The Queen of Hearts, an Army Man and a Middle Schooler

We sort of have a "love/hate" relationship with Halloween in the Pearl household. We embrace the fun and creativity of getting to dress-up and eat too much candy, but as for the tricky, scary parts, not for us.     The middle school aged thespian in Sweet Pea loves Halloween. This is an opportunity to wear a costume, act a part and wear make-up. Maybe not in that order, as the red lipstick was a huge deal this year. I have the pictures to prove it and yes, bless her, she put it on herself. Don't judge me. I had to pick my battles. After the living heck we went through to find an appropriate costume for a modest, young girl, what is a little red lipstick. If you darkened the door of one of those Halloween stores, you know what I am talking about. I will stay off of my soapbox for now.

This was Sweet Pea and her bestie Abby the weekend before, headed to a party. What is the deal with the lip thing? In case you can't figure it out, they are the MadHatter and the Queen of Hearts.

And below, is Halloween night, Sweet Pea sans crown but with lipstick, with sweet friend Alyssa as a Peppermint (so cute!)

Sport wanted to be an Army Man. He came to this decision Tuesday, the day before Halloween. He really didn't know if he wanted to be anything at all up until that point. He said that Halloween just wasn't his favorite, but his candy addiction won out and a decision was made. I thought we could go to the Army Surplus and do it up. No, Sport always has his own agenda. He wanted a "costume" Army man, as he said that he really isn't in the Army and he wanted the costume, mirrored aviator sunglasses to go with it. (I didn't get a pic of those, but they were the icing on the cake). He took a trash bag with him for his loot.

As for Fisherman, basketball started last week and he had a research paper due and a test the day after Halloween. (Come on teachers, really?). His buddies laid low, so my sweet boy passed out candy or should I say, ate candy from our stash and disappeared to his room to work. Poor guy. 

We had our dear friends, the Postons over for soup and trick-or-treating. We have celebrated Halloween with them for the last five years. It has been tradition. We used to live around the corner from each other, and we have now both moved on. This was our first Halloween in a new neighborhood, but it was fun. Good times!

Hope you all got more treats than tricks! 

Krissy

Let Them Eat Candy

Marie Antoinette - Sweet Pea designed her wig complete with a bird in a nest! She carefully chose the mask and I added the "royal" bling. Those are our family jewels - the real diamel necklace that I wore to my senior prom. Yes. I seriously wore that - proudly. Oh, the eighties!

Please ignore the fact that our backyard has turned into a dust bowl with the hot summer and severe draught we have here!

I hope everyone survived yesterday. We managed to make it through, although poor Fisherman was home with a sore throat and chills. I don't know if it was too many hours in the deer stand this weekend that did it, or if he really caught something. I snuggled in with him, while Mr. Pearl took the youngest two to our old neighborhood for a good old fashioned Halloween evening. I posted on this last year. It is so much fun!

Ninja Sport - this outfit is really all about the weapon. Those plastic swords are my eight year old boy's dream.

This is Fisherman as a sick teenager. It's very authentic, don't ya think?

Fisherman didn't feel too left out, as he made the announcement that he was officially too old to trick or treat anymore. Sweet Pea and Sport, on the other hand, had a marvelous time. Sweet Pea has been planning her Marie Antoinette costume for weeks and after much deliberating, Sport decided on a ninja costume.

Hope your candy hangover isn't too bad!

Krissy

For those that have asked: Fisherman did not kill a deer this weekend, but the boy is determined. I will keep you all posted and let you know when I have some venison to share!

Happy Halloween

I have mentioned that Halloween is not my favorite. I'm not a party pooper, it's just not for me. I do, however, love vintage. So, I thought I would share some photos of some vintage goodies. I am going to eat some candy and drink a cup of coffee. Hey! I said this isn't my favorite day. I never said anything about not using it as an excuse to gorge myself with candy.

Happy day!

Krissy

images via : Country Living

It's Over!

The mini-pearls

I just sent three very tired mini-pearls out the door to school with Mr. Pearl. Aaaahhh! Peace and quiet! Last night we traveled back to our old neighborhood to celebrate Halloween and what we were hoping would be a second win for the Rangers in the world series. Oh well. Trick-or-Treating was fun!

Fisherman decided on his third costume for the week. We purchased a Boss Hogg costume that was shunned for a Fear Factor contestant get-up that he wore to school on Friday. He wore athletic shorts and a t-shirt, a life vest, bike helmet and ski goggles. We then hot-glued gummy worms and spiders on the t-shirt. It was very clever! Last night, he had eaten too many of the worms off the shirt and decided on his old stand-by of head to toe camo and his bird bag strapped to his waist and an arsenal of Nerf guns. He was then "hunter guy". Although, one of our dear friends (thank you Mr.Collins) remarked that he looked an awful lot like Ted Nugent. Yes, yes he did. Rock on!

Sweet Pea dressed as her made-up character, Aunt Jilly Bob. My beautiful, darling girl wore her Goodwill dress, SAS shoes gray wig, cane and stage make-up mole with pride. She had a blast staying in character most of the night. The world is my girl's stage - so watch-out! She decided after round one of trick-or-treating that handing out candy was more fun and she helped the adults man the cooler of candy. It was fun to see all the different costumes!

Sport Cort was a skeleton- sans mask. He is my boy! No mask for that kid. He had a ball with his buddies and even got to make a round with Fisherman and his crew. He was on cloud nine for that one. He embraced every moment and came home with more candy than anyone. He learned that schmoozing the good houses pays off, as he would go back more than once and flirt for more loot!Oh dear!

