All Saint's Eve

We went trick-or-treating tonight.  Bode went as Zoom, one of the evil speedsters from The Flash television series.  Ashley surprised Bode and wouldn't tell him her costume until today when she debuted it.  Bode was not amused.

An explanation is probably in order.  Bode hates unicorns.  Well, I don't know if he would hate them on his own accord.  However, ever since he was young, we would joke that he was watching My Little Pony or something with Rainbow Unicorns.  Thus, it's been a running gag--anytime we see something unicorn-esque, we tell Bode we're gonna get it for him.  This is why he was less than amused with Ashley's costume.  Still, he did pose for some nice pictures with his cool-as-hell-Mom.

We went down to the park with some friends and did the trunk-or-treat, and then we headed up Poplar Street, which is just packed with trick-or-treaters.  We were out for about an hour--it was surprisingly chilly (I wore a hat and gloves---Brrr!).  Happy Halloween to all!

FBJ

Joey is a bit heavy.  At the vet's office, he weighed 101 pounds; he probably should be closer to 85 pounds, so he's on a diet.  Hence, until he's shed the weight, he's "Fat Boy Joey."  Of course, the acronym could also stand for "Fat Boy Jeffy," so I guess we'll all watch what we eat over the next few weeks to prepare for the impending holiday gluttony.

Bode's been doing great.  He got his first middle school report card and earned all A's and one B (in Language).  We are very proud of how hard he is working.  The beginning band also had an introductory night (I forgot the camera).  It wasn't really a concert--the teacher walked all the parents through some of the things the students do in band.  It's impressive how far they've come--some kids started without ever having played an instrument.  As part of the evening, the band did play three or four songs, some with solo sections.  Bode volunteered to do one of the solos and did awesome--no wrong or bad sounding notes.

Bode has also made some friends at Meigs.  The football team was in the championship game last week, so we all went.  Bode didn't watch a single down--he was off doing whatever it is kids do at these things.  I didn't embarrass him by whipping out the camera, but I did try to take some shots.

His best friend (I think) is Olivia.  She's a very nice girl, and she's come over to the house a lot after school.  Here's a picture of Bode and Olivia swimming (again, I had to sneak in the picture-taking so I didn't embarrass the young fellow).

There was a trunk-or-treat at our neighbor's church last night.  I tried to convince Bode he was a little old for most of the things (targeted more towards toddlers), but he wanted the free candy.  I took him, and he wasn't all that interested in the games, but he did like petting this dog (looks a little like FBJ).

We had a nice relaxing weekend.  Ashley and Barkley took a little nap.

Work has started (sort of) on the carriage house.  Some trees have been removed and some sand has been brought to the site and pushed around.

Another week of the same ol' stuff this week...with some trick-or-treating on Thursday night.  It might be "cool" in that the temps might be in the 70's :-)  The temps are getting lower in the evenings, so I decided to pick my watermelon...it's not very impressive.

I will try to refine my gardening methods for next season; I think I need to be much more proactive in fighting bugs and fungi.  Pleasant week to all.

The Carriage House

We spent about seven hours this weekend on the Destin pool deck.  Bode had a swim meet, and since he doesn't have school tomorrow, we loaded him up with events.  He swam the 100-IM, 50-free, and 100-back on Saturday, and also did a 50-free as part of the relay.  Today, he swam the 100-free, 50-back, and 50-butterfly.  In the IM, he shaved five seconds off his best time, while in the butterfly, he took off four seconds.  In the other events, he was right on his best times, or slightly slower, but it is hard to say our timing is down to tenths of a second because the timers are manually stopping the clock.

Here are some good pictures and movies.  First, Ashley hanging out at the pool.

Here's one of Bode getting ready to start.  I'm in the picture because I volunteered to be a timer for both days.  Bode certainly doesn't miss any meals...

Nana and Papa were able to make it to the pool to watch Bode swim.

Here's a movie of Bode's 50-fly race.  He's looking very good.

Overall, he had a great meet.  He's probably tired now, so it's good that he has Monday off; sadly, Ashley and I both have to work.

We were told work will (might) start this week on the carriage house.  We think this will just be some staking as well as some tree removal; here's hoping.  I thought I'd document what the property looks like before construction.  Hopefully by spring, there's be a nice two-car detached garage with mini-apartment up top and a small area for Ashley's workshop and a space for a gym...fingers are crossed.

Happy Columbus Day to all.