embers

What do you see when you look at this picture?

I see demon mouths and scary wolf faces, a sign of Halloween nearly upon us, I suppose.

The picture is just a blurry shot of glowing embers from a back yard fire last weekend. 

We had some of Daniel's friends over that evening. Thank goodness it was warm and wasn't raining and we were able to send them outside to eat pizza and run around in the twilight hour because our little house full of 11yo boys was going to be more than I could take. Later we built a fire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores except for the kid who hates all things crunchy, so he just ate the marshmallows raw. They got a flashlight and played "ghost in the graveyard", which was loud and raucous and reminded me of doing the same when I was a kid. I don't even remember the rules anymore, but the rules don't matter as much as the excitement of running around in the dark.

I like Daniel's friends. They are good kids, interesting people, and, most importantly, good friends to each other. They are kind and supportive and respectful and totally goofy. Middle school can be such a shit show. I'm glad that for now, at least, they have each other.

Especially since Daniel is already planning to have them all over for a sleepover for his birthday in February.