Halloween 2015: Guardi-ukes of the Galaxy

More of our Halloween nonsense:

2009: Sushi Fam

2010 : Volley Fam

2011: Curious George fam

2012: Wall-E Ween

2013: Dora Fam

2014: The Walking Dukes

a few pre-kids group hits ("Clue" and britney/k-fed)

Another October, another insane, homemade family costume for us.

I saw Guardians of the Galaxy months after it came out. I am not a huge fan of the recent Marvel movies (they take themselves too seriously), so despite my love (LOVE-AH) for Chris Pratt in Parks and Rec, I wasn't too interested when this came out.

But I kept hearing great things about it as more of a comedy/rock opera than your typical superhero fare. That, plus a few articles on Chris' new abs sold me. 

I paid $6 to watch it on the plane out to Utah when Noa and I went in December during maternity leave. I paid $6 again to watch it on the return flight too. And then I paid to rent it from RedBox and make my family watch it when I got home. Then I paid to buy it AND its soundtrack. 

It's hilarious and the music rules. Watch it now.

It took maybe 45 minutes watching it before I realized that this could be our group costume--assuming Judah and Layla liked the movie, which they very much did (note: this is PG-13, but most of what makes it so goes over the head of a 4 & 6 year old. I think it might not be appropriate for a 8/9 year old who could catch more of the sexy innuendo jokes or cuss words, but mine are young enough to be clueless).

This year Jesse and I made the BRILLIANT decision to not stay dressed up ourselves when we left the house--drastically decreasing the discomfort and embarrassment factor. This was huge because we went real trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood this year instead of to a contained Fall Festival. I cannot have our neighbors having this as their first impression of us. 

Also, by the time I finish all the last minute DIY's, I am in full Stress-Dragon mode, and don't really want kids coming up to me talking to me like I am whatever character I'm dressed up as that year. GROOT WILL DESTROY YOU.

It was fabulous to be able to just wear jeans and have my penchant for dressing up as a tree in my backyard be my little secret.

Halloween 2k15. Boo-ya

Judah as Peter Quill/Starlord

My favorite part of Judah's was the addition of the orange headphones. Judah's favorite song of all time since watching this is "Come and Get Your Love," so he needed the headphones.

Flying, duh.

Not about it.

Inspiration

The coat (which appears as both a signature trench and a short version in the movie) is made from a ladies' velvet blazer from Goodwill with some leather scraps sewn on. Judah was not pleased at first when I pulled this out of the bag, but the sewing skills made it something he loved so much that he currently sleeps in bed with. Like a blankie. Spectacular weirdo.

The orb. You'll never possess it, Ronan! (Possessing Chris wouldnt be so bad...)

Layla as Gamora. 

Layla plays a raven-haired, sword wielding badass chick for the second year in a row! Green facepaint, a green rashguard from Goodwill turned her into the green-hued beauty you see before you. I cut down a cargo shirt to make the vest and added some duct tape gemstones. Also, toned down the cleave.

Layla was ALL ABOUT getting into character and recreating scenes.

She was even okay recreating the almost-smoochy scence that turns into a butt-kicking and one of the funniest lines of the movie: PELVIC SORCERY! (sorry that image is cruddy)

Noa Lou as Rocket Raccoon. 

Noa was the perfect size to play rocket! I found a used baby raccoon costume on eBay for way cheap over the summer and just added a yellow shirt and duct tape. Noa was pretty steady on the "bewildered" side of things in terms of her reaction to this family production. So she didn't really channel the character like I would have hoped. I'm disappointed by her acting skills.

Speaking of skills, check out Jesse as Drax the Destroyer!

Silver facepaint and swimcap, plus some tattoo stickers and a homemade shirt with implants...of muscles.

aaaaaand as per usual, I get whatever costume and character is left over. This time it was Groot. I AM GROOT.

Groot was surprisingly easy and cheap to make. Twisted craft paper and cardboard over earth tone clothes. I should have added more roots. I'm thinking the whole Mommy-as-Groot thing, is what interfered with Noa's concentration that day.

Yeah. She was...perplexed. If not downright terrified. Even though I was extra friendly version of Groot.

Sometimes terrified.

Weird how Jesse's natural abs are riding up.

