We had the most wonderful family evening last night. We made our own sidewalk chalk and painted with it on the driveway. Paint? With Chalk? Yes!

You mix 1/4 cup of corn starch with 1/4 cup of water and add some food coloring.

It makes a paste that you paint on with a paint brush and when it dries it makes chalk. Samantha loved it and John and I even painted a little too. Jess, Mark and the kids came by when we were almost done but there was still enough left for them to make a few pictures. It was a perfect evening, warm but not hot and there was a harvest moon out. That's where the moon has a red cast to it right?

This morning Samantha and I talked about something that happened last night: While we were all outside Jess said something to Hannah that sort of took me aback.... She said, "Shut up Hannah". And then she said it again, "Shut your big fat mouth Hannah". I asked Samantha if she had noticed and she said yes. She said she thought it looked like Hannah felt uncomfortable and she said she felt bad for her. We talked about how sometimes I say shut up but you can tell by the conversation that I am joking around. She said she understood the difference. I am proud of her for noticing things like that and having feelings like that for other kids. She used to be the kid that didn't care if her best friend was standing there sobbing. She would go right on playing and when you asked her about it she would say she noticed but didn't really care. She's a strange child...

On Friday Samantha and I went to the play: "Junie B Jones and a Little Monkey Business". It was our first play of the season and we had a great time. Afterward it was still quite warm so we went for a walk in the Short North and went to Jenie's for ice cream.