Merry Christmas from the Geeks!

I hope your Christmas is spent snuggled up with your loved ones in matching jammies, too!  It's been a wonderful year, and I'm really looking forward to 2020.

Much love,
The Geeks

Seven

Today's Gospel reading was an interesting one to hear on a wedding anniversary- it's the one where we learn that there is no marriage in Heaven.

That doesn't sound very romantic, does it?

But, of course, as Father reiterated in his homily, marriage is an earthly institution.  It's one of those things we fragile humans need in order to survive this life.  You wouldn't be shocked to hear that there is no confession in Heaven; obviously, nobody is sinning, so nobody needs to ask for forgiveness.  That same logic applies to marriage. 

The purpose of marriage is to help your spouse get to Heaven (and to be helped in return); once you're there, you don't need a spouse anymore.  One might see this as an argument for the impermanence of marriage on earth, too, but your job as a spouse isn't done until you've helped your spouse to Heaven, hence vowing "'til death to us part."

Either way, God doesn't exactly write rom-coms.

I'd say we've done a pretty good job working on each other's holiness these past seven years.  We certainly give each other a multitude of opportunities to practice living virtuously; not a day goes by without a chance to practice making good decisions.  So I think it's safe to say we're doing our jobs.

Seven years of marriage and six years of parenthood- that's a lot of practice. 

Much love,
The Geeks

Currently, Chief is {6 years}

Another year has flown by, and "my first baby" (which is the title she likes to constantly remind me about) is definitely not a baby.  I'm never sure if I'm ready for the next birthday, but six really is a big deal.

winter recital, a week after turning 5

Currently, Chief is in Kindergarten at our parish school, where she's loving every minute of it.  Kindergarten is a vastly different animal than Pre-K, which was more shocking for me than it was for her.  For one thing, the Pre-K program is physically in separate (temporary) buildings behind the school, whereas Kindergarten is in a regular classroom.  Kindergarteners are allowed to play on the regular playground at recess, rather than the smaller play area reserved for only the Pre-K students.  Kindergarteners get to eat their lunch in the cafeteria, rather than in their classrooms.  The Kindergarteners are expected to wear the regular uniform, rather than the modified dress code requirements for the Pre-K students.  And Kindergarteners have homework!  It's just a handful of worksheets which are assigned on a Friday and are due the following Friday, and they are meant to be completed together with the parents' help; but it's "real homework, Mom, just like the big kids!" and that's the most exciting part, for her.  Again, all of these changes have been a shock, for me- particularly the level of independence they seem to expect out of Kindergarten students, greatly contrasting last year's constant flurry of notes sent home in her backpack with detailed instructions for what to expect the next day.  Don't get me wrong, the teacher is great with communication- I have a copy of her daily schedule, various documents showing the handwriting expectations and general curriculum to be covered throughout the year, and we even get to see photos taken in class at the end of every week.  But for the first time ever, if I want a blow-by-blow rundown of her day, I have to get it straight from her, rather than a written summary.  That's a huge change from years of daycare daily sheets!  For the most part, she either doesn't notice the differences, or else revels in them- like the playground privileges and the fancy new uniform. 

family Christmas card photo 2018

Somewhere along the way on her journey from five-years-old to six, my little girl became a whole new person.  She had exhibited some symptoms of a mild social anxiety the past couple of years, and while I've spent many a night Googling and quizzing her doctor and her teachers for evidence and theories, the past few months have shown a radical change in her ability to handle situations that previously would have left her in tears, hyperventilating, or breaking out in hives.  I'd like to think I've helped her develop strategies to live in a world that largely doesn't care about her comfort, but I think it's mostly been her own sheer will.  Enrolling in a new dance studio is one of the scariest things she's ever done, and she had every right to back out and try a different activity altogether rather than deal with a massive change (a new place, a new teacher, new fellow students, new techniques...)  But this little girl loves being on stage more than anything else, and she dug down deep and found the courage to dive right in because she knew the reward would be worth it.  (Now maybe she just decided that something like soccer would be even more unknown and scary-different, but either way we went from tears and an overall attitude of defeat to a strength of will and a determination to make it work, with no cajoling from me, just a simple, "Are you sure?")  And that's just one example of many throughout the past six months where she has shocked me with her ability to overcome what would have previously been absolutely devastating circumstances and hold her head high.  I honestly don't know how she does it!  And obviously I'm not going to ask, "Hey, how come you're not having a meltdown about this?" because the worst thing to do is suggest that something should be scary if it's not scaring her.  Maybe she internalized my completely amateur coping strategies; maybe she feels comforted by the fact that she *can* collapse into my arms for a good cry if she needs it; or maybe she's just matured to the point where she realizes that if she wants to be in the recital, she has to wear the costume that looks like it might be itchy, so it's best just to try it on without making a big deal about it.  Whatever the explanation, I'm incredibly proud of her, and am excited to keep helping her grow.