The neighborhood was once again crowded. Although,not as much as last year. The school night and baseball game must have kept some kiddos (or their parents) in for the night. That's not to say that we didn't go through a giant cooler full of candy by 8:30 pm! Hope your evening was "spooktacular" and now we can peacefully prepare for Thanksgiving. Yeah!

The Gang

Flashback Friday - Mini-pearl Halloween

Here we are - another Friday is upon us! My neighborhood is alive with blow-up pumpkins, ghosts and goblins, fake tombstones and rotting jack-o-lanterns. Yes, Halloween is this weekend (thank the Lord) and after a whirlwind of parties and a sugar-induced coma, I will be able to concentrate on Thanksgiving! (This is one of my favorite days!) The mini-pearls are excited out of their minds! Sport Cort is dressing as a skeleton with a sword (emphasis on the sword). He wanted plastic numchucks but I had to draw the line somewhere. A plastic sword will do. Sweet Pea is going as "Aunt Jilly-Bob". This is a character that she made-up all by herself! She and her friends love to perform "shows" when they get together and this is one of her characters. Aunt Jilly-Bob is an old lady with glasses and a cane. We purchased a gray wig, granny glasses, a cane and a flowery dress and SAS shoes from Goodwill. She can't wait! Oh how I miss the princess and fairy costumes of yesteryear! Fisherman started out wanting to wear a shirt that said "person" on it. Don't you love adolescent humor? He has a big party on Friday and I reminded him that he would regret not having a "real" costume. After a brainstorming session and a lot of rejected ideas, Fisherman decided to go as (wait for it) Boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazzard. This is Fisherman's favorite show. We are modifying a Saturday Night Fever, white three piece suit. The look is hilarious!

This year the mini-pearls really seem grown-up to me. They no longer want any type of Disney character and they have their own ideas and opinions about their costumes. I am the only one that has a hard time with this. It's hard to let go! I may be acting a little dramatic here, as this is coming on the heels of them telling me that they no longer want their picture made with Santa.(a tradition of the last thirteen years!) So, with a smile on my face, I will embrace their ideas and enjoy the weekend, as their excitement is contagious, but I can be sad on the inside if I want to! Here are a few pics of Halloween's past and the mini-pearls when they were mini.

This was after 9/11 - a firefighter and a dalmation

Sweet Pea as a fairy princess

One of my favorites! This was the "Princess and the Pea and a Knight"

This is Sport Cort as a TCU Horned Frog- and yes, that's me. I am not always a party pooper!

The Mini-Pearls in Neverland - Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and Captain Hook

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Krissy

Flashback Friday - Time Warp

In a mere nine days from now, my least favorite day of the year will be upon me. Halloween - ugh! I know, I know, I am a party pooper, but is Halloween really necessary? I am terrified of clowns and Halloween just brings that fear to light. Everyone running around "hiding" their real identity, trying to scare other people and begging for food from door to door. We just moved from a neighborhood that takes Halloween to the EXTREME. People arrive by the van load from other neighborhoods and the sidewalks and streets are jammed with children and adults trying to have fun while navigating the mayhem. The neighbors erect elaborate yard displays and everyone camps-out on their porches to greet the costumed beggars. Mr Pearl and I would take turns taking the mini-pearls trick-or-treating and staying home to hold down the fort and keep our candy from being pillaged. It's absolute chaos. And yes, we are planning to go back to the old hood to celebrate with the old neighbors.

As a child, I really wanted the candy and was willing to endure the torture of going out among the "crazies" in order to acquire my sweet stash. My parents were very diligent to check each morsel for contamination. I was proactive in protecting myself, as well. The word on the street was that the old lady at the top of the hill was really a witch and wanted to kill little children, I always threw her homemade popcorn ball away first thing when I arrived back to the safety of my home.

I did enjoy dressing-up though. (with the exception of the year that my mom made me go as a clown, wearing the costume from my dance recital - isn't that child abuse?) My favorite was the year that my brother and I went as Super Heroes. I was Wonder Woman and he was Superman. Our mom decided to give herself a break that year from sewing us full costumes. She bought us each Underroos with said super character on it, threw together a cape for each of us and "voila!" a costume! Underroos? Does anyone remember those things? They looked like the Super Hero from the front, but the back was white - they were UNDERWEAR! My mom sent us out in our UNDERWEAR! Oh, and usually here in Texas, Halloween is a sweat fest. It is still hot. The year of the underwear costumes, a freak cold-front blew in. Mom's solution: pantyhose under the Underrroos and I wore my knee high boots. Really mom? I wish I could find the picture for evidence. It really happened. Do you understand why I am not so fond of this night?

That's me in the Bugs Bunny mask!

Remember the boxes with the clear "peep" window on them that showed the costume inside?

The child abuse/dance costume clown. I think I was forced to smile.

I LOVED this one! I was a queen! The tiara was REAL! It was my mom's Homecoming Queen crown. The dress was one that I wore in my cousin's wedding as a flower girl. No, I'm not lying.

Does anyone wish the 70's would come back?

Some might argue that this is not a costume...

Hello? Is this thing on?

Me and my brother - a Cabbage Patch Doll and the Lone Ranger.

Mother sewed this year.

Yes, I do "decorate" my home and I made the yearly trek to the costume store with the mini-pearls yesterday. I will participate if they want to. I won't be called a "party pooper" but the first sign of anyone wanting to stay in, I'm there! I will pass-out candy in my comfy clothes and eat the leftovers with Mr. Pearl and watch a Rocky Horror marathon that is sure to be on TV. Now, I am going to step to the left and practice my pelvic thrust!

Happy Weekend!

Krissy aka UNDER Woman