We're winners!

Well, third place winners anyway. It was almost a disaster of an evening, but we pulled it out. We tore the house apart looking for all the red, white, and blue decorations I bought last July when they went on sale. But we never found them. I'm sure they are someplace stupid, like with the Christmas stuff and when we find them, we'll have an awesome 4th of July party next year. Or the year after. Or 10 years from now. I'm not certain when or if we will ever fund them. But as you can see, we still managed to pull off an awesome trunk and lots and lots of people were very impressed by the prickly pear, especially when I told them I made it myself.

You can see it in the background, along with Child 1's guitar (which was a brilliant touch of genius) and our Lone Ranger pumpkin, which I think was especially cute. And then some random cowgirl came and stood in the photo. OK, she's not random and she said I could post her picture because the other one has Child 1 in it and I know Child 1 won't ever let me put that up--ever. Anyway, that sculpture was awesome and I can't believe I actually conceived of the project and figured out how to make it and completed it and it looked so cool! I am an artist! And if you know me well, you are laughing because I am so not an artist and it took me hours and hours to cut out and paint the whole thing (with help from Child 2 and 3 whom I made watch hours of Say Yes to the Dress while painting) and then I stuck it all together (with a lot of help from Child 1) with tiny wooden dowels and it all went together and looked totally awesome and we all wore cowboy hats and boots and denim. And so we won third place!

First place went to the Disco family who were all dressed in very shiny clothing, and second went to the Mario Kart car which was really great, too. It was a fun night and we didn't even panic when playing our loud country music ran out the battery on the minivan and Child 1 had to give us a jump start with the cables I bought last spring because I needed a jump start then, too. I think it might be time for a new battery.

This toddler's costume that her dad made for her is way better than a brownie.

First, it's genius because there is no way you are going to get a toddler to carry a flashlight on Halloween, and this way, she is definitely visible in the dark. And second, she's not a princess and won't cry because you make her put a coat on over her costume so no one will see it. Child 3 is going to be a flapper this year and you can bet I'm making her wear a coat. Sorry Sweetie, it's going to be cold and rainy and I just can't risk you catching a cold. Also, if it's raining, the feather boa stays home.  Wet feathers are just sad and extremely unfashionable. Even on Halloween.