Halloween Celebrations

Halloween started a week ago at our house. Our church had a "Trunk or Treat" last Saturday. The red princess dress Alice had selected was not yet complete, and it was 2 sizes too big anyway, so she went to the party as a turtle...with a Tinky-Winky headband and red, sparkly princess shoes. Bobby posted picts last week.

Then came the Costume Parade at a local nursing home. Alice opted to stay in preschool for their Fall Celebration, so it was just me and the boy. We had invited several friends from church to attend, too. I'm glad we did. In the picture below, 7 of the 19 kids were our invited friends :) Can you see my little Chef/Pillsbury Dough Boy in the front? He was really interested in the kitty cat sitting next to him. He tried to get her attention by squealing and flailing his limbs. She ultimately decided he was too young for her and toddled off.

FYI, also featured in this photo are Robert's cousins Will (Cat in the Hat) and Kayla (turtle), and several friends: Justin (blue dinosaur), Esther (Tigger), Caleb (fireman), Mary (ballerina in snow boots), Spencer (fireman). Not pictured are Spencer (cowboy) and Isaac (pumpkin). I love having so many people I like to hang out with. Really. It's a blessing.

Later that afternoon, Bobby's work hosted a "Ya-Boo!" event where kids could trick-or-treat at all the cubicles. Alice wore her red princess dress this time, and it was terrible. It's WAY too big for her, so we had to pin up the skirt while the bodice was sagging off of her shoulders. I'll put it away for a year or so and then slip it into the dress up box. Sewing a princess dress was quite the learning experience. The biggest lesson was humility. Second was gratitude for sewing friends who could help me through it. I will not be tackling anything so complicated again for a long time. A long, long, time. I didn't take pictures...it was that bad.

Then on Saturday, we were invited to a neat Halloween party with friends. I love my friends, even when I'm too frazzled and tired to make much party conversation. Alice threw on her purple tutu leotard, some thick tights, and a pair of white shoes and called herself a ballerina. I'm cool with that. (It's taken me some time to be cool with Alice's periodically frilly and froofy femininity. My main concern was that she would dive into the frilly, froofiness without exploring other options. It turns out that she enjoys many kinds of play and many kinds of dress-up, so I'm okay with exploring the frills when she feels like it.) I didn't take pictures at this event, either. I was juggling two kids, a couple plates of food, and then trick-or-treating. Bobby stayed home to make progress on the kitchen floor (see the next post, woo hoo!).

So, three Halloween events and three costumes for the girl. Robert was his charming chef-self every time. He was quite a good sport with the hat and all. He had a great time at the final party. He loves kids. Spencer Bair (almost 3yrs) got a little close with his sucker and Robert took it from him, popping it into his mouth with glee. We retrieved the sucker but Spencer didn't want it anymore. All was forgiven quickly, though, since Spencer only had to look at Robert to make him burst into giggles.

And today, on the "real" Halloween, we're just eating lots of candy :)