I'm a Costume-Making Genius!

Actually, I should say that I am a Sewing-Free Costume-Making Genius. Because my sewing machine is on the fritz. And I'm also really bad at sewing.

Our stake's Pioneer Day celebration was last week, and the kids had the option of dressing up. A gal in my ward, Stephanie, lent me an old pioneer dress from when her daughter was younger, and also a bonnet, so Sadie was set:

Sadie also has some ankle-high brown boots for wearing in cold weather, so her costume was perfect:

For Dylan, I had to get really creative. I pinned black fabric on Ben's fishing hat (I did a really bad job. You can see some green parts peeking out from the black). Then I had Dylan put on a church shirt. And then I cut up an old brown shirt of Dylan's to make it look like a vest, using my handy-dandy 3D glue dots, which I use for scrapbooking, to put on some buttons without having to sew them on. I can do buttons, but I didn't have the time. Then I put on Dylan's long white socks and had him put on his corduroys and roll them up. I didn't have any ankle-high boots for him, so I had him put on his high-top sneakers, and I put some old black socks over them to make them look like boots. Voila:

His costume didn't cost me a cent! I'm proud of myself. He looks less than pleased in these photos. He wasn't mad - I think he was restless to get over to the church. But his frowny face really goes well with the pictures from that era, don't you think?:

You know, how everyone in pictures back then were kind of serious and frowny?

Okay. So we went to the church (it's two doors down. Very convenient), and the kids were supposed to decorate their bikes. Sadie didn't bring hers, because she still can't figure out how to pedal correctly, and I didn't feel like trying to help her pedal while lugging Micah around. In the million-degree heat. But Dylan decorated his bike:

When I read the flyer for this activity, and it said that they would decorate their bikes pioneer-style, I was quizzical. I wondered how they could possibly do that, since bikes weren't even invented in pioneer times. I wondered if they would have, like, brown construction paper to put on the frame or something, to simulate wood? I don't know. It turns out that the decorations were red, white, and blue - stars, stripes, sparkly things.... Are red, white, and blue the official colors of Pioneer Day? That seems kind of weird, since the pioneers were fleeing from an extermination order from the governor of Missouri. To me, Pioneer Day colors should be, like, cream, brown, and, like, forest green. Just my opinion.

Some kids brought their radio flyer wagons and had made little canopies for them, just like the wagons the pioneers rode through the wilderness. I thought that was cute.

Then we went inside for some pioneer stories. The kids couldn't have cared less. Sadie decided she hated her bonnet. At least they sat nicely during the stories:

Then we went back outside to get ready to have our little parade around the block. There is a lady in my ward, Enid, who is just the best. She has kind of taken me under her wing ever since I moved here. When I had Micah, she would always bring over canning jars, overflowing with lilacs, my favorite. That meant a lot to me. She goes on walks and always stops by my house to say hello. I hope I'm like her when I'm her age. She came to the church to watch the kids' parade, which I thought was really cool. She offered to hold Micah and feed him his bottle:

As soon as I walked away, though, Micah threw a fit, so that didn't work out. Sigh. I'm looking forward to him ending this separation anxiety phase.

Here are the kids at the start of their little parade around the block. Dylan is in the middle:

I had big plans to go to the big Stake Pioneer Celebration later that night, because there was free food, but after the heat of the parade, I decided that I would rather stay inside and cook than be outside for one more second. So we missed out on that, but oh well.