 FIIIIIGHT (this one Judah was all about recreating)

 They are the winners of the family acting prizes.

smiling to ensure her safety with the camera person in exchange for escape from the flora that ate mommy.

The thrill of this conquest lasted maybe an hour. Around bedtime that night I was already, "oh my gosh Jesse, what are we going to do next year?!? We'll never think of anything!" And then I put those thoughts away until the very last minute next year.

This is now our most consistent, well-documented family tradition. I don't even know what to think about that.

More of our Halloween nonsense:

2009: Sushi Fam

2010 : Volley Fam

2011: Curious George fam

2012: Wall-E Ween

2013: Dora Fam

2014: The Walking Dukes

a few pre-kids group hits ("Clue" and britney/k-fed)

Super Noa Sunday

As of 2014 I will forever love Superbowl Sunday and Groundhog Day. Last year they happened to occur on the same day AND this also happened to be the day that we found out that a tiny little microscopic Noa Lou was in our lives.

here is my commemorative post from this past weekend

We went to watch the game at our BFFFamily's house where I started feeling queasy and promptly barfed to usher in the pregnancy. Maybe it's mental, but this exact thing happened the day we found out about Layla (although I barfed before the test there) with pimiento cheese. I guess I barf the day I take the first test and then real morning sickness doesn't start for about a month. 

Noa's pregnancy was actually a shock since we had tried the two previous months but then decided to stop. because I really wasn't feeling like having a baby anymore. Well, whoops, I guess we didn't fully stop...everything.

We were napping after church that Sunday and one of my best friends, Natalie, was due to go into labor with her third any second and I had been thinking about her a lot. I had a dream during this nap that I don't remember the details of, but I woke up from it and knew I just violently wanted a baby.  In that same moment I felt a little twinge of nausea, but refused to get excited because my boobs were already hurting in preparation for my period. But wait...*grope, feel* are they even MORE sore than usual?

I had a test left over from the actual trying so while Jesse slept on (he gets so mad when I take tests when there's no chance of a baby...he says, "here, why don't you just pee on this $5 bill!?) I went into the bathroom to check--still 99% positive I'd be seeing a negative since there was really only one "time" that could have possibly caused it (Atlanta Snowpocalypse, anyone?)

I left it on the counter and watched as the great tide of urine wicked its way up the stick, immediately leaving behind the first pink control line and then right on its heels, the test line coming in slower but undeniably. I felt that magical swoop like when a boy you like asks you out, or before a first kiss. 

I always tell myself (when not pregnant) that when it happens I will create some elaborate surprise for revealing the news to Jesse, yet, being able to keep secrets from him for maybe 12 seconds, I've always had to immediately abandon that dream. I thought frantically in the bathroom about at least a meaningful way to let him know, quickly did some math and determined my due date would probably be early October, near our anniversary and decided to play it that way.

I went ahead and secretly video'd it too...which turned out to be the best idea.

He's saying something about me being sure I was going to start my period there at the end because I had already been a lunatic on him that day for something stupid and apologized, thinking it was the PMS demons. 

And that moment it where the dreaming of this little fuzzy bundle began. Such a beautiful mindjob to think that it was her in there, even then, making those lines turn pink, that cheese dip come flying out, and that papa of hers elated and amazed.

Cheese dip-fed, free range. Super indeed.

Halloween 2014: The Walking Dukes

Did you think we might take a year off from our family Halloween costume tradition since we had a 3 week old? Well, all you doubting tricks are about to get treated (I am among you...never thought we'd pull one off this time).

Jesse actually gets all the credit for this one. Before Noa was born he was thinking about a theme that would work whether or not Noa and I felt up to joining in. AND one where Noa could be in her carseat or worn the entire time.

You may or may not already know that we live in a little town called Senoia. We are home to a famous fancy furniture store, the house at the beginning of Fried Green Tomatoes, and as of the past few years, we are also where The Walking Dead is filmed.

I've never been a zombie girl (in terms of liking them...and being one). I'm all about Harry Potter, Star Wars, Game of Thrones and those facets of dork-dom, but zombies just always bored me--or at best grossed me out.

So when the buzz was getting out about the new zombie show on AMC that was filmed in Atlanta, i thought that was pretty cool that our city was the setting, but I would pass just because of yuck.

