Plus Size Halloween Costumes

The monkeys and I have all picked out what we're going to be for Halloween 2012. We're going with the Little Red Riding Hood theme, but with an additional baby big bad wolf learning from his momma big bad wolf. Dadda monkey, however, loves to go all out for Halloween and prefers it to be scary. It's been hotly debated at our house whether or not we do scary or cute. I think we've compromised and leaning towards scary, but not too scary for our little ones (think fog machines and spider webs with cute colorful signs that say BOO!).

The costume on the other hand was difficult to nail down. Being scary and still not terrify little ones at night is harder than you might think. Also, apparently my idea of scary isn't quite enough for Dadda monkey. After quite some time of searching (Plussizecostumesupercenter.com
has some great, affordable costumes), I finally found this costume and showed it to Dadda monkey who said it would work for him. I think he still preferred to be scarier, but after reminding him that it would be night and he'd get to be dressed in all black with dark lights and fog around, he was convinced.

The outfit may not be quite as scary on Dadda monkey, but then again it'll be dark and other people don't know him like we do. It looks like it's going to be a great costume for this year and beyond. Plussizecostumesupercenter.com has some fantastic costumes for adults (mens and womens). I found one I have my eye on for next year as well. I have to say the costumes I've gotten online have been much nicer than the ones I've seen in stores and it's much more convenient as well.

As you can see, even Monkey girl got in on the act.

Happy Halloween!

Washing Beloved Stuffed Animals

Monkey girl and Bro Bro monkey have similar stuffed animals that were given to them as babies. Like most children, they adore the animals and love to cuddle up with them at night. We decided it was time to give Draggy and Tiger a 'bath'. I had heard a tip to place stuffed animals inside a pillowcase to help protect them when going through the washer so that's what we did. Monkey girl was completely distraught that Draggy needed a bath and was almost in tears as we explained that it was as routine as her taking a bath. Dadda monkey and I were downstairs doing something when the washer's cycle ended, but Monkey girl was apparently standing by to rescue her precious animal. She removed him from the washer, got a towel to help dry him off, and then dressed him in a cute new outfit. She brought him down to us and declared she was never, ever going to let him go through that again. I guess that means next time we'll have to do it while she's at school or sleeping, but I have to say Draggy and Tiger came out much cleaner and no worse for wear!

Batteries

I am overwhelmed by the need for batteries in our house. A lot of the monkey's toys run on batteries and they get very upset when the batteries get drained. We frequently get the pitter patter of little feet running to us to tell us 'need batteries' or 'needs charge'. After a while, I realized we shouldn't keep buying 'disposable' batteries. 
It's no secret that I love Costco so when I saw they had large packages of rechargeable AA and AAA batteries, I immediately put them in my cart. Since then I've bought 3 more packs. The Eneloop batteries from Costco have been wonderful. We had to buy a separate charger and based on a little research and consumer feedback, we bought this La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger. It's been so good to us the past year that we just bought a second one to keep charged batteries readily available.

2012 Summer Olympics

Dadda monkey and I love watching the Olympics. Every 2 years, we faithfully sit glued to our TV to cheer on the USA in various sports. We've also been fond of discovering new sports we didn't know existed and trying to figure out the rules. This year we've been intrigued by handball. I've always wondered, how do you go on to be a champion in some of these obscure sports. For example, I'm pretty sure my PE classes never had a handball session. Maybe Bro Bro monkey could be a natural at handball, but how would I find out? That's one thing I want to make sure I do for my monkeys; I'd like to give them the experience to try as many things possible and if they want to try something new, then I will dutifully sign them up to try it whenever I can.

Monkey girl is enjoying watching the gymnasts, but for some reason, she only wants to watch when there's a girl in a pink leotard. I don't think she quite has the grasp of the Olympics yet, but it's a start. I also have to mention I was shocked by the number of Judo flag carriers in the opening ceremony. I never knew Judo was so popular and honestly don't think I've watched much (if any) Judo, but now I'm curious so I'm going to keep an eye out for Judo when it's televised. Archery was also interesting yesterday. In fact so much so, that I completely forgot I had a neighborhood event that I had committed to. We were a little late, but had a good evening and made sure to have the DVR record the Olympics while we were out. As I sit typing this, the TV next to me is airing volleyball with the whole Monkey family watching. What Olympic events do you enjoy viewing? GO USA!

Ebates

I do a lot of online shopping and before I finalize any purchase, I always go check ebates.com to see if I can get money back from that merchant. Every quarter we get a check for the amount of 'ebate' we've earned. I've used them for a couple of years now and it's just a little bonus for the online shopping I do. Here's an easy link for you to signup and start earning cash back for yourself.

Pinterest Cupcakes

I'm a big fan of Pinterest, mostly because I'm already a big fan of internet surfing and my list of bookmarks is out of control. Pinterest allows me to view mostly pictures and in a sense bookmark them online in one central location where I can access it from almost anywhere (of course they have an app for that too).

 Anyways, Dadda monkey's birthday was last week so we decided to bake him some cupcakes. He's a huge fan of Andes mints and I happened across a recipe for Andes mint cupcakes on Pinterest. They were a big hit, even with the kids. I'd recommend decreasing the amount of mint extract for the icing just a bit, but they really did remind me of an Andes mint. I also have to work on my technique for filling cupcakes because most of them had very little filling. Also, my green food coloring came out faster than I expected so they're more green than I wanted, but I highly recommend this recipe.

Bravo, Brave!

We've been watching little clips for the new movie, Brave, for months now. Needless to say, we were eager to go see it. We've learned Bro Bro monkey doesn't sit well through movies yet, especially 3D movies, so Dadda monkey and I decided to bring Monkey girl along for a special evening.

Brave was a very entertaining movie and Monkey girl was fascinated with the main character, a young princess named Merida. Merida's not your ordinary princess, having been raised in the Scottish highlands. She seems to always have handy the bow her Dad gave her, much to her mother's dismay. Her mom is grooming her to be a proper princess and future bride while Merida would rather be riding her horse, Angus, and practicing her archery.

Monkey girl's eyes were glued to the screen and she declared she loved this movie when it ended. She's still talking about her favorite parts and requesting to watch it again. It's a must see for mothers and daughters in particular. Hope you all get to see it and enjoy it as much as we did. The clip below includes one of Monkey girl's favorite parts.


It's a classic Disney/Pixar film and we give it 0 monkeys sleeping,even though Bro Bro monkey was at home (and I might add, still awake when we got home).

Here's a fun little activity for your monkeys.