happy halloween, part 1

It has been a crazy week. Costume making (and finishing!), snake charming, trunk of treating... and pumpking carving. We did manage to "carve" out a little time for the pumkin carving. Only Laura didn't want to do hers. But that was okay... because it took less time! (and her pumpkin will be pretty a little longer!) Camden... he loves the pumpkin carving. He loves the thinking, the slicing and the removal of the guts. Yes... he loves it all.

And while I was making that first slice, and the knife went in easily, he said Oh, this is much better than that white pumpkin!
Halloween 2007

And he was absolutely right! The white pumkin was cool and quirky, just like my son. And he was thrilled to have found something so unusual at the pumpkin patch. Until we started to carve it (20 minutes before trick-or-treat!) We could barely get the knife in. It wa all I could do just to get the top cut out. Turns out, it is a gourd? And not quite right for jack-o-lanterning. Unless you have the strength of Paul Bunyan (I don't.) My heart was broken for that little guy who had taken the time to draw our his jack-o-lantern vision. His little eyes looked so sad... and if I had had the time, I would have run right down to Publix and found him an orange pumpkin. But he was such a good sport... he told me we could get a new pumpkin the day after, and carve it then. I agreed (he was heartbroken! You would have said yes, too!) and then...

he totally forgot about it.

Yay!

i screamed like a girl

My house does not always look like this. Really. Piles on my floor? Maybe. Tipped over chair? Not likely...
Unless there is a snake in my living room.
Or worse... a half a snake!
Yes. Half.
We had just finished up dinner and Laura & I were headed out the door to band practice.. and there it was... half a snake (maybe 4 inches?) just moving all around the floor. It was the back half... no head. And it was squiggling and squirming all around and that was when I screamed like a girl. A little-itty-bitty-baby girl. (But please do note... that I managed to photograph the unfolding drama from the coffee table... all while I was screaming!) And Scout (our cat) was trying to catch it, pretty darn proud of her accomplishment so far. Eek. Yuck. Get me outta here!

While I was dropping Laura off, Eric tore the house apart... looking for part 2 of the snake. I came around the back of the house, in case that snake head was lying in wait! Tote bags scattered, chair tipped... and my panda purse emptied of its contents. I sure am glad that he did not find snake-part-two in my purse... that would have retired it for certain! After not-quite-long-enough searching, Eric seemed to have given up. We went back to sitting (me with my feet up in my own lap!)After a few more minutes, Scout wandered back out into the living room. Cam noticed that she was batting around my pretty green Chico bag- and Eric went to investigate...



Yep. Stuck inside my precious Chico bag.(Suz... Queen of the Green, do you know how to get snake blood out of a Chico bag?!) Finally, Eric managed to get it outside... and away. It was pretty much dead (thank goodness!) I guess it is a glass snake... it kind of shatters if it is touched. I don't really care what kind it is... as long as it didn't invite any of its friends over to play.

Hours later, shivers were still running up and down my spine. I don't know how that snake got in... but I'm sure glad Scout found it! My hero!

write it down

There are exactly two full days (and some kinda half ones) before Halloween... and I, Dawn aka last Minute Lucy, have finished gathering and creating my kid's costumes. Did you hear that? Two full and some kinda half days I had left to do this... but tonight I am done. Yes. That means no last minute green paint on the crocodile ten minutes before trick-or-treat. That means no fringing of Pocahontas's' dress as she is heading out the door. Write it down. Really. Because it will probably never happen again. I can only say I was scared I wouldn't get it done... and that had to be my motivation. Between now and then, there isn't much time... in fact I am not quite sure when those pumpkins are going to turn into jack-o-lanterns. Perhaps tomorrow between 5:15 and 5:45? At least the costumes are complete. Wanna guess?


Easy, huh?

sitting in the quiet

When I woke, it was late... and the house was still quiet. It had been a long day... reaching far into the night, and if I had slept until eight, the others would be sleeping longer still. But the aloneness... it was good. The sunlight streamed through the slider and beckoned me outside. The coolness in the air surprised me, and I gathered my coffee and my book and sat... just me, in the air, and still in my pajamas. The book was propped open, and the words lay ready, but my mind sought something else. There were a million thoughts I could think to think. How to make the day better for next year. That I was happy with how hard my kids had worked. How I loved having my family lend their hands to our cause. My mind pushed the busyness away, and words began to work themselves into prayer, but the rustle through the trees shushed me. And so I listened. To the quiet. And I felt Him about me... pushing the me parts away and sharing the He parts that I needed. There I sat... legs folded beneath me... hands folded in my lap... eyes closed, with my face to the sun... and enjoyed the silence. And I breathed Him in... and all that He had to offer on this quiet, still morning that seemed created just for me.

He gives every day... and all we have to do is receive. But oftentimes... life blurs the reception and we keep running. It was gift enough... to sleep long past six. But the keeping me from my own craziness... it was another heaping of His love... and one I couldn't refuse. Tuesdays are for celebrating the little things... the overlooked moments... the simple and the necessary. Unwrap a Tuesday... come along to Chatting at the Sky.