Is It Fall?

The calendar says it's fall, but the weather the past couple of weeks says anything but. I would be OK if we were still in Houston, but I always thought you were supposed to feel the seasons in Virginia. Not even the colors are that great this year, thanks to a lack of rain. But still, we are in the throes of one of my favorite times of the year.

Still, I feel as if it is slipping away from me. I am dealing with a tragedy that hit our mom community a week-and-a-half ago. It's a story that I have written as a blog post but have not found the courage to publish just yet. I think that once I see it jump from my head and into words then it will be more real than I want it to be and will have to deal with it on a level that I'm not quite ready to reach. It will appear here soon enough. We can't hide from the truth.

So instead I have been plugging along doing what people in this part of the country do this time of year - loving fresh picked apples, filling my home with the smell of homemade pumpkin everything, and getting ready for Halloween.

JillyBean has been planning for Halloween since June. Yes, June. You would think that you could blow off something that a three-year-old says she wants to do four months later, but not my child. She has a mind like an elephant - she never forgets. Not only does she remember, she remains fixated on it. I cannot tell you how many afternoons we have spent at the lunch table making sure we were on the same page, conversations that were initiated by her. "OK, mama. Let's talk about what we're going to do for Halloween." It was as if we were part of some corporate brainstorming committee trying to launch a new product.

This summer Nana and Doc took Jilly to see a middle school production of Peter Pan. She was hooked (forgive the pun that will shortly come to light). I have the movie on VHS and she has watched it several times. We were in Barnes & Noble and found the book and it is a staple at nap time and bedtime. So which character would my daughter naturally gravitate toward from the story? You'd think being a girl she'd love Tinker Bell. Nope. Or maybe even Peter. Nope. No to Wendy, too. In June Jilly announced that she was going to be Captain Hook for Halloween. Yes, my child was so inspired by the beautiful story of Neverland to become a pirate. The bad guy, though she insists she is going to be a good Hook....

I began searching for a costume that we could buy and nothing quite worked. The best "look" didn't come in her size so we decided to have one made. Not by me, of course. I can't sew. Thanks to a family friend, Jilly will be the pirate of her dreams on Sunday night - hook and all.

I am excited to see her all dressed up. She'll be cute yet fierce. We will trick-or-treat in our neighborhood and hopefully find a new home for all the candy that I am sure she will score. Then hopefully we can fall back into sync and enjoy this lovely time of year.

Music City Baby

We got the chance earlier this month to visit Nashville. Daddy had to go for work and Jilly and I tagged along for a change of scenery and the opportunity to visit with Aunt April. In addition to getting the chance to catch up, Auntie A was gracious enough to do a daylong photo session with Jilly and captured some great images.

I wanted something that captured both Nashville and my child's individual style and sass. Here are the highlights: