Dearest Knight and Horse…….

Okay, so the costumes were purely centered around two things: Mother’s Day Out costume day and the adorable knight outfit sent over from Dolly for you, Shep. We all know you aren’t one for bulky head pieces or anything that draws too much attention, so it was pretty perfect! The knight needed a Dragon according to Dolly, but then I realized that “farmer’s day” at Mother’s Day out entailed a farm animal or farmer and BAM! A HORSE! Two birds with one stone. I also learned the hard way with Shep that spending money on a costume at this age isn’t my jam, so I improvised and was a genius by taking two kids 2 and under to a hobby shop and buying horse supplies. This was going to be a disaster.

In comes MARTHA FRIGGIN STEWART…….

River. I killed it. You were the cutest $5 horse I’ve ever seen and after adding trim to a beanie, ear warmer, and the cuff of a cut up pair of socks you were a horse! We tested the costumes out at Boo At The Zoo (the zoo celebrates holidays with lights and several outlandish additional fees – duh) and you guys had an absolute blast. Moses and his parents joined us and we people watched in the wagon, saw a show, and took too many photo opps next to giant pumpkins and such. As promised to you Shep, we headed to the train for a ride through the fun light show and sweet River, you passed out cold and headed home early with Daddy in the truck. Sheppard…..we had a BALL without the babies (sorry Daddy) and learned the art of Trick or Treating with manners (boo at the zoo did a great job with the candy portion. I only wish you would have opted for more chocolate and less smarties……for your sake of course).

Farmer Day went a lot differently than planned. One horse down and two Farmers later you guys were a hit. Shep, you liked wearing your hat like “Woody” and after a lot of convincing and a few pieces of leftover Boo At The Zoo candy, I had you wearing your bandana around your neck like the Farmer you were born to be. For that day that is……. River? I’m sorry but I about died over your onesie. Nothing like living in a small country town to provide onesies with pigs for such a momentous occasion. The bandana took no convincing bc I distracted you with a papi and lovey and well, the rest is photo history. I mean, could y’all have been any more adorable? I think not. Bring on the photos MDO! Sheppard, the first year you went I assumed they simply wanted y’all to dress up and you were 10 months old so I opted to send you in a skeleton pair of jammies. MOMMY FAIL! Turns out they photographed y’all on a tractor and something about you as a skeleton on a tractor just didn’t match up. That will probably turn out to be one of my favorite MDO memories, so I’m pretty glad to have the photo as a memory of one of my first (of many) school mommy lessons.

As far as the actual Halloween events went? You guys had a blast. River, you ate….you ate a lot. Sheppard, you held an umbrella, got as much candy as the home owners would allow, and ran after the people ahead of us trying to keep up all night. It poured raining and I was cold and miserable, but you and your happy heart kept us jogging to keep up and we were suddenly okay with the yucky outdoor situation. We used Dece and Shep’s neighborhood again and she (as always) had us some yummy food to snack on while we tried convincing you door to door to grab the snickers over the malt balls (ewwwwww).

Sweet boys…you melt me. You make holidays feel like childhood again (only better) and I enjoy every single second of them with you both. Thank you for making things like pumpkins, running in the rain, and costume changes full of fun. I’m so thankful Jesus let me be your mommy. Nothing about my life apart from you two has much meaning, but because of you it means the world. Now go fight some dragons and get yourselves a princess so I can take a nap and she can cook you dinner……I kid. But not really.

Mommy Xx