On the third day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to me:

an assembled bicycle!

Also, a small Christmas dessert party with Joseph's godparents (no pictures, though).

On the second day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to me:

more presents from grandparents and extended family!

books and games galore!  And a ninja costume.

On the First Day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to meeee:

a crap-load of presents 'neath the tree!

...and, children eager to tear into them.

next year we need a bigger tree -- you can barely see it for the decorations

All Hallows Eve

Whew!  Another Halloween aka costume-making-frenzy has come and gone, and we have 5 candy-filled pumpkins to prove it.  I always wonder if I should schedule the kids' dentist appointments after October....

Our tradition is that each child gets to pick his or her own pumpkin from the local garden center, but it has to be a pumpkin he or she is capable of carrying to the weighing station.  (Mom and Dad do not schlep gargantuan pumpkins for 4-year-olds.)  I pick the one for the baby.

The kids design their own pumpkins and help clean them out, as much as they can.  The girls are almost completely independent, aside from the occasional advice regarding design or execution.  This year Joseph tried his hand at carving and did a fairly decent job, I must say. 

I still ended up cleaning out about 4 1/2 pumpkins.

For lunch on Halloween, Daddy made ghouled cheese sandwiches:

For dinner we had Smilin' Jack Casserole (ground beef sauteed with bell peppers and baked in a pie pumpkin -- grown-ups loved, kids hated), and Dirt for dessert (chocolate pudding with crushed gluten-free oreos -- everyone loved). :)

We agonized for MONTHS over our Halloween costume theme this year.  I think we (and by "we" I mean "Katie") started brainstorming around July.  Finally we came to a consensus: Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword!  Mr. Pickles will play the game while the kids watch -- it's something fun they share together.  So I got dragged, kicking and screaming, into my first cosplay, if you can call it that.

Miriam was, of course, Princess Zelda:

Katie made the harp, everything else was recycled costume

Katie was Fi, the manifest spirit of the hero's sword or something:

you can't really tell it from the shot but her hair is spray-painted blue.  I made the cape -- threw it together in an evening while Mr. Pickles was on Baby Duty. The ribbons got ditched halfway through trick-or-treating -- they kept falling around her ankles

 Jojo was the hero's friend, Pipit:

shirt: 50 cents at Salvation Army, turned inside-out to hide graphic. hat: I made (whereupon I learned that I despise sewing with knits). sword: party store

 Daniel was our hero, Link!

shirt: recycled costume. hat and sword: same as above. (we got a sword for Andy too so he wouldn't shriek and pitch a fit feel left out)

Action shot!

Oh -- Katie made Jojo's scabbard too (Daniel's was a repurposed quiver).  She spent all morning in the basement with cardboard, scissors, string, and tape

Andy was a character called a Remlit.  By day they are adorable little mewing kitties, but at night they turn into fierce attacking monsters.  (Appropriate for the dual nature of a 3-year-old, I thought.)  We dressed Andy as the day version:

big brother's hoodie, turned inside-out.  felt ears safety-pinned to hood.  tail: brown felt, stuffed, and wrapped with masking tape to look like stripes. and safety-pinned on.

Even the baby dressed up.  He went as a green Chuchu, a blob-like creature with a large slimey mouth:

note the large mouth.  (this was his cranky time right before he fell fast asleep, and slept alllll through trick-or-treating like a good little blob). costume: baby bunting I think I picked up at a consignment sale ages ago.

So as you can see, my cosplay style is whatever-I-can-get-away-with-that-looks-authentic-enough-yet-requires-as-little-effort-as-possible-from-me.  Is there such a thing as Scruffy Cosplay?

We went trick-or-treating with friends -- it's always more fun with a big group of people!  The weather cooperated bee-yoo-tifully, too -- it was perfect Fall weather.

the friends were a present, a dragon, a giraffe, and a pumpkin (the irony is that the pumpkin's name is Peter!)

