Historically, we have decided by August what we're going to be for Halloween. This hearkens back to when we were little and Mom wanted *plenty* of time to sew our costumes, and that never really changed. Until this year.
Somehow, Halloween fell to the background this year. When Andrew's eldest sister invited us for a Halloween party last Friday, I *scrambled* to figure out what on earth we could go as. All of my costume pieces are fitted and I am... a completely different shape.
What to do? I ran a couple of ideas past Andrew, and we landed on Priest (for him) and pregnant nun (me). Off I went to the Halloween costume store, in search of a habit.
I must share that I've never bought a costume before. I have bought components, but they were always Real Clothes. For example, a few years ago I bought my sailor costume from the Army/Navy surplus store. A beautiful, wool, sailor's uniform. I also wore the living daylights out of the pants afterwards. Real Clothes.
The Halloween costume store stinks. It smells like off-gassing plastic and poor decisions. But, with a day left to the event and I was badly in need of a nap, I marched myself through aisles and aisles and aisles of "sexy" costumes. I had started to lose hope that there would be ANYTHING to cover my bulbous midriff when I saw... The Sexy Nun costume.
Seriously? A Sexy Nun? Fortunately, they had her more conservative counterpart- just a Nun costume - right next to her. I grabbed it like it was hot and got in line.
Funny thing- the guy behind me was going as Jesus, and hit on me ALL the way until he realized that I was pregnant- which was when I waddled to the register. I've totally still got "it".
I brought it home, and it lived in the bag for a day. When we unwrapped it, even Andrew gasped at how strong the offgassing fumes were. (Andrew looked positively delicious in his priest outfit, for the record. Gabriel Byrne, Colin Hanks, and Joaquin Phoenix have got NOTHING on him.)
Sunday, Andrew and I hit the pumpkin patch because we had plans to carve a pumpkin.
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| For the record, SharkBean is the size of a $3 pumpkin. |
The pumpkin patch lady was so charmed by my competing pumpkin photo, that she insisted we get a family photo:
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| My pumpkin brings all the boys to the patch. Oh yeah. |
I love silly pumpkins. Andrew and I teamed up and came up with this:
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| Andrew did the left side, I did the right side. |
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| Ours, left. Mom's, right. |
So, fast forward to last night. We're THAT house. You know, the house with the full-sized candy bars. I have a feeling that so long as I am married to Andrew, we will always be That House. It's not a bad thing.
Early on in the evening, we had some small kids at the door, but their littlest sister (dressed as the world's tiniest and most adorable cow) didn't come to the door. You see, the Tiny Cow was a babe-in-arms. I walked out to the edge of the stoop and asked if the Tiny Cow would like any candy.
I know trick-or-treating can be an iffy proposition with tiny people, so I didn't want to chase them down the street, but apparently, one of the neighbors was outright NASTY to the Tiny Cow. She refused to give her any candy. Where exactly is the holiday spirit in that? Every house has X amount of candy; I understand that Halloween is a first-come-first-serve situation. And it's not like she was a no-costume teenager.
(For the record, I overheard the Tiny Cow's older siblings exclaiming how we were SO MUCH NICER than those OTHER people.)
We had a parade of zombies, ninjas, and princesses. Best costume of the night went to a young man whose costume was a jellyfish. It was positively stunning. KidBrother Sam (who had arrived by this point) declared it the best costume of the night (he was right) and awarded the young jellyfish *two* full sized candy bars for his efforts.
KidBrother Sam also pulled out his phone to take a picture, to which I stopped him and said, "You can't take pictures of people's *children*!"
Sam turned to Jellyfish and asked how old he was.
"Old enough," answered the Jellyfish, causing all of us to laugh hysterically.
(Given that answer, I'm pretty sure that the Jellyfish was at least 30 years old.)
Oh, and for the record? We've already decided on what our costumes (including SharkBean's) will be next year. You can never start planning too early.
It's a shame you can't take pictures of other people's kids, because I would have liked to see that jellyfish! Also, I had a tiny cow last year (when she was young enough to let us put her costume on). This year, she was a butterfly, and we literally had to wrestle her into the costume so she could go visit the neighbors. I hope she grows out of it!
ReplyDeleteSuch great photos!
ReplyDeleteI love your enthusiasm for the holiday. Halloween was always stressful for us, so I tend to worry a lot. However, I've tried really hard to not stress my daughter who LOVES it. She starts planning next year's costume before Halloween night - has always done this. This year she and I made her costume together, and it was a ball. I think I'll be looking forward to it much more next year.
ReplyDeleteLoved your pumpkin tee, what a clever design! We've always made costumes too, and every now and then I've dressed my poor long-suffering dog in a matching one. Like the year I answered the door to trick-or-treaters dressed in one of my ballerina costumes, complete with point shoes, and put a little net tutu and tiara on the dog. The eyes of the little ballerina girls nearly popped out of their heads. It was great. :)
ReplyDeleteThe pumpkins are lovely. Sounds like you had a nice crop of trick-or-treaters.
ReplyDelete(It amused me that a mean buying a Jesus costume tried to pick you up: aren't nuns married to Jesus?)
My parents are "those people" as well. I actually posted a few (horrible) photos here.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first year that I wasn't with my dad. Halloween is his birthday, and mine is the day before, so it's a big deal for us. That tied up with the fact that I live in a student-only apartment complex and my SO was sick and out of town made for a pretty abysmal Halloween overall. I'm glad you got to see lots of awesome costumes!
We also have "OTHER" people on our block. Yuck. Cute picture of your little pumpkin in tow.
ReplyDeleteI remember as a kid being so in awe of the house that gave out full sized candy bars...and swore I'd be that house when I grew up. We've been blessed enough that we are!
ReplyDeleteAnd our favorite this year -- a 3 year old named Jack...who wore a decorated flip-lid box. Get it...Jack in the box? Loved it!!