And the Finalists are...

Hello! It's me, Dumb Mom, doing a stint as my all-time favorite fictional character, Pipi Longstalkings.

I haven't dressed this body up in costume since the Halloween of 1991.

I have no photographic proof, but just note that I went in drag that year (as a boy, just to clarify) and it wasn't pretty. There were a pair of saggy pants and a jersey of some sort involved and I looked an awful lot like my 8th grade self looked on a day to day basis (for some reason I thought dressing like a boy was fashionable and cute. It was not). Very unoriginal and, from my current position as fashion iconmom, shamefully bad.

But, despite having learned my lesson when it comes to celebrating Halloween in costume, I decided that this year, being the first year of our not-ever-going-to-be-famous-at-this-rate
soon-to-be famous Happily (un)Haunted Halloween Photo Contest, I needed to do it big.

Apparently so did my guests!

See...

There were fairies,



and rag dolls,



And, to top the whole shindig off, Kanye showed up...



He interrupted me like twice and then I threatened to eject him. I'm not the pushover MTV is.

Anywho...On to more important issues.

The 5 finalists in the 1st Annual Happily (un)Haunted Halloween Photo contest have been selected!

But...OMG!

It was soooo dang hard!

Look at all of the winning entries I received!

Best Avian...


Best I'm-Gonna-Get-You-Sucka...


Best Use of Science...


Best Use of Color...


Best Barnyard Representatives...


Best Homegrown Costume...


Best Shepherd and Disgruntled Sheep...


Best Costumed Family...


Best All-Terrain Vehicle


Best House Cat Representative...


Best Impromptu Costume...


Best Non-Decepticon...


Best Member of a Swarm...


Best Use of Furniture...


Best Selling Costume...


Best Princess Featuring a Katana (look in the background)...


Best Amphibian...


Best Costume You Could Eat (think she's a candy corn?)...


Best Representative for the Undead...


25 creative, inspired, cute, scary, beautiful costumes were entered in the contest on the backs of 25 awesomely amazing, super cute cuties and their mommies.

The competition was stiff.

The decision was difficult.

But, I persevered.

I pulled through, and I did my duty.

The top five finalists have been selected and here (drum roll please!) they are (please note: I titled them, because I'm funny like that!)!

#1: Beaver Bootays from Supah D. @ Adventures of a Wannabe Supah Mommy



#2: Sleeping Beauties. Entered by Mary @ Hurricane Riley and his Brother Rex.



#3: Hermione Who? From CK @ Bad Mommy Moments




#4: So Over that Cheap Gnome. Submitted by Betsy B. Honest @ Honest to Betsy.



#5: Trick-or-Treat Bit**es! A title only Mary from Pajamas and Coffee could truly appreciate:)!



Now, rush out and tell all of your friends to vote for your kid.

Tell them where to find me and tell them all about how you had to beat out tons of other creatively costumed kids to make it to the finals.

And then, encourage them to vote for your little spookster.

But. No need to vote for yourself. As much as you are dying to show the world that your sweet pickle is the very sweetest (because you say so damn it!), it's really just not necessary.

Because, admit it, no matter how cute, creative, scary, or sweet the other kids looked in their costumes, no one really topped your little creep in his (or hers as the case may be).

And, even if by some strange twist of fate another kid did sorta kinda maybe if you look really closely have a slightly better costume in theory, your kid looked much more appealing in his (and frankly, would look better in the other kid's too!).

And, since you are quite the budding Anne Geddes behind the lens, I'm sure that you know that I know that your photo composition is not only superior to the other entries, but also to anything I have ever seen before.

Got it. You rock and so does your kid.

Totally agree.

100%.

So, since I know what's up, I've already counted your vote in favor of your kid (each kid is currently tied @ one) so no need to bother voting for Mr. Wonderful, you might as well go ahead and use your free vote to help out another, less fortunate, child.

All you have to do to make your choice known is leave a comment saying which number you want to vote for (#6 is ineligible).

Voting will stay open from now until Friday and the winner will be announced next Saturday on the Saturday Swag-urday post, so that should be plenty of time to teach all of your grandparents to log on to the Internet, find my bog, create an email address and leave a comment voting for your photo. Or, it's plenty of time to tell 'em all about it, set up a fake account in their name, and vote for them*!

I'll never know?!

Good luck and thanks for playing!

*Please note: All votes from "Anonymous" will be disqualified since that could easily just be you logging in and voting for yourself over and over and over again!

Happy Halloween!

Since I'm busy prepping for the Happily (un)Haunted Halloween Party...



(I know! Like, how messy is my kitchen? And, I still have 75 mummy dogs to make, 50 cupcakes to ice, and an entire basement to vacuum. Anyone wanna lend a hand? Anyone? Anyone?)

combing through the Happily (un)Haunted Halloween Photo Contest Entries (even though you still have until midnight tonight to enter!)...


From Kerri @ I'm Just Sayin...


And, from BJ Mama @ For What It's Worth...Or Not!

(They are pouring in now that all time for procrastination is gone.)

and trying to get everyone to look dashing in their costumes...



(As if! I'm easy to please, though. If everyone is wearing the costume and it's not torn, blood stained, or otherwise completely ruined, I'm good.)

we are gonna skip this week's Saturday Swag-urday post:(!

I know. I know. Try to contain your grief, we'll be back at it next week with some super smart gift ideas from your favorite Dumb Mom.

And, don't forget to send over your entries while there's still time!

Even if you fail to get your stuff together enough to submit a photo of your little Halloweener, be sure to come back Monday to see all of the Happily (un)Haunted entries and to vote for your fave.

It'll be a scream!

All Hallows Eve Eve

Yesterday was HUGE at #1's school.

Maybe not huge as in OMG!-parentingbydummies-is-coming-today-to-sign-autographs huge, but still pretty dang huge.

The whole town was there.

Or, at least every parent of every kid who ever went there was there.

Seriously. Couldn't even get into the parking lot!



Why?

Because it was the annual Halloween parade!



Big hero (#1) was outfitted in his Wolverine get up...



Medium hero (#2) and Little hero (#3) were there too to partake in the festivities...



And, there were some pretty, um...interesting costumes.

A Lego...



A jellyfish...



A table setting?...



And a...Pimp?!



But, all of those pale in comparison to the wonderful, newest entries into the soon-to-be-famous parenting BY dummies Happily (un)Haunted Halloween Photo Contest.

Like...



From Teresha at Marlie and Me.

And this one from MamaB @ Peanut Butter in My Hair, and Hawchy Tap (#3's way of saying Holy Crap, which is SO innapropriate, but too freakin' cute) she made it!




Now, mooooove on down a bit and enjoy these two farm fresh cuties entered by Courtney D.



Or, here's another happy little garden dweller submitted by Ms. Betsy B. Honest from Honest to Betsy.



And, seriously, who doesn't love a cute baby monkey. Weirdos. That's who. But, me, and probably you, are gonna love Malanda's little cutie. See...



So, before I bid you farewell, Mrs. D's little dude and I have a bone to pick with you readers...



Why haven't you submitted your photos yet?

For reals. Talk about waiting till the last minute!

Geez.

Don't you like free stuff?

Don't you want the world (and by world I mean the 18 readers that may or may not read my blog on any given day) to see how ca-ute your little munchkin is?

Didn't you like being bribed (by the way, Mary from Hurricane Riley and his Big Brother Rex was all about being bribed, which is why she won the UPrinting postcards!)?

Seriously, if you don;t hurry up and get those entries over here I'm gonna have to sick Autumn's (from Monsters in My House) spooky ookies on you.





And, yes, you should be scurd!