All Hallows Eve

This was Gwen's first Halloween going out trick-or-treating and Lily's first Halloween in general. To stay within our monthly budget, I didn't want to spend $20< on a costume, so it had to be something handmade. Lily's was easy, and was just some skeleton PJs we already had from when Gwen was little. The idea for Gwen's costume sprouted from the fact that my brother/sister-in-law had a child sized cowbow hat. Done. Gwen was going to be a cowgirl. All I had to do was sew chaps and a vest and I'd be done.

Now, because I knew sewing the rest of her costume would be quick and simple, I thought that I didn't need to stress and rush to get her done. So on Thursday, when I went to the fabric store to buy cow print fabric, I felt pretty silly when I was told they had been sold out for days. I procrastinated and I was frustrated, but not deterred! Gwen was GOING to have COW PRINT chaps! After a few minutes moping around the fabric store, I decided to just buy white fabric and then paint on some black spots at home. Done. The vest was made from some scrap leather I had with a felt star sewn to the front. Ta da! Gwen was a cowgirl. Although if when asked, Gwen would say "No! Woody!" Okay, so apparently Gwen was Woody for Halloween. Thanks also be to the Kutarna's for lending out their hobby horse, which completed the cowgirl Woody look.

The night before, I realized we didn't have a bucket/bag for Gwen to collect her candy. So I ended up cutting a hole in the top of a milk carton, drawing some spooky ghosts and called it done.

Gwen is still pretty little and can scare easily, so we wanted to start the trick-or-treating early before it was dark. We headed out at 6:00 (which we later realized was too early as we were the only people walking around the neighborhood at that hour) and started begging for candy, complete with "please", "thank you", and the odd temper tantrum in peoples driveways when we wouldn't let her eat the candy she had just been given. We managed to make it to 10 houses before Gwen totally had a candy melt down and we had to go back home. I kept thinking to myself  'Halloween is such an odd holiday. What are we teaching our children with all of this costume and candy business?'  I'm so bitter. To make my mood worse, we had a lot of impolite teenagers come to our door. Each time I handed out candy to groups of teenagers, I would think in my mind You are old enough to get a job and buy your own candy. Go away. All the while I am smiling and cheerfully wishing them a Happy Halloween. Am I a complete bag? Maybe.

When it came to Gwen's loot, Tanner and I decided to only give her three peices of candy for the evening. Well, three turned into to.....more than three. Two hours later, Gwen was peacefully placed in bed in a suger induced coma, followed by Lily (minus the sugar coma). The night was ours, so Tanner and I spent it drinking root beer floats, snuggling on the couch and watching Fringe.

Happy Halloween!

(I mean that sincerely. I'm not a complete bag.)