Halloween 2009 - Celebrating "The Princess and the Frog"

So I tried my darndest to keep this year's costumes a secret, but I was bursting with such excitement that I leaked to a few of you!  As most of you probably know by now Disney will introduce the first African-American princess in fairy tale history in "The Princess and the Frog."  I'm beyond delighted about this because the implied message of Princess Tiana is that African-American girls can be as elegant and beautiful as Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, and all the other European Disney princesses. 

Princess Tiana symbolizes a culture-changing standard of feminine beauty and it was important to me to share with the world just how beautiful and important Tiana is to our community!  So in honor of this cultural milestone I decided that we would go as characters from The Princess and the Frog - well, the Etheridge family version, anyway (lol).

I mentioned yesterday that we had "big plans" for Chase's first Halloween.  Well, before leaving for our function we enjoyed a mini-photo session in the Enchanted Garden (a la our backyard).

The Tale of the Princess and the Frog

There once lived a beautiful Princess named Tiana who lived in an Enchanted Castle far away.  She had but one friend, a handsome young frog named Chase.  He had once been a prince but many years ago was turned into a frog after a witch cast an evil spell.



To become a real person again all the frog needed was the kiss from a princess.
 


One magical evening, while waltzing in the Enchanted Garden...



Princess Tiana decided to give her frog friend a kiss!



And POOF... the Frog Prince became a handsome, big, strong King!
 


And they all lived happily ever after in their Enchanted Kingdom! 

The End

(Ha ha, a tad Oedipal, I know.  Told ya it was the Etheridge family rendition :-)

So Chase's very first Halloween celebration was spent in.... none other than The Village - how absolutely classic New York, right?  LOL!!!  Before the mayhem and chaos of the Annual Halloween Parade ensued we attended Halloween Fun Day in Greenwich Village.

We had a really nice time!  Chase of course loves music and was intrigued by the assortment of instruments available to play (and eat, of course!)  Oh, and might I add, we were quite popular in our Princess Tiana and Frog Prince costume - we were the only coordinating family! 

  

Just arriving at the Halloween event

Chase cooling out after dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

 

Chase posing with one of his new friends!

 

Chase and Daddy

Chase and Mommy with "Kids at Work" founder and owner Julie Averill

 

The only other mom of color - we met and chatted after the baby segment.  She was actually bringing her daughter to the toddler segment which followed.
 

 

Chase and Daddy at his grandparent's house after the event

I think it's safe to say that Chase thoroughly enjoyed his first Halloween!  Aaaah, and he has no idea that his mom is a Halloween-fiend and that the best is yet to come - but he'll find out soon enough!!!! *wicked witch laugh*

Hope you enjoyed your Halloween celebration - be safe tonight!

Comments

[Elita @ Blacktating]

I am late coming to this post, but these costumes are amazing! I know you guys were the best dressed. Fab!

[Stephanie @ MomTV]

OMG this is adorable... you have such a beautiful family! Thanks for sharing!

[latoya]

ur amazing. love the costumes. chase is sooo adorable with that smile! good times. :-)

[Bika]

oh and i like your hair...is it just wet with mousse or something?

[Bika]

omg these pics are so cute! best costume idea ever! chase makes my heart melt...and lmao @ that wicked witch laugh at the end...o lord..

[pat]

love your Dress!!!!!!!!
www.momsbestbets.blogspot.com

[Melissa]

You are by far the most fantastically dressed up family I have ever seen on Halloween. Just precious. You look amazing. Little Froggy?!? I mean, seriously???? No words. And your very own Prince Charming. How charming?!?! So great!

[adiaha]

OMG! Can I just tell you that your son is so beautiful!

OMG! How do you convince your hubby to dress up? Mine always looks at me sideways when I suggest that he participate in a little dress up fun!

OMG! Where did you get that costume? I want one too! no secret that I am no fan of Disney, but they did an amazing job on Tiana, she is just beautiful. I bought the Carol's Daughter grooming set for Alana....

