Halloween! DIY Halloween Costume

Who doesn't love a good Halloween costume? I know I sure do and I start getting excited about it a few months in advanced. This past week I finally decided what my little girl was going to be. She is obsessed with the movie the Croods. Her personality matches Sandy, the baby girl, from the movie so I decided to make her costume.

Sandy from the Croods:

I wasn't sure how much fabric I needed but I brought my little girl to the store we measured her around and her height. She is a two year old and pretty small so I got about 3/4 a yard of fabric. Trying to get her to lay down to measure her was not going to work, she put up a big fight. So I took a tank top and marked only one shoulder, the neck line, and the underarm line. I figure it's a cavegirl costume so it doesn't have to be exact.

next I cut out one side, made it a little bigger to make sure it wrapped around her and enough to make sure I could sew it together with a little slack. Then I used that one as the pattern for the other side...only mistake I made was I forgot to flip the pattern so that the shoulder strap would be on the same side.

Then I sewed the two pieces together and added a button on the back of the strap since it's a little tight to get over her head. the button allows her to step in without ripping it. I just did a quick stitch by hand for the button and a slit in the fabric reinforced at the edges again with a simple cross stitch.

Then the costume has a little foot paw on the bottom. I didn't want to sew anything else on. I wanted it to be easy, so I bough a pair of two iron on elbow patches. one I used at the base and then I cut out small circles as the finger pads. I didn't iron on since it was a faux fur and didn't know if it would be ruined so I just used fabric glue.

For the accessories I bought fishing bait, it smelled awesome...ok not really it was nasty! I had to wash with dish soap and then boil them. They still smell but they look perfect and we were able to stick a wire through it and now I can manipulate it to look the way I want it to in her hair. Then I just added boots she already had.


Outcome:

5 Things I hated about Paris France

I know what you're probably thinking, how could anyone find things to hate about Paris...it's Paris for goodness sake. Well I did and it was surprisingly easy after being there for 8 days I came to know what things I appreciated and others that I really could have done without.

Number 1: I hated that they didn't take American credit cards. I know that's a minimal thing and there are ways around it but it was frustrating not to be able to buy metro tickets and HAVE to get money exchanged to get anywhere into the city from the airport. The only places that did take American credit cards were the major landmarks and the stores inside. Some but not all restaurants did accept them but on most occasions we had to pay in cash. Which for me makes me uncomfortable. They have warning signs every where to be aware of pick pocketers and to be cautious of your belongings. So having to have euros on me at all times was kind of annoying more than anything...it didn't ruin our trip but it was a pain in the ass!

Number 2:  The smell of Paris, there is a mixture of fresh coffee, piss, and cigarette smoke all around. It was beyond disgusting! I know it's a big city and it wasn't a constant stench but there were times I almost threw up in my mouth the smell was so gross. And I don't know if it's a type of cigarette or a type of cologne but the men had a certain smell to them too. I thought it was just me until Jesse started talking about it and asking me if I smelled it too. It's not a gross smell but after 8 days it was kind of like being in Abercrombie and Fitch stores for too long, makes you kind of woozy and gives you a headache.

Number 3: The smokers, literally everyone was smoking, even young teenagers. I think we walked passed what could be a Jr. High and the students were out taking a smoke break! We couldn't enjoy the outdoor patio dining experience either because everyone out there had a cigarette lit. I'm just thankful they didn't allow smoking inside or we would have been picnicking the entire time.

Number 4: The damn street vendors! OMG! People aren't joking when they say the vendors are pushing and literally littering the landmarks. Only perk is if you want a cheap key chain they really do have the best deal. Most stores are trying to sell you the same crappy one for 2 euros and the vendors are selling 5 for 1 euro. But after a while they just became annoying. At one point during our trip one of the many times we my husband and I were arguing one of them tried to get me to buy stuff and I told them no...he kept pushing me until I got pissed. Then he told me to F-off which got Jesse pissed. So there we were Jesse surrounded by 5 vendor guys about to get into a fight...thankfully one of the guys was reasonable and got his friends to back off. But seriously...no means NO!

