Pixie, kobold, elf, and sprite,
All are on their rounds tonight;
In the wan moon’s silver ray,
Thrives their helter-skelter play.  ~Joel Benton

Ah yes another Halloween is upon us, and it’s snowing!  I love the snow!

Elastic Girl (me) Dash (Kyle). Yep I made these costumes. They were the best outfits ever! 10/2005

Something was different about this Halloween season, I guess it was Kyle.  He really wasn’t into it.  Usually we talk about his costume months before hand and I help him plan the theme of the year.  Not this time.  He was blasé about the holiday.  Kind of depressing but expected since he’s getting older.  I will admit I wasn’t all about Halloween either, unlike Halloween of Years Past.  Being so busy and wrapped up in other things made the months slipped past, including October.  In fact, this is the first year in a long time I didn’t do anything for Halloween, no trick-or-treating, no parades, no parties, no corn mazes and really no scary movies.  The only movies we watched that could be considered Halloween themed were Sleepy Hallow, Coraline and Dark Shadows.

Maybe I’m the one who’s finally maturing.  After all I wasn’t bugging Kyle about his costume as I did formerly.  Or was it that I sensed Kyle’s disinterest in Halloween that held me back?  Either way it was certainly a milestone year.  I will admit I do enjoy creating themes.  It’s more fun that way, also more challenging.  I still remember Kyle’s first Halloween costume.  Technically, Kyle missed his first Halloween.  He was three months old and we just lost his dad, my brother, nine days prior.  That Halloween, I didn’t participate in any of the festivities, I didn’t dress Kyle up or take him out, I just wanted to stay at home with Kyle and my family.  By the following Halloween, Kyle was fifteen months old and my sister wanted to get him his costume, since she lived in Tucson and wanted to contribute.  He was a lion and I was a lion tamer.  The costume list goes on and on but the best year was when I made our costumes and we were The Incredibles.  Kyle was Dash and I was Elastic Girl.  While gathering our candy Kyle said to me, “Aunt Heather they don’t know we are really not the Incredibles!”  As he flashed a very happy smile my way.  That’s my favorite part, teaming up with Kyle and working with him on a theme and the two of us getting it together and being creative!

Although, I will admit the year he chose be Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars was a classic!  Mom surprised him with the costume because that’s all he was talking about.  I remember stopping down mom and dad’s that Friday night to find Kyle dressed in his outfit, mask and all, sitting in his rocking chair watching TV.  It was actually kind of creepy.  He wouldn’t take the costume off!  Mom said that he was so excited he put it on right away and was wearing it since.  We did manage to get it off of him to go to bed, but it went right back on the next morning.  Plus, he had a light-saber!  I guess it doesn’t get much better then that.  While we were trick-or-treating most people were commenting on his costume and Kyle loved it!  He thought he was so cool and tough.

Kyle as Anakin Skywalker. He wore it all weekend and wouldn’t take it off.

The first I heard about Kyle’s desire to be anything for this Halloween was about a week or two ago.  He said he wanted to be Harry Potter.  I didn’t think it was original but if that’s what he wanted, then great!  Maybe I could be Hermine.  Usually, when Kyle approaches me about a costume it means he wants me to make it, but alas I was out of time.  So mom found the get up online, which I would venture to be easy since it is a popular one.  But next thing I know, Kyle had a scare crow costume that actually looked like a hillbilly or a moonshiner.  Maybe next year I’ll teach Kyle all about going bagging and corning since he seems to be out of the age for trick-or-treating.

Bagging!  Not a lot of people have heard of it, in fact I don’t think anyone outside of Latrobe has ever heard of such a fun event.  Simply, it’s when you get a brown paper bag and add a sign to it like ‘I’m Dying for a Treat’.  Then, you place the bag on a person’s doorstep, ring the doorbell and hide.  The recipient is suppose to place treats in your brown bag.  You wait for them to close the door before retrieving your brown bag and move onto the next house.  I talked about in Halloween of Years Past.  I know this doesn’t sound like fun, but it really is!!  What makes it exciting, besides getting dressed up in all black like a cat burglar, is when the they give crazy gifts like toothpaste or a rock.  It makes it so much fun and gives great stories to talk about years down the road.

