The second half of Halloween featured sunshine and blue skies, but it was still chilly. Beatrix made a costume change due to the weather and the fact it is her prerogative to look as cute as she can in as many ways as she can. She went from princess to duckling. Aidan was a pioneer girl, Ryley was Luke Skywalker from Episode Six, and Sam was Spiderman.

I made a nice shepherd’s pie for dinner this evening. I should have known better.

Three of our four boys have trouble tolerating foods which are not separated by castle walls, the towers of which are manned by machine gun toting ninjas. If gravy dares to encroach on the green beans, it is blown sky high in a torrent of gunfire and farts in its general direction. Foods shouldn’t mix.

Shepherd’s Pie is a bit mixy.

Aidan, our oldest child and a girl, doesn’t mind mixing foods. In fact, she mixes them when logic stammers “no” again and again. So tonight’s dinner made perfect sense to her.

She thought she was being helpful when she told her brothers, “Hey, listen! Sometimes foods look really disgusting but they taste okay. Like this.”

Maybe I should start passing out blindfolds. Do they go on the fork side of the plate, or with the knife and spoon?