dressing up for Haloween

The dressing up started on Thursday for Etta's class. Then on saturday Etta the ballerina & Matt went to the zoo for the "pumpkin bash" then walked along Greenwood Ave for trick-or-treating with some of the local businesses. Addie could not go since she was recovering from being sick, but Etta collected treats for both of them (we divided the candy during their nap time that day). By then the ballet outfit was dingy and needed to be washed & air-dried.

This afternoon was the co-op fall social, so another opportunity to dress up. Addie wore her princess dress-up dress (that she has owned for about a year now but never worn out of the house to my knowledge) she even wore the fancy "high-heel" shoes and tiara to go with it (that we have owned since Halloween last year). Etta wore a dress that was originally given to Addie by her Uncle Myron when he returned from living in China.

Tomorrow is Halloween itself and I think both girls are going to wear their pink ballerina tutu's in the morning when they are in childcare in the gym. If the weather is decent after dinner, we might have them walk in costumes to a few houses around us so we can re-introduce ourselves.

Then the day after is dress-up day for Addie's class. You can wear a costume or your pj's. Addie says she wants to wear her princess pj's with a small ruffly skirt over top. She also has matching pink princess slippers she might change into once she gets inside.

That will be the end of Halloween I hope! Then Thanksgiving in just a few short weeks and Christmas a month after. Hurray! I love those two holidays! And I am enjoying the slightly windy, yet clear weather we often have. And I am enjoying that coffee shops are starting to carry egg nogg lattes!

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As an aside: those of you who know me may realize that I do not normally embrace the princess-themed apparel. But when it is given to us for free I usually choose to allow it since I know they will be exposed to it at some point any way. They do not know the names of the princesses, they do not know the stories, they do not know the characters from the popular kid movies, they own one Barbie and she just sits up high looking pretty. On the other side of things, I do not intentionally tell them about witches and ghosts and skeletons and "scary" things. When we walk through the neighborhood and they see these things in yards I try to give brief, practical answers while down-playing any scary or gruesome aspects. I know I can not protect and shelter them forever, but I can sure try!