In Search of Trick or Treat Treasure

Captain Nina hired Cross-eyed Pete and his brother E.M. Eyepatch to help her find gold and rum. Eyepatch brought the map. Little good it did them, though. All they came back with was three pumpkins full of sugar treats and horrible tales of talking jack o' lanterns, zombies, ghouls, ghosts and other devilry they encountered on the King's Road. And we lost the map. It will be at least a year before I set sail with them on a similarly harrowing voyage. I wonder if they'll have any teeth left by then.

No Guts, No Jack-o-Lantern Glory

My colleague Sarah Peters and her husband Shannon are expert pumpkin carvers, so we asked them to bring over their daughters Rebecca and Annabelle Friday night to show us how it's done.  And show us they did.

Thanks, guys!

We carved three pumpkins in three and a half hours and did a lot of laughing and story-telling while standing in the kitchen as the kids ran wild.

Fall Fever

Blooming mums + setting sun = an after-school fall fever photo shoot.

I Do Not Heart Rudy Giuliani

Mom in a Pinch

Wednesday is Parent-Teacher conference day in the Ada Public School system, so Mari has to work, and the kids don't have class.  ECU is not closed, so child care is a challenge.  I called Mom on Monday, and she came up Wednesday morning and stayed until Thursday afternoon.  Puzzle-working, story-telling, pizza-eating, soccer-gaming, and snuggling ensued.  Thanks, Mom!

Emi and I Do Our First Dashian Festival

Emi, Pabi, Nina, Ninjago

Emi's Super Fans