I meant to briefly (not boxerly) mention Halloween and move on, but then this happened. Maybe I'll post about Thanksgiving by Easter.

First things first. Here are some pictures of my daughter, Matilda, of whom I am the world's biggest acolyte. Even when that girl just don't want to be sleeping, I cannot help but smile at her. Most of the time she will smile back, too! And I tell you what, one of my favorite things has become going to see her in the morning. Often she will wake up and just coo and goo and fart, but not really cry yet. She just sits and stares at the polka dots on her bedding, the ceiling fan (which she thinks is funny for some reason), or her fist. If I can catch her when she is in such a state, I just poke my head over the side of her crib and wait until she sees me. As soon as she does, the biggest and warmest smile engulfs her face. Even her ears smile at me. Can a person's ears smile? I did not think so, but then Matilda's did at me. Then I saw her ears, now I'm a believer without a trace of doubt in my mind. I'm in love. I'm a believer. I couldn't leave her if I tried.

If you want to hear more about what we did on All Hallows Eve, I refer you to Allison and Camie. Both documented the evening's events more than adequately. I have nothing to add. I do wish to note that Megan sewed Matilda's witch hat by herself (no patterns, pictures, or anything but brain power to work from) while we watched Hocus Pocus on the 30th. I helped by having bought the dress (on super-sale at Hanna Andersson) and the pants (on super-sale from Old Navy). I didn't have the whole costume in mind when I bought those things, but everything came together nicely into the cutest little witch ever. If I were to write a book about her in Italian, it would be called La Bella Bambina Streghina. And without further ado, the Halloween pics.

I put a spell on you...

...and now you're mine!!

The witch on white. Almost sounds like a sandwich, eh?

Joel-Bone, Strega-Tilly, and Samnocchio. All three in costumes lovingly sewn (at least in part) by their wonderful mothers. And Paddington Bear wanted to play too. Happy 50th, PB!!

I'm pretty sure she is thinking, "I could turn you into a pumpkin seed if I wanted. A purple pumpkin seed. A polka-dotted, pansy-purple, prissy, prancing, prickly, pimply, partially-hydrogenated pumpkin seed. If I wanted to. Lucky for you I do not. Not at this time, anyways."

Last cute picture of Witchy Matilda. She used to twitch a lot while sleeping as a newborn. I joked that I was going to nickname her "Twitch". Too bad she stopped, otherwise I could have called her "Twitch the Witch". This is my favorite of the Halloween pics, by the way.

And finally, my Mario pumpkin. There's a little "M" on his hat that you cannot see from this angle. I roasted his seedy guts and ate them. They were delicious. Better watch your back, Luigi.

I was about to go on with this post, but I have decided not to. Enjoy what I have provided you with. Don't be greedy.

P.S. If any of you want a great scary movie, watch The Innocents (1961) with Deborah Kerr. We did not get it in time from Halloween from Netflix, but it gave us a good scare the following Tuesday.

The Saturday Muffin Adventure

We did not have the ingredients for pancakes on Saturday, November 1, 2008.

So I made muffins instead.

But what does one do when one has just a little bit of extra mix left over--not enough for another batch but too much to throw away?

One uses the mix and then employs equations to figure out how much more oil, water, and egg to add.

But what happens when the extra batter does not fit in the muffin tin and one only has one muffin tin?

One uses a Pyrex bowl to make a MUFFONE!!

And then one makes a video of said muffins dancing.

And then one consumes said muffins.

Enjoy.