Nov. 1: Costumage

Happy November.

Trick-or-treating was a big hit last night. We had a lot more kids this year than we have for the last few years, but still not like when we first moved here. I think in 97-98-99 there were hundreds of kids, probably bussed into the neighborhood or something. They must have hit Happy Valley on Halloweens after that because crowds have been lighter since then. It was awfully windy last night but that didn't seem to stop any of the little ones. Or big ones. I didn't want to be one of those people that said, "Hey, you guys are a little old to be doing this, aren't you?" but I was surprised at how many teenagers came by. Anyhoo.

I wanted to "dress up" by smearing lipstick all over my mouth, because when you see someone like that, isn't it just about the scariest thing EVER?

Our Halloween bash for the neighbors on Sunday was a lot of fun. Even the ones I don't love very much were well-behaved. I had a ball, and preparations didn't totally stress me out like they usually do. My fabulous mother-in-law made the most amazing plates of candy sushi. Take a gander:

A few months ago Jack brought me his Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest picture book and pointed to this:

He was determined to be Cannibal Island Jack Sparrow for Halloween. It took a lot of the time since then to get all the parts of the costume together, but this is how he looked yesterday afternoon when we took it for a trial run:

Katie's costume was a little easier. She was Princess Ariel. I ordered everything from disneyshopping.com, and even though their costumes are obviously not made to last forever, I was impressed with some of the detail work. The dress was very pretty. She loved the sparkly makeup and frosty lipstick. She hated the wig. Just before they put on their shoes and went out, they let me get these pictures:

When they got back from trick-or-treating, Vic and I went through their candy to pull out all the crap to hand out to other trick-or-treaters. Unfortunately (or fortunately, according to K&J), they brought home only good stuff! Pa-lenty of good chocolate and a minimum of poison-laced popcorn balls, razor bladed apples, and Primary Treasures. Not a bad haul.

Deanna sent pictures of her little darlings this morning. Pete was a scarecrow and Dorothy Frances was a crow. Aren't they adorable?

And these two are kids I don't even know, but they have the cleverest costumes! Deanna saw them at a Boise event last weekend. A lobster trap:

And a garden gnome:

Hoping to see Gwen's costume soon... (hear that, Debi?) Anyone else want to share theirs?

--J.