Happy Halloween – Sing it with me… “It’s Raining Again”

DC does not like the rain.

He just does not.

When he was younger, it was just the rain he did not like but now, in his mind – rain leads to storms so there is no tolerating the rain at all any more.

I remember taking him to a birthday party when he was younger. One of the activities planned was a water balloon fight. Getting wet without a bathing suit on was always an issue, but we were instructed to wear bathing suits. After a lot of explanation, I thought he’d be okay with it.

Unfortunately it was raining when we arrived.

It was summer. They were already in bathing suits.

So why not have the water balloon fight?

Why not, you ask?

You have to understand that to DC, rain means hurry to the car, or out of the car and into the house so you don’t get wet. Or hurry anywhere you are headed to or from so you don’t get wet. Run into the store, so you don’t get wet. Baseball is cancelled because it is raining. Cross country is cancelled because it’s raining. Outdoor activities are cancelled because it is raining.

So you don’t get wet…

Because it’s raining…

We don’t walk around in it and we certainly don’t go outside to play in it! There are no gray areas.

In case you were wondering….

It didn’t go over well.

This year we were expecting high winds and rain for Halloween (and we got both).

Now, I am not one of those people who think that Halloween should be cancelled and rescheduled when bad weather is predicted. This is strictly a “DC” issue and I was a little bit concerned.

I talked about it all week.

He looked nervous each time we discussed it but he still wanted to go Trick-Or-Treating. I told him not to worry, we will use umbrellas.

During the monsoon part of the afternoon on Halloween Day, I ran around town trying to find some of those clear plastic rain ponchos for him and his friends. (You NEVER wear coats or jackets over a costume! It’s a rule. Look it up.) But because I did not think ahead, there were none to be found any where.

Fortunately the rain calmed down and stopped for a little while when we were ready to go to *Candy’s house for dinner with her and *Sally before we all went out Trick-Or-Treating together.

They had their dinner and a few treats and off we went.

I had been poured on many times already that day when I was out looking for ponchos and earlier when I went out to look for an umbrella to match his costume (yes, I did) so I was over trying to stay dry at this point.

We were pretty lucky for the most part.

We had some rain.

We had some wind.

But fortunately not all at the same time.

DC went from “I’m getting very nervous about this” to (insert excited voice) “Happy Halloween! Thank you” and back many times over.

We did not visit as many houses as we usually do but they all came back with a good amount of candy, mostly from people trying to get rid of their overstock due to the smaller than usual weather-related turn out.

I would have been surprised if DC had opted to skip Halloween due to the weather, but one never knows when rain is involved.

It all worked out and the 3 of them had a great night.

(I think the 3 Mom’s had fun too)

In true DC fashion; when it’s over, it’s over.

In the car on the way home, he obsessed about changing the calendar to November and when he did:

“Mom, I’m so excited about Thanksgiving”

over and over.

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

***

Our 2019 Costume “Parade/Wrap Up” can be found here.

2019 Halloween – Merlin from The Sword and the Stone

The Costume Parade Is Lacking This Year

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

……. but we DO have “Jim Dear”

As Halloween’s go, this could be the “lowest key” low-key Halloween we have ever had.

This post, which would normally be our “Halloween Wrap-Up” post is not much of a wrap-up post at all.

With only 3 parties scheduled this season, we were already down a few activities (and costume choices) before the season began. One party was rescheduled to a time when DC could not attend, so we were down to 2.

He chose Peter Pan for his camp party. Chip and Mrs. Potts from the cancelled party will have to be put on hold for another year.

But…. he did go with “Jim Dear” for his Halloween/Trick-or-Treat party and he was pretty excited about it.

As you may or may not know, DC asked to be “Jim Dear” (of Jim Dear and Darling fame from Lady and the Tramp) for many years. I always talked him out of it because Jim Dear, is basically just a guy in a suit and no one would know who he was supposed to be – which honestly would not be the first time, but …….. a guy in a suit? We could do better than that.

A few years back when all of the Steam Punk clothing and costumes became popular and easier to find and while shopping for a hat for a different occasion, I happened upon a derby-type hat, I thought that would be the year he could finally be Jim Dear.

Well…… he already had other costumes in his head and Jim Dear was not on the list! It had ALWAYS been on his list but for some reason, that year it was not.

This year, it was his first choice.

He finally got to be Jim Dear.

Yes – still just a guy in a suit, but he loved it.

Yes, most people thought he was Charlie Chaplin and I am not sure why Charlie Chaplin would be carrying a briefcase, Lady and Tramp, but…..

he knew who he was, so that is all that mattered.

He had fun eating pizza and trick-or-treating with his friends, so in the end, Halloween was a success.

And we’re ahead of the game by one costume (Mrs. Potts and Chip) for next year.

In DC’s world, Halloween is over as soon as we arrive back home. That being the case, the calendars were changed to November first thing and

“Vickie, I am so excited for Thanksgiving” began –

because……

#ItsWhatsNext

Party Choices; The choice is not always clear.

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

This is more about DC’s ability (or inability) to choose between two or more options than it is about Halloween but Halloween is a factor in this particular story.

DC takes Halloween and the costumes he chooses, pretty seriously. It seems as though we used to have more parties to attend and more costumes to put together than we do now, but this year we knew there would be the basics, Best Buddies, Camp and Halloween night. The camp party was scheduled for Saturday at noon and Best Buddies for Sunday at noon.

Perfect! Right?

