Don’t tell anyone but I have never liked Halloween. And now I like it even less.

As a child, I found the costumes itchy and I was often disappointed by having to wear a winter coat over the itchy costume for cold, New England trick or treating. It seemed really unjust to suffer through the itch when no one even saw the costume.

When I grew older, finding costumes was horribly stressful. I didn’t want my costumes to look overdone so I tended to ere on the side of caution. I was a witch or a black cat for most of my teen and college years.  And then I would be disappointed when other people looked better and more creative than I did.

There were a few years when the girls were young and I could tolerate Halloween because who doesn’t love an infant dressed as a pumpkin? But then, the girls grew older and actually began to have opinions on what they would wear and it turns out, costumes are still itchy.

This year, Katherine chose a costume pretty early on but Caroline has been procrastinating. She is solidly on my side with this whole Halloween thing (don’t tell anyone else this either) and is really only in it for the candy. Therefore, choosing a costume has been pretty low on her priority list.

Over the weekend though, reality hit and I ventured in to Party City on my own to find something for Caroline to wear. I am so glad that I was by myself because I was able to stare at the wall of costumes and let my jaw drop to the floor. I have been reading articles and blog posts about the over sexualzation of girl’s and women’s costumes for a long time but I think I had forgotten how bad it truly is. The costumes on display were lingerie and nothing more.

Now as I sit and type this, I wonder what I have done to contribute to the problem. I bought a costume. It was the best of the bad. A witch costume with far too much lace but long sleeved and floor length. What I should have done is left the store, taught myself to sew and created an appropriate costume before Thursday. But I didn’t do that (obviously) and also for Caroline’s sake. She is of an age where she wants to do what her friends are doing and I remember that age well.

I struggle to find the balance between passing my values and beliefs on to the girls and allowing them to form their own opinions. For now that struggle takes the form of a lacy but long witch’s costume. Perhaps by next year, I will have a better answer but now, the best of the bad was the best I could do.

 

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“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” 

-Thich Nhat Hanh

For more moments, visit Amanda’s Soule Mama where she describes her Friday posts this way, “A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.”

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Over the summer, I wrote about our return to picture books. I am so glad that we remembered that sometimes there is nothing better to do than sit down and read a few books.

Here are a few of latest favorites…

Ball by Mary Sullivan. Ball is an ingenious book about a girl, her dog and a ball, told all with one word. A fun read aloud and a perfect Read Together book.

Black Dog by Levi Pinfold. Black Dog starts with the line, “One day, a black dog came to visit the Hope family.” While this seems like a pretty simple start, Black Dog is actually a tale with pretty big questions.

Hello, My Name is Ruby by Phillip C. Stead. Hello, My Name is Ruby tells the story of a little bird in this big, big world as she searches for a friend.

Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin. Secret Pizza Party is a laugh out loud story of a raccoon in search of a pizza. A weird premise for sure but a super fun read.

 

 

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You know those weeks when you wake up in the morning and before you sit down again it’s time to put the children to bed? Or if you are a blog writer, those weeks in which you wish you really did a better job of writing blog posts ahead of time?

You get the idea…

So I thought it would fun to share a few things that are going well this week.

1. We were lucky enough to watch Caroline play a soccer game with this view as a backdrop.

2. Katherine has the most fabulous teacher who took the time to write her this amazing note.

3. And all our trees are looking like this

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The girls have been pumpkin picking with Rob’s parents and sister’s family since they looked like this:

This year they rode to the farm in their grandpa’s car (the same on that Rob drove to high school), big enough to wear only lap belts for the short ride,

and they look like this.

Please insert your favorite ‘time is moving ridiculously fast’ cliche here.

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“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ~ Confucius

For more moments, visit Amanda’s Soule Mama where she describes her Friday posts this way, “A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.”

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In my Twitterature post earlier this week, I promised more about The Real Boy, a new middle grade novel by Anne Ursu, author of Breadcrumbs. I finished reading The Real Boy yesterday and am definitely still thinking about it.

I often bemoan the fact that Caroline does not like reading fantasy books. It really limits her choices and frankly, I am running out of realistic fiction to recommend to her. But then I remember that I don’t really like fantasy either so maybe I should stop complaining. All that said, I will be recommending The Real Boy to her for sure. While we don’t like fantasy, we both love Harry Potter and dare I say it, The Real Boy has a touch of that feel to it. Interestingly, I’ve read a lot of reviews of The Real Boy and others aren’t drawing that comparison so maybe I’m a bit off but I’m going to stick with it.

