Pre-Halloween Preparations

Of course, the kids already have their costumes. After much deliberation and many changes of heart, Tater is going to be a ninja, and Sprout is going to be a trucker.

He has a full-body black suit and mask and a plastic sword that I am sure won't make it until the big day. She has a very tall trucker hat, a flannel shirt and a toothpick. She makes a cute trucker. If there is such a thing.

However, we are attending a party on Saturday with an 80's theme, so for the first time in many years, I need a costume, too. And my headband with pumpkin antennae won't work. Nor my cat ears. And that's pretty much all I have lying around.

So...80's. I wasn't that much of a fashion plate in the 80's (as I am now...not). But I spent much of yesterday piecing together something that should work - leggings, a pink sweatshirt, big pink earrings, a scrunchie. But the sweatshirt, in order to work for this, needed to be Flashdance-ified.

So I took scissors to my $5 sweatshirt, much to the horror of my children.

"Why are you cutting that?"
"Why are you wrecking your new sweatshirt?"

It is hard to explain Flashdance to elementary school children. But I tried.

So I cut a wide hole at the neck and I cut off the wristbands. And then we stuck them on Tater (see above). And then we stuck them on Sprout.

And then we stuck them on the puppy.

We thought the neck part looks like pig ears. Dixie thinks we are nuts.

Sprout wore this for the rest of the afternoon under her bike helmet. Quite a look.

Later the dogs decided to try on their costumes (they can be so diva-like with their demands).

Dixie is going to be a pumpkin. Angus is always a skeleton.

It is difficult to get dogs to look at you and smile. I have a new respect for the people who make those posters with cute puppies on them. Much patience is involved. I don't have it.

So, here is a picture of Angus smelling Dixie's butt. Because that's the best I could do. What do you think - poster?

About two seconds later Dixie started trying to rip her costume off.

Not a fan of Halloween apparently.

So, Saturday is the party. Sunday we have to go get pumpkins and carve them and all that. I might have to eat some cider donuts...because it's traditional. Thursday our friends are having a Halloween party, Friday is the Halloween Ball at school and then Saturday is the real deal.

I don't know when Halloween turned into such a multi-event extravaganza. We aren't even going to the various trick-or-treat events at local farms, shopping centers, malls...

What happened to one night collecting candy in a pillowcase while wearing a horrifically uncomfortable costume (possibly with your cousin attempting to pull your horse head off the whole time, possibly dressed as a crayon wrapped up in poster board in a way that made it impossible to bend, possibly wearing your grandfather's Navy uniform that survived a war and then was destroyed when you fell on your face running for candy...just possibly)?

I guess that all went the way of the Flashdance sweatshirt...

Have fun out there!