No…

A couple of weeks ago it was announced that the Best Buddies party was being rescheduled from Sunday to Saturday at noon; the same day and time as his camp party. I knew this was going to be a battle. Not only would he have to pass on one party and give up on one costume, but he would have to UNDERSTAND that he could not do both.

First of all – it was on the calendar and when something is on the calendar, it is engraved in stone.

Second of all – This was not something getting cancelled, which is usually cause for some trauma, but he gets over it. This is not “Mom” making a mistake on a date, where there is no choice involved – which is not fun either but he gets over it…… eventually.

This is him knowing about and planning on attending both, and now having to make a choice between them.

DC cannot always grasp this concept. He does not always understand, as many times and ways I have tried to explain, that if he chooses one that means he can’t go to or have the other.

It is not that he expects to “have it all’, it is more like he thinks of choices as being what he chooses will now come first and the thing he did not choose will still come later, just not at the originally expected time.

The many years of explanations and the times when he had to make a choice and did not get to do or have whatever he did not choose, does not seem to stick or help him understand any better the next time.

I knew for a fact that DC was not going to be the only one who might have a difficult time understanding that going to one party means not going to the other.

Originally, when I first explained the change and conflict to him – the chose the Best Buddies party, but when it was explained that he would not be able to go to the camp party, he changed his vote and went with camp.

After a week of him yelling at me at random intervals that he wanted to go to the camp party, I stopped explaining that it meant he could not go to Best Buddies. There is always a point where the explanation causes more anxiety than the choosing.

Even though I never want to see that heartbroken look on his face after I was sure he understood the choice only to discover later that he really did not, I stopped mentioning the Best Buddies party.

He continued to randomly yell about wanting to go to the camp party for the next week as well. I continued to tell him that he was going; no worries. There was no more mention of the Best Buddies Party on my part or his.

I still waited a little while before telling his Buddy that he would not be attending just to be sure he did not change his mind.

On Friday morning (the day before), he brought up the Best Buddies party out of the blue but I told him that he chose camp and I already told his buddy that he would not be there.

No reaction….. Phew!

On Saturday morning he mentioned a few friends that would be at the Best Buddies party, not at camp. I again explained that he chose the camp party. He was getting his costume on at the time which distracted him so I did not get a reaction about his party choice.

He went to camp and had a great time. There was no mention of Best Buddies.

He even found a “Captain Hook” to go along with his Peter Pan costume. (bonus theme and he loves babies!)

I was sure he would start on the Best Buddies party as soon as the camp party was over, but he mentioned nothing about it when I picked him up.

I haven’t heard anything since.

If he does not mention it by the time Halloween night rolls around, I am home free and I will know that he “got it” – but as long as there is time in his mind for another party before Halloween night, I cannot be sure.

I am thinking positively (with fingers crossed) because it really seems like he understood….

Finally!

Maybe?

We will see.

Costumes…. back to an old favorite.

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

It’s been busy ’round here and before I knew what happened, it is the end of September with ……

Wait for it……

Halloween right around the corner and we are just now “getting ready”.

If you are new here, you might not understand that last sentence.

Halloween is a big deal for both DC and I (don’t you just love it when your kid is actually interested in the same thing that you are?)

We finally have his costumes picked out – much later than we usually do. DC’s choices are again, not as elaborate or I should say, not as difficult to find or “create” as they have been over the years.

Last year DC decided that he wanted us to be Chip and Mrs. Potts. I was thrilled for him when I found a Mrs. Potts costume…. BUT after searching everywhere, I was unable to find an adult-sized Chip. Finding adult sized costumes for whatever he chooses to be, has been a challenge over the last few years.

Randomly, around his birthday I searched again and (Yay!) was able to find one! Halloween costumes for your birthday? In DC-land…… yes!

Mrs. Potts and Chip were meant for Halloween night, because we always both dress for the big night.

We did the rest of our “holiday’ shopping the other day.

He chose “Peter Pan” for his camp Halloween party (Boring, yes but this is not about me …… not really anyway. Well maybe a little)

His Best Buddies party would require a different costume because; Halloween and that is how we roll.

DC met his new Buddy on Saturday and she asked about his costume (his Buddies last year were nice enough to do a theme with him – Lumiere, Cogsworth and the Beast – all costumes we already had in our collection) and I was able to talk her into wearing the Mrs. Potts costume to go with DC as Chip.

The Halloween Gods were smiling upon me and saved me from burning in Hot Flash Hell wearing that costume this year! Costumes for me are becoming more difficult as the years go by for this very reason. #IsItHotInHereOrIsItJustMe

Now we had to switch gears. His Halloween night costumes are going to be worn at a party instead. So what did he decide to wear on THE BIG NIGHT, Halloween?

You guessed it!

Jim Dear! Yes, this year!

Me? I think I am going to try to sit this one out, unless that “little” voice continues to ask about “Jim Dear AND Darling”.

(From 2016)

“Jim Dear?” – Not this year……

So Halloween is upon us. It is already September and we are a little bit behind schedule this year. We usually have our costumes chosen and purchased in August. We did pick out our “official” Halloween night costumes way back in April or May so we are not 100% behind, but we are still behind. There are plenty of parties to attend for which DC must have different costumes (gotta love this boy!).

Okay maybe we like Halloween just a little teeny tiny bit -but we’re not obsessed or anything….

Last week we discussed what party costumes he wanted to wear this ‘Holiday’ season. This is always a little bit of a challenge. At times the costumes that DC requests are just people that he likes who happen to be wearing regular everyday clothing, or it is an obscure character that nobody knows but him (he might get that from me). Most of the time there is no such costume available so my mission is to come up with something or make up something that at least in his mind, makes the point.