The Real Boy tells the story of Oscar, a hand to a magician in a land that serves the shining people of the city. There are questions of magic, friendship and what is, indeed, real. Oscar is different from others and watching him learn how to communicate with people, while forging a friendship with the Healer’s apprentice, Callie, is amazing to watch.

The Real Boy is certainly worth the time spent to read it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

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I found this fun survey at the wonderful A Design So Vast earlier this week. And Lindsey had found it at Cakes, Teas and Dreams before that. I took a few liberties and edited out a few questions but the idea is the same. Please do play along if you are so inclined…

Author from whom you’ve read the most books: Jodi Picoult

Best Sequel Ever: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Currently Reading: The Real Boy by Anne Ursu

Drink of Choice While Reading: Coffee (in the morning), water (mid-day and night) or tea (afternoon)

E-reader or Physical Book? Both. As much as I like the real thing, I must admit that I really do love my Kindle. 

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance: Open by Andre Agassi. Rob tried to get me to read it for years and when I finally did, I was glad.

Important Moment in your Reading Life: Just recently when I realized that I didn’t have to finish every book I start.

Just Finished: A Walk Across the Sun

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read: Science Fiction.

Longest Book You’ve Read: Gone With The Wind

Major book hangover because of: Meet Me At Harry’s. I cried so hard that I woke up the next morning with a serious headache. 

Number of Bookcases You Own: This is a touchy subject. For all that I love in our new house, we are short on bookcases. I must get to work on this. 

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times: Little Women. 

Preferred Place To Read: My bed. 

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read: “A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.” -C.S. Lewis

Reading Regret: That it took me so long to realize I didn’t have to finish every book I start

Three of your All-Time Favorite Books: This question stresses me out so I am going to revise it to read, “Three of my favorite reads this year”… Me Before You, Tell the Wolves I’m Home and Wonder

Unapologetic Fangirl For: Patricia Cornwell. We used to live in Richmond, VA so reading these books is like taking a trip back to our old city. 

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others: Kelly Corrigan’s Glitter and Glue

Your latest book purchase: Still Writing

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Anne, at Modern Mrs. Darcy, hosts a wonderful monthly reading round up called Twitterature in which writers are asked to create short, Twitter-style reviews of their recent reads. It’s a fun and easy way to learn what people are loving and in some cases, leaving.

This was a strange reading month for me but one in which I remembered something important about my reading style. I can not read more than one book at a time without struggling to finish any one of them.

I did read one book for my library book club and one middle grade books this month but the rest of what I will list here includes books that I have started but not finished. Perhaps next month, I will have completed some of these titles and can return with a more full report.

So… here are a few of my recent reads.

A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addision. This was our library book club book so with some hesitation I finished. The topic was hard to read; sex trafficking of young girls. The author displayed so much knowledge of the subject that I found myself wishing he had written non-fiction as the story itself felt a bit contrived.

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan. A middle grade read that felt a little too sad to recommend to my middle grade daughter. Willow, a 12 year old adoptee who struggles with fitting in must continue her journey alone as both of her parents are killed in a car accident. Sad stuff but very well written story.

Elevate the Everyday by Tracey Clark. I am loving this book that accompanies an on-line photography class that I am enjoying. The book includes photographic tips, inspiration and essays that are all equally motivating.

Five Days at Memorial by Sherry Fink. I have not finished this amazing report of life at Memorial Hospital in the days following Hurricane Katrina but I will. It is an incredibly well written and researched story that the world should hear. Some pretty wild decisions were made in this time of suffering.

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu. There is definitely an entire blog post to come about this middle grade read. I hope that big things happen with this book because so far, it is incredible. More to come.

You can read more in this series here, here, and here.

 

 

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This morning, Caroline, in her ever increasing ‘tween-ness’, asked, “Why are you always taking pictures these days?”

I answered simply. Because it’s fun. Or something along those lines. But then the more I thought about it, the more I realized it is just because of this ‘tween-ness.’ Because I am suddenly realizing how fast it is all going. How if you are walking the dog, and you aren’t thinking with a camera in mind, you walk right by the picture above. Just some leaves on the grass really but the light was falling at just the right angle and the orange was so orange and the green was so green.

I am often torn between learning how to use my ‘real’ camera and just accepting the fact that for me, a forgetful soul, the iPhone camera is the greatest invention ever. I always have my phone with me  or else I break in to hives (a post for a another day) so I always, always have a camera. And with that, I have become someone who pays attention, someone who notices. And for that, I am grateful.

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