I've been thinking a LOT about Avengers: Endgame and the Marvel Cinematic Universe this week. Probably some of you guys have, too, if you are at all geeky about this stuff like I have become. I'm seriously SO excited for our movie showtime Saturday evening that I get butterflies every time I think about it, and get teary every time I watch videos/trailers/interviews with the cast. 

 

So because of this, I've also been thinking a LOT about my sweeter half, Joe Southerland. Because it is ONLY thanks to him that I've had the privilege of getting immersed in the world of Marvel. ONLY he could've lured me to that first Iron Man movie back in 2008 (we brought baby Noah with us!!), or gotten Noah hooked enough that we all sat around watching the Avengers cartoon with our toddler, as entertained (or more) as he. 

 

Because I married a true Marvel fan, I have had the wonderful blessing of getting to fall head over heels with every Avenger, every movie, and every geeky side-thing that comes with being a Marvel fan. And I'm still only at "intermediate fan" status, compared to most of you out there. So if I'm having this much emotion and excitement about Endgame this weekend, I can only imagine how much MORE you guys, and my husband are feeling. And I love it. I love it all. 

 

Here's to geeking out, whatever it is you happen to geek out about. And thanks, Joe--- it's been the best ride, and I'm so glad you've let me tag along. 

 

 

 

Halloween: The Year of the Waterbear

Halloween 2018: The Year of the Waterbear

It's the yearly tradition of Halloween costume portraits, huzzah! From oldest to youngest (and weirdest to most common), I present to you my cute, crazy kids, all decked out and ready to trick-or-treat.

 

Noah, age almost-11:  He learned about waterbears/tardigrades this past year, and they have risen to the prime position of "favorite animal" for him. It made him extra proud to see them featured in the summer move Ant Man and the Wasp, and has read endlessly about them, sharing random facts about them at the dinner table. So when he decided to be one for Halloween, I wasn't the least bit surprised. His costume was the only one I had to make this year, and despite it being kind of epic, it was really really really easy.  Check out my fluffy, stuffed, fleecy, clawed waterbear:

 

And for reference:

This kid--- fantastic. One-of-a-kind. And REEEEALLLLY huggable in this getup. ♥

 

Lucy, age 7.5: Well, it was no surprise when she began talking about being a unicorn for Halloween. I figured the more rainbowy the better. But it was in early September when she took her idea to the NEXT LEVEL. Upon spotting a"ride-on unicorn" costume at HomeGoods, she begged to have it/be it for Halloween. Better yet, she decided that she didn't want to be the formulaic "princess riding a unicorn", she wanted to go ahead and still be a unicorn herself. So her costume became "Lucy: The Unicorn Riding a Unicorn."  Still with lots of rainbows. 

 

(And extra-special shoutout to my friend Beth Maue for the perfect custom unicorn shirt she made for Lucy. It became the perfect base for her costume! 

 

With two trunk-or-treats and these photos under our belts, Lucy has had plenty of chances to get her unicorn makeup done. She ADORES having glitter on, and probably would let me draw rainbows on her face daily. She also requested a tulle tail, so we made her a super-simple flowy one together. 

 

This last shot? My very favorite of her. ♥

 

Quinn, age 5.5: this cute kiddo had other ideas for his costume for most of the summer. But then Joe got them hooked on the new remake of the 80's robot cartoon Voltron, and that was that. Quinn decided he REALLLLY wanted to be Voltron. Luckily, A.) I'd only bought an $8 mask for his other idea and hadn't gone any further with it yet B.) The online shop for Spirit Halloween had a Voltron costume in his size. EASY PEASY.

 When Noah was this age, he had the equivalent style of costume as Bumblebee from the Transformers, and I think if a 5-year-old-boy wants to be a faux-muscled robotic character in the cheap polyester costume, THEY DESERVE THAT. It's a joy for them, and I love how they light up to become the character they love.  I mean, look at this cute kid. ♥

 

Larkin, age 2: I had a million ideas for this one. But I ended up going with one of the most classic kid costumes of all time. Second only, maybe, to a witch. A black kitty. She loves our actual black kitty Fiona,  she's down with getting a kitty face painted on (thank you, liquid eyeliner!!), and she has a perfectly darling "NEOW!" (yes "Neow", not "Meow"). Now that I have seen her all dolled up in full costume, I cannot imagine her in anything cuter than this. A perfect 2-year-old costume. 

