The Force is a fickle thing

 I had such stupendous ideas for dressing our family up as characters from Phineas & Ferb, but in the interest of saving money we went with Star Wars again.  Nathan didn't mind, of course!  Vander had definitely outgrown his Ewok costume from last year so I went to a secondhand store in search of a bear or dog costume in 2T.  All I found was this 12 month costume but thank goodness he is short because he was just able to squeeze into it.

 Annalee had a hard time deciding between being Darth Vader or Princess Leia.  I finally convinced her to be Leia because I thought the costume would look more complete than Vader with no mask (since most places don't let you wear masks.)  So here she is, dressed as Princess Leia in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi when they are on Endor with the Ewoks.

Unfortunately, no one at the local elementary school (where we went Trick or Treating the Friday before Halloween) has ever seen the movie.  Despite the fact that she was with an Ewok and a Jedi, they looked at her and said "Camouflage!  Army girl!"  Sniffle.  And I did such a cute job on her intricate hair!

THIS is what she was supposed to look like!

 And the Jedi.

 The night before Halloween we had the ward Trunk or Treat.  I gave in to Darth Vader because I didn't want people to think she was Intricate-Braid Army Barbie.  Nathan and I were Jedi, of course.

Instead of having a soup and chili potluck like we were used to, our ward had donuts and hot chocolate at the end.  But at the beginning they had a costume parade so everyone could show off their costumes.  They needed a Master of Ceremonies, so I volunteered.  "What are you going to say?" someone asked me.  "I don't know," I said.  "I don't know what anyone is going to dress up as."  So I winged it.

I used a few phrases from the Jedi show at Disneyland and a joke I heard online, but the rest was mine.

Welcome, friends and creatures from galaxies both near and far, far away.  Tonight we will learn about the citizens and creatures who inhabit our strange universe.  [retracting “blade” on lightsaber by pushing it down with my hand]  This is a training lightsaber.  Never attempt that with a real lightsaber.

Would everyone 0-5 years old please line up?  That would be Ewok size.  While they are lining up, let me tell you a joke.  What is the internal temperature of a taun-taun?  Luke warm.   We Jedi don’t have many jokes, but the ones we do have are funny.  [repeats joke]  If you were expecting funnier jokes than that, this isn’t the Trunk or Treat you were looking for.  [waving fingers in Jedi mind trick]

Please quiet down.  Jedi don’t shout.  Unless you cut off our arm—then we shout.

 [Sees a ghost, jumps. ]  You look like my former master!

[Someone dressed as a tank]  If the Empire had had these instead of droids, they might have won the war.

[superman theme song when superman comes on]

[darth vader theme song when Annalee comes on]

A lion!  And possibly part Wookie.

I’ve never heard of this one before.  He says he’s a teenager from someplace called “earth”?

[silver robot walks on]  If you need a droid, avoid the golden ones at all cost.  They are more trouble than they’re worth.  A silver one though, if you have a chance to get one of those, do it.

And another princess!  There are many princesses in the galaxy, and most of them are nicer than Princess Leia.

[batman] The Dark Knight!  He’s a dark knight, I’m a Jedi knight…we should hang out sometime, have some hot chocolate.

[the joker] Someone was looking for you.

[bounty hunter] Someone from my own galaxy!  Beware, he will do anything for money!

[transformer] A transformer!  Give him some candy and he will transform it into something else.

[a clown walks on] And a politician!  (The week before the election this was a really good one!)

[Nathan enters in Jedi robes]  It’s my master!  I guess that means the parade is over.

It was a blast.

I went Trick or Treating on Halloween with the kids while Nathan had to work.  We ended up only going for 30 minutes because Annalee took so long to clean up her toy room.  I had told her at 3:30 that ToT time was from 5-6, but that we wouldn't leave until everything was clean, even if it meant we only went for 10 minutes.  Thirty minutes ended up being just about right anyway.  By the end, Vander was a very sticky Ewok from eating a sucker and Annalee's feet hurt from walking so far in snow boots--I mean, Darth Vader boots.

We got a LOT of Trick or Treaters after we got home and I soon ran out of candy to give out, even giving some of Vander's.  I put up a sign and turned off our porch light and thankfully no one else rang the bell to disturb my sleeping kids.  I love 7:30 bedtimes!

Our house decorations were pretty simple, but effective.  I'm glad the fan has an off switch besides the wall switch.