Happy Halloween...YUMMY!!!!

First we took the costume for a test drive. Mom has learned how important this can be when preparing for a day like Halloween. The last thing a guy needs is to be all dressed up and have Mom realize there is no way to change a diaper, or I need a shirt on underneath my costume or something. So on Thursday before Halloween, we took the guitar for a test drive. We went to see Bobbie at Splash. Let me just tell ya, that gang knows how to dress for Halloween. After a few minutes and several pieces of candy, we headed to Dalton to see Bubba at his office. He took us to lunch at Fuji and it was YUMMY!! I wandered around the restaurant in my guitar suit and got several pieces of candy from the nice lady who got our table ready.

This is a shot of me with the great Jack O Lantern. I was so excited!!!

Two stops and some Japanese food later and I was out. Moral of the story? Mom, take a napping outfit!!

For days now, Mom has been trying to get me to say Trick or Treat. I finally got it, but it sounds a little more like tricky treat. Either way, it's supposed to get me candy. Now I find this confusing because Mom has taught me to say "please" to get candy in the past. I do wish she'd make up her mind! Anyway, Halloween came and it was a great day! We skipped the fall festival at church because it was rainy and they had to move it inside. Mom was concerned about me being cooped up with all those germs and about me getting plowed over by some of the bigger kids, so we went to plan B. Dad took me to the mall to see Nonna and tricky treat at her store, then we got Chick Fil A for lunch. YUMMY!! After a nap, Mom had the cupcakes baked and let me put the sprinkles on them. They went everywhere, but it was ok. Mom said no biggie and left 'em! She did clean them up later, but first we loaded into Dad's truck and set off on our tricky treat route.

Look at these great cupcakes!! They may not be beautiful, but they look

Yummy!!

Our first stop was Nanny's house. She had so many goodies for me that it filled up my pumpkin and we had to get a gift bag so that I could carry everything and still have more room for Tricky Treat candy. Nanny had candy, cookies, a sprite, some apples and, best of all, some John Deere Tractor Chewies. If you don't know what these are, I am sorry you don't have someone who loves you lie I do. These are the best fruit chews on the planet. My Granny gets them for me in the cereal aisle and she almost always has a pack in her purse. YUMMY!!Of course I had to sit down with Nanny and show her my whole stash of candy...it was adding up quickly.Next, we were off to G.G.'s neighborhood. They were at a neighbor's house for a party, but the kids were about to head out to Tricky Treat, and they let me tag along.Here I am getting candy from my first true Tricky Treat experience. The people were all dressed up like the Flintstones, and their yard was full of inflatable Halloween things, but nothing scary.This was a blow up cat that made fun sounds when you went through it. Mom asked Aunt Cindy if we could put it up in our garage for me to run through on rainy days. Oh Mom, I don't have that much energy! The cat was seriously fun though and I went through it about 15 times!Finally we ended up at Bubba and Audi's house. Our plan was to hit a few houses near them, but I had more fun seeing everyone who came to their door. Bubba cooked burgers, and in between bites I got to give out candy. It was really fun, but there were a couple of costumes I was not so sure about. Granny made them take their masks off though to show me it was ok. Granny rocks!!At long last, I got a bite of one of my cupcakes from earlier in the day. I don't know why I didn't want to hold it, but eating it this way kept me from getting my hands dirty. They were Yummy!

The Great Jack O Lantern

Well, it finally got here! Time to turn the Great Pumpkin into the Great Jack O Lantern! Mommy and Daddy are amateurs when it comes to the carving part, since this is the first year they have done this, so Granny and Granddaddy came over to supervise. This is one last shot before the carving begins!This is Daddy getting some final advice about how to cut the lid open. It has to be cut on an angle so that it won't fall down inside.

OOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo!!!! Gross! What is all that stuff? I think Daddy is going to have to handle this part!Ok, ok, I'll help too. Boy, there sure are lots of seeds in this big ole pumpkin! This is so fun! I love doing these things with Dad, and he will do just about anything to be sure I have good memories!Hanging with Granddaddy in the garage, trying to stay warm and not miss any fun.Stirring the bowl full of seeds that came out of the pumpkin. We were going to save the seeds and try to grow our own next year, but decided we had so much fun going to the pumpkin patch this year that we tossed them in the trash. They were slimy, but fun to play in!!!Here it comes! They are moving it to the porch! Get out of the way!! Don't drop it!TA DA!! Look what a great job Daddy did carving the Great Jack O Lantern of 2009!!This has nothing to do with the Great Jack O Lantern, but Mommy had to put it on here to show what happens when she leaves her purse on the kitchen table while she runs to the potty. For the record, lip gloss does not clean up nearly as easy as it goes on. Mom scrubbed and scrubbed, fussing the whole time about boys not wearing make up. I think that's all for now. I'll post pictures of my Halloween costume later this weekend!

The Great Pumpkin

Every season, there are so many new things to do, see and learn. For example, last week Mommy and Granny started talking about "The Great Pumpkin". Now, to me, this meant nothing, but I could tell by Mom's excitement that it was something I was going to learn about. Apparently, when Mom and Uncle Bubba were little, they would load up with Granny and Granddaddy and go all over town looking for the biggest pumpkin they could find. Then they would take it home and clean it out and make a big jack-o-lantern for Halloween. So began our hunt for the great pumpkin. Last Sunday, we loaded into Daddys' truck and went lookin'. We went to Ooltewah, not many choices. We went to Highway 58, some possible candidates, but Granddaddy said to keep looking! We went to East Ridge, hardly worth getting out of the truck for. Downtown, nothing, Red Bank, nothing, and finally to Hixson. There were some definite candidates here, the best so far, but I was asleep in the truck by now so we decided to come back later in the week and look again.

You call that a big pumpkin??

Not the Great Pumpkin, but I can carry this one!!

After a long day of searching, we met Bubba and Aunt Audi for supper and guess what??? My JeanJean was here!! I didn't know she was in town, but I was soooo glad to see her!

Then, Daddy found out about a place called Burt's Farm in Dawsonville, Ga. It is a giant pumpkin patch with all sizes and shapes of pumpkins. So, Tuesday afternoon, Dad and Granddaddy took off work early and into the truck we piled. After an almost two hour drive over Fort Mountain and through Ellijay, we finally got there. A little green from the trip, but there none the less. We crawled out of the truck and went through this little barn that was a gift shop into the pumpkin area. WOW!!!! HOLY COW!!! and WHOEEEE!!! I have never seen so many pumpkins! There were big pumpkins, little pumpkins, fat pumpkins and skinny pumpkins. There were green pumpkins, warty pumpkins, white pumpkins and gourds. There was an old tractor that was just for playing on and all sorts of home made goodies for sale in the shop.

I started out in my wagon and ended up pulling it around while Dad chased me and videoed everything I did. Mom, Granny and Granddaddy searched through all the ginormous pumpkins looking for "the one". After I was exhausted and muddy around the edges, Daddy helped make the final choice from the ones Granny, Granddaddy and Mom had found. It is AWESOME!! When we got it home and unloaded last night, it looks even bigger! It is bigger than me, and Mom has some cute photo ideas for carving time. Of course, I'll post pictures of that, but in the meantime, here are some shots from our hunt.

This was my reaction to seeing the huge field of pumpkins ahead of me!

In just a few minutes, I was out of my wagon and walking through the rows of pumpkins like I owned the place. I couldn't see over most of them!

The old John Deere tractor. It's a good thing Mom and Dad are teaching me to share. Otherwise I would have just ignored those kids wanting a turn on this wonderful tractor! I did pitch a tiny fit when it was time to get down. I am just shy of two years old though, so it's to be expected!

Look! This tiny pumpkin is almost as cute as I am!!

My Pumpkin loaded in the truck and ready to take home!! This is "THE GREAT PUMPKIN of 2009"! Stay tuned for "the great jack-o-lantern 2009".