Halloween costumes--THOR Ragnarok!

This year our family discovered one of our all-time favorite movies: Thor Ragnarok! We have it on replay in the van when we drive to Northern Virginia or run errands and our kids have it basically memorized. When we asked them what they wanted to be for Halloween, the answers were immediate:

Lexi wanted to be Hulk.

Lily wanted to be Valkyrie.

Cole wanted to be Thor.

And I wanted to be Hela.

George picked Tony Stark. (From Avengers Infinity War)

Jude is really into an anime called Naruto, so he picked that. 

Lance is too cool to dress up for Halloween.

Here are the kiddos at our Ward's Trunk or Treat. We weren't quite done with the costumes, but they were wearable.

As in years past, I made several pieces of most of the costumes. Here is the start of Cole's Thor costume:

I got the plans for the helmet off the internet and sized it down a bit (it was still too big...oh well!). It's made of EVA foam that I glued together with rubber cement.

I took Thor's helmet template and modified it to create Lexi's Hulk helmet. It is also made of EVA foam.

Lily wanted to be Valkyrie and after scouring the internet for ideas, I sat down and sketched out my own design that I sewed together. Here's the start!

(I had ordered a morphsuit in kids' size for some reason--we didn't end up using it, but the kids sure had fun running around all in black. It was honestly a little creepy not seeing their face.)

Hand-stitching Lily's costume together at the gym. It's great because the kids can play for 2.5 hours, so I get a chance to work out AND get work done!

The main piece finished!

A couple more views:

Here's Cole's helmet almost finished! 

I also designed my own pattern for Cole's costume--made of faux leather and foam inserts that I sewed around to create the armor look. I like the way it turned out! George used his artistic ability and did the paint.

Lexi's helmet for Hulk. I wasn't as pleased with this one since it ended up not fitting correctly on her head (she ended up going without it after a few pictures), but it looks pretty cool. I used a broom to make the fringe on top.

George made himself an arc reactor for his Tony costume as well! I'm not sure how exactly he did it, but it was impressive! He designed it himself and used several different items like a battery pack and a tap light to create the light he attached to his shirt. It. Was. Cool.

Just a few more final touches and we'll be ready for Trick or Treating on the Lawn!

Friends, ADD, and crazy children

These ladies right here. I have felt a bit lonely in Charlottesville, especially after my original group of friends left (Jamie Smith, Allison Vedomske, Sarah Simmons, Kaycie Taylor, Rachel Bailey...) and we moved away from the Elmers. I have found some of my best friends in Heather Kasik and Sara Knight. They are there for me and love me and I love that. Our kids are also the same age which makes everything that much better.

Valerie and Madison Knight are only about 4 weeks apart. I hope they become good friends! And oh my goodness! Look at Valerie's arm rolls! I just want to eat them.

I had the opportunity to help chaperone Cole's school field trip to Carter's Mountain and had a fun time hanging out with him and his buddy Abel.

This boy has a unique set of personal struggles he is working hard to overcome and I wish with all my heart I could just wave a magic wand and take it all away so he could just be a kid and enjoy life a bit more. He is amazing and his ability to stay kind and positive in the face of adversity amazes and inspires me daily.

Cole has always been my sweet, kind boy and I love that.

He has started taking Ritalin for ADD (actually we started him on Adderall but changed it later to Ritalin and that seems to work better). His appetite is significantly decreased which is a concern for me, but his ability to focus at school and work through distractions and situations that would have originally triggered a melt-down has improved significantly. He's learning at school, participating, and his trips to the office are becoming less and less frequent. I'm grateful we've found a tool to help him be who he wants to be.

Life for the rest of us is moving along. Jude also started Adderall for his ADHD and has seen HUGE improvements in his ability to focus, complete assignments, and retain information, as well as follow directions. The school year is improving for him and I love to see it.

This girl continues to be insane a good portion of the time. She reminds me of the girl with the curl from the poem:

There once was a girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. 

When she was good, she was really really good

But when she was bad, she was horrid.

Truer words were never spoken.

I am struggling to find constructive ways to parent this child who is so full of passion. I love that she's fierce and willing to fight for what she wants, even standing up to authority with a big fat middle finger when she thinks she's in the right, but MAN that's hard to deal with when I'm tired and frustrated. George and I are committed to not spanking our kids, but I have to admit I've swatted Lily on occasion out of desperation. I feel guilty and terrible, but honestly sometimes I don't know what else to do. Don't get me wrong--she is also kind, funny, sweet, and super super smart, but too often I allow the hard times to overshadow the good ones. I need to work on that. 

Lance LOVES George. I think he feels a bit of a kindred spirit in him and I love that he feels comfortable talking to George about all aspects of life. George loves Lance, too, and is often the nicer, more understanding parent. I'm glad I get to coparent with him. We don't always see eye to eye on various aspects of raising kids, but we make a great time.

Life is so good.

Pumpkin Patch with Grandma and GiGi

This year's trip to the Pumpkin Patch was special because my mom and Grandma were able to come! We met George and the kids there right after Ashley's Bridal Shower and managed to have a good time as always.

Don't let his "I'm an angsty teenager" face fool you. This kiddo had fun, too.

This goat really liked Lexi and kept coming back for pets.

Trying to get Lexi to the top:

I was super bummed because my camera "broke" (I found out later that I had pushed a button that made it not focus--a super simple fix but in the moment I thought my camera was busted), so I didn't get many pictures.

GiGi helping teach Jude to tie his shoes. Yes, at 8 years old Jude still can't tie his shoes. Parent fail!

These slides are probably the biggest hit here! 

 Picking pumpkins!

I hope this isn't the last year we can do this with my Mom and Grandma. I love these amazing, lovely women. I sincerely don't know where I would be without them.