October 2009

We spent a lot of time in October out at the ranch. One highlight was getting our "family stand" put in place (thank you Chris, Dad and Doug). My dad created this stand (wtih the help of Dwayne) based upon my request for something similar to the stand I grew up hunting in. However, the end product here isn't your ordinary deer stand. For starters it has a regular door for a house on it. The idea is that it is large enough to fit a lot of kids (our kids, friends, cousins - not that we intend to fill it with our own kids:-) and several adults. It's by one of the tanks so the kids are sure to have entertainment while they "sit out." I've already added a little potty and will soon add a survival kit complete with crayons, coloring books, books, etc... so I don't have to haul that stuff back and forth every time. The first time Addie and I sat in it (for a total of 45 minutes) she saw 2 elk (which is amazing in light of the fact that there are no elk out there). I had a great time listening to how they would fall down and hurt their knees which of course would require a kiss to make it better. She also tried to look out of my binoculars a few times only to inform me that they were broken and that she needed her own baby binoculars. I'm looking forward to many more future hunts in this stand!

The weekend before Halloween we made a day trip into Fredericksburg to see Oma and Opa and the great grandparents. Oma put on a really scarry mask to give Addie her treat but it didn't seem to bother Addie at all. She knew it was Oma's voice and walked right up to her showing that appearances don't matter to Addie - it's what is inside that counts!! Especially if what is inside is offering you a treat bag:-)

Addie had decided quite some time ago that she wanted to be a black kitty for Halloween. Lucky for me, Aunt Holly had 2 black kitty costumes that were just the right size! (many thanks Aunt Holly) To add to the fun, about 2 weeks before Halloween I rescued a little black kitten from the middle of a road that has 4 lanes of traffic while on my way to the courthouse. The girls have REALLY enjoyed having the kitten around and thankfully next week he is going to his new home. While we had him though, I thought it'd be cute to get a few pictures of the girls with him. Addie was only too happy to oblige although I can't say the same for the kitten.

Because Halloween was on a Saturday this year, we were able to go Trick-or-Treating with all our cousins! First we went to see Skylar (peacock), Cadence (ladybug) and Luke (bumble bee). We had a delicious but spooky meal (red popcorn, soup in a pumpkin), changed into costumes, took swings at a pinata, and went on a hayride trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, I wasn't checking my pictures as I was taking them, and most of the photos that evening were too dark to see anything in them:-( We got a few pictures early on though under the carport (while the pinata was being beaten). Next we went to see Charles (fireman) and Abigail (Tinkerbell) and went to some houses in their neighborhood. At one point Addie told a lady "I want some candy" instead of "Trick-or-Treat" so we had to have a little talk. She wasn't rude about it, just being honest, but we had to talk her out of that before it became a habit.