Day 2: Halloween

Thursday, October 31, 2013
Halloween is fun.
Whatever its origins or dark past, I like the way we celebrate it.
I do not like things that are gory or scary, but we have always been able to celebrate Halloween without these things.

One of my favorite parts is dressing up.  It is so fun for kids (and adults) when we enter the realm of imagination.  And I LOVE homemade costumes.  I love finding odds and ends and scraps that make the perfect this or that.  It is a time of year that I have permission to drop everything and get creative, and it is joyful and nourishing!

This year we got to have Halloween on our co-op day.  The theme was geography so we could have our costumes and potluck item come from somewhere on the map.  Not everybody went with the theme, but most people did, and it was fun. The kids had previously decided to do a family theme of  Peter Pan.  Everybody's costume but Ruby's (the mermaid) could fit the geography theme as well.  She decided to wear a beret and artist's smock and french braids and be from France.  There were quite a few Frenchies there, so she was not alone.  The food was great, the kids were all happy playing for most of the time.  It was a beautiful sunny autumn day.  There was quite a period of time when the kids were all playing and the moms were reveling in a few minutes of uninterrupted conversation.  Ahhhhhh.

Thankfully our Bean and Rice dish did not get completely eaten so we plugged in the crock pot and had warm beans and rice to go with our candy for the rest of the evening.  We got home from co-op and refreshed our costumes so we could get some pictures with Nathan before he left for a Halloween party he'd been invited to.  When I walked in the door, I cringed at the realization that I'd forgotten to have the kids carve our pumpkin and I'd also lost my chance to make pumpkin sugar cookies with candy corn faces.  I don't know why, but I have always loved them.  Just as I was thinking that, Nathan showed me that a neighbor had left a plate of them on our doorstep!  Sweet tender mercy!

Finally we were all together in full costume:

Dallin as Captain Hook.

He tucked back the fur from his Santa suit, wore the peasant shirt and boot tops I'd made for the boys' spring performances, black curly wig from a yard sale, pirate hat from Nathan's Timberline camp this summer.  He was looking pretty good but needed a sword and a feather and a hook.  Simon's dollar store sword did the trick, and we made a pretty awesome feather with pellon and pipe cleaners.  The hook was made from an old formula can saved from years ago with a garage hook screwed in and covered with duct tape.  It was pretty awesome.

Simon was Peter Pan with a hat we made in co-op 6 years ago studying medieval history.  Brandon had carved him a sword for his birthday and I made him a tunic out of green felt left from a Christmas project.  Felt and pipe cleaner for his red feather and he was all set.

And Nathan?  Having wanted to get a morph suit for a few years now, he came up with the great idea to be Peter Pan's shadow.  It was pretty impressive!

Notice Mikey the photo bomber in these.

It is so funny how he always comes to see what we're up to and wants to be a part of it.

Brandon was the Crocodile in his green morph suit.  We painted an old hat and added felt teeth and eyes.

Ruby's costume was a lot of fun to come up with.  She sewed a lot of the skirt and I added the fin and the shapes with sequins.  The fabric is from a yard sale. The top is a dress that has become too short.  It already had sequins so I added the blue ruffle to tie it all together.  We undid her french braids for pretty mermaid hair.

And Daisy was Wendy.  I thought for sure I'd have to buy fabric for her costume, but I didn't!  I found an old nightgown of Dallin's grandma's. ( I hang on to anything tricot that I find because it is hard to come by and so fun for dressups. )  The top of the nightgown was faded and stained so I cut it off and used the skirt.  I just happened to have a small piece of light blue tricot that was barely the right size to cut the bodice and sleeves.  I lined the bodice using an old knit shirt of mine.  I'd forgotten about the blue gauzy stuff that was from a yard sale this summer.  It came together so beautifully!  The sash is just a blue ribbon we had.  I had some satin slippers from my mom that my girls loved but were too big for them.  I just cut the sole to fit and stitched the back of the slipper back down to the place where it was cut.  Voila!

Sarajoy was Tinnkerbell.  Easy Peasy as we've had this costume for almost 8 years.  I'm surprised the wings are still intact.  She had a pretty bun with green hair "spahkoos". (sparkles)

Sullivan was our little "Lost Boy" wearing the lion suit made for Brandon when he was a baby.  Everyone except Nathan and Daisy have worn it.

And me?  I was Nana the Newfoundland.  And since we all learned the provinces and territories of Canada this month, we all know where Newfoundland is!

We trick-or-treated as a family because it is so much more fun.  We came home and relaxed and ate candy and the kids watched a Halloween Heffalump show and it was just a good, happy day!
Lately I always stay up too late talking to Dallin, but it is pretty fun.
But it wasn't fun that just as we were drifting off, Daisy remembered she'd eaten all of that candy on an empty stomach and it wasn't until 1am that she finally threw up.
And it was just plain old unfair that the next day was a school day.

Still, It was a Happy Happy Halloween!