And she was REALLY willing to cooperate for photos. So because of that, and because she's so CUTE, and my last baby, I just.... took ALL THE PHOTOS. And I'm sharing all the photos. I bet you money you won't get sick of them, even though you'll be scrollin' for awhile. I mean, all those expressions. She's a darling black kitty heart-melter. That's all. ♥

(She's saying "NEOW" here...)

For all the madness of getting costumes ready, and then getting them dressed at LEAST three different times during the season, usually beginning two WEEKS before the actual 31st (meaning I have to get to work earlier than I usually do, haha)-- so much work that Joe and I mostly don't even bother to attempt costumes of our own, which we want to remedy someday-- for all of that, I LOVE this. I love costuming my kids, finding a way to make their harebrained ideas a reality... And I LOVE seeing them so free and joyful in their final getups. And though getting the portraits is almost always a study in mom-photographer-frustration, I NEVER regret making them a priority and making them happen. I have YEARS of these portraits in my archives now, and hope to have years ahead of many many more. 

Happy Halloweeeeeeeen, friends! Have a spooky, sweet night! 

*

Becoming a PokeMom: Pokemon Go's One-Year Anniversary

One year ago today, as we were driving home from the wild west back to St. Louis, Missouri, I finally gave in to the online frenzy of the previous few days and caved to my then-8-year-old's begging, and I downloaded the Pokemon Go app. 

And life has never been quite the same since. 

 Ha! Okay, that was a little dramatic. I mean, for the most part, life has carried on as usual, and it was really the introduction of Larkin into our family seven weeks later that REALLY shook up our life as we knew it. But Pokemon Go, man. Who knew?!! 

It was an app that needed to be on a phone, so of course I had to host the game for Noah, since he doesn't have his own phone. In the first few days, I had NO IDEA who all these Pokemon were. I mean, I'd been forced to pretend to listen to Noah ramble on and on (and on and on and on) about Pokemon for over two years already at this point, so this wasn't a new realm of geekdom for him. But I'd mostly tuned it all out until this game. And because I was the steward of the game, I slowly began learning how to play it. And to learn how to play it, you really have to start learning the Pokemon names. And evolutions. And which ones are awesome and which ones are lame. 

And before I knew it, I was more addicted than Noah. I played more than him. I got territorial over MY Pokemon and when to evolve and when to save up candy and whether or not we should waste our time fighting at Pokemon gyms (pro tip: I should've wasted more time fighting at Pokemon gyms. I disregarded that whole half of the game for a whole 11 months, and in the 12th month they've changed it up and gym skills are suddenly REALLY important for "catching them all". Argh.) 

I just.... slowly but surely, I became obsessed with "catching them all." 

You can laugh. I am laughing at myself. 

But the truth is, it's been a super fun year. SO FUN. I've loved becoming a PokeMom, a PokeGeek... I love piling the kids in the car to go hunting. I love the friendships that have blossomed around this pastime. I love seeing my littler kiddos get good at catching Pokemon and rattling off the names and the evolutions. We've seen art and gardens in St. Louis we'd have never found otherwise. We've found countless new parks and playgrounds. I have ZERO regrets over the time and gas mileage I've wasted playing this ridiculous(ly fun) game. 

So Happy 1-Year Anniversary, Pokemon Go. Thanks for giving us a chance to be "the very best, like no one ever was." We have completely enjoyed the ride. 

♥

(Now back to the grind. Current "Bucket List" items for us, at nearly level-32: Working on finding an unown, walking our larvitar to get enough candy to evolve a Tyranitar, and praying they finally release some Legendaries into the game. I mean, a YEAR? It's time.)

Oops! Halloween Last Year

Welp, somehow last year I managed not to blog my kids' Halloween costumes for the first time ever. I posted a peek of them on Instagram.... I even prepped imaged for the blog post that never happened. But then.... well.... oops. 

So today, the day before our 2016 Halloween, here are 2015's photos. 

Lucy: Ladybug Girl

 

Noah: A Phantom Reaper, a created character of his own

 

And Quinn: a Reluctant Wild Thing

 And Joe's sister Mary was visiting last year, so I got to photograph her dog Henry and Mary herself as Amelia Earhart.

Tune in tomorrow (hopefully) for this current year's costume photos!! Hooray, Halloween!