What's Black and White and Red All Over?

That would be Cruella DeVille.

Her alter-ego, Madeline, is my Halloween nemesis. She's normally such a sweet and easy-going gal but Halloween brings out some OC tendencies that she keeps hidden the rest of the year. She plans her costumes well in advance down to the very last detail. Off-the-rack costumes? No how, no way. The year she went as Sacajawea, she was holed up in her bedroom beading a headdress for most of the month of October. The year she wanted to go with an Asian theme, I suggested Mulan (quick, easy, at the Disney Store), and she scoffed at it. She had created a character named "Lotus Blossom" who had a whole history that Madeline would somehow be representing in costume.


So this year when she said she wanted to be Cruella DeVille, I was so relieved. A Disney costume! Thank you Madeline! She took it upon herself to find the wig on-line and I procrastinated until 3 days before Halloween to find the rest of the costume. Who would have guessed that there is NO Cruella DeVille wear to be found? Not even a Cruella pattern. I suggested a Dalmatian-patterned scarf. Madeline wanted a lined coat. We compromised with this full-length cape. The red fur was the most awful stuff I've ever worked with. But she was pleased.


Moving on to our more reasonable trick-or-treaters. Here is child who doesn't need to be Lotus Blossom, but is perfectly happy being run-of-the-mill Mulan:

Abby wanted to dye her hair black for the night. I was told by the woman at the costume shop that this spray-on hair color would be easier. NEVER AGAIN!

And the smallest one was Madeline. Not to be confused with her sister, Made"lyn", this is MadeLINE. The little girl from Paris.

They made for an interesting trio. As is always the case in Western Washington, we prayed for no rain. It had rained all day long but stopped in time for trick-or-treating. We did have to deal with our muddy dirt road but at least we didn't need umbrellas. Of which, surprisingly, we have none.

Maya Qiu looks truly stunned by her impressive candy-haul. Note, this is the home of teenage boys. Notice the pumpkin on the porch who they said had eaten too much candy. I have a feeling my teenage boy (this year's candy hander-outer) will be re-creating that at our house next year.

"She was not afraid of mice. She loved winter, snow and ice and to the tigers in the zoo, Madeline just said Pooh Pooh." But the jack-o-lanterns in the window are a little scary.

When the other trick-or-treaters got ahead of her, which was always, Maya would say, "Mom, hold my hat please" and off she'd sprint. I offered to carry her goody bag too, but she hugged it close to her chest and said, "I CAN DO IT MYSELF!" Yikes. This girl knows where her Halloween priorities lie.

And so does her dad, the dentist, who has already helped himself to a large quantity of his children's Halloween bounty.