The one costume that continues to make the list from the time DC was very young is “Jim Dear” from Lady and the Tramp.

(sigh….) A man in a suit…..

Not my idea of a Halloween costume, but – this is not about me….

……not ALL about be, anyway.

But, this year I was prepared.

Last October we attended a fundraiser/gala with Tony Orlando. The gala had a 1940’s theme. It was not a costume party, it was a theme, but in keeping with DC’s love of costumes, I bought him a 40’s style hat to wear with his suit. There was also the added incentive to get him excited about going to the event of calling the hat and suit a costume. While I was shopping for said hat, I came across a derby style hat that closely resembles the hat that “Jim Dear” wears. I purchased that to save for this year.

While looking for items to make a “Timekeeper – Spy Kids – All The Time in the World” (yes, we must use the proper and entire title) costume last year I came across a tremendous amount of steampunk costumes. I discovered them too late for last years’ costumes (they had already been chosen and we can’t mess around with the costume line-up) but I knew that they would be a great option for this year.

2015 would finally be the year of “Jim Dear”.

I had everything ready when we sat down to choose his costumes. I had a choice of two suits up on the screen, I had a few options for “Lady” stuffed animals for him to carry. I even found a “Tramp”…. and I had the hat. I was excited because I knew that he would be so excited when he saw that one of his costumes would be “Jim Dear”. I saved the surprise costume for last.

He chose a Disney Character – surprise! He also chose a character from a television show – whoo hoo! – a current television show – bigger whoo hoo! When we had only one more to pick, I started to wonder why he hadn’t yet brought up “Jim Dear”. I thought he may have been so overwhelmed by looking at all of the other costumes that it had just slipped his mind, so I opened up the windows that I had saved, expecting him to be over the moon….

He said “No! No, Jim Dear!”

What ?!?

“No, Jim Dear!”

I asked him again just to be sure he was not confused, I showed him the hat that I already bought. I showed him the photos of the suits and stuffed animals – “NO! Jim Dear!”

sigh…….

Anyone in need of a black derby hat complete with decorative feather?

– in great condition – never been worn….

One day my log will have something to say about this- Halloween 2017

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

It’s a wrap on Halloween 2017 and you knew there would be one more post on the subject.

———-

DC and I got a late start this year…..

As with everything this year, I really wasn’t in the “spirit”… We did not have any Halloween themed weekends planned and we did not even think about costumes until mid-September (which may seem normal for you, but for us – it is way behind schedule)

Once we sat down and started looking at costumes, the spirit started to kick back in a little bit.

Like last year, DC was pretty straight-forward with his costume choices. There was nothing that he wanted to be that did not exist or could not be put together quite easily. If he had more time to think about it as in previous years, that may not have been the case, but as Halloweens go, this looked to be another relatively easy year – or so I thought.

Although we did not have a Halloween trip planned, we did take a ride to the Blaze in Hudson Valley (very close to Sleepy Hollow) with BB and his family.

The weather was perfect and we all had a nice time. It finally began to feel like Halloween.

DC’s first “costumed” event was a dance held by his day/work program. DC does not normally attend the monthly dances because he says they are boring (and they sure are)… BUT when there is a costume involved, he is certainly willing to attend, even if just for a little while. Usually we just recycle a costume from a previous year for this event since he does not usually stay all that long.

He wore his Goblin King/Jareth costume (which he loves) to the dance. Last year I believe he lasted about 45 minutes at the dance. He just wants to wear his costume, eat and leave. This year I managed to get him to stay about an hour and a half – and there wasn’t even pizza!

One down….

The following day was the annual Best Buddies Halloween party. DC has two Buddies (sometimes 3 when one of their friends tags along) who, earlier in the month at an apple picking event asked him what he was going to be for the party. They were asking because they wanted to coordinate costumes with him. Hearing this, I told them that I just “happened” to have 2, possibly 3 costumes at home that went with DC’s costume and I went home while they were picking apples, to get them (no pressure at all).

They agreed….

He was in his glory….

Lumiere, Cogsworth and the Beast.

It was unfortunate that I was not able to find my old Belle costume because the 3rd Buddy was in attendance and DC would have just flipped to also have Belle with him. These poor girls had to wear those DC-sized costumes all afternoon. I am sure there were plenty of pins involved, but they did it AND won a prize for the best threesome!

His next costume opportunity was a fundraiser for his camp held at Haunted Golf. He chose Kristoff from Frozen. It was a pretty good choice as it was a warm costume and it happened to be rather cold out there that night and there is nothing worse than having to wear a coat or jacket over one’s Halloween costume.

Nothing… Seriously… Look it up..it is just not done!

Just what kind of reading material would Kristoff bring to read while manning the camp table?

Well – Frozen of course!

One of the owners of the course, knowing DC’s love of Disney and princesses was not wearing her costume that night due to the low temperatures. As soon as she found out that DC was on the grounds, she went to change into Snow White just for him.

DC was thrilled and I really do not believe that he knew that Snow was the same person he was just talking to 10 minutes before. He did, however point out to her that she was missing her red headband/ribbon. He does not miss much when it comes to his princesses.

So far, so good… but this was about to change.

DC had asked to be Aladdin many times when he was younger. This was back when there was only one costume per season on Halloween – before there were parties to attend too. Back then (and still to this day) his official Halloween night costume always included me and Doug (before Doug had enough and started opting out) – it was a theme; always. Being Aladdin meant that I was supposed to be Jasmine. I may not have always been in the “weighty” situation that I find myself in today, but still – that was not happening. Eventually he forgot about it, until this summer when he found an Aladdin hat to wear for Disney Day at Camp. It must have reminded him and Aladdin was first on his list this year.