dressed as a 100-year-old lady on the 100th day of school

Along with this newfound ability to cope with a harsh, scary world has come a bold strength that was always building and has finally broken through.  She's never been shy about speaking her mind, and will volunteer opinions whether they are asked for or not.  But she's got a new confidence that manifests itself as a sense of independence, a desire and an ability to take care of herself.  "I've got this," has been her motto since she first learned to speak- describing a willingness to dress herself, feed herself, climb atop tall furniture herself- but now she's "got" so much more.  For example, she heard that her new dance studio holds auditions for their annual Nutcracker, and I had warned her that she may be too young this year.  For the first couple of weeks of class, she pestered me for details about the audition process, and practice schedule, and performance details- details I didn't have.  I told her I would ask, and that there would probably be a newsletter with all the information.  Well, she finally got tired of waiting, so one Monday afternoon before class, she marched up to the receptionist- a woman whom she had never spoken to directly- waited for her to finish speaking to another parent, and then asked clearly and directly, "Excuse me, how old do you have to be to do the Nutcracker?"  It turns out she can't audition this year- she needs to be in a higher skill level class- and she accepted the answer with grace.  We often joke that she's going to be a lawyer when she grows up, but with that sort of assertiveness, maybe she'll be CEO.

first day of Kindergarten

Every year around her birthday, Mr. Geek and I jokingly ask, "What are we going to do with a [X]-year-old in our house?" and proceed to insist that we don't have the room for a child so big, or that some rule says we can't keep her or something.  She likes that joke and has started asking it herself- "What are you going to do with a 6-year-old?"  And you know what?  The question is less of a joke this year.  I'm not sure I'm ready for her to be this old, this mature, this sure of herself.  Surely she's going to learn, any day now, that we're just making this up as we go along.  From the moment we packed up to leave the hospital, Mr. Geek has been sure that someone would decide we wouldn't be allowed to keep her- that even now someone in a black suit with a clipboard would show up and say, "Sorry, you've failed," and carry her off to parents who know what they're doing.  For now, she mostly understands the rules that govern the house and will concede that we know what we're talking about, but someday soon she's going to figure it all out- figure out that we're total amateurs at this parenthood thing, that we're not certified for this, that sometimes we're wrong about things.  I hope she forgives us when she figures it out.

How old is your first baby?  When do you start to feel like a professional parent, rather than an amateur?

Much love,
The Geeks

Happy Halloween!

Pokemon trainer Misty catching 'em all

Happy Halloween from the cast of the original Pokemon anime!  Somehow we didn't manage to get a photo of all four of us together, so these separate snapshots will have to do.

Gym leader Brock is very serious about battling Pokemon

Ash Ketchum is so glad to have found Nurse Joy so she can care for Pikachu!

What did your crew wear for Halloween this year?  Can you pull off a family theme, or are everyone's interests too varied?  I know we're quickly approaching the day where this isn't "cool" anymore, but here's hoping we have a few years of family costumes left!

Much love,
The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Saint Teresa of Calcutta

So, you've got all those Halloween costumes out of the way, and then you remember- your little girl needs a costume for All Saints' Day!  My preschooler picked Saint Teresa of Calcutta for the All Saints parade last year and I was able to whip up this costume in one night with minimal sewing.  Read on to see how you can put together your own!

Saint Teresa of Calcutta Costume

Supplies:

-white fabric
-1" navy blue ribbon
-3/8" navy blue ribbon
-1" elastic
-thick flat plastic headband
-white thread
-navy blue thread

1. First, you need to measure your little saint- do this before you buy fabric to make sure you have enough!  Now, for our preschool All Saints parade, the little ones needed to be able to put on their own costumes over top of their uniforms, so it couldn't be anything too complicated like a real sari.  I designed this costume in two parts- a veil and a sash.  The first measurements you're going to take are for the sash.  Measure one shoulder, from the base of the neck to the edge of the shoulder, and call that W.  Next, take your measuring tape and hold one end at the edge of the shoulder, and drape the measuring tape down to the opposite hip, then around her body and back up the other side to meet at the edge of the tape (like a deacon's vestments).  The entire length you just measured will be X.  (This picture is a little deceptive, in that you can't really tell that I intend you to measure all the way around.  What's shown here- a flat measurement from shoulder to hip- is really .5X, if you want to be pedantic.)  For the veil, you want to first drape your measuring tape starting at one hip, climbing up all the way to the top of her head, then down the other side to the opposite hip- the full length of this arc is what we'll call Y.  Now, you're going to take one last measurement which I couldn't show in this picture- start at the hairline and measure over the top of her head and all the way down her back to the hip level (so that it ends at the same plane as the ends of your Y measurement)- this we'll call Z.

not drawn to scale

2. So here's what we do with those measurements.  For the sash, you're going to cut one rectangle of white fabric whose width is twice the W measurement plus 0.5" (for seam allowance) and whose length is your X measurement plus 0.75" (again for seam allowance- this one is going to be sewn in multiple directions, hence the extra 0.25").  For the veil, you'll need a rectangle of white fabric whose width is the Z measurement plus 0.5" for seam allowance, and whose length is the Y measurement plus 0.5" for seam allowance.  (I've really done a terrible job with this drawing; your Z measurement will probably end up being a little over half of your Y measurement.)  Of course I'm using 0.25" seams here, if you want to do differently then adjust your measurements.

