From The Past: October 1, 2003:

Kevin went back to work today. He seemed to do just fine. He said that the paperwork had piled up while he was away. That just goes to show that they really need him which I didn’t doubt anyway.

While he was gone, I got out the Halloween decorations. The house looks so pretty inside 🙂 We really didn’t spend a lot on decorations either. A few years ago, we sat down with the kids, construction paper, scissors, and lots of glue and said, “Let’s make some things to hang up for Halloween.” We made pumpkins, ghosts, bats, and spiders and had lots of fun laughing at what the other person had made.

Today while I was decorating, Ashley was in her room playing with a friend with the door closed. When she and her friend walked out and saw all of the decorations they squealed with delight and ran around looking from one thing to another and then back again. The joy that those decorations brought them made it well worth putting it all up.

Currently (2019):

I’m glad that I documented that last paragraph. Ashley is no longer into decorations of any kind. She has said many times that when she moves out, she won’t even have a Christmas tree. It’s good to know that there was a time she enjoyed these things.