For the past 2 years in a row, my son has been "Thomas the Tank Engine" for Halloween. I made him, well quite simply thee most fantastic Thomas costume ever. I can't even pretend it didn't totally rock. I was so pleased with it the first year he wore it, and when he fell face down into some wet leaves on a muddy lawn in the rain on the way back from trick-or-treating, I didn't even mind because we had gotten great use out of it. I also could easily fix it back up. Such a treat! Then, last year came the trick... I had my son prepared to be Batman for Halloween, but when the day came he insisted on being Thomas again. I did everything in my power to convince him otherwise, but he wasn't having it. It had to be Thomas. It was almost like trick-or-treat was defined by that costume for him. One couldn't exist without the other. So, I reluctantly agreed, already feeling sad that it would be difficult to tell Halloween 2009 and Halloween 2010 apart in pictures, and it would look like I was some slacker of a mom, sending my kid out in the same costume two years in a row. For shame!
This year I have built up trick-or-treat and costume picking for months! The baby has his little duckie costume all ready to go (still hooked on those duckies in honor of "duck" being one of his very first words... must mean he loves them!). We talked over costume ideas with my oldest son, and he decided he wanted to be a robot! YAY! So, I spent time drawing up the plans, collecting supplies, finding just the right size box, getting together sound effects and different kinds of lights to try... He is very excited. I just finished the body of the bot tonight while he was sleeping. I cannot wait for him to wake up and see the costume tomorrow. Hopefully he will forget all about the Thomas costume (which lives on, it's in our basement). I have to finish the head, but I need my husband's help as it requires the very careful use of a power tool, with which he has much more experience than I. Still, I have the plans all drawn up for him.
I get so excited over Halloween! My mother made the greatest costumes for us. We would attend costume contests and always win. Here's a few of the hand-made costumes, just to give you an idea: a Taco!, Boom-box that played music, Dorothy, Snow White, a kangaroo, A show poodle, a Senorita, a raccoon, a bumble-bee... she rocked. I also remember my Dad taking us around trick-or-treating, and I was so scared of all the scary costumes and houses but he'd make me feel safe. It was so nice. Great memories.
I want my kids to have the same kind of happy memories of Halloween. Maybe that's why I love autumn so much. It's just one thing my parents always knocked out of the park, and it inspires me to do that for my kiddos.
So I have a ton of stuff to catch up on tomorrow after devoting my day to the robot, but it's totally worth it! My husband even managed to sneak in framing in and mulching under the swings on my sons' play set today. 2 big projects taken care of. We are totally kicking ass! :P
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