Angry Birds - Office Halloween Decorations

I realized I never came back and posted an update to the great paper mache project of 2016.  I learned that Modge Podge is nice, but that old school flour and water pinata paste is the way to go for large-scale projects (and much cheaper!).  And while I didn't get to hang my birds so they appeared to fly, they did turn out pretty well.

Here you have it, my team's Angry Birds office decorations:

DIY Angry Bird Masks for our group costume

Phases of paper mache

First, you get enormous balloons and blow one up. Rest.



Then, you figure out how to make it stay still.



An upended stool is a good start, but any air movement whatsoever will make it drift away. So you tether it with a makeshift clip twist tied to the stool. And you get to work.

After hours of effort, you will be halfway done.



And then, just as you feel like you are making good progress, the balloon will shift and suddenly be punctured by the twist tie. So your final product looks like this.



Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to weep in a corner for a while.

3/11 - Army Guy pets a catfish

Or is it a cat with fish whiskers?  A walrus?  A tiger in a Halloween costume?

Here, Army Guy scanned the flower stand.  The way these daisies were arranged in color-coded order pleased him very much.  Army Guy likes it tidy.

And then, we had dinner with Dana!  We haven't seen her since high school!  Doesn't she look good?  She likes to take pictures with her friend Kermit, but forgot to bring him to the restaurant!  Argh!

10/31 - Shy Guy loves a parade

The crowds, not so much…

There were a bunch of baseball fans on BART this morning for the big World Series parade.  When we got to the city, the train operator made a comment  about the Giants and the whole train car cheered, "Wooooo!”  It was very loud, and Shy Guy and I covered our ears.

This is how crowded Market Street was at 8:30am – just after you guys went to school.  The parade didn’t even start until 11am!

Now, we’re checking in on the parade on the computer – no crowds that way.  :)

Happy Halloween!!

10/19 - Big Wheel and the pigshark bikeplane

Big Wheel wanted to take a turn on the scooters, but the other wheels said no, so we counted the numbers on the sidewalk instead.

No idea what this contraption was on top of the bus stop, but Big Wheel wanted a picture with it!

Big Wheel found a flying witch dog, which cackled as it flew by.  “Tee hee hee heee….”

10/08 - Yellow Jack exceeds the time limit

He liked finding yellow things on the way in to work, especially this yellow parking meter.

I wish there were a time limit on my morning meetings.  4 hours straight seems a bit excessive when one’s sick...

Yellow Jack thought my lentil soup was a murky swimming pool and was going to use the spoon as a catapult to sproing in there for a dip until I yelled, “Stop!” (My coworkers wondered why I was yelling at the soup.)

Going after this cold with both barrels (they call it Tom YUM for a reason):

Odd bug behavior edition:  I noticed there was a grasshopper in the house.  Of all the places to go, s/he made a beeline for the Halloween spider/spiderweb decorations on the fireplace.  Of course.  S/he seemed to take a special interest in walking on the rubber spiders, through the web (I got queasy at the thought of having to untangle one of those spindly legs), and finally landed like a bow on the big spider's head.  So pretty.  Here s/he is, being the spider's parrot?  Yarrrchirp.

9/30 - Weekend fun: Large mouse edition

The highlight of last weekend was Archer's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.  Lil' Gal had been begging to go there for.ever.  I hadn't ever been to one with kids (those crazy college days).  So the day had finally come for those two milestones to line up.  The kids had a great time with their BFFs.  I got to follow a large mouse around in a conga line and talk to some adults.  #winning

We also had fun wearing old Halloween costumes around the house.

And riding bikes/skating at the basketball court of the nearby school.  Until we melted.

The end.

12/23 - What Vamp saw at lunch

Lil' Gal reeeeeally wanted me to bring an inflatable Halloween skeleton head ball to work today, but he did not fit in my bag.  (And would not have been a discreet pal at our team lunch!)  I was able to negotiate bringing the smaller Vamp with me instead.  Phew!

We had lunch at an Indian restaurant for Falgoon’s last day,  Here’s one of the pictures we saw.

Look at the holiday trolley car!  Ding ding!

And then I worked until 6:15pm.  :(   Now I'm looking forward to a great Xmas weekend with the critters!

11/11 - New eyes and fun with firefighters

I had Friday off for Veterans Day.  A belated and ongoing thank you to all who serve or have served our country.  I may not always agree with the politics, but I always appreciate our troops.

The twins went with me to pick up my new glasses, dressed in their firefighter coats from 2 Halloweens ago.  I felt very safe!

11/03 - Pine cones that look like roses

We found these cool pine cones on the way to school, and picked up a bunch on the way home.  Now what do we do with them?

Here  here are some nifty art projects -- Lil' Gal with her stick mummy and the spiders she and Lil' guy made at school (his is the cyclops).

Scrabble update: Grandmother and I finished our game from last night.  I won -- 356 to 205.  Can I get a "booya" up in here?

10/31 - Boo asks "Are you a banana? Or just happy to see me?"

A fitness club was giving away Halloween bananas today. It’s not often you see someone in a banana costume!

Boo tried to surprise Pumpkin Spider by jumping up and yelling “BOO!” but his little ghostie elbow got stuck in her web.  (We got him out.)

I saw a few grown-ups dressed up in costumes when I went out to get some lunch, but nobody at work is dressed up.  OK, Jeanine has on some monkey ears.  I’ll try to get a picture of her…  Rats -- she's already taken them off.

Here are the twins at the start of trick or treating.  Lil' Gal is a Dalmatian, and so happy to be allowed to be a dog IRL.  She is wearing a red collar we made together.  Lil' Guy is a Madagascar Penguin (Rico, if you know them).

All was going really well, minus a few trips over little penguin webbies, until we reached That House.  You know -- the one that's all into making it really spooky.  There were about 4 costumed kids, hiding in spots along the passageway to the front door, that leapt or reached out as we passed by.  We'd done so much work with the kids, especially Lil' Gal, to make Halloween less scary for them.  And these kids scared the bejeezus out of her in about a minute.  I have never heard her scream like that.  Poor kid.

The worst?  Not one family member at That House apologized to us.  The dad (?) on the sidewalk didn't warn us that his house was not for littles.  He didn't once tell his kids to ease up.  When Lil' Guy bravely made it to the front door, hoping to get extra candy for his sister, the teenager handed him a bowl full of candy wrappers.  (Lil' Guy thinks he did get candy for Lil' Gal -- please don't tell him otherwise.)

Overall, I think Halloween went well.  Lil' Gal was consoled with some candy treats, and we got to have a good talk about Mean Kids and how rotten it is to be around them.  But she's also been up about every 20 minutes tonight...

Happy Halloween.

10/28 - Raj looks BOO-tiful in Ghostie Glasses

We had a big lunch at work to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights.  I think I had too much delicious Indian food…  Ow.

Here’s Raj, wearing Ghostie Glasses and Boo puppet.  He’s a good sport.

10/27 - Green Monkey hangs out

We rushed to the train station in the dark this morning for our 8am meeting, only to find BART experiencing major delays. While I missed that meeting, at least I was early for my 9am meeting.  Yippee.

Look at the fabulous fuchsia flowers!

Look at the kids at our gym's Halloween Spooktacular event!

10/25 - Bitty Boom and Little Lego study the speed of light and sound

Bitty Boom liked the sound of jackhammers tearing up the sidewalk, and chimed right in.  “Boom!  Crash!’’ Boom!”

Little Lego was interested in the worker changing the big light bulbs on the kiosk.  He started singing “You light up my life.”

Bitty Boom and Little Lego were excited to see a Halloween car on the street.  Their new friend Boo gave them a ride.  He was really nice!  (This is only a decoration!  It’s blown up with hot air.)

At the train station on the way home (thank you, BART, for more delays), I saw what appeared to be a class for guide dogs and their owners.  Here they are, learning how to cross the street.  Who knew they travel in packs?