Off to see the Wiz

 I LOVE dressing up, so I love Halloween.  I also love doing themes for costumes because it's so much fun.  Once again this year I considered doing Phineas and Ferb, but, lacking funds, I went with Wizard of Oz.  I sowed my seeds early and before long Annalee thought that it was her idea.  She was originally going to be the Wicked Witch or Glenda, but then decided on Dorothy.  I had a Dorothy costume for myself that I'd made for a "Famous Couples" dance in college, so I started to figure out how to make it into an Annalee-sized dress. 

 Right before I made a fateful cut with the scissors, I suddenly remembered that we OWN a small Dorothy costume!  We got it a few years ago when we bought a whole box of dress-up clothes at a garage sale, so because it wasn't in with the Halloween stuff and I hadn't made it, it wasn't on my mind.  Whew!  I'm glad I remembered because that saved me a lot of work!  I had to rush around town to the thrift stores at the last minute, looking for ruby slippers.  Annalee highly approved of her ruby boots!

Vander's hat and stuffing was from the scarecrow costume I'd made to go with my Dorothy.  Everyone who saw him ooed and ahhhed over his cuteness!  There was almost one case of sugar-induced coma.

 I got to put on green paint.  Again.  (Remember Shrek and Fiona?)  I'm not doing this anymore.

 Bellana's costume was the easiest of all!  I got it for free at Other Mothers (secondhand kids' store) when I traded in some clothes.

Nathan was going to be the scarecrow and Vander was going to be the Tin Man, but Nathan had to work.  We visited him at the office and then went to McDonald's for dinner.

 I can't believe I got a decent picture of us all together.  Thank you, random guy at McDonalds!

We went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat and got a lot of candy.  Then we had donuts and headed for home.  I took the kids Trick-or-Treating up our street and to a nearby cul-de-sac.  The kids were getting so excited about the free candy thing that they even said, "Trick-or-Treat!" to a few kids they passed on the sidewalk.  Didn't work, but nice try!  The highlight of my night was when a gal sitting in her doorway, handing out candy, saw us and thought we were so cool that she had to call all of the people in the house out to "come see these guys!  They're all the Wizard of Oz!  LOOK at that adorable scarecrow!"  It's nice to be appreciated. 

By then, Bellana was cold and ready to be done.  It was after 8, which is almost an hour past all their bedtimes, so we headed home.

The next day, Vander wanted a scarecrow nose again.

I think I still have green paint in my ears.