October 21

With Halloween looming, Abby begged me to find her a costume today. So I did. The Little Boys and I went to Target, where I found the cheerleader outfit she wanted. Then our attention turned to finding something for Brady to wear. When he walked into the store, he planned to be Spiderman (or Spidey, as he calls him). Then his attention shifted to Dusty Crophopper from "Planes" (though we've yet to see the film). Then he saw Elmo and it was game over. But I thought he was Elmo last year, so we left with Cookie Monster instead.

As it turns out, Brady is apparently much larger than a Target 2T. He loves it, but it's incredibly tight. And in another ironic twist, he wasn't Elmo last year after all, so we could've gone in that direction after all.

Oh well! The whole experience reminded me of a few truths. One, life isn't perfect because it's a fallen world. Just like Brady didn't get to be Elmo, we often don't get to be who we want to be. But that doesn't mean we can't eventually be that person we want to be -- just like eventually, Brady may well wind up dressing as Elmo! And two, despite the troubles of life, there's still plenty of fun to be found. Because gosh darn it, he looks pretty cute in that too-tight Cookie Monster suit!

Lesson? It's all good. Really.