Trick-or-Treaters!

Well, as last night was Halloween, I feel I should post the poctures I took of my three trick-or-treaters. Well, not my trick-or-treaters, exactly! Two were mine, and then there is my brother Jarreth!! Here they all are together: Jarreth, Phelan, and Helena. (Hard to believe that Jarreth is only 2 1/2 years only than Phelan, no? He's so TALL!)

Here is a solo picture of Phelan. Doesn't he look cute? He decided several weeks ago that he would like to try to be a hobbit, so that's a jacket of mine, a shirt of Anton's, and some pants I whipped up in the afternoon on a pajama pants pattern out of some corduroy I bought last year and never used. It had paisleys on it, so I used it wrong-side out! You'll have to refer to the picture above for the final detail, since this picture cuts off his feet!! I bought the hairiest-looking yarn I could find and my sister Megan tied it onto and through the holes of his bright orange Crocs! (One person said he looked like the guy who they paid the mortgage to every month!) :P
Here is Jarreth dressed not as a samuri, but as a Poobah--from the Grand High Holy Order of Poobahs--from Fraggle Rock. I would have posted a picture for comparison, but can you believe there were none? So we will have to rely on your knowledge of Fraggle Rock. His cape is open, but I pinned ribbons to his shoulders so they could spiral down. The mask would be more effective on a fraggle-shaped nose! I understand that the costume attracted a lot of notice, though perhaps a bit of confusion as well. (The more creative costumes usually do!)
Next is Princess Helena of the Castillian court! Anton & I just fell in love with this little costume last year at Target. We figured it could fill double duty--Halloween and Renaissance Festival! Unfortunately, we haven't made it to the Renn Fest with her--or at all in a few years. But she is a very sweet little Halloween princess, no? She was very proud of the dress. She was also very proud of the tights!! When I came over to adjust them (to pull them up a bit), she thought for sure I was going to take them off, and became very upset! She calmed down when she realized what I was doing. She was fascinated by the details on the dress. Unfortunately, a pearl lost its hot glue and came off the front at the last minute, but I got this picture first. I called her "Princess Pacifier" because she wouldn't take the thing out for the picture!!
Trick-or-treating around here is very slim compared to what we were used to in New Orleans. May neighborhoods don't participate at all, and the apartment complexes certainly don't. I wish they did. . . It would have been neat to send the kids down the length of the complex & back. Also, the whole trick-or-treating "thing" is wrapped up by 8 P.M. That's certainly not what we're used to!! The sororities have trick-or-treating with special activities for the kids, which is what we usually do, but it gets kind of crazy because that's where ALL of the kids go!! Also, as more kids have come over the years, there has been less candy to be had. The on-campus dorms also have trick-or-treating. This year, they went to a rather affluent neighborhood where my sister is staying with a friend's family. Some parents were out on the porch, I heard, with goblets of red wine--How pretentious!--while the neighborhood kids knocked everyone else out of the way (toddlers included) in their quest for candy. *sigh*

Overall, it went well, or so I heard. Helena figured out after a few houses what the people were putting in her bucket, and she was very, very sweet. She would wave & say "bye"; I understand that she even hugged one woman (ack!!), and ran into the house of a grandparently couple (ack!!). Towards the end, the bucket got heavy for her, so she would put it on the ground and point and talk. She was, surprisingly, the youngest trick-or-treater out. Although I must say, if she had been my only one, I would have been hesitant to take her out also (sheer laziness). For Phelan's first 2 Halloweens, we were in New Orleans and we had a larger group of trick-or-treaters! Also, walking for candy still seemed O.K. to Anton & I (we're less fun these days). And the complications of figuring out Halloween in a new place put a damper on things over the years--not having a real "neighborhood." But this year was good. Megan went along with Anton, Helena, and the boys. I couldn't fit in the car, so I stayed home & made mashed potatoes and read Harry Potter. (hah!)

Here is a last picture of Helena without the pacifier, but with mini M&Ms! She looks very serious. And, of course, yours truly! Phelan took the picture--nice job, don't you think?