Halloween Costume Fun?

A few months ago, Ian decided what he wanted to be for Halloween. He even described his idea to Linda and she made a sketch.



He wanted to be a Stormtrooper inside an AT-AT Walker from Star Wars. With flaps for his arms and a helmet on his head. With "shooters" attached and big robot legs to tromp around in. Being the loving parents that we are, Linda and I went about making his costume. To be on the safe side, I managed to convince him to be a two legged walker instead of a four legged one, as I was unsure if I could actually make the bigger one. For those of you who are Star Wars geeks (like me) I was aiming for the smaller AT-ST walker from Return of the Jedi. The ones that the Ewoks managed to take down with big ropes and poles and stuff.

Linda was in charge of procurement and I was in charge of construction. A trip to the craft store and Walmart got most of what we needed. Little bowls, duct tape, spray paint and sheets of foam. We took an empty diaper box, cut out the shape and made some holes for his arms. I measured and cut, measured again and cut as needed. I even used a yard stick for straight lines. Lots of duct tape around the edges to hold it together and some hot glue to attach the guns and viewport flaps. Ian was excited!

He was really excited! So was I! We had never actually made a costume before.

I spray painted the whole thing gray with enough coats to make me dizzy. A metallic spray paint was added for the special robot walker finish. Linda added in some straps inside so it would stay up. We did make legs also but they didn't fit right so we didn't use them. Here Ian is in his Stormtrooper costume driving the AT-ST Walker. "Daddy it's TOTALLY AWESOME!" I felt so proud that I had brought this much joy to my son. Ian was super excited!

Until he actually had to wear it to his Karate Halloween party on Thursday!

As soon as we got out of the car Ian refused to wear the walker costume and announced that he would just go as the stormtrooper. Now of course we didn't expect him to wear it for a long time at all. It was a pretty tight fit and he couldn't run around or eat in it. We just wanted to him to walk in with it and make an appearance. To have some fun showing off his costume.

(Side note- We were going to have Connor go as Darth Vader to complete the Star Wars theme, but he hated it! It was catching on his legs or something. As we were trying to get out of the door to get to the party, Connor was screaming, Ian was talking non-stop and we were slowly losing some of our sanity. We took Connor's costume off completely and just bundled him in the car with his regular clothes and a "Lightning McQueen" hat. Halloween is supposed to be fun, right?)

In the parking lot, I tried to coax Ian into his Walker costume but to no avail. It went something like this-

Ian- No Daddy! I don't want that! The walker is for NEXT Halloween!

Me- Umm... What? You've been asking to be an AT-AT Walker for two months. You had Mommy make a sketch. Why don't you just try it for a short while to show everybody? Then you can take it off to play.

Ian- DadDEE, NOOO! I just want to be a stormtrooper!

Linda was busy getting Connor out of the car. Ian and I went back and forth like this for about two minutes until I eventually gave in. Halloween is supposed to be fun, right?

Me- Okay E. Whatever makes you happy. I'll put it back in the car.

This is when Linda stepped in...

Linda- I HAVE HAD ENOUGH! We are going HOME! No party tonight! That costume is exactly what you asked for and your father spent hours making it! You even helped him. If you don't wear it, even for a short time we are going home! Walk in with it on and then you can take it off!

Ian- stunned silence

Me- stunned silence

Wow! I really love my wife. She is calm when I am stressed, gentle when I am stern, and hell on wheels when needed! Mothers must develop this stern technique biologically. Maybe when they are pregnant? She sounded exactly like my Mom when I was in second grade! (The year I freaked out about my costume! I asked to be The Hulk and then had a meltdown when I had to put The Hulk costume on.) I wondered for a few seconds if she was pushing Ian too hard. He squeaked a little "okay" and turned so I could put the walker over his head. We all went inside. Whew.

Everybody loved his walker costume (especially all the other thirty-something dads). Ian took the walker part off after a few minutes and we set it aside. He proceeded to have a great time at the party, running around, eating snacks and generally having fun for about an hour. Crisis averted!

Until he won "Best Costume"!

This time he wouldn't budge and started to have a meltdown. He won a $10 gift card to Target and actually tried to give it back to Mr. Meza.

Ian- I don't WANT to stand for more pictures! I'm tired! I don't WANT to put on the walker! I'm hungry! Mr. Meza, I don't want this! I want to go home!