He decided on Prince Ali of ‘A-ba-ba-ba-ba” (Agrabah) – This turned out to be a case of me not taking the ‘wearing’ of the costume into consideration after seeing him so excited to find exactly what he wanted.

Oftentimes, even with an XL adult costume, there are pieces that just do not fit around his waist. Salli’s Mom came to my rescue the year before and sewed an extra piece of matching material in the back of his Jareth vest so it was comfortable for him. But there was not all that much that could be done with Prince Ali.

The suit itself was all one piece that zipped up the back. The cape, gold sashes and gold belt were all one piece too. The idea was to put the whole thing over his head and close the belt in the back with Velcro.

Problem #1: Someone would have to unzip and zip the suit for him of he had to use the restroom.

Problem #2: The belt did not make it around his waist, which meant I had to pin it directly to the once piece costume, making it even more difficult to remove to use the restroom.

It’s a 2 hour party – you say. Chances are he will not even have to use the restroom – you say. Well all of the people reading this who know DC personally are laughing hysterically at you right now, trust me.

Immediately after arriving, he was already asking to use the restroom. I took him, got the whole thing off, got the whole thing back on and he walked back into the stall!!!!

Me: “What are you doing?”

DC: “Bafroom”

Aaaaannnnndd I took the whole thing off and put the whole thing back on again…

Back at the party, I had to first apologize to the director for choosing this costume, then explain that someone would need to help him if he needed the restroom again and show them how to get him out of it. Well…. DC heard “restroom” and you guessed it; one more time!

I took the whole thing off and put it all back on for the third time in less than 15 minutes. I was starting to lose it at this point and it was certainly time for Salli’s mom and I to leave and get some coffee. I was certain that by the time we got back for pick-up, I would find the costume abandoned in a corner somewhere. I was pleasantly surprised that he was still wearing it and was still happy to be wearing it. (Just to be clear – DC was having no problem with the costume at all. He could care less that it was such a production getting it off. I did think that the staff might have gotten quite sick of it at some point and have him just leave it off – I would not have blamed them in the least)

Moving on to HALLOWEEN!

His party costumes are all about him. Our Halloween night costumes are all about us (more so now than when he was younger). They are about things that both of us enjoy or are significant to us. There have been plenty of times that no one knew who or what we were or I wasn’t as hilariously clever as I thought I was, but we do not care. We know who we are and we have fun.

This duo, on paper should have been easy.

DC was going to dress as Agent Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks and I was going as The Log Lady.

No sweat!

Wrong!

DC’s costume was relatively easy. Fortunately there are plenty of “Castiel” overcoat costumes out there. All we needed was a shirt, tie and a wig and then I had to come up with a trick-or-treat bag.

Bags and props are important. One just cannot use your standard everyday trick-or-treat bag.

When we did the Oz theme it was DC, Doug and I. We did not have a forth for the Loin. I decorated his bucket as a loin. When he was Dr. Horrible, he carried a “Penny’s Frozen Yogurt” bag – The Doctor; a Dalek bag – Elf; a Christmas bag – Jareth; The Babe with the power bag – you get the point.

I decided he needed a giant coffee cup and believe it or not, I found a giant coffee cup! The cup arrived and in the continuing saga of “what was I thinking” I realized that it was just much too heavy for him to carry around with him. Shocking, that A Giant Ceramic Coffee Cup would actually be heavy, I know. I decided that we would use it for photos only and began my search for a Coffee or Twin Peaks bag.

Finding a bag was not as difficult as I assumed. Mission accomplished.

The Log Lady:

Sweater, Wig, Glasses and a log – Easy? As it turned out, no.

Finding an ugly sweater with a belt was next to impossible. I finally had to settle for a men’s sweater and added a belt, but I wasn’t happy with it.

A wig. I bought 3 – destroyed 2 trying to cut them.

Log. I could have gone out to the yard but I wanted something that was not too heavy. I was extremely excited to find a log pillow – perfect!

The final wig made me look like a very old version of Velma from Scooby Doo and it was HOT! I decided that since my real hair is in a pretty disastrous state right now, I would just go with that. I never even made it out of the house wearing the wig.

By the time I was ready, I pretty much looked like some random woman with questionable taste in sweaters and eye-wear. Not quite the Log Lady.

Oh well. DC looked good

He had fun eating pizza and trick-or-treating with his friends.

They had an enjoyable candy-filled night and DC had a fun Halloween season. The Aladdin costume will never see the light of day again and I am left with a pretty cool looking log.

****

Don’t forget to visit our Halloween Page – Imaginatively Titled: WE LOVE HALLOWEEN

Halloween Is Our Thing – #FinishTheSentenceFriday

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

Halloween.

I have been an avid fan for as long as I can remember. If I am honest I am sure that some of my love for the “holiday” comes from me being able to be someone other than myself. I am sure this was the case when I was a kid and I think a little bit of that feeling of not having to be me for one night has carried over into adulthood.

My first costume memories were those old boxed costumes that were made up of a plastic smock imprinted with the image of a gown, dress, uniform or suit and the dreaded mask that seemed to look the same for every character. We just thought we were “all that” while parading around in one of those costumes.

Although the description on the box always said it contained a “ventilated mask”, I remember never really being able to breathe and/or the mask filling up with hot air and my face sweating profusely. The eyes never seemed to be positioned so that one could actually see and the jagged edges where the eye holes were cut out would dig into the corners of your eye. The flimsy elastic band that was supposed to hold the mask around your head would, without fail, snap halfway through trick-or treating and you would end up holding the mask in front of your face for the rest of your trick-or-treat adventure.

