Caterpillars, Beetles and one BIG HUGE SPIDER

Last week was CRAZY! Crazy doesn't even seem to do it justice. There were lots of obligations and only so many hours in a day. It was Teacher Appreciation Week at Sam's school. Being a teacher myself, I wanted these women to feel super appreciated! But little did I know that the Room Parents took on the task of turning the entire school in to a Luau. So tons of decorations, sand, glitter, butcher paper, etc.

It was also the week of the children's choir musical at the church. I was in charge of preschool choir this year and they sang in one number called, "I Love Bugs." So in addition to door decorations, glitter and sand, add one caterpillar costume and a beetle costume. That brought fabric, spray paint, and a concrete form into the mix.

Needless to say, not much sleep. Lots of hot glue.

Sam wanted to be a caterpillar. And after his teacher gave me a great idea, his costume was pretty simple. I bought a 12" diameter concrete mold from Home Depot, spray painted it, added some duct tape stripes and ribbon straps. Mix in a decorated hat and the costume was done.

Stephen's was a completely different story. I chose a cute Halloween costume idea from Family Fun magazine. It looked like a no-sew project, which is VERY IMPORTANT, as I do not sew! Had I read all of the directions (which I am notorious for not doing), I would have noticed that the final directions called for sewing. So his costume became a long, arduous process that required me to elicit outside help.

Skipping past a good bit of drama, by Friday, both costumes were done.

Saturday's dress rehearsal rolled around. Sam was very excited about his upcoming "caterpillar-ness." Stephen was saying, "I a beetle, Mommy. I a beetle, Mommy." Mommy was ready for it to all be over. We got to the church and the time came to don the costumes. Stephen began to protest.

"NO BEETLE!" He screamed. Then, the tears...big, ginormous, crocodile tears. After one last ditch effort to bribe him to wear the costume, I gave up. Not worth it. As one of my friends says, "we'll skip that battle and save our energy for tattoos and nose rings."

Other than Stephen's refusal to participate and the normal chaos that surrounds any large gathering of preschoolers, things went pretty well.

Then it was Sunday. Stephen was safely in Sunday School...far, far away from the beetle costume. Sam was in full caterpillar regalia....excited and so very ready to go. Since he is very sensitive to lights and sounds, I had made every attempt to prepare him for this moment. We were set to go. Performance time rolled around and our song began. We headed for our markers on stage, when suddenly....A GROWN MAN IN A SPIDER COSTUME DROPS FROM THE CEILING!!!

All of my attempts to prepare Sam for the lights and sounds were rendered meaningless. He stopped, and screamed "NOOOOOOOO," all the while scrambling for the nearest exit. Most of the other preschoolers were either terrified or mesmerized by the "man on a string." So needless to say, not much singing got done in the first service.

Sam refused to participate in the second service.

But the rest of the kids, now aware and prepared for "Spiderman," did a great job.

Here's Sam in his caterpillar costume.....


Here's Sam trying to sit down in his caterpillar costume...