Class Party

Brytin had his first class party October 30th in honor of Halloween. The kids put on their costumes, the parents were invited, and a good time was had by all!

Brytin wore his biker costume for half of the party, and then wanted to wear his ninja costume the other half.

The kids played "Mummy Wrap." They wrapped each other in toilet paper, and then busted out of their mummy garbs. A huge waste of toilet paper, but very fun to watch.

We also had candy, cupcakes, brownies and juice.

I actually remember my Kindergarten Halloween party. My mom was dressed as a clown. I wore her first communion dress and was a bride.

It was a great experience for me to remember my mom doing this for me and then me being able to do this for him.

Jack O'Lantern

Thanks to Kindergarten, Brytin finally understood that there is more to Halloween than free candy. We decorated the house with some Halloween decorations my mom sent us, and a couple we found at thrift stores. Brytin also wanted to carve a pumpkin this year. Thankfully, I happened to have some of those carving knives for kids :) He drew the design with a permanent marker and then started carving. He did a GREAT job!

Homemade Halloween

When I was a kid, Halloween was all about creativity. The first costume I remember was a gypsy. My mom took a piece of fabric and one of her belts and made a very gypsy-like skirt. She put a bandana on my head and some eyeliner on my eyes – bam! Instant costume!

We did not have Halloween stores in Minnesota when I was a kid – we had a big huge box in the basement filled with random crap that I would use to create a costume. An old prom dress, a clown suit, a graduation robe and a cop uniform were some things I remember in that box.

The next Halloween costume I remember was in the sixth grade. My mom worked her a$$ off! She took a BIG piece of foam, cut out holes for my arms and eyes, and then painted it like a Pepsi can! It was AWESOME! I wish I had pictures. (Even though Mom was the best at Halloween costumes, she was not good at photos. LOL)

After a couple years of seeing Chris drop like $40 on superhero costumes for Brytin, I was able to convince him this year to make a costume. How? By making a suggestion that I knew BOTH boys would love – a biker! And I must admit it was the most perfect idea!

The costume turned out totally bad a$$! We found a jean jacket at a thrift store and chopped the sleeves off to make a “cut.” (A “cut” is a motorcycle club member’s vest that carries their club’s patch.) Brytin already had a Harley T-shirt in his closet. We got him a pair of baggy jean (like Jax) at another thrift store. Chris hooked him up with a wallet chain and wallet (just like Daddy’s). Chris worked really hard hooking up Brytin’s bicycle – repairing it, painting it and replacing some parts (all with the intent to make it look more like Daddy’s bike). My part? To sew the patches on the cut of course :)






Everyone who saw Brytin today at the party said the same thing – “Wow! You like just like your dad!” Both Chris and Brytin were grinning from ear to ear!

Though some people did give me sideways glances for allowing my kid to dress like that, I am glad that Chris and Brytin’s first endeavor with a homemade Halloween was so memorable.

Balboa Park

Brytin had two weeks off from school, so I tried to take him on some adventures. One day, we spent four hours walking through all the free gardens at Balboa Park. I got to take some great pictures of all the cacti I had fallen in love with a few days prior.

If green beans grew on trees, it would look like this:

Heaven is thataway!

The gi-normous bugger!

This one looks like a crab

This one looks like a palm tree

The cactus version of plumeria

A MONSTER!

Oh, Yeshua, how I love thee

A cactus rose

Cacti Garden

We made a container cactus garden.

You can too!