-- 1. Pumpkin Picking --
We had Frankie's birthday party last weekend and the husband has been out of town this week, so our first chance to get pumpkins was Thursday. I suppose it's just as well, because I've learned the hard way what happens when you carve pumpkins too early in Southern California.
We looked at our calendar for the day, which included morning Mass, school for mom and kids, work for dad, two naps, taking the car in to get new brakes, two sports practices, and two sports games. The window for pumpkin picking turned out to be 8:30 - 9:00 am.
-- 2. Pumpkin Carving --
And then, this afternoon, in shifts between shuttling various kids to various sports, and threats about Halloween being cancelled if that math/Latin/grammar didn't get finished . . . pumpkins were carved.
-- 3. Capsule Wardrobe --
The big capsule wardrobe reveal post was yesterday. This whole experience has been great, but especially getting to share it with all of you.
If you're interested in learning more about the concept, check out my capsule wardrobe link-up. Or if you have a post of your own (old or new) about your wardrobe or simple living, link it up.
I've really enjoyed reading your posts. A couple highlights are . . .
At House for Five, Deme breaks it all down, with great advice about shopping, returns, and how many hangers you should have. I have too many hangers.
Hannah at Gokie Notes makes some really excellent points about being sentimental about clothes. Spoiler: she says knock it off.
-- 4. Catholic Costume Contest --
Speaking of community. We are the COOLEST. I have gotten dozens of awesome submissions already for the Catholic Costume Contest. They have ALL been great. Here's just a sample . . .
From top left: Baby St. Olaf, Baby Blessed Mother (with even tinier baby Jesus), St. George + St. Michael + Bl. Pierre Georgio Frassati (with pipe) + St. Rose of Lima, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Isidore of Madrid + St. Gianna Molla, St. Catherine Laboure, Young JPII (at Sometime Martha Always Mary), St. Gianna + St. Dominic + St. Maria Goretti + Our Lady, kid-made St. Kateri (at Blair's Blessings).
If you or your kids are dressing up Catholic for Halloween or All Saints Day, share your photos with us on Facebook or Instagram! Be sure to use the hashtag #catholiccostume . Can we get it trending? I don't even know what that is. But I want us to do it.
You can also email them to me. Please let me know if you prefer I don't share them on the blog. That's allowed. You can still win.
Speaking of that, the winner will get a three month subscription to Saint Mail, my favorite solution for moms who want all of the liturgical living and none of the prep work.
-- 5. Curious George --
As you may recall, a couple of weeks ago, I posted my reviews of ALL the Halloween-themed shows available on Netflix streaming, including the ones I hadn't actually watched.
One show that got a sight-unseen thumbs down was Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest. I hadn't seen it, but I am in general not a fan of the consequence-free "mischief" that is Curious George. I like a naughty anthropomorphic animal as much as the next mom, but I normally require that he get what's coming to him, a la Peter Rabbit.
Anyway, people were shocked. SHOCKED. And rushed to his defense. And Bonnie, with whom I have a history of cinematic disagreement (and a friendship) insisted that if I was going to hate on George, I should at least watch it. So I said I would.
And then, life (and Once Upon a Time) got in the way. I kept figuring I'd watch it with the kids, but we never had a chance. So, last night, while I was sewing, because of my great dedication to the integrity of this blog and because I ran out of episodes of Once Upon a Time . . . I fired up Curious George Boo Fest and watched it all by myself.
I have to say that the mayhem created by George's extraordinary lack of self-control and wanton disregard of all rules and laws and basic principles of civilized behavior in the books pales in comparison to what he exhibits in this movie. And everyone around him, but especially the man in the yellow hat, thinks it's adorable.
The man rakes up the leaves, George jumps in the pile. The man tells him not to, he does it again. And again. So the man gives him ten bucks and sends him to the pumpkin patch. Are you paying attention kids? Disobedience = money and outings.
Then there were some songs that were fortunately not catchy enough to be memorable or I might have had to go listen to Fulwiler's shoe song again to get THAT (awesome) stuck in my head for another week.
And THEN we get the plot. There is a legend of a scarecrow called No Noggin, who, angry that his pumpkin head was eaten by a deer, kicks the hats off of unsuspecting revelers on Halloween. Now, *I* prefer Halloween bad guys who want to actually steal your actual head, so he's already starting to lose me.
The man believes No Noggin to be just a story, but when he finds a photo that proves the legend isn't true, it makes everyone in town, all the ADULTS, really . . . sad.
Then, in an extraordinary display of disobedience, sneakiness, and wanton property damage, George inadvertently restores everyone's belief in No Noggin, and, as a result, their enjoyment of Halloween. So George decides that the charitable thing to do is to protect the poor grownups and the false beliefs that they need to be able to enjoy a holiday.
It's not a question of adults protecting a fairy tale belief for their children, it's a "child" knowing that to disabuse his "father" of his beliefs would make him sad. George knows the truth, but the adults around him need the lie. The opiate of the masses and all that.
Socialist cartoons. First Babar, now George.
And, in case it's not clear, I'm kidding-not-kidding about this whole thing. But I stand behind my original, unseen, assessment that it's not a very good movie and we can do better for our Halloween entertainment. Now I've seen it and I get to not like it.
-- 6. Addams Family --
I also watched The Addams Family and my suspicion that Common Sense Media just wasn't getting the joke was . . . confirmed.
I thought it was a fun, satirical, opposite world movie. And it has the sweetest happy ending ever.
That said, I was uncomfortable with the live auction scene in which, while it's clear that the married couple are not in fact engaging in any physical romantic activity in public . . . it sure SOUNDS like they are.
The humor is sophisticated and nuanced and endearing. But it's meant to be shocking, and it is. I would let my over tens watch it. I'd fast forward through the auction scene though. Awkward.
-- 7. Once Upon a Time --
There's a whole post on Once Upon a Time in the works, don't you worry about that, because, in my professional PAID opinion, it's the best non-BBC show on television. I do have to say, though, I'm not loving the "hey, you just need to get over that whole wanting to be with your baby thing."
If I need to mix it up with a Snow Queen or a forest-dwelling ruffian, I'll just put my baby in the Ergo. That's what it's FOR. I came here to nurse this baby and kick butt, . . . and the baby just fell asleep.
