October 31: Halloween

I love looking back at old pictures, and old Halloween pictures are especially fun.  So before we get to this year's Halloween, here is a look back at the past few years.

In 2009, Audrey was a ballerina.  In 2010, she was Pippi Longstocking (my favorite costume so far).

2010 was also Audrey's first year for trick or treating, and we started a tradition of going trick or treating with Cael.  Without planning it, they coordinated costumes perfectly as  Pippi had a monkey friend named Mr. Nilsson.

 

Last year, Audrey was a butterfly, and Isla was a caterpillar. 

And Cael was an airplane.  They kind of coordinate because they both can fly...right?

As I said yesterday, the girls weren't feeling the best.  Isla ran a low fever all afternoon and evening.  But I had spent some time making her costume, and I was determined that she should wear it at least for a few minutes!  So we got her dressed up for some pictures, and then she got to go to a few neighbor's houses.  She actually seemed to like the trick or treating and was sad when I took her back home while everyone else was still out walking around.

After much deliberation, I decided Isla was going to be Raggedy Ann this year.  Making a costume seems like it would be a cheaper option, but by the time you add everything up, it can be more expensive (and a lot more work) than just buying one.  I wanted to add a few more touches to Isla's costume, but I didn't want to spend any more money.  Good thing, since she only wore it for about 15 minutes!

Total cost for the supplies for this costume was about $15.  It's not exactly the same as what most Raggedy Ann dolls wear (blue dress, white apron, red/white striped socks).  But with the hair, I think most everyone could figure out what she was supposed to be.

I found the red dress on clearance at Old Navy for $3.99.  It was a little big, but it worked.  For her "petticoat" I bought a cheap pair of white knit pants and some white ruffle trim at Hobby Lobby, then I just hot glued the trim to the bottom of the pants.  The wig is a white knit stocking cap, and then I  glued lots of red yarn to it.  And stuck in a blue bow that we already had.  It was actually much easier to make than I expected.

For Audrey's Rapunzel costume, I got it at Party City.  For her braid, I just made two big braids out of yellow yarn, shaped one to fit her head, and then rubber banded the two pieces together.  I used the ribbon and flowers to disguise the part where the two pieces come together.  It turned out pretty good, and it also was much easier than I expected!

Cael was a knight this year...and again, that coordinated (unintentionally) with Audrey's costume!

Growing up, my mom always baked goods for us to take to our neighbors while trick or treating.  I love her idea of making this holiday more about giving than receiving.  Every year, I say we are going to bake things to share with our neighbors.  But the craziness of the week always stops me.  This year, I was determined to do something.  So I made a couple of loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread to deliver to two of our neighbors.  I hope we can continue and expand on this tradition in years to come!

Audrey tried really hard to have fun trick or treating.  She made it around our block, but Daniel said she started to have a hard time when they got to Cael's block.  She got tired of walking and showed no interest at all in her candy.  That is a sign that something is definitely wrong!

The last stop of the night was at Lisa and Doug's house.  By then, Audrey just looked awful.

She came home with a fever, and she didn't want to move or talk or do anything.  When I tried to take her dress off, she started screaming and crying that her face and head hurt.  She ended up falling asleep in my arms, all curled up like a baby.  Poor little girl, what a horrible end to her birthday!