But still, we loved those costumes. My favorite was always Cinderella or a just a generic princess.

Photo Attribute: By Tim1965 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

Photo Attribution – See Below

There was a point in time when I really began to hate these “costumes” especially when I started to notice other kids wearing all different kinds of costumes; they weren’t plastic smocks – they looked like real articles of clothing. There was no longer the parade of boxed costumes everywhere and some of these newfangled costumes did not even have a mask! Gasp! What was this sorcery?

But in our house, if we couldn’t find or put together a costume from articles of clothing or items that we already had, the boxed costume was the only other option. It would be a few years before I was able to partake.

****

When I finally graduated out of the boxed costume, I remember a gown. I know it was not purchased for me to wear as a costume (we did not do that, remember?). I think it was my mother’s. I do not remember why she had it. She may have been in a play or something when she was younger, but I was in heaven! Heaven!

I remember that gown like it was yesterday. It was a peachy/pink color and lacy and I am sure in reality did not look as gorgeous as it did in my head but I sure did believe that I was just the living end when I wore that gown.

I don’t have any photos of that gown or of me wearing it. Halloween was not a big deal to my parents so the family Halloween photo was never a thing when I was younger. I do believe that there may be the random Halloween family photo of my younger brothers, but I have never seen any of me or my next in age brother.

I wore that gown for years. After dragging it across sidewalks and catching it on my shoes, tree branches, shrubs or anything else I would happen to walk by on my trick-or-treat route, it looked a little bit worse for wear. But still I continued to wear it since I was not going to get a store bought costume and was too big (and too cool, of course) for the plastic boxed costumes. I suppose that I could have gone the “hobo/bum” route that my brothers took every . single . year, because one could do that easily with stuff we already had laying around – a flannel shirt, a stick with the kerchief, a little dirt to your face and ….voila – a Hobo.

But I always wanted to be pretty and wearing the princess gown and maybe even some makeup always made me feel pretty. I loved Halloween because I got to feel pretty for that night. To this day, Halloween is the only day of the year that I wear lipstick – if the costume calls for it, of course.

****

I was around 11 or 12 when I decided that I was just too cool for trick-or-treating and costumes. That decision was largely based on the fact that my friends did not think it cool any more. That happened to be the same year that Halloween was just about cancelled. There had been a growing epidemic over the past few Halloween’s of razor blades in apples, laxatives disguised as chocolate, and so many other evils, that many people (at least in our area) did not let their children go out for trick-or-treat at all. Back in those days there were no safe Halloween trick-or-treat parties at firehouses or held by civic organizations as there are today. Halloween was trick-or-treating or nothing. I remember our doorbell ringing only once and my mother being shocked that it rang at all.

Even though Halloween was about over for me; because…. being too cool and all – I was sad thinking that this might very well be the end of it for everyone. Fortunately that did not turn out to be the case and things got right back to normal the following year.

****

Fast forward to my 20’s when I discovered that Halloween was not over for me at all! There were parties. Parties with costumes. It was in my 20’s when I honed the skill of using powder eye shadow on my face instead of the gloppy pasty stuff they sold for Halloween face color. I came up with some pretty good costume ideas but more often than not, I got so involved in helping my friends come up with and put together their costumes that my ideas ended up being thrown together at the last minute. They still came out relatively well, but they did not look like what I originally had pictured in my head. I was the Halloween Costume Queen…. but for every one else, not always for me.

****

Then came Halloween at work. Back in the raggedy princess gown days I would never have imagined that I would still be celebrating Halloween after the age of 12 or 13 and certainly not at the office.

I will admit to being just a tad “high pressure” when it comes to Halloween…. but really – If everyone would just follow directions, fall in line and embrace the theme (there must always be a theme), it would all go so much more smoothly…..

but seriously…

no pressure.

No pressure at all.

****

When DC was born I had happy visions of walking the neighborhood with him just like when I was a kid. I managed to control myself on his first Halloween as he was less than a year old and went with the standard baby pumpkin costume.

1991

The following year we all dressed in Star Trek attire – which was also not over the top for him; he just had to wear a shirt. The next year I started to try to add to the costumes (makeup, hair color) just to see how far he would let me go costume-wise.

1993 Vampires

Let’s just say, it did not go well. He did it; but getting everything on him was not fun and I had to give up on much of the make-up and hair color spray. Once on, he did all right, but I knew I had to rein it in next year. Fortunately I did not scar him for life about Halloween.

When he was 4 I started noticing that Disney costumes were becoming more available we were able to find a Peter Pan – one of his favorites at the time. This is where we turned a corner and right there…. he was sold….

1994

He was just thrilled to realize that he could be any Disney character that he wanted to be; and he has been quite a few over the years. Of course, I would always dress right along with him and our costumes were/are always compatible.

When he got older I began noticing that he was having a hard time choosing between all of the characters available and since there were now parties to attend as well – I let him start picking out a few different costumes for the parties. Now…. you might say that we have gotten carried away or that I am spoiling him but, the list of things and activities that DC really cares about is limited, so if he loves Halloween and costumes; I am going to do what I can to see that he has a great time with it. Maybe, just maybe, having to wear that same ragged princess dress year after year plays into it a bit – maybe just a tad.

But I will tell you, for a kid who has to have tags cut out of everything and many other sensory issues, he will do and wear just about anything when it comes to Halloween – make-up, wigs, bald caps glued to his head or scars glued on to his face, eyebrows, mustaches and just about anything but a mask. I can’t say that I blame him there.

