Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my!

Hold on, man. We don't go anywhere with "scary," "spooky," "haunted," or forbidden" in the title. ~From Scooby-Doo

I came to the realization today that Halloween is only a little more than a week off.  Yikes, how did that sneak up on me?  I don't have much time to get costumes ready for trick or treating.  Even less time to be ready for the costume party at the Calumet Public Library on Thursday (for ages birth to 4th grade). 


My youngest; Maeve, wants to be Dorothy.  Gingham dress, basket, red shoes and Toto all included in the mix.  I like to have a family theme, at least partly.  I haven't been able to convince my husband that the perfect costume for him this year would be Glinda the Good.  A month ago I brought home a pair of cowboy boots from a garage sale thinking Nora could use them as inspiration for her costume this year.  She's going as the scarecrow.  Since my husband may not go as Glinda, I think I will.  I have an old bridesmaid dress that I can turn over for good use.  Now to talk the 10-year-old to join the theme.  She told me that if she has to be part of the Wizard of Oz theme instead of Santa, she'd like to be one of the flying monkeys.  Yep, Santa it is.


I make the Halloween costumes at my house.  We don't buy them.  I may have to run out and get a few things to pull the costumes together, but it isn't the easy pick up a costume complete with mask thing.  I grew up in a make due with what you've got household, and have brought that attitude along with me to my own household (at least as far as Halloween is concerned).  You also get costumes that are unlike anyone else's.  I am a lover of things out of the ordinary, and home-made costumes often fall into that catagory.

Not that my costumes end up being that great.  I don't usually start working on them until a couple weeks or less (much less this year) before Halloween.  It is fun to take the kids trick or treating when the whole family is dressed up.  We live in the way backwoods, and in the first 5 years we lived there we got about 5 trick or treaters.  Total.  The most we ever got in one year was three.  So, we skip handing out treats and go out to get some.  We work for those treats.  And it's fun. 

I think my kids will fondly remember our Halloweens.  I may not be the mom who goes all out over birthday cakes and parties, but I'll go a little closer to all out to get them into a disguise.

Hunh.  I wonder what that says about me?

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story. ~Mason Cooley