Halloween 2012

I cannot believe it's been a year already since Halloween last year. Time is going at such a fast rate. The kids have been really excited to show off their costumes. They don't really care about the candy aspect of Halloween - especially T Rex. There is little candy that he actually does eat. You cannot even tempt him. However, showing off his costume...that's what he thinks Halloween is all about. 

This year was actually pretty great. The kids in the neighborhood were all dressed in non-scary costumes. We had a cute little Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, an elephant, cat, astronaut, fighter pilot. Nothing that terrified the kids when they answered the door. There was a house we went to that had scary sounds playing and that bothered Lil Sister but her super hero brother was there to protect her and she was good with that. Oh, we had to drive to the house with the giant Scooby Doo so they could get a closer look at it.

You can look back at this link if you'd like to see last year's Halloween.

However, if you're ready to see this year's costumes, keep reading, but first a sneak peak...

So originally, we were going with a green theme - Hulk and Tinkerbell. Then last week T Rex changed his mind and decided he really loves his Captain America costume and wants to keep being Captain America. By the way, he has the whole "method acting" thing down. When he is "suited up" as Cap, he IS Captain America. He will walk up to strangers and ask, "Hello, Citizen. Have you seen any villains? No? Well, I have to get back to my patrol and keep our streets safe." The kid is not an angry child so I think he was having a hard time pulling off the Hulk demeanor. He definitely is much more Captain America. He has worn his costume so much in the past 2 months that it was completely worn out. Therefore, we surprised him tonight with a brand new Captain America costume but this one with build in muscles. His dad already gave him a big, more authentic shield which he absolutely loves. 

Our little girl has been, for the most part, steadfast in her desire to be Tinkerbell this year. She had a last minute change of heart last night when I put on my cat woman ears and mask for us to attend a CAbi party, which she attended with me. It was funny, when we showed up she was dressed in her Tinkerbell costume and asked the hostess, "Where's the candy? I thought this was a candy party." We all had a great laugh over that. No wonder she was eager to attend. However, when all the ladies at the party swooned over her cuteness in her Tinkerbell costume, she continued to maintain her steadfastness of being Tink. Good thing. Her costume was entirely hand made by me and I did not think I could pull together another one on short notice.

The dress is a glorified tutu - tied style. I just attached ribbon at the top to make a sort of halter top tie and then another ribbon around the waist to give it definition. The wings are made of two hangers tied together and then an old pair of my hose were used to cover the hangers. Lastly the shoes were just an old pair of shoes I picked up at the thrift store and sprayed with green glitter and attached pom poms. I intentionally sprayed the pom poms with green glitter to add a bit more of a shimmery appearance. I think they turned out pretty good. Lil Sister LOVES them. I think I'll let her wear them as long as they fit. Maybe I need to make a dress or two that will match the shoes. I had her wear leggings and a long sleeve shirt because it does tend to get a bit chilly on Halloween here and the tulle the dress is made out of is quite itchy.

The kids were really anxious to hand out candy to the other kids. They stood waiting for quite some time before folks started showing up. It was kind of a slow year but maybe because it was a weekday night.

Here the kids are visiting the favorite house of the evening. This is where "Pumpkin Man" lives. The kids love visiting him. He's basically a scare crow with a pumpkin head and not scary at all. 

Grandma and Grandpa N came over for dinner on their way to square dancing. They wore the scariest costumes of the evening - clown suits. One of the charming aspects of this photo is our dog Anya being in the shot. When we were preparing to take the photo I said, "Alright I want a family photo group shot." She came running and just jumped onto the stairs and posed. It was quite cute.

A great evening. The kids each had one treat each. It was a little tough to get them wound down from all the excitement but it was worth it for all the smiles, giggles, and memories because next year will be here all too soon.