The kids are both old enough now to appreciate holiday traditions. They remember doing some of these things in years past and look forward to doing them again. As you can see, pumpkin carving was a big hit with them.

Sam and Claire cleaned out the pumpkins as best they could and directed the cutting of the designs. I, of course, was in charge of sharp implements. Sam chose an elaborate spider design. Claire was happy with a goofy face.

Our jack-o-lanterns garnered compliments from the neighbors!

Of course, trick-or-treating was the most exciting part of the holiday. Their dad and uncle took them around the neighborhood and they came back with an unbelievable amount of candy. I guess our neighbors were suckered by how cute these two kids are (I know I would have been!)

More holiday photos can be seen here.

I had hoped to finish my orange jacket in time for trick-or-treating. I had imagined attaching some black felt cutouts (only temporarily) to make it look like a jack-o-lantern, but I just plain ran out of time. I did finish it the next day and am very happy with it.

I think I managed to save it from looking too “clownish.” Cutting down the sleeves helped a lot. It’s not something I can wear all the time, since that neck is deep and wide. It looks best when I wear a turtleneck or crew neck top underneath it. Also, the wide neckline allows the cold in. My next jacket is going to be less “stylish” and more practical. Even though I disparaged the material a lot in the past, I’m eager to sew with fleece again. It’s easy to handle and makes perfect outerwear for the damp weather we have around here.

More details on the McCall’s jacket can be found in my pattern review.

I was determined to make something special for my son’s eighth birthday. Deciding what to make wasn’t all that difficult. My boy worships his father and he treasures anything that makes him feel closer to Daddy.

So, out of the big heap of Robert’s cast-offs, I picked a nice blue button down shirt and cut it up to make a minature version for Sam. But being who I am, I just couldn’t bring myself to make a plain old button down shirt–no, I had to do something more complicated (because the easy option is boring!). The curvy seams and pearl snaps of a western shirt appealed to me.

I found a nice pattern in the summer 3/2007 Ottobre.

It went together fairly easily–but not easily enough that I was done on time for his birthday! Still, the most challenging part was sewing the curvy seams so they didn’t pucker. I had to rip and redo a couple of times, but finally got it right.

Then, came the part where the project was less of a sewing project and more of a carpentry project: attaching the snaps. I was afraid I might crack the pearl faces if I banged on them too hard with the hammer, so tried the gentle approach the first time around. Naturally, they decided to fall out. The second time around, I whacked ‘em good and hard with the hammer and they’re now clinging to the shirt front for dear life.

Sam says he likes the shirt and will wear it (we’ll see about that…) but really wants a new fleece jacket and would wear that every day. I guess I better get right on that!

Thank you for all of the positive vibes you sent our way for Sam’s surgery yesterday. It went very well and he’s healing up faster than I can believe. He actually wanted to ride his bike yesterday evening. Sadly, I had to tell him “no,” since he’s not supposed to do anything very physical for 4-5 days afterwards. The next few days are going to be a challenge–in a very good way. I’m glad he’s not feeling listless or sick–and we still have a full bottle of the pain medicine.

I finished my third Stitchette (the girl with the umbrella):

I plan on stitching one more…and then…what? I’m not sure what to do with them. A throw pillow? A wall hanging? Frame them?

I also finished slogging through a set of photos I took at a wedding we attended last week. Claire was one of five flower girls. They were all very pretty and made the celebration really fun with their antics.

I wish we were able to take life at a slower pace these last few days before school starts, but we’ve got a very full agenda. The most important thing we have on our list is Sam’s surgery tomorrow. He has to undergo another round of treatment for his hearing problem. The tubes that were inserted a little over a year ago have worked their way out and his hearing has become significantly poorer since then. He’s also going to have his adenoids removed, which should help decrease the number of infections he gets in that area. I hate that my baby has to go through all of this, but hopefully, it will help him. He doesn’t want to be struggling to hear things in the classroom–it makes that already challenging environment even more difficult for him.

Of course, we had to get all of our school shopping done. The kids are now fully outfitted and supplied. Usually, I’d take Sam in for a haircut, but the short summer ‘do he got a month ago is still in good shape. Claire is the one who needed serious help with her hair. It had grown very, very long and was prone to tangling in the worst dread-locky sort of way. If she were a tougher kid, I wouldn’t mind combing it every day, but our daily sessions had turned into torture sessions. She agreed to having it cut much, much shorter.

Here’s the Long of It:

And the Short of It:

Pretty darn sassy, no?

In the middle of getting everything in order for the surgery, and taking care of all our chores, I’ve been working on a cute little jumper for Claire:

My goal is to use up a lot of fabric that’s just uselessly occupying space in my closet. The problem is, I often don’t have enough of things to use them without some fancy piecework. This jumper is going to have some unusual seams. I hope they won’t detract from the overall cute-factor or wearability-factor. We’ll see…

I’m also packing up a few things to keep me busy in the hospital tomorrow. I think I might take a little embroidery project to work on: