A Little Bit Scary

While I was shopping at Wal Mart yesterday, I noticed that there were still several isles full of Halloween stuff. Of course I had to go look and see if there were any irresistible bargains to be found. As I was perusing the merchandise, I began to notice that my poor son had a death grip on my shirt. Not only was he clutching on to me for dear life, but he also had his sweet little head buried in my sweatshirt. He was desperately trying not to look at the scary masks. This could have something to do with the fact that my husband can't resist scaring our kids with these terrible masks as they walk down the isles. He loves to hide and jump out as they round the corners. This seems to be his Halloween tradition. I know it's sick - right. Needless to say, my son does not like the scary costumes.

He also has a strong aversion to people with painted faces. This made for a very amusing moment when we got him all dressed up for Halloween night. He was a rodeo clown of course. I think that every little cowboy has to do that at least once. It's like a right of passage or something. I didn't really mind since it was a very cheap costume to make. He already had an awful red and white striped shirt that had been handed down. I was saving it just for this occasion. We took a pair of his sisters old jeans and cut them up. All I had to buy were a couple of bandannas to use for suspenders. He wore his cowboy hat and boots to finish it off.

As Casey and I got the kids ready for the church Halloween carnival, I decided I would be in charge of Trinity. This left Casey in charge of Cooper. I figured he would know more about what a real rodeo clown would look like. I sat Trinity down, and painted her fairy face with purples and pinks. She loved checking it out in the mirror. Next it was Casey's turn. He decided to go with an elaborate red and white design that covered most of my boy's face. He added some crosses on Cooper's cheeks and forehead. It really looked pretty cute. When he was all finished, he asked Cooper if he would like to look in the mirror. Of course he was excited to look. This is where things got funny. We all went to the bathroom to look at Cooper's paint job. Casey hoisted him up onto the counter so he could see himself. As soon as he got a glimpse of himself, he shuddered and moved back away from the mirror. He was scared of his own image. It was all Casey and I could do not to bust out laughing at him. We finally convinced him that it looked really cute, and he got used to it.

Cooper loved playing the games at the carnival. He and his sisters loved jumping and sliding on the bounce house, and playing the many games. His favorite booth was the fishing game. This could have something to do with the fact that his G and Poppie were running the thing. He got to have as many turns as he wanted. Maybe he just liked the "unique" costume his G wore. She dressed as Noah's wife - she even carried a "pooper scooper". Thank goodness he is too young to be embarrassed!

Everything would have been perfect in Bubba's world if everyone would have refrained from wearing face paint and masks. Periodically throughout the night, I would feel him suddenly clutch my leg for dear life. That was my cue that a mask had gotten too close. His G decided to take him on a hay ride at the end of the evening. I decided to help Poppie clean up his booth and put everything up for another year. When I returned from the storage shed, I could hear my boy crying for me. He was in his G's arms saying, "I want Mommy". She said he was just inconsolable since a masked child had scared the daylights out of him on the hayride. He kept telling my "I crying for you Mommy". When I asked him what was wrong, he said, "I scared of the "maks". I hope the poor child isn't scarred for life.