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| Shawn's Eggs |
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| Abby's Muffins |
We started our Halloween morning with a little fun with our breakfast.
Since we don't have any scheduled activities today, we ran to Meijer to pick up a few last minute things for our costumes. Back at home, we played with play-dough and did a mini-art project (thanks to Jennifer for forwarding the idea!). I traced the kids’ feet and hands onto white paper, cut them out, and then decorated the upside down shapes as ghosts. So easy! Abby loved being traced, so we made a few sheets of ghosts for her. (Bill’s birthday is on Friday, so we’ll make a birthday card for him using her ghosts.) Shawn liked having his hands traced, but I think his feet were too ticklish to keep from wiggling while I was mid-trace. I got a couple, but I’ll have to be creative when cutting them out to get the wiggled lines to resemble his feet!
I finished my costume last night. With black pants, a gray sweatshirt, a bunch of scrap fabrics, and a glue gun, I’ve ‘built’ a building ablaze. (I hate to admit that I burned myself more than once in the process! …I guess that’s appropriate…) I altered a red night shirt (also with a glue gun), added stripes with electrical tape, and Raj added Chief Baron for our Fire Chief’s costume. Shawn’s dog was store bought (from our Mothers & More Resale) and I’ve been working on his fire truck for the past few days. It started as an apple box from Costco, but with the magic of paint, the glue gun, and some random materials, a fire truck has been manufactured. I put some finishing touches on fire truck during naptime (the hose, drivers, lights, and siren). DONE!
When Bill picked up Abby, I thought I had a little time to wake up Shawn, get him changed into his costume and truck, put my costume on, and then get Baron ready to go, but I didn’t have nearly as much time as I had hoped. It seemed like only a few minutes later, Abby (Lady Bug), Bill, Viola (Olivia the Pig), and Heidi were at our front door ready to go. I had my outfit on, but hadn’t done the flaming make-up or false lashes that I had planned. I quickly tossed Shawn into his suit and then belted him into his truck and we left Chief Baron behind. I almost forgot to grab Shawn’s Trick-or-Treat bucket as we rushed out the door!
Shawn loved being able to put on his fire truck, though I wasn’t sure he’d ‘wear’ it for long. It didn’t make walking very easy, bumping into his legs with each step. In fact, as we were rushing out the door to join the gang for Trick-or-Treating, Shawn took a massive tumble over the step at our front door. I think the fire truck got caught up on either the step or the door frame, which threw off Shawn’s center of gravity, tipping him forward, over (and off) the front stoop, into the void where there should be bushes (luckily, there aren’t any right now!) where he landed on top of the fire truck completely shocked, disoriented, and scared by the mid-flight somersault he had just made. Though the fire truck caused the accident, I think wearing the cardboard box actually prevented Shawn from getting hurt at all! Thank goodness! But, what a way to start the adventure of Trick-or-Treating ! It can only get better from here…
And, it did. I was able to adjust the length of the arm straps to lift the box out of the way of his legs a little, but then Shawn said they were too tight. So, we just walked slowly and I helped him up and down the front steps at the houses we visited. Surprisingly, Shawn wore the fire truck the whole time we were out with Abby and Viola. He even insisted on holding onto the fire hose, rather than tucking it into his arm straps, and preferred that I carry his treats bag. (So, just to get this straight, you want to carry a pretend hose, while I carry candy? OOOOOOKAAAY!) We stopped at a handful of houses of people that Bill knew, but then Abby and Viola were ready to go home. Shawn and I decided to go back out and visit some more houses.
As we past a group of other trick-or-treaters, one little boy stopped us and, with total exuberance, asked, "Did you make that?!" pointing to Shawn's costume. Needless to say, he was in an entirely store-bought, plastic, one-of-a-million-just-like-it costume. In fact, I hate to admit it, but I don't even remember what it was! Maybe seeing us will inspire him (or his parents) to be a little more creative next year... maybe... I can hope...
We tried finding our dog park friend, Ms. Katie, who would have really appreciated Shawn’s Dalmatian costume, but I only had a vague idea of which building she lived in within the neighboring townhome association. It was really difficult to tell which residents were welcoming Trick-or-Treaters in her neighborhood, since some buildings had communal front doors. Though we didn’t find Ms. Katie, we did stop at a plenty of other houses before heading home (well past dark).
I wasn't overly surprised, but still a little disappointed, that I only saw one other parent dressed up (a very elaborate witch) with the kids. It's a fun excuse to do something silly with your child and there are only so many years that they'll let you get away with it before they're too old to tolerate having that kind of fun with Mom and/or Dad! I say take advantage of the time while we have it!
Shawn did great and I had fun going out with him in costume, too. He managed to find a just-loud-enough voice to say some combination of “Trick or Treat!” “Happy Halloween!” and “Thank You!” at each house. He wore his fire truck a lot longer than I had ever anticipated and even when he was tired of wearing it, he still held on to the hose! The fire truck’s lights and siren were fading just about the same time that Shawn and I were. It was time to go home.
Raj had been home for a short time handing out candy and his customary (and now requested!) toothbrushes. He dressed as a crazed dentist… hmmm…
After Shawn changed out of his Dalmatian suit and into little boy pajamas, he continued to play with the fire truck and hose. He was frustrated that the lights and siren wouldn’t work anymore, but at least the hose still stretched!
He and Raj greeted the last of the trick-or-treaters while I made dinner. Our menu for the evening consisted of crocodiles’ eyes, lizards’ skins, owls’ tongues, rats’ hearts, frogs’ toes, and vampires’ teeth stirred in a cauldron of orange monster blood and topped with spiders and webs. And, we nibbled on witches’ hats and severed fingers.
We put the fire truck in the basement, since it’s still being played with, but I don’t want it to be run into the ground! Raj thinks we might be able to use it for something next year, but I have a feeling Shawn will be ready for something different a year from now. (It was a relief to see it last longer than a walk around the block. Still, I kind of wish we could’ve used it at the Gymboree Pumpkin Patch Party, the Mothers & More Fall Family Party, or the wear-your-costume-but-no-accessories-please Language Stars class next week. Oh, well. It served its purpose. I’ll totally admit I had fun making it, and I’m just glad it was worth all the effort and time!)
However, now that the festivities are over, I’m ready for another weekend!
