halloween on the cheap

i make no bones about it: halloween ain't my bag.  the only thing i find remotely redeeming about the holiday (if you can even call it a holiday?) is the subsequent supply of free chocolate that's conveniently located in our breakfast room -- a mere 18 steps from my office.  it doesn't hurt that the candy and i are home alone all day while the rest of my family have vacated the premises.  i'm shocked i don't go into some sort of candy-induced coma from my sugar intake in early november.

but other than that, i typically find nothing at all to celebrate about all hallow's eve.  until this year.  turns out that halloween ranks up as the cheapest holiday (if you can even call it a holiday) of the year for the mann fam.

total spent on 2013 halloween costumes: zilch. 

in typical liam fashion, my eldest informed me he wanted to dress, yet again, as an athlete.  the boy doesn't stretch too far; in the past 5 years, he's been a soccer player twice and now a baseball player twice.  (his last foray as a dodger was in 2008 -- click here for a trip down memory lane if you're interested.)  we already owned every bit of his costume, all the way down to the way-too-short-but-i'm-glad-i've-kept-it polyester gray pants.

and susanna decided weeks ago that she was going to be a pop star.  we went round and round about this, since she and i apparently have vastly different ideas of exactly what a pop star wears; but in the end, practicality won out and she wore an outfit she already owned for school.  (to spice things up, we located some sparkly sunglasses and a pink feather boa from her dress-up supply.  add those accessories to some bright pink lipstick and hairspray, and a pop star was born.)

i really need to stop bashing halloween.  given the fact that we had not one trick-or-treater this year, i'm actually coming out way ahead financially.

suh-weet.

the pop star and the baseball player, striking a pose

liam required face paint (i have no idea if there's an actual term for this) in his quest to be as authentic a baseball player as possible.  "i know!" susanna exclaimed, her eyes bright with an idea.  "i've got dark eye shadow in that make-up kit i got for christmas last year that you never let me use!"  i knew there was a reason i hadn't tossed it

 i didn't mind her organizing her candy ... it was only once she started counting it that i started to worry.  i'm afraid my cover might be blown