Never Paint a Balloon

This year, Luke was given a train conductor costume which is a pretty good match for him because he LOVES trains. I decided (today, of course) that I should make his little car/bike into a train so he can ride it around for trick-or-treating. It took me a while to figure out how I was going to do this without buying anything, but about an hour into it, I was thinking that I might actually be able to pull it off. The BEST idea, or so I thought, was that I would attach a balloon to the top and make it look like smoke coming out of the smokestack (I originally wanted dry ice, but that seemed a little extreme). And how would I make a balloon look like smoke?? By painting it with grey and black swirly marks of course! So that is exactly what I did.

Some of you are smart and can already see where this is going. I had a great time painting my balloon. As I did, I thought about how creative I was being and how much Luke would love his train...I really was feeling quite proud of myself. And then, as I was finishing up...it suddenly POPPED! As I looked around, I saw that there was black and grey paint splattered EVERYWHERE. The walls, the floor, the chairs, me... it was a mess. That's when I realized how silly I had been! You don't paint a balloon!

I didn't cry (I've been pretty emotional lately so I'm very surprised I didn't), but my heart sank to the lowest degree possible. Not only was my smokestack a complete bust, but my kitchen was in utter ruins. I didn't even know what to clean first. I ended up starting with my clothes, because honestly, if you find pregnancy clothes that are comfortable and look decent, you'll do anything to salvage them. Unfortunately, by the time my clothes were in the washing machine, the paint had dried to the walls which means I'm going to have to re-paint my kitchen.

I took out my mop to begin mopping the floor (oddly enough I probably should have been mopping the floor instead of making Luke a train to begin with). Then the mop broke. I took a picture because I actually couldn't believe that my mop broke on today of all days.

Eventually everything but the walls got cleaned up. I'm still too afraid to go check on my clothes. We went and bought some more balloons. This time I decided to draw on them with a marker instead. When Dad came home we ate dinner and went trick-or-treating. Luke warmed up to the idea of having his car turned into a train (he wasn't so crazy about it at first). Everything ended happily because nothing is quite as cute as little kids dressed up in crazy costumes.

Was it worth it?

I wish that Halloween had some deeper meaning besides just getting hooked up with candy. I love the excitement of getting Luke all dressed up and having a chance to get to know my neighbors a little better face-to-face. Everyone is feeling festive and friendly, even the neighbors that normally seem a little avoidant or hurried. It's fun to see the kids happy and the parents going nuts with their camcorders. We have to find a way to incorporate trick-or-treating into Christmas...without the candy or creepy decorations. Any ideas?