On a Cold and Blustery Night...

Small sewing projects have been completed.  Costumes procured in the various ways - borrowing, hand me down, a small bit of making and of course lots of imagination.  Little girls protesting wildly the Mama mandate of long underwear worn under costumes ("But Mo-om!!!!") and being somewhat placated by the excitement of layering crinoline after crinoline under poofy skirts (after spending a childhood wearing these itchy undergarments to church each Sunday, I still shudder at the sight of them!).  We'll be spending a dark, chilly evening at the warm home of my cousin, wrapped up snug with family and friends, eating ourselves silly on tasty treats and ooohing and aahhing at the little costumed urchins who find their way to the front door.  A relatively new tradition, but one we all look forward to so much - with the possible exception of Daddy, who will be performing the task of dragging the little ones around a chilly neighborhood in search of candy.

We know not everyone celebrates Halloween, and we've even read many of the articles opposing it that circulate widely this time of year. I certainly understand the misgivings of others and the decision to just leave it all alone. Yet for us, in our little celebration of family, warmth, togetherness and love, we find a little dress up to be just the thing.  Another way of welcoming the changing of the seasons of the year and of the life of this little clan here. We eschew scary for sweet, haunting for happy, and encourage childlike imagination and expression.  We enjoy every moment, secure that although some celebrations going on this night are not pure and innocent, ours are.

So out they door they march, in all of their finery: Little Red, Alice (in Wonderland), a Hobbit, a Spiderman and a Tigers baseball player.  Out into the cold and blustery night, the 5 of them shining bright.

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