Halloween... Part One

Part One - All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

I got the family dressed to the hilt as the crew from The Wizard of Oz. Claire was a darling Dorothy, Matt was a VERY reluctant Tin Man, I was Glinda the Good Witch, Sam was a very Friendly (not cowardly) Lion and August was a teeeny Scarecrow. 

Finally ended up at Grandma and Grandpa Stout's for a family picture, at least.

I made everyone's costumes except for Claire's and had been preparing for a week. If you know me at all, I never miss a chance to dress up, or dress-up those around me. Now that I have twins, I have added greatly to my prop department and my cast in my own little Lauren theater, and I'm delighted beyond words.

After about two hours, the family was completely ready to go Trunk-or-Treating at our friend's church. We were walking out the door when we realized there was a serious mess at home that we had to clean up (long story, won't bore you with the details), but it made us an hour late and we missed the entire thing. I was desperate to make it up to Claire, as I heard her sitting in the back seat, all dressed up with tears in her voice, ask me "Mommy, is it over? Do I not get any candy? Did we miss it?" 

A big mess on our hands

Matt and I had to think on our feet quickly. As soon as we arrived to the parking lot, Matt said I should hurry and take Claire as quickly as I could to any cars that were still giving treats and he would handle the twins. Over and over people said, "Sorry, we're all out. You should have come earlier..." I told them it wasn't her fault and we were late and the sweetest thing happened. Children started coming up to Claire and giving her their candy from their own basket. As we all know, candy has quite high value, as your only currency when you are that young. So, to see these children understand that my little girl was sad and there was a need there, was precious. It is a simple thing, and I know people have much greater problems than this, but anytime I see someone show an example of love and kindness to my child I count it as a gem in her life path.

After only 10 minutes of "Trunk or Treating" we went over to Matt's parents so someone could at least see us all dressed up, and maybe we could get the family picture we didn't have time for in our rush to leave the house. We had a wonderful time with them and I was sure to make Claire recognize the example of love and kindness she saw tonight. Definitely not a loss at all....