His party costumes are all about him. Our Halloween night costumes are all about us (more so now than when he was younger). They are about things that both of us enjoy. There have been plenty of times that no one knew who or what we were or I wasn’t as hilariously clever as I thought I was, but we do not care. We know who we are and we have fun.

He is 26 now. I never imagined Halloween would still be thrill for him and I love that it is something that we can go all out and overboard about together…. I hope he never tires of it.

We have already been to two parties so far this season and are looking forward to a few more before Halloween night rolls around. As he walked in to the dance held by his work/day program last week, one of the staff said to me: “Look at him just walking in to the party with all of that on, looking so comfortable like he is wearing his regular every day clothes.”

Yep, that’s my “boy”…….

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Be sure to visit our Halloween Page: We Love Halloween! We love it so much, we gave it it’s own page.

I am honored to co-host Finish the Sentence Friday this week with host Kristi Campbell of Finding Ninee . The prompt this week – “When it comes to Halloween….”

Link up or just read some of the Halloween offerings at the blue button below… (link is open for posting through Sunday evening)

Finish the Sentence Friday is a link-up where writers and bloggers come together to share their themselves with a particular sentence. If you’d like to stay ahead of future sentences and participate, join our Facebook group. Link up your sentence prompts below! Please no “link dumping.” If you include a link, comment on other posts.

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Photo: Tinkerbell Boxed Costume: By Tim1965 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

The Babe With the Power…. a Halloween Wrap-Up

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

Back in September:

W hen DC and I picked out his costumes two weeks ago for this, my favorite holiday, I was a little bit disappointed.

Until… after the chosen costumes arrived of course, we came upon something so much better. I was not thrilled about the Santa and Elf he had chosen for us to wear on Halloween night (I know… not… about… me) so I was glad and he was excited to happen upon a fabulous replacement.

No worries. I knew that Santa and the Elf would not go to waste. There always seems to be an extra event or party that comes up that I did not plan for and fortunately this year there were two extra events that came up.

Once again, we had to man a fundraising table to support DC’s summer camp and like last year this table was located at a local miniature golf course that decorates for the month of October. Plain old miniature golf becomes Haunted Golf for the month. Like me, DC has no interest in playing miniature golf, but if he is going to sit at the table surrounded by Halloween, he is surely going to wear a costume.

He was planning on wearing that “extra” Santa costume, but as it happened it had rained all day and it became so hot and humid that evening the Santa costume would have been really uncomfortable. I talked him into wearing the Elf instead. I told him that I had heard that there would be a costume dance hosted by his day/work program in a few weeks and if he wanted to attend, he could wear the Santa suit then. He agreed.

The Elf it was at Haunted Golf:

He was not shy about ‘working’ those bells…

One “extra” costume down and moving on.

Two days later, DC attended his summer Camp Halloween party. He loves to see his camp friends during the off months. For this party, he chose a Wizard. Not just any Wizard, mind you… in his mind this was Merlin from the Sword and the Stone, a very old Disney movie. Now, you knew there HAD to be at least one choice somehow related to Disney. There is no getting around that.

Later, he did mention that he was not only the Wizard from The Sword and the Stone but also Snow White’s father. I have no recollection as to just what Snow White’s father looks like, so I will have to take his word on that one.

His work dance was coming up and I asked him more than once if he was sure he wanted to go. He said he did. DC is always up for a dance. He loves to dance, but the dances given by his day/work program are usually not anywhere on his list of things he wants to do. The very first time DC used the word ‘boring’ was to describe one of these dances and the only time he has used that word since is anytime that I ask him if he wants to go to the monthly dance. If you are wondering if he is using this new word correctly…. yes, he is. They are boring – very much so. But, it is almost always an entirely different story when costumes are involved, so he agreed to go.

Well, he lasted 45 minutes. The eating of pizza took only 5 minutes so the other 40 minutes were spent wandering over to me and telling me “Mom! I’m boring!” I thought if he would just get dancing he would have some fun, but every single time he DID start dancing, the DJ cut the song off and then there was nothing but silence for a good long time. The DJ started playing Ghost Busters (one of the few danceable songs he played) at least three times and stopped it right in the middle every single time. I really don’t know if he ever made it through that song.

He wanted to wear the Santa suit and he did – albeit for a total of an hour and a half (including drive time) but that seemed just fine with him. He got to wear it and that was all that mattered.

Second ‘extra’ costume, used ….Mission accomplished.

One of his favorite parties every season is the Best Buddies Halloween party. Other than the grand finale on Halloween night, he seems to look forward to the Best Buddies party the most. For this he chose the Mad Hatter. He has been both the Disney and the Johnny ‘Deep’ (DC-speak) versions of the Mad Hatter in years past and to be quite honest with you, I do not know where this particular version of the Mad Hatter comes from. He owns so many obscure versions of Alice in Wonderland – it could be from one of those or it could be from the new movie, Through the Looking Glass. I have no idea, but the “Dark Mad Hatter”, which was the only description I could find was his pick. As long as he seems to know what movie or book it comes from, I don’t have to.

Finally we have reached the end of the road, um… the end of the Labyrinth – Halloween! Once the costume was on he spent a good amount of his evening looking at himself in every reflective surface he came across! I think this one will go down in history as one of his favorites.

Introducing……

Jareth the Goblin King!

Of course we had to have a Baby Toby (that would be me)!