Maybe Halloween is sometimes just too much for little kids. Ian was too upset to think clearly and probably really hungry too. He isn't sure how to act sometimes, and gets wrapped up in the enormity of RIGHT NOW. I know I was like that as a kid. Ian really is a good kid and I guess sometimes being four is a lot to handle.

We had Ian go over to Mr. Meza and thank him for the prize. We got home, got everybody fed and just relaxed for the rest of the night. Whew.

Friday-

I was home with the boys on Friday. Connor had two appointments in the morning and after lunch we hit the store to get some food and candy. I let the boys pick out one bag of candy each while I grabbed small one too. They pushed the cart all around the store. I was trying to tire them out so they would take a nap at 1:00pm. They did not. Connor played with his cars and Ian did some pre-school type workbook sheets with me. Linda got home at 3:00pm and I crashed at 3:30. It had been a long day. She woke me up around 5:00pm and guess what? The boys were out!

Cindy and Rick invited us to go over to their neighborhood for Trick or Treating. We made a quick dinner and headed out at 6:00pm. We did have Ian wear the walker costume for a few pictures but that was all. As you can see he wasn't very happy about it.

He did have a great time going around to each house with his friend Trevor. They had a lot of fun.

Connor was little skeleton guy. Linda picked him up this cute little shirt to replace the Darth Vader costume. He was really hesitant at first going to each house but soon got the hang of it. Free candy is a good motivator! When he got tired of holding his bucket he gave it to me to carry...

...until the next house that had candy! He even said "Twik Tweet" a few times.

After we got home, we stopped at two of our close neighbors houses to say hi and Ian asked to wear the walker part so he could show them. He tromped up and down the street making robot noises and I pretended that he was chasing me. If you look closely you can see that Ian looks really happy. Smiles all the way... like the last two days of meltdowns hadn't happened.

Back in the house, Connor went right to his cars for some downtime. Ian helped me hand out candy and was very generous. Full handfuls of candy for everybody! We got rid of all three bags before the creepy-teenagers-that-are-probably-too-old-to-trick-or-treat started to come by at 9pm. We then put the boys to bed and I sang a few Halloween songs with them.

Maybe Halloween is too much for parents. We try to make everything perfect for our children's future memories. As I was making Ian's walker costume I wondered who was more excited about it. We have two wonderful and funny boys. I hope they remember the fun parts from this year. I wasn't laughing much today, but I know I will have a good story to tell and laugh about when they are older.

To the Movies!

The Murphys and the Wines headed to the theater on Sunday morning to see "Star Wars - Clone Wars", the new animated picture from Lucasfilm. Ian and Trevor were super excited. Connor did really well too. He lasted through more than half the movie before he got a little antsy (the popcorn ran out) so Linda took him for a short walk.



I was four years old when I went to the the first "Star Wars" in the movie theater with my dad and two brothers (not sure why Suzie didn't come... it must have been since she was a girl!). I was so excited! I talked and asked questions the entire time. At one point Chris threatened to get the guy with the flashlight to kick me out of the theater! After the movie we made lightsaber and spaceship sounds all the way to the car.

Ian and Trevor were oddly really quiet through the whole film. They did really enjoy it though! Both boys made the required cool lightsaber sounds all the way to the car!

As far as a review of the movie from a parent's perspective... it was definitely aimed at kids. Lots of battles, snappy one liners and characters that try too hard to have "spunk" or "attitude". I was disappointed that it didn't have any of the deeper themes that the original three "Star Wars" movies had. Whether it be believing in yourself or knowing right from wrong. It is possible to have deeper meaning attached to kids movies. "Kung-Fu Panda" or "Wall-E" are both excellent examples of this. Lucas has really strayed far from what made his original trilogy special.

Oh and by the way... the soundtrack was awesome! They used John Williams original theme for the opening credits but the rest was new music. It had a lot of asian influences and drumming. Very cool!

Future Jedi Knights Ian and Trevor making lightsaber sounds.

Well that is all for now. Hi to everybody in blogland! (cue Star Wars end credit music) dun dun dun DUN!

Alarm Clock

I went back to school this week so the whole family is again on the work routine. We have been having trouble getting Ian up in the mornings. He is following the true Murphy tradition of sluggishness so Linda bought him an alarm clock. He slept through it on Friday and I wound up late for a meeting (I can't really blame him for that tough).

