Good grief!

Owen has always had a fondness for the Peanuts characters.  It's classic Owen  You see, he tends to be an old school guy.  He's also not a huge fan of Halloween.  Owen once said while trick-or-treating, "I'm cold and I'm miserable."  His theory: why go out in the cold when there's a big bowl of candy being dispersed at our front door?  He thrives on comfort.  He has sat on Santa's lap and requested an electric blanket and a back massager.  I love that he is his own man - just like Charlie Brown.  So when Owen made known his desire to be the world's legendary blockhead, I was determined to make this a Halloween he would never forget.

Target showed me the love with the perfect shade of yellow polo shirt.  I sewed on a black fleece zigzag and truly thought that this would be the easiest costume I've ever made.  All I had to do was make the head.  First, I tried a punching ball balloon because it was a circle versus the normal balloon shape.  I thought I was genius.  Until the balloon deflated under the weight of the first layer.   It was a very sad sight hanging from our swing set.  Take two, another punching ball balloon - maybe the first one was defective?  Not so - another sad mess.  Take three, a hard plastic ball from Toys R Us.  One week, 6 layers of paper mache, an Xacto knife, flesh tone paint, a black pipe cleaner, a styrofoam ball sliced in half, and a sharpie marker later, I shout SWEET VICTORY!  Every painstaking moment of this never-ending craft project was worth it to see Owen walk in his school's parade, receiving compliments at every turn.

My child, the shy one, the one who puts himself in the background, the one with the sometimes fragile self-esteem was able to hold his giant head high and be the beloved character that is Charlie Brown, that is Owen.