Dawk Vader and The Costume Woes (send pics for a prize!)

                                            Ghost in Damask Standard Pillow Case
Camille and I are from an era where there was no massive online vacuum sealed Hallowe'en Costume Mecca.  Grew up in a house where your folks would take a holey sheet, belt it with some Christmas tinsel, tie more tinsel around your head, cover a chopstick in tinfoil, stick some of the above-mentioned tinsel on the end and BAM!, you're an Angel Fairy!  Later, rich teenagers would rent from the costume store, or wore their parent's work uniforms and spilled drinks on them at parties (not me, I swear).

 By the time I got pregnant with our first son, not only were Old Navy and the Gap pumping out adorable, plush, probably slave-laboured costumes with tails, ears and padded feet for a pretty penny but, though we hadn't installed MacOS9 yet,  the flimsy online costume craze was quietly gathering momentum.

Now Hallowe'en is totally out of control.  Yards are decorated and lit with the same holiday fervor as at Christmas time.  Peanut free chocolate is shoveled into plastic pumpkins with handles...what happened to paper bags and pillow cases?  And, strangest of all, online stores and Hallowe'en warehouses are selling scads of mass produced licensed costumes from tv/movie hits of the moment---Avatar, Star Wars, Jersey Shore (what the heck is that?), Buzz Lightyear...Do you know how hard it was to find a size 8 in the Cody from Star Wars Clone Wars costume?  And that my 8 yr old was not only willing to be clothed in head-to-toe white spandex, but was also willing to wear a half-helmet with an elastic across the back? Once he says thank you for his candy and turns around, it'll be painfully clear we could only afford the 19.99 package.

...weapon not included

I'm not sure just what I'm getting at, but I needed to write a bit about Hallowe'en so that I could:
1) post this picture of The Duck, who is going to be Dawk Vader (though there were a few dawk moments where he changed his mind back to Michael Jackson and then a Scuwvy Pirate AFTER we bought the 40.00 talking helmet).  I can't quite get over how much he looks like Rick Moranis in Spaceballs.  And he's not afraid to use the fowce.

  On the night he'll wear dawk shoes, of course.

2) (way more importantly) ask you to send us a picture of YOUR kid(s) in costume, along with the grand total $ you spent on their outfit.  The lowest cost costumer will win a prize!!  Not telling what, and hand-me-downs don't count.  Please use the "email" button on the right side of our blog and attach a picture (jpeg) along with your comment.  Your child will be cooed over on our blog, and I'll get to see how the other parents do it.  Contest ends on November 5th!