Happy Halloween Everybody!

Ella the Spider wishes you all a happy Halloween, with lots of tasty loot and sugar rushes to last until about Thanksgiving.

A Halloween Meditation

Is Halloween just about the candy, or is it a deeper reflection on our primal feelings about our own mortality and the unknown?


It's mostly about the candy. And dressing up like a bug.

No, Ella's not trick-or-treating as a beatnik. She's just wearing those clothes underneath her real costume, which you'll probably see in the next post.

Which is mightier: the pen or the sword?

Well, DUH!

overheard somewhat recently: "Don't step on Daddy's pants because they might break into little blue pieces."

I wonder if she knows something about the laws of physics that I don't.

Let us now praise corn on the cob and summer picnics

...first I threaten to put the whole thing in my mouth...


...before taking a more reasonable, contemplative bite.

The upside to cold weather...

...is cute jammies with feet.


And a bonus picture, for the patience y'all have exhibited with the sporadic updates...

My favorite detail here, besides the cute munchkin in green, are the shiny, pedicured toes of Mommy!

Walking is overrated...

... especially compared to the coolness of riding a horse... all by yourself! Ella had a blast riding Slow Joe at the county fair.

Lately I've been spending a good chunk of my time with Ella in character; she asks "Can you pretend to be Pooh and I'll pretend to be Piglet?" or Marlin and Nemo, or Steve and Blue (Blue's Clues). Luckily, she doesn't give me too much grief over my really poor Pooh imitation (it's hard... just try it sometime).

It's not just fatherhood, it's an education in improvisational theater.