"Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be..."

What kind of a person ignores advice from Willie Nelson? But Edith has had her heart set on being a cowboy for at least a month, ever since seeing a video in which Spot the dog dressed up as a cowboy for a costume party. Like Willie's song suggests, I don't think she had any idea at first what being a cowboy was actually about. (And don't call her a cowgirl either--the first person to do that received a baleful stare.) The whole concept started to become clearer once we got some books out of the library and received a nifty cowboy outfit in the mail from Mor-mor. The horse was a last-minute addition, found at a thrift sale two weeks ago for $4, which seemed better than the going rate for horses, so we took advantage. If I were true to the artistry of my costuming-wizard mother and grandmother, I'd have stuffed a pair of Edith's jeans and boots with Polyfil and attached them to the horse at the saddle to complete the trompe l'oeil effect. Alas, as Tom observed, "Your efforts at artistry are going into your dissertation right now. Don't worry--I'm sure someone will read it." If not as many people as attend the daycare Halloween parade.

Marching as Older Toddlers in this year's parade, Edith and her classmates were finally of an age not to cry when their parents appeared suddenly in the middle of the school day. Every kid in her class had parents in attendance, and we all circled the neighborhood together.

Thomas the Tank Engine, a pirate, a giraffe, and another cowboy. Kennan, who is from Texas, is the real deal.


Together they tamed the West

The Older Toddler Class. Front row: Zeke the giraffe, Youssef the dalmatian, Sarah the monkey, Harry the pirate, Joshua-Thomas the Tank Engine. Second row: Kenan the cowboy, Jon-Gabriel Superman, Hannah the ladybug, Edie the cowboy/girl, Torrey-Thomas the Tank Engine, Ms. Monika the Bat. Third row: Ms. Alice the Bug, Ms. Bela the Bug.

After all that parading, the class was happy to munch on Halloween treats.

Edith's teachers were more than generous in sending the kids home with non-candy treats, including copies of two Halloween books they've enjoyed at school this week.

Edith was in a hurry to get home for the rest of the evening's festivities.

We lit the pumpkins we'd carved this weekend. She decreed that one of them should be happy and the other, scared. She named the big one Torrey and the little one Harry.

In the early evening we hung out across the street with our neighbors, including Minnie Mouse, and enjoyed a cookout.

The spirit of autumn was in attendance, too.

This year Edith and Harry tried their hand at trick-or-treating for the first time. Edith didn't know what it was all about, but as she watched the bigger kids come by, she liked my explanation that it was a chance to go visit the neighbors, show them her costume, and say "Trick or treat!" She wanted to give it a try. She was surprised and delighted when the first neighbor we visited gave her a pack of Smarties. Her thank-you was heartfelt. She didn't want to put the Smarties in her trick-or-treat bag but instead just held onto them "very tight." When at the next building they let her choose anything she wanted from one of three candy bowls, she was even more astonished. Grabbing a lollipop, she dropped her Smarties. The rest of the evening she walked around the neighborhood talking to people and sucking her lone lollipop, happy as a clam.

One final word of cowhand advice: If your evening's grub includes peanut butter and jelly, be sure to climb down out of the saddle to enjoy it. Otherwise, your trusty companion's mane may be plastered to the saddlehorn until the next rain.