Halloween Flash Forward

So last year, as one might guess, I went insane on costumes. I had to. It was the babies' first Halloween, and I simply couldn't pass up an opportunity to use these new cast members in a little Stout stage production. So, off we went, merrily down the black brick road, into the night, as The Wizard of Oz characters. This year, things were drastically different. Matt was called out of town for two weeks right after we closed on our new home. I was in a car accident and have an injured back which limits what I can get done in a day. We had the whole task of packing and moving out of our rental home, cleaning it, cleaning our new home, and moving into it and unpacking.... busy to the max.

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

So this year, Halloween was more simple.... and even more precious to me. I got Claire's and Sam's costumes at second hand stores, and, keeping things simple, had August, Matt and I all wear (GASP) repeat costumes.

Our family didn't even decorate the outside of the house until October 30. That is a personal record for delayed holiday celebration. But, Claire and I did it, and we did it fast. We had so much fun tangling up in (EW GROSS) spider webs and encasing the front porch with them. She felt so much pride decorating her new house. You could tell how important it was to her that the other kids knew that our family had moved in and would celebrate Halloween with them. 

Sam was a skeleton... comical because he is anything but frail. His little glow in the dark skeleton jammies accentuated his jolly belly and puffy cheeks. He would waddle up to every single house, and the second they opened the door, he crawled right on in like he owned the place. Luckily most people thought it was adorable and went and retrieved him for us after he had gone rogue.

I'm not sure if this picture can truly capture the tiny precious trick-or-treater.

August was a witch, and wore Claire's witch costume from her first Halloween, five years ago. It fit her perfectly and it was incredibly sentimental to me to watch her wear that and remember that first holiday with my oldest baby.  She didn't like wearing the hat, but it was tied under her chin so it would fall back behind her head and sit just perfectly at the base of her neck. I purposefully walked behind her, not beside her, as much as the kids would allow, so that I could watch her tiny figure waddle, quickly, to catch up with big sister. She got one bag of candy that was incredibly precious to her (mini Kit Kats), and didn't let go the entire night. I opened the bag later to steal some, and they were a pile of melted chocolate. She would have taken them to bed like a stuffed animal, if allowed.

Claire was originally a cheetah, then a wild cat, then a scaredy cat (all consisting of the same costume: cheetah print from head to toe, ears, a tail and face makeup).  I've never done a full cheetah face before but we got it done and it looked awesome. I did it with waterproof makeup in an effort to prevent smudging or dripping caused by any impending holiday meltdowns. At the end of the night it took my cousin, Wendy, and I, a good 30-40 minutes to take the makeup off. Claire laid on the floor in her robe, so tired from running around in the night with her daddy, going to a real "party" where she saw kids from her new school, and collecting buckets of sugar. As she laid on the floor with her eyes closed, Wendy and I gently tried to get the waterproof makeup off, and Eric (Wendy's husband) suggested vasoline. He just so happened to have some in his car from his car detailing business (helpful hint: it's used on alloy rims to make them shine). He gave us the little jar and we kept working.

This was the most special moment of the holiday for me. Claire dozed in and out of sleep while we gently massaged her skin, removing her feline alter-ego, and I got a chance to stare at her as deeply, curiously and lovingly as I wanted. I watched her little profile and studied her perfect little nose and mouth (it's not often still and silent). Her beautiful eyelashes just melted my heart - my little girl, looking older. I can see the baby in her still, her chubby face, dimpled knuckles, but then I see her in a bathrobe, "removing her face after a big night out," I am abruptly thrown into the future. I picture her taking makeup off after dates, and, hopefully, talking to me about what she did that evening. 

The enhanced decolletage is courtesy of her butterfly pillow. I guess anything goes on Halloween.

After our best efforts to bet the makeup off, Claire wanted to try herself. Wendy turned her phone's camera on so Claire could see her little face in it. She took our washcloths and, with so much delicacy and precision, continued removing her makeup. She was so serious - she may has well have been a seasoned stage performer removing her mask after a performance... or my grandmother, Arline, doing her religious nightly skincare routine that lasted to the end of her life.  I will absolutely never forget this night.