Evolution of a Costume

Scooter loves Halloween.
He begins planning his costume on Nov. 1.

Of course, his plans change a gazillion times over the year,
but you can bet that by the time Halloween rolls around,
the costume he has picked reflects a lot of thought,
an immense amount of creativity as well as
100% of his personality.

This year was no different.
He settled on a final design in September.
I told him there
“ain’t no way…
ain’t no how…
I was going to get out my sewing machine and sew him an outfit.”

I told him that it had to be put together easily,
it had to fit over warm clothes,
that it had to be put together easily…
(Do you get the idea? I wanted it easy!)
velcro, glue, etc. etc.
(remember, we’re the family that doesn’t buy Halloween costumes!)

So, what costume did he choose this year?

Ender Wiggin.
From the old science fiction novel
and newly released movie,

Ender’s Game.

We listened to the book via Audible on one of our trips to visit Flynn
and as soon as we got home, Scooter took his own money and bought
the paperback book, so he could read it again.

He’s hooked.
He’s a fan.
(And he reminded me exactly what a great book it is!)

We got online and started research.
We Googled the search words

Ender’s Game Costume
Ender Wiggin Costume
Ender Costume
Ender’s Game Halloween Costume
Halloween Costume Ender

Okay, you get the idea. We searched and searched and searched for an idea.

We found exactly
0
results.

Could it be? Is it possible? No one has dressed up as Ender before?
Well, at least, dressed up as Ender and posted pics on the internet?

Oh – for this original child – that sealed the deal!
There was no talking him out of it!

He was going to be
Ender Wiggin for Halloween!

Oh, and there’s that little problem of sewing!
Remember how I said I wasn’t going to sew the darn thing?

“It’s okay mom! I promise, I’ll sew it! All you have to do is show me how!”

Like a fool, I bought the line.

Okay.
Great.
Now how to do this?

The first thing we did was go to JoAnn Fabric.
We knew we wanted a silver fabric.
I didn’t want a silky, slippery dress fabric.
Too hard to run through the machine and not exactly warm enough for
Trick-or-Treating in Zion.

I was skeptical that we’d find anything suitable,
but Scooter had faith… so we started searching.

Can you believe, that after approximately 4.2 seconds, we found the
PERFECT fabric for a space suit?
We walked right up to it.
There it was.
I was floored!

So we headed to the pattern section.
We decided on a McCall’s jumpsuit pattern.
That looks perfect for a space suit, doesn’t it?
(We bought the pattern on Amazon! Saved a lot of money!)

Later, we happened to be at Zirker’s Party Store and he came running up to me with
the perfect space helmet.
(Which we got for 1/2 off because it was TRASHED!)

Seriously, this kid get what he wants and he doesn’t even know it!

We worked together on cutting the pattern out, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to put the zipper in.
My mom was gracious enough to help.
I’m so grateful!
It went in perfectly!

After the zipper was in,
Scooter sewed the front seams together.
His first time using a sewing machine.
And under my mom’s calm, cool, patient direction,
he did a
SUPER JOB!!

After that we sewed when/where we could.
We hauled that big old clunky sewing machine to Flatlandia when we went to visit Flynn.
Flynn and Scooter carved pumpkins while I sewed.
And I remembered how to read a pattern and I remembered how to sew.

It was a happy moment went I realized that I had actually gotten the
front sewn together with the back,
(no unstitching)
ATTACHED SLEEVES
and…
(sit down for this)

I HEMMED IT ALL!

I know… I know…
Praise and adoration is in order.

Well, our short story is getting much too long.
Suffice it to say, we (ahem… I) were able to get the collar in and a belt made.

Scooter insisted on having a gun (of the water variety)
so I had to come up with some kind of a holster.
That was a challenge, but I figured something out.

It’s soooo not perfect.
But when you’re 11, good enough is GREAT!

The final touch was the strip of orange Duck Tape down the sides and across the shoulders.
In the movie photos, Ender’s costume has a splash or orange on it, and we wanted to make sure we had that.
The Duck Tape was the easiest solution for that.

And now, for the final reveal….
I give you

Scooter and his
ENDER WIGGIN/ENDER’S GAME
HALLOWEEN COSTUME!!

