The Wizard, Nacho Libre and The Butterfly Fairy!

Here is the costumed crew, in Ballard, during the KEXP dance party at The Tractor. After brunch at Hatties Hat, we wondered up to Cupcake Royale for free baby cakes, live music and a stop at La Tienda to buy this years skeletal figure for our Dia de los Muertos alter.

Here is the Lucha Libre figure we picked out. It was a toss up between him and the strong man holding the barbell!

Here is the unembellished Nacho Libre mask. I couldn't leave it as-is. It needed embellishment! So I traced the red part, made a pattern, and cut out red felt to overlay.

Once I had this cut out, I used bright yellow embroidery thread to stitch the red felt to the mask, trying to make it look like the mask in the movie, Nacho Libre.

The mask, after embellishment. See? Much better!

Chad, I mean Nacho, with the mask on!

A view with the cape on. The "cape" is actually a skirt of quilted blue corduroy on the "right" side and red satin on the "inside." Reversed with the red side out made for the perfect Nacho cape and the contrasting blue matched perfectly as well.

Long live Nacho Libre!

The KEXP kids dance party that we took Jasper and his friend Rowan to was super fun! Here is my wizard and our friend the butterfly fairy eating their first Cupcake Royale baby cake of the day, waiting in line to get in to dance!

It was a bit difficult to get a good photo of all the cool decorations around the Tractor. The Adventure School had provided all the decorations and art activities and they did a great job!

Spooky paper plate and corn kernel noisemaker!

Look at this little garden gnome!!! His handmade/homemade costume was one of the best there! Loved it!

Brunch at Hatties was delicious and fun. We played hangman and tic-tac-toe while we waited. It was fun people watching since so many folks were dressed up!

The Wizard and the Butterfly Fairy, skipping and running through the Ballard Farmers Market. It was such a gorgeous day in Seattle and we were happy to have a chance to be outdoors in between "sets" at the Tractor. We made our way toward the live music in front of Cupcake Royale and La Tienda.

The Wizard attempting to stop traffic with his magic wand!

Music to eat your cupcakes by and purchase your Dia de los Muertos accessories too! Lovely!

Back at The Tractor for more dancing and activities. The kids decided to try the spin art since there was no line. This was a very cool set up! When the girl on the bicycle peddled, the disk inside the tray attached to the back, spun, and then the kids dripped paint in to make spin art! Did you ever do this as a kid, perhaps at the fair?! I have never seen this done with a bicycle before! So cool!

Jasper's Spin Art.

So, we had a great Halloween! Hope you all had a safe and sane weekend. Ours was busy, full and satisfying. After the dance party we grabbed the teenager and went to Rowan's house for dinner and trick-or-treating. Chad wore the Nacho costume and got lots of laughs and comments for it. He was even given a full size candy bar for his efforts! Lucky Nacho!

Now on to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos tomorrow night before the Head and the Heart show! Tomorrow is our 13th annual Tamale Making Day. We try to make enough to freeze a lot so we have them to eat on our major holidays or other seasonal celebrations. We will feast on them tomorrow night and make a dish for our beloved dead as an offering. I think venison and bacon tamales are on the menu for this year! November 2nd is always fun but emotional, and well worth it over here! I hope you find a few moments to think of your beloved dead and send them a peaceful prayer. Blessed be and a festive Dia de los Muertos to you and yours!

xoxoxo

Jennette

We are getting ready to celebrate our loved ones who have passed and welcome the souls of our dead.

We are not afraid of the spirits of the dead.

At this time of year the veil between the worlds is very thin.

The dead are our friends and family, our ancestors, who gave us life.

We call them our "beloved dead."

This is a photo of Bob, Chad's dad, holding August when Gus was a couple days old. This photo is always on our Day of the Dead alter. We miss you Papa Bob!

Here are the skeleton figures I made, about ten years ago, of my Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen. We have photos all over the alter of them too.

We try to collect one figure each year, to add to our alter. We try to find ones that represent us or our deceased. Kirsten gave me the pregnant woman with the heart on her belly, when I was pregnant with Jasper and I bought us the man and woman pushing baby in a pram when I was pregnant with him.

Birth and death are two sides of the same thing. Death is a natural part of life. Death is a gift of change and growth. Birth and death are both times of new beginnings.

I made this melon-holding skeleton figure many years ago. I fancy it to be myself. I hope to have melon wherever I go!

Hunters, healers and helpers. These remind us that our lives are gifts given to us by other living beings. Because all food is a gift of a life, it is sacred. We treat food with respect and leave offerings, ofrendas, of our deceased's favorites on the alter during this time.

Masculine energy.

Feminine energy!

These are our sugar skulls from last year. For the past few years I have been taking the kids to the big Dia de Muertos celebration at Seattle Center, where we made these. They have great art activities, food, dancing, face painting, etc. This years Mexican rememberance to remember our departed will be held Oct. 30 and 31. Get there if you can! It's free and fantastic!

This nun Catrina and her sister witch(below) were purchased in Nogales when my dad took me there during my first visit to his condo in Tucson. We crossed the border to buy booze, smokes, trinkets and to feast at La Roca. I scored on these tall, delicate ceramic figures and carried them all the way home to Seattle in my arms!

It's hard to see but she has an owl sitting on her shoulder. The paper marigold flower she is holding is one that we made last year at the Seattle Center celebration. And the pumpkin at her feet is one I needle felted a couple years ago.

Celebrating the Day of the Dead is a joyous occassion, not morbid. We have a feast on All Souls Day, Nov. 2, and we tell stories of our beloved dead. We laugh and we cry when we recount the good things we miss about the people we loved. It's good for my kids to hear the stories and see us honoring our elders who have gone ahead and remembering the young ones who went too soon.

We have many pictures of my cousin Michael who died in a head on collision car accident in 2003. He was a radiant young man, full of life,happy and charismatic. He loved to ride motorcross and he was good at it. We miss him.

We have many photos of Chad's dad, Papa Bob, who left this world in 2000. It took me a while too not be angry at him for leaving us but now I am able to celebrate him and tell my children about what a eccentric, crazy, pagan lovin, hippie he was! We actually still see him, quite often, in the flight of an eagle, when the warm sun kisses our cheeks, in the babbling of a river. We still miss him though.

We have many photos of my grandparents. Both Gma and Gpa Nielsen, my dad's parents, and Gpa McAlpin, my mom's dad. My kids like to hear stories I recount to them of growing up surrounded by my loving grandparents. I spent time every month with my dad's folks and it's one reason I am no longer sad my parents were divorced. If they hadn't been, I would not have spent a weekend every month with my dad, at my grandparents. I cherish that time I had with them. And my Gpa McAlpin always let me pick out horses for him to bet on at Long Acres. My kids think this is so funny!

And we honor all our greats, and great greats, etc. Our grandparents parents, and so on. We put out all the photos we have and talk about how it might have been for them. We wonder and we speculate. We laugh with a bit of awe and feel blessed for what we have. We love one another and remind each other that we have it so so good. We celebrate and rejoice. Life is good and we honor our beloved dead. Rest in Peace, loved ones,

R.I.P.

xoxox

Jennette

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