Evolution of a Halloween Costume

This past week was pretty much all about getting ready for Halloween.

Here's what I was making.  Meet Doc (and his teammate, Blue).

Cutting out the fabric took longer than anticipated so at first I was feeling a little stressed about getting the costume done in time.  But once I got sewing, it went together pretty quickly.

SUNDAY
Realized that for the suggested layout of the pattern pieces, I couldn't have the fabric folded in half.  Ugh.  Cutting out fabric is tedious!

MONDAY
Finished cutting everything out, and after night one of sewing I had this:

TUESDAY
The next night, after we got home from work/school, I had Bennett try it on so that I could mark the hems.  He was so excited that there was a tail!

That same evening, while Chris worked on making dinner, I started working on the head covering.  It's a good thing that I did this while Bennett was awake, because I had to do a couple of adjustments to get it to fit right.  After he went to bed, I finished putting it together and got this:

At which point, I figured I might as well try putting some paint on it.

WEDNESDAY

The  next evening I had Bennett try the whole thing on, including the mittens and foot coverings.  He was excited to see that his head covering (hood? hat?) had "corns".

And then Daddy did a test fit of the yoke. (One must be on all fours like an ox for this part, right?)

After Bennett went to bed I stuffed the costume with bubble wrap and taped it to the drop cloth on my floor so that I could better visualize how it would stand on all fours so that I could get the rest of the paint done. And then every time I walked past my craft room I thought there was something in there. 

I also decided to give my old stage makeup a try.   It didn't go as well as I would have liked.  Maybe because it's about 17 years old?  I also didn't have the best of luck taking it off, so decided it wouldn't work for Bennett.  Instead I turned to Amazon and ordered some face paint.  Yay for Prime shipping!

THURSDAY
Not too much left to do.  I had decided that the mittens I made probably wouldn't be the best, so ran to Target in search of black mittens.  Easier said than done.  So many black mittens have other color on them as well.  I did find some "ski mittens" which have the long arm gaiters.  Tried them on Bennett and he declared them "too big".  Checked at home and found that we did in fact have a couple of other pairs that might work, but Bennett wasn't a big fan of either of them.  Maybe if he's cold enough he'll give in and wear them?

After Bennett went to bed I added some velcro to the hood to keep it on and Chris also did a little more work on the yoke.

FRIDAY
Face paint arrived!  I had it shipped to my work address and the box was sitting on my desk when I walked in.

And then after work/school, we went to Sturbridge for their "Treats & Tricks" event.  Unfortunately we weren't able to attend.  (Hurumph.)  It was a free eent this year and there were too many people trying to attend.  We had left work early to try to beat some of the traffic, but we ended up spending over an hour and a half to drive two miles.  We arrived right at 8 when the event ended.  What was frustrating about it was that the way the roads are in that area, there's really no way to give up and turn around- we were stuck.

SATURDAY
We decided that Bennett should go in costume for our weekly visit.

I'm inclined to say that most people didn't recognize him at first.  Maybe some did?  But after hearing that he was Doc, they then agreed that yes, he did look like Doc.  One of the interpreters was very excited to see that his back was in fact painted like a Randall Lineback. 

Here's mini Doc with the real Doc and Blue behind him.

We tried to get him to work at the cider mill, but he knew Henry was supposed to do it.  (You can see Henry waiting to get hooked up in the next picture.)  Daddy tried to show Bennett how it was done, but he wanted nothing to do with it.

We made our way down to the farm and Victoria loved the costume.  Bennett walked in first and I could tell that she was looking at him trying to figure it out.  And she did!  (Maybe it helped that last week I had mentioned he would be either Doc or Blue?)  But what was even better was when she pulled out her phone and handed it to me so that we could get a picture of him for her so that she could share it with Dave. 

If Dave had been working we likely would have asked him if it would be possible to get a picture of Bennett with the real Doc, but we didn't feel comfortable asking that of any of the others.  Instead we lifted Bennett over a fence to get pictures of him in a field.  We asked him to get down on all fours, but he didn't want to do that.

And here are a couple other pictures from our visit.

