Creating a Super-Fly Guy!!

About a month ago, my oldest tells me about a Flag Football game his grade does at the end of the year. They split up into four teams, pick names, logos, etc, and everyone plays a part, even if it's just as "spectator". I figured he would just take pictures, since he'd worked on Yearbook all year, and was known as "Hey! Camera Guy" by half the student body. He tells me, no, he wants to be a mascot. OK, I say, hoping it won't be a complicated thing, seeing as I don't DO complicated. I am not the mom who sews costumes or creates dioramas out of macaroni unless under extreme duress. Or bribery. No problem, he says, it will be easy, and he's on top of it.

A couple of weeks later, he tells me he is one of two mascots for his team! Yay! I say. So...what's the team name? He says, "Super Fly"! I ask, like Super Fly Guy?

He says, no, and he's all disappointed because he actually WANTED to dress up like a fly, continuing to earn his nickname of goofball. Turns out,they are supposed to be Super Fly like cool guys in suits. OK, I say doubtfully, but that sounds like a lot of work to me! He assures me everything is under control.

Remember me mentioning how my kids are not supposed to spring things on me at the last minute, because I tend to freak, and yell, and get all sweaty? Just so you know, even when they give me tons of notice, about 75% of the time we end up doing the project at the last minute anyway, causing me to freak out, yell, and get all sweaty - what can you do? Well, THIS time, I am determined to Make It Work!

The day before the game, I drive through McDonald's, pick up 2 iced coffees with an extra shot of espresso, pick him up from school, and hit the Goodwill. It is 97 degrees, but we are now hyped up on caffeine and ready to go! Oh yeah, forgot to mention, the team colors were green and purple, so we were aiming for that in the suit. Think of the guys in suits in the 70's, with the ladies, and the long cars,(I think you know what kind) to get an idea. We head for the back where the suits are, and there it is. It is dark green, almost an emerald color. It is shiny. It has a long jacket. It is obviously too big for him, but it has potential. The jacket and pants are $6.99 together. It has a LOT of potential. We look around a little more, but don't see else that would really work, and head to Wal-Mart, where you can find anything if you look long enough.

We hit pay-dirt again with a purple colored, short sleeved collared shirt, also shiny, woo hoo! With a hat and sunglasses, he resembles the Blues Brothers, only you know, in day-glow colors.

I take him and our haul home, and start working on shortening the pants. This is where the sweating starts. The legs are tapered. That means if you are shortening them 6 inches or more (as we were) you can't just sew them across. I end up bunching up the extra against the side seams, sewing furiously, and hoping no one will be looking at his legs that much anyway! Meanwhile, the toddler really wants to sit next to me and "help" me sew, the 6 yr old is looking for a missing game controller, and the 9 yr old is debating with daddy about what kind of pizza we are getting for dinner, because you KNOW I'm not cooking tonight! They decide on cheeseburger (with pickles!) and smokehouse BBQ chicken, bacon, and pineapple. I mentioned we like weird food, right?

Finally get the pants done, and we eat. We then start playing Lego Rock Band, complete with the toddler and 6 yr old yelling the lyrics to "We Will Rock You", and the oldest rocking the heck out of whatever given to him to sing. At 8:45p, he mentions, Hey, what about the jacket? Ooops, ADHD strikes again! We grab the jacket, look it over, decide we will just have to roll the sleeves, Miami Vice Style, and call it good. He puts everything on, and I glance at hubby's cane and say, Ooh, I wish you could use that as a prop! Well, why not? Along with one of dad's ties, it is the finishing touch, and he is, indeed, Super Fly. Check out the slightly blurry pic at the bottom of my post to see for yourself.

He has to be to school early (even earlier than usual) and as I drop him off and watch him walk off to class, I am both proud and stunned at his confidence. I love costumes, and have worn many over the years, but never to school, and none that looked that good!! I can't wait until he gets home and tells me about it!

UPDATE: Well, Jimmy's team finished 4th (out of 4 teams), and he was the only mascot on his team, but I think he still had fun! Most missed photo opportunity: His friend was a mascot on another team, and he was dressed as a Scotsman, kilt, axe and all, and they play fought cane vs axe in the hall! I would have paid real money to see
that!!