Well, when filming began in season 3 and was a half mile from our front door, that pulled Jesse in. He was hooked. And oh how I judged. It was like how he told me our entire dating lives that he hated tomatoes (like all good people should) and then a few months into marriage he starts saying, "they're not that bad." VIPER IN MY BOSOM!!!! You like tomatoes and zombies now? Okay, well, you're a disgusting traitor...enjoy your lycopene and nightmares.

But not wanting to spend precious, kidless  nighttime hours apart, when he would be watching episodes of the show, I would sit out on the couch and tool around on my laptop (because occupying the same space counts as working on our marrige, right?).  I would be all, "this is disgusting, you know that? I cant even look at the screen. It's just over the top and gratuitous and I am just so much more highbrow than you. I read Jane Austen now, ya know?"

But as the weeks went by I found myself averting my eyes less quickly. The turning point was one night I caught myself going, "Okay, wait a second, why is that guy mad at her? Isn't she on their side?" When I heard myself it was like I had blurted out some nasty word. NOOOOO! I take it back--REDACTED!

But alas, I was hooked.

I went back and tried the first few episodes on Netflix and was instantly a huge fan/addict. I binge watched to catch up. Oh, I still hate the zombies and the gore is ultra sloppy-doo and over the top, but the show isn't a zombie show; it's a human show. It really is incredibly thought provoking, and the actors are very-well cast and talented.

For fans of the show: we live a stones throw from mainstreet "Woodbury."

So when Jesse needed a theme that included a baby, Walking Dead was fresh in his mind...AND super on-point for our little zombie-crazed town. Jesse looks a lot like Rick anyway, Noa was obviously going to play baby Judith in her "carried around in her carrier all the time" phase, I was the one blonde chick who you could take or leave (in case I flaked out due to postpartum angst). Judah and Layla got to be the two characters with the most kid appeal: a dreadlocked sword wielding badass warrior woman for Layla, and a fan-favorite crossbow-toting redneck hottie bad boy for Judah.

Here's how it unfolded.

Layla Dukes as Michonne.

I can't recommend messing with her.

or her.

Judah Dukes as Daryl

In the words of most fangirls: YUM

He was upset when I first told him what to wear. He said "It looks too snappy!" So we quickly de-snappied it AND made it more true to the character by going outside and smearing dirt all over everything and then using makeup to make his face dirty and spray in hair color leftover from Diego to darken his locks.

Power duo.

DON'T FRONT. THEY WILL WASTE YOU!

 Walkers beware.

For whatever reason I was never totally a Daryl girl. I found myself drawn to Rick--for reasons I didnt totally understand.

Until Halloween:

Yup, there it is. Mystery solved.

And that just leaves no one's favorite character: Andrea!

I couldn't get my hands as veiny....but I did crawl around our front yard with a plastic knife at 3 weeks postpartum to really get into character.

We even DIY'ed Daryl's signature vest design!

 Patrol duty.

Our town has fully embraced our little slice of specific notoriety. We have many Walking Dead themed events, restaurant specials, and there is even an official Walking Dead Store, which of course we had to visit that evening.

I'll take the one on the left. *NOTE: that is not a real gun. But boy oh boy, the security guard at the church Trunk-or-Treat we attended wasnt aware of that and converged on Jesse like whoa until it was clarified.

Per his request, I gave him a lil' redneck mustache.

Weirdly my most naturally aggressive (her kisses leave bruises) and fierce child CANNOT fake being intense/angry.

 Dream Team

 Even dreamier team.

Official Portrait. We give you, The Walking Dukes.

Off to save the world, and make all the ladies swoon in the process!

