Favorite Photo Friday

In Your Eyes

Day Eleven of the Gratitude Challenge: Try to see the world through the eyes of a child. Think about the things you take for granted on a daily basis, and then express gratitude for everything down to the basic necessities that sustain your current life.

For the second year in a row, we were invited to attend a Halloween garden party hosted by the parents of one of Jeep's former classmates. The family has an amazing lakefront property with a truly wonderful garden and they do a spectacular job of transforming it into a Halloween wonderland! Thanks in large part to the Gratitude Challenge, I was able to focus on the joy in the eyes of my children, rather than comparing their lot in life to mine. I don't have a home on the lake or a boat or a nanny or a gardener, but even so I am abundantly blessed. My bountiful basics include:

*Healthy, beautiful, smart, delightful children
*A loving, talented, funny, handsome husband
*A warm home - we even have a garage (so grateful on cold days)
*Two cars that carry us where we need and want to go
*Amazing friends and family members that always support me
*Plenty to eat (maybe even a little too much)
*A faith community that accepts and inspires me
*Natural beauty all around me

At the party on Saturday I especially loved Jeeper's ease as he ran through all the various parts of the Spooky Garden (he assured me it wasn't really spooky at all) and CeCe's absolute delight at the fun food (she thought cheese puffs were divine.) I watched my kids getting great joy out of the simple little things and realized that I can too! Jeep enjoyed every party game and CeCe loved the pretty decorations everywhere. I admired the bountiful vegetable garden (still producing!) and the creative touches, especially the fun wine labels (Ghoul's Blood was delicious.) It was a GREAT afternoon and I can't wait to go back again next year.

Favorite Photo Friday

The Cutest Chicken on the Farm!

My Halloween History

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. When I was a kid, my mom made great handmade outfits for my brothers and me (she was a 4-H sewing champ) and I'm crazy for sweets so you'd think I would be a fan. However, I am w-i-m-p-y about anything scary so the whole haunted side of the holiday gives me the creeps. When I do celebrate, I carve happy Jack-o-lanterns, choose cheery costumes and skip the cobwebs, tombstones and werewolf howls.

I remember being excited for the Halloween haunted house at my elementary school. The teachers warned us that once we started to go through, we had to finish. There would be no early exits; no exceptions. I stepped through the door, heard the spooky music and immediately started bawling. I cried so hard they quickly made an exception to their "no exception" policy. No more haunted houses for me. I've never watched a horror movie and could only bear to watch Michael Jackson's Thriller video with one eye open. I'm a fan of The Simpsons and I faithfully TiVo each new show, but I'm not recording this week's annual "Treehouse of Horror" episode since I can't even handle scary cartoons.

In addition to the creep factor, Halloween ranks low on my holiday list because I don't enjoy dressing up. Some people love the challenge of creating a costume, but I don't! I never come up with very good ideas plus I just fret. Will I be uncomfortable? Will I be too dressed up? Or worse, not dressed up enough? Like the year I came to work as a gardener and no one even noticed that I was in costume. Because it is so common to wear overalls, a straw hat and galoshes to the office. Nevermind that I had my hair in pigtails and a spade in my front pocket. Argh.

When we moved into our house a few years ago, I started to get a little more excited for Halloween. It is fun to hand out candy and see the neighborhood cuties all dressed up (even though the doorbell rings only about 5 times thanks to the dark, rainy October nights here in Seattle). Last year we stayed in, dressed four-month old Jeeper in Halloween themed pajamas and answered the door. No stressful creative costuming and nothing scary. My perfect "all-hallows eve."

Jeep loves dogs, so this year I got him a puppy costume and made plans with a friend to take our babes to University Village for trick-or-treating. I told myself I was doing the right thing for the photo album and then prepared for some twoodler (like tween) fits of frustration. When one of my colleagues wished Jeep "lots of fun" on Halloween I responded with the observation that Halloween isn't exactly fun for one year olds. Not that it is torture, but fun for a one year old is a familiar place (like home) and an enthusiastic audience (especially one that will clap, cheer, sing and rough-house). Fun isn't big crowds, sitting for photos, wearing a weird hood or being urged to put treats in a basket.

I was right, Jeeper didn't burst into grins or giggles at any point during our Halloween adventures. He tolerated his hood, carefully observed all the commotion and took his treat taking very seriously. But what surprised me, in addition to his good behavior, was how much fun I had! The cool autumn air, the energy of all the families, the ease of a being with a good friend and the cuteness of my son together with the sugar high from a few mini candy bars made me into one happy Halloween mama. I'm already looking forward to celebrating Halloween as a family in the future. Just as long as I don't have to wear a costume any time soon.