C-

That's the grade I would give for the lion costume I made this year. I would give it a passing grade only because most people on Halloween could identify what she was. If everyone had been asking, "And what's your costume, little girl?" I wouldn't have given myself such a high mark. But, since everyone guessed she was supposed to be a lion, I gave myself a C. Nevertheless, I think I failed miserably on the mane. Check out my earlier post to see the mane I threw together before Halloween. I decided it needed to be changed. I shortened it and drastically minimized it. When I finally gave up in disgust, Abby looked like she had a topknot of curly hair. It was comical.



Poor kid.

Luckily for me, she's young enough to not care how silly she looks. She had a great time. One of her favorite aspects of the lion costume was that I promised to paint her fingernails gold for the day. She was so pleased.



Trick or treating was fun. Abby was so much more brave this year. Rayjehan went with us. I was hoping his enthusiasm would rub off on Abby so that she would knock on doors and say "Trick or Treat" in a loud voice. Apparently I need not have worried. Abby was the more enthusiastic one by far. She loved to knock, and to yell Trick or Treat, and she was even pretty good at the thank you part. I was most especially proud of Abby when a little old lady invited the kids just inside her door to grab candy from bowls for themselves. The lady was so stooped she probably had a very hard time holding the bowls. But Abby hesitated, turned back to me, and said, "Is that okay, Mommy?" Be still my beating heart! I can't believe she stopped herself to ask! WOW! I was so happy with her I hugged her tight and kissed her.

Later that night, we found a house that had set up tent like coverings in their front yard to create an outdoor haunted house. It was short and simple enough, but it was also impressive. The kids were scared to just the right level. They hesitated all the way through, holding our hands tightly, but then smiled and laughed about it after we got out. That was really fun to share with them.

All in all, we had a great time. Happy Halloween all!!