Oh those Minions!

This post is overdue... the day after Halloween I had an embarrassing incident with my cell phone and had to take it in and get a new one.  Then the next day, my laptop and my kindle both crashed.  My kindle was no biggie, Amazon is great about getting you a new one if it still has a warranty, but my laptop is a different story.  All of my pictures, all of my scrapbook pages, all of our memories... gone!!!!  I took it to 2 different places and both of them told me I was out of luck!  Then I found an independent guy who figured it out, cleaned up my hard drive and all is well (although his charges did break the bank... totally worth it!!!)

For the past 8-10 months, Jaxton only wanted to be Fix-it Felix (from Wreck it Ralph) and I wanted Paisley to be a bumblebee.  I had the cutest costume idea for her!  Then summer came, Despicable Me 2 came out and Jaxton became obsessed!!  He had to be a minion!!  I figured, "fine, but I can still make Paisley the cute bumblebee I had planned"... the Jaxton declared that Paisley also had to be a minion, and then there was no stopping them.  It was over.  I had lost the battle... admitted defeat and was ready to move on.  I knew I wanted to make their costumes, since the ones in the store basically looked like pillow cases with a face (not my idea of cute, but to each his own).  I looked around for yellow hoodies... no luck.  But my mom had a pattern for one.  So I went to the consignment store and found the kids overalls (no way I'm paying full price for something I was sewing stuff onto and cutting up... especially for one night... and may I add that I hate overalls on anyone over a year old)  I bought Jaxton size 3T and Paisley size 18 month.  And of course... Jaxton's were too short!  UUGGHHH!!!  I knew my mom was helping me make the costumes anyways so I decided to leave it be and she could help me fix the problem.  So I spent a weekend at her house and we WORKED!  My mom is happy to "help" but because it is for my children, I do all the work and she sews... so I cut, and measured, adjusted, traced, glued, etc.  And she sewed.  I made added a tutu and pigtails to Paisley's to make it clear she was a girl (since none of the Minions are).  We ended up adding extra length to Jaxton's straps and taking out the bottom hem.  They just barely cut it!  I found cheap glasses at the dollar store, painted them silver and attached elastic.  The hair is made out of pipe cleaners that are hot glued on. Anyone who thinks making Halloween costumes is cheaper... maybe it depends on the costume.  In this case, not so much!
 On Halloween I had the kids do a trial run before heading to our wards Trunk-or-Treat and Paisley wouldn't put on the tutu.  She fought it and to be honest, I fought back.  I put it on and let her cry.  It didn't last long and then when it was time to go, she was fine to wear it. After trying Jaxton's on again, honestly... I hated it.  I was so thankful that Halloween is just one night and I would never have to see it on him again.  Kyle thought it was awesome, but I knew all of the mistakes and could see them even without looking for them.  People came up to me the whole time we were there telling me how their costumes were the cutest and Jaxton actually won an award for the best boy costume ages 0-5 at the Trunk-or-Treat.  So I guess I was wrong... and I'm glad I was.  I'm glad they got to be what they wanted to be.  They had a blast trick-or-treating with the Larsen's.  Brooklyn and Vanessa were so great to my kids and I love that about them.  The kids got crazy amounts of candy (which I am still shamefully eating) and it was a great night for our family!

 I already know what I want the kids to be next year... hopefully I can talk them into it!