I love that I accidentally captured this sweet moment, something we do all the time without thinking about it, a gentle ruffle of the hair, pat on the head. This Daddy loves this boy like mad.
This expression is one he makes when he is talking, or about to say something. Contemplative.
Benjamin said we needed photos of Jax in the car. Apparently Superman has a car?
And this awesome friend of ours showed up to church and played guitar on stage like this. He is a family doctor, and a dear friend. Apparently he was dressing up to support the new song we introduced that has a bit of a bluegrass feel ("Bring Your Kingdom Here" by Rend Collective Experiment).
We are not in total agreement, Benjamin and I, about what we will "do" for Halloween. I don't like scary yard decorations and scary costumes and the general ugliness that pervades every street and every grocery store and everywhere else you go that you didn't necessarily choose to bombard yourself with blood and gore and witches and blargh.
The part about Halloween that I like, is an opportunity for kids to get dressed up in fun costumes, which they always love. I also like when our church used to do these awesome neighborhood outreaches, in the middle of the neighborhoods where our small groups would meet. We had so much fun, and tried to just bless the neighborhood around us with a fun, safe place to be. We did chili cook offs for the parents, and games for the kids.... we had live worms and all sorts of crazy funness. I miss those. I think it's that kind of experience that Benjamin remembers, and would like our kids to have. A time to have fun and be silly and dress up.
Last year I contemplated dressing Jax as cupid and taking photos. He was so chubby at that stage of his life, and would have been perfect. But I never got around to it.
On his first birthday, a dear friend gave him this Superman onesie, and I've meant to dress him up as Clark Kent ever since then. His tuxedo wasn't the right kind of suit, so we stuck with the shirt/pants/tie part. I had glasses somewhere, but couldn't find them.
This is the fun we had this year for Halloween. Dressing up our little one, for one of the few years he will let us. I started putting together a Mrs. Incredible outfit for me, out of closet items. Considering that I actually own red leggings and black boots, that's a good start. If I go through with it, I will post pics.
Outside of the fun dressing up stuff, I have a hard time with Halloween in general. I worked in theme parks as an Entertainment supervisor for many years, and Six Flags "Fright Fest" was a huge time of year for us.
I've had my absolute fill of skeletons, animated props, dismembered limbs, cockroach displays, and gory makeup. I've painted enough haunted house walls, and fixed up enough haunted displays to last my entire life. I've helped renovate regular haunted houses, vintage style houses, clown houses, 3D houses and more.... I know a lot of the tricks of the trade, and most of them are laughably simple. I always refused to enter the houses when they were dark and operating, even though I knew every nook and cranny, and was friends with all the actors.
I just don't like fear. Or death. Or ugliness. And I prefer not to make light of such things. I just can't feel that little boys and girls walking around looking like someone beat them up, is funny or pleasant, when these things happen in real life, to real children, every day, in every city. I've heard too many unfathomable stories from our foster agency, to want to see any child "play" at injury, death, or wickedness.
Secondly, I work pretty hard around here to help my family, and my son, eat well. We are nineteen months in, and he probably has had some kind of dessert less than five times. He's never had candy. I know it won't be forever, and I don't intend to deprive my children of lovely sweet treats for their entire lives. We are also gluten free, which means that half of what is passed out at Halloween, we can't have anyway.
That's my soapbox. The part I don't like. The good stuff is fun to be had as a family. And costumes. I'll just stick with my little Super Boy and see what we can do about the incredibles (although I can guarantee Benjamin won't be wearing tights).