OMG! you guys look great in those costumes!

[Jameil]

Too cute! Very creative & a great idea!

[Lisa]

Girl, you rocked that costume!! You look beautiful. Where did u get that anyway?? The frog is handsome too ;)

[Felisha]

I simply love this post! The costumes are wonderful...the photos are beautiful.

[Carissa]

AWWWW! These costumes are too cute. I remember your many Halloween posts on Xanga, and knew something creative would be in store this year. Your son was the cutest frog I've ever seen.

You guys should enter some of those photos in contests. I guarantee you would win.

[fefe]

OMG !!! you three are absolutely adorable. Kini you are a princess, what a beautiful family :o)

fefe

[Alisa N.]

OMG this was so adorable!!!

[Danielle]

I saw this posting before I left today for church. It brought a smile on my face especially since i was in a sour mood in the morning!

[Nika]

Kini you look so beautiful! Chase looks adorable, what a beautiful family :)

[Kee]

Awwww! Too adorable... you guys are such a beautiful family. I love it!

[Auntie Nabs]

am i the only one who is going to clown derek for rocking sweatpants and a t-shirt beneath this kingly attire?? buuuuuurst!!!! he knows he was wrong for that!! hahahahahahahah!!!

man, yall all looked truly dashing!!! u were the perfect and ideal tiana. loved the pictorial story yall shot with the pics, sooo cute and creative! the enchanted garden was lovely as well!

[Sibo]

omg i loooove this!!!! you don't play when it comes to halloween boy, lol, you ALWAYS come correct with the costumes! and i love derek for being such a good sport, hehe...what a handsome king he makes! and of course you look absolutely gorgeous!! (where the heck did you find this costume??) and chase - my goodness!!! how adorable is he in that frog costume?! LOL! aww, i absolutely loved this post..

[michelle]

Absolutely adorable!! I'm blown away!

[Pat]

I can't tell you how cute the three of you are!

[DadontheRise]

MomontheRise made me, her hubby, check out your costumes and I must say they are fantastic. We like to dress up for Halloween too and it seems like Halloween spirit is dying around us, but great to see others who like to get decked out. Really great costumes. We already have the next two Halloweens family costumes planned out and next year we as a family will be much more coordinated. This year Halloween crept up on us and we ended up being three different things all together, but not next year.

[Kristina brooke]

OMG- I love it!!!!!!!!!!!! We were going to be a coordinating family too but things didn't work out the way that we wanted it to. But you guys look absolutely beautiful! You know, with us being in NY it's a shame that we don't get together. We should soon.

[Tara]

Yes! Yes! Yes! Soooo cute! I'm jealous - where did you get your costume? I hadn't seen the Princess Tiana dress in adult sizes...

And you had your princess poses DOWN! Look at you - looks like someone missed their calling. :)

[MommaSunshine]

What adorable costume ideas! I love this! :)

[NYCityMama]

How cute...OMG...you look GORGEOUS!!!!! I absolutely love this!!!

[Nikki @ Blasian Baby Notes]

OMG the cuteness factor is extreme! Ya;ll win for best family costumes! LOL.

[NYCSingleMom]

How adorable, I remember those days when you get to dress your child in whatever costume. Love that you and your husband join in the Halloween spirit. You both look fab.

my daughter went as a vampire this year.

www.newyorkcitysinglemom.com

[Neeki]

This is one of my absolute favourite posts, Ya! I'm thrilled Disney is finally illustrating that African-American girls can be beautiful, graceful role models too. And it's so fab you found a Princess Tiana costume so early on - but then again if it can be found, you'll find it. Chase looks so darn cute, I just want to eat him up!

[Tati]

OMG! This was the absolute best I've ever seen! This must go on FB immediately!! :) New Profile pics!! Yeahhh!

[Alanda]

You guys are too much. What a cool Halloween family photo! Darn, I need to get more in the spirit of Halloween. Now I see why the tweet for the green gloves, LOL!