Pre-Halloween

About 2 months before Halloween, Mommy asked the girls what they how they wanted to dress up. 

Aleaha wanted to be a robot (Perfect! Daddy, you're on for that one!). 

Miri said she wanted to be Elsa from Frozen.  But the main thing to her about the costume was that it MUST have a "drag back," as she called it. (a train! - although I love her phrase more)

As we looked and looked for dresses, it was becoming clear that Mommy could spend $90 for the one that had a train, or she could make it. Because the ones in the $25-45 range just didn't have that critical feature. So guess what we did? Yeah, Mommy made it - the weekend after returning from Singapore. Because she was a little obsessed with it. (And by "she", I mean Mommy.) 

And while it turned out lovely, it was quite a feat. Altogether -- between the fabric, pattern, notions, and broken back it gave her -- it definitely cost more than if we'd just bought it outright.

But we don't care, because we will always be proud of how it turned out.

Miri models the finished gown.

Complete with Drag Back.

Aleaha received an invitation to a Halloween party the weekend before Halloween. Her costume was still in the works with Daddy, so we opted for another fast option. This is Aleaha in Mommy's 7th grad cheerleading outfit (made with care and affection by GrammaBon and Nana!). Go Pilots!

With Miri staying back while Aleaha was at the party, we decided to make a ghastly dinner that night....Halloween Spaghetti with Blood Sauce and Little Brains
(meatballs). It was gruesome looking, but once you got past that, it was tasty.

We had decided weeks in advance that we would be hosting a Halloween party at our house on the 31st, so there was a LOT of work to do. And most of it could not be done far in advance....else pumpkins would rot, food would not be fresh, and decorations would be ruined. So we paced things out and did as much as we could in the week leading up to the date.

If you notice above, JuicyBear was very engaged in the process.

Funny PumpkinBoy