Halloween Parade

I'm going to be honest... this year, I didn't give much thought to Halloween costumes.  Part of the reason is that things feel busy, life feels full, and I just didn't have the creative energy.  Another part of the reason was that N had so many costume ideas this year, and was changing her mind every five minutes about what she wanted to be.  I just figured the minute I started to invest a lot of time preparing one of these costume ideas, she might refuse to wear it when the time came.  L is pretty happy-go-lucky... she can be persuaded to be excited about pretty much any costume-- mostly, she just wants to do whatever N is doing.  Of course I have big dreams of making awesome, creative, original and frugal costumes for my children, and perhaps even sewing them myself (once I make the time and learn to sew properly) but I guess we'll save that for future years when my children are a little more decisive.

So a couple weeks ago we were shopping at the local childrens' consignment store, and N spied two witch costumes on the rack (for $5 each) that just happened to be sized 4 and 3T.  We went with it.  And although N has changed her mind twenty times since we purchased these costumes, luckily on Saturday when it came time for the Halloween parade she was in a witch mood.  They were even calling themselves Dolores and Lavinia just like in James Stevenson's "Yuck!"

We spruced up the costume idea by using my makeup to paint the girls' faces--we couldn't find any Halloween face paint that was safe for use on children.  N chose to have her face painted with blue eye shadow and L chose my pink blush (although she kept calling it mush).  A little wart on each girl's cheek with an eyeliner pencil and there you have it!

Unoriginal, perhaps, but adorable nonetheless.

And then Daddy took them downtown to walk the parade route in costume and trick-or-treat at the local businesses.

Waiting for the parade to start

{The Halloween parade was right in the middle of our usual nap time, hence the half-asleep expressions.  We skipped naps and did the parade mainly because we worried that trick-or-treating would get cancelled by the hurricane next week.}

Big Sister Witch, enjoying her candy post-parade!

(The white headband was N's idea... something about a witch crown?)

And Littlest Witch, with a big smile despite having just completed nearly a mile of walking during a time when she's normally sleeping.  What a trooper!

And what a fun afternoon!

(Possible future trick-or-treating posts to come, if the storm permits.  Stay safe, everyone!)