And where's the yoke, you ask?  Since it was made from a garden hose Chris tried painting it.  But the paint remained tacky, so we had to skip using it.  Maybe we'll have it ready for Halloween?

Games, apples and oxen

Evening activities this week consisted of puzzles and Memory.  He's getting really good at putting together this 100 piece puzzle.

Playing Memory with Bennett is still not much fun.  He doesn't like to only pick up two cards.  After one game, he put the cards out, but the silly boy lined up all the cards without mixing them beforehand, so most of the pairs were right next to each other.  He did much better than usual on that game.  :)

And here he is using his blocks to make pens for all of the animals.  (I don't remember if I've mentioned this before, but all of the animals are named after the animals at Sturbridge.)

And unrelated to Bennett, But I participated swap with my knitting group.  This project took much longer than I would have liked, but I finally finished.  And I had to keep reminging Bennett that these were for Jesse's birthday, not for Bennett.

And Jesse's mum got some lavender sachets, which coincidentally is one of her favorite smells!

With the cooler weather we've been putting sweaters/sweatshirts on Bennett a bit more.  And he loves them!  Frequently if we don't pick one out for him in the morning he's opening his drawer to pull one out himself.


On Saturday we went apple picking  with Grandpa.

And then we went to pick a pumpkin.  Our rule is that you can have any pumpkin you want as long as you can carry it.  This one proved to be too much of a struggle.

And then there was some time on the playground.

On Sunday we went to OSV for their "Field to Table" event.  There were LOTS of oxen there competing in a couple of competitions.  There was one team that we mistook for Doc and Blue because they were the same breed, but as we got closer we realized they were different.  There were also a couple of small teams being worked by kids.  The mom mentioned that when Bennett's about 5 he might be an appropriate age to start working oxen.  Anyone have a farm nearby and have some oxen so we can try it out in a couple of years?

Bennett also helped harvest potatoes.  He was a little unsure of what to do at first, but once we explained and showed him what to do he loved picking up the potatoes and putting them in the bucket.  There were a couple of REALLY big ones!

He also helped to shell beans, but that wasn't nearly as exciting.

Further proof that the interpreters recognize us:

• When we walked over to a group of people by the oxen one of the interpreters (Rhys) had his back to us.  He turned around, recognized us, and then waved to us.
• We were talking to the stagecoach driver about the horses since one of the regular horses hadn't been there last week.  Turns out we had Worthy and Barney mixed up as to which was which.  But the driver commented that we looked familiar to him.  And then, since there was no one waiting to ride the stagecoach, he gave us a ride for free.
• I was down at the farmhouse while Chris had taken Bennett to the bathroom.  Victoria asked me if we had figured out which weeks we would be able to come for the fall butchering.  I also mentioned to her what Bennett's Halloween costume is going to be (it's OSV related) and she said that I would have to show her pictures.

Here's one final OSV picture- Bennett checking out the bin of apple pumice (the mashed apples) in the cider mill.

And unrelated to anything else this week, but on Sunday Chris was watching football on TV.  Bennett watched for a little while and said, "he pushed him".  Why yes, he did.

Trips, Presents, OSV, and the Beach

I had seen this cute monkey suitcase (we already have the matching backpack and lunchbox) but resisted getting it since we really didn't have a need for it.  And not that we really "needed" it, but we did go away this past weekend so it gave me the excuse to buy it.  

Bennett was super excited to roll it around- and later put it away in the closet.  The picture is blurry because he had to roll it all around the house.

Also fun things this week in the life of a 3 year old were putting on a fireman's hat to watch Curious George.

And even more birthday presents!

The first package was from someone in my mom's group.  We are a group of knitter/crafters.  (This is the same group who did the knitted monster swap.)  A few of us signed up to do a swap.  One of the few rules was that it had to contain a hand crafted item.

So Bennett received some felt cookies (in the photo below he's putting them in the oven).  The person who made them lives in England, so I tried telling Bennett that they weren't cookies, they were "biscuits". 

But that's not all.  She also made the cutest oven mitts.  And as Bennett said, "so I don't burn my hands".  That's one smart boy!

