Hey, candied Mamas,

How was your Halloween? Ours was wonderful; Smithville Halloween just charms me. Plus, I love a chance to get crafty. I’m proud of this janky lil’ card table, okay!?

My dogs are still barking from walking for two hours, but all the laughs and sweet memories made it worth it.

It’s wild to be a parent (or in a parenting role - the newsletter gets occasional love from stepmoms, grandmothers raising little ones, dads and aunties, and you are all very welcome here.)

The high highs and low lows of raising children are like the unrelenting waves of the ocean. Everybody get in the car. One minute, you are stressed out your mind. We are going to be late. The next moment, you feel relieved, but then, you realize you forgot about dinner, thank goodness for the leftovers. No, I don’t know where her other shoe is. Did we remember her jacket?

And then, you have those quick, bleary-blissful moments, walking down the street. The sticky fake spiderwebs hang off the warm old houses. The sky is putting on a pink-sunset show. The kids are skipping, laughing, swinging pumpkin buckets. Daddies are in the back of the pack, cracking jokes with the toddlers on their shoulders. I chuckle at the moody little astronaut and the short-armed T-rexes bopping by.

I’m so happy I could cry, I think. I want to hold on to it forever!

I pull out my phone but the images don’t do it justice.

You cannot capture it.

Interrupting life with a phone is like trying to catch a string of pearls as they bust apart, rolling, bouncing all over the ground. Lustrous, soft, precious things, everywhere, all at once, falling on me while I stand over a grate in the street.

You cannot capture it.

Every gem eventually slips through your fingers. Pictures get damaged, hard drives get lost, memory fades.

I let the the feeling wash over me. I press it into my chest like a toddler shoves a leaf into red play dough. It’s almost painful on my tender heart, I’m so grateful.

But that imprint, that little fossil of the feeling is how I will remember the sweetness. I’ll remember the sky, remember that we tried, remember that we lived with much love.

Events in Bastrop County this week

In the post-Halloween haze, there is still much fun to be had. Bastrop County is vivacious, y’all!

📚 Silent Book Club happens today at Smithville General. Read together for an hour, socializing optional. Today, 11am.

🎨 First Friday Artwalk in downtown Bastrop. Drum circle at Vibe Tribe and more. 6pm. Free.

🌲 Bastrop Field and Fun Fest at Bastrop State Park that has a lot of cool stuff going on to celebrate 100 years of state parks, including the Predators of the Pines Hike, a bike parade, a Birding 101 hike, sack race, indigenous singing group and more. Free.

🎁 Market Day on Main Street in Smithville means vendors will line the street for some unique shopping. Saturday, 10am-5pm.

🎭 The Bastrop Opera House presents the last weekend of The Addams Family The Musical. Friday is sold out but there are still tickets for Saturday and Sunday shows. $30.

Call for the Holiday Guide

We’ve grown this newsletter to 165+ subscribers, our Facebook page to 293 followers, and our private mom’s group to over 86+ members, all in just two months! It’s truly been an exciting labor of love.

I’m learning a lot about gathering and publishing community information. Last week when I released the Halloween Trunk-or-Treat list, I missed a few events and got some details wrong. Thank you kindly to all who reached out graciously with corrections and more information. I very much appreciate you taking the time to make sure we get it right.

I realize I need your help getting our upcoming Holiday Guide together. The Holiday Guide will feature family-friendly holiday activities, markets, and festivities throughout Bastrop County.

Is there an event you would like to include on this list?

Please respond directly to this email with a link to the event, or tag me @Elise Entzenberger Dayton on Facebook. If you know someone planning an event, forward this email to them. Let them know I’m looking for them.

Many thanks for reading, for sharing, and for encouraging me when I see you in the real world. It means so much.

Warmly,

Elise