the aviator

this will be the first of many posts about our halloween holiday. i thought i'd start with the little man's costume. or i should say one of his three costumes. yes, my parents and aaron's dad both sent costumes for him. and since he had two to choose from i decided there really was no reason for me to worry about making him a costume. both were adorable and warm. (see above photos) but while out searching for bits and pieces for our costumes, i found a little bomber jacket for $2. and *ding, ding* i knew i'd be making him a costume now. especially since it would sorta tie into our costumes.


i was able to find a generic pattern to make an aviator cap. i lined the ear flaps and headband with fleece to make it a little more comfortable for him to wear. i also knew he probably would not wear goggles, so i made a pair using black felt, gold paint and clear plastic all of which i happened to have lying around. i attached them to his hat and used a piece of crepe paper to to make the strap. (i would probably modify this part since it was pretty much shredded after the second wear. but it served its purpose for the most part.) his scarf is actually part of the slip from my costume. the slip was too long for what i wanted to use it for so i cut it down and used the excess to make his scarf. his pants are his normal pants. and the last thing i made were his spats. i found a pattern on the internet to give me a general idea of what i needed to do. of course i had to modify them to fit a much smaller person. i also made these using the fast a furious method meaning i used velcro for the closure and instead of real buttons i used paint. i didn't finish the edges either, i decided painting those would seal them and save me a lot of time.


finally the last thing i made was his candy bag. i knew he'd be using this more than once so i didn't want it to be costume specific. right now i'm all about monsters, the cute and adorable kind, so i just went with it.

ave did great wearing his costume. i was a bit worried he'd refuse to wear the hat since we're just now transitioning from the summer to the winter hat but it wasn't an issue at all. his costume was a big hit and i'm glad i did decide to make it in the end. i'm already thinking about next year...well that is if he lets me pick his costume again. fingers crossed.

halloween illustrated

with halloween around the corner, it's been a crazy madhouse around here. which is both good news and bad news. the crafting/designing bug is back after a super long hiatus. nothing like my love of the holiday to do that to a girl. but it does look like a crafting bomb exploded all over the house. creating costumes, planning and decorating for a party, and keeping after an active toddler has got me burning the candle at both ends.

once again we're doing our annual pumpkin carving party. this year the party is a little bigger and a whole lot better. at least i'm planning more than i did last year. tonight i spent some time working in illustrator, probably more time than i should have, making labels. i'm pretty happy with the way they turned out but it took me a whole lot longer than i expected. i'm so out of practice it's pathetic. hopefully i'm back in the game cause even though it took me long, i actually enjoyed it. yay graphic design!

i'll post pics after the party so you can see them in action as well as all my other creepy food and costume creations. happy halloween everyone!

cutting up

last week we had a pumpkin decorating/carving party at our place. we had appetizers, chili and butternut squash soup for dinner and cupcakes for dessert. the party was a huge success and i think we may have started a halloween tradition. unfortunately, not everyone was able to carve their pumpkin. we did a little too much chit-chatting and some friends had to leave before we got started. for those who did stay, we did get some crazy pumpkins. see photo below.


and here are two cuties who came but were a little too young to participate. there's always next year, boys!

where the worms are so woolly

another jam-packed weekend for the westphals.

saturday we headed over to winston-salem for the als walk. we were quite surprised at how large the crowd was, easily twice as large as the walk in springfield. what was really great. thursday afternoon we found out we'd have a group of office staff walking with us. they even had t-shirts made for the event. it was great having so much support for such a worthy cause. we were both touched that everyone drove and hour and half both ways to walk. thanks everyone we truly appreciate it!!

unfortunately, i wasn't able to get any photos. we decided to bring the dogs along and i had a hard time corralling them and taking photos. i think someone did take a group photo, so hopefully i can get my hands on it sometime in the near future.

yesterday, we headed over to banner elk for the 31st annual woolly worm festival. it was a kinda cheesy event but apparently a must see/do in the area. it was a gorgeous day, so we didn't mind and actually enjoyed ourselves. (see photo above) we caught a few woolly worm races, drank some lemon shake-ups and listened to some bluegrass.

tomorrow i'm hoping to get some geocaching in. geocaching? what's that? yeah, it's been way too long since we've done any. yesterday i was hoping to get a few in while we were at the festival. unfortunately, i forgot the gps when heading out the door. i've got some new ones programmed in and if weather is permitting we'll get them done tomorrow. i wonder if there's any in jamaica. hmmmmm.

the price is right

it's been awhile since we've gone hiking. life and moods seem to get in the way of exercise, at least for me. today we ventured up to price lake with the dogs and hiked the 2.3 mile loop around. although both of us agreed it was definitely longer than advertised. the leaves are on the cusp of change and there was a nip in the air. i love the transition and weather this time of year. inspired by jen's fall post, i took a few shroom shots on our journey.

i honestly didn't see the slug on the smallest shroom until after i downloaded the photo. i guess he needed to get a little camera time.

here's aaron's find on our hike. a mushroom waterfall. and just to let you know, we are now living with a JYD. details tomorrow.