3. To begin making the sash, first fold your rectangle in half, right sides together, bringing the bottom side up to the top as I've drawn it here (hence the need to double your W value).  Sew around one long side and one short side, then turn it out the right way.

not drawn to scale

4. While you've got just one long white rectangle, you're going to attach the blue ribbon to form the distinctive stripes you find on Saint Teresa's sari.  Place the wider ribbon along one of the long edges of the rectangle, and then two stripes of the narrow ribbon.  Space them all about a half of an inch apart.  To attach them, you could diligently applique around all four sides of each ribbon, but this costume probably needs to be thrown together on Halloween night itself, so ain't nobody got time for that.  Instead, set your machine to the widest zig-zag stitch, and stitch right down the middle on each ribbon.  Finally, fold the sash in half again, bringing the short sides together, right sides facing, and sew with a tighter zig-zag stitch to complete the sash.  (This takes care of the unfinished ends of your ribbon and the white fabric.  It's not perfectly finished, but it will do just fine for this simple costume.)

5. To make the veil, begin by hemming all four edges of the fabric (I simply folded over 0.25" and sewed with a straight stitch; again we're not going for perfect here).  Attach the blue ribbon in the same way as with the sash to make the stripes again (this time you'll want to fold over the ends of each ribbon and stitch them down to make a nice hem).

not drawn to scale

6.  Cut three pieces of elastic about 3" long each.  Fold your veil in half, bringing the short sides together, and mark the center.  On the wrong side of the veil, attach one piece of elastic along the center line about a half an inch back from the front edge (where the wide blue ribbon is).  Attach it with a tight zig-zag stitch several times back and forth along only the short edges, so that there is a gap where you can slide your fingers underneath.  If the edges fall under where your blue ribbon is on the other side, use blue thread.  If the fall on the white fabric, use white thread.  Attach the other two pieces of elastic in the same way on either side of the middle, about two inches away from your center piece.

7. To wear the costume, your little saint should put the sash over her shoulder so that the blue stripes are closest to her face.  To wear the veil, slide the wide plastic headband through the elastic loops, and put the headband on her head as you would normally.  (This holds the veil neatly in place on her head for a whole parade much better than if you just used bobby pins to hold on the fabric itself, and it's something she can put on by herself if you're not there to help.)

I hope your little one is ready for All Saints' Day!

Much love,
The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Prince Eric and Vanessa Costume Tutorials

The Ariel and Flounder costumes were pretty intense construction, for me, anyway, so luckily my plans for the parents' part of this group only involved creating one accessory for each of us.

Of course in any group where our preschooler is the princess, the role of the prince is naturally played by Daddy!  Prince Eric only needed a simple red sash to complete his outfit which was otherwise composed of pieces Mr Geek already had in his closet.  And Vanessa- the human incarnation of Ursula, using Ariel's stolen voice- needed only the magic shell necklace, which didn't even involve sewing!

Prince Eric Supplies:

-red fabric (preferably something shiny)
-black fabric
-1" wide elastic
-white button-up shirt
-jeans

Vanessa supplies:

-gold card stock
-black yarn
-purple tank top
-purple maxi skirt

1. First, convince your husband to let you measure him around the waist.  It's a hard sell, but necessary.  Measure him all the way around wherever he typically wears a belt (probably more on the hips than the proper waist).  Call this measurement C.  Next, eyeball how tall you want the belt/sash to be- maybe 6"?  Call that value H.

2. You need to cut one red rectangle, one black rectangle, and 2 mirror image black trapezoids using the dimensions shown above.

3. Sew a 1/4" hem on both the top and bottom of your red rectangle.

4. You're going to create 2 1" pleats in the fabric.  Identify a line a couple inches above the center of the red rectangle and fold it over 1", then stitch it down with a 1/4" seam allowance using a straight stitch.  Do the same thing below the center line at the same distance.  (The dotted lines above visually represent what I'm talking about; the actual spacing here is up to your aesthetic).

5. Fold your black rectangle in half, ride sides together, and sew along the long end with a 1/4" seam allowance, creating a long black tube that is just slightly taller than your elastic.  Turn it rightside out.

6. Cut your elastic 1" shorter than the length of this black tube.  Feed the elastic into the tube.  Sew down one end of the elastic so that it is lined up perfectly with the edge of the tube, attaching it to the black fabric.  Gently pull the other end of the elastic to line it up with the edge of the tube on that end, and sew it in place.  When you let go, the whole thing will shrink in a little bit.

7. Fold down the angled edges of your two trapezoids by 1/4" each and sew them down with a straight stitch.  These pieces are going to connect your elasticized band to the pretty pleated red sash.

8. Attach the tall edge of each trapezoid to the ends of the red rectangle using a zigzag stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance.  Attach the short edge of each trapezoid to the ends of the elastic waistband.  Ta da!  [As an aside- you can use the same technique on a much smaller scale to make a soft elastic headband!]

