The racoon hat I offered my son was the one I wore daily

for an entire month

 while cleaning 

 24/7 

 the disgusting mess

our little boarders

a family of raccoons
left behind
after they were evicted
from the attic apartment they inhabited for 3 months
 in our home

another story

see wacky racoon post

OMG

I remember all the preparations and planning that used to go into the Halloween costume.

Talk about a big deal

One year JR was a teenage mutant ninja turtle.  I couldn't peel that costume off of him.

  He wore it day and night for a month. 

When the big day finally arrived, 

no amount of cajoling could get him to don the costume. 

 He absolutely refused

 for no apparent reason to wear the thing

 Go figure???

When his friends and my neighbors came to the door

to gather us on our annual trek around the neighborhood

another story

He went trick or treading in his winter coat. 

 All the parents must have thought he was such a neglected child

wow,

  Poor little guy,

his mom was too busy to get him a costume!

another time

my daughter Kate was a beautiful princess

we consistently suffered from the beautiful costume dilemma

where I always took on the role of the bad guy

because I made the kids

cover up the beautiful costume

to protect them from the elements

rain

 snow

and sleet

they only wanted to walk with daddy

because they were
so mad at me

for making them wear their coats

they all suffer from selected amnesia

completely forgetting all the trips I made to numerous stores

with all 4 of them in tow

while they tried on a thousand outfits

buying and returning

until they finally settled on the perfect ensemble

Kate tripped and fell in the mud and ruined her beautiful outfit one year

 and it soured her on the entire holiday for awhile

she opted to stay home and hand out candy for a few years

Samantha has a horrible time making up her mind.

One year she actually wore 4 different costumes

remember she had a lot of choices with all the hand me downs

but after many conversations
 ad nauseam,

she wore one to her pre school party

another to a Halloween party

 and

yet another to a birthday party

and still another while trick or treating

When Nicole was in 8th grade she wanted to be a cheerleader. 
The grade school they all attended made a big deal out of halloween. 

 Although the first graders and the 8th graders

were the only ones allowed to wear

  costumes to school 

 Each 1st grader was given an 8th grade

big brother or sister

and they paraded around the school together. 

 Often the kids would co ordinate their outfits having a similar theme. 

 That tradition is often a nightmare for the parents
 ...another story...

 I searched high and low for Nicole's rah rah duds looking for someone who had a daughter who was a cheerleader and I remember when I finally found one that fit her,

I felt like I had won the grand prize on a game show!

see my price is right post

JR's little first grade brother did not quite know what to make of his big brothers get up.

 He was an old lady with a big butt,

 rollers in his hair,

 wore a house dress and rolled up nylons

 and carried an old lady purse. 

 He also had a mud mask on his face. 

 He looked hysterical!

Sam was all set to be Corella Deville in 8th grade

see post of sam picture in corella deville outfit

and at the very last second

decided to put on an old 50's girl poodle skirt that she wore in a dance recital

that outfit had been hanging in the basement forever

the corella outfit that she never wore was new and cost a fortune!

and

Even thought Kate is only a freshman

I can't even remember what she ended up wearing last year when she was in 8th grade