Kyle as a scarecrow. 10/26/12

Of course, no one ever gets too old for haunted corn mazes!  I’ve been taking Kyle to the same local haunted corn maze by the fair grounds ever since he was three years old.  Yes I know, he was a bit too young, but he really wanted me to take him, so I started that tradition, at least until we broke it this year.  Well, there is always next Halloween!

The first time I took Kyle for his scary nighttime outside entertainment, and every time since, he rode the hayride and went through the corn maze with his head in my coat.  When he was little I could carry him, but after the years progressed, nope!  He had to walk on his own.  That made it challenging, walking with a little guy hanging for dear life off of my coat and tripping me as I walked.  Every year I ask Kyle, “Why do you want to go through that if you don’t even see it to enjoy it for yourself?  You seem to really hate it.”  He would just reply, “Cause Aunt Heather it’s fun!  I just don’t want to see it.”  Ok, how can I argue with that!  The first time we participated in the haunted hayride and corn maze, they had a huge stuffed black spider that dropped into the wagon right in front of Kyle!  He remembers that till this day!  Back then, Kyle would sleep with my parents and I guess that night mom said Kyle wouldn’t stop talking about this spider, as I got a look of like, ‘I can’t believe you took him on that!’.  Well, it is Halloween and we had fun!

Yep, things are different now, I guess I just need to adjust our activities to fit his maturity before I get the boot totally!

Last Friday, mom and I went to see Kyle in the school parade, the last one!  That was definitely bittersweet, I do enjoy seeing Kyle grow up but I also love the little kid he used to be.  We’ve been do for a big change and it seems like this one is fast approaching.

Happy All Saints Eve! and Happy All Saints Day! (tomorrow)

Check out these fun facts from

1. No matter how scary your local haunted house is, it probably can’t top the Haunted Cave in Lewisburg, Ohio. Measuring 3,564 feet long, the Guinness World Records has named it the world’s longest haunted house. Even spookier: It’s located 80 feet below ground in an abandoned mine.
2. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there will be 41 million trick-or-treaters ages 5 to 14 in America this year. Parents are expected to spend $1 billion on children’s costumes—and if they’re on trend, most of the cash will go towards princess, witch, pirate or Spider-Man get-ups.
3. Although the cards may be ghoulish, the sentiment is sweet—according to Hallmark, Halloween ranks as the sixth most popular card-giving holiday, with 20 million cards sent each year. Christmas comes in first place, with a whopping 1.5 billion cards sent each year.
4. Halloween candy coffers wouldn’t be the same without California. Why? Because according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Golden State leads the nation in non-chocolate confectionery production. Out of the 409 sites that manufacture non-chocolate confections in the U.S., California is home to 45 of them.
5. In 1950, Philadelphia-based trick-or-treaters traded in a sweet tooth for a sweet action. In lieu of candy, residents collected change for children overseas and sent it to UNICEF. Subsequently, the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF program was born.
6. Valentine’s Day is no longer the sweetest national holiday—at least when it come to candy sales. More than twice as much chocolate is sold for Halloween as for Valentine’s Day; 90 million pounds of chocolate are sold during Halloween week alone. In total, $1.9 billion is spent on Halloween candy each year.
7. Americans are more ready than ever to get into the Halloween spirit. According to the National Retail Federation, 71.5% plan to celebrate the holiday this year—compared with 68.6% last year—and will spend an average of $79.82 per (adult) person on candy, costumes and decor.
8. A working magician from the age of 17, Harry Houdini (née Ehrich Weisz) became America’s favorite magician and a world-renown legend for his daring escapes. It was only fitting, then, for this master trickster to die on October 31, 1926—from a ruptured appendix.
9. Since its invention in 1898 by the Herman Goelitz Confectionary Company of Fairfield, California (now known as the Jelly Belly Candy Company), candy corn has been wildly popular—so much so that today, nearly 35 million pounds of candy corn are produced each year.
10. It was just tricks—no treats—for Charlie Brown in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. In the 1966 TV special, he utters, “I got a rock,” while trick-or-treating. The phrase went on to become one of the most famous lines in Peanuts history.
11. Halloween wouldn’t be the same without pumpkins, and thankfully, there are plenty of gourds to go around. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, in 2010, the top pumpkin-producing states—Illinois, California, New York and Ohio—produced 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins.
12. Due to safety concerns, trunk-or-treating was introduced in 2000 as an alternative to hitting the pavement for candy on Halloween night. Cars are parked in a circle at a school or church parking lot, with event-goers decorