Through their eyes

Looking at this life through the eyes of my children changes everything.

I am more sensitive to things that could be harmful, corrupt, or frightening.

I am more enthusiastic for sweet things that they love and enjoy. 

I have to be honest, I struggled with Halloween this year.

Mostly because Miss Ava is frightened by all the spookiness and so I started looking at it as threatening rather than fun.
I wanted to protect her sweet, innocent heart.

We had lots of good talks.

We talked about the power of God and the protection that he has over our lives. 

We talked about how he is greater than anything or anyone.
It was up to her if she wanted to participate or not.   

She decided that she wanted to trick or treat and so we went 

My Mama eyes were wide, looking for anything that might scare my girl.  

In the end, it was a blast.  She enjoyed running from house to house with her little friends and collected her candy with such joy!

She insisted I call her Rapunzel all night long.
I mean, look at that hair!  It puts Rapunzel to shame :-)

She couldn't even handle her brother in this puppy dog costume.  

She laughed and laughed and gave him hug after hug.

So, although my eyes were puffy, and tired, and sick of being open, they were happy b/c I was seeing this night of make believe through her sweet little 7 year old eyes.  

And then there was this man

He was just about as yummy as it gets.

He thought he was such hot stuff walking around with the big kids.  

He made it up to several of the houses and fished around in the candy bowl.

His big score was a sucker than he carried around all night.

So although, I had to carry him most of the way, and I stressed about him falling when I wasn't, it was worth it to see the wonder and excitement behind his sweet little 14 month old eyes.

And then there was Disneyland.

 We took a little two day mini vacation to Disneyland with Mimi, Papa, Auntie, and our friend Jackie.
It was such a great time to be together.
As always, I enjoyed looking at this magical place through the eyes of my little ones.

 Toon Town is one of Ava's favorite places right now.
It's a place where characters come to life and you can take a little rest right on Minnie Mouses' ACTUAL bed :-)

Same smile no matter how many times she goes on this ride.

This guy thought he owned the place.

The goats were not as playful as Judson had hoped they'd be.
He's more into the kind of animal that jumps on you and slobbers on your face.
Hence the puppy outfit for Halloween.

It's been a special few days being able to enjoy these childhood experiences through the eyes of my children.
Having them with us sure makes everything just that much sweeter.