Thursday, November 1, 2007

A Kitty and A Combine

For Halloween this year, my kids got to pick their own costumes. Yes, last year I was one of those neurotic moms where they had to match, and I must say they were very adorable at Elastigirl and Dash from The Incredibles. This year however, I overcame my neurosis and let them decide what they wanted to be. The only mistake I made was telling them they could be whatever they wanted.

Ashlyn was easy. She picked a cat. So, one black leotard (which she already had for dance), some black pants (which were hand-me-downs from someone anyway), some makeup, ears and a tail - and we were all set. But, please note the bling on this kitty. A regular collar wouldn't do. It had to have jewelry! And she came up with it all on her own after sneaking into my jewelry box. I must say she is definitely related to her Aunt Pam!

Carter, on the other hand, decided early on that he wanted to be a combine. I'm not sure how this happened exactly, except I casually asked him one day if he wanted to be a tractor. (By the way - his initial idea for a halloween costume was a bunny. Ummm, a boy? As a bunny? On Halloween? I could just feel the decades of ridicule that would follow him). BUT, the offer of tractor was only made after careful research on the internet for pictures of other tractor costumes that I was sure I could copy - and copy well!

Anyway, as harvest progressed, so did Carter's ideas for his costume. First it went to a tractor with a wagon. There was no way this was even physically possible unless Ashlyn agreed to be the wagon. Nope - a kitty. So, then Carter got in his mind that he wanted to be a combine. Imagine me when I heard this. There are NO PICTURES - ANYWHERE - online of any other kid in a combine costume.

But after some careful examination of those tractor costumes and spending some time at the farm and driving down the road STARING at combines, I thought I could handle it. Until Carter told me that he wanted to be a RED combine. In Britney's family, that's equal to heresy. Luckily, Ashlyn saved us from being excommunicated by telling Carter that Uncle Jerry wouldn't give him any candy if he was a RED combine. He HAD to be a GREEN one.

So, I finished his costume on Monday and you can only imagine the fight I had on my hands the next two days trying to keep it somewhat together. I must have reattached the corn heads a thousand times - so many times that when it was finally time to leave to go trick or treating, he went with one missing, because I just couldn't do it again.

The night was pretty chilly, but we only went trick or treating on our street. That didn't take too long, but the kids were satisfied with their candy and pretty tuckered out.

I just want to end this post by saying that I am the world's coolest mom for coming up with the combine costume. All of the boys who saw Carter last night went nuts over his costume and I even had one lady stop us at the Fall Festival at Ashlyn's school to take a picture so she could show her husband! I ROCK!

By the way - you can check out all of our pictures from the Fall Festival and Halloween here. I'm not sure why there are NONE of Ashlyn at HER fall festival. I think Britney was too enthralled with Carter's costume...

11 comments:

Deanna said...

Those are awesome! You DO rock! I'm also impressed that you know what a corn head is...ha ha.

Judy & Marvin said...

A Kitty and a Combine--how truly PERFECT!! I loved every photo, laughed all the way through. Thanks for the precious photos. If I can't be there in person to see them that was the next best thing. You did an awesome job and I am very proud of you. Of course, I'm not surprised at the results because you are a very talented gal when it comes to being "creative". Tell the kids Nana and Pop thought they looked amazing.
Love & kisses to all,
Mom

Unknown said...

I finally got to see the Combine!!!! I wondered how you were going to pull that off but you did it with flying colors....and looks like you maybe even enjoyed it.:) Anyway, Ashlyn was a great kitty too. Very impressed! Glad they had a good time.

Love,
Autn Alea

Anonymous said...

Absolutely precious--both of them! I showed everybody in the office--the slow-moving vehicle sign cracked everybody up. What fun and what a great job you did1
Love, Mom

Anonymous said...

Hi from Pennsylvania
My husband and I were having a discussion with my 2 1/2 year old son and what he wants to be for Halloween next year and he said a combine. So, I googled combine costume and found your blog. Thanks for the pictures. I know he will change his mind 5,000 times before next Halloween, but it was nice to see that another child was thinking just like mine!
I had to think about creating a deer costume this year (pretty easy). I can only imagine what next year has in store.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to add great pictures

Lisa said...

Scott was VERY impressed w/ the combine! Way to go Lara. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Lara,
I've enjoyed keeping up with y'all through your blog, even though i don't always have time to leave a comment. The kids' costumes look great! And I am so impressed that you cook them pancakes from scratch almost every morning!! Wow!

Lori said...

Those costumes and pictures are awesome. I always knew you were the coolest mom, but I thought it was because you had the coolest kids and friends!

Melena said...

Those are the cutest costume ever! Two of the cutest kids in them also:) We loved seeing the pictures. Tell Ashlyn that the "bling" made the costume!

Anonymous said...

Ok, so yeah. You do rock a little. You get to toot your horn just a tad bit. = )
The pictures of Carter remind me of me when I was a fridge. A big box and I clumsily carried it everywhere, with my handle constantly falling off when people pulled on it to put the candy in the fridge. = )
So it looks like things are getting chilly up there, eh?