Halloween 2015

Hello and welcome to November! I hope everyone survived Halloween and the time change. My kids had Friday out of school, as well as today and tomorrow, so we haven't seen the full effects of this convergence yet. We have the added "complication" of sending the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's house while they're out of school and I'm still working. We'll deal with all that Tuesday afternoon when they come back!

This Halloween was special for a number of reasons: first, being on a Saturday meant we had lots of time to get ready and didn't have to worry about school the next day. That made the day a little more relaxed. The other special part was that I got to realize a lifelong parenting dream: coordinated costumes!

Frances had decided long ago that she wanted to be Hermione for Halloween. We're reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets right now, so Henry asked to be Dobby. Benjamin picked Harry Potter and my dream was slowly becoming a reality!

It took me a while to figure out which character I could be. I wanted something that would fit in with the core "crew," but also something that would be recognizable when people saw it. I was also struggling with a costume idea for Ken. I ultimately decided to go as Hedwig and Ken agreed to be Ron.

For Frances' costume, I had my brother send me his graduation robes from high school. I took about a foot off the bottom and each sleeve to make it fit Frances. She already had a wand, a time turner, a hat, and messy hair (sorry, Sweety). She borrowed a stuffed cat from Henry to be Crookshanks and she was all set.

Henry really only needed a "dirty" pillowcase for his costume. I also sewed him a headpiece with big ears to complete the look. Since he had been going around the house, banging into things and declaring "Dobby must punish himself." I decided to also give him a sock. As a free elf, he no longer needs to self-inflict punishments.

I wanted to make a robe for Benjamin too, but didn't have access to a graduation robe small enough. I decided to buy a black dress shirt and do a few alterations. I took off the pocket and collar and then sewed the neck down into a v-neck. We kept the buttons because I didn't feel like messing with adding a zipper. It looked fine and he was happy with it.

Ken borrowed a graduation robe from my Julie, added a red tie with a dress shirt and that was it. Oh wait...HE LET ME PAINT HIS HEAD ORANGE TOO!! He said it made his head cold, but he was a real trooper to put up with it. I should also point out that he created two wands (for himself and Benjamin) out of a branch in the yard. He hollowed out part of the tip and we put a glow stick in the end so they glowed. It also worked to open elevator doors, as you can see above.

My costume consisted of a white piece of fabric, cut into a circle and worn poncho style. I drew grey feathers on it with a crayon and then clipped Vs all over it for texture. I bought a white mask and some feathers at the craft store and put them together for my eyes and glued a piece of orange fabric on it for a beak.

I was immensely pleased with how well it turned out. We had a blast visiting my office on Friday and then trick-or-treating on Saturday. This is now officially my favorite Halloween ever!!

How was yours?