Behold the Power of Not Sleeping

Getting the kids Halloween costumes together this year was something of a small miracle. Claire and Scott had both decided they wanted to be penguins. I found a pattern and figured, sure, no problem. I mean, it's not like I was going to drastically alter any patterns, or totally wing it or anything. For once I was just going to follow a pattern exactly. I was even making two of the same thing, just in two different sizes. Easy enough, right?

Not when you catch the flu just as you realize you really need to get cracking. So I sent M to the fabric store for me to take advantage of the awesome Columbus Day sale. He seriously whined for like three weeks afterward about how impossible it was to find what he needed at Joann's. Tell me about it. It is a bit crazy there. Add in a big sale and, UGH. Maybe now he will have more respect for my alpha-gatherer skillz.

Just as I was feeling better, we had house guests coming that had never seen our house before. And kids that were sick. Then our house guests left and I finally had time to sew. But I also only had one week. I sewed and I sewed and then on Wednesday evening Scott came down with a fever and some kind of pain he couldn't explain that he claimed he "couldn't handle." This was serious stuff coming from a kid who can land head-first into asphalt and go on his merry way with a mere grunt. So I spent Wednesday into the late evening holding him to help him fall asleep and then coming back to comfort him every time he woke up. Poor kid. He seemed fine when he was asleep. And he was fine again come morning. Weird. I took him to the doctor Thursday morning anyway of course and they put him on an antibiotic because they suspected bronchitis. So in other words, I lost sewing time Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

I stayed up late Thursday and finished Claire's costume mostly. But as of when I went to bed at like 3 am on Thursday...er... I guess Friday, I hadn't really started Scott's. And we had a church trick or treating party on Friday night. I sewed all day Friday right up until we walked out the door Friday evening and got the the party about 3o minutes late. But I did it. I honestly didn't think it was physically possible, but I did it. Both kids had their costume to wear. Just don't look too closely. Large portions of the costumes may have been safety pinned closed instead of velcroed. And some hems and necklines may not have been done since they were going to be hidden. (Let's hear it for fleece that doesn't unravel!) And some seams still need to be clipped and trimmed and such before I can sell them on ebay. (But not before I keep them around in case Kate ever wants to be a penguin!) I will definitely get to truly finishing them... eventually. But I think I will recover first!

I can't really show you a photo, so you'll just have to trust me, but Kate was adorable too. She wore little red baby boxing gloves with a little sweatband and some red sweatpants. M and I sported matching fake black eyes as her victims.


Also, there were pumpkins:

This second one didn't photograph well. But trust me, it looked better and had more detail in person. In the photos poor Ruff Ruffman (if he's even identifiable) looks possessed.

(Leave it to Claire to select a design based on a PBS show that I'm pretty sure is not targeted at Kindergarteners, but is nonetheless her favorite show. She is in fact watching it as I type...*sigh*)