Luckily we still had a set of green pajamas that C could wear for his crocodile costume. Props to my husband for engineering the crocodile mouth, we always work on these costumes together and to be honest, he's really the brains behind the operation. The stuffed snout has a wire hanger sewn inside and is attached to a baseball cap so C could wear it like a hat. Add some crocodile eyes and some teeth, and you're all set.

For Bee's Captain Hook costume, we already had the perfect red coat and the black wig (from when her dad was Captain Hook). I turned her pink pajama pants inside out, added a feather to a pirate hat, and fashioned a belt out of felt to house her sword. Bee spent the night yelling things like "Wendy! Walk the plank!" or "I'll get that Peter Pan!" and correcting people who called her a pirate, "Um, I'm not just a pirate, I'm Captain Hook!" For Bee, Halloween is very serious business.

Another Halloween come and gone. Last night the kids were already brainstorming costumes for next year. "I'll be Willy Wonka and you can be Charlie!" "You be James and I'll be the Giant Peach!" I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

Now that I have children of my own, I love coming up with their costumes each year. Like my mom did when I was little, I try to find things we already have around the house that can be transformed into costumes. Or if we do buy something, I try to make it something we can use after Halloween. Here are a few of our costumes over the years.

2004: tiny blazer + red ribbon shaped into a bow tie + doll wig = ventriloquist dummy

2005: C: long sleeved onesie + white tights + white bonnet + felt wings = Hedwig the owl

Dad: black graduation robe (he'd just gotten his master's degree) + Hogwarts sticker = Harry Potter

2006: C: brown long sleeved pajamas + brown hat + brown sock tail = Curious George

Bee: white long sleeved onsesie + yellow felt + Chiquita sticker = banana

Dad: yellow shirt + yellow pants + very tall yellow hat = the man in the yellow hat

2007: C: green long sleeved pajamas + green felt hat = Peter Pan

Bee: borrowed costume + homemade wings = Tinkerbell

Dad: red velvet pants + white ruffled shirt + long coat + black wig = Captain Hook

2008: Bee: denim skirt + blue shirt + white tights + cape = Super Bee

C: blue pants + red shirt + cape = Super C

We'll share 2009's costumes tomorrow! We've got too much going on today between cookie decorating, pumpkin carving, soccer games, and trick-or-treating with the cousins. Happy Halloween!

small flat box + happy birthday sticker + mini gumballs = my kind of birthday card

When I saw the forecast this week called for rain, I was secretly excited. Rain! And temperatures below 70! I may not have the brisk autumn chill of New York, or the beautiful trees that lined our block in Brooklyn with their orange and yellow leaves... but I do have a little rain. And a reason to wear jeans, and close toed shoes, and maybe even a sweater!

And a three year old so thrilled she can finally fit into her ladybug rain boots that she actually danced her way through the puddles in our backyard all afternoon. Bring on the pumpkins and the apple cider, Fall has arrived!

1. We read one book each month. (Sometimes we combine July and August if everyone's going to be off on vacation, or December and January to avoid the holiday rush). Every six months or so we pick the next few books we're going to read. We have one rule: You have to have read the book before you can recommend it. And we try and pick books that are easy to get a hold of (via Amazon, the library, local bookstore, etc.).

2. We meet the same day each month, and at the same house. (For example: we always meet the first Tuesday of each month, and we meet at my house.) We used to rotate around to everyone's houses but meeting at one house seems to be working better for us, it may be simply because we always know where we are meeting!

3. We discuss the book. We used to just sit around and talk, but we've been trying to make a concerted effort to actually discuss the book. We ask one person each month to take a few minutes to write up some questions (you can usually find some already written online somewhere) and we write them up on little 3x5 cards. When you arrive, you pick a card or two and when it seems appropriate, you pipe up with your question and everyone weighs in. Book club is about socializing as well, so we definitely get off on tangents, but the cards help us to guide the conversation back to the book from time to time.

4. We keep it all pretty low-key. I've been to book clubs where there was a full buffet offered, and lovely as it was, it sets the bar so high that people are nervous about hosting or bringing refreshments. We just do dessert. Sometimes we can use the book we've read as inspiration (we recently read The Madonnas of Leningrad and my friend brought a delicious honey cake she learned to make while she was in Russia). Other times we've just had berries and ice cream. Everyone takes a turn bringing the dessert.

This month was my turn. Since we had read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, I made my first every sweet potato pie. I looked over a few recipes but settled on one from Everyday Food. And it was delicious! Sweet potato pie is similar to pumpkin pie, but with a slightly different flavor and consistency. This recipe has a mixture of pecans and brown sugar that you spread on top, which makes it especially good. I might have to make another one for Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie this year. Top with a big dollop of whipped cream, and you'll see what I mean.

