Let me back up {Halloween}

Okay, so I have stories galore about these costumes. I just didn't have time to type them out! OH & I have pictures from Halloween at the Deana Rose Farmstead. This is going to take forever. Maybe I'll break it up in to 2 separate posts. Okay... 1st things 1st.

THE COSTUMES

I've had a few comments that we looked "OLD SCHOOL". I think the reason being that none of the outfits are of the commercial type. There are no Disney characters, famous superheroes, etc. I take that as a compliment. :) Plus, I haven't had to pay the upcharge for buying a licensed item! So anyway, without further ado... here are their costumes described a bit more in detail.

*Libby the Cowgirl:



You may remember a post awhile back where I mentioned we had a Cowgirl outfit that has circulated around my family for over 60 years. My mom wore it when she was a toddler, my sister Becky, me & Leah, too. {Click here for the refresher} So now in 2008, it was Libby's turn! We turned up the cuteness factor by giving her a PINK cowgirl hat, PINK shirt & she wore her adorable PINK cowgirl boots. The boots were a gift from when she was born! (Joe Lopez's mom got them for Libby!) They are so cute & we've had them on a display shelf in Libby's room just waiting 'til the day she could wear them . :) She looked mighty sassafrass.

*Davis the Spooky Ghost:



And he was S*C*A*R*Y. {wink, wink} This was all his idea. He even described the costume to me. "All we need is a white towel... and you cut HOLES in it for eyes." I knew a towel was the wrong shape, wrong fabric. So I parted with some white flannel I had in my fabric bin. Well, Ghost #1 went awry. I'm not sure what happened, but it was ugly. It was sewn twisted for one thing. It looked too "happy" {not spooky} for what Davis had envisioned for another. And the final straw was I kept thinking it looked too much like a JJJ {the next letter x3, I can't even say it) robe. So I trashed it immediately, throwing away about 2 1/2 hours worth of WORK on a GHOST costume. I then took some scissors to my white table cloth (I had run out of white fabric) which had a stain on it. I had just washed it & the stain didn't come out... so I figured it's next purpose in life was to become a ghost. This one was much simpler, yet much more thought out. And it was SPOOKY. {wink, wink}

*Brett the Robot:

This one was easy, since most of the work had already been done for his Birthday Party! The robot hat/head piece was from the relay race (spraypainted box & fruit cups). I just added the red reflectors for eyes. The arms came from his Birthday (the dryer vent connectors), but I made him the little vest thing. I just sewed on scraps of fabric & ribbon. Ohhhhh, but remember when I asked what you thought I bought the 2 class-A RV sun shades for?

They were on clearance at Walmart for $3. I figured that was a good price to get all that silver & black fabric! And it WAS. Turns out there were actually 3 class-A RV sun shades crammed in that little zipper pouch. No wonder they didn't freakin' fit. I took one out to look at it & could not get them back in. It was like a jack-in-the-box. I had these gigantic sun shades that kept springing out. I was all flustered in the check-out lane.

Anyway, that is how we got our OLD SCHOOL costumes. :)



We also carved our 1st pumpkin in 4 years. Davis's idea was to do a skeleton... so we gave it a whirl. I think we did a pretty good job! And by WE, I of course mean I. We all know pumpkin carving involves a lot of well-thought out lines & of course involves sharp, serrated knives. So the kids gathered 'round & watched.

Camel Infestation

Okay, they're "camel back crickets". I absolutely despise these things. And at night, when the lights go out... our basement is taken over by them. On a short walk to the washer & dryer (only about 8 steps), I probably walk past or into almost 20 of them, all different sizes. (Keep in mind this is only on a short walk to the washer & dryer... but they are EVERYWHERE.) They try to "scatter" which is a freakin' NIGHTMARE. They jump back & forth, all around, haphazardly, have NO idea what they're doing. The WORST was when one jumped onto my flip flop & my heel came down on it. I wanted to vomit.

The name, their description & their appearance all make me want to vomit. They are... chubby. I never thought I'd say I actually would prefer a black crunchy cricket, but I DO. The camelback crickets are brown & have a chubby torso. I could deal with that, except for the fact that they throw themselves at me as I try to walk in my basement. I found this description on my new favorite site bugspray.com :

Since it grows large, many people are
surprised at just how big they are.
Another unique feature of this cricket
is that they jump randomly and are more
likely to jump at you than away from you.
It is believed this is due to how they
see. Their vision is such that it
appears to them they are moving away
from it's predator but in fact they are
moving towards it. Some people speculate
this has lead the species to appear to
be attacking which in turn chases away
would-be predators. Whatever the reason,
keep in mind they cannot bite or sting.
Even still, having a large unusual insect
jumping at you will probably feel
disconcerting. 

What has me concerned is that my quick internet searches (how I treat ALL my problems - medical, broken AC, broken garage door, dying tree, you name it) seem to cater to "if you see one on occasion". Then I read the word "infestation" & I wanted to vomit. That's what we have. (gulp) A bigger problem. That requires either a gazillion sticky glue traps or calling the professionals. I've learned they are nocturnal & seem paralyzed when there is a light source. This is why we only see them at night... and why when we turn on the fluorescent lights its as if we've caught them with their pants down.

I have learned they eat fabric (much like moths) which is just one reason to get rid of them. Another being rats & mice like to feed on them. I think when I read that, was when I decided it was indeed something more than "something gross I had to endure in the basement at night".

Libby's laundry is done... but I think I'll just wait 'til the morning.