Halloween

Yes, Brad went as Mr. T. Nothing like starting your morning off combing out, and then trimming, your husband's Mr. T. wig so it will lie flat and look right. (It was kinda fun, actually, as I was thinking there might not be a huge number of wives who would help out like that, and look at the fun they were missing.)

Gideon went as High King Peter, from Chronicles of Narnia. I dressed Tabitha up as your general issue knave, so she'd match her brother. (Her tunic is made from two cloth napkins that were on clearance at Target.)

Robin and I went as ourselves, respectively.

Maelan went as Eowyn from the Lord of the Rings. She created the costume all by herself and spent lots of hours cutting, painting, arranging, and sewing. You should see some of the up close work and colors. We found her helmet at a party supply store (where Brad was looking for Mr. T. jewelry). She was so excited that such a helm existed.

Questions Gideon Asked Me Tonight As I Was Tucking Him Into Bed

"Why did Pharoah kill the baby boys?"
"How come the soldiers didn't see Moses in the river?"
"How did God kill the soldiers?" (much later, at the Red Sea)
"Why didn't Pharoah's god help him?"
"Why did Pharoah worship idols?"
"How do our bodies get to heaven?"
"Why did Shama's kitten die, but we could still see its body?"
"Why do they not make us mummies when we die?"

Gideon is four. Gideon generally has questions like these at bedtime, and right as you finish answering one he's ready with another. There were some more, but I couldn't remember them all when I went to write them down. Sometimes he has three or four questions and he's satisfied. Other nights, I have to limit him so we can all get rest. Interestingly, he was snoozing within five minutes of me turning out the lights.

Hair Ball -aka- Hair Hockey

The kids invented a new game a few months ago while we were sitting around the table, twiddling our fingers in that bored lull you sometimes get after a good time of conversation.

Maelan had cleaned out her hairbrush and thrown the puff of hair onto the table. Robin picked it up, twirled it around a bit, and Hair Ball was born. We also called it Hair Hockey. (Get it?)

The rules of play are similar to table football, except that we found it more fun to expand the boundaries to the edges of the table. You flick the hair puff and if it goes off the opposite side of the table, you score. Opposing players try to keep it in play on the table surface. For fun, you can also shout, "Hairball!", when it goes off the edge.

Very fun night. Much laughter and hilarity. Cheap and simple, too. Did I mention environmentally friendly? ha ha