Bella’s Lullaby

Okay. So…it’s possible that I may need an attitude adjustment.

I just got mad at a guy for not being nice to me after I told him that he must have the wrong number.

There was no…”Oh! I’m sorry…or…okay, thanks…or…my bad.”

Just…click.

What is the world coming to if after an “I’m so sorry…you must have the wrong number…I hope you find who your lookin’ for” you get hung up on?

On another note…I’m really having trouble getting inspired to write about Halloween because I’m in full swing Holiday mode over here.

And might I add…contrary to what Chad Clarkson might think…I do NOT start playing Christmas music too early and therefore not give Thanksgiving the proper celebration that it deserves. I celebrate Thanksgiving plenty! I just happen to be THANKFUL for Christmas. Smile.

But tonight…as I reminisce on Halloween…I have to have Bella’s Lullaby piping in my ears to conjure up a little inspiration. So beautifully, hauntingly romantic.

We did have a magical Halloween. And as many of you know…I do up Holidays right. And Halloween has a special place in my heart because of old, childhood, Halloween, birthday party memories.

Many-a-birthday parties were in costume. And once I got a little older…I convinced my mother that we needed to rent the movie Halloween for my slumber party.

In hindsight…that was a big mistake. I’ve been traumatized ever since.

Apparently…I scare easy. Who knew?

Anyway…

According to every weather expert in the world…Thursday night in Houston was going to be a wash. It poured all day. We had planned to fill a friend’s pick up truck full of bales of hay for a hayride. We had bought pumpkins for the hayride. And we had talked up this hayride to the kids like nobody’s business. Only you can’t very well have a hay ride in the rain. So…we waited. And made plans to bring Halloween inside.

When I talked to my dad on Thursday…he said, “Don’t worry, darlin. It’s gonna clear. It’s gonna be good.”

And I listened to him.

And it did. And it was.

The puddin cup got to dress up for Ballet and Tap. I let her pick her costume for this. She chose the costume she wore last year. And…I was glad about this. Because…you may remember from last year that this is the costume that my mother made me when I was little. And seeing her in it does something to me. It just does.

But seeing her dance in it…well…

that just makes it even better. Like…infinitely.

We carved our pumpkin the night before Halloween. It’s pretty much dwindled down to me and the girls. The boys were watching the Red Sox win. But that’s ok. I know that I can’t force the magic. I knew that once I turned the lights off and lit the candle…they would feel something magical was happening…that they would gather around…and appreciate it. And they did.

The game was paused.

And we all stood around and admired how a small flame in a dark pumpkin could be beautiful.

She got to dress up for school on Halloween. But she had to be a book character. She chose to re-use the Little Red Riding Hood cape that my mom made for her 2 years ago. She had out grown the dress…

Thank you to Ann Ryskoski for making her this skirt in 2 days notice. You are just the bees knees.

Looking back…I love the rain in the background.

Chad got lucky…and the Red Sox won the world series the night before. So…he actually matched Red.

Aiden said that she wanted to be a vampire this year…and that she wanted me to be one too.

She had me at “vampire.”

I wish I could be as beautiful as my daughter. Sometimes…I can’t take my eyes off of her.

I thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world that night.

Annslee was Tinkerbell. I can’t tell you how much I love this costume. It was Aiden’s…way back when she was 3. And I kept it hung in the back of the closet…just in case.

We had “Izzy” from Jake and The Neverland Pirates.

And if these two don’t go together tonight…both straight out of the Peter Pan Fairytale…then I don’t know what does.

Aiden and her best friend stuck close together…whispering and running from house to house without a care in the world…which is as it should be, if you ask me.

It was a good group. and there’s something to be said for a good group. You are down right lucky to be a part of one.

Every one of these children are so beautiful. It almost makes me cry looking at them. (Admittedly…it could have something to do with Bella’s Lullaby on repeat as well.)

Elvis showed up.

Colt didn’t dress up…but he did help out watching the kids on the trick-or-treat run. We had quite a few to keep up with. He met up with a few friends along the way.