A Creative Halloween

For this Halloween, we got a little creative with Charlotte's costume. We knew it had to be good for her first trick or treating experience and we knew it had to incorporate her walker. We put our heads together and came up with a great idea...

Charlotte took part in the creation process... here she is painting her custom to fit her walker, dog house.

All Done!

The whole thing, layed out on the dining room table.

Next, our creative vibes were still flowing when we carved the pumpkin on Halloween. Let's just say, we had great inspiration.

Our flying pig design. As we first studied the design, it seemed next to impossible, but we began planning to make our pumpkin carving experience perfection.

Charlotte bravely scooped out a few guts.

Chris got to work on transferring and cutting out the design. He let me do a little, but this was definitely his "baby".

And then.... Voila!!! The pumpkin is finished, the flying pig now a reality.

It looked GREAT! I loved the way he carved out the wings and how he captured all of the detail from the original picture. Marvelous, and so special.

Later that evening, after dinner, it was time to don her costume. She was a "Pink Poodle" named "Fifi", equipped with her very own dog house/walker for trick or treating. The pink dog costume, we found at the second hand store, and I hand sewed the pink loofa's for the perfect poodle effect. We made her a tail out of a sock and stuffed it with loofa's too, and I also used ribbon to make a collar and a bow over her tail. Chris made her dog tag out of carboard and foil. She was all set for the night.

Fifi trying out her dog house.

Great pose!

Great Aunt Kelly came over for dinner, to see Charlotte in her costume and to bring her a Halloween treat. Thank you Aunt Kelly!

I didn't dress up for the evening but thought it might be fun to play around with some face paint. This is also Chris' creation as this would have been next to impossible to do myself. I had no idea he was so great at applying makeup.

Sara, Nathan and Ian also came over for dinner so we could see Ian's costume. He was the cutest little Dragon, toddling around, that I've ever seen. He and Charlotte are nearly the same size now.

Aunt Sara and Charlotte

Charlotte was being goofy and was soooo excited to have her costume on and to go trick or treating. We headed over to Pat & Kristy's.

They had the bonfire out to warm up beside and we set off down the street for some serious trick or treating. However, it was a lot harder than I had bargained for. The whole way was down hill, good for Charlotte so she doesn't get too tired, but she is such a speed deamon!! Fast wasn't fast enough, and with all of the uneven driveways and bumpy roads, it was totally a 2 person job. One of us monitored the oncoming trick or treaters while the other slowed Charlotte down and kept her from totally wiping out. Then, when we finally reached our destination, maneuvering up the sidewalk and to the door became impossible to do with the walker. Most of the time, one of us ended up taking the bucket and her hand and making our way to the door. She was brave and said trick or treat at each house (this surprised me) and had a great time. That is what mattered most.

After we had walked as far as we dared from Pat & Kristy's, it was time for the long trek back up the hill, Chris carrying Charlotte's "dog house" and candy, and me carrying Charlotte. It seemed we had traveled so far. By the time we got to their driveway, we let her stay up a bit longer to have a snack and give goodnight hugs & kisses and then it was off to bed for our little poddle. We were all tired.

Before bed, one last photo op with the kids.

All in all, a great First Halloween of trick or treating for Charlotte, and the huge smile on her face made up for the difficult time her parents had.

The Hawns