I could easily be listening to the song “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” on repeat right now.  Not because I am excited that Christmas is sneaking up on me like a White Walker.  Not because I particularly enjoy Amy Grant (truth be told, her version grates on my nerves like nothing else at Christmastime – you know what I mean, Mom).  Because THIS is the most wonderful time of the year.  HALLOWEEN.

Last year, we had the best Halloween costumes EVER.  This year, I knew there wouldn’t be any way to top them.  The kids are getting older (and so are Nae and I), and getting everyone on board for one cohesive theme is… Difficult.  Which is fine.  Pretty soon, Nathan and I will be left to our (my) own devices and we’ll get to choose what to go as together since neither of us wants to dress up as a Skylander or something from Monster High.  But for now, the kids are into the things we expose them to and don’t take notice of much else.  Not having cable – not having commercials – really cuts down on the crazy shit they regurgitate from television.

Since our trip to Disneyland this summer, Finn’s Yeti obsession kicked into overdrive and he firmly decided that he would be a Disneyland Matterhorn Yeti (not to be super specific or anything).  After balking at the cost of faux fur, I opted to stick with a white hoodie with a fur hood, gloves and boots.

And (obviously) Nathan had to be a Yeti as well.  It was either that or a mountain climber.  Not some high-speed 2014-era adrenaline junkie, but a 1950’s, Swedish, Riiiiiiiiccccccooooooolllaaaaaaa-yodeling dude in Lederhosen.  Yeti it was.

Oh, and the eyes HAD TO GLOW.  Because they do on the ride.  And we are all about authenticity in this family.

I did a little happy dance when Alice picked Merida from Brave.  I was dreading making that stupid Elsa cape, but a Halloween miracle occurred and she burned out on singing “Let it Go” and watching Frozen daily sometime in July.  Merida – or “Orange Mother” as Alice refers to her – is a bow-and-arrow-toting badass compared to Elsa and Anna.  Brave centers on the struggle between her and her mother (who she has turned into a bear), so when Alice proclaimed that I was to be “Orange Mother’s Mother” I had a slight panic attack over twenty thousand yards of green taffeta and me in a floor-length gown with bell sleeves.  Queen Elinor?  Christ.  Here we go.

Not to worry.  Alice wanted me to be the bear.  Orange Mother’s Mother as a bear.  Black hoodie?  Check.  Furry ears?  Check.  Crown?  Check.  Orange Mother’s Mother as a bear? Done.  Waaay easier than Alice’s Merida dress.  Which only took me a week and a half.  Only.

Outtake alert.  Here is Alice “hunting yetis.”  Finn is not alarmed at all.  Which is somewhat worrisome when your kid doesn’t even flinch when someone is pointing a weapon at them.

We went to Boo at the Zoo at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  We were fully prepared for pandemonium like last year, but it turns out that it is way less crowded two weeks before Halloween and we had more than enough time to do the whole lap twice.

We went on the Skyride for the very first time.

We went on the carousel for the fifty-seventh time.

And thank god that everyone recognized who the kids were.  Not that anyone who complimented Finn on his Abominable Snowman costume was politely corrected by the little man himself.

“It is a Disneyland Matterhorn Yeti.  AND his eyes glow.”

We also got to wear them to the grade school’s Trunk or Treat on Saturday.  And on Halloween on Friday.  After that, they go into heavy rotation via the costume/dress up pile where the kids will wipe peanut butter on them and roll around in the grass while wearing them.

But that’s not the end of our Halloween story.  Oh, no.  Here in Colorado Springs, the population is a wee bit on the Jesus-loving side and lots of people don’t celebrate Halloween.  I am betting this has something to do with the bizzaro Halloween Costume/Celebration norms that have sprung up in Finn’s school.  The kids aren’t celebrating Halloween at all.  Sortof.  I dunno.  They are having “Literacy Dress Up Day,” in which a pre-approved list of (not-Halloween) costumes was passed out.  Spoiler: Yetis were not on the list.  Little Boy Blue was.  Georgie Porgie was.  Abe Lincoln was.

Whatever.

Which meant I had another costume to make.  And though I would never dream of buying a costume off the shelf, it isn’t like they have The Little Red Hen costumes at Walmart anyway.

I begged for Teddy Roosevelt.  “Round Glasses!  Mustache!  You could ride Alice’s stuffed moose!!”

Shot down.

“Oooohhh!  Three blind mice!  Mickey ears!  Sun glasses!”

Nope.

In the end, Finn chose to be the grasshopper from Aesop’s Fable The Grasshopper and the Ants.  It took me some time to warm up to the idea, but it was more exciting than George Washington.

And here is an action shot….

(And Alice is quite smitten with it as well.)

I am bracing myself for the onslaught on post-Halloween cavities and looking toward Thanksgiving to fill the vacuum that Halloween has left in its wake.  Something tells me that construction paper pilgrim hats and handprint turkeys won’t give me the same thrill as fashioning fishing bobbers and battery-operated votives from Ikea into Yeti eyes.

But it will have to do until Amy Grant starts belting out, “its the MUUUOOOST wonderful time…. Of the YEAR” on the Christmas station.