Well, we did it…

A few late nights, a paint booth in the basement, some amateur sewing, and a lot of spray paint fumes.

 

 

Thankfully Andrew likes to get in on these projects. While I was busy with the gold fabric paint and gold ribbon for Princess Fiona, Andrew coated the basement in a nice shade of red. It’s amazing how far that spray paint travels!

Of course, as you can see, he had just finished waterproofing the basement so it looked amazing before the Lightning McQueen build session. Guess he’ll have to add another coat!

 

Here’s our pretty princess. Every year she’s picked something pretty and princess like! It’s funny because getting this girl to wear a dress is like pulling teeth without novocaine!

We found the dress at a thrift store and it was really ugly! But a little gold paint and ribbon and it turned out okay. We found the crown at the dollar store. It was all rainbow colors but a little gold spray painted fixed that right up! Gotta love spray paint!

Except the fumes! Wow! I had to open windows in the house for an hour or two, which hasn’t happened since October! It was cold too!

 

Here’s my awesome hubby! He looks good even covered in charcoal! Good old Bert from Mary Poppins! He pulled it off well…everyone knew who he was. He just couldn’t get the heel click down, but, well, who can do that like Dick Van Dyke??

But the cake topper, really, was Lightning McQueen! Samuel paid attention to details and he came out beautifully. And…Samuel won most creative! He crawled underneath this thing and crouched down on a creeper…you know the things you slide under a car on…and pushed himself into the church! There was cheering and shock and awe, which I think he enjoyed immensely!

The thing about all this is that I really didn’t want to do it. I didn’t feel like adding one more thing to my plate, running from store to store to find paint, dresses, scarves, hats, ribbon…

It’s not like I don’t have full days already and this just seemed so, well, frivolous.

What I realized, though, in the midst of it, was this was something that brought us all together. Everyone was excited about it and pitched in, even the kitten who pulled Olivia’s dress off the table with wet fabric paint all over it! The kids loved doing these projects, being creative, and doing something out of the ordinary.

All too often, I get caught up in the mundane of life. Dishes, laundry, cook, clean, school, repeat. And then I wonder why my mood is bad and everyone is nagging everyone else. I forget to have a little fun and change it up. I’m so thankful for a hubby who likes fun and projects. He’s so good at getting me out of the mundane, even if I’m kicking and screaming at first!

Having fun doesn’t have to be spendy either. I think I spent a total of $20 for all the stuff for these costumes and the joy and laughter and fun was well worth it!

So, this week, get out of your routine and do something fun, even if it’s just a walk through puddles or putting on silly hats at Target. Have some fun with your kids and see the joy on their faces when you engage with them!