Happy Halloween!

I feel like I said this same thing last year, but trick or treating ("tuck or treating," as Freddie calls it, for some reason) was as much fun as a family oughta be allowed to have. We had the traditional dinner at Dolly's before Jeremy, Mrs. Pressley, and I walked Spider-man and a triceratops up and down Penn Avenue, which, I'll have you know, is the place to be when it comes to Halloween in Canton.  Both boys did great. We even ran into several families we knew, which was really fun. The weather, too, was PERFECT - cool but not cold, meaning no costumes were ruined by the necessity of wearing a jacket, like that year (1982) Mom made me wear a turtleneck under my off-the-shoulder Fairy Godmother costume (one day, I'll get over that; maybe).

Once we got back to Dolly's, the boys again helped to dole out candy to the trick or treaters. They honestly enjoy this part of the evening every bit as much as they do going after candy of their own.

After we got the boys in bed, Jeremy and I discussed how we can probably only count on six, MAYBE seven more Halloween outings like that. That's truly a spooky thought, but a nite like tonite is nothing but a sweet, sweet treat we will savor for many Octobers to come.

I decided to dress up on Monday nite. The boys are always
after me to go in costume, and when I remembered the Snow
White race costume I'd bought for a RunDisney event,
I decided I had no excuse not to join in the fun.

When Freddie first saw me in my costume, he said, "Can you
fly?" He thought for most of the evening that I was Super Girl
before hugging my leg and saying, "my Princess Mama."

I really appreciate whomever is taking
the time to decorate Canton so well!

The buckets from Kevin Eure will be a
mainstay of our Halloween celebrations
until they can't care any more candy.

Nana always comes bearing treats of her own!

Pre-K Super Hero Day!

Freddie's Halloween got off to an early start, as he celebrated Super Hero Day in Mrs. Burke's class. Because his Spider-Man costume is a one-piece deal that covers him from tip to toe, I told him it wasn't a good idea to wear that one to school. I offered to find a different Spider-Man costume, but he wanted to mix it up. 

Enter Dash Incredible.

I didn't get any good pictures, because we got there literal seconds before school started, and I hated to delay their day by making Freddie pose. Still, I snapped a few to help him remember this special day in Pre-K.

Pumpkin Patch at last

After talking about it for most of the last month, the boys and I FINALLY made our traditional trip to the Waynesville United Methodist Church pumpkin patch. We didn't need a pumpkin - which was good, because they didn't have many left - but we did need to get our traditional pictures at the patch.

School has made it really hard to get there this year. We rush out first thing in the morning, and when I pick the boys up, the light outside is too bright, making photo shoots ill-advised. Today, though, I didn't care about all that. I just cared about upholding the tradition that makes the boys point and say, "There's the punkin' patch" every time we pass the church, no matter what time of year.

In fact, we often joke about going to the Methodist Church for "pumpkins and pancakes" (their annual Pancake Day in February is another highlight of the year). A traditionalist like me couldn't end the tradition, so spontaneously after school, we stopped at the pumpkin patch. The boys outfits weren't at all fall-like (they were still in pink for HCA's Breast Cancer Awareness Day), and the pumpkins had almost all been bought.

But we did it.

Pumpkins? Check.

Next up, pancakes.

Dancin' Man

Of all the things he's done in his life - two trips to Disney World, countless days at Dollywood, Boston, Marco Island, annual visits to Pawleys Island, Rupp Arena, Great American Ballpark, on and on and on and on - his favorite thing EVER may very well be the thing he did tonite. Tonite, he attended a Sock Hop. Yes. THAT kind of a Sock Hop.                                                                              

Hosted by HCA's sophomore class, which is trying to raise money for a trip to the Creation Museum, the Sock Hop has been circled on Jones's calendar, since the upperclassmen visited the kindergarteners on the playground. The big kids asked the littler ones if they'd be interested in coming. I picked Jones up that day, and the first thing he said to me was, "Mama, would you like to come back to my school NOT for school but to DANCE?"  He was so fired up about the idea. It was the first thing he mentioned to Freddie when he got in the car, too, and he told his daddy when we called to check in, as well. He also told his Catechism teachers. Suffice it to say, he was more than ready when the nite finally came. 

We showed up to the dance, and as I took some pictures beforehand, it was like his new jean jacket - which he loves, by the way - took on a life of its own. It suddenly became a leading character in the play of the nite. I was cracking up at how naturally he knew how to manipulate it. Jeremy and I had planned a "date nite" with Freddie. Jones didn't want us to leave, though, until his buddies Noel and Josiah (Mrs. Clackett's children) got there, so we waited, and as soon as they arrived, we took off, landing at Snappy's in Maggie Valley. 

When we got back, we were treated to a vision of Jones, dancing all by himself in a corner of the dance floor. He was shaking his hips, like his daddy had told him to before we left for dinner, but when the music took over, he busted out moves I have never seen him do before. It.was.spectacular. I have honestly never seen him enjoy anything more than he did this dance.

As I walked out to the car, Jones danced in front of me, still feeling the beat of the music in the next room. With those limber legs and unconventional moves, there's a chance we've got a baby Bob Fosse on our hands. 

Regardless, it was one of the most thrilling things of my life to see my baby boy doing something he loves so much.