Saturday #43--Obligatory Costume Post, With a Surprise Ending

I know you've already met Alice.

She wasn't that into trick-or-treating. After three houses, she was ready to call it quits. Dad forced her around the block, then she was happy to stay home, sit on the front porch, and hand out candy to the kids.

Can you guess who this handsome elf warrior is? No. He's NOT Peter Pan. See his attached shadow?

Hyrum knew from the second we started discussing costumes that he wanted to be Link from the video game "Zelda." His shield may not have been the same and he may not have had the flowing blond locks, but the rest of the costume was perfect.

He initially balked at wearing long johns under the tunic until he saw how they looked exactly like Link's, and then he was hooked.

Micah was the hardest to costume this year. He wanted to be someone that meant something to him, but he's been Harry Potter before, and he didn't think he could really dress up like Percy Jackson. After much talking and Internet surfing, we decided on this. Know who he is?

He is the Titan Atlas, balancing the world on his back (with the aid of a few strips of velcro).

I loved this costume. I loved Micah's originality in thinking, and he loved seeing who actually knew he was Atlas. He was surprised how few people actually knew. (Frankly, so was I. I made the mistake of calling him a Greek God. Duh, Mom. He's a Titan. Oops--did I ever feel stupid.)

All three of my monkeys, ready to take on the neighborhood.

The boys have lots of friend that live right around us, and their posse roamed and knocked and gathered candy for a few hours. Around 8 pm, they wandered home, bartered for their favorites, then hit the pillows without a sound.  That is the measure of a good Halloween night in my book.

No pictures of Lily, but she and her friends decided they needed to host a big party for all of their friends. Eight pizzas, liters of soda, 6 bags of chips, three dozen doughnuts, a cooler full of ice and a scary movie (Sixth Sense). Over 20 kids crashed at our house, and she deemed it a success. Personally, I couldn't stay in the room while the movie was playing, but Dad was around to make sure they all behaved.

And since this is Saturday, my post wouldn't be complete without a photo of me, right? Well, I surprised everyone in my family with a rented costume of my own this year. Can you guess who I was?

When I stood next to Alice, it was a little easier to guess that I was the Queen of Hearts from Wonderland. I was brave and wore the costume to help in kindergarten (because if you can't wear a cool costume to kindergarten, where can you wear it?), and I wish I had a picture of the kids' faces when I walked in. There were heroes and princesses and one pink bunny, and they all couldn't believe I was dressed up like a queen! They asked me who I was, and before I could answer, one little boy (who will now and forevermore remain my favorite) said, "I know! You're the queen of beauty!" Ah, the innocence of kindergarten.

The costume was really quite cool. I've always had a thing for noisy, shiny taffeta, and this skirt was both noisy and shiny. I'd never worn a corset before in my life, and one of my funniest memories from this Halloween will be me kneeling on the floor in my bedroom, directing Hyrum how to lace the back of the corset. It was hilarious. And it was hard to breathe--never really believed it, but it's true. Eve was quite concerned when I told her I couldn't breathe, and she kindly asked me about it repeatedly, making sure I was ok. Hello. Beauty pinches sometimes, especially if you're the queen.

This isn't the best picture, but doesn't the dress look amazing? It was fun, more fun than I thought it would be.

Plus, Alice thought it was great that we went together.

I don't think she understands what the Queen of Hearts was like in Wonderland . . . Don't tell her.