Halloween.. well, almost... and while I am not, and never have been, a big fan of Halloween, there are some cute traditions that go with it. Trick or treating, when i was little, and when my girls were little, was always so much fun. Though mostly .. cold... and I can remember being so very upset when we had to wear a jacket or some other type of warm clothing over our costumes while we were out trick or treating.... such fun to run from house to house collecting our goodies, and then when we got home... we spread it all out and sorted threw the best to the least.
Like everything, it seems, in life... trick or treating has changed over the years. Some towns still have it, but the big thing now seems to be this"trunk or treat" idea... where there is just one location that the kids go to.. and then people bring their cars and decorate the cars (i.e.:trunks) and the kids can go from car to car to collect goodies. There's often other things that go with it, bake sale... jumpy houses.... games.. and it seems like it's just as fun, only different.
Such is the idea here in our little town. Course our town is so rural that I'm not sure trick or treating was ever that "big" around here... but either way, they do the "trunk or treat" at the school, and it's a big hit.
Ed suggested that maybe the read dog team might want to be a part of this... I hadn't thought of it in the past, but the doggies are certainly well known at school, so I thought it was a pretty good idea.
I decided to do an inside table instead of a trunk because I wasn't sure how to decorate a car, and I wanted to be sure that the doggies were seen... plus, i wasn't too sure what the doggies would think of everyone all dressed up... costumes can be pretty scary.
So, we decorated a table with pumpkins and books.. passed out some candy and glow sticks, and the fun began. At first Livy kind of looked at all the little goblins that were coming by, but then she realized that she actually knew the people "underneath" and everything was very OK... especially when one of her favorite teachers stopped to say hello.... Livy climbed right up in her lap....
Chief dog took it all in stride... he just sat quietly and waited for the petting to come his way...
But Livy in her true greeting fashion, reached out to everyone and pretty much said... "one must pat the dog in order to get treats"... I don't really think they minded, and to be honest, I think the doggies were one of the more popular stops on the route.
I must admit that a couple of times, I held my breath when certain costumes showed up. This "wolf" for one, when I saw them enter the room, I wondered how this would go over. At first, Livy just stood and took a good look as he approached, but the moment he bent down and said her name, she ran right over and took all her pats. She did keep looking at him, like..."what are you doing", but no fear, no worries and I was pretty pleased about that...
"I got this Mom... I don't know what you are worried about...."
Even after the event was over and we were beginning to pick up.. kids still came back again to give both Livy and Chief some hugs and kisses....
and Livy almost seemed sad when they began to leave and head for home...
but that's OK... read dog is on Tuesday and we'll be back at school again......
Since last weekend... Kassy's birthday weekend, did not even begin to work out as planned, we decided to do a "make up" version this past weekend. I had the family come to the farm for a cookout style supper, cakes and some presents... much to the delight of the grands....
Abi was with her Daddy, so it was just the boys who were able to come. Cal was very happy with all the goings on....
I guess once you're a Mama.. things never actually belong to you, and so goes birthday gifts... though I have to say Reagan was rather disappointed that there were no new trucks or tractors as gifts.....
It's not going to be much longer before grand #4... Kelsey... is here to celebrate as well. Sadie is feeling good and is just starting to hit that stage where .."enough is enough "... thankfully she has had the cooler part of the year to carry.....
Cal was suppose to help with gift opening, but as I said before, no new toys, so the boys quickly moved on to bigger and better things...
like cake!!!!!
and candles... (though I forgot those too...) so just singing the birthday song had to do...
Poor Kass, this was not the best planned birthday celebration this year.... but none the less, just as special as always...
Happy birthday!!!!
The pretty fall weather is beginning to show up, and I (finally) got some time to hitch Abraham and drive about the farm. I haven't tried him in the wagonette yet, but I'm thinking I may do that next weekend. He drives so nicely, and the wagonette will be fun.. but the last horse to pull it was Duke, so I have some emotions running about that....
