We also find ourselves in the crescendo of the year, where we prepare, anticipate, and soak up these holidays with tradition and fun, but at the same time feel and hear a buildup or increase in volume that often permeates this time of year. It can all get a little overwhelming and quite loud at times, but I also love that this season calls me in at the same time. Inside my house, where the fire is on and we long to huddle as a family, and inside my head and heart, as I seem to feel more things and reflect more deeply on the year, these important seasons, and where we're all headed as a new year approaches. And the beauty of it all is that it's all music. The crescendos, full of buildup and excitement...the forte moments that are loud and overpowering...and those sweet piano moments where the world gets soft and you have to move in a little bit closer to hear the beauty.
Our Halloween was full of all three of these musical elements. The forte moments that included balancing school parties and parades, costumes shoved in backpacks and missing kitty headbands and pumpkin guts flying on kitchen walls because Beau decided he would incorporate a drill in this year's pumpkin carving. We had some crescendo moments, too, like that half hour period of time when I picked Cruz up from school, raced home to pick up Mom and Dad and Mila to head downtown for trick-or-treating, trying to find appropriate winter gear that would fit under costumes all while Cruz's laser guns and Mila's request for just one more piece of candy were making my head pound. But oh the piano moments that always find their way into these holidays, sweet moments that surprise us and make us stop, slow down, and smile at how much we love them and how truly blessed we are to raise them. These are the days when the music plays and we dance in circles to this beautiful melody of parenting.
Our Halloween, 2017...
...A Sunday of pumpkin carving. The kids lasted for about six minutes, Mila enough to scoop one spoonful of pumpkin seeds out on the table, and Cruz to draw a pumpkin person for Daddy to work his carving magic on. Carving magic that included a drill to which he says is his best technique yet. My table, wall, and floor might have disagreed.
One of my friends posted a perfect analogy on Facebook - pumpkin carving is a lot like childbirth. After it's done, you kind of forget how hard and painful the process is. So then you joyfully do it again the next year. ;)
I captured some classic "Mila" videos this Halloween, including this one where she is telling me off. "I'm scooping the BEANS, you know this." We didn't roast our pumpkin beans this year because someone else was too busy getting roasted!
Our three little pumpkins this year: Tinkerbell, Cruz's very own creation, and a deformed Storm Trooper. The Jorgensens have many gifts, but pumpkin carving isn't one of them!
...One of my favorite November traditions is our family's thankful tree. We collected our sticks early this year, which gave me the idea to break out the tree a little early and use it for some Halloween fun. I love me some trick-or-treat pictures from years' passed, and it was fun to spread these little wallet-size prints from the last seven years on the table. A little practice in ornament hanging, and a reminder of just how much baby Cruz and Mila looked alike.
...Getting to do holidays with this little spirit girl. She wore her kitty ears for three days prior to Halloween and I loved dressing her in lots of festive black to go along with the season. My favorite was one morning when she created quite the ensemble to go with her super bunny shirt (a bunny shirt with a cape velcroed to the back). All on her own, she found a pink fuzzy eared headband, a few glitzy bead necklaces, and a pair of flashy sunglasses, and came strolling into the bathroom asking if she could wear a super bunny costume to school. As if that is even a question. ;)
A fun fun Halloween Eve. I've discovered I love the "eve" of these holidays as much, if not more, than the day itself. It's the anticipation of it all. Just like a good lesson plan, you have to start with a hook, creating the mood and engaging your audience. And for Halloween Eve, I did this while Beau took Cruz to piano lessons. I lit candles and played Halloween music, set the table with some leftover Halloween napkins I found downstairs, and created quite the spooktacular feast with a 1/2 tsp. of black food coloring in my spaghetti water. I hope these nights around the table are what pop into the kids' heads as they someday look back on these holidays.
...We are a hot lunch family and I have drawn a line in the sand when it comes to packing a lunch for my kid 180 days in a row. Cruz has mostly obliged to being a hot lunch kid, however still asks about cold lunch every few months. So on Halloween morning, I made Cruz's cold lunch dreams come true when I handed him a surprise lunch bag right before he hopped on the bus. It was fun putting this together for him, writing him a little note, and picturing him unzipping his bag and discovering his surprise, BUT, I am happy to remain a hot lunch mom for the other 179 days of the school year. ;)
...Trick-or-Treating down Main Street was fun, but much colder than the last few years. Papa joined us this year, and then Daddy joined us at Toads for cheeseburgers after downtown thinned out. Highlights this year included meeting Buddy the Elf, spotting our favorite Phantom atop the Oster Regent, and seeing the cutest little baby dressed as John Snow in a wagon transformed into the Iron Throne.
We came back for more trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, but Mila and I decided we had enough candy. So while Beau, Cruz, and the neighbors made their way around our busy neighborhood, Mila and I stayed warm and content passing out candy from our porch. This was my piano moment of this Halloween, watching her take on this role in the sweetest of ways as she acted much older than three, kindly greeted trick-or-treaters much taller than her with her "Happy Halloweens!" and "I like your costumes!" and then commenting as they left to "Stay warm!" Then she'd climb back up on the bench, quietly as can be as she awaited more footsteps on our porch steps.
...And finally, the candy sort! We turned in six pounds of candy yesterday at the dentist, walked away with $18 total, and still have a few favorites stowed away to get us through to Christmas. It was a good Halloween!
Happy weekend, friends! May you enjoy the music of these days and especially these holidays - the pianos, the fortes, and yep, even the crescendos!
No comments:
Post a Comment