We decorated our yard for Halloween yesterday, and because most people don’t genuinely fear plastic skeletons and fake cobwebs, I always like to include something that plays on a genuine fear. This year I chose fear of flying:
I’m really pleased with how the smoke turned out. The trick-or-treaters will be here any minute, but if I have time after I finish this post, I’m going to make a decoration to represent fear of public speaking.
The last two years I made these spider crackers for the kids to take to their classes:
You may have noticed the spiders only have six legs–this was not an accident but rather a conscious decision to encourage their classmates to argue with me about spiders having eight legs, and I can argue about adults always being right and later they’ll always remember Halloween as the day they learned adults can’t be trusted.
My seven-year-old, The Fonz, was a mad scientist.
My ten-year-old, Optimist Prime, was Hello Kitty. And yes, it was meant to be ironic.
Here are the kid’s costumes from 2010:
In 2009, Optimist Prime was Thriller-era Michael Jackson:
In 2009, The Fonz was Jackson 5-era Michael Jackson:
In 2008, Optimist Prime was a cowboy riding a chicken. He had no help from his dad. Wait, I mean he barely helped his dad.
And The Fonz was Harry Potter, even though I’m not sure he had any interest in Harry Potter whatsoever.
In 2007, The Fonz was a Jukebox. If you gave him money and pressed one of four buttons, he’d sing you a song.
And Optimist Prime was a headless man.
Also in 2007, our complex chose to do trick-or-treating a weekend earlier than Halloween night, and we were unaware until the first trick-or-treaters rang the doorbell. The costumes above weren’t finished yet and we literally completed the costumes below in less than ten minutes. The white on Optimist Prime’s face is bar soap.
In 2004, the pair were a rickshaw driver and his rider.
This is The Fonz at three years old on a day nowhere close to Halloween:
Happy Halloween from The Good Greatsby!
The Good Greatsby 
Michael Cargill
October 31, 2011
A fair bit of effort involved in some of those costumes. Good stuff. I like the plane-crash decoration as well!
Did the kids have fun?
The Good Greatsby
October 31, 2011
They had a great time, and I had a great time because this was the first year I didn’t do most of the costume-creating work.
Ape No. 1
October 31, 2011
Damn that rickshaw costume is so random and awesome. Made me laugh out loud.
The Good Greatsby
October 31, 2011
The fact that he’s pulling a baby really brings the whole costume together.
daisyfae
October 31, 2011
awesome costumes! i especially like the ‘yellow bucket head’, which appears to not have eyeholes! what a clever way to add adrenaline-pumping fun to your childs trick-or-treat adventure!
The Good Greatsby
October 31, 2011
He was able to see a little through that Lego man costume, but I’m definitely a fan of giving the kids that extra adrenaline rush of blocking vision while trick-or treating.
shreejacob
October 31, 2011
kewl costumes!!
stuffialmostbought
October 31, 2011
I love the posing! They are so into it! OP in 2009 snapping his fingers…he looks like he’s about to break into the Moonwalk. Gold.
P.S. A crashing plane…? Dude that is so wrong!
The Good Greatsby
October 31, 2011
But the plane is far scarier than a plastic skeleton, right?
Kathryn McCullough
October 31, 2011
The headless man is really creepy, but what great costumes. Are they your creations?
The Good Greatsby
October 31, 2011
That one was mostly me, but my wife and I always do these together.
Bridgesburning Chris King
October 31, 2011
A chicken riding cowboy! The best yet!
Snoring Dog Studio
October 31, 2011
Ricksaw is superb! Superb! What do little boys say while wearing this costume? What was the rest of their shtick? I do love the simplicity and brilliance of the headless costume, though. I like Halloween costumes that free up the mouth for eating Halloween candy. Enormous amounts of it.
Thank you for this hilarious timeline.
thoughtsappear
October 31, 2011
I can’t decide which costume I like best. I think the mad scientist. All of the costumes are great!
lifeintheboomerlane
October 31, 2011
The best costumes don’t come out of boxes. They come out of parents’ and kids imaginations.
The Good Greatsby
October 31, 2011
I agree. Where’s the fun in being the tenth Spider-man in your class?
gerknoop
October 31, 2011
You had me at the spider crackers! OMG! I LOVE them! and I am SO gonna copy them!
The Good Greatsby
October 31, 2011
It’s a pretty complicated recipe of Ritz crackers, cream cheese, pretzels, and raisins.
gerknoop
October 31, 2011
OH, and the costumes! BRILLIANT every one! You are a master artist …..you “and” your wife I am supposing.
madtante
October 31, 2011
I thought the spiders were kittehs. Obviously, my perspective is totally off. Dang.
Tori Nelson
October 31, 2011
Seriously the cowboy chicken creation is brilliant!
Leanne Shirtliffe
October 31, 2011
Do you think the cowboy chicken get-up would fit me?
ifiwerebraveblog
October 31, 2011
Someone in your house makes amazing costumes!! What songs did The Fonz sing when you pressed a button?
The Good Greatsby
October 31, 2011
If you click on the picture and zoom in you can see the song selection: ‘Five Senses’, ‘Happy Joy Joy’, ‘Two Tigers’, and ‘Alphabet Rock’.
Todd Pack
October 31, 2011
I don’t know what last year’s costumes were supposed to be, but I liked them a lot.
The Good Greatsby
October 31, 2011
A Lego man and a generic robot.
Angie Z.
October 31, 2011
BEST costumes ever. I mean it. You put all those other parents, myself included, to shame. I hope your kids will look back on their childhood Halloweens with fondness, gratitude, and minimal traumatization.
Brown Road Chronicles
October 31, 2011
Love the kids costumes! When we asked our son what he wanted to be this year he said he had to be a bunny rabbit because he lost a bet at school with one of his friends. So today he went to school (5th grade) dressed as a bunny rabbit. I told him that it was very honorable of him to be following through after losing the bet. Hopefully he doesn’t get beat up!
The Good Greatsby
November 1, 2011
If he does get beat up, hopefully he’ll learn an important lesson about the dangers of betting.
thelifeofjamie
October 31, 2011
Your kids are really cute, even with the white bars across their faces. Costumes are creative and fun! My kids are nothing that exciting…a firefighter and a dalmation who won’t wear her costume.
The Good Greatsby
November 1, 2011
They were actually born with white bars across their faces so they may not be as cute as you think.
thesinglecell
October 31, 2011
Brilliant plane crash smoke. Is the plane crashing into the giant jack-o-lantern, or is that a trick of photographic juxtaposition? Because crashing into a giant jack-o-lantern would add just that much surrealism to the horror. Brilliant costumes on the kids, by the way. Optimist Prime as Hello Kitty? Genius.
The Good Greatsby
November 1, 2011
I also considered the plane being attacked by a giant spider since combining fear of spiders and fear of flying seemed promising.
bearmancartoons
October 31, 2011
I think it took you longer to blot out the eyes in every picture for this post than it was for a couple of those costumes. Love the headless guy and hello kitty. Too Funny.
lynne @ gardenmad
October 31, 2011
Oh my gawd, what priceless photos. Brings back many memories of Happy Halloween’s past. I hope you and your family have an awesome Halloween. Gotta come back and read this one again when I have a little more time. What is it about Halloween that costumes always need to be finished at the last minute………eeeeek!
Carl D'Agostino
October 31, 2011
Just wear white shirt and tie with some books in your hand. They’ll think you are the teacher and run away right quickly.
gojulesgo
November 1, 2011
Fabulous!! The cowboy riding a chicken and the rickshaw driver and his rider are my favorites, I think.
If you come up with a decoration for the fear of public speaking, please don’t show it to me. I don’t think I can handle it.
Happy Halloween!
ichoosehappynow
November 1, 2011
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! You have the coolest costumes! I especially loved the headless one carrying it’s head. I may copy that one!
Here are a few monster pictures to thank you for your cool costume pictures:
http://ichoosehappynow.com/2011/10/31/cup-of-joy/happy-halloween-the-monsters-i-grew-up-with-while-living-in-the-philippines%e2%80%93part-2/
Cheers,
Louise
Rachael Black
November 1, 2011
Great pictures! Not only got a smile to start the day, given your captions and narration, but wonderful memories of my own daughter’s Halloween costumes.
she’s a student a SFSU now. Don’t want to know…. already suspect something truly twisted.
