The Brimblecom Blog: November 2015

"What kind of family did I get myself into?" --Goldie :)

Leo loves Curious George. Like a lot. And we have to admit...we love him, too. George on PBS has become a staple in the morning as we're trying to get showered and dressed. And we watch George in the evening to wind down before bedtime. We love the whole cast of city characters and country characters. A luxury apartment downtown NYC and then a country house just a short jaunt away? What a life! George is well...curious, but a problem solver! The Man with the Hat is oh-so-ever patient. There is math, science, diversity, cause and effect. There's an occasional random song by Belinda Carlisle. No one ever yells or whines. There are no bad attitudes. No scary villains. GEORGE FOR PRESIDENT!

This is our third year doing a family theme for Halloween and I will keep it up until one or both kids is too embarrassed or has a strong opinion about what to wear. haha. The easy choice for Leo would have been a monkey costume. There are adult "Man with the Yellow Hat" costumes readily available online. I decided to go the less traveled route of making Leo the Man with the Hat. Because I have lots of free time on my hands. How hard could it be to make a felt hat? Extremely, stupid hard I found out.

After a month of stretching wet felt, carving styrofoam molds, experimenting with fabric stiffeners, pins, and YouTube tutorials...I gave up.

Halloween was ruined forever.

Until...Billy had the brilliant idea to use one of his once ever-so-hip fedora hats. We took off the ribbon, stretched out the creases in the top and sprayed fabric stiffener to help it hold it's shape. Then a coat of matte yellow spray paint and a black ribbon hot glued on, and voila! Perfection. Or close enough. :)

Leo thought it was a riot that Daddy was Chef Pisghetti and Mommy was Professor Wiseman. Goldie was Gnocchi the Kitty. Gnocchi is not a perfectly white kitty, but this costume was the next best thing. I added her signature blue ribbon to the front. Leo was ALL about dressing up. Goldie...a normally very happy, smiley girl...would not crack a smile the entire night! She was not happy about Halloween or costumes, or Mommy in a wig. She wanted no part of these shenanigans. haha. But she was still a cute little kitty!