Meet Daisy!

On our walk yesterday afternoon, the kids and I stumbled across the sweetest little gray kitten. Of course, they had to stop and pet the cat. And pet and play and pick her up. And there were many tears when we left it behind. But not for long, since she followed us. I felt bad and let Patrick hold her on the walk....and she made it home with us....and scored a nice blanket and food and water on our deck. Where she was waiting at the door for us this morning, meowing. Mommy and Daddy caved, we let her in. Chloe, our 6 year old cat, is the least enthusiastic about this new addition to the home. We named her Daisy (really hoping Mommy is right and she is a girl, but figure shortening to Daze if need be is pretty easy :). I figure she is maybe 6-8 weeks old. Really playful and sweet, loves the kids and snuggles right up to both of them during those little bursts of naps that kittens take throughout the day. We have to remind the kids that she is a kitten, that her scratching and biting is just her way of playing and she really does NOT need to be carried around all day. We went to Target and picked up her own bowls and food, as well as some toys that Chloe LONG ago lost interest in. She is scheduled to see the vet on Friday. We are hopeful that with some time, Chloe will begin to appreciate this new friend :)

Happy Halloween!

This is our first Halloween in our new home, obviously, but this holiday particularly is special for that reason. We have trick or treated in our current neighborhood for the past two years, meeting up with friends. I often said how much I would like to live here, and we even walked past our now home last Halloween, newly finished and up for sale. Funny how things have a way of working themselves out :)

Anyhow, this was my weekend to work. Naturally. We carved our jack-o-lantern Friday night and Brian spent today making a big pot of chili. True to tradition, we met up with friends a few doors down and hit up the neighborhood. Daddies pulling coolers of beer and kids walking (what?), enjoying the beautiful day and raking in the loot. Patrick was a dinosaur and Lucy a princess, so excited to don the costumes that have been hanging in their closets for weeks now. We ended up with several people back at our house, eating chili, drinking beer and spiked cider, and plenty of kids underfoot. Happy Halloween!!

Fun Fall Weekend!

Saturday morning after breakfast we packed a lunch and headed over to Shawnee to visit Garden of the Gods and Rim Rock. Following the rather painful drive there (lots of "when are we gonna be there??? This is taking HOURS!!" and anything you would expect from two kids under 5 within striking distance of each other), we arrived. The park was actually pretty crowded. The kids did GREAT listening and held our hands as we scrambled over the rocks. We grilled out hot dogs for lunch and took a nice hike around Rim Rock. Brian and I were impressed with the improved endurance and cooperation this year as compared to this time last year and our disastrous Smoky Mountain vacation :)

Sunday morning we went to mass, out to Donut Bank for breakfast, and off to Mayse Farm Market for what has become our October tradition. The kids loved playing in the hay bale maze, sliding down the slides, sling-shotting gourds across the field and finally riding the tractor to pick out the perfect pumpkin. What a beautiful LONG weekend for the Bretz Family. Hooray for federal holidays!

Testing Windows Live Writer

Just wondering what crazy things I can do with this.

Two peas in a pod.