9. Have Prince Eric wear his jeans and white shirt, rolling the sleeves up to the elbows and leaving the top couple of buttons undone.  Pull on the belt over the jeans at waist level.

10. Vanessa's seashell necklace is rather simple.  Draw the shape of the shell with a permanent black marker on the gold cardstock, then cut it out.  Cut the black yarn to the desired length and attach it to the shell.  Wear the purple tank and skirt, with the necklace prominently displayed.  Remind your princess that she can't talk, and steal the prince!

Do the parents get in on the Halloween action in your family?

Much love,
The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Flounder Costume Tutorial

Obviously our red haired princess was Ariel for our family Little Mermaid Halloween costume.  Since Baby Brother has a tendency to act like such a guppy, I figured Flounder would be the perfect character!  To achieve this look, I created a rather simple hooded fleece sweatshirt, with striped sleeves to act as the fins, as well as a few fins along the hood.

Supplies:

-yellow fleece
-baby blue fleece
-navy blue fleece
-thread to match

1. Start with a nice big hoodie that fits your little fish.  Tuck the sleeves in, then trace around the outside, adding 1/4" for seam allowance.  You'll want to have one piece for the back, which will have a higher neckline, and one piece for the front, which will have a lower neckline- feel free to exaggerate that neckline to make putting it on and taking it off a little easier.  Cut this front and back piece from your yellow felt.  Next, pull the sleeves back out of the hoodie and trace around them, again with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Cut 2 identical pieces for each sleeve from the baby blue fleece.  Next, you need two long, thin rectangles of the navy blue fleece; the length should be the same length as the sleeve pieces, and the width is up to you, but I went with 1" for my toddler.  Finally, cut two freehand ovals from the blue fleece; they will be placed on the back of the pullover, one on top of the other, as the stripes on Flounder's back.

2. Take the back piece and fold it in half both ways so that you find both the horizontal and the vertical center lines.  Using these creases as your guide, arrange and pin the blue ovals onto the right side of the fabric, with their right sides up.  You want the ovals to be placed along the vertical center line, with one just above and one just below the horizontal center line.  Sew these on like appliques, using a zigzag stitch right at the edge.

3. Now you're going to attach the front piece to the back piece at the shoulders.  Place the two pieces on top of each other, right sides facing.  See how the front piece has very distinct, narrow shoulders?  You're going to sew the front to the back at those two points only, using a 1/4" seam allowance.  [It's important to note here that I'm not worried about hemming anything for a couple of reasons- it's fleece, so it doesn't fray like regular cotton fabric....and also it's a costume that's only going to be worn a couple of times.]

4. Next, you need to piece together the sleeves.  Lay out two of the light blue pieces with each navy blue rectangle, like this.  Sew the three pieces together with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Do this one side at a time, placing the rectangle on top of the light blue piece, right sides together, lining up the long edge of the rectangle with what will ultimately be the top of the sleeve, and sewing straight down that line with a straight stitch.  Then repeat with the other piece.

5. Now you're going to create that hood.  Use the hood of your original sweatshirt as a guide to cut two hood-shaped pieces of the yellow fleece.  Next, cut some shapes from both the light and dark blue fleece to be the little "mohawk" of fins along Flounder's head; cut two identical pieces of each shape.  Put those pairs of shapes together and sew along three sides, leaving an opening (like a bunch of little socks) so you can turn the fins right side-out again.  Finally, lay the two hood pieces on top of each other, right sides together, and sandwich the little fins in the middle, placed however you'd like along the curve.  [I did end up hemming the edge of the hood closest to the face, just for a clean edge.]

6. Finally, you're going to put the whole thing together.  Attach each sleeve to the bodice first along the shoulder curve on each.  Once that's done, put the whole piece together so that you're looking at an inside-out sweatshirt and sew up the side of the body and then along the sleeve, from the armpit out to the wrist.  Turn the sweatshirt the right way out, and then attach the hood to the neckline; leave a gap in the front for your fishie's big head!  Now, you can put elastic in the wrists if you'd like, but I didn't think to do that before we took this little fish out, so I ended up rolling up the cuffs instead.

And there's your fish!  Your Flounder can wear a light-colored T-shirt underneath his pullover, and whichever sort of pants are the most comfortable.  (If he's going to be walking around much, yellow sweatpants would be great!  Since our Flounder spent most of his time in a stroller, we went with jeans.)

What is your toddler wearing for Halloween this year?

Much love,
The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Ariel Costume Tutorial

Last year, our crew did Halloween as the cast of The Little Mermaid.  If you've followed this blog for a while (at Halloween time, anyway) you'll know that my sewing projects tend to be mostly upcycle projects- I like to start with an already constructed garment, tear it apart, and rebuild it as something new.  I tend to be daunted by the idea of making any garment purely from scratch because I'm just not that confident in my skills.  Of course, I did make the vest for the Ryder costume from scratch the year that we did the Paw Patrol...but I didn't exactly nail the zipper on that one.

