Don't Leave Home Without Your Turtleneck

We discovered shortly after moving to Texas that one of the only ways to survive the heat is to wear fewer articles of clothing. Will and Hallie rocked it in their underwear for years (I believe Will coined the phrase but Hallie carried on her version: "Mama, can I just rock it in my unnerwears?"), and were both disappointed when I finally made them start wearing actual clothes to retrieve the mail and play in the sprinkler.

We also discovered that Halloween costumes aren't often designed with Texas temperatures in mind. To compensate we opted for our "wear fewer articles of clothing" strategy, but even when the kids wore just their underwear under their costumes, on the hottest of the October 31st nights, they could barely stand the heat. I guess ending the night drenched in sweat and covered with mosquito bites is just part of celebrating Halloween in Texas.

In case you were wondering, Halloween costumes aren't often designed with Wisconsin temperatures in mind either. My kids can't grasp this, given they've lived the majority of their lives in Texas, but up north, we had to choose our costumes chosen based on how well they would layer over a turtleneck. I guess ending the night drenched front the rain and unable to feel your fingers from the cold is just part of celebrating Halloween in Wisconsin.

In honor of Halloween week and for your viewing pleasure, I present to you photos documenting just a few of the times we ruined our Halloween costumes with turtlenecks.

Witch - black turtleneck.
Bride - pink turtleneck.
Ballerina - blue turtleneck.
Tin Man - long underwear.

American Girl Molly - blue turtleneck.

French Maid - black turtleneck.

Butterfly - white turtleneck.
Pumpkin - green turtleneck.

Nurse - white turtleneck.

Cheerleader - yellow turtleneck.

Jester - white turtleneck.
Dracula - black turtleneck.
Clown - red turtleneck.

Minnie Mouse - black turtleneck.
Gypsy - white turtleneck.

As Hallie exasperatedly expressed to me when she first saw these photos, "MAMA. Princesses and ballerinas do NOT wear turtlenecks."