Happy Halloween!

This October I asked Padon what he wanted to be and he didn't really give me an answer. I think he is still too young to fully grasp the concept and so based on his love of a book called "Pirates Dont Change Diapers" and interest in pirate toys and movies I decided he should go as a Pirate. Funny enough he was excited to look at things in JoAnn Fabric but every time I asked him if he wanted to dress up as a Pirate for Halloween he would say 'All done with the pirate." So we didn't really talk about it until the night before where we talked up the trick-or-treating and how we were going to go to a party and oooooo, ooooo, ooooo, can't you feel the excitement?!

I showed him, in comparison to his book, how he too had a hat, bandana (a.k.a banana), pirate shirt, jacket, eye patch and earing (which didn't fit in the end), sash, striped shirt, and hook. This got him more excited and in all allowed me to get a fantastic couple of pictures before the bandana was ditched for good and the hat carried. Oh, I have to say that when we picked up the hat at Micheals Padon was so excited to see it and wear it he yelled out in the store, fist pumping "Aye, me Mother!"; a line from his book. Walter and I just bust out laughing. It was awesome.

I had really wanted to dress Sophia as a shrunken Alice in Wonderland, complete with bottle that said drink me, and a little cake that said eat me. And this idea went onto including Padon as the March Hare, Walter as the Mad Hatter, and me as the Red Queen. But then Walter brought me down to earth and reminded me that I didn't have any time to make all these grandiose costumes what with work, the commute, and the book cover I was working on illustrating. Pouting inside myself I quickly came to the conclusion that Padon could be a pirate but what about the rest of us. And then I thought of Roadi's old butterfly wings, all tucked away and safe and sound in our Halloween Tub. And thus was born Sophia's costume!With a purchase of 1/4 yard of velvet I had a shimery fairy top, her tutu (all most too small) a shimmery fairy skirt, and flower tights just perfect for a fairy princess. The stop at the fabric store and their surprising 50-75% off sale had me equiped with a Fairy head dress, pirate eye patch and earing, stripped black and white tights and......

matching butterfly wings for me! And then later, because of a sweet find on Martha Stewart's website, artificial butterflys for an amazing butterfly headdress! One evening's sewing prowless had a loved skirt adjusted to a shortened fairy skirt, and voila, mother of a fairy!

Sophia also had two little butterflies in her hair - so cute and so good about staying in just long enough for the pictures.

Walter's costume was another great internet find from Jane. She sent a funny email about going as a natural disaster and it screamed Walter so loud we had to do it. With various animals, cars, trucks, trees, and fences found through out the toys in Padon's bedroom sewn at different lengths from his arms, chest, and legs, Walter was a tornado. As he spun (equipped with a squirt bottle) the items would fly out with the centrifical force. This so pleased a Mom at one of the trick-or-treat houses that the woman laughed hysterically and then gave Walter candy as well as Padon.

We didn't get to go as Alice in Wonderland but we still went awesome!