Well, The Little Mermaid costumes changed that posture for me.  Everything that I actually made for these costumes was done from scratch- one full costume, one partial costume, and two accessories.  That doesn't mean these costumes were particularly professional looking- they still look very much homemade!  But still, there was a lot of love in these garments and I think we all looked pretty great, don't you?

So today, let's talk about the Ariel costume.  While the mermaid get-up would probably have been easier to pull off, I felt  it was less appropriate for October weather, so we went with the "exploring the town" dress instead.  This costume is 4 parts- a black faux corset worn over a blue long-sleeved shirt, a blue skirt with an elastic waist, and of course a navy blue bow worn in the hair.

It's important to note that while a lot of the costumes I've made could be adapted to adult sizes merely by changing the measurements, the construction on this one really does presume it will be worn by a little girl- that is, someone with no curves.

Supplies:

-a baby blue long-sleeved tshirt in your mermaid's size
-black fabric
-black separating zipper
-black thread
-royal blue fabric
-royal blue thread
-1/2" elastic
-navy blue ribbon
-hair clip

1. First, measure your mermaid.  Have her hold her hands out to the side so she makes the letter T, and wrap your tape measure around her chest, right at the armpit level.  (Afterwards, she can strike a sassier pose, like this.)  Divide that measurement by 2 and you have the W measurement shown above.  Next, place one end of your measuring tape in her armpit, and measure down to her hip; this value we'll call H.  Find the spot on her breastbone at the level of her armpit, and then measure up towards her throat, stopping wherever you would prefer the neckline of this bodice to land (remember that we're going to cut a notch in it, so the center of the bodice will actually be lower than this point); call this B.  Then, wrap your measuring tape around her body at the belly button level and call this C.  Finally, measure from the belly button down to about the ankles, or wherever you'd like the bottom of the skirt to fall, and call that L.

2. Now you're going to cut the fabric for the front of the faux corset.  You'll need two identical pieces, and each piece needs to be perfectly symmetrical.  I achieved this by folding two pieces of black fabric in half and stacking them on top of one another; I suppose you could also achieve this by folding the fabric in half and then in half again, such that when you make just one cut, you'll end up with two identical (folded) pieces.  (Truth be told, with a heavy enough cotton, you don't really need to double up on your fabric, but I was using sort of a thin cotton from a pile of fat quarters, and I wanted this bodice to hold its shape.  Plus, I anticipated the notch that would be cut, and I figure it's easier to sew two pieces together along that sharp corner than to hem it; I'll leave it up to you to decide how to handle this, but my instructions will assume there are two front pieces.)  You're going to have to free-hand some of this shape; I suggest creating a pattern piece using whatever large paper you may have on hand, like wrapping paper or kraft paper.  Follow the guide shown here for how to sketch out that pattern piece, and cut it accordingly on your doubled fabric so that you end up with two pieces.

3. Now you're going to cut that notch.  Use your judgement to determine how deep and how wide you want the V to be; the depth will be measurement X and the measurement Y is the width divided in half.  Draw a right triangle with the X and Y as two of the sides, and then draw a hypotenuse to connect them.  Cut along that angled line to create the notch.

4. Now to cut the fabric for the back of the faux corset.  This time you want 2 pieces that mirror each other (although they are just rectangles, so they will be identical).  To achieve this, once again fold your piece of black fabric in half, but this time you're going to line up your pattern piece on the cut edge of the fabric, rather than lining it up with the fold.  Again, we're just cutting a rectangle here (and will end up with two) so the pattern is much more straight forward.

5. Time to begin assembly!  First, lay your front pieces on top of each other, right sides facing.  Using a 1/4" seam and a zig-zag stitch, sew across the top, and then sew across the bottom.  (If you want, you can do one continuous stitch by also going down one side, but only one side.  You need to leave the fourth side open.)  Turn the bodice front rightside-out, taking special care around the notch.

6. Next, hem both the tops and bottoms of both of your back pieces, again with a 1/4" seam allowance (a straight stitch is fine).

7. Attach your separating zipper to the two back pieces.  I followed a simple tutorial for doing this, found here.  I happened to find a zipper that was the exact right size for this bodice, so I didn't have to worry about dealing with the ends!

8. Finally, you're going to attach the front piece to the back piece.  To do so, place the back pieces on top of the front of the front piece (does that make sense?), right sides together.  Again with a 1/4" seam allowance, sew straight down on each piece.  Finish the seams however you wish.  (I don't have a fancy serger, so I just use a zig-zag stitch and call it a day.)  That's it!  So simple to make this beautiful little top.

9. Okay now we're going to take a pause and do some math.  That C measurement you took up there- the waist?  That stands for circumference, of course.  Remember how C = 2*pi*R ?  Let's round pi to 3.25 (I know, cringe, but estimates are okay here because we're doing an elastic waistband!) and solve for R = C/(2*3.25).  Now multiply that R value by 1.5 for a nice twirly skirt.

