Character Day at RBES

Make a Smilebox postcard

Well, now that you have looked at my precious boys in their fantastic costumes, let me tell you a little story.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I got the paper home in the boys backpacks explaining the Red Ribbon Week spirit days. Friday was book character day. So I started talking to my boys about what book character they wanted to be. They both immediately said they wanted to be Clone Troopers. I then had to go into this enormous monologue explaining to them why they could NOT go to school as Clone Troopers or Spiderman or Anakin Skywalker...I know you want to wear that, but you cannot carry a light saber into the school, they'll turn momma in.

So Caleb finally decided on being a dinosaur. I don't know what book it was from, but I'm sure there is a dinosaur in some book, somewhere in the world...so I told Caleb he could be a dinosaur.

Yessss! One down.

Jacob was still struggling with his decision and we were still struggling with the understanding that superheroes, no matter how good, were not acceptable "book characters"!

He finally shows me a website that they use at school with some audio books on it and he tells me he LOVES the Ace Lacewing Bug Dectective books. Awesome. Soooo, what exactly does Ace Lacewing look like? Well basically...he's a bug...detective...
I know...I know...

So I make some wings with some pantyhose and hangers...a wonderful trick my grandmother taught me...I get a hat from the dress-up clothes and attach some pipe cleaner antenae...and ta! da! Ace Lacewing Bug Dectective.

Meanwhile, Caleb is searching and searching for the Dinosaur costume that I KNOW we have SOMEWHERE! and he can't find it. So we go into a major meltdown because it's Thursday night and we can't find the dinosaur.

Ugh.

So I start going through all the books we have on the shelf that I have corresponding costumes for in the playroom...of course I'm thinking to myself, "Dang it! Why can't he just be Spiderman or Anakin Skywalker, or a Clone Trooper!" I did NOT, however, voice that opinion out loud. I am beginning to get really frustrated because Caleb cannot make up his mind and he keeps whining about wanting to be a dinosaur..."SON...I don't know where it is!!!" ...then...more calmly..."you have to pick something else."

I finally narrowed his choices for him to 3 books that I knew I could make costumes for in record time...it was afterall almost 8pm the NIGHT BEFORE IT WAS DUE! Nothing like waiting til the last minute....don't worry, my Mom already spoke to me about this...so keep your comments to yourself. Thank you.

FINALLY...he picked the mouse and I was secretly, EXTREMELY happy, because I knew I could whip out some mouse ears and a tail.

And I did.

The next morning the kids put their costumes on, I took the pics up above, Paul took them to school, I went to get coffee, I got to the school, saw the boys...NO COSTUMES. Yep they basically wore them to school and took them off as soon as they got to their classrooms.

Not. Awesome.

None the less...they WERE cute.