Cute Kid Pix November 2025

Photos that didn't make their own post...

Our month started with a special Mass at Saint Mary of the Mills for all the parishioners who died in the past year. One of the candles on the table was for our son who died in February. It was a beautiful service and sad for us.

Remembrance on All Souls Day

The candles

Only my youngest son went to trick or treat on Halloween. His sister helped to sort the candy. Neither of them wanted us to inspect for items that might have to be claimed by their parents rejected.

No assistance needed or welcome!

My daughter was on the tech crew for her high school's drama department and built, among other things, the radiator used for the Fall play, Out of the Frying Pan. The play is a farce about six actors who live in an apartment over a producer whom they want to meet and get employment from. It was written in the 1940s so it has a very innocent sensibility. The radiator was a plot point since the actors could look down into the producer's apartment and see what he was doing. So maybe not too innocent!

Artist and her craft

The radiator

The next weekend, our middle scholar had a friend in their school play, Heist at the Giardina Museum. We went to see that, which was not as good as the high school production. The plot is based on a true crime event but it has been turned into a mystery appropriate for middle school by the theater teacher. We didn't take pictures, alas!

The next weekend, we went to see friends in a homeschool production of The Sound of Music (Youth Edition). Some of the singers were great and the staging was fun. A lot of big numbers had the whole cast on stage, maybe twenty kids ranging from kindergarteners to high school students. The "Youth Edition" introduces Rolf as a romantic interest for the eldest daughter but then he drops out of the story at the end (i.e. no Nazi Rolf). A few other bits were shortened or consolidated from the movie version (I've never seen a stage version before now). We had an enjoyable time.

We had Thanksgiving dinner on the Eastern Shore at an airbnb. We bought a pumpkin pie/cheesecake hybrid from The Ugly Pie in the nearby town of Salisbury. 

Our dinner table

Is it a pie or a cake?

Book Review: Animal Crackers by Gene Luen Yang

Animal Crackers by Gene Luen Yang

This collection of stories are the very first published works by Gene Luen Yang, who I first discovered when reading his great work on the Avatar graphic novels (and he's currently writing Superman for DC Comics). These stories are written and drawn by Yang in a clean, simple style.

The first story is about Gordon Yamamoto, a not very smart high school bully who probably wouldn't be a bully if he wasn't hanging out with the wrong friend. Things change when Gordon discovers a microdroid hiding in his nose. The droid sends Gordon on a voyage of discovery that doesn't leave his home town, but does show him a more human way of living. The story is very different and original. I don't want to spoil all the surprises in it, so I won't say more than I really enjoyed it as a fantasy story with deeper themes.

The second story is about Loyola Chin, a high school girl who has strange dreams based on what food she eats. She's at the same high school as Gordon but has a different adventure related to the creator of the microdroids. This story is also fantastic and surprising in a good way. It captures the angst of high school life, the challenge of living as a Christian (though it isn't preachy or didactic), and the fear and wonder of the world to come.

The book ends with a sketchbook of character designs and a "bonus feature" describing Yang's original creative process (which includes strong encouragement for people who think they'd like to tell stories in this format).