Maria ran into our room breathlessly this morning.
“It’s snowing!” she reported, her face aglow.
I hadn’t retrieved their snow pants or snow boots yet — despite the forecast — so we opted for rain boots and pajama pants for the girls’ first giddy dash through falling flakes.
They were euphoric.
Maria paused a moment, confusion clouding her face.
“Can we still go trick-or-treating?”
She was trying to determine what this early snow means for Halloween.
“Should we leave out the Halloween decorations?”
I assured her that the snow she equates with winter would by no means cancel out Halloween.
She seemed to arrive at the same conclusion on her own.
“Snow and Halloween!” she declared momentarily. “It’s the best combination!”
Spoken like a true Minnesotan.
All fall the girls have been scheming with Namma to decorate gingerbread houses on the first snow.
She kept her word, and they are indulging in frosting right now.
Just yesterday, they carved pumpkins with Namma. What a round-about!
(And what a grandma!)
I’m pulling out our non-Christmas-y winter books and trying to let Halloween still have its moment in the sun — er, under the moon.
These are a few favorites.
But come Nov., all bets are off. You might hear “Jingle Bells” coming from this house.
And I’m already planning to blog about our most beautiful Christmas books. They make me so happy!
Stay tuned — and stay warm!
Christina Ries is a freelance writer who lives with her husband and three young children in Inver Grove Heights.
