Gotta get all this off my chest....

First of all, I just want to say that I follow some blogs of people I have never met, but still refer to as my "friends". Keep in mind these people don't know I exist, have likely never read my blog, and don't know that I read theirs. But such is the personal nature of divulging all your "stuff" to the world, that people feel like they know you when, in reality, it's a one way relationship. Anyway, one of my blogger friends, MckMamma, got an awesome miracle last Wednesday, which I already wrote about, but you can click on her button and read it for yourself in better words than mine.

But what really made me cry was what Angie wrote about MckMamma.

Notice that I am on a first name basis with Angie, again, another person who has never met me but who I prayed for when she lost her daughter and who I found MckMamma through. So, those of you who are bloggers are totally gettin' me right about now, and those who don't blog are just scratching your head in confusion.

Now, for the part I need to get off my chest. I hate marketers of all things children. Seriously, I am calling a ban on toys and costumes in my home from this day forward. First of all, in eight years of parenting, I thought I had figured out some things. I know that you can't start the Halloween costume search too soon because kids will change their minds 100 times before the actual date. But if you save it for too late, then you'll be stuck with the Wally World version of the princess rather than the Disney store version becuase there will be NOTHING left. Also, if you take your kids to the Great Pumpkin (you know, the giant tent they put up in the mall parking lot) your 3rd grader will be tempted by costumes in his size, but that are TOTALLY inappropriate for him (like, say, Freddie Krueger... you know, a rated R movie character that my child isn't old enough to see, but someone thought it was a good idea to make this costume in a size 7, you know, for all the 7/8 year olds who are big Freddie Krueger fans.) Anyway, that's a whole other rant... don't let me get started here because you don't have time to read all my thoughts on that subject. Not to mention, the other children in your party will be exposed to inappropriate sexual content in the form of 12 year old girl costumes that are unidentifiable in terms of character other than "slut" or "tramp." They look something like the costumes the Titan's Cheerleaders wore last week during the Monday Night Football game, only, did I mention, they are grown ladies and these costumes are meant for girls around age 12... huh? So, bottom line, don't visit the Great Pumpkin.

Now, we did manage to find costumes for all our kiddos, but Meg is the only one who actually wore the costume that was purchased for her.
And she looked darn cute doing it. But Jack and Brian were supposed to be ZZ Top. Liam was going to be Commander Cody from Star Wars. Connor bought a White Ranger (Power Ranger) costume. Not one of my children followed through. By the time we were all dressed, Connor was an Army Commando.
Jack started out as ZZ Top's other half, but quickly decided he didn't want to do that and alternated the night between turning the beard backwards to be a hippy and just going sans costume altogether. Does this mean we are nearing the age when he will head out with a T-shirt and a little bit of hair coloring and a pillow case? Bummer! Anyway, next year I am saving the $50 we spent on costumes and telling them they have to make something from home. Hey, this is what we did when we were kids and I don't think I'm totally scarred from it... or maybe it explains some things?


Liam was the other half of ZZ Top.
Other than that, we had an excellent night. This is the first year in many that I haven't hosted the pre and post-trick-or-treating. We moved the party to my SIL's house this year because she lives on "the circle", which is a street in our neighborhood where ALL the kids go for their candy. It was so much fun. In addition to being with Reilly (my neice), we got to hang with our good buddies Micah, Asher, Brendan, Cassidy and others. Brian was dressed as Vince Young. You can possibly see his diaper and pacifier in the group photo. This was pretty creative for a last minute costume since he thought he was ZZ Top until about 1 hour prior to leaving the house. I was Sarah Palin. (My sash says, "America's Hottest Governor" in case you can't read it.)



Here are a couple of photos of our awesome friends in their great costumes, which they probably planned to wear BEFORE the day of....






As for the toy thing, kids don't really play with toys. The evidence, my FOUR toy boxes which sit full of toys while my kids walk idly around me in circles asking what they can do. Seriously! So, any of you out there with brilliant non-toy Christmas gift selection... I'm open to suggestions. I need some creative help here.