"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

 Last year I did not make Halloween costumes for the grandkids and I felt awful. I totally felt like I failed them. So this year I asked everyone early what then wanted to be and got to work.

Seeing the excitement there faces when they saw the complete costume brought me so much joy.  This year they did not got much of a preview of the costumes until they were done so it was a really fun when they saw them.

Since Larina is not yet 2 years old her mommy told me she wanted to by Elmo. It was so cute when I tried the skirt on her. She held out her arms and twilled around laughing. She makes a very cute Elmo...

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 Eli wanted to be a Minecraft spider. Minecraft is a video game that all the kids play. So after looking up what it looked like and made a costume and did not like it. So I threw that one away and started over. I enlisted Christa in making his hat with the eyes in it. Eli loved it! 

Oliver wanted to be Charizard who is a Pokemon character. I had no idea what that was so again I had to do my research. Once I figured it out I found the origami pattern for the head and wings. The pattern said it would take 6 to 8 hours to make so I figured it would be a good job for Grandpa Rick. Well Grandpa Rick thought it would be a good job for Jese so he also got to help. With team work it took them just over 6 hours to get it done. I made the body of the costume and we attached the wings to it. It turned out so good! Oliver was a happy little boy. I am happy to report that the mask survived trick or treating. 

Josie was my easy costume. She wanted to be a cat. We decided that she need a tutu also to make her a pretty kitty. She was all smiled when she came in and saw it.

 Liam wanted to by a green plastic soldier. After assembling all the parts I painted the jacket, pants and belt with some leftover latex paint. I had to do that so the green spray paint would not just soak in. It also made the cloth very stiff so it looked like plastic after it was painted green. I had Rick help me with the spay paint since I tend to spay it on to thick and make it run.

Liam made me the happiest with his reaction. I was helping him get it on and he told me that he did not think I was going to be able to make it look good but I had. He said it was really cool. That is a big complement from a 10 year old.

So there you have it another Halloween in the books!

Sharon

"I understood at a very early age that in nature, I felt everything I should feel in church but never did. Walking in the woods, I felt in touch with the universe and with the spirit of the universe." - Alice Walker

Last weekend we got one last camping trip in for the year. We went back to Pikes Peak State Park in Iowa. Since I already wrote all about it in a previous blog I will just share the pictures.

Enjoy the beauty....

Sharon

"I get those fleeting, beautiful moments of inner peace and stillness - and then the other 23 hours and 45 minutes of the day, I'm a human trying to make it through in this world." -Ellen DeGeneres

It is hard sometimes to find that inner peace. The world these days really seems to be an awful place and you have to look hard to find the good. It is so easy to dwell on the bad instead of looking at the good.  People love to spread the bad. It is on the news, Facebook, Twitter and on and on. It is a my way or no way kind of world. Everyone is just so angry.


So trying to find that inner peace is work.  Those few moments in the day when you just shut the noise of the world out and just breath. I started taking yoga last year at our local yoga studio Awaken Vibrance and that has helped a lot. Just to take that hour to be in the moment and shut it all off. Let it be all about me and only me. It is hard to do, to not let all that negativity in your mind, to find peace. I also recently started taking a mentation class.

I walk, walk and walk. I use to run, run and run but my 55 year old body is ready to just walk. It is the best therapy out there.  It is my time to get rid of the day and just think about my steps.


I have gone back to my news black out. I use to be a new junky, I would read a couple news papers everyday and looked at several news sites on the web, I would watch the news on TV and read Time magazine cover to cover each week.  Then shortly after 9-11 I stopped. I could not take all the sad news, it was just to hard. I felt much better just staying away from it. At the end of last year I started falling back into the trap again. I found myself checking those news sties again and clicking on all those links people would put of Facebook. But I have stopped again.  I know I can't live in a complete bubble but I can do my best stay away all the negativity and hate. You feel so much better about life when you eliminate it.



So even when it is hard I can and will get those fleeting, beautiful moments of inner peace and stillness....

Namaste
Sharon