Happy (belated) Halloween, Everybody!
Say hello to Liechtenstein and Finn!
sources: http://hetalia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Traditional_Liechtenstein.PNG and
http://adventuretime.wikia.com/wiki/File:Finn.PNG
Whew! J-Girl and I really put our sewing machine to task this Halloween! J-Girl made her skirt and sash from scratch, altered a black blouse from Goodwill into a corseted vest, and fabricated a black stand-up collar out of the vest scraps. J-Boy's Finn hat and backpack were experiments all the way, sculpting, pinning, cutting, sewing, fitting (seam ripping, repinning, refitting, sewing wrong sides out, seam ripping....I think that backpack was put together and taken apart every step of the way!) But the results made for a happy kid!
Whoa, J! Watch out for that Aperture Laboratories Test Subject! He's aiming a portal gun straight at your head! I always thought it would be cool to get inside that mind of yours, but, hey, I didn't mean it literally!
ALTS, aka "Death", aka "Dr. Jekyll", is looking quite official in his Lab gear and identification badge!
ALTS was hanging out with J-Boy a few weeks ago and had this great idea that they could make portal guns with Big Daddy's help. BD was game and took the boys to the hardware store to research and commandeer some materials.
So creative! I love that he bought a couple of small, white trashcans
(see in the background, there?) to cut out the molded, curved plates he needed.
J-Boy's peers and younger recognized his character right off,
but ALTS got "the nod" from all the older teens and twenty-somethings. :)
With their backpack candy collectors, the boys quickly developed a system to deposit the treats. At first they struggled with their own bags, then taking each other's candy and putting it into the rightful bag, and finally, just putting the candy they got into the other guy's bag. The coolest part of this system is that they got to know what each other liked, candy-wise, and started picking the other guy's favorites to put into his bag for him.
J-Girl has been a big fan of the anime Hetalia for a couple of years now. She has made various cosplays (a fan contraction of "costume role play", I think. And I think calling the anime fans' dress up clothes "costumes" is like calling an "action figure" a "doll". Ah, but I digress...) Last year she was the character "Taiwan" and her friend Ray-Ray was "Hungary". They went to the Anime Expo in LA this summer as "Liechtenstein" and "England", and this Halloween they dressed as alternative renditions of those same characters.
She magically whipped up Ray's blue cape and vest after school on the 31st, and Big Daddy got to work on that little blue top hat. Bless her heart, she was working all the way up till it was time to head out trick-or-treating.
I took the opportunity to snap some shots of Neighbor B. and her buddy.
The girls headed out solo for the second year in a row. I guess it's a rite of passage of sorts. We left with the boys before they headed out, and they were gone when we got back. So responsible, though. J-Girl made a note and set out our candy for the trick-or-treaters to take.
We brought the bowl in when we got home, and leave it to J-Boy to notice
that "one piece of candy is being contradictory to the sign."
Let it be known that Big Daddy and I NEVER dress up for Halloween. I don't think it is necessarily burn out from all the themed college parties we attended way back when, so much as we've made the holiday all about the kids. But this year, perhaps because our kids are now in junior high and high school, or because there was an expectation that Big Daddy costume up for work at the freelance gig he's got right now, but he got into the spirit and put together an awesome boxer costume for himself. The piece de resistance was the championship title belt he crafted from cardboard and high resolution internet photos and had slung over his shoulder.
Even cuter, however, is the fact that he's since hung it on the wall in our room.
Unless Clive Owen comes a-knockin', Big Daddy will forever be my undisputed champ. ;)
The belt hangs proudly next to the cowboy mask that J-Boy gave him for Fathers' Day this year. Wait a minute....is this actually Big Daddy's "vision board"???? Well, I made one in 2010 with a new refrigerator and a tortoise on it. If I'm still waiting on those, then it may be a while before these goals manifest for the man!
Finally, because we had been invited to a Halloween party, I had to come up with a costume, too. Goodwill glasses and dress, a borrowed wig from J-Girl, and I am ready to go-go!
We sure had a good time! The best was running into someone I met at the party a couple days later and them not recognizing me because then I was a blonde! Ha-ha! I don't know that blondes have more fun, but I could see having some fun in a disguise! Hey, J-Girl, I'm gonna keep that wig for a little longer, 'kay? Yes, a happy Halloween, indeed!