There is no ‘perfect age’ for your children. Heh.
Amy
November 1, 2011
We never had store-bought costumes growing up. My mom would either sew our costumes or we would pull them together from existing stuff we already had. It’s so good to see that parents are still carrying on the tradition of home-made costumes. To me, that’s half the fun of the holiday.
Happy Halloween!
The Good Greatsby
November 1, 2011
I’m not sure we saw any other kids wearing costumes that weren’t store bought. Trying to come up with something original and searching the attic for junk that can be turned into a costume are way more fun than buying a Spider-man mask at Wal-Mart.
pegoleg
November 1, 2011
I love your original costumes! We always had sweaty, plastic masks and pre-printed one-piece costumes. Mainly because I’m one of 9 kids and my mom was exhausted and heavily medicated most of the time. Good times.
Spectra
November 1, 2011
You too, Peg? I am also one of 9, and those plastic masks were the worst. You could smell your own candy breath. I’m all for creating originals. Love the Chicken Riding costume and the Rickshaw, and the Mad Scientist. The crackers are pretty good too. Maybe some red food coloring in the cream cheese, to look like black widows? 😉
The Good Greatsby
November 1, 2011
If I had nine kids I might buy the store costumes just because coming up with nine separate original costume ideas would take all of October and September.
She's a Maineiac
November 1, 2011
Excellent costumes! Happy Halloween!
Margie
November 1, 2011
Great costumes!
When we lived in the Middle East (in a compound) all the parents would sit in lawn chairs on the front driveway, sipping appropriate beverages, talking to the neighbours, and giving out the Halloween treats. The kids would wear all sorts of wonderful costumes. Most civilized.
Now we are back home in Canada and it snowed this morning. The parents will be holed up by the fireplace, arguing who has to go to the door to give out the treats. All the kids costumes will be buried under winter clothing. Only the strong observe Halloween up here!
laurenrantnrave
November 1, 2011
You are obviously a solid party planner, great one! We should have a virtual party and we can all eat the spider crackers at the same time! If you were to make a cookie to go with it, what would it be? Cobweb cookie? 🙂
The Good Greatsby
November 1, 2011
The spider crackers might look pretty cool sitting on a cobweb cookie. I have no idea whether they’d taste good together, but I’m willing to give it a shot.
John Erickson
November 1, 2011
I gotta vote for the “Mad Scientist”, only because I have a soft spot in my heart for scientists. The jukebox was very good, too.
Hope you had a Happy Halloween!
pattisj
November 1, 2011
You are so creative! I wouldn’t have recognized them. The headless guy is my fave.
bluebee
November 1, 2011
Just fantastic! 😀
HoaiPhai
November 1, 2011
Great costumes and the kids look like they’re having a whole lot of fun! You might want to take them to the ophthalmologist, though — they both seem to be suffering from quadrilateral cataracts. I didn’t take my son out for trick-or-treating this year. Apparently Kai-Lan costumes are not popular with 29-year-olds.
Carla
November 1, 2011
Hanging my head in shame. I was out most of the day, came home just in time to toss a pizza in the oven and raid my hubby’s closet for his fishing weighters, fly vest and an old curled up ball hat. I was a “vegan fisherman”. Sadly, not one kid got it. No one in my family ever dresses up (grown kids now) so I am left to fend for myself. I need to prepare a bit earlier next year.
PCC Advantage
November 2, 2011
Hahaha!!! Oh, the flames and smoke coming from the airplane…just brilliant.
Also, your kids have amazing costumes!!
pearlsandprose
November 2, 2011
Great costumes! The rickshaw is my favorite.
Lunar Euphoria
November 2, 2011
Awesome pics!! Hello Kitty and Thriller Michael Jackson are too cool. Cowboy on a chicken??? Really? And rickshaw?? LOL. I wish I had a fraction of your creativity and sense of humor.
flippingchannels
November 3, 2011
Great costumes. Way to teach the kids not to settle for cookie-cutter vampire/zombie/pirates.