If you'd like to share what's working in your book club, I would love to hear it. The books shown above are ones I've read and enjoyed in various reading groups. If you have recommendations, I'd love to hear them..

The invitations were cardstock circles printed with the party details and then "stitched" with wax twine to form a baseball. A second card shows a map to the baseball diamond where the party was held.

The kids lined up in the infield for pre-party warm ups, coached by Thomas' dad. Emily had put together a CD with baseball songs including The Star Bangled Banner, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and We Are the Champions. They stretched, did some jumping jacks and took a few laps around the field. My favorite part was when all the kids took turns batting and the dads caught balls and tagged the runners as they ran around the bases. Games included a water balloon toss and a relay race around the baseball diamond.

The place settings were tan cardstock cut in the shape of home plate, and each child got their own box of Cracker Jacks. Dinner included submarine style sandwiches (on Emily's homemade french bread), watermelon and grapes, fresh veggies, and chips and salsa.

Cupcakes were made with white frosting and red icing stitches and Emily made little pennant cupcake toppers. (You can find some great vintage pennants online, like these.)

Favors were cellophane bags filled with baseball cards and old fashioned candies like Tootsie Rolls and Necco wafers. My children had never seen baseball cards before and spent the next week trading players back and forth trying to get more "red guys" (they know we root for the Angels!)

Happy Birthday Thomas! And well done Emily!

Miss Nelson is a sweet soft spoken teacher who has lost control of her classroom. The children don't obey any of the rules, they shout in class and won't sit in their seats, so Miss Nelson does not come back to school the next day.

"Great!" say the children. "Now we can really be terrible!" They wad up their spit balls and start making paper airplanes. But then their new substitute teacher arrives.

Miss Viola Swamp is a different kind of teacher, mean and impatient. She barks orders at the children. "Where is Miss Nelson?" they ask. "Never mind that," yells Miss Swamp. "Open those arithmetic books!"

After a few days of Miss Swamp's harsh tutelage, the children are desperate for Miss Nelson. They try to find out what has happened to their sweet teacher. And a few days later, she returns. Happy to have their teacher back, the children are now perfectly behaved. Only Miss Nelson knows the real identity of Miss Viola Swamp, but smart kids who read this book sometimes figure it out as well.

I read in this interview that the character of Miss Viola Swamp is based on a teacher that illustrator James Marshall had as a child. Mr. Marshall recalls... "When Harry (the author) and I were doing Miss Nelson is Missing, we devised the scenario so that a wicked substitute arrives on the scene. And Harry said, “I want you to draw the most awful teacher you ever had.” Well, it took me five seconds to get Viola Swamp down. She’s the spitting image of my second grade teacher, who is still alive in San Antonio, Texas. In April I saw her in the supermarket in San Antonio. I was pushing a cart and around the corner came Viola Swamp! And I felt my knees weaken. There she is! She has seen the book and she finds it very amusing, so I don’t feel too terrible." So teachers, watch out!

I've made these often enough that I have a little routine: 2 days before the party you make the dough in the evening and let it chill overnight (I always double the recipe). The next day you roll them out and bake them, (they only cook for about 8 minutes, and you pull them out when they are just the tiniest bit golden brown) then let them cool. Frost them that evening (the night before the party) and let them sit overnight so the frosting can harden. The day of the party you can package them as favors, or serve them as part of your buffet. But make plenty, people tend to eat more than their share!

Forgive the wrinkles, this bag is clearly already in use. I used my favorite bag pattern from Lotta's book Simple Sewing, with gray canvas on the bottom and some Heather Ross fabric on top (a heavier home dec line called Rabbits and Race Cars). C picked the fabric out himself, what five year old wouldn't want a bag with race cars on it? I love the little tow trucks and ambulances as well. (Thank you Heather for making a race car print that doesn't look like a Nascar ad, I love you for it.)

I added the letter C using the applique technique Heather teaches in Weekend Sewing, where you sew the letter to lightweight fusible interfacing and then turn it inside out. (Visit the Purl Bee for a better explanation of how this works, they used it on their Thanksgiving table runner last year.) C is not the easiest letter to turn, but I think this technique is much easier than traditional applique, though I still need a little practice.

I love seeing my son as he runs off to class, his school bag on one arm and his lunchbox in the other. So far kindergarten is a big hit. I was a little nervous sending him off to school without any friends (he didn't know anyone in his class). C is a friendly boy, but he can be a little shy around new faces. But he's doing just fine. "I made a new friend at school today Mom," he reports back to me at the end of the day. "That's great buddy.. how did you do it?" "Well I just did what you said Mom... I said Hi! My name is C. What's your name? And it worked!" I love this kid.