Day 24 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and I'm ready for it to be the weekend

Sister Jen doesn't paint much anymore she says, but for a while, she did a lot of it. And I was lucky enough to be presented with a few things she painted. This, for example.I've had this for a long time (longer than I've had either Matt or Hayley) and every year it gets put out on my curio shelf. I remember when Hayley finally got the joke. She laughed herself silly for a good five minutes. She was probably 6 or 7. She tried to explain it to Matt, who wondered what was so funny. It took him another year or two to get it.

I just love the purplish blue guy behind the pumpkin.

Paul is now done with cross country for a year. No more after school practices (until track starts). He wanted to do a winter sport, but I am tired from picking him up at 5 every day and I need a break! His body also needs a break since his hip hasn't fully healed from a bicycle crash that happened even before the school year started. (He collided with Jimmy. Kids, don't listen to music with earplugs while riding a bike!) His hip hurt during the race yesterday and he didn't get as good a time as he wanted (19:06), but he has high hopes for next year.

I haven't written much about Jimmy. He is working too many hours for his liking, 25 hours a week, and he stays up late doing homework. But with the Christmas season coming on, I don't think he'll be getting less hours.