Rock the Attitude

The Loot:

The Costume:

Damages:
$5.00 for the gothic cheerleader wig
$3.50 for the goth makeup (eyelashes, black nail polish, black lipgloss)
$4.00 skull tee-shirt
Handmade skull earrings and skull necklace, purchased using a gift certificate.
Fishnet tights, should have been returned as they had a hole in them but oops! her mother lost the receipt and then forgot and before she knew it, it was over 90 days.
Total cost was more than the ten dollars I was willing to pay but she rocked the costume.

Verdict:
Best Hallowe'en ever.

Hallowe'en mania

The Hallowe'en party was a day earlier this year as the kids have tomorrow off from school. I did not make monster and ghost cupcakes this year; instead I was asked to bring 2 peeled grapes. I bought a whole box of the best grapes I have ever bought in a rush from Safeway and drove like the wind to school, only to find that they were needed for the parade and not the party. The parade always precedes the party and the kids in one corner of the building stand up and file through each class. As the line ends, the last class that they paraded through joins the line. When the kids reach their own classroom again, they sit down so every class gets to see everyone else in the school.

The fifth graders moved their desks out of the way, made a path using room dividers and darkened the room as they awaited the first of the Hallowe'en ghouls. They scared the daylights out of the kindergartners who exited crying or saying they were not feeling very happy. Needless to say, the fifth graders were mighty thrilled that their ploy worked!

You want to know about the grapes? Well, I was supposed to take a box, too, and the kids who walked in were going to be dared to put their hands into the box. What would they feel? Tch! Not grapes; stay with the theme, please! Eyeballs! It didn't exactly work that way for several reasons: I was late, I had no box and the other kids were too scared already to even want to look at a fifth grader. I messed up but it didn't really matter or at least that is what I am telling myself.

The Hallowe'en punch

Yes, that green hand was rather gross. It was frozen and had gummy worms in it which made it look even worse.

Medha's costume this year was not as innovative as her shower costume was last year. She didn't plan ahead and put together this Funky Cat costume the night before with the accessories we had at home. She forgot to make a tail and I had to quickly cut off the sleeve of one of her black tees, stuff it with paper and take it with me to the party. One of the reasons I was late.


I thought this costume was pretty cool. But everyone else thought it was lame although they were polite enough not to say anything. There were Sumo wrestlers, boys dressed as girls in strappy dresses and high-heeled shoes, Darth Vaders, peanut butter and grape jelly cans - some homemade, others mostly store-bought. That was when she decided that she needed another costume for tomorrow. And, I shouldn't have but I played along.


Beading is what we're busy with right now. She had bought these skull beads a couple of weeks ago but was just so busy that she didn't have a chance to do anything with them. The picture's not that great but if you peer at thenecklace, you might find something interesting going on there. (Note to Pel: unless you want another RMT slammed on you, you might want to let the others take a shot at figuring it out. Cos this one I know you know!) We bought some leftover Hallowe'en stuff at 30% off from Target and the new costume is being put together. Keep your fingers crossed for her (and me) that this one works!

Tomorrow, we meet at a neighbor's for soup, after which the kids hit the streets begging for candy. It's going to be a warm Hallowe'en with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. Yay! We will see costumes this year instead of outerwear!

Shower for Hallowe'en

Make sure you shower before you get into those Hallowe'en costumes. Or be like Medha. Be the Shower!

She couldn't stop laughing and so the picture is blurry. But we still like it a lot!

Medha borrowed this idea from her National Geographic Kids magazine. We adapted it to make it from materials we had at home.

• A hula hoop
• A shower curtain
• Shower curtain rings
• Clear packing tape and duct tape
• String
• Cardboard tube from a paper towel roll
• A styrofoam cup
• A bow made of clear shiny plastic
• A shower cap
• A shower poof

1. Put the shower curtain rings on the hula hoop and hook the shower curtain on.
2. Tie two pieces of string of adequate length from one side to the other of the hula hoop, so that these can be used to hold the hula hoop on the child's shoulders, one on each side. Use duct tape to hold these in place.
3. Cut the shower curtain to an appropriate length so that the child will not trip and fall while trick-or-treating.
4. Tie the first and last shower curtain rings together with a piece of string so that the shower curtain does not slide all over the place. The shower will be 'open' where the two ends come together and we preferred to keep this towards the back.
5. Cut a notch on one end of the cardboard tube so that the base of the styrofoam cup can rest on it with its mouth at a downward angle. Use packing tape to hold the cup on the tube. Cover the whole contraption with aluminum foil. This is the shower-head.
6. Stick the clear plastic bow on the inside of the cup. This is the water.
7. Cut the cardboard tube at the bottom and hook it securely onto the hula hoop using duct tape. We put this on one side, as you can see. If it looks more like a table-lamp, you really need to fire up that imagination of yours!
8. Put the shower cap on the trickster, hand her the shower-poof, wrap a towel around her shoulders so that the string does not hurt her and send her off!

She was in heaven when I used some of my mousse on her face as foam. But it quickly lost its oomph so I am still looking for an alternative to soapy foam. If you have any ideas, please let me know! Their school parade is sometime in the afternoon, followed by their Hallowe'en party.

Happy Hallowe'en to you all!