10. Take your royal blue fabric and fold it in half, then fold it in half again.  Using your L measurement and your newly found R, cut according to the image above.  Making circles is difficult; the trick is to take a string cut to the length you want the circle to be, tack it to the corner of your folded fabric, and tie a piece of chalk to the other end.  Then use it like a compass to sketch out a quarter of a circle!  When you're done, and you unfold, you'll have a big blue donut.

11. Hem the outside of the donut 1/4".  I happened to have some black bias tape and for whatever reason I thought it would look super cool, so I attached that to the bottom instead of just folding and hemming.  I don't know why.  Just go with it!

12. Cut a piece of elastic that is actually your waist measurement (C).  Fold over the top edge of the inner part of your blue donut so that the elastic will slip inside (for 1/2" elastic, make that about 7/8", or maybe a round 1" for wiggle room).  Sew that all the way around, using a 1/4" seam allowance, and leave a couple inches' worth of a gap.

13. Take a safety pin and attach it to one end of your elastic.  Feed the safety pin into one end of the tube you've just sewn, and slowly and carefully fish the elastic into the tube and allllll the way around, pulling the safety pin out the other side.  It'll get tough towards the end there, but you can do it!  Remove the safety pin and overlap the ends of your elastic by about 1" and stitch it together securely, definitely use a zig-zag stitch.  Finally, sew down the gap that you left in the waistband so it's fully closed.

14. The last piece is the bow!  Take your ribbon and create a large, 80s-style bow, and attach it (with hot glue, for some retro flair) to your hair clip. 

15. To wear the costume, your mermaid should put on the long-sleeved shirt, slip on the skirt, and zip the faux corset over the shirt.  Put her hair in a half-up pony and clip in the bow.

Phew!  What a costume!  I have to be honest with you, I really messed up the skirt on this outfit.  I messed up my cut so that the fabric was not so much a circle as a wobbly, wavy, vaguely rectangular shape.  I didn't leave enough gap for the waistband so most of it came undone when I was forcing the elastic through, and I somehow overstretched the elastic so it ended up being too big!  I had to overcompensate by adding a makeshift belt.  And finally that business with the bias tape- I really should have just hemmed it.

But you know what?  She still looked pretty adorable.  Ariel had a great time exploring the Rennaissance Festival with her Prince, and meeting humans at Air and Scare, and collecting candy on Halloween night.

So what is your little one going as for Halloween this year?

Much love,
The Geeks  

It's that time of year again...

Tomorrow is the first day of October!

If you've been following Our Geeky Adventure over the years, you know that October is my favorite month.  I love the colors of the leaves, sweater weather, football games, pumpkin spiced everything...

...and Halloween, of course!

Last year our crew dressed as the cast of The Little Mermaid and I'm so excited to show you how we put together these costumes!  Tune in all this week and the next to see tutorials for assembling these looks for Ariel, Flounder, Prince Eric, and Vanessa!

What's your favorite part about October?

Much love,
The Geeks

Currently, Peanut is... {2 years}

As per usual #secondchildproblems, poor Peanut's birthday post is late- by almost a week.  Oops.  We've just been so busy celebrating this goofy little booger that I haven't had time to blog!  Let's take a look at how much he's grown.

Growing tall!  He certainly looks like a two-year-old now, losing some of the chunk from his thighs, but that belly- oh that belly.  When he feels the need to really walk with purpose, he juts that belly out and leads with it.

Eating whenever it suits him, to be honest.  He is, unfortunately, becoming a picky eater- not in that he'll only eat certain favorite foods, just in that he has to be in a specific mood to eat pretty much anything.  His current favorite meal is "burger-fries," which is exactly what it sounds like (and they must go together, no burger-fruit or burger-chips for him) but it doesn't mean he'll eat it every time it's placed in front of him.  Sometimes he'll even order it himself and then when it arrives he'll suddenly change his mind!  And he's like that with everything- he doesn't universally reject green vegetables (not anymore, anyway), or meats, or starches, he just randomly decides when he's going to eat the thing he said he wanted in the first place.  And about that food allergy... Daycare, as ever, selectively enforces his dietary requirements, and we've found that the reaction is starting to become less severe.  Buttered toast will result in a red face covered in itchy spots, but cheese is much less severe.  And either way, thoroughly cleaning his face will clear up the reaction.  I still only allow him to drink non-dairy milk (we've all adopted almond milk in this house now rather than buying multiple kinds) and eat non-dairy yogurt, but he tried some of my homemade ice cream and did just fine, and he demands cheese on his food if his sister is having some.

bundled up for the snow at 18 months

Talking much more now, just in the last 5 months or so.  He's got some pronunciation problems that his sister never had- there's a bit of a lisp we're going to have to work on- but he's making much more of an effort to put his thoughts into words.  He has improved his pronunciation on some things- he still can't quite say his sister's name properly, but his approximation is much closer to the real thing now.  He's still firmly in the point-at-things-and-name-them stage, but his vocabulary to describe those things has grown tremendously.  He's starting to form sentences, but mostly just commands- and mostly just directed at his sister!  (He loves wagging his finger at her and saying "Not nice!" if she's getting fussed at, with a big ol' smart alec grin on his face to boot.)  One area he's doing tremendously well in are his (spoken) manners.  He always says "please" when he asks for something and "thank you" when he receives it, and will even through in a "ah welcome" if you thank him for something.  And if anybody sneezes or coughs he says "bess you", and he'll say it over and over again until you respond with "thank you."  It's so cute that the daycare teachers have taken to faking a cough around him just to hear him say it!  But the best is if he sneezes or coughs and nobody immediately says anything- he'll say "bess you, Pepu" as if to remind you what you're supposed to say!  So all in all, he's just as bossy as his big sister, really.

