Trick or Treat

Avery enjoyed his first time trick-or-treating. We visited most of the houses on our street and then Avery enjoyed handing out candy to the kids that visited our house.

Happy Halloween!

Avery first wanted to be Mater, then a pumpkin and then a carrot. Thankfully, he hasn't changed his mind again. He "helped" make this costume... using his Play-Doh scissors and the counter (otherwise known as a quilting square). He's looking forward to Trick-or-Treating and handing out candy to "the children" (yes, that's really what he says!). I had hoped to not corrupt him this year with trick-or-treating... but he totally gets it!

Batgirl Ensures Family's Safety

So it wasn't a crazy squirrel afterall? We came home this afternoon and went through the process of climbing the ladder to the attic to check on the squirrel trap. Again, no squirrel. But there was something scurrying around the attic. And there it was, a giant bat climbing on the screen covering the gable vent. The attic trap door was quickly closed.

A short time later, a scratching sound could be heard as the bat slithered above the kitchen ceiling, down the kitchen walls behind the cabinets, then back above the ceiling. It tried, to no avail, to climb down through the light fixtures. Then, suddenly, it was there, peering out from atop the cabinets.

Bat girl quickly sprang to action, shouting orders, broom in hand. "Put Avery upstairs!" she shouted, "Lock Buggy in a room." She flung open the doors and windows as Max retreated, slowly, quietly upstairs, out of harm's way.

This bat was stubborn. We prodded it with a broom handle. It wouldn't budge. It flew around briefly, but returned to its perch on the cabinets. Flung dog food wouldn't move it. Direct hits from a squirt bottle had no effect. It licked the water from the wall in defiance. The suddenly it flew out, diving at our heads as we stood our ground bravely. A swat from Jen's broom and it landed on the floor where it quickly found itself trapped by the "Bin Shopping" Canadian grocery bin.

It was flung out into the dark night.

The Squirrel Chronicles (continued)

Last night, for the first time in many weeks, we heard an animal scurrying around in the attic. We haven't covered over the hole that the squirrels were using to get into the house because we haven't figured out how to get to that spot on the roof.

So I opened up the attic hatch and poked my head up there. I was met with a terrible smell. I had left the trap set in the attic and hadn't checked it for quite some time. Apparently, we had caught squirrel number 3 several weeks ago.

I bought some hardware cloth to cover over the entrance hole. The trap is not baited with some fresh peanut butter and reset. We will see if we can catch this new varmint, then get someone to patch the hole for us. I climbed up on the roof this afternoon, but it's just not safe to try to reach the hole with the steep roof pitch.

We will keep you all posted.

Tractors Tractors Big and Small...

The bedroom relocation project has moved to a new stage. We are moving things from our former bedroom to our new bedroom. Avery's new "tractor room" is moving closer to reality.

Pickin' Pumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch

We visited the Treworgy Orchard to pick pumpkins visit the animals, take a hay ride, and otherwise enjoy the fall weather. We didn't try the corn maze, but we had a great time and Avery picked out a 20-lb pumpkin.