Five years ago it was a knight, his princess, and a dragon. One of those nights when it felt like it took all we had just to get them ready and out the door. One of those nights where they could not wait to put on their costumes and transform into their characters. Where there were tears, but giggles of excitement too. Where there were sugar highs. And sugar lows. And at the end of the night, there were worn out kiddos with a mom and dad who rummaged through all the candy and stole the butterfingers.

Last night it was Cleopatra, her princess, and her mummy.  One of those nights when it felt like it took all we had just to get them ready and out the door. One of those nights where they could not wait to put on their costumes and transform into their characters. Where there were tears, but giggles of excitement too. Where there were sugar highs. And sugar lows. And at the end of the night, there were worn out kiddos with a mom and dad who rummaged through all the candy and stole the butterfingers.

The circumstances of the last five years may not have changed all that much. But the little people? Well they have changed so much that comparing these pictures side by side made me stop and catch my breath. And then pray a prayer of thankfulness. For the gift of experiencing it all with them.

When little Miss M turned 3 this summer (sniff, sniff, why do my clients grown up SO fast!), her mom planned the most awesome pirate princess party. Complete with a beautiful costume made by Stirling (the same talented lady who made her lion and kitty costumes) and super cute pirate decor and invitations, the entire thing was DARLING. But in true 3 year old, fashion, Miss M decided about 3 days before the party that she didn’t love pirates as much as she once had. She had a new love. Spiderman and Batman. And I LOVED that her mom ordered her bright red and yellow superhero cakes, even though they didn’t match one other thing at the otherwise perfectly matched party.  Because being perfectly matched didn’t mean they weren’t perfect. I think in the eyes of this 3 year old little girl, nothing could have been better.

My kids love to dress up for Halloween, but are having the hardest time deciding what to be this year. They really do like to match (which I love of course), but  so far they are having a hard time merging their Egyptian, Star Wars, and Native American theme ideas. It will be interesting to see who wins out, or if they all decide to go their own way.

Last year, they had no problem. At the advice of my then 4 year old, they decided to be ninjas. And they took their costumes quite seriously. My goodness, I love these guys.