Making facial expressions that sometimes make me want to call up a modeling agency...and sometimes make me exasperated.  Just as he was doing six months ago, he will precede naughty behavior with a sly little grin, only sometimes now he'll say "hey!" to get your attention before he touches something he's not supposed to or throws something on the ground.  And he has started telling jokes- mostly visual jokes, but sometimes he'll call something by the wrong name on purpose and then smile at you broadly until you laugh and acknowledge that he did it on purpose.  There is a teacher in the toddler room at daycare that Mr. Geek and I don't necessarily care for, and I don't think Peanut does, either, but he politely tolerates her and will give half-hearted hugs to her at afternoon pickup.  She sings a little song to him when she sees him and I don't think he particularly likes it, but he knows she'll stop if he smiles, so he does- but it's a smile he only gives in response to this song, with his nose wrinkled up, as if to say, "Yes, okay, you're enjoying this, but I'm not, please stop so I don't have to yell about this."  I've never seen a toddler be sarcastic like that before but he does it masterfully- and I'm not sure the teacher has caught on that that's what he's doing (or at least she's not offended by it).  She'll clap her hands and laugh and show everyone- "Look at that cute little smile!" and ultimately stop singing the song, which appears to be his goal.  He's a clever little stinker.

daycare glamor shots at 19 months

Listening to all types of music, especially Disney movie soundtracks.  He loves dancing to music, clapping his hands, stomping his feet, swaying side to side.  And he has started attempting to sing some of his favorite nursery rhymes- "The Wheels on the Bus" is his current favorite.  I think we've got another dancer on our hands!

Sleeping really well, thankfully, even napping!  Sometimes he fights bedtime- he'd rather sit in his big sister's bed and play with her stuffed animals than get in his own- but after just a few minutes of complaining, he'll sleep all night.  Sometimes naptime seems inconvenient for him, but most of the time he'll go down without a fight- and we're all the better for it. 

celebrating his birthday with a bubble wand at Sesame Place

Loving dinosaurs; puppies; Elmo and Cookie Monster and Abby Cadaby; books; creating abstract artworks with crayons or (especially) markers; grocery shopping; picking out his own shirt to wear; Pokemon; Cheerios; burgers; Mickey Mouse.

Hating when his hands are dirty; puppies that want to actually touch him; meeting Elmo in real life; the word "no"; if his sister touches any of his stuff; getting out of bed in the morning.

I can't believe he's already two.  It feels like we only just brought him home!

Much love,
The Geeks

Happy Easter from the Geeks!

Happy Easter!  I hope your Easter Sunday was a joyous one, surrounded by loving family and sugared up kids. 

As you can see, we really stepped up our outfit coordination this year by going for full-out matching dresses- which we found at The Children's Place, if you're interested.  There is a whole line of dresses for girls available in store that have "Mom & Me" tags on them to denote that you can find a matching style for Mom online.  A word of warning, though- the fit on my dress was a little off, too tight at the waist and much too loose in the bodice.  But it was fine for one fancy day, and with some strategically placed safety pins and a sweater, you can't really notice.  As I couldn't seem to find a tie in the right color for little Peanut, I did something crazy and sewed him a vest, from scratch!  It's fully lined, the perfect pink, and has big black buttons (that are only for show- I didn't have time to worry about button holes).  I may post a tutorial in the coming weeks if I find time to create the graphics to accompany the instructions.

This is a difficult week for us in the Geek household because our beautiful girl is spending her spring break at Mammaw and Papaw's house!  She's having a blast already and this is good for all of us, really, but it was very hard to fall asleep last night knowing her bedroom was empty.  Baby Brother liked the novelty, at first, of having the house to himself, but was not amused at bedtime tonight when his goodnight kiss from Big Sister was blown across video chat instead of squished in person.  We're antsy for this Saturday when we get to reunite and hear about how Mammaw's house is so much more fun than being at home.

How was your Easter?  What are your spring break plans?

Much love,
The Geeks

Currently, Peanut is... {18 months}

It's hard to believe it, but Peanut is already halfway done being one year old!  Chief has already started referring to him as being 2- which I correct and she says, "I know, I know, but he's almost two," and soon I won't be able to say, "No he's not!"  Beyond how old he is, I'm shocked at how different he is from his sister.  I'm always the first to remind people, when the topic of parenting strategies comes up, that children are each unique, individual human beings who shouldn't be expected to respond uniformly to the same things like robots, and yet when I'm reminded of this reality, it's a little jarring.  So let's see just how different Peanut is from how his sister was at this age...

Growing in spurts, seemingly overnight.  He was comfortably wearing 12-18 month sized clothes riiiiight up until we arrived in Arkansas for our Christmas vacation- and then his belly seemed to pop out of nowhere, and pants suddenly hit him at the knees.  So as soon as we got home, I went on a closet-replenishing shopping spree (all winter clothes- I don't expect these to last until warm weather shows up).

Eating with no regard to his own food allergy!  If you've got something on your plate that he wants, he will demand it, dairy be damned.  So far this is mostly limited to buttered toast or buttermilk biscuits and the like- he is a carb fiend.  There may be something to the theory that an allergy like this can just be sort of willed away, because his face no longer swells when he eats butter- he'll break out in red bumps around his mouth, but if you clean his face and hands immediately after he's done eating, those bumps tend to disappear in about 12 hours.  In fact, his skin was basically completely clear up until November, when one day he came home from daycare with a massive eczema breakout all over his back.  We've still got the cream the doctor proscribed, along with some Aquaphor, and that seems to be doing the trick to calm it all back down again.  We're not sure where it came from- daycare swears they definitely did not accidentally feed him cheese or yogurt, but I don't really buy it.  Oh well- at least his stomach isn't upset by it.  Oh, and it turns out he's probably not sensitive to soy after all- he's managing to drink an awful lot of it with no problems lately.  But yeah, as far as his eating preferences?  He would live on bread and Cheerios, if we let him.  Meat must come with a tasty sauce; vegetables must be fried (or carrots); fruits are acceptable as long as his hands don't get too sticky eating them, in which case he loses interest and complains.

Visiting Sesame Place at 13 months old

 Talking a little, but not much.  He's the strong, silent type, it seems.  But he's learned a lot of sign language at daycare (although he's given some signs a signature twist, and uses some signs to mean multiple things) so he can communicate pretty well without words.  I figure he'll start really talking the same way he started really walking- when he decides it's finally necessary.  He is starting to get frustrated that we don't understand him (sometimes we pretend to not understand him, if I'm being honest) and that will force an attempt at a word out of him...or sometimes it starts a tantrum.  I figure the 2's will truly be terrible if he continues with the quiet act, but we're ready for that possibility.  (Okay maybe not ready, but anticipating.)

Making facial expressions that are all his own.  He has a sly look that he puts on when he's about to cause trouble, and I don't think that look necessarily belongs to Mr. Geek or me- it's all him.  His thoughtful, concentrating face looks a lot like Mr. Geek, but other than that, this kid serves looks that are completely original.

Dressed as Flounder from The Little Mermaid at 15 months old

Listening to pretty much all types of music, and loving them all.  He has a natural rhythm and will bob his head or bounce along to anything from an advertising jingle to a Disney musical.  If you tell him to dance, he'll find his toy that makes music, turn it on, and do a little jig for you- stomping his feet, clapping his hands, and bouncing to the beat.  I figure he'll either play an instrument or be a dancer (or both!) and I can't wait to see that happen.

Sleeping alllllll niiiiiiight loooooong.  Some nights he complains about the concept of bedtime, and would much rather stay up playing, but he almost never refuses to go to bed or wakes up in the middle of the night, which is such a blessing.  And he still naps- willingly!  Twice a day!  He'll start to climb the stairs, so you have to follow him, and he'll lead you to his room and point to his bed.  Can't get much clearer than that!  He never quite wants to admit he's ready for bed at night, so you can't ask, "Do you want to go to sleep?"  But if you ask, "Do you want your paci?" which gets left in the crib during the day, or, if he has another paci on him already, "Do you want your ball?" which means his plush Pokeball that lives in his bed with his plush Pikachu, then he'll generally say yes (or at least not say no).

Celebrating Christmas early with aunts, uncles, and grandparents at 17 months old

Loving: dinosaurs!  The kid loves dinosaurs so much that he received a whole gaggle of them for Christmas from nearly everyone in his life, and when we were shopping for new clothes, his big sister made sure basically every new outfit had a dinosaur on it.  He identifies them merely by pointing and making his imitation of a growling sound (which is really just "AAH!") and he will snuggle with even the most ferocious T-rex; puppies; bread; Cheerios; coffee cups (particularly empty ones, which he wants to stick his foot inside for some reason); his sister; his Mommy; his Daddy (who is a newfound favorite; this was pretty much the age Chief decided Daddy was cooler than me, too, so...whatever I'm not jealous); shoes; footballs, basketballs, bouncy balls, and soccer balls; Christmas decorations; pretty girls.

Hating: the suggestion that he should eat something with a bit of protein in it; the Nose Frida; diaper changes; not being held if he's sleeping; not being allowed to run around if he's not sleepy; basically any rules about appropriate behavior at church; putting on clothes; taking off clothes; waking up before he's ready; being left in his crib any more than 2 minutes after he wakes up.

So, Peanut is officially a toddler.  I'm afraid if I blink he'll be in preschool!

Much love,
The Geeks