To give the non-Murphys a little background... My dad would regularly sleep though alarms for an hour or more. Chris (my brother) was the same, and in high school he wired in a extra loud speaker into his alarm clock so he could get up. Michael (also my brother) would throw whatever was on hand at us when we tried to wake him up. Suzie (my sister) seems to wake up just fine. Being the little brother, I was always the first one up. I would sit on top of Suzie at 6am and pry her eyelids open while asking "Hey SUZ! Are you awake?" Its fun being the little brother.

Nowadays though, I have to set my alarm a full half hour early because I will regulary reset it for a half hour later while I am still asleep (and have no memory of doing it).

This is what happened Saturday.

6:15 - Connor wakes up later than usual. Linda gives him his first breakfast. Linda checks her email. I stay in bed. Connor plays around the house and watches some TV.

7:00 - Ian's alarm clock goes off. We forgot to turn it off from Friday but that doesn't matter because Ian sleeps right through it. I hear it, get out of bed and in a daze manage to press a button that stops the horrible ringing. I go back to bed.

7:30 am - The alarm clock goes off again. Apparently it has a second alarm and I had only turned off the first one. It was ringing for a full two minutes. I decide to get my camera to record the moment. I debate on getting the same alarm for myself so I can get up on weekdays.

Tommy - "Ian, are you awake?"
Ian - .....







I reset the alarm for 8:30. Normally we let the boys sleep as long as they want to on the weekends. For Connor that is not as long as we would like. We had someone coming over at 9:30 and Ian and I were going to Karate class at 10:00 so we had to get him up.


7:30-8:30 Connor plays around the house and generally makes a lot of noise. Linda and I chat about what we are going to do that day. I have breakfast.

8:26 - Connor decides that Ian has slept long enough and goes to do his little brother best to wake up Ian.

Connor - "IAN!"

Ian - ......

Connor whaps Ian on the back repeatedly to wake him up.

Connor - "IAANNN!"

Ian - ......

Connor goes for the climb on top method. He does this to us too sometimes. I wonder if Connor will ever try the prying eyelids method. At this point Ian is awake but pretending to be asleep. He is trying really hard not to laugh.

8:35 - Ian trudges out to breakfast. Connor follows


Connor gets his second breakfast. Apparently this is why he wanted to wake up Ian.



8:50 - Ian is fully awake and super happy! Thankfully he has a little brother alarm clock!

Happy Birthday Linda! July 25!

Hi! Welcome to my first blog. Today is my lovely wife Linda's Birthday! Terri offered me the use of her blog Theresa's Life to honor Linda but she also suggested I use my own. Linda has been encouraging me to blog since she started blogging. Apparently I like to tell really long stories. She has mentioned this to me at least once or twice a week for the past year. I am mostly just putting up some fun pictures for this first post.

This first picture is at Norrie Point off the Hudson River just before I proposed. Linda is quiet by nature but she speaks her mind. She is a very strong woman that I am lucky enough to be married to. She keeps all of us laughing at our house and is really fun to be around.

Our first picture after getting engaged. Linda has a wonderful smile and brightens the room when she is there. (Yes I know that is really sappy!)

In 1998 Linda ran the New York City Marathon. She trained for three months and finished the 26 mile run strong. Go Team Snoopy!

Linda in Ecuador with her cousins in 2001. She had a great time there with tons of family and went again back in 2002.

In 2001 we moved to Arizona. Linda was incredibly supportive of me getting my masters degree. She is always thinking of other people. This is her on the hiking trail in Sedona.

Linda loves taking pictures and blog about them. Her blog is these are the days . (If you are reading this you probably know that already.) She used to do a lot of scrapbooking and that has evolved into her blog. It was pretty hard to find pictures of just her because she has been the only one behind the camera for the last two years. But I just got my own camera so... watch out!

I was practicing with my new camera. This is Linda being silly.

This is Linda being serious.

But she is the real photagrapher in our home. Here are a few of my favorite pictures that she has taken of our sons. I don't think she has ever left the house without her camera. I tease her about this a lot but she really does get great pictures.

Connor at the park glowing with happiness.

Connor asleep. Linda has a knack for getting real life shots of the boys.

Me and Connor last summer. What are we looking at? Who knows... Linda has a great eye for good pictures.

A very excited Ian at the Fourth of July Parade in 2006.

Ian trotting off into the distance in Flagstaff.

Here is one lucky shot of Linda and Ian that I took in Houson TX while we where visiting Jesse and Tewlyn. There is that same awesome smile!

Linda is a wonderful person. A loving wife and mother. We have been together for fourteen years and married for almost nine. She is the anchor and heart of our family. Happy Birthday Linda!