Halloween!!

Halloween.  I love to dress up and goof around, but I hate that 95% of the current costume offerings either are about gore (boy options: undead skateboarder, bloody werewolf...) or hoochieness (girl options: sexy firefighter, naughty nurse...).  I also hate that our neighborhood is transformed into a teeming mass of people, many who've driven over to the "rich" neighborhood because they think they'll get lots of candy (heads up: we give out cheap stuff because there are SO many trick or treaters - go to someplace that's less crowded and people will probably give you something other than a single mini tootsie roll).  It's also usually still hot & humid this time of year.

With all that in mind, I made the kiddos' costumes this year.  We looked online for ideas, and A fell in love with a flamingo.  Okey dokey.  I hit the clearance section of Walmart fabrics, and found what I needed.  I made it up as I went along (kind of frustrating at times) and I can't say the finishing is pristine, but overall I LOVE it (and she did, too!)  There is big poofy tulle underskirt, which is definitely one of her favorite features (and I made it as 2 separate skirts, just so she can wear the "tutu" with leggings). D wanted to be a cool archer dude (inspired by Green Arrow) but of course most of the costumes were cheesy Robin Hood types involving leggings ;)  I finally tracked down a long-sleeved green shirt, and then I cut off the arms to make a hood, and trimmed out the neckline.

And rather than staying home and getting annoyed, we decided to go out this year.  We met up with a friend at Bass Pro Shop, and the kids happily skipped around collecting candy.  And I savored the A/C.  BTW, I was a ceiling fan - the pink thing on my hat said "Go Ceilings!" and I had one on my shirt that said "Ceilings are the best."  Yes, I am a goober.  After we had collected sufficient sugar, we played around a a bit more - so many fun photo ops!!

And on a side note, I made it through Halloween without ingesting a single bit of sugar.  WOW!