*P.S. NOOOOOO My kids have never seen even a nanosecond of this show! We shoed them their inspiration character photos and they know about the TV show of "yucky zombies for grownups only and even then it's still gross" that films all around us, but OBVIOUSLY they are never seen it!*

---------------

More halloween group costume insanity:

year 1: Sushi Fam

year 2 : Volley Fam

year 3: Curious George fam

year 4: Wall-E fam

year 5: Dora Fam

a few pre-kids group hits (clue and britney/k-fed)

Get Thrilled. Do it Now.

we are late christmas decorators. it's pretty simple:for the most part we are just lazy. 

but (and here's where things get ticklish because of FEELINGS) we are also staunch no-christmas-until-after-thanksgiving people. that is our stance, but WE DO NOT JUDGE. so dont even think about taking that personally or trying to convert me or explain why your family puts up their tree in mid-september. i dont incredibly care and i am very happy to let you do things your way. UNFORCED BREEZY TOLERANT SMILE.

controversy AVERTED!

and even though i havent deliberately tried to inculcate my kids with this thinking (i spend my time trying to inculcate them with cheese), i guess they absorbed it just from the vapors in our Dukes-y airspace. i was trying to fudge my own rule a teensy bit on the day before thanksgiving by putting on the christmas Pandora channel while driving with judah, thinking, "let's make some mommy & son magic memories!" 

imagine my surprise when, far from dazzled by his holiday love for me, he growled at me from the back "NO CHRISTMAS MUSIC! BROWN AND ORANGE COME BEFORE RED AND GREEN!" okay, so that is a trademark keight dukes phrase and i just wasnt expecting it to come at me like that from my 4 year old. in the drive through of Arby's no less!  but it is true in our house and i repent and throw myself upon the mercy of my own court for having violated our policy. amen.

so we got our tree two days ago, on the 8th (early decorators will find this to be heresy). but this year we werent *just* waiting for thanksgiving to be over before we decorated. we were also holding off until our newest and most favority favorite bit of christmas decor arrived in the post!

see, my BFF raechel has this brain. and with her brain decided she wanted her favorite christmas carol lyric made into a pretty print. and she also has this brother in law who is a just mind-bogglingly talented artist, whom she asked to bring her lyric to life, and to just let loose with his skills into making this thing the ultra-business. 

i more than slightly think that he did:

as soon as raechel posted the resulted of caleb's work upon her mantle, i was gobsmacked (and i dont use that word lightly, because it's super heavy, guys). it was one of those things where your heart tries to jump outside your body and type in your credit card info SOMEWHERE so that you too may possess the THING (this also happens to me whenever i look at John Krasinski because of YUM).

i love O Holy Night above all other christmas songs, and it's not even close. each line is jam-packed with the power of exactly what jesus being born was all about, and the one lyric that raechel chose and caleb brought to life is by far one of my favorite in the entire song (i also love "chains shall he break" and "the soul felt its worth" aaaaaand pretty much all of them).

i was giddy when my print arrived in its fancy mail tube (insert vas deferens joke HERE...unless that is inappropriate on a christmas post). i immediately took it to our most stylish wall in the house and had a photo shoot.

ohmanohmanohmanohman this thing is beyond gorgeous!

every little detail is just perfect:

and yes, my king was born in a smelly stable, but he is in fact the king of kings, so i really felt like i wanted an appropriately "glorious" frame for this print. 

so we experienced a further decorating delay when i went to Michael's with an awesome custom framing coupon and it was still going to cost me more than its weight in snow leopard plasma to have one made. jesse and i real quick came up with our own method of making a frame from scratch for waaaaay cheaper and as soon as the paint was dry, i was ready to rock around the christmas tree my awesome new jesus art

i mean, honestly. never has a preposition looked so splendid

i feel like the word could be "potato" but i would still totally read "Thrill" because it's just so thrilling.

indeed

and then 2 days later we got our tree. if ever i have to choose one of these christmas items to keep and one to get rid of...the tree shall fall.

and lucky ducky us, we can all have this beautiful reminder of that baby and what he brought us. caleb sells these prints in 3 different sizes (for reference mine is a 20x20)  on his website. he is offering free shipping for all of yall with code K80 (thanks to raechel for that new nickname).

and, oh YOU GUYS YOU GUYS YOU GUYS (which is also my most used parenting phrase) caleb is giving away a free 12x12" print right this minute right here on this very URL [on this URL, on this URL, on this very christmas URL]  (right? who's with me?).

enter in the giveaway robot below (give it a second to load) and one lucky you will able to have some of this goodness outshining your tree before santa ever sets eyes on the inside of your chimney (should i not have mentioned him? did we get a controversy after all? man, christmas can be touchy on the internet!).

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