Halloween Post 2012

 So we had a cold snowy Halloween - but it is was still full of fun costumes, friends a too much candy -so  no complaints here. This year was pretty no fuss actually. Through an amazing stroke of luck - or by a Halloween Miracle - I managed to buy the kids costumes is one fell swoop at Value Village in a period of 30 minutes. If you have ever had to buy clothing items that must be tried on for 3 girls you know this is nothing short of miraculous. And I was so grateful - because October was SOOO busy.

 Eve decided early on she wanted to be Strawberry shortcake. She likes the dolls a lot and she loved the costume she saw at Walmart back in September. She was funny though - she kept changing her mind about what she would be next year. She would tell anyone who would listen "that this year I am going to be Strawberry Shortcake, but next year when I am six I am going to be______" I heard a vampire, Super Girl, Ninja,  and Dead Bride complete that sentence.

Eve owes her beautiful strawberry locks to her sisters frugal costume choices. Eve's costume package contained a hat, the tights, and the dress for 24 dollars. The pink shoes were already in her closet. The wig was extra. She really wanted it, but I had a budget of $20 per kid, and she was already over budget.  I was going to stand firm and  suffer the consequences. Luckily both Jackie and Alice's costumes were well under 10 dollars each - so we got the wig and stayed under our overall budget. The wig did a great job of keeping her head warm while trick or treating (something her sisters were jealous of).  It will now live forever in our dress up clothes along with my red Dana Scully wig from 1998 and last years gorgeous Miss Piggy wig.

Jackie decided early on she wanted to be a haunted doll. Where did she get this idea? From the fascinating recesses of her brain. The back story goes like this, "A grown up lady is looking through boxes in her attic. She find a porcelain doll that she used to love and play with when she was a girl.  It is dusty and old and a little broken, but she is excited to find the doll and takes it out of the box. Then she puts it down to continue looking through the boxes. She hears a sound and turns around. She doesn't see anything, but she is sure the doll was in a different position that when she put it down.  She goes back to the boxes and hears something again. A spooky high pitched voice - she knows her doll is ALIVE - it is possessed!!   "

I was a little worried when Jackie was telling me about her idea - because I could tell she had a very specific vision and wasn't sure if we could match it. But we found this dress right away and Jackie thought it was perfect. Every costuming choice came from Jackie. She wanted pigtails that were kind of messy - with one bow coming out. She initially wanted her dress to be really dirty - but when it was time to make  it dirty with dirt from the garden, she couldn't bring herself to do it "what if it gets stained? It is so pretty, I might want to wear it again". Instead, we used the dress as a dusting rag, so it is a little dirty, but will clean up well. Jackie didn't mind that people didn't know what she was right away - she liked explaining her idea to people she cared about and liked what people at the door guessed. ( clown - fairy princess - frankenstein, and "aren't you cute)

Jackie had her friend Ella come trick or treat with her. The girls were so cute with their zombie looks and cute pigtails. They looked like twins - or at least sisters. Jackie has lovely taste in friends. Oh and in case you are wondering, the picture below is Jackie ready to trick- or -treat. I thought she should wear a coat over her costume, but I was out voted. Instead she has 2 pairs of pants and three shirts underneath her costume. After 20 minutes she put on her ear muffs - but that was it.

Alice could not decide what to be. She kept asking me for ideas then hating everything I gave her. I finally turned to social media to solve the problem - by asking for ideas on facebook - tagging friends and family Alice trusted to be cool. We ended up with several cool ideas and Alice picked Jenny's idea of being the White Queen from Alice in Wonderland. We found this dress at Value Village for $2.99 and Alice customized it by cutting off most of the embellishments. The night before Halloween we went to Walmart after her basketball practice to buy her dark red lipstick and black nail polish, pale foundation and white spray for her hair - we also had a few other things to buy so we were out late. She then got up at 6am to get ready before school. That my friends, is commitment. This picture is not taken before trick-or -treating - it is taken in the wee hours of the morning before Alice gets on her 7:17 bus. Unlike Jackie, Alice did not want to have to explain her costume to anyone, instead, she decided she would be whatever people thought she was. So throughout the day she was: A ghost, a dead bride, and princess?

 When Alice found out Jackie had Ella coming, she decided she needed a friend as well. We got on the phone and soon Emma was coming along and we were meeting up with Robin and her brother - so we had quite a fun troupe. The picture below is Alice ready for trick-or-treating. She only added gloves to this outfit. She risked frost bitten ears to maintain the integrity of her look.

When Eve saw that Emma and Ella were coming with us, she asked, " how come I don't have a friend?" I said, " Because no other 5 year old can keep up to all the big kids as well as you can". She was ok with that answer and boy was it ever true. Eve led the way ( which caused a bit of contention for the first bit - some people thought they should take turns being first  - but Eve would not be stopped). Twice she slipped on the ice and fell hard. I was worried she had hurt herself. If she did - it didn't register. She was up and running and something in me thinks she would have been up and running even with a broken leg. That kid was MOTIVATED!!

The kids were out for just over an hour when Eve's smaller bag was completely full. I said I would take some of the heavy things out and put them in my back pack (that was uselessly holding all of my children's coats - so I could prove to passers by that I wasn't complete negligent). I told the kids to wait while I did this. Everyone waited - except Eve, the cause for the delay. No, she courageously forged ahead, running to the next house by herself without her bag. She rang the door bell and I guess must have said trick or treat. We found her running down the steps, struggling to hold on to the tootsie rolls with her mittens. I am sure if I had not run into her, she simply would have gone to the next house. Lets just say, when it comes to trick or treating and anything that has to do with running - EVE IS IN IT TO WIN IT.   She did run out of steam though, and when she did, everyone else decided they were cold or their bags were too heavy. Andrew came to pick her up in the car and ended up sticking all 5 girls in it.

The night ended with the great candy sort and some hot chocolate. It was a good time. And really - Halloween is always a good time. And now - let's make way for Christmas!!