And the winner is...

Skeletor!

By yours truly.

Son of a Bee Sting

Drew wishes all her family and friends a Happy Halloween today!







And tune back later this afternoon when I announce the winner of the PPCC 2008. The voting polls have been extended until noon central time because the race is so close!

Vote for the Winner

So, maybe you did not enter a pumpkin into the contest this year. Maybe you didn't have time. Maybe you felt unqualified for the challenge. But that doesn't mean you don't have an eye for an outstanding pumpkin carving... or have the time to vote for this year's winner. Let me introduce the contestants...


Meet Pumpkin Mario. He's a scorpio, works as an entertainer, and he likes long walks on the beach.



Meet Skeletor. Don't be fooled by the size of his head, he is one mean bag of bones.



Meet Ms. Pacman. She's so hot she attracts all the ghosts. (A light ghost is in fast pursuit.)


Meet Mariachi Miguel. Just sit back and let his smooth sounds serenade you this Halloween season.

Please vote for the 2008 winner here:

VOTE NOW

Voting ends on Halloween Eve!

Halloween Past

I saw a great old Halloween photo of my friend Erica on her blog. It inspired me to dig up some Halloween photos of my own. This one is classic to me because (1) I am a raggedy ballerina and (2) this picture of Shawnda pretty much sums up everything she was to me at that age of her life. Just look at her face and that will explain it all!

I love you Shawnda and am glad sooner or later we became best friends (even though it took until high school!).

Great Outdoors

What says fall more than cool weather, crunchy leaves, guys throwing around a football, and a campfire? Drew was in rock and leaf heaven (if there was such a place) at the lake this weekend. She likes to hold your hand and lead you around and is amazed by the littlest things, see face in second picture. She likes twigs, pebbles, ants, wood chips, trees, water...









...but not kayaks.

Get Ready

It is done. The pumpkin was opened. The guts cleaned out. It's remains carved into a beautiful masterpiece. That is only three days later a pile of rotting orange on my front doorstep.

Make it Work

In preparation for the Project Runway finale tomorrow, I did what I have been wanting to do for a long time... I made my very first dress! It is made from a pattern that I created and took a couple days to figure out. My model down the runway:











I love the shape and basic design of the dress. Most importantly it is very comfortable and SO easy to get on and off, which is a must to prevent Drew meltdowns. But there are some things I am going to do differently on the next one. I'm thinking a herringbone fabric would make an adorable winter dress (with tights and a button up sweater).

Once I get it all perfected, I will put some dresses in my Etsy shop, custom made for sizes 1-5 (I think).

And as for tomorrow... I hope Leanne wins!

Black Thumb

This is my first early birthday present to myself. I bought this orchid plant at the farmer's market this weekend. I bought it because the lady assured me that they are very easy to keep alive. All I have to do is water her once every three weeks. I even told orchid lady about my yearly repeated failure to grow anything and keep it alive. (This year I tried to grow cilantro... got five measly stalks that barely made a batch of salsa.) She still said she thought I could keep my orchid alive.

After the market I was reading through the directions I was given for my orchid and I came upon words like secondary bloom, flowering segment of the spike, cut the spike off the node, repotting, propagation... Didn't I tell her that I am the grim reaper of plants! I will pay someone one hundred dollars if this thing makes it to see 2009.

But I don't have one hundred dollars.

Two Ways You Know You are Getting Older

1. You and your husband watch a CNN special... and you enjoy it.

2. You get excited about buying a new vacuum.

Isn't she a beauty?

A Lesson in BCC

Wikepedia says, "In the context of e-mail, blind carbon copy (abbreviated BCC and sometimes referred to as Blind Courtesy Copy or Blank Carbon Copy) refers to the practice of sending a message to multiple recipients in such a way that what they receive does not contain the complete list of recipients."

I underestimated the power of BCC when I sent out the now criminalized Patterson Pumpkin Carving Contest Letter. What started out as a friendly little invite to our contest turned into my friends and family receiving multiple crude emails, and then apology emails... in other words filling up your inbox with more junk. In case you don't receive enough junk mail a day, like those pesky Nigerians telling you you won the lottery, just read the Patterson Pumpkin Letters, as they will now be called.

But seriously, I am sorry if anyone was offended.

From now on, only BCC for me. Lesson learned.

Tot Trends Weekly

I just got an email a couple days ago saying that Bitsy Bear was featured in Tot Trends Weekly Magazine.

Kind of fun!

It's the PPCC

It's that time of year again for the annual Patterson Pumpkin Carving Contest. For the special 5th Anniversary this year we decided to change things up a bit. We are opening up the contest to all friends and family, in hopes of course that someone will try and throw down Jason's title of Pumpkin King for four years running. So all of you that have been voting each year (and for Jason I might add), we want you to get your hands dirty and add your own potential champion pumpkin to the running.

Let's recap the previous contestants...






Intimidated? Naturally... But we hope you are up for the challenge.

Following are the official rules:

1. Each entry must be submitted by midnight, Thursday, October 23 (to cheliseb@aol.com).
2. Include a picture and the name of your pumpkin. Oh yes, it needs a name. Optional: can include a brief statement on why your pumpkin will win.
3. The polls will be open the week of October 24-October 30, in which the creator of each pumpkin will remain anonymous.
4. Winner will be announced Halloween morning and claim the PPCC title.

Before you embark on your masterpiece, remember the judging criteria:

1. creativity/originality
2. difficulty
3. best skill/fewest mistakes
4. best use of lighting
5. one you would least want to meet in a dark alley
6. one with most sex appeal
7. overall favorite pumpkin

Happy carving, everyone!

Dear Chelise from Three Years Ago,

Remember when you were so excited to buy your first "winter coat" and you found this classic trench on killer sale? And you didn't think it was fishy that a "winter coat" would be on clearance right before winter? And the other teachers at school laughed when you showed them your new "winter coat"? And remember you wore it walking around downtown Chicago in below zero wind chill weather and about froze to death?

Oh, you have so much to learn about midwest winters, Chelise of 2005.

Sincerely, Chelise of the Future


It is only October and I am already staring down my last Iowa winter in the face and laughing.