tricky... but a real halloween treat

Paul has been somewhat preoccupied the last couple of weeks - madly finishing a Dalek costume for Luc to wear on Halloween for Trick or Treating. I have been up to my elbows in papier mâché and spackle. Luc has been taking part in all aspects of building the Dalek as well as documenting the construction to complete a movie for the PTA's Reflections art contest. He has been so appreciative and it is great to see him beam each morning at whatever we were able to accomplish after he had gone to bed the night before. Daleks are the most evil creatures appearing on Dr Who television show. I have written about them before here. 

Paul and I work really well as a team whenever we have a special project to complete. This was a project and a half! It was actually a really fun family project - we just wish we had given it a bit more time - perhaps - as many late nights took their toll. 

Nic wanted to be Master Chief from Halo - a video game he is desperate to play (only we don't have a gaming device... what a shame!) We resorted to buying him a costume. Mietta planned her own Hello Kitty costume. Paul made her some ears and painted her face... and she was more than happy with the result. Any guilt we felt with all our efforts into making ONE costume for ONE child were dispelled once we had three uber excited kids running about in the spirit of Halloween. A neighbor commented on how happy they each appeared with each costume perfectly suited to their particular personality. 

Luc has posted his movie on YouTube. He titled it Genesis of a Costume. Note that this movie does not play on mobile devices. 

Extermi-cake!

Poor Luc always seems to have a delayed birthday party. It always seems to snow, or some bad weather makes entertaining at home seem like a really bad idea. This year was no exception... his February birthday party was held in April - after one postponement. 
Luc has several current obsessions - namely Minecraft, Doctor Who, Diary of a Wimpy Kid... but he decided to theme his birthday party an 'Everything' party (I'm not sure if he wanted to restrict himself to a particular theme).
Luc helped make his birthday cake and was going to help decorate it... but it got too late and he had to get to bed. As seems to be the case when I am doing things at the last moment, I changed my mind. Instead of making and icing 'cubes' of cake a la Minecraft style, I decided to change the theme to another of Luc's obsessions - Doctor Who! I had envisaged a TARDIS cake, but our 'round' carrot cake didn't really suit... how about a Dalek? I knew this would be a hit. I made a quick Banana Cake for the rest of the body. 
For those who don't know, Daleks have been scaring kids for generations. These are alien beings, indestructible, without a skerrick of emotion. They are fond of chasing around humans chanting "Exterminate. Exterminate! Exterminate" - before doing just that. I did a quick image search to look for the vital Dalek features. It turns out that there have been MANY Dalek cakes made over the years - very elaborate, very realistic and very time consuming! 

Of course I roud my decision when I found we were out of black gel color, and that with a bit of extra planning, I could have prepared some really great Dalek accoutrements, organized some silver spray color, bought some fondant instead of having to search for a recipe and then make some... 

Anyway, once I started, there was no turning back. 

You will understand how happy I felt when I found a beaming Luc in the morning - happy, surprised and totally appreciative. 
We served a simple lunch: Grilled burgers and sweet corn, chicken drumettes, tossed salad, asparagus... a perfect spring party :-)