So I read Bree Hester’s Happy Friday: Volume 4 blog post in my blog reader the other week and when I came to the part where she was talking about what she was going to be doing with her kids on Halloween, my heart strings were pulled a little.

Her kids are older than mine, but not that much older!

So when she said she only had one trick-or-treater left, who I think, is only one year older than C, I was like…

“OH MY GOSH!! I may only have one trick-or-treater left, too, soon!”

It hadn’t dawned on me that taking only one kiddo trick-or-treating, or maybe even not taking any of my kids at all, could be on my radar sooner than I think.

Because all I’ve known the past 5 years is getting my kiddos all dressed up and taking them door to door for trick or treats…it hadn’t even occurred to me that this stage in my life will eventually come to end one day…because, yeah, when I’m busy doing mom life, it’s hard to think about the future sometimes in this way!

So when my mind went, “OH MY GOSH!!! This could be me soon!!”

I was determined to get my DSLR out this year and snap my kiddos Halloween costume cuteness as much as they’d let me!

Especially when I feel like this year, their Halloween costumes were the best yet!!

C came up with her own original idea for the very first time…a Cat Witch!

And Luca, he wanted to be a puppy, but when he saw the Ninjago costume at the store, he said, “I WANT TO BE NINJAGO!!” and boy was I so glad because his costume made me smile SO big!!

Both of their costumes did!!

So on Halloween night, well, I mean evening, I started rushing my kiddos outside before I lost the natural light of the day, so I could snap them in all of their Halloween glory!

I became that mom who was forcing pictures!! You know? The one I said I hate being! OH YEAH!!

Because there was no way I was going to NOT snap this year!! NO WAY!!

The past few years, I’ve been only snapping them real quick with my iPhone and in my book, that doesn’t allow me to SAVOR them as much as I’d like to.

Well…I had one kiddo who absolutely wanted me to take her picture.

My other kiddo…not so much.

He didn’t even want to put his costume on because he had just taken it off since he was able to wear it at school all day for his Storybook costume day.

I didn’t make him get out there, but I did keep nagging him just a bit, because I really wanted to capture BOTH of my kiddos this day.

Since he didn’t want to come and I had C all ready to pose for me…we went out anyway!

I thought to myself…

“Oh, good! This will work! I can start with C so I can get my settings right!”

Well…it actually worked out beautifully!

I had some special time with C…time we don’t get as much as I’d like these days…just her and I.

So while Luca stayed inside having a snack, I focused 100% on her!

It was SO fun! And I was SO glad she still wants me to take her picture…and she even asked me if she could do certain poses, too!

Why, yes, C!! Yes!! Whatever pose you want to do…I’ll snap it!! I have NO problem doing that at all. Nope! None at all! ;)

We started off calm…but then the fun began!

Starting to get her Cat Witch groove on!

They both love Ghosty! I sure hope he sticks around for awhile, because I haven’t seen him at stores since the year we bought him.

Halloween wouldn’t be the same without him.

Then it was time to show her “cool” 4th grade age!

Oh yeah!! Work it, C! Work it!

And then her little girl cuteness came through…which I know is still in her, even though she tries to hide with her big 4th grader self these days!

She just loves cats SO much right! SO MUCH!

Work those cat witch claws girl…work ‘em!!

Then lil’ bro decided to check out what we were doing!

But she had no idea! Ha!

He loved sneaking behind her like that! And I think she did, too! Ha!

Then she said, “Mommy…can I lay on the ground for a pose?”

And I said, “SURE!! GO RIGHT AHEAD!!”

And man, I thought to myself, “THIS IS AWESOME!!”

It felt like old times, when I used to snap her all the time when she was a baby and a toddler. I really do miss those moments with her…SO MUCH!!

And then…hooray!! Luca was ready to join in on our picture taking fun!!

Oh gosh…I was SO glad…because I really wasn’t sure if he was going to join us. He was pretty clear on not wanting to get his costume on just yet…so, thank you, Universe! Thank you!!

And wouldn’t you know…the first thing he did was lay down on the ground just like his sister.

It looks like someone must have been watching us from the window inside. Ha!

I LOVE IT!!

So, of course, I had to have sister join him, too!

Then it was NINJAGO time!!

And then NINJAGO and CAT WITCH time!!

Until sister started covering brother’s eyes.

I wasn’t sure why she was doing that, so I made her act normal with him after that.

Because all I need is another major sibling fight, right!? Especially on Halloween!! Um….I think NOT!! HA! ;)

Well…as normal as I could get…because soon after it was all about “the silly” with these two!

And, I love silly just as much as they do! ;)

Oh yeah!! Work that silly my kiddos! Work it! Ha!

Until it was back to normal again! :)

Then it was time for some more NINJAGO time!!

He really played the part well. Gotta love Halloween!! :)

And then I made them stand back in front of the door so I snap them all around our outside Halloween house decor.

Because, with our lifestyle, we never know where we’re going to live next, and for them (and me!), I want to always want them (and me!) to remember the homes we lived in.

Especially this one…it’s one we are truly loving SO, SO, much! And Halloween here was AMAZING!! SO many kids!! It was AWESOME!!

There’s nothing better than a sweet, Halloween, sibling moment!

And a close up of Halloween makeup and…

a mask!

Sister could have kept going…but brother was pretty much done and ready to get out on those streets to get some candy!!

I was with sister and could have kept snapping them all night!

Because, with Bree’s words still in my head and knowing how fast they’re growing up…I’ll never know what next year will bring.

So this year, with the thanks to Bree’s words on Halloween and me reconnecting with my BIG GIRL camera, I knew I was going to SAVOR them the best way I know how!

By getting out of my to-do list head and focusing 100% on THEM through my camera!!

Because, before I know it, they’ll be all grown up and not having any desire to dress up to go walk our neighborhood streets for candy on Halloween night.

So I thank you, Bree and my camera…you both ignited me and reminded me what is most important to my heart!!

To use my camera to calm the stress of my mind and to slow down and SAVOR what I love!

And to not miss moments that bring JOY to my heart!!

It’s just too easy for me to snap a picture real quick and then get back to focusing on all the things I need to be doing on my busy mama to-do list.

So this moment…with my camera in hand…instead of me just taking a picture real quick of my kids in their costumes and then getting right back to thinking about all the to-do’s I need to get done before heading out the door to trick-or-treat, I spent a good 20 to 30 minutes, focusing 100% on my kids, in their costumes, and BEing their awesome, Halloween, six and nine year old self!

And that…that’s EXACTLY what matters most to my busy mama heart!!

Focusing more on my kids, and their current stage of life, than my to-do list!!

T H A N K Y O U, U N I V E R S E for always bringing the most perfect messages to my view at the most perfect time.

You ALWAYS know what I need a good reminding of that will ignite my heart, my passions and what matters most to my busy mama soul.

I A M F O R E V E R G R A T E F U L ! !

Until next time…

See something that makes you stop and smile. Grab your camera!! It'll slow you down, pull you into the present moment even more and have you SAVORing your JOY feeling even more!! And most of all, it'll connect you to your soul so you can SEE and HEAR the things that you may have passed by (like your kids starting the first day of school!). The camera...it's powerful...especially when it comes to FEELING JOY and BEing more PRESENT! :)

That's WHY I take pictures!! The camera is one of my favorite creative tools that easily pulls me out of my frazzled + overwhelmed mama head so I can fully SAVOR (the feeling of) everything that makes me stop, smile and lights me UP with LOVE (something that's hard for me to do when my mind is running five miles ahead or behind the present moment)