The pictures of Halloween past!

Pictures from Halloween past! I loooved fellow blogger pal Wrestling Kittie's post about growing up with a handy mother who made costumes. I, too, had a handy mother who made a lot of our costumes growing up! I have some old pics of my brothers and I and also photos of more recent Halloweens to share!! Click to make the pics bigger!

My little brother as a pumpkin, a sad pumpkin. It looks like my older brother and I really could give a crap that he's crying, huh? Haha!

Aww, little bro as a cute clown! My mom made this costume and I think we all wore it at one point.

My mom made the elephant costume, that's me in there trucking it during a Halloween parade at school. Those loafers I'm wearing are awesome, I know! The costumes back then seemed so much simpler didn't they? Heck, you could get away with just wearing a paper mask, or even less! Check out that little dude behind me - he's got just stripes of paint on his face!

And I was realizing as I was looking through the photos that we recycled our handmade costumes over and over and I know they were shared with cousins too!

My mom in the clown costume she made. Her and my dad were going to a costume party and obviously it was bedtime for us kiddies. I've got a Smurf nightgown on!

See what I mean about recycling? Little bro is wearing the elephant costume, I'm wearing my mom's clown costume. That's my dad with us. This photo cracks me up, I should submit it to Awkward Family Photos, huh? Hmm. Two clowns, an enormous clown face made o' fruit, and an ... elephant. To be fair, this wasn't for Halloween but for some produce exhibition my dad was involved with for work. And we were just excited to dress up, so we gladly went along!

I'm a devil! That costume was handmade.

Little bro as a dog! And another year for the creepy mask on my older bro. He liked that mask. He even has on the same shirt and jeans too! LOOK AT MY SHOES! Oh my goodness. I can't be certain but I think I'm wearing stirrup pants.

I think this was the same year; I liked being a witch.

And I am ashamed to admit this, but in the five Halloweens we've had with our own kiddos (six! if you count this year too!) I have NEVER made their costumes! Making clothes just isn't my thing. But my MOM, she's still got it! The first year, they were little pumpkins. My mom was sewing their pumpkin costumes while I was still pregnant.

Man, we ALL are babies! I can't believe how young we look! The girls are three weeks old in this picture. No costumes in this pic, but it's too cute not to share! Okay, back to costumes!

Precious! Their costumes were little zippered fleece sacks with stem hats. I *almost* brought them home from the hospital in these outfits but then changed my mind at the last minute.

Me with little tiny Arlene.

Pumpkin Lydia baby!

Year two of Halloween with the girls - witches! I looooved these witchy dresses. My mom made them, of course.

Look at those chubby little cheeks! And Lydia's "reading" because, you know, that's what you do, when you're a witch, on Halloween, you read while your sister hams it up. (The book is upside down!)

This picture cracked me up. That's pretty much how life was when the girls were babies - a blur!

Pumpkins, third Halloween! This was also, obviously, the year that we welcomed the fifth member of our family, a six-foot tall Jack Skellington.

Pumpkin Arlene.

Pumpkin Lydia.

That was the first year we took the girls trick-or-treating for real, and they got a haul of candy. They were so excited.

Year four o' Halloween. I had purchased that Jack costume when the girls were babies and this was the year it fit, so this is the year it was worn. Lydia loved being Jack. Arlene was Sally and my mom and I collaborated on her dress.

Now, last year, I bought both of their outfits. They wanted to be princesses so I thought it would just be easier to buy their costumes. Lydia sure did make a good Snow White. Arlene was a Princess Bride, complete with purple sparkle hair.

This year, Lydia is going to be a witch. She was inspired by seeing those pictures of me as a witch. She wants a green face and a blacked-out tooth. Arlene is going to be a gnome girl! Both purchased. I sort of feel guilty about not making their costumes! Next year, handmade!