A pirate, wait . . . no . . . a . . .

Here we are at the ward Halloween party/chili cook-off/trunk-or-treat:

Mabel's a little flower, I'm just festive, Henry and Todd are pirates, and Theo--Buzz Lightyear!

Photo taken by my friend, Debora Costa

Just before Halloween we got our flu shots. Henry was telling his nurse that he was going to be a pirate for Halloween and that he had everything for his costume--a hook, a patch, a belt, a bandanna, a pirate hat (homemade out of a newspaper, he colored the whole thing black then made drew a skull and crossbones on card stock, cut them out, and pasted them to the hat), handcuffs, boots, rope, stripped shirt, a vest, and an earring. He was so proud.
The nurse said, Oh yeah? Do you have a parrot?
Henry's face dropped and he looked at me almost desperately.
We had to get a parrot.
Then, a few days later Henry visited his orthodontist. Of course the orthodontist asked Henry what he was going to be for Halloween. Henry said, "A pirate, and my mom's even going to get me a parrot! I have everything to be a pirate."
So then his orthodontist said, Oh yeah? Do you have a peg leg?
Again Henry's face fell and he looked at me almost in panic.
I laughed but thought, What?! How are we supposed to do that?
We decided we couldn't really cut off his leg, although that would have been most realistic, so I colored a piece of cardstock to look like wood and taped it around his leg.
It ended up looking pretty awesome and he was happy with it.

Lesson learned: Don't tell challenging adults the details of your Halloween costume. When did things get so competitive?!
However, after Henry's "storybook parade" at school he decided he wanted to be something else for trick-or-treating--that night.
Stay tuned for that costume.

Theo was content to be Buzz and would walk through doors sideways.

We inherited Mabel's flower costume from our friend, Monica, and she was adorable and warm!

I think this was the warmest weather we've ever had on Halloween here in Illinois. 

It was very enjoyable!

My friend, Kiersten, and I with our matching flowers--Claire and Mabel

On another happy, unrelated note:

The day before our Halloween party we attended a poster session where Todd presented about his project. 

He--and his poster--won 1st prize! 

Go Todd!!