Halloween

First off, you must know that our family is completely obsessed with the show "Phineas and Ferb". Even Mom and Dad have been known to sit down and watch it, or at the very least snicker at a joke as we walk through the room. And since it's about two brothers who make huge contraptions in their backyard and their big sister who is always trying to bust them for their genius schemes, plus the family pet who happens to also be a secret agent trying to bust the bad guys- well, how could we NOT be them for Halloween?
But alas, the kids told us that Richard had to be the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, instead of the Dad in the show.
So now that you have the backstory - here we are! Isaiah as Phineas, Asher as Ferb, Naomi as Candace, Sammy as Perry the Platypus, me as the Mom, and Richard as Dr. Doofenshmirtz:
These heads were not easy to make! Asher's Ferb-head is a fruit snacks box, spray painted. With green yarn hair, styrofoam ball eyes, and folded paper nose. It stayed on thanks to a ski hat that is stapled to the inside. Isaiah's Phineas-head is a file folder (already the right color!) carefully folded and cut kind of like a party hat. It stayed on thanks to a length of elastic under his chin - just like a party hat.
Asher really, really loved his costume this year. And that is a BIG triumph!
Naomi's Candace costume was pretty simple. I made the white skirt, with belt loops for her red belt, bought the red shirt and red socks, and we sprayed her hair with two bottles of temporary orange coloring (it was easier to wash out than I expected it to be).
Dr. Doofenshmirtz was a cinch since it's really just a black tee with a lab coat over. We added the "Hi my name is..." tag just for people who hadn't seen the show. And my "Mom" costume was easy too. I did ruin the white shirt I wore with the orange hair coloring, but that's OK.
And I'll tell you more about Perry the Platypus in a minute.
Here's everybody (except me who was taking the picture) up on the stage at church during the Halloween parade. We got a lot of compliments on our clever costumes from fans of the show. And we got a lot of questions about who the heck we were from people who aren't.
All those pictures above were from our Friday night church Trunk or Treat. Here's some more Halloween activities from this year:
Isaiah marched in the Preschool Halloween parade. He wanted to wear last years dalmation costume, so out it came - which was fine since his Phineas costume doesn't make as much of a splash without the rest of us.
We carved pumpkins on Saturday. Here are the boys posing with theirs. And, yes, that's a "HTML 5" carving on the back pumpkin. Can you guess who carved that one?
We had a really great Halloween. I didn't take a single picture on the actual Halloween. Richard was out of town by then and I was way more focused on trick or treating than on cutesy pictures. But we had a great time! Naomi and Asher really got into the going door to door this year for the first time. They ran! Isaiah got pretty tired and started asking at every door, "Is this OUR house yet?" And Sammy politely sat in the stroller. There was a real sense of community in the air as we walked past our neighbors and the kids shouted greetings to their school friends. It was lovely.
Now, on to more Perry the Platypus. Because he's cute enough to warrant more attention!
Look! There's a platypus in our yard! They're the only Mammals who lay eggs, you know.
I think the tail was super cute. It's just a sheet of foam cut to the right shape, lines drawn on with Sharpie, and safety pinned to his shirt.
His costume is just little blue tights, a blue shirt (I really tried to find a body suit in the right color but never could), the tail and the hat.
The hat was made by Chris from Chris's Creations on Etsy. She made it to just my size specs and she did it fast! I just love it! I see no reason why Sammy shouldn't wear this hat all winter long.
Isn't he such a cute little platypus? They don't do much you know.