Also in the package were some British sweets and some Tottenham Hotspur items for Chris- tea towels and a rubber duck.  I tried suggesting that Bennett could have the duck to play with in the tub, but Chris was pretty insistent that he should be able to bring it in to work.

And I don't have pictures to share, but he also got a package from his great Aunt Tonda.  She sent him a sweater and some socks from Paris.  Oo la la!  They are still a smidge big, but better to be too big than too small.

For videos this week, we have Bennett doing a mix of Old MacDonald and Happy Birthday.

And since it was Fire Prevention Week, they learned about "Stop Drop and Roll" at school.  (You can see the Spurs tea towels in this video.)

 On Thursday Bennett had his second visit to the dentist.  Unlike when I went for his first visit, this time parents weren't allowed back during the cleaning.  (This is their normal policy.  I had been surprised that I was able to go last time.)  Since he did so well, Bennett chose FOUR pencils for his prize.  He wanted to bring them all in to school with him but Daddy suggested that he just bring one.  Then it broke- the eraser came out.  Daddy said he would fix it.  When Daddy picked him up from school, Bennett saw Daddy and the first thing he asked was, "Do you have my pencil?"



Our weekend was rather busy.  We started off at Sturbridge on Saturday morning and by the afternoon we were at the Cape.

We wanted to go to Sturbridge because there was a members only talk about the building of the Small House.  Bennett did relatively well, but it was too much standing around for him having to be quiet, so after a while I left Chris to continue listening and Bennett and I went down to the Freeman Farm.

The only picture we took on this visit. 
Advertising Christmas by Candlelight.

So we get down to the farm, check out the animals (notice that Henry isn't in the pen with the others), and go into the kitchen.  Pretty much as soon as we walk in, Victoria notices us and says to Bennett, "you're not dressed like a dinosaur".  (The past few weeks he's worn his dinosaur sweater.)  Then she says to me, "sorry, you're too early to sweep out the bake oven again.  Either that or I'm too late starting it."  If there was ever any remaining doubt, she definitely recognizes us.  We stayed in the kitchen for a while, listening, asking questions, etc.  Eventually Chris joined us and we went back outside to see the animals again.  Then I remembered that I had another question for Victoria.

There was a largish group in the kitchen, but I waited until things quieted down a bit and then I asked if she knew the butchering schedule yet.  Turns out she had just gotten that info!  However, she only had the info in an email.  So she led us into a back room, closed the door, and then sat down on the floor so that no one could see her through the window.  And she pulled out her phone to look up the info.  (Maybe this is the special treatment my mom claims that members get?  More likely just the special treatment for people who go 17 weeks in a row.)  We also chatted with her about how we think she's great, that we plan to do a private Dinner in a Country Village, and that we want to request her for it.  She's game.  I don't think she quite knows what she's getting herself into.  :)


After lunch we headed off to Cape Cod for a getaway with our "game night" group- a bunch of friends who used to work with Chris.

We all finally made it to the house mid to late afternoon.  We had an early dinner because one couple had to leave to get to the Red Sox game.  After dinner we talked and played games.  The kids mostly entertained themselves.  (And I have no idea why Bennett decided that he needed to open his suitcase and bring his toiletries downstairs, but then have his toothbrush upstairs.  Oh yeah, he's 3.  That's why he did it.)  Bennett was extremely excited to see the cot that was set up for his bed.  Just think, in a few years he'll probably grumble about the fact that he gets stuck on a cot.

When everyone was up in the morning we had a big breakfast- monkey bread, pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs...  But all Bennett wanted to know was when York would arrive because he knew that when York got there we would be able to go to the beach.  Bennett has wanted to go to the beach pretty much all summer!

When we finally made it to the beach, the adult males started building a sand sculpture.  Pete is really into this so he had all sorts of tools for the process.

The finished creation was a sandcastle, giraffe, and a dalek depending on what side you looked at.

Sand Castle

Giraffe

Dalek

And here it is in a panoramic/360 degree view.  It's a bit messed up, but still neat to see it this way.

The kids also had fun feeding the seagulls.

After the beach we went back to the house for a late lunch.  Bennett got put down for a nap and then we played more games.  After birthday cake and planning out when we would next be able to see each other for the next 6 months (Seriously. We scheduled times to get together in December, February, March and April), we headed home, arriving just in time for Bennett to go to bed.

