Dinner-time

At dinner time we have two stories. The first is from 365 Bible Stories. Our hunch is that this book will keep us going for a year. The second story is made up on the spot. Most nights, as soon as we sit down, say the blessing and start eating, a little voice will ask, " Scripture story?...Made up story?" The improvised tales feature the same characters each night or some combination of the usual suspects. Mogadon the relaxed princess and her forgettable parents. Mogworthy, Mogadon's cousin. Hairy Mary the childish hair dresser. Craigy Hunna, the bad guy and Andrew Spiller the spoonerist. By far the most popular characters are Ted the cross-eyed gardener and his faithful side-kick, Ernie the shouting dog. Ted has irritable vowell syndrome (ie he mixes up his vowells, to the puzzlement of others) and Ernie, well, shouts all the time. All these folk intersect in increasingly ridiculous circumstances as each evening it is important to top last night's adventure. Body parts magically turn into items of food, unicorns battle bionicles and Barbies, and hiccuping, fire-breathing dragons take on sleepy dinosaurs. Sometimes, when listening is taking precedence over eating, characters and plots are left dangling until the next fork-full is shoved in. Makes for interesting meal-times at our place. You're always welcome....but be prepared to tell a tale or two.