Halloween Picture Only One Day Late

A week before Halloween, Joy and I packed Sam into the car and headed off to find a costume. We went to Old Navy, which last year had cute costumes for the toddler set, but found nothing of interest to Sam. Then we went to the Target next door. The costumes were a mess, obviously pawed over and in disarray. Sam was overwhelmed and didn't like any of the costumes. We didn't push anything on him and headed off to pick up some pictures we had waiting at JC Penneys.

But next to JC Penney's is another Target, so we decided to try one more time. In this Target, the costumes were all in a row, neatly arranged and hung, and Sam was much more interested in the process of finding a costume. Of course, the hunt was over when I found the Thomas costume. I pulled it off the hanger and Sam's face lit up as though he had just found the Holy Grail. We've since worn it three times, including last night, and his face never fails to look like this:Noah, on the other hand, couldn't care less if he were dressed up or not. I found a great shirt that declared "This is my costume!" and put it with a pumpkin hat that glowed in the dark. It became a litmus test for me because as we paraded him around at Kindermusik and then at various church festivals, the women always cooed "What a cute little pumpkin!" while the men always read the shirt and laughed. It truly was the best of both worlds - a costume suiting mom and dad.

Sam had a great time this Halloween because he finally discovered what the holiday is all about - CANDY! Last night after his bath, he waddled in to give Joy a hug and kiss before bath and croaked, "My throat is scratchy. I need a piece of candy." We'll see how long our huge bag lasts this week.