PastorG sent this on Friday...

I suck at Halloween. I always have. It was not a good idea to go to the church "Halloween Festival" dressed as Big Ben (yes, I did.) I was around 8, and I covered a box with butcher paper and drew a clock on it. I promise, although I hope my mother does not have pictures. Then there was the time in Austin, Texas, where Halloween was hot and humid and I wore a Miss Piggy mask and learned that it gets very very very hot when you are wearing plastic on your face and it is 90 degrees out.

So, now that A. is of costume wearing age, I have been somewhat anxious about the whole "Halloween Carnival" experience. So, this is how today went:

Got up, looked at the Bob the Builder costume that we bought at Target (for the hat). It feels like one of those paper gowns they give you at the gynecologists. Decide to put on his own overalls.

It's going to be too warm for A to wear the plaid flannel Bob-lookalike shirt we had planned, so I go with the top from his Bob pajamas and his overalls.

Somewhere along the way this week we have misplaced his "toolbelt" that came with the Target costume. He takes his toothbrush with him to school (I wanted him to take his wrench but couldn't pry the toothbrush out of his hand and he didn't seem interested. Did I tell you he's 19 months old this weekend?)

So, we end up with his Bob pj top, his own overalls, socks and his "boots" and his Bob hat on. He kept pointing to the pictures of Bob on his sleeve and saying "Bob, Bob, Bob."

When we got to school, all the other kids had on store bought costumes (except this one little boy whose mother seems to have forgotten about the Carnival). My kid looked like....well, he looked like his mother tried, but didn't quite make it. Maybe we should have gone with the paper-like outfit?

I hope this doesn't scar him for life...

I feel certain that it won't, PastorG! Certainly I think you made the right decision because a gyno-gown is a gyno-gown whether it has Bob the Builder on it or not.

Also a hat tip to Quotidian Grace, who shares the Houston Chronicle's list of best and worst candy as judged by a local fourth-grade class:

Two Skeleton Thumbs Up
1. M&M's
2. Hershey minis
3. Kit-Kat minis
4. Snickers
5. Nestle Crunch
6. Reese's Cups
7. Skittles
8. Tootsie Rolls
9. Super Bubble Gum
10. Gummy Bears, Worms and Body Parts

BOO-WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
1. Dots
2. Raisins
3. Granola Bars
4. Atkinson's Peanut Butter Bars
5. Peanut Kisses
6. Bit-o-Honey
7. Twizzlers
8. Goldfish Crackers
9. Bottle Caps
10. Fruit

As I shared in Grace's comments, I may be a lone voice in the wilderness here, but I could live the rest of my life without eating another M&M. Hershey's minis, too--the generic ones. The chocolate is woefully inferior. C'mon, who's with me? crickets chirping, owls hooting

I also want to know what gummy body parts are available. Gummy earlobe? Gummy appendix? Gummy uvula? Are there enough to construct a whole gummy person? Because that would be cool.

Finally, those kids are right on about the Atkinson's Peanut Butter Bars. Peanutty fiberglass.


Happy Halloween everyone!