Happy Halloween!

I made this tonight, and I think it turned out really cute! 

Got the pattern here but left off the handle as I'm just gonna use it as a candy bowl at work :)

Sorry for the long link but the blogger app won't let me hyperlink to my text!! Happy Halloween :)

http://www.yarnspirations.com/pattern/crochet/skull-trick-or-treat-bag?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Yarnspirations.com%20Home%20Decor&utm_content=

Giveaway Day three!! And some crafty business

I am so glad Halloween is over!! Well, more so that the pumpkins are gone lol. I spent twelve hours yesterday in the kitchen doing this to my pumpkins (I had six)!!I made this delicious Citrus Pumpkin Butter out of my Bernardin canning book. I made it a couple of years ago and got rave reviews so I thought I would make it again. All the relatives I can't afford to buy gifts for are getting pumpkin butter instead!!! I'll dress up these jars a bit of course. Then I took the seeds and did this with them:I used a recipe I found on the daily digi. It is the best seed recipe I've found so far, my husband even likes it! They end up tasting candied, with pumpkin spice. So yummy. And here is Chase in his Halloween outfit, he was Flash. Every year he's been a superhero, and the masks never fit, he ends up peeking out at me with one eye. hehe. And here is Rayna as the cutest little ladybug ever. I also made these cute Halloween bags using the pattern I found here. For this one I used my scrap booking program to make an H the size I needed, and printed it off and used it as a template. I cut out the H on the fabric as well as the fusible webbing, and once I had ironed it in place I just stitched around the H before I sewed the pockets onto the bag.I seriously wonder though if one of those bias tape makers would be handy, as I made these straps by hand, and all that folding and ironing takes some time.This one I just used patterned fabric, and used jumbo ric rac for the straps. Much easier, but the pocket came undone after they used it, so next time I would stitch the pockets on first, then add the ric rac after, instead of sewing it all at once like in the pattern. With the ric rac it's hard to tell if you're catching the edge of the material or not.Then I used Modge Podge and tissue to make this cute little pumpkin, like the tutorial I found here or the one here. I used a baby jar instead of a full size jar, and a pipe cleaner for the top instead of painting it, and thought what an appropriate place to put some suckers! I think this would also look cute as a tea light holder, and the light would shine really neatly through the tissue. I'm gonna make a Santa and snowman version too I think. The only thing I noticed was that there was some black stamping printed on the glass of the jar that didn't wash off, and I never noticed it, and it showed through the tissue paper after it dried. Woops. And our pumpkin looks slightly like a pirate, thanks to the black foamy stick on "x" I used for his mouth lol.So that's what I've been up to the last few days. I actually did some crafty stuff!! Ok, and now, what you've all been waiting for! Today's giveaway is a free kit from Stacey's Scraps! All you have to do is visit her store, and leave a comment on this post to let me know which kit is your favorite. And yes, I know it's hard to pick just one!! The winner will be chosen at random next Monday, November 9, 2009. Thanks to Stacey for sponsoring today's giveaway, and as always happy scrapping!! (And make sure you check the posts below for the other giveaways!!)
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Gratitude

"Your children will become what you are, so be what you want them to be" - David Bly

I have no idea who David Bly is, but I do believe these words to be true. And I wonder what kind of job I am doing with raising my son. I was embarrassed tonight. I only want the best for him, and am trying to raise a man who will be a positive force in society, who will be polite, and say please and thank you when someone does something for him. Someone who will stop to help a girl change a flat tire, or pick up the things that you just dropped and scattered all over the place. Someone who will be responsible for his own actions, and not leave someone else to always pick up the pieces. Someone who is honest, and reliable, and well mannered. I would love to have someone comment on how good my child's manners are.

We went trick or treating tonight, and I suppose the pursuit of glucose laden treats may not bring out the best behavior in a three year old. I imagine that running from stranger's house to stranger's house basically asking for candy in the form of "trick or treat!" is not nececarily the best way to teach my son to say thank you, or to understand the concept of just being grateful for what you have instead of asking for what you want. This is how it went:

My sister's two older children and my son (Chase) run ahead of my sister's two younger children in a race to the door to ring the doorbell, which they often rang more than once (my apologies to all the residents of my sister's neighborhood). Then the door opened to the usual chorus of "trick or treat!" to which the lovely neighbors would kindly respond with comments on the costumes and the handout of the candy. My son at every other house would then pipe in "I want that one" or rather than the "trick or treat" would simply say, "I want some candy". I didn't actually hear the first few times this occurred as I was waiting by the sidewalk with my baby in the stroller, so once I heard him I tried to correct him, by yelling from the sidewalk, "manners Chase!!" and once he returned to me, to tell him it's not polite to say that (although, we are going door to door basically asking for candy...) So he would say, "ok mom" and proceed to race to the next house to begin it all again. This went on for two trips around the block (once on the outside houses, once on the inside, although most days I do feel like I am going in circles.)

At the end of our trick or treat evenings, we always drive out to my mom and dad's acreage so that they can see the kids all dressed up. My mom likes to make special treat bags for the kids as well. So I pack up my kids and all our luggage that goes along with children and head out on the 10 minute drive to my parent's place. Once there, we take pictures of the kids, and Chase dives into his candy bag, to which I put a stop. He is bringing me candy from the other kids bags to open for them. He goes downstairs to play with the other kids and this is promptly followed by screaming amidst the blink of the lights going on and off, on and off. "QUIT PLAYING WITH THE LIGHTS CHASE!" I tell him firmly, as he likes to play with these lights only at my mom's every time we go there. When I tell him it's time to go, he does the jump-up-and-down-and-cry-cuz-I-think-it-gets-me-what-I-want dance. This is about as much fun as I can handle for one evening.

Don't get me wrong, I love my son. I love my new daughter. I know I am making parenting mistakes that are resulting in this atrocious behavior from my son. And I am embarrassed. I realize now, that my son is truly living what he is learning, as I think it is only human nature to always want more, or once you have something to want something else. It is what keeps us moving forward and striving for better things, improvements on what we already have. But there is something to be said for just being content in the moment, and being happy with what you have. And I also realize I need to model for my children the behaviour I want. Will my three year old still throw tantrums?? Of course. Don't all three year olds? But in between, he can be polite, and be grateful for what he already has. And I will try to do the same.