As Promised...

It's already the middle of November, and two weeks since Halloween?? What happened to the time?

Halloween was rather anticlimactic for us. We had, as you may or may not recall, been planning to take the kids out in the late afternoon to go trick-or-treating, before it got too dark and cold. As it turns out, the kids slept like logs from about 4pm to about 9pm. That obviously put a wrench in a bunch of things... like an early, insulin-induced bedtime. Nevertheless, since the kids had costumes, and our neighbors conveniently were hosting a Halloween costume party, we decided to get them dressed up. Oliver was a charm, as always, and wooed the crowd with his smile and clumsy antics. And Lena was in a haze of noncooperation, and toddler obstinacy, and resolutely rejected the notion of having her photo taken, or of even being remotely pleasant. As always.

So here are Cookie-Beard the One-Legged Pirate, and The Monkey Princess.

The Monkey Princess and the hostess.

Twirling with the royal tutu.

Cookie- Beard (and his beard), with his sword (a.k.a. a plastic knife, less likely to impale you even than, say, a bouncy ball)...


... And who hated his hat. (And who also has dried cupcake frosting around his left ear.)

At least I got more pictures than last year (I only took one last year, and that was of Oliver sleeping in his cow costume... I didn't even get one of Lena). Maybe next year I will get with the programme.

Cookie-Beard the Pirate and the Monkey Princess

I have a confession: I hate Halloween. I think it is ridiculous. I don't like dressing up, I don't like orange (it clashes with my complexion), I don't like pumpkin, I don't like blood (real or fake), I don't like scary movies (seriously people, you pay to have nightmares??) and I don't like crappy chocolate and candy. I hate Halloween.

I am very aware that my dislike of Halloween, especially around here, makes me somewhat of a minority, and yet I am unapologetic. I think it is a blatant exploitation of an otherwise obscure day of pagan celebration (and I use the word 'celebration' in the loosest sense) for the profit and gain of candy companies, alcoholic beverage companies, and purveyors of cheap clothing.

There is, however, one good thing about Halloween: Lena is currently fascinated with dress-up and pretend play, and, with cheap costumes abounding, I am able to flesh out her dress-up box, without having to make things myself or spend a lot of money. That is win-win in my book.


This is Oliver a few days ago. Yes, he is wearing a mostly white shirt, and yes he is eating Oreo cookies. His masterful skills in body art earned him the name of 'Cookie-Beard the Pirate'.

Here is Cookie-Beard minus the cookie-beard.


He even learnt what pirates say (argggggggggghh!), which is heart-melting-ly cute.

As most of you know, Lena has been rather attached to Mr. Monkey (well, all three of them, actually), so we decided it was high time that she joined the ranks and became a mischievous monkey herself.


She even has her own Monkey Dance.

Lena was rather keen on the idea initially, but decided that she actually wanted to be a princess, and promptly informed everyone, including our dentist, of that fact. However, we reached a compromise... There was a Halloween party at Evan's work this morning, and Lena went in her monkey costume with a tutu over the top. She was the Monkey Princess. Oliver's outfit was completed with an eyeliner French moustache and beard (think Dustin Hoffman in Hook), and by a stroke of luck, he lost his shoe at the party and wandered around thudding with alternating steps... Cookie-Beard the Pirate earned himself the name Cookie-Beard the One-Legged Pirate.

More pictures to come after the obligatory round of trick-or-treating tomorrow.