Trunk or Treat and Crazy Hair Day

A couple of days ago, Kyra announced that it was "Crazy Hair Day" at her school. She suggested we use a plastic drinking cup to create this funky hairdo. On the way to school, I started to giggle and she asked why. I said, "What if you accidentally got mixed up on the date for Crazy Hair Day and you showed up at school with the only funky hairdo?" She said that very thought had occurred to her and she had been formulating a "backup plan" in her mind. We were both relieved when we arrived at school just as the car in front of us deposited a blue-haired boy. Whew! I picked her up from school and she went to the university campus with me to return some films and books before I dropped her off for her piano lesson. She did receive a few strange looks while on campus but, on the other hand, some students are known to have funkier than this hair on a "normal" day :)
Last evening was the annual chili supper and Trunk or Treat at the Church. Our d-in-law Sara and I took Ky, Reed, and also their next-door neighbor's son Parker, who Sara was tending for the evening while he parents went to a Halloween party of their own. Parker is one of Ky's classmates and friends, and he knew several of the kids at the function so that worked out well. Sara bought a costume for Reed about 2 months ago which she said "fit perfectly" at the time (no room to spare, though). Unfortunately, he had a growth spirt and it would not fit him this week. So, she had to find another Ninja costume in a bigger size. Regardless, he was cute in it.
Ky initially informed me that she would like to be Mother Nature. She's quite creative and loves to design outfits so she drew the costume she wanted out on paper. I was impressed. The "earthy" part was represented by a brown sheath dress, covered with a flowing green sheer fabric. She had designed a crown representing the sun, a wreath of flowers and blue ribbons representing the sky. Off I went to the fabric store where almost immediately I found the "flowing green" layer. She instantly approved it upon sight. It didn't seem like the rest of the outfit would be a challenge. Not so! We visited several stores and picked through their clearance racks (how much does one want to spend on an outfit to be worn twice at best?) for the "brown" part of the costume. Alas, we could not find a thing that matched the picture in Ky's head. But at the last store we had time to visit before I needed to drop her off for Activity Day Girls, she happened upon the crazy dress in the photo. She held it up and, as she said, "Look at this wild dress, Nana," she displayed "peace" signs with both hands. I said, "You've got it! You can be a hippie!" So, we proceeded with that idea and she was happy. I have to say that we both laughed when two of her friends (who had no idea what Ky's original idea for a costume had been) commented, "Your dress kindof looks like a Mother Nature dress." Well, I guess we succeeded after all! This final picture is of Reed and his cousin (on his Mommy's side) Avery. I loved the picture of the children and also liked the bubble-blowing pumpkin. It's easy to see why kids (of ALL ages) love this holiday!