Cleaning the Oven, 1830's style... and more!

On the way out the door Bennett requested his hat.

Membership at OSV definitely has its perks!  To begin with, the cost of membership pays for itself in two visits.  We've now gone for 16 consecutive weeks.  Sure, that might be a bit excessive, but our price per person is now approximately $2.64.  (14 weeks where we only had to pay for 2 people, and 2 weeks for 3 people.  This is because Bennett was free before age 3.)

But if it hadn't been for the membership we wouldn't have gone so much and then I likely wouldn't have had the opportunity that I had this past weekend.  But first, a little more about the day in general.

It was Apple Days this weekend so there were lots of apple-centric activities.  In fact, more than we were able to experience.  It also was Friends Day, with a few events just for members.  The sawmill was also rededicated after having some repairs done over the summer.

In the Spring we had received a mailing requesting a donation for the sawmill.  Seeing how we love OSV and Chris loves saws it was kind of a no-brainer that we would support this campaign.  As a "thank you" donors were invited to hear Norm Abram (This Old House, New Yankee Workshop) speak.  Norm is one of the trustees of OSV and we had seen him on a visit around this time last year.  The talk was interesting as they discussed some of the repairs to the sawmill and other buildings, but it really was a chance to drum up support for a new fundraising campaign that they were kicking off.

While we were listing to Norm speak Bennett was off gallivanting with Uncle Andrew and Aunt Gentry.  They made mulling spice sachets, sampled heirloom apples, played on the playground, visited the Cider Mill, and stopped to get a morning snack of cookies.  Wow, that was a busy hour! 

When Chris and I got out of the talk I texted Andrew to see where they were.  He said they were at the playground and would then be going to the Cider Mill.  So we slowly made our way to the Cider Mill, stopping to ask Rhys (one of the interpreters) who we should contact to try to get some information about a Christmas present that we want to make for Bennett.  When we got to the Cider Mill we didn't see Bennett, but we did see Dave (another interpreter) who was working with Blue, the ox.  We chatted with him and then asked if he had seen our son.  Yup, we are now at the point of being able to ask them these sorts of questions.  He hadn't seen Bennett, so we headed back towards the rest of the village.  And that's when we saw them at the "cookie store" having their snack.  Turns out when they had been at the Cider Mill Dave was addressing a much larger crowd so probably didn't notice Bennett.  Or maybe he only recognizes him when he's with us?

We then made our way down to the Freeman Farm.  We checked out all of the animals and then made our way into the Farmhouse.

Checking on Summer (the calf) inside one of the barns.

The kitchen was pretty busy, but as soon as we walked in the door Victoria (see, I told you we are learning all of their names) recognized us and said hi.  She was about to sweep our the bake oven and asked for a volunteer.  I said I would and she replied, "I had a feeling you would want to."  I think that this is an opportunity that likely wouldn't have arisen if we hadn't been to visit so much.  Since we've watched this process numerous times before, I didn't need much instruction as to what to do.  When I was done she said I had done a good job.  I said that she had to say that.  She clarified that she only had to do one quick sweep to finish, so it was in fact a good job.

So how do you know if your bake oven is at the correct temperature?  After sweeping out all of the coals you need to let it cool down a bit to the correct temperature.  Each individual has their own count to let them know what the right temperature is.  I think Victoria said that her count was 15.  Basically, you put your arm in the oven and start counting.  The count is the number that you get to before you have to remove your arm because you can't stand the heat anymore.  So I gave it a try.  At this point, my count was somewhere between 4.5 and 5.  Victoria then tried it and her count was a 7.  Hmm, I guess she can stand the heat a bit more than I can.  

During the talk earlier in the morning we had learned that there had been a fire at the farm.  Turns out it was back in 2007 and it had burned all the wood around the fireplace and most of the ceiling.  However, it had allowed them to discover that there had been a drying rack and initials on some of the wood from when it had been at the sawmill.  The fire had been caused by a hairline crack in the bake oven, so always have your fireplaces checked before using them!

