Transformed

In the weeks leading up to Hallowe'en, Millie and Annika frequently discussed what costumes they would wear. Millie remained nearly consistent with her choice of Snow White (no surprise here) or, in moments of weak indecision, perhaps a ballerina. I've mended her Snow White costume literally dozens of times over the past two years, so I mended it again in preparation, thinking that she would most likely choose it. Annika, on the other hand, waffled among a Beauty and the Beast (her name for her Belle costume), a ballerina, a lion, a tree monster, a tree fairy, etc., etc., etc. On Hallowe'en Day, Annika decided upon a lion (for which we had no costume) and Millie, following suit, decided to be a swan (for which we also had no costume). I easily convinced Millie to settle for a butterfly and Annika to settle for a bear, and spent the next two hours slapping makeshift costumes together, re-covering wings, stitching a felt belly and bear/mouse ears, and making antennae. A few minutes before we left, I was sewing the straps on Annie's costume, so you can imagine the quality of my sewing. Actually, please don't.

Those of you who've seen our glorious costume selection can laugh as hard as you'd like. Grandma Owen has provided the girls a dream dressup wardrobe, and on the dress-up night of the year, they wore these. Ah, well. We had a blast, and I can't imagine they'd have had any more fun in anything else.

Even though you've all guessed by now what Susannah became for Hallowe'en, here's a picture of her running away from the camera.




Chubby Little Bear. (Her belly's stuffed with loose cotton batting-- so much for tidy costumes!)



Solemn Butterfly. The fun part is that Millie channeled her high excitement into constant flittering and fluttering when we hit the streets and sang flitting, fluttering songs while her arms moved through the air.