Did anyone know who we were supposed to be? Maybe not. Most of the time that seems to be the case anyway, but we do not care about that. We know who we are supposed to be and we have a great time making everyone wonder (I do anyway). Last year there was only one person on the Trick-or-Treat route that knew he was Doctor Who and I was the TARDIS (yes really!). So I don’t think it’s us. I think it’s the neighborhood. We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way through the Labyrinth.

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Yes Fezzes are still cool

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

My final Halloween 2015 re-run for the season (Re-run, I said. There will be a 2016 wrap-up after Halloween).

“Fezzes are cool”

(The last Halloween post for 2015 – I promise. It’s a Halloween wrap, one could say. This post is not as long as it appears to be – there are a good number of pictures because, you know…. it’s Halloween and I have no restraint)

As costumes go, this year was really not all that difficult.

He chose costumes that actually existed.
We were able to find all of his requests in his size.
The two that I did have to buy in pieces to make up the costumes were not all that difficult to put together because the pieces actually exist.

It was a relatively easy year.

Yes, we had the whole “Jim Dear” bump in the road but luckily and unexpectedly it worked out so – Jim Dear will be counted and included in his “costume parade” this year and of course included in his annual Halloween book that he receives for Christmas each year.

– We do take this holiday very seriously.

We may be a little bit over the top, but he loves it and I am perfectly happy to encourage and go with it!

Onward….. his ~~first~~ second choice – the costume that he wore to his Work/Day Program Halloween Dance and the reason (well partially the reason) he was so excited when I brought out that nightmarish pair of glass slippers….

Prince Charming – the REAL Costume this time.

He even had the opportunity to escort a real princess to the dance. We were not allowed to call her a princess, she is the “Zombie Prom QUEEN!” But to DC, she was a princess – just don’t tell *Salli. Her costume must and should always be identified properly using the official name. Never a Princess!

A few days later we were going to the Haunted Miniature Golf Course to work at a table to support DC’s summer camp. Wearing a costume was not something I had thought about, believe it or not. When I realized the day before I ventured into my costume closet to see if there was something in there for him to wear at the last minute.

The Costume Closet: Let’s talk about the costume closet. DC and I live in a very small duplex. There is no storage and really nowhere to put anything, but still I have an entire closet devoted to Halloween Costumes (Priorities, people!). This closet is beyond ridiculous. I really can not find anything. I don’t even know everything that is in there at this point, but I was hopeful. The other issue with pulling out an old costume is that many of them will not fit him any longer. DC is a big boy.

I saw something with a black cape. I was able to get at it without the rest of the closet caving in on me. It was a Jack the Ripper costume. The only reason that I can think of for having a Jack the Ripper costume is that I must have thought I could use all or part of it for one of DC’s requests for a costume that did not exist. I don’t recall ever using it though. It had a black vest, a black cape and a top hat. It was trimmed in red. I showed it to him and asked if he would like to wear it to the golf course. I got an emphatic “Yes”. The boy just loves a cape. We tried it on. I was worried about the vest but it fit – PHEW. He went to look at himself in the mirror.

I asked: “DC who are you?”

“Captain Von Trapp”

????!!!!?????

I have no idea why he thought he looked like Captain Von Trapp unless there is some obscure scene in the Sound of Music where either Christopher Plummer or Stephen Moyer is wearing a cape. If DC thinks so, then there probably is.

Only because I was still a bit confused about the Captain Von Trapp thing, I asked him again who he thought he looked like. This time the answer was “Doc Terminus” (Jim Dale from Pete’s Dragon for those of you that have not seen every Disney movie ever made). That actually made perfect sense. He did look like him, more than he looked like Captain Von Trapp, anyway.

Of course we did have a mustache on hand to complete the look.

We were scheduled to man the table a second day and fortunately I did not have to venture into the dreaded closet again. I remembered his Grease garb from a Grease Sing-A-Long that we attended a few years ago that was hanging in his own closet – SCORE! It had a jacket which was perfect as it can get mighty cold out there and there is nothing worse than having to wear a coat or jacket over one’s Halloween costume.

Nothing… Seriously… Look it up..it is just not done!

The second best part was that it was easy and recognizable……

except that everyone called him “Elvis” – everyone.

His camp party came just two days after the golf course. His choice……. “Hook” but not the Disney Captain Hook (yay!)- Captain Hook from the television show “Once Upon a Time” (yay, again). I was happy with this choice. It is a popular character on a current TV show. Other than the Big Bang Theory last year, he really never chooses or has any interest in anything current, so usually No One Knows What He Is Supposed To Be.

He even ran into another pirate at the party.

Fortunately no swords were drawn – it was all very amicable.

Moving on to my very favorite costume of the season! This one for the Best Buddies Halloween party.

Dr. Who – the 10th Dr.! (DC’s favorite DR (mine as well) and the greatest challenge of the season – David Tennant’s hair.

Two ruined wigs
DC loosing his stuff over the hair clippings – everywhere.
DC loosing his stuff over the hair glue (extra strength mouse, but I really think it IS glue) everywhere.

I finally had to give it up or the costume that he was so excited about would turn into something he did not want to wear or hear about – ever again. I think we still made the point even with the rather ridiculous hairdo.

One could truly say the was “The Madman with a box.”

DC and his Best Buddy

Traveling in his “Big” (very, very big) Blue Box through space and time to somewhere in New England – coordinates set for October 31, 2015 and regeneration complete…….

comes…….The 11th Doctor.

Although David Tennant, the 10th Dr. is DC’s favorite – He would not pass up the opportunity to wear a FEZ.

But seriously……Who could??

