The original patch I made was not snug enough so I made another one out of soft fleece.  It covers his eye better and to make it more fun for him, I had him pick a special button as a decoration.  He chose a rainbow button and here’s my boy with his new and improved eye patch.

Because his face is so small, his glasses keep slipping from his nose.  No matter how we tweak the legs of the glasses or the nose pad, they just slip.  So!  Off to the internet I went to do some research.  After visiting several websites, I came up with my own version of a head strap that goes around the back of his head so to hold his glasses in place.  I’m just so happy that his glasses no longer slip and that they stay on his face.

Whooo hooo!  Mission accomplished.  I hope the saga ends here.

Initially, we stopped by the drugstore but didn’t find a Band-Aid type of patch for his eye that the optometrist suggested.  So after some searching the web, I decided to make a custom eye patch for my boy.  I found an awesome eye patch tutorial.  I love technology!  I immediately went to work and came up with an eye patch for my boy.

Here’s my cutie with his eye patch:

My brother has poor eyesight.

My sister has poor eyesight.

My parents have poor eyesight.

My husband has poor eyesight.

My husband’s brother has poor eyesight.

My husband’s parents have poor eyesight.

To sum it up, my side of family has poor eyesight and so does my husband’s side.  Yet, somehow I secretly hoped that this dominant genetic trait wouldn’t get passed down to my offspring.

Sadly, to no avail.

So now I present to you my boys in spectacles:

I’m still holding out hope for my girls.

We’ve already taken advantage of the offer to take a bunch of portraits of the kids and print a bunch of canvas prints of these:

Here’s the highlight of her birthday celebration today:

Bethany wearing her princess hat:

Bethany opening a present:

While we were busy chatting with our guests, Bethany pulled up on the coffee table and helped herself to someone else’s cake.  Sugar makes her very happy!

But wait… there’s more.

I was originally cast as the “Lord of the Dings.”

But we were unable to find a costume of a large fiery eye mounted on a high tower.

And besides… that Sauron guy was mean.

So we went another direction, seeing as Lois had a bunch of spare fabric from making the children their “fellowship cloaks.”

Meet me, this time as “Strider” (a.k.a. Aragorn, son of Arathorn), as we attended a local church’s “Harvest Festival” with the kids fully donned as hobbits:

And showing off the very warm cloak with full hood (who needs a Snuggie blanket?!):

Next year, methinks we’ll work on adding some more costuming (like an authentic-looking leaf brooch) and cast our little Bethany into the whole crew.  Lois says the easiest would be casting her as Gollum, we could just give her a loincloth and we’re good to go!

And maybe my lovely wife as the lovely Arwen.  We’d just need some really prominent elf/Vulcan ears.

This year, in the spirit of LotR fare, as enthusiasts of both the books and the movies, we offer to you our Halloween-costumed “hobbits” in this year’s production of The Lord of the Dings, starring:

Matthew Ding as Peregrin “Pippin” Took (as the tallest and most impulsive of the four)

Andrew Ding as Meriadoc “Merry” Brandywine (as the most sensible or at least sensitive of our children)

Emmaline Ding as Samwise Gamgee (cuz she loves to help around the house)

Calissa Ding as Frodo Baggins (cuz she’s least likely to lose the “precious” ring around her neck!)

(click the above to go to a full-sized image suitable for the average LotD fan to use as a desktop background =-p)

The kids gleefully tromped around the mall this morning barefoot.  Most shoppers looked at them with amusement, but one store employee, obviously a LotR fan, inquired as to why their feet weren’t hairy! =-)

OTHER CAST AND CREDITS

The Lord of the Dings – Evers

Costume design and production – Lois

Here are a few more photos from the “set”…

Cheerful hobbits grasping the hilts of their daggers:

Not quite forlorn “Frodo,” Calissa attempts to feel the inner angst of her character:

Donning hood and cloak, the hobbits offer the “monster faces” by which they plan to frighten any Nazgûl that may threaten to either harm the Ringbearer (or take their candy):