Four good reasons

I think I'm over the whole homemade Halloween costume thing.

It was cute when eight-week-old Abby wore the Dorothy costume I whipped up in all the free time I had with only one kid.

It was cute when we went as a family of M&M's, even though the dye wouldn't wash out of Abby's hair or mine for a few days and I had to sew Caleb into his blue peanut M&M because he put on so much weight during the weeks it took me to make it.

And it was adorable when all three sported handmade costumes last year and showed up at the fall festival as the most adorable frog princess, Tow Mater and Starbucks latte the world had ever seen.

But this year, I'm throwing in the towel, and I have four good reasons:

1. Levi does not care. Mimi found him a $2 horse outfit at the thrift store, so a horse he will be. 
2. Jacob does not care. He'll be first in line for handfuls of candy, but a costume? Forget it. The kid won't let me layer his clothing when it's chilly outside. I'm not wasting time on a costume.
3. Caleb does not want to participate. If you press him for an answer, he'll insist he wants to be a shark (again). But when push comes to shove, he's not going to dress up. From Santa to the Chick-fil-a cow, he hates costumed characters. Halloween is not his holiday.
4. Abby does not know what she wants. With Levi dressed as a horse, she's convinced she wants to be a cowgirl. But only if I'll be a cowgirl too. And she could just as easily change her mind and decide she's going to be a frog again. Or a princess. Or a ballerina. You get the idea.

So with Levi in his equine ensemble, I threw plaid shirts on the majority of the family, divvied up the cowboy accessories from the dress up box, and begged Caleb to at least wear his hat for the picture. On the way out the door, Abby grabbed the tutu she wore for her fancy third birthday party. She wanted to be a cowgirl princess, she said.

Happy Halloween. This year, this is as good as it gets.