The Cape

Back in the lazy days of summer, I asked all the kids what they wanted to be for Halloween.  I did mention, much to their dismay, that the expenses of the Disney trip would preclude buying new Halloween costumes this year.

Caroline decided she would like to be a "Bat-erina" again (ballet dancer in bat costume), as long as I spray-painted her hair purple. Since the fully washable purple hair spray paint only costs $1.99, I approved her costume selection. We tried out the spray paint on Friday night prior to the Girl Scout Halloween dance.  Regretfully, I don't have a good photo of Caroline with her purple hair.  She really pulled off the look well!  Very rock star.  Here's a more traditional looking Caroline lounging on the sun porch eating some ice cream.

Ben has waffled on his costume decision on an hourly basis since August.  He's narrowed down his choices to Jedi Master, Astronaut, or Captain America (or some combination of those three costumes).  All these outfits currently reside in the dress-up bin, complements of the neighbors' hand-me-downs.  Ben opted for astronaut at this weekend's Octoberfest party, but it will be interesting to see what he picks for trick-or-treating tonight.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Astronaut again because Ben makes a pretty cute astronaut, right? He definitely has the Right Stuff.

Abby decided that she would re-use an ballet costume from last June's recital to become a Bavarian huntress/German peasant. She only needed a cape to complete the look.  Well, I (inaccurately) thought, I can use my newly found sewing skills to inexpensively create a cape for her.  I got that about half right.  I successfully followed the pattern (including pleating, gathering, AND understitching, I might add) to create a fancy hand made, fully-lined and hooded cape for Abby.  However, the cape ended up costing as much as a store-bought costume because the cool purple/brown shimmery fabric on the outside the cape was mis-filed at the fabric store, so my $3.99/yd material was actually more like $12.99/yd. (Boo!) But, on the plus side, the whole family loves the cape, so I think it will be put to good use in future dress-up adventures.  The cape is very swishy and silky, and has a cool "frog" closure at the top.

Speaking of capes, does anyone else miss the 2011 show called "The Cape" that aired on NBC for 10 episodes in 2011?  Probably not, since the show was pulled from the line-up for low ratings.  I must admit that it was a guilty pleasure for me. I don't miss "The Cape" nearly as much as as the 2010 Fox show "Human Target."  I know I am not the only person missing "Human Target" since our neighbors named their dog Chance in memory of that action-packed drama.

Here's a Halloween Family portrait, including Cousin S, the adorable owl.

Two reasons why Caroline is grounded until she is "OLD"

1)  Except from an actual conversation at dinner tonight.

Caroline:  "Mom, why do you have lines on your face?"
Mom (sighing):  "Those are my lines of wisdom.  See I have lines on my forehead and lines around my eyes."
Ben: "Right!  Grandma and Grandad and Pops have lots of lines."
Dad:  "See Caroline, I have wisdom lines too."
Caroline: "Well, Mom, you sure are a lot smarter than Dad."


2)  Too many telephone booth questions.

"Gosh, what is this red box over here?"  

"Hey Mom, did you know there a phone in here?"  

"Why is there a phone in here??!!!"

Seriously, I'm not THAT old yet, am I?????

(Please do not leave a comment with an affirmative answer to that question, or you will be grounded too.)