Introducing a beautiful ballerina, Ant Man, and Percy Jackson. You may have to look up Percy...I know I did! The kids had a fun time dressing up for Storybook Character Day.
There's a funny story about Stella's costume. A couple weeks ago I had all the kids look through their books to find one to dress as. Samuel came up with Aunt Man even though his book was technically not a story book. Joey immediately came up with Percy Jackson. I had no clue! He's a chapter book character that mainly older elementary school kids would know. And Stella wanted to be Elsa. She hung on to the Elsa idea until right about Oct. 29!!! That's 2 days before Halloween. So, I ran up to the thrift store after hearing of a huge sale on costumes. For only $0.95, I could handle that way better than the $30 at the other stores. I even took the kids back that afternoon to look again. That's when Stella decided on a ballerina. Easy enough because she had some dress clothes given to her by a friend recently. So, in my infinite naive nature, I had her gather her ballerina costume the night before Halloween. After all, she had dressed as a ballerina last year. Easy enough. Um, nope! I went in to her room Halloween morning to find her in a black spaghetti strap top, a black skirt 1/2 tucked under a white petticoat, and tennis shoes! Let's just say, we had to do some slight revamping before school. It took a couple of tries on her part considering she then put a pair of black shorts under this purple leotard. Finally, everyone was dressed and we left for school with only a few tears of frustration and lots of laughs (silent laughs that I held in for awhile)! The kids do love their costumes though and they look pretty good. Also, I "costumed" these three happy faces for under $5 total.
Our first stop out of the neighborhood was to see PawPaw. We started our trek around the residents, but couldn't find him. I guess someone saw the look of confusion on my face, so a sweet staff member walked up and said "He didn't want to come out here". So, the kids and I waltzed back to the memory care area only to find dad with a couple other residents sitting in the tv room. Not sure why Dad didn't want to see the kids in costumes, but that's ok. We talked him into coming out. This dreary weather again is causing confusion and maybe it's making him not feel that well. Whatever the reason, he enjoyed seeing the kids and we walked him out to the front lobby.
Sholanda is one who can calm Dad down in a heartbeat. She is blessed with a calm spirit and a confident voice. Here she is asking if Dad can pet this service dog. This sweet pup even dressed up for Halloween and passed out candy!! Dad still loves dogs. I've seen another visiting service dog at Mom's community and Bear's handler remembers dad and his love for dogs. Funny how dogs are just Dad's "hobby". They're mine too!
I'm just thankful Dad was willing to come out and enjoy the evening. There were costumes and candy and pizza galore! Dad's eyes were so big when we walked into the lobby. We walked around while the kids trick-or-treated. And when I left, I told him that I love him and to have fun. He was grinning so big and told me to come back soon! I bet he slept good last night because I imagine Sholanda showed him every costume and might've even got him to dancin' (that's her specialty)!
Next, we were off to Mom's community. They didn't have a big Halloween party, but Mom had enough candy stashed in her room to fill these buckets to the top! She had asked me a couple days earlier to get the kids some candy (specifically Snickers) and chocolate milk. So, I dropped it off a couple days earlier, so she would be all ready for the trick-or-treaters. I haven't seen this big of a smile in so very long.
A little update on Mom...she seems to be having more good days than bad days recently. Her dinner plate was still in her room when we arrived, so I guess she didn't want to go out to the dining area. The chef, Saul, is a wonderful cook! Mom's phone is missing and she has no idea where it is. We'll find it, but it's no rush since she seems to have no interest in making calls. I tried to give her her medicine while we were there, but she threw them in the trash. I dug out 1 1/2 that hadn't fallen far. Mom took those and I counted that a "success" given she often refuses meds. When the kids come over, it's like she turns into a new person. I told Russ last night that these 3 kids are more medicine to her than any doctor could prescribe. They piled in and around her chair and watched Tom and Jerry for about 20 minutes. They all laughed out loud and talked about what was happening in the show. Russ and I just sat quietly on Mom's bed and watched them.
So, guess who I dressed as for Halloween!!!
MY MOMMA!!!
I had some guess that I was Rebecca from This is Us. I also go the Brady Bunch. Truth is, this is my mom's outfit from the 70's. I've had it stashed in my closet for a few years. What's surprising is that I could fit in it...barely. Mom got a good laugh when I walked in her room. Not sure she recognized her own outfit because she was so excited to see those grandkids!!! That's ok. Healing comes slowly and right now those grandkids are all the medicine she needs (at least until i come over for my next visit and offer her medicine and chocolate milk again)!
"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted."
Job 5:9
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