How did I manage to not get one picture of Julia dressed as my all time favorite character? I have no idea.

She was Maria from the Sound of Music, complete with a guitar. It was seriously awesome.

There are many parenting fails I could tell you about lately. When I don’t feel well, I am grumpy and unkind. I’m not saying that to put myself down in any way. It’s just true. I have to try harder to just have fun and relax.

On this night, I felt like I finally managed to pull it together – just a little.

On All Saints Eve, we invited friends over, made two batches of chili, made nine batches of banana bread, and two batches of Texas cornbread. Truth be told, it was 100% my mom that kept me going. For the first time in months, my kitchen felt like it was supposed to – lots of dirty dishes and noise and yummy smells.

Friends came over and helped us dive into the chili.

The moms sat outside and visited while the dads took the kids around the neighborhood. It’s become our tradition.

We prop open our gate and invite all the neighbors to come by.

I still get a little uncomfortable participating, since I grew up with a strict ban on all things Halloween. Mom was with us this year, so I was even more self conscious about doing our normal traditions. (She was so gracious, by the way, as always.).

Mom and I had talked that morning about how we really try to use that day to reach out to our neighbors. As we were sitting there enjoying the conversation and the weather, we heard the kids and their friends singing beautiful harmony. As they got closer, we noticed that they were singing ‘Dona, Nobis, Pacem’. They skipped into the gate and told us that there was an elderly lady a few blocks over who visited with them and told them that they were the only group of kids she had come by. They decided to take the little ones – Riley and his friends – with them for a 2nd visit.

I may or may not have wept like a baby at this point, excusing myself to clear plates away.

When they came back, they were beaming. They sang to her. They caroled on Halloween to a sweet lady hoping for little ones dressed in costume. They filled our streets with kindness and music. This one, I can put in the record books.

Sometimes, we need to remember those good days.