Well, Halloween came and went this week. As I write this, the kids are in bed. (Hang on, let me finish eating this Reese's Peanut Butter Cup...)

In the days leading up to the big Trick or Treat excursion I did my part to hype the holiday. We decorated the house. We carved pumpkins. We roasted pumpkin seeds. I made orange cupcakes to send to my kids' Mothers' Day Out program.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in my children's lack of interest and/or enthusiasm in costumes. That is my favorite part! Well besides the candy. (Hold on, let me get another Hershey's candy bar out of Taylor's pink pumpkin...)

I always thought the fun part wasn't so much in what I was going to wear. It was in how I was going to create it. We didn't buy a lot of "ready-made" costumes. My mom could sew and she helped us make lots of costumes.

I once went as E.T., The Extra Terrestrial - entirely homemade. I won "Best Costume" at school for that one. Another time I remember wearing a sheet with chains wrapped around me. I made a great ghost that year! While I'm not opposed to buying a costume (I sure don't sew) I still think it's more fun to use what you have to create something out of nothing.

My kids take that a little too far.

(Why do so many people give out Tootsie Rolls? Yuck! Maybe Zeb's pumpkin has more chocolate in it... Ahhh! Snickers!)

I bought a horse costume for Zeb at a consignment sale last year and he loved it so much that he has carried it around with him since then. Any time I asked him what he wanted to be, he would say he was going to be that horse again. Fine. I didn't argue. It was about two inches too short and a little tight but whatever. Choose your battles, right moms?

About a month out, two-year-old Taylor said she was going to be a cowgirl. Then about a week out, she started saying she was going to be a ghost. What?!? I already had the cowgirl outfit all together!

OK, OK. I can make a ghost. How hard is that?

I knew I couldn't just throw the traditional sheet-with-eyes-cut-in-it over her because she wouldn't leave it on and/or she would end up stepping on it and falling down... tragedy! I finally found a big pillowcase that, when I put it over her head (she may need therapy for this later), it came down to her ankles. I cut two armholes, two eyeholes and a hole to stick her pacifier through. She was soooo cute! It was so much better than a standard cowgirl.

Sometime between Cowgirl Taylor and Ghost Taylor, Zeb watched a movie called "The Last Unicorn." He has become very interested in unicorns. In fact, after watching the movie, he wanted to be a unicorn for Halloween. The one in the movie was white. His horse costume is brown.

"Some unicorns are brown," I said, "and the only unicorn horn I have is brown. It would match your brown horse costume perfect. I know! We could make your brown horse a brown unicorn!" Perfect.

I rolled up a piece of brown construction paper into a really tight spiral, cut it to size and taped it with clear shipping tape right in the middle of his brown horse's forehead. There you go - brown unicorn.

Halloween night came and we went to church. Someone asked Taylor what she was going to be.

"A cowgirl," she answered nonchalantly.

There went a perfectly good pillowcase.

If you ever stay in our guest bedroom, you might think your pillow has eyes. It doesn't. It might have eyeholes though.

Melissa Kinton is a stay-at-home mom. She is currently rearing one son, one daughter, two cats, two horses, three dogs, and one husband. She may be reached at melissagkinton@gmail.com.