Dressing up...

We've come to really enjoy our Halloween tradition...sharing it with our dear friends. We concentrate on the sweet/fun dress-up side of the holiday and shun the icky, scary parts. This is last year's picture of the younger ones from our two families. You'll see a similar photo from this year at the end of the post.

These guys looked pretty awesome a few years back...and they could make record time through the neighborhoods collecting enough booty to last until summer.

See the size of his bag? ...think big, Son.

Now, this year Livie and I had a remarkable moment in T.J. Maxx...a perfect dress for a queen...meet Lucy of Narnia, complete with hoop. (We'd just read a great story about a mishap with hoop skirts in In Grandma's Attic...highly recommended reading!)...perfect timing...you should have seen her negotiate that hoop into sitting position. She looked absolutely lovely and as she reminded us, was the only 'queen' in the bunch...the rest were 'princesses.'

So, what to do about Hope? She had her heart set on Buttercup, from the Princess Bride...actually a perfect choice for my long haired, blonde beauty. So, off to Fabric Depot (thank you Laurie for introducing it to me so many years ago), a wonderful place where creative dreams begin...

It was going rather well except that we were running out of time and other important things kept taking priority... Sunday morning, Halloween morning, I got up early, sewed while Daniel got the family fed and ready for church, went to church in two cars so I could rush home as the last 'amen' sounded...and I did...

Isn't she beautiful? I had to pin the back and she graciously understood.

Once again, a sweet group of lovlies to graciously greet the neighbors.