Holy Bagumba!

I am super excited to have my Flora & Ulysses costume. It has taken a lot of planning. First of all, I had to agree to be a nanny for two young girls the summer that I graduated from high school. Jenny and Heather were a lot of fun. If you need to make a costume, it is essential to have someone like Jenny to teach you how to do it. When I posted a picture of Flora & Ulysses on my Facebook page and asked if anyone knew how to make a shirt like Flora's, Jenny messaged me within minutes. She told me to get an orange or yellow shirt, fabric paint, painters tape, and a roller brush. 

She wrote out step by step instructions that worked perfectly! Thanks Jenny! The hardest part was actually finding the shirt, but after a few trips to Plato's closet and Goodwill, I found one that fit and was a close color match. Painting was a ton of fun.

I already had some capris so that was taken care of, but my next issue was my hair and shoes. My mom saw the picture on Facebook too. Within a few days she called me asking my shoe size because she found some shoes at a garage sale that would be perfect. She also had a wig for me. I needed a haircut anyway, so now I have my short hair and will go natural or use the wig whichever looks the best. I will get to my mom's house on Sunday and see if the shoes work and put the whole outfit together. I will try to update the post with final pictures then.

My last concern was Ulysses. Fortunately, I work with a lot of helpful people. When I asked one of our reading teachers if she had a squirrel in her stuffed animal collection she said she thought so. She hadn't read Flora & Ulysses yet, but I handed it to her and she remedied that within 24 hours. After finishing the book (and loving it), Diane gave me a squirrel she had found at home & told me to give him the vacuum treatment with her blessing. 

So now I should be ready for the #nErDcampMI 5K and then Halloween too. I am so excited to share Flora & Ulysses with everyone. Now I need to go read it one more time. If you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for? It won the Newbery Award this year and is beyond awesome. Here is the book trailer and a short interview with Kate DiCamillo to introduce the book.

You may recognize Kate DiCamillo as the author of Because of Winn Dixie, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Tale of Despereaux, Bink & Gollie, Mercy Watson, and many more fantastic books. The illustrations were created by K.G. Campbell and are super fun. 

As a side note, my daughter and I got to meet Kate DiCamillo in Minneapolis earlier this year. She was warm, welcoming, and so sweet. Meeting her was an unexpected and fabulous treat. (the rhyming was completely unintentional, but I like it so it's staying)

* Here is the text of Kate's Newbery speech. You might need tissues.