“Fezzes are cool”

Happy Halloween!

Good thing I did not return that “Jim Dear” hat…

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

The second in my Halloween 2015 re-run posts. We know that he had asked to be “Jim Dear” from Lady and the Tramp for years and this was the year I found all of those wonderful steam punk suits that would do very well as a Jim Dear costume and I already had the hat. I was excited thinking about how excited he would be and…… he said no!

This follow-up post was all about the way he decided, on his own to make use of the hat.

“No Jim Dear”…. (shhhh… it just may be)

In an earlier post I wrote about the “Jim Dear” derby hat and how after many years of asking to be “Jim Dear” for Halloween, he decided against it – after I had purchased the hat and picked out a few steampunk suit options to surprise him.

Last night we attended the 50th Anniversary Gala for the summer camp that DC attends. DC loves to wear a suit so he was all for it.
After running up the stairs a good 3 to 4 times to “look in the mirror” and admire his handsome self – he came down wearing the “Jim Dear” Hat!

hmmmm…

He ran back up to look in the mirror a few more times and returned with a moustache request. Much like his beloved Band-Aids, stick-on moustaches are another staple in our household.

I tried to talk him out of it but he insisted.

hmmmmm..

All-righty then, the moustache, it is! I was hoping that he would decide to take it off before we arrived at the party.

He did not.

He wore it a good long time. He received many compliments on his moustache and was very happy with the attention. When we were still at home, he would not tell me who he was supposed to be but as soon as someone at the party asked him if his name was Charlie (Chaplin); he promptly corrected them “No, Jim Dear!”

with Grandma

He did eventually take it off when it started to get itchy more than halfway through the event.

It is October.

He wore the hat.

He added the moustache.

Jim Dear?……………..Yes, this year.

I guess it just had to be his idea.

Good enough for me.

I will take it!

Jump Magic, Jump!

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

I have tried for many years to get DC to watch the movie Labyrinth. I always loved it and I just thought that he would too.

Of course he would! How could he not just love it as much as I do?

He didn’t…..

Not one bit….

This has worked a few times over the years… Shrek, not being Disney, was one that he absolutely refused to watch but now he has every sequel and every book – he chose Shrek as his costume a few years ago as well. It works sometimes, but it just was not working with Labyrinth.

He was never a big fan of the the Muppets until the movie with Amy Adams and Jason Sigel came along, but when David Bowie passed away, I decided I would give it one more try.

He watched it – the whole thing. He didn’t fall asleep – his usual escape when I try to get him to watch something that I like – he watched and seemed interested.

I did not realize right away how much he liked it until days later when he was on his iPad trying to search for “Lay-miff”. I had no idea what he was looking/asking for – usually I can get him to spell or sign what I don’t understand but he wouldn’t spell it for me and he was getting frustrated that I didn’t know. This usually leads to him giving up and saying “Nothing wrong” and then I never figure out what he was trying to tell me. So I do really try hard to figure it out before he gets to that point.

“Lay-miff”

DC, can you spell it?

“Lay-miff! Baby! It’s not fair!”

(So I should have gotten the “It’s not fair”, but thought he was telling me it wasn’t fair that I couldn’t understand him)

“Sarah! Baby, Lay-miff!”

“MAGIC JUMP!!!!”

Got it! Finally……

He’s seen it many times since and of course found quite a few YouTube clips to watch over and over and over again, boosting someone’s YouTube numbers to viral status I’m sure.

When DC and I picked out his costumes two weeks ago for this, my favorite holiday, I was a little bit disappointed. It was too easy, there were none of the regular “Only in DC’s head” costume choices that..

no one would know who he is and
do not exist, which means that I would have to try to make up and build from whatever I could find.

But as I always say, this is not about me. Not all about me, anyway.

There are the individual costumes for the parties he will attend, but there is also the “annual themed costume” for Halloween night.

His first choice was a pretty funny Tooth Fairy with me as the giant tooth – giant being the operative word as it has been a rough year and a half which led to me gaining a ridiculous amount of weight. Last year he was The Doctor and I was a giant TARDIS. The year before we were Lizard/Spock, as in “Rock, Paper, Scissors” (no, nobody got it, but I cracked myself up as giant Spock). I never thought there would come a time when I would long for the days when I was only “Slightly large – Inigo Montoya” to his Fezzik or “Not so large – Dr. Horrible” to his Captain Hammer.

Memories…sigh…..

The tooth fairy idea came of course from the movie Tooth Fairy with The Rock as the tooth fairy. Right before we placed the order, he changed his mind and decided that he wanted to be Santa. This of course meant that I would be the giant elf. I liked the tooth fairy/tooth idea more, but Santa was his final decision so that was that.

Last week while making a scheduled and promised visit to the book store, I noticed a Spirit Halloween store had opened up right next door. Our costumes had already been ordered and delivered, but we went in – because, well…. I had to. It was there.

As we were walking around looking at all of the costumes and decorations, we happened upon a costume that made both of us gasp at the same time – The Goblin King from Labyrinth! Why hadn’t I thought of that before? There was almost no discussion – he wanted it! There was only one and it just barely fit him, but I think I can do something to loosen it up a bit.

This of course means I will have to be the giant baby, Toby – so there will ultimately be a little bit (very little – it should be an easy one) of building a costume that does not exist and that is fine. I am just happy that I am no longer required to be the giant elf.

No worries, though. I am sure neither Santa or Giant Elf will go to waste…

(Coincidentally, I picked this up for DC the day before the costume store visit at a Comic-Con I attended with my brother and at the time, the costume idea, just never entered my mind)