The hospitable houses were few and far between this year -- what is wrong with people?? -- so the kids had to cover a lot of ground for their haul.  There weren't a lot of trick-or-treaters out, either -- maybe because there aren't too many young families in our neighborhood? -- but that did work out to our advantage because each house was giving away more candy, trying to get rid of it!  For the first time ever, we actually had part of a bag left over. (but since Mr. Pickles bought the good stuff, Mrs. Sweet-tooth-is-my-middle-name Pickles didn't mind one bit -- usually I have to raid my unsuspecting children's loot to get anything) 

Once again, fun prep and a fun evening!  It did make me miss sewing for fun (instead of mending pants, which is all I do now).

And just because he was so cute, let's see Andy again:

The End

This one deserves its own post.

swing and a miss...

She says, "I did that on purpose!  ....Besides, I don't know how to spell 'genius'."

Dominic's Wheels

So, in a large family, every new baby seems to get some new piece of equipment.  When Joseph was born, he got a new baby carrier.  (The Mobywrap.  Love it.)  Daniel got a new pack & play, since Joseph broke the crib.  Andy got a baby furniture set (sorry, no pictures, except in backgrounds of old posts).  And for Dominic we bought....

...a space shuttle.  Behold, the USS Dominator!

Mr. Pickles' reaction as we drove off the lot: "Crap, we bought it!"

 It's a 2015 Ford 15-passenger Transit Wagon. 

We started out looking at used 12-passenger vehicles, but ended up with this for a couple reasons: our credit union was getting obnoxiously picky about what cars they considered worthy of a loan (so many passenger vans were considered commercial vehicles and therefore not loan-worthy -- so annoying); we couldn't find any 12 passenger vans; and the clincher was that Ford's Ecoboost engine got the best gas mileage (yes, please!).

Everyone else on the road respects me now.

 The kids loved it from the first.  Everyone practically has his own row.  (We took out the two middle seats in the very back for cargo space.)  I don't LOVE IT love it, but it does get all of us where we want to go.  And the automatic wipers are actually pretty cool.

huzzah, we all fit!

 You know you have a large family when the minivan is your SMALL car.

Summer/Fall Photodump

Hi all!  We are still alive.  The baby is still cute.  Of course, I know you require photographic evidence of this, so, always happy to indulge the fans:

da huuuuuudge

hey! don't make fun of my tubbiness!!

Even cuter than a cute baby solo, is a cute baby in conjunction with a cute older sibling:

Dominic's baptism

Pictures!  Pictures!

Dominic was baptized the last Saturday in August.  He was just three weeks old.  We asked Mr. Pickles' sister and Mrs. Pickles' brother to be godparents, and they were both able to trek across the country from the Middle West and the Far West, respectively.  When the other sibling and the parents on Mrs. Pickles' side heard that, they made a point of coming too, so it was a real family reunion!

all that fuss for me??

40 days

No, I can't believe it's been that long either.

Dominic passed the 40-day mark last week, so technically he isn't considered a newborn anymore -- and I officially have to get off my duff and start pulling my own weight around here (in addition to Dominic's too, of course, since he practically lives in the Moby).  And what better way to get back to work than spending hours taking baby pictures?

good idea, Mom!

There is something about the six-week mark.  His little rhythms become more predictable, he smiles all the time, and all of a sudden we see more of this little person emerging.

loves loves LOVES standing up!

also LOVES being outside

Before Dominic was born, I made this little gown for him from a vintage pattern.  I love it -- WHY did we as a culture ever switch from the ease of baby gowns to onesies and sleepers with millions of snaps??  

what is it about baby yawns that are so dang cute??

and their widdle toesies!

He is also rather turning into... Da Huuuuuudge.  (He already weighs well over 12 lbs. -- I've moved him up to size 2 diapers and 6-mo clothes.)  I need to get a picture of the sight of his belly spilling over his diaper for you.

they make even spit bubbles cute!

Everyone adores him, of course.  They think everything he does is hilarious and adorable (except maybe spitting up -- that usually sends a few of them running from the room gagging).  Youngest children in large families are so lucky -- they are so loved.

milk drunk!

 I blame the blurry pictures on small children -- either they are the photographers, or the lens is covered with greasy fingerprints.

Dominic Smiles!

I have several blog posts in the works, but now for your Sunday viewing pleasure we are happy to present a gratuitously cute movie of Dominic smiling.

I love that newborns smile with their whole bodies.