After a long morning slaying dragons, King Leith takes a nap. Is this what is referred to as 'sleeping on one's sword'?

I am afraid I don't have many moments like this left- they are all growing so fast.

The snow arrived today- about 4-5 inches of lake effect heavy, wet snow. It's time to have beefy snow tires installed.

Also...
I have heard of places where, in order to reduce violent crime, police departments stage 'gun buy back' programs. They give people a cash incentive to turn in their guns, thus reducing the numbers of weapons that may potentially be used in criminal activities.
Along this line of reasoning, I am thinking of holding the first annual 'Sherman Household Fake Spider Buy Back'. I am getting to the point that I may be willing to pay out cold, hard cash in return for fewer, or perhaps NO fake spiders circulating throughout my home. I wonder what a motivating price point would be?

Coral dressed up as Sarah Palin for school today. One of her friends asked her if she is a McCain/Palin supporter- she said that she is a Tina Fey/SNL supporter. She has practised saying "All the Mavericks in the house, put your hands up! And all the plumbers in the house, pull your pants up!"

On a side note- I know that my blog tends to look like a Christmas letter that never ends, with flattering photos of the fam and descriptions of all our fun activities. And yet, the reality is that although I feel blessed, I also have a heavy heart much of the time. Some of the challenges that my own children face are serious and sometimes scary, but pale in comparison to what we see our friends and loved ones facing. My prayers are long these days and tears come easily as I worry about and hope for the people I love and care about- Sophie, Polly, Lane, Kaitlyn, Alison & Dale, Diana, Mom & Dad, Carl & Denna, Heather, Dominic- to name a few.

I am looking forward to the possibility of snow tomorrow!! On Saturday, Kevin and I got the boys outfitted with season ski rentals. It was a balmy 74 F as we carried the skis to the car...

Halloween

I am always stuck carving the pumpkins by myself. Leith helped for a while before running off to play. Niall ordered a 'cyclops' pumpkin as he headed off down the street.

I am still mourning the theft of my largest pumpkin, but the others made very fine jack-o-lanterns. Soldier costumes were popular this year, but Niall had the best outfit.

Leith changed from Phantom to Vampire mid-week and stuck with it. He complained that the lipstick 'blood' itched, but he wore his teeth around town for three days.

Grandpa Carl stopped by and joined the boys as they went house to house before joining us for a supper of "Mummy Dogs".

Coral helped in her friend's backyard Spook Alley, while India trick-or-treated with friends in a different neighborhood. Shawn Gillies, in town for a conference, stopped by to see Kevin. We treated him to a screening of our favorite vampire movie- Roman Polanski's "The Fearless Vampire Killers" from 1966, featuring Sharon Tate. It is creepy on so many levels, while at the same time being completely silly and campy. I'm not sure what Shawn really thought-I still find him and his friendship with Kevin a bit enigmatic.