Gift

Hey! I made something! Lookit!

One of our favorite little princesses, Tori, turned two a few weeks ago. I've already made her three dolls (what? I like to make dolls & my only child is a boy), so I figured it was time to step it up. When I saw this toddler dress pattern on Pinterest, I knew what was about to go down.

I had made Baby the doll for Tori a few months before, so I already had the dress pattern. It was just a matter of ordering enough of the fabric (harder than you'd guess when you're me). Here she is modeling her new dress at the party.

And here's Tori in hers.

Right?

The Kid's a Baller

There's been a lot (a LOT) of yelling coming out of me these past few days. The kid always seems to get agitated and crazed as the holidays approach--just when my fuse is its shortest--and all hell breaks loose in the Engel house several times a day. It's been trying.

But in this season of gratitude I'd like to take a moment to kvell over the boy's many successes. Because no matter how much I'd like to throw him out the window, there is nothing for which I am more thankful.

On Friday we were invited to watch as our baby (who still looks like this in my mind) received an award for achievement in reading.

READING!

It's like a little gift from the universe just for me (and Dash, I guess. but mainly me).

But in case you're all, "NERD," I'd also like to point out that the boy led his team in RBIs this season. I only 85% know what that means, but Josh says it's good.

Speaking of Josh, look at how cute he is in his first team picture as a Coach.

In conclusion, the child is also an artistic genius.

OK, the end.

Boo, Motherfuckers

He's a zombie baseball player on the Pirates. Get it? No? Me neither.

But it didn't stop me from making him a "Dread Pirates" uniform.

I didn't want to offend any of our God-fearing friends and neighbors, so I proposed he be number "999" rather than the actual Number of the Beast. He declined rather vehemently, so by way of compromise he let me leave the number off the costume until after his school's costume parade. 

This picture terrifies me.

Here's a cute picture of our neighbor's dog, Bobo, in the Ewok costume I made him. Yeah, you read that right. Apparently now I'm making Halloween costumes for other people's pets.

We were invited to our neighborhood cul-de-sac Halloween Party/Chili Cook-Off. I don't really have a chili recipe I'm confident enough to compete with, so I went the cupcake route. These are vanilla with just a hint of Vampire blood.

These are chocolate with crumbled-cookie graveyard dirt & marzipan bones. Sculpting with marzipan is my new jam. It's like Fimo, but you get to eat it. 

Our neighborhood is the shit when it comes to Halloween. This head was just dangling in someone's entry.

The note in the pocket says, "say no to crack."

Another severed head, just hanging around.

This neighbor constructed a miniature burning city on their lawn. I mean.

This guy was hanging out in front of his house just looking awesome.

Crazy cat lady. If I was smart I would have duct-taped our psycho cat, Winnie (who--despite a strict Prozac regiment--takes poops in our downstairs bathroom sink), onto her back and let her take him home. Next year for sure.

In conclusion, our neighborhood wins at Halloween. 

The Patch

We spent Sunday morning at our local pumpkin patch where we continued our streak of purchasing zero pumpkins.

But we did get Dash tatted up.

We decided that at six he was plenty old enough for his first ink.

Then we came home with our sweet friends and ate veggie chili and cornbread and the boys played with the creepy dollhouse (squee!).

And then Dash read a book in the bath and I died from the sheer delight of it all.

Booooooooo

Thank God we have a kid we can pretend we do this for.

The Weekend in Pictures

(Seriously, whose family is this?)

Testing for his blue belt

BOOM goes the dynamite!

Fall ball at Hart

ANGELS!

Dash's first time on the pitcher's mound

Oh nothing, just Josh being the Team Manager. For his kid's team. The Angels.

Summer 2012

OK, universe. I'd like to ask for a pass on this Summer. It failed me and I failed it and I think we should all just pretend that it never happened. Let's focus instead on Fall.

Oh, glorious Fall! I promise I will embrace you with all of the vigor I usually reserve for Summer. I'll run more. I'll cook more. We'll camp and pick apples. We'll scare the shit out of the neighbors on Halloween and embrace the season of Thanks with more intention than usual. I'll hold my family closer and make sure the love I feel is shared more with gestures than with words. I'll stop making excuses and start making plans. I know Spring is the time for renewal, but I'm starting now. Today. No more wasted days. Promise.