Freeze Frame

The top photo is the gang of children we went trick-or-treating with yesterday. We have only eleven houses in our neighborhood and four of them are represented in the photo. In addition to the kids who live in our neighborhood, we also took along a few cousins who spend a great deal of time around here. For the last three Halloweens, we have made it a tradition to take a group shot just for kicks. I am amazed, though, at what a change that has occurred just in that short amount of time. We have several new babies and, my gosh, how the others have grown!

The bottom picture represents Her Highness and her very bestest friends in all of the world. BFFs, I guess I should say. (Eyes rolling to ceiling.) The one on the left side is my niece who spends inordinate amounts of time with my family and has been sort of adopted by the neighborhood as an unofficial resident. Beside my niece is Her Highness and then our neighbor girls, the Two Princesses.

Right now the world is perfectly right when these four girls are playing together. They are great friends and love just being in one another's presence. As moms, my neighbors and I hope that they all remain friends as time goes on and they grow up. I am so grateful to live in a neighborhood where there are other girls for HH to bond with. I never had that. I lived in the country and there were no other kids around except my four year younger brother; so, I spent a lot of time reading. A lot of time.

It is hard to imagine just what kind of changes lurk in the future for the four friends. As I look at this photo I am still amazed at their innocence. For them, Santa is real. So is the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. Their parents are still smart. They still tell us everything.

I feel like we are on the edge of a change, though. As I look ahead to the Christmas season, I am looking for Hannah Montana and High School Musical stuff, instead of art supplies and doll houses. Music has become increasingly important to my daughter. In my memory, that signals the shift from little girl into tween. Perhaps I worry to much. Okay, I know I do.

Honestly, though, I would like to freeze these little ones who are so important to me just as they are in these photos. Safe. Innocent. Happy. I want to hold on to the magic that make-up, costumes and cheap candy represent. Don't you?