Our Halloween Contest submission is a quartet. Think of it as The Lord of the Rings (or perhaps more aptly the original Star Wars trilogy) with a Special Features fourth DVD. It’s still one work. If the editors are poopy-doopy about the quartet concept, they can break up our family (sniff sniff) into individual submissions. Please be sure to look at all four photos because we’ve saved the best for last!

First up is yours truly, Mary, with my beautiful Sasha (The Weasel). If you want to know why I’m DogWoman, check out the resemblance. Don’t get distracted by the black, brown, dog collar, or build. It’s all about the nose and eyes.

Next up is the incomparable Steve. No, he’s not a Vietnam Vet—he’s too young, besides he’s such a wreck no one would’ve taken him and he would’ve registered as a CO. (He wanted to flash a peace sign, but his poor fingers are so gimpy from arthritis that you wouldn’t recognize it and it might look rude!) Steve is wearing his Dad’s infamous marijuana tie as a headband. Sweetly naïve older sister Kate chose the material back in the 60’s and made the tie herself. Daddy wore it proudly and obliviously for years. Steve wore it for his HS senior photo. Living in Columbus OH, he now passes it off as a Buckeye leaf, but don’t be fooled by my subversive hubby! Steve is also modeling a boy-made heart necklace, a NWF “Green at Heart” wristband, and an AFSC “Wage Peace” band. His button reads, “Attack Iraq? No!” The homemade tie-dyed shirt came from our annual 60’s coffeehouse with NPR commentator/folksinger Bill Cohen. Sasha looks chic in her hand-dyed shirt, boy-made beads, “Peace is Patriotic” button, and “I Will Not Kill” wristband (from FOR’s Iwillnotkill.org site for COs). Peace!

Here’s the firstborn, James. Currently a sophomore at Earlham College in Richmond IN, James plays club volleyball as lucky #13 and serves as the club convenor (and a major babe magnet for the EC Women’s Team as previously documented here). Like his father before him, James plays setter and outside hitter. OK, here’s a truth-in-disclosure moment. James had a friend take this photo of him today, 10/31/2008, in the hall outside his dorm room, and then e-mailed it to us. I took the photo of Sasha wearing an Earlham t-shirt today in our home and Steve photoshopped Sasha into the frame with James (he’s a CS genius). This saved us 4 hours driving and $50 of gas. We love you, OS, but we’re environmentalists! So we’re all good about sticking to the rules. Sasha is used to wearing a volleyball t-shirt a couple times a year as she performs mascot duties by greeting the younger son’s HS teammates when they arrive at tournaments.

And now, the drum roll, please!!!

Here’s the baby of the family Andrew, a HS sophomore, kneeling in order to wear a Darth Vader costume sized for a 6-year-old. The consummately patient Sasha Weasel is an AT-AT! Steve made the AT-AT costume for me back in 1995 when my Sheppie girl Sheena first wore it trick-or-treating with 6-year-old James as Darth Vader (in this same costume) and 2-year-old Andrew as Luke Skywalker. If The Weasel’s devoted fans demand it, we’ll scan our 1995 photo of the three of them and tell you what George Lucas said about it when we sent him a copy!

OK, old friends and new, this is a contest. If you smiled, laughed, or blew something out your nose laughing, go back up to the top and rate this puppy! Then send a note to all your other OS friends about it.

Hope you enjoyed this half as much as we did!

Fondly,

Steve, Mary, James, Andrew, and the sweetest weasel in the world—Sasha!!!

P. S. My sister, The Wood Elf, has posted her first piece, an Editor’s Pick, currently buried deep in the bowels of OS. If you want to give her a warm welcome and read some really juicy family election in-fighting, check it out under Red vs. Blue: Brother/Sister Election Email Volleys.

P. P. S. If you’re an animal lover and have any type of pet, let us know if you want to be a part of The Weasel for President & her Open Salon Cabinet. Cabinet appointments are still being made.