The Fantastic Five

Puck held up the wooden seat of his old rocking horse to get my attention. I can’t remember how he dismembered that one, but there it was – the sort of mouse-faced wood board.

“Look, Mom! I’m giving a mouse caffeine!” He pretended to feed the board. “SQUEAK! Squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak!” He danced off with the “mouse head” like a maniac.

Clearly, it was Friday, and the end of another fun school week. I hope he enjoys Third Grade just as much.

Crackers fuzzy haunches sank over Puck’s fuzzy velvet poster sitting on the kitchen table as she made herself comfortable. Cats and their penchants for sitting on paper, paper and cardboard. If there is one vacant square of paper in the entire house, Crackers will find it, and conquer it, usually by establishing the flag of “Cat Nap” from the territory of “Annoyed Face”.

Movie night included Joe and Jaya, Annamaria and Thunderbird, and Rose, all bearing sacks of Schnuck’s snacks. Selecting a movie, however, wasn’t as easy as tossing together a spread of bacon-macaroni-and-cheese potato chips, apple juice, and blonde Oreos. This took some thinking.

“Well, Annamaria, what do you want to watch?”

Annamaria chuckled, maybe a little maniacally. “Pride and Prejudice.”

Thunderbird groaned. “Too long.”

“Yeah, last week Rose and I made him watch ‘Jane Eyre’ and then Rose and I fell asleep while he watched the whole thing.” Annamaria laughed at their treachery.

Joe ricocheted one of Puck’s little rubber balls against the floor, and into Annamaria’s hand, holding a chip with dip.

“Joe Snicketts! I’m going to swing you into a tree!”

I wouldn’t doubt it.

And I guess this is what it’s like when the Fantastic Five get together. Finally, things settled down when Oxbear switched on 1989’s “Batman”, until the Peanut Gallery got cranked up and going. Never fails to please.