Number 5: This was at no fault of the Parisians and it's only me to blame but I hated the language barrier. I know this may sound petty after all I did go into a foreign country what else would I expect, right? Well I hated that I didn't prep more and that I was stuck trying to figure out the small words I did understand. It felt like it really limited where we could go and explore. Eating out was a small victory in itself and shopping...well lets just say I'm glad there are pictures and price tags everywhere. This was the first time I had been put in this position and I've got to say I didn't enjoy it. I felt very uneasy and almost less than the french because I couldn't speak their language. It was amazing that so many people are bi-lingual and some tri-lingual. It made me wish they encouraged a second language more in our education system. I probably would have felt a little more confident being in such a new place.

So those were the 5 things I came up with. Which I don't think is too bad, considering we were there for a week. Now if I really wanted to get picky I would but I don't think it's necessary considering how much fun we truly did have and all the great memories we made.

Routine

This week my goal has been to be more strict on my routine. I have been changing my sleeping patterns so instead of going to sleep at 1am and waking up at 9am and I focusing on going to bed no later than 10pm and waking up around 6am. I figure my previous sleep pattern was what was causing so much problems for me and my lack of motivation. I was just too tired. I would stay up late watching tv and then by the time I woke up the morning would practically be over. I've stuck with it and have been feeling pretty good. I hope that I can continue this routine and keep my energy levels up. No more excuses!

L

Why Dating is Important After Kids

My husband and I were blessed to go on a 8 day trip to Paris, France. This trip was a dream come true for me and I was thrilled to be going. Yet at the same time I was extremely sad. I was leaving my children behind for the first time since they were born. My son will be 4 in January and my daughter is 2. They were in great hands and I didn't worry about them as much as I missed them. So on this trip it was just my husband and I. Now we have recently been trying to take more dates and to spend more time alone together in general so this trip was a big deal for us.

Paris is supposed to be this big romantic place where lovers go to keep the fire burning. Well for my husband and I this trip was indeed a wonderful trip filled with many great memories. However, the only downside was is that it has been 4 years since we have spent that much time alone together. Four years is a long time. We have both grown during that time and not always together. My husband is at work 3/4 of the day and I'm at home 90% of the time the other I'm working from home. During all that time we never really took the time to grow together. Because of this we basically fought the entire time on the trip. I take that back that not the entire time because we truly did have some great times but throughout the day it was like a freaking emotional roller coaster. One minute we were happy and laughing then the next we were fighting and not talking to each other. This continued for seven...I repeat 7 days! It wasn't until the last day that we realized why we were having such a difficult time being alone together and why we were butting heads so much.

We realized that this was just like when my husband would come home from a deployment. He would be gone for a year at a time and we would each get into our own lives and our own groves. When he would return each time it took at least a month or two for us to really start working together in sync. We may not have experienced a deployment but we have grown individually and have been in our own groves for so long that we didn't know how to interact with each other alone. Once we realized this it made perfect sense as to why we were struggling so much. We are two leaders and in our own lives we each are the leaders not having to report back to anyone. So to work together as a team was a difficult challenge.

Looking back on the past 4 years we really haven't taken the time to grow together as a couple. We have grown as a family and have really shown our children the core values of what a family is. But along the way we lost track of nurturing our relationship as a couple. There was always excuses, mainly the fact that my daughter had severe separation anxiety making it difficult for me to leave her. Now that they are older we are trying to basically start over and grow together as a couple and not only as a family. I didn't realize how important dating after having kids was until I took this amazing trip and realized I didn't know how to be alone with my husband anymore. The ups and downs could have all been avoided if we have taken more time to talk with one another and really learn more about the people we have become since having children. I know that for me I have drastically changed since having kids. My outlook on life and many other important topics has shifted. I can see the same has happened with my husband. It was nice to have that wake up call in Paris of all places. Now we understand that we need to really make the effort to get to know each other because thankfully it was only 4 years of  not nurturing our marriage as opposed to 20 years when the house is empty and we really have nothing to say to each other. Now we can focus on the good and make an effort to take that time to keep the foundation of our family strong.

L