(Isn’t that fabric PERFECT!?!?!)

(Scooter isn’t smiling because he’s in character.
Ender isn’t a happy-go-lucky kid that smiles.)

Scooter Speaks

It has been a long time since I’ve blogged some of the funny things Scooter has said.

I have tried to keep track of them on my phone,
so I thought transfer them here and that I’d share a couple funny quotes with you.

I don’t know the date of this. But it’s HILARIOUS!
This is how I wrote it when it happened:

This kid of mine:
This morning I was playing the piano and was goofing around with a Glee songbook.
The song was Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol.
Scooter walked by and said,
”Wait! That’s the name of that song? I thought it was
Dancing with A Camel.”

Cue screeching tires.

“Ummmmm….. Darling son,
Why would anyone dance with a camel?”

“Because they can, Mom.”

Seriously, you can’t beat that logic.

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When we go to Yellowstone we like to joke around about all the plumbers
the Park Service has to employ.

You know, the HUGE workforce that’s required for turning on and off the geysers
all day, every day…. Right?

We think we’re so clever and funny.

The last time we went was no different, (Sept. 21, 2013)
except for the fact that Scooter joined in.
And he proved that he can play with the big boys in joking around.

(He was trying to convince his brother-in-law, Beast, that the plumbers have been working overtime.)

“Have you heard of the new geyser addition?
It’s the Geysertron 2000!”

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Another of our “funny” family jokes is that I, BETTY, actually own Yellowstone Park
and that I allow all the tourists to come and visit out of the
extreme goodness of my kind heart.

On the same trip Scooter was telling us about the Yellowstone unit his class had
just finished in school.
So I said to him,

”Did you tell your classmates that your mom owns Yellowstone Park?”

Without missing a beat.
Without taking time to think or even breathe,
Scooter replied with:

“No. Because I didn’t want them to be jealous!”

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Scooter, dude, YOU ROCK!!!

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On a slightly different note, Scooter has won a role in the new play
our community theater will be performing this Christmas,
”A Christmas Carol”

His role is “Simon”, who is the young boy Scrooge uses to fetch the Christmas goose
in the morning after the ghostly visits.
It’s a great role for him.
He has 9 lines and is in one scene at the very end of the play.

It’s great for us, because he doesn’t have to show up for a rehearsal until November.
Wahoo!
A show that won’t consume our whole life for 3 months!

I kind of like that!

Summer Run Down

Summer vacation is ending.

Yes, I said it.
And yes, I will wash my mouth out with soap now.
’Dem are dirty words in my house!

Summer.
Beautiful summer.
Hot summer.
Fabulous summer.
We love summer!

And it’s with tears that we approach the beginning of the new school year.
Well, 3/4 of us approach it with tears.
The weird child,
our youngest,
a.k.a Scooter
shouts hurrah when school is mentioned.
He seriously celebrates.

If I hadn’t given birth to him myself, I’d question his parentage.
If I hadn’t kept him in the hospital room the entire time we were there,
I’d swear he had been switched.
Oh, and there’s that little thing about him looking EXACTLY like his father.
But, other than that, I definitely question:
WHERE DID HE COME FROM!?!

As quickly as this summer passed, we still had some fun times.
Can you tell by the lack of posts?
There was no time for blogging.

I’ll do a quick photo catch up now.
Just for posterity… you know….

Squirt’s Blessing

Flynn’s Birthday Surprise
An hour flying with an instructor

Children’s Theatre
Aladdin.
Scooter played the part of “Baker” and had a line…
”Thief! Thief! Someone stole my bread!”
I was lucky enough to be part of the production crew, helping the director work with 120 kids.

4th of July at Cabin
Playing in the lake, crawdad catching, hiking

Spontaneous Camping Trip

Golfing
With Flynn’s apartment in the background
(I can’t get the underline button to turn off…. weird.)
Flynn lives in the apartment on the top left.

A New Toy!

More Camping mingled with Huckleberry Picking

Devil’s Tower and a Mud Run

Gramps and Squirt Bonding Time

It was a GREAT summer, filled with fun and lots of
MAKING MEMORIES!