have cousin chloe visiting with her parents.
she's 3 months old now and as sweet as sugar.
we all wanted to cuddle and hold her and her parents were good enough to let us. *grin*.
since she is a bit young for trick or treating,
she stayed back at the house and helped her parents hand out candy,
while christopher and i took the boys trick or treating.

this was our first time taking them together and it was so much fun (thx anissa and chad).
i will try to get a photo of chloe dressed in her costume from her mom and post.
she's so so cute! as for the boy's costumes, finn expressed his desire to be a robot a while back.
robots are his thing right now and c was happy to help create something. the boys pulled together cardboard boxes and items from around the house or from storage. the dryer vents came from home depot and the computer keyboard came from c's work.

scoutie is at the age where he refuses to wear anything uncomfortable so my idea for him to be 'max' from maurice sendak's 'where the wild things are', seemed perfect. who wouldn't want to wear a cozy footed sleeper on a cool night?!  i asked him a month ago or so if he'd like to be 'max', pointing out the wolf pajamas max wears in the storybook and he said "yes momma, i be max, finn be robot". that was easy enough.

finding a sleeper was the challenge. after searching on-line and having no luck finding a solid white or even a gray sleeper in toddler sizes, i visited ebay. sure enough i found a woman who was taking orders for any size 'max' costumes - from infants to adults. it wasn't cheap, but since i don't sew, i really didn't have a choice. i purchased a size 2 for scoutie and from the moment he tried it on, he *loved* it. it's super soft and stretchy and since our nights are nippy now, he wanted to wear it. his little crown was cut out of gold colored posterboard from michaels - very simple.

here are a few photos taken at a party at our neighborhood recreation center on friday night and then a few on halloween night. after going around just our block, both boys were done for the night. finn was complaining his pumpkin was "getting too heavy" and scoutie ended up getting a ride on my shoulders.
it's too bad i wasn't dressed as one of those monsters from the island that max visits.
that would have been really cute!
i recently found this shirt that i would love - so fitting. i think i will treat myself.

i hope your halloween was spooktacular!!

~ i didn't dress for halloween night, but i did dress for a fabulous party the weekend before.
i was amelia earhart.  wore a sexy lil' flight dress and my brown knee boots and this
faux fur pilot cap with the little pieces that cover the ear. SUPER cute.
so wish i had taken a photo.

where the wild things are

and let the wild rumpus begin.

- where the wild things are
children's book by maurice sendak

i love this line from the book - one of the boys' favorites
and it seems fitting as there is always a wild rumpus at the gerber house.
if you haven't witnesseed it, just trust me on this one.

i've probably read this book to finn over a hundred times,
 and now scout has started to enjoy it as we are moving from board books to 'big kid' books.
since the boys are sharing a room, we've been reading stories together before bed
and this is a book they both enjoy.
they are fascinated with max and his adventures on the island where all the wild things live.

warner brothers have made a movie version of the story, and it will be in theaters next month.
spike jonze directed it and the author was involved as well. it looks like it's worth seeing,
but i've yet to decide if i will take finn to see it. (it's rated pg and i'm pretty strict with movies)

i'm considering dressing scoutie as max, the main character in the book.

though finn is at a better age for it,
he has already declared he is going to be a ROBOT for halloween
and that dad was making his costume.
i think the days of me influencing his costume choice are over.
i guessed it would be when he started kindergarten and sure enough.
my prediction came true. *wink*

even the proposition to finn to wear a red jumpsuit and spray hishair blue
so he and scout could go as dr. seuss' thing 1 and thing 2 didn't appeal to him.
he said "maybe next year mom."

he's a robot fanatic right now - obsessed with science, labs and experiments and robots.
he's even talking about his birthday next year being a robot party.
at least i don't have to come up with a theme.

since we will be in florida for a week before halloween,
i need to be sure we get their costumes in order before we head down south.
i'd love to have everything ready so i don't have to think about it after i get home.
christopher will enjoy working with finn to makes his costume so that's one down.

now if only i could sew, i'd make the little wolf costume for scout.
since i don't, i'm hoping to find a white union suit or jumper i can just
pin a tail on and figure out something for the feet.
if i don't have any luck, maybe ebay or etsy will have something?

max wears a wolf costume, basically a white/gray footed jumper.
in the story he is given the crown by his wild friends
who declare him the 'wildest thing of all'.
(i'm not sure scout would wear a crown)

possible costume idea for next year...dr. seuss' thing 1 and 2.
christi and her sister jenny were considering being 'sexy' things 1 and 2 this year.
they'd pull it off so well!  i can't wait to see what they dress as.