Halloween

Dressing up is the best part of Halloween. When I was a kid, I would have told you free candy was the best part. Now that I'm a mom, and I have to take the kids to the dentist next week...it's hard to get thrilled about that much sugar. I never used to put a whole lot of thought into a costume. Except that one year I had my heart set on being a milk carton. And Daddy pulled through and made one for me.

I'm not one of those great parents who makes any costume my children can imagine. Most often I try to convince them to find an old costume from the costume box that fits them. MJ's costume worked out that way this year. I can't even remember how many years ago I bought this costume, but it was sharply reduced after Halloween. One of the boys may have worn it once, but it was a perfect fit for MJ this year. Especially considering how she likes to growl.

Schmoo is really good at telling people to walk the plank. He got some extra practice this summer, because there was a pirate party on the Disney Cruise. So we got a little extra mileage out of this costume. Sorry we couldn't find the Iron-Man thing, Schmoo. He's such a good sport.

BigZ knew what he wanted to be weeks in advance. Even so, we had trouble finding all the components. Toby was the Daddy who pulled through this time. He made enough calls and trips to various stores, until BigZ was properly attired as Napoleon Dynamite. And he has mastered the imitation quite thouroughly. He had us all laughing as he performed the famous Napoleon Dance. We all had a great time.