In non-OSV news, on Friday we had Bennett's annual Cardiology visit at Children's.  On the way there we told him that we were going to "Children's".  He asked, "the Children's Museum?"  Nope, sorry bud.  But understandable how he would get them confused.

Checking out the ball maze/thing in the lobby.

First up, after height and weight checks (14.1 kg and 100 cm), was an EKG.  He wasn't really a fan, especially about being asked to lie down.  I'm sure it also didn't help that we had the CNA that we REALLY don't like!

Next up, after about a 30-45 minute wait back in the waiting room was an ECHO.  We hadn't realized that he would be having one.  Again, he didn't like being asked to lie down, especially since the lights in the room had been dimmed.  We were completely shocked.  Bennett stayed so still.  Of course to get him to do this I had to pull up the most horrible of shows for him to watch on my phone.  He knows it as Grandpa's Toys, but it's really Wee Sing's Grandpa's Magical Toys.  They have the VHS at school and the kids all love it.  As an adult though, it's absolutely horrible!

Sorry for the super dark picture, but the room was dark.

Then after the ECHO it was back to the waiting room for another half hour or so before being brought back into a room, waiting for the Fellow to see us, and then more waiting for the doctor.  We had brought a whole slew of toys and books, but Bennett was getting pretty tired of waiting!

The Fellow came in and she interacted well with Bennett.  We asked her our questions and she gave us her answers but said she would check with Dr. T as well.  Then finally Dr. T came in, for what was about a 5 minute visit.  And that's being generous. Bennett was a bit aprehensive about Dr. T but overall did ok.

So now for the update...
No change from last year.  He still has "moderate" tricuspid regurgitation.  No immediate concerns for surgery- maybe he'll need it in a decade or two, but there's really no way to predict.

And as for our questions?

• He does not need antibiotics before dental visits.  (Apparently this is common procedure for many heart patients.)

• No worries about amusement park rides, at least not for now.  At this point, the rides that he would be allowed to go on wouldn't cause a problem, but in general, those warning are more for patients with a different type of defect.  I guess we can ask again in a few years when he's more interested in serious roller coasters.
• He's been cleared to play varsity sports!  Yes, we really did get a letter that says this.  We needed a note for the public school (where he gets speech therapy) stating if there was anything that they need to be aware of.  So if you read between the lines, this means he's just fine and they don't need to be concerned.

After lunch at the hospital we headed home.  Bennett took a nap in the car, and then slept a bit longer at home and then shortly after he woke up it was time to take him to the pediatrician for his 3-year check-up.  Again, he's doing great.  Their stats measured him at 32.2 lbs and 39.25".  They also tried giving him a vision test.  He did moderately ok with it, but wasn't fully cooperative.  He got a flu shot (in fact, we all got them) and then we were told to come back in a year.  Although it's a good thing that we don't need to come back for a year, this actually makes us a little sad because we love our pediatrician so much.  And we saw him so much the first couple of years (monthly for the first two winters, not to mention other visits) that it feels strange to go so infrequently.  In fact, we haven't had to go for any extra visits in the past year other than a check-up 6 months ago.

On Sunday Bennett went with Nana to visit Auntie Hanna at college.  Apparently feeding the ducks is a highlight of Wheaton.

Meanwhile Chris and I rearranged his room.  Bennett is ok with change as long as you don't try to move things around while he's there.  Otherwise he just tries to put things back where they were.  We decided it was time to make the transition to a big boy bed and this meant moving the crib/toddler bed out of the room and rearranging the rest of the furniture.  When he got back he kept asking where his little bed was.  Luckily the appeal of Curious George sheets is good and he seems to be doing ok in the new bed.

When I put him to bed that first night he didn't want to lie down, but that's not completely abnormal.  I left the room and I think he fell asleep pretty easily.  He woke up at 5:45 the next morning fussing and when I went in to him he asked for me to lie down with him.  I did, but it was extremely uncomfortable for me, so I hope we don't make that a regular occurrence.


And finally, here are some other pictures from the week.

I was wearing a headband and he decided that he should wear it instead.

A drawing of a "haunted house"

A drawing of carrot/ cucumber from the garden.