This is Halloween...

Is The Nightmare Before Christmas a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie?  I am never sure.  Maybe it is just a holiday movie and you can watch it anytime after September 20th but before Valentine's Day?  Anyway, that is not really important.

Halloween is over.  We did it.  Wyatt has been planning on being Gandalf the While this year for a good 9 or 10 months.  Before school was out last year (around the time he finished reading the first Lord of the Rings book) he started making his staff for the Gandalf costume.

Gandalf the White?  Really?  As mentioned in a previous post, I could only imagine this costume turning out in one of two ways: Father Christmas or deity.  Wyatt's insistence that he would wear a white wig and beard did not ease my worries.

With that kind of pressure hanging over my head I knew I would have to start Halloween costumes early this year.  Did I mention it is a "make costumes" year at our house?  So, I was on the hook for five (FIVE!) home made costumes...one of which was Gandalf the White.

Lorien decided to be a weeping angle from Dr. Who.  If you don't know a whole lot about Dr. Who, I invite you to send Lorien a letter asking her.  She has become a super fan and loves telling people about the Doctor.  Seriously, ask her.

Clare decided to be the China Girl from Oz the Great and Powerful.  Her costume idea was my favorite because I knew I could make a pretty dress she could wear to church after Halloween was over.  I knew it would still be a lot of work but the dress would be useful.

Adell changed her mind about twelve times before I bought the fabric and told her she couldn't change her mind again.  She ended up being Ariel--the mermaid--in a princess dress.  Does that make sense?  Just wait, the pictures will help.

Colter--you know this baby was just lucky to get fed and diapered during the weeks of constant costume making.  I did feed and diaper that baby religiously--he only wanted for motherly attention.  (Therapists call that "benign neglect".)  Whoever's costume I was sewing at the time had to be the "mother" when Colter needed love.  Forget about getting a high-quality-well-thought-out costume from me.  I decided he would be a frog...because I had a green shirt and cut up a hooded towel from his infant years to make a frog hat.  Easy-peasy.  I think I made his costume 15 minutes before we walked out of the house for the church Halloween party.  (Does the phrase "church Halloween party" sound strange to you?  Maybe "church Pagan celebration" is better?  Nope, it is not...)

Anyway, I started a Pinterest board for Halloween ideas.  This board might just be the one and only time Pinterest was not just a way of wasting time for me.  It really helped me find and keep costume ideas; moreover, it was a great reference as I went about sewing each costume.  So, one useful Pinterest board, one...  Oh wait, Pinterest was helpful a year-and-a-half ago when I planned Clare's birthday party...  Pinterest is totally useful...totally!

Here are some pictures.  I was super sad to realize I never took a group shot of all the kids in their costumes together.  Lame.  But hey, I spent all my time making these costumes...not taking pictures of the process or end result.  Still, lame.

LORIEN

Lorien and her little friend group.  These are some lovely girls and I am pretty thankful for them.  They were all going to dress as Dr. Who characters.  The girl on the left is Briar Rose, or River Wind, or Wind Song?  Something like that...she is a girl in the show...ask Lorien.  The next girl is one of the Doctors...I don't know which one, she is holding a Sonic Screwdriver.  The next girl decided not to go along with the rest of the sheep girls.  She is something from the internet...I don't know.  And then there is the weeping angel, awesome!

WYATT

At school this year they held a Mother-Son Monster Mash.  Wyatt and I went--in costume.  It was a great trial run for his costume.  Everyone came up to him shouting "Gandalf!  Hey, Gandalf the White!"  My fears seemed silly.  Lorien made him the pipe as we were walking out the door for the party.  Then there was the church party.  I wouldn't let him take the fake pipe to church.  We Mormons don't smoke--anything--I thought it would be inappropriate.  His staff got broken at the school party.  So he was just a guy with a white wig, white beard in all white clothes...at church.  People kept muttering "Is that--er--ah?"  A few brave church goers asked if he was Moses. (I didn't see that one coming!)  Clearly, I should have let my son smoke at church.

Gandalf the White at the school parade on Halloween day.

CLARE

I was so excited about Clare's costume I got it done in September.  She wore it to church a couple of times--before Halloween!  Really, I owe the whole costume to my sister-in-law, Heather.  She came over to the house with her serger for two days to help me sew.  It was awesome.  I've never used a serger before and now I think I need one.  Also, Heather was there the day my Dad called.  My father never calls me--we have more of a "facebook only" relationship.  So, you know it wasn't going to be good news.  This phone call was for announcing my sister, Camie's, cancer might have spread to her brain.  Heather hugged me while I cried, cleaned my house and watched my kids while I kept on crying and calling other family members to get more of the story.  It was awful.  I am so thankful for all of my sisters and sister-in-laws.  Truly, my brothers married wonderful women and I married into a family where all the men married wonderful women.  Heather being such a dear during this time is just one of the many examples of awesomeness from my sisters and sister-in-laws.  I am so thankful for all of them.

Look how I skipped over Clare's costume info...poor middle child...

Clare loved her costume and was so adorable in it.  I don't know if a lot of people knew who she was right off the bat.  The movie came out a while ago.  But once she explained a little bit everyone got it and loved it.  I think Clare loved getting to wear eye make up and lipstick the most.

**post edit**Will says I need to brag more about Clare's dress.  He says people aren't going to know it is white lace sewn over blue fabric.  It really is a cool dress and Clare looks so pretty in it.  I give all credit to the serger.

**second post edit** the cancer did not spread to my sister, Camie's, brain--just her lungs.  Bullet dodged?

ADELL

Do you get it now?  Ariel--the mermaid--as a human princess?  Adell happened to see a picture of a similar dress on Pinterest while I was wasting time looking for costume ideas.  It also happened to be the day I was going to the fabric store.  So that is what she had to stick with.  She was very happy and her costume was done early too.  She wore it all the time--as a result some of the tulle was ripped by the time Halloween rolled around.  She asked for an Ariel wig, which I found and bought.  However, as soon as she tried it on she told me she didn't want to be Ariel any more.  I told her she didn't have to wear the wig and she was cool with being Ariel again.

Up there is a picture of Adell and Sadie.  Sadie was Marry Poppins--could you tell.  One of my other sister-in-laws, Angela, made that costume.  I want her to make one for me.  I would be the most amazing mom if I was wearing that dress every day.  I swear, there would be all kinds of singing and parasol twirling and spoon-full-of-sugaring going on.  It would be awesome.

COLTER

So I didn't get a picture of Colter until after trick-or-treating was over.  He wouldn't keep his hat on and he was more interested in the flashlight than looking at the camera.

Here are some sloppy screen shots from my Pinterest board so you can see what I was trying to go for with each kids costumes.  I think I did a pretty good job.  All of the kids were very happy with their costumes.  Score one for me!

So that was our Halloween.  We have enough candy to give us all diabetes by Thanksgiving and the kids are doing their best to make it actually happen.  Colter "got" Halloween when we went out trick-or-treating.  Will would set him up at a door and when the candy came around to him he'd take a piece and put it in his pumpkin bucket.  Will said it did get to the point where Colter would just hold out his hand for candy as soon as the door was opened.  That's my boy, Mister Manners.   Happy Halloween.  I am going to bed.