This is Halloween

So Halloween in Ohio is a little bit screwy. We don't trick or treat on Halloween, we trick or treat on Beggars Night...(which is always a week night and rarely on Halloween.) I remember my first Halloween here complaining about it to someone because I just don't get it. I didn't have children at the time, but she said she felt sorry for my future kids. As though wanting to trick or treat on Halloween would make me a bad mom.

We went trick or treating Thursday night.

This was not my best year for costumes. Moving in September really threw me for a loop. I didn't even start putting together my own costume until the morning of the ward Halloween party...and I came up with Spencer's only moments before the party.

I of course couldn't put the boys costumes off that long. We made a trip to the thrift store and fabric store a few weeks ago. We went in with certain costumes in mind, but while at the thrift store they were otherwise inspired. I tried to talk them back into their original and much cooler costume ideas, but it wasn't happening.

Parker - Ben Ten. This was the lamest costume of all. (Though he looked cute anyway.) Ben Tennison is a 10 year old boy who changes into 10 different creatures to fight off evil doers. But basically, Parker dressed like a kid for Halloween.

Parker fount this green jacket at the thrift store. It was three sizes too big and I cut it down and added a '10.'
I made him a Ben Ten watch out of felt, too. It's not pictured.

Reid - A Baseball Player. With about every other little boy on the block. How un-original can we be? He loved it and I think the accessories will be well used around here.

Gray - A Golfer. I've been wanting a golfer since Parker was little and could never talk a kid into it. But Gray didn't seem to have an opinion and since we weren't doing a theme with his brothers anymore, I went for it. He got the most reaction. It was pretty cute.

I made the pants and the hat I did without a pattern. Impressed? I am. He wore the sweater vest for the Halloween party, but I put a sweater on him to trick or treat. It was a little chilly.

Spencer - A Frenchman. Though it wasn't much, it was hilarious. Between an cheesy mustache and a cheesy accent, Spencer had us all laughing. Spencer speaks french and could really pull this off. However, I've already surpassed my weekly quota of Spencer pictures on my blog. After much deliberation, he agreed to a small one in a collage. Sorry to disappoint.

Me - Miss Viola Swamp. I chose this costume knowing full well no one would know who I was (except Amanda which made my day). But of the 4 or 5 costumes I put together that morning, this was everyone's favorite. Miss Nelson is Missing is my kids current favorite book and they really loved the costume. So I did it for them. Everyone else just assumed I was a witch.

My dress? United Colors of Benetton. A $4 thrift store find last summer.

The best part about the costumes is that I spent under $15 for the entire family combined. Can't get better than that.

And because I accidentally left this cute one out of the collage: