Perhaps We Should All Just Think of it as the First Halloween Post of ’08

So I finally sit down to upload my Halloween photos and I can’t find the USB cord. Then I find the cord and my computer won’t turn on. Then it will turn on but whoops, Nate bought Guitar Hero III (Because hell, why not have it on both PS2 and Wii. We’re millionaires!) and Pat Benatar is calling to me.

So now it’s 96 hours later, you are all so over Halloween, and pretty much already onto the deleting of the 8 million new posts in your feed readers thanks to NaBloPoMo.

But you know what? Tough. I have some cute kids in some cute freaking costumes and dammit, I’m posting them here so you can delete this in your feed reader too.



I have no idea where Thalia got the idea to be a peacock, but from the day she understood that Halloween meant dressing up in a costume, she insisted on it.

“Oh sweetie,” I’d say as we navigated the crammed aisles of Ricky’s and stressed about my lack of free costume-making time. “Why don’t you be a ghost? Or a bumblebee? Or something ready made on the store shelves like this slutty nurse? Isn’t she soooooo preeeeetty?”

Nope. It had to be a peacock.

Oh, and Sage had to be a butterfly. HAD TO.

So with a bit of legwork plus much help from Grammy (God bless Grammy!) while Nate and I were out of town, a Danskin leotard, some feathers and a blue mask conspired to turn my girl into a peacock for the night. But wait…Grammy had other ideas. With the addition of a tiara and a wand, Thalia became no mere peacock. She was a princess peacock.

Which, as Nate reminds me, makes her a bit of a drag queen peacock, peacocks being necessarily male.

I admit I scoffed a bit at the concept when my stepmother first described it. I couldn’t imagine why Thalia needed to be more than just a cute animal. I have managed to shield her from the princess crap thus far in her life and now, 2 years of avoidance were about to be felled by a dime store tiara and wooden wand.

Still, I went with it. I was just grateful I didn’t have to make a costume myself. (And that Sage’s was, at the last minute, available through BabyStyle.)

As we headed out the door, Thalia beyond thrilled at this crazy idea that you can just knock on strangers’ doors and they will hand you candy, the excitement was dashed by a creepy recorded sound emanating from a neighbor’s apartment.

WHOOOOOOO-OOOOOOO.

Thalia didn’t like it one bit.

“I heard a scary noise.”

Normally unflappable, she cowered at my legs and clutched my knees for comfort.

“You know sweetie,” I found myself saying as I bent down to her level. “Maybe what you can do is wave your magic wand and say ‘go away noise!’ And then, maybe it will.”

“Go away noise,” she said. Then more confidently. “Go away noise!”

And with that, the tape ran out or the magic worked – but indeed the noise was gone.

“Daddy!” she called, running in our door. “I heard a scary noise and wave my wand and said, ‘go away noise.'”

He looked at me in disbelief, and tried to undo whatever horrible damage I had apparently done. He sat Thalia down and tried to explain in that annoying guy way that noises can’t hurt us and that sometimes magic doesn’t work and tons of other stuff that Thalia didn’t really hear. She was just delighted to have a magic peacock princess wand in her possession that’s capable of making scary noises go away.

And me, I was delighted right along with her.

{39 Comments}

39 thoughts on “Perhaps We Should All Just Think of it as the First Halloween Post of ’08”

  1. What an adorable peacock princess Thalia makes! And Sage looks so happy bundled up in her butterfly costume!

  2. Oh WOW, those are a-stinkin-dorable pictures!!! Could I borrow Thalia’s wand sometime? I need a little “go away noise” myself, heh heh.

  3. Better late than never. I know how hard it is finding the slutty nurse costumes in the toddler size.At least you posted pictures. My six year old went as a former football player’s grandfather. So cute to photograph and so logical??? Everyone knew exactly who she was..NOT.

  4. They are too cute!!! I love the princess peacock — talk about getting creative. I’d share pictures of mine, but I forgot, er, umm, the batteries in my camera were dead. Yeah, that’s the ticket! That’s what happened…(sigh, what a bad mom, eh?)

  5. I love the Princess Peacock costume. And your little butterfly is sweet. I think every girl needs to beleive in a little magic!

  6. Oh, I do love their costumes. What an imaginative girl, not settling for something as ordinary as store bought!

  7. Adorable costumes, Liz! The scary stuff freaked my guys out a bit too. I wish we’d had a magic princess peacock wand. One of those would have come in handy.

  8. Wow- you have some cute kids. I think princess costumes look more comfy than animal costumes, anyway. Not that I have any firsthand knowledge or anything.

  9. Hey! Tell Mr. Poop-on-the-party to ease off! Little kids only get a few brief years to TRULY believe in magic and fairies and wishing on a star. What’s next on the list? Gonna axe Santa?The peacock idea is BEAUTIFUL. Love it!

  10. If you’re going to be a peacock – and an adorable one at that – you might as well go full-on Mardi Gras and make it a princess.And that baby is edible. Seriously.

  11. Such cute pictures and honestly fun to see new Halloween pictures after a few days. And at least you posted about Halloween. I never got around to it.

  12. Nope, nope, nope…no deleting here. Sides you aren’t posting everyday, so you’re safe. 🙂Love the costumes, they both look adorable. Sage is getting so big.

  13. That is so cute! Yay for Grammy!Having hand-painted my son’s costume, I can truly say buying ready made costumes is way, way under-rated!I believe in magic too.

  14. I am not really here commenting. I am only here to say I am not reading your posts any more.I mean, how can I now that you feel it is necessary to flatter Jozet by comparing the rest of us bloggers to her as sucks ass.I grant you that there is some serious ass suckage at times. And I do anticipate ass suckage on my blog this month since I must post every day. Plus, I am Sucking the Souls from Readers by posting every day and expecting them to pay attention. So perhaps, sucking ass is relevant, especially compared to Jozet, who does make us all pale by comparison.But really who needs to know they suck ass?I also have to say that I didn’t read this post, especially the part about the drag queen peacock. I definitely DID NOT laugh about that.I also did not pause to revel in the cuteness of your kids and their adorable costumes.I absolutely did NOT notice that Sage has gotten some very adorable kissable little round cheeks.I am definitely was not completely sympathetic about all the technical problems.I just need you to know I was not reading your post or commenting here today.(And you know my tongue is in my cheek, yes? Okay maybe not but it is. 😉 <--- See, successful employment of winkie face.)Julie< HREF="http://theartfulflower.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow">Using My Words<>

  15. Can Thalia come wave her wand at my house? In about three months?(As always, both girls are darling, and I think the peacock idea is smashing.)

  16. What a gorgeous and ORIGINAL costume! Just wonderful, I’m so glad you are still sharing your halloween post because that’s such a great idea, so much more interesting than all the other typical costumes out there this year.

  17. They both look adorable in their costumes. And can I get one of those wands? I’m wondering if they work on crying babies?

  18. They look wonderful. I just read about peacocks and peahens to my little one…. and still as I read your post, it didn’t even cross my mind that a peacock is male.Very cute costumes indeed!

  19. Oh, man. That is too cute. AMAZING PEACOCK YOU ARE, THALIA! That was me screaming through the comment window, BTW. AND SAGE? YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL, TOO!

  20. Welcome to the world of princess crowns and fairy wands! And the girls are adorable in their costumes. I don’t even think I took out my camera Halloween night; bad mommy!

  21. is there anything better than a princess peacock?well, maybe a nice vodka martini…but, i mean, is there ANY LIVING THING BETTER THAN A PRINCESS PEACOCK?definite no on that one.

  22. that is one delicious girl and very perfect peacock costume. Well done!Knowing how to harness the right resources is the true secret to success.

  23. Thanks for the great reminder! I remember it well. And you never know when you need princess powers to ward off scary noises with a magic wand…

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