It was also a busy week for Livy and I and the therapy dog work that we do. We went to the cancer center to start (got this cute photo outside with the fall decorations)...
She's getting to be quite popular there, and some of the patients that come regularly are looking for her each week. She has some favorites too, and the moment they walk into the center, she is up and happily greeting them.
It's "good" work, and when I see the smiles, I know that we are doing a nice thing here....
We also began the reading dog program again this past week at school. This year there are three dogs.... Chief is back (he got sick last year, and had to bow out for a while)... then Livy... which this makes the third year that we have been at the school... and very new to the program is Belinda and Little bits....
Livy was very happy to be back at school and "ran" down the hall way right to the reading room. She knows what this is all about. The children were so happy to have the doggies back again.. and truthfully, the first day of reading, there wasn't much reading...
but we'll get back into the swing of it...
Right Livy...
so another good, fast busy week and weekend... the days fly by and I try to cram in as much as possible each and every day.....
Well... I guess the day started out alright. The weather could have been a bit better, the weather folks didn't say that it was actually going to rain.. showers, is what I heard... but when we ventured out.. it wasn't showers, it was rain. So, the little "apple festival" in our town was rather wet.
Poor vendor folks, doing what they can to keep themselves and their wares dry. That being said, there were some very nice vendors and it was worth stopping by to see what they had.
As well as an outing for Miss Cadi. Though she pretty much takes everything in stride now a days, and this was just another trip to see what was going on.....
Kass, my Mom and the grands came out to see the festival. We pretty much just dressed for the weather and poked about. I will say the "hat/mitten/scarf" lady was doing well with her wares. It's easy to think about the warm things we will need in the near future, when the day is already wet and raw.
We didn't stay as long as we might have.. the boys were getting cold and I had a fire going at home, so lunch and a warm spot sounded good to everyone.
The next morning, Mom came back to the farm and we headed over to see the Deerfield fair. Ed, Nate and family had a booth there and have been working the fair all weekend... so, we thought we'd pop over and see what's going on. The day was a pretty one, it's Kassy's birthday and Mom and I were just excited to have the day together.... well........
these photos show the story. As we were going along, I needed to stop for gas, so we pulled off the highway and as I was waiting for a light, smoke began to come out from under the hood and into the jeep. Thankfully, the gas station was right there, so I pulled in, parked in a safe place, shut the jeep off and tried to think what to do. I didn't feel any panic or rush, until a few people came running over and said... "get out... get your stuff out"... "move back away"... I kind of gave them a look like, is this such a big deal.. and one guy said... "miss, your car is on fire!!!" People were so great, one gal helped me pull out the things in the jeep (which wasn't much) and two gentlemen showed up with extinguishers and doused the engine. I called 911 (on the request of one of the guys) and over came a fire engine and rescue. But the fire was out by then.
I called Ed at the fair and he was on his way.. but the firefighters (who all knew Ed) were great and stayed with Mom and I pretty much the whole time.
Ed arrived, and doesn't think the damage is all the much --- thanks to the very quick work of the folks who came to the rescue... we called a wrecker and then just left my little jeep to wait for it...
Because the traffic was so heavy trying to get into the fair, we decided it would just be best to forgo that idea, and all went to lunch. However, I was so very upset and the idea of not seeing my gal on her birthday... in fact, that upset me way more than the silly jeep. I always spend the birthday day with my girls and this was going to be the first one that I had ever missed with Kass.....
I know we were together yesterday, but somehow that's not the same....
so, between some rainy weather, broken jeep and missed birthday, this weekend was not anything I had hoped it would be... I do see all the good things about it, but I also see the not great things as well...either way, all is good and life goes on, even when it's not what we had planned.....
**** side note to the story... a transmission coolant line let go in the jeep and the coolant got onto the engine thus the fire. No damage was done to the jeep (again thanks to the quick work of my rescuers)... the line is all fixed and the jeep is up and running..... *******
