all treats, no tricks

Everytime I thought about writing this post I kept thinking about a joke that could start with "Two knights & a ninja walk into a bar." But I am not all that creative with jokes so it stops there. Maybe the abrupt ending with no punchline actually makes it funny? I'll proceed. My creativity with costumes ebbs and flows & this year it was at a dead stop! 

Here is the rundown on costume choices- 

1. Charlotte tried on my Kingwood Cougars cheerleading uniform last time we were in the Livable Forest & it happened to fit perfectly. This was a reminder that I was as unusually small 8th grader. I was also quite possibly the worst cheerleader. I reassured her that she was a normal sized 5th grader who looked fantastic. She brought it home & quickly decided she was too old to dress up but by the time Halloween rolled around she came bounding out of the house decked out for a football game. She looks too old : ( 
2. Eloise & Anson were obsessed with being knights. We learned about Medieval History last fall which maybe sparked their interest. We ordered two costumes, but when they arrived it proved to be laughably small on Eloise....especially the helmet! Gaga hooked her up with a ninja costume when we were at Target. It was perfect for her ninja like skills she is perfecting with Taekwondo this semester.
3. Owen wanted to be a praying mantis which was an idea from last year. The requested costume included spikes on the arms so he could quickly devour candy, hahaha! I told him that with 3 days notice I couldn't make it happen this year. He told me Gaga was coming into town. I had to break the news that she wasn't arriving with green leotards & razor blades. Once Eloise finally come to terms with the fact that the knight costume was WAY too small, Owen decided he would look pretty darn tough in it & that he did!
4. Anson was the die hard knight. He was committed from August on & I loved seeing his grin behind the helmet. 
5. Arlo, he is so easy to please. I basically laid out 5 costumes from the bin on the couch & he immediately picked up the fireman costume, put it on & never complained for a second. He was annoyed that the Velcro wasn't holding the accessories on very well but what could I do...it has been worn by many a Valentine. 

Our knights in shining armor..

Ninja girl & Kingwood Cougar circa 1990s ....

Weeeee-ooooo, Weeeeee-ooooo, here comes Arlo!

The Fab Five that keep us laughing (when behaving)

We enjoyed trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with a favorite family, the Hofmanns. We spend a lot of time together between school, church & living near by. Their boys are best buddies with our boys & their littlest adores Charlotte and truly dislikes me, haha!

Courtney & I are almost identical in size & hair color. We happen to have the same tastes in clothes, purses & shoes. Our littlest kids have grabbed the wrong mama's leg when not paying attention. Our husbands find it amusing. There was a Sunday that Courtney asked DJ if what she was wearing looked cute & he replied that she should just ask if it would look cute on Lauren. At this point if one of us buys something we joke that we should have just bought an extra to pass along. Even our wedding dresses look eerily similar! All that to say, we dressed up as each other. Sadly, she had just cut her hair & I wasn't up for bangs on a whim for a Halloween picture ; )

The whole crew & the Valentine crew....

I need to get my thinking cap on a little earlier next time but I fear that Charlotte won't want to dress up. Maybe that's not too bad, one less costume & I'll just promote her to the Assistant to the Seamstress position : )