Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

From Vincent Van Gogh, 

 

Salvador Dali

 (Is he not the spitting image?)

Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso,

and Frida Kahlo.

I was pretty happy when these cute boys decided they wanted to be artists for Halloween.  Ellis was intent on being Dali, and you can see why! Sam didn't keep his Picasso hat on very long, but he was pretty cute while it lasted.  And Henry was a stunning Van Gogh, flashing his "Starry Night" painting for all to see.

I was also pretty thrilled about getting to sport a unibrow and a hint of a mustache.

Sam was asleep when we all got in our costumes.  When he woke up, Ben, in full Andy Warhol attire, went up to get Sam out of his crib. He took one look at Ben, pointed at him and said, "Hall!  Hall!" (That's his name for Andy Warhol -- it's Sam's favorite of our artist action figures).  I guess he was pretty recognizable, at least to someone!

These pictures are from the night of our Trunk-or-Treat party on Saturday night.  We're glad we got to go do some trick-or-treating, as it looks like Frankenstorm might get in our way tonight!

Ellis' Artist Party

Prepare yourself for picture overload . . . Ellis' birthday party lent itself to many photos.  

Let's just begin my saying that I had WAY too much fun planning this party.  It's not every day that your kid asks for a party based on something you happen to be passionate about.

Table

Andy Warhol pop art using all of the guests' pictures

Colorful cupcakes

Rice Krispie paintbrushes

Colorful candy for the favor bags

Photo booth -- the boys helped me paint this backdrop using an old window shade we found in someone's garbage pile.

This picture is classic Ellis!  

Mom & Dad with the birthday boy

Monet and Van Gogh marionettes (made by my high school art teacher, Mrs. Marx) were the celebrity hosts of the party.

Van Gogh and Monet entertained the kids for a bit (this is the part where we asked the lingering parents to shield their eyes - my puppeteering skills are a little rusty).

High fives from Vincent

Monet and Van Gogh chose teams, and we divided into two groups for the rest of the activities.

Painting along the fence

Hailey and Bryson with their masterpieces

Match the works of art (from Dover sticker books) to the artist.  We tried to choose artists with distinct styles.

The kids were pretty good at it (and this was Ellis' favorite activity of the party)!

Pin the random object on the Picasso picture

Their masterpiece

Silly Picasso kids

Andy Warhol soup can stacking (I was pretty bummed when I barely missed these at our local Target store.  Apparently they sold out within a few days).

Jake - Ellis' friend born a few days before him.  Can't believe they're both 4!

There was a lot of this going on during the party.  Madness, supervised by Ben!

Colored water was the hit of the party!

Ben served choose-any-color drinks.  The kids thought it was AMAZING how the colors changed so magically.

Orange + Blue = Root Beer! (kind of)

Caroline and her purple water

My swirly cupcakes

Four years old!

Can you guess this boy's favorite color?

Messy treats painted their teeth!

Caroline, Amelia, Eliza

Bryson

Classic Ellis face as he opened his gifts

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLIS!!!

Ellis: King of the House

On the last week of summer before school started, each boy got to be King of the House for one day!  They got to choose EVERYTHING for that day!

Ellis was first.  He had absolutely no trouble assuming his role as king and telling everyone what to do!

Breakfast of choice: Cookie Crisp.

Morning entertainment: Woody Woodpecker.

Lunch: PB&J with grapes.

Method of transportation: Subway!

Outing: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  Unexpected bonus: the U.S. Presidents room.

[I interrupt this list to tell you that I LOVE the next 10 pictures, I LOVE that my son chose the MFA as his outing, and I LOVE that my boys are crazy about art right now.  It's insanely amazing and unexpected.  I'm drinking it all in while it lasts!]

"Mom, aren't these pictures better than you thought?!?" (actual quotes from Ellis)

Thomas Jefferson!

"Mom, this painting is NOT very cute, huh?"

I had a little sticker book for the boys so they could try to find certain paintings in the museum.  They found almost all of them, and really wanted to keep going when they closed the museum after we'd been there 3 hours.

"Mom, it's kind of fun to look at REAL paintings!" 

Water Lilies!

When we got back on the subway and saw the cool 90's black-with-neon flooring, he said, "So . . . I guess Jackson Pollock painted this floor."

Dinner of choice: Muffin and juice (we met Ben at Harvard Square).

Does the King of the House get to sit on Dad's lap, even if Dad is already maxed out holding one very wiggly baby?  Of course!  He's the king.

And does he get to have chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles?  And can he give a thumbs-down, just to be silly?  And can he wear his crown from dawn to dusk?  Yes, yes, and yes.  That's what being King of the House is all about.