The group front porch shot seems to have become an annual tradition.
Cookie Monster is one of Aunt Suzy's famed masterpieces and Jane was excited to be the right size to borrow it this year:
With her twin pumpkin:
When Zuzu's Primary (like Sunday School) teacher at church -- we'll call her Michelle, since, uh, that is her name -- brought a traditional Indian outfit to show the class that her husband had purchased for her on a business trip to India, Zuzu, who happens to be the only girl in the class, just went nuts over the clothes. So, when Michelle's husband was due to go back to India for another trip, she asked me if I'd like to have him pick out something for Zuzu.
Um, would I?!
Zuzu requested yellow, and I think Doug did the most remarkable job of finding the perfect outfit, correctly guessing the right size, no less. He even picked up some adhesive bindi glitter jewels to complete the look. $15.00 for the whole ensemble, no kidding.
What an amazingly thoughtful friend, right? Zuzu has been in heaven. I mean Nirvana.
Since we started reading him the books recently, Adam is our newest resident Harry Potter fanatic. (Last week's request: "Mom, for Christmas, I want either a Firebolt, or a Nimbus 2001.")
When he said excitedly, "Mom! I know what I want to be for Halloween: . . . Harry Potter!," as though he were the first kid to ever conceive of such a thing, I bit my tongue ("most overdone costume of the last decade" might have been the words I stifled) and responded with enthusiasm.
Besides, it meant all we had to do was come up with a tie and a pair of glasses and pull Jane's robes out of the dress-up box.
Look at that grin:
At the school parade:
With his "wand" pumpkin:
I'm feeling very tempted to get into all kinds of geeky construction details of Ellen's costumes that gave me fits, but I'll refrain.
I made her this dress for her birthday, though it took me until this week to finish adding all the trim, and I really hoped she'd want to wear it for Halloween, because after putting a lot of work into it I just felt invested.
This has been a matter of constantly shifting opinion for Ellen, and we've had to play along with her whims, calling the dress, on one occasion, her "fairy" dress, or, on another, her "Glinda"* dress, etc., to keep the idea in play.
Two days ago she was insisting that what she really wanted to be was the wicked witch ("So I can scare all the people! And so I can say, 'I'll get you my pretty! And your little dog too!'")
An hour before we were going Trick or Treating today, she had changed into a leotard and announced she was going as a ballerina.
Fortunately, somehow after I told her I just wanted her to put the birthday dress back on so I could take pictures of her wearing it, she seemed to have forgotten all about the ballerina thing, and she went off happily in the dress. Maybe it helped that Peter let her wear the purple shoes. Triumph. My time and efforts were not in vain.
I still kind of want to make huge panniers and a powdered wig to go with it.
Not going to happen.
*During the Glinda phase, Ellen felt she needed a wand, and Peter brought her home a lovely, sparkly, fluffy pink star shaped one. He took it out of the package and placed it in her sweet little hand. She took it, pointed it, and yelled "Avada Kedavra!"
Mind you, we have a strict family policy of No Unforgivable Curses.
Also, when we asked her how her preschool Halloween party had gone, she said, "It was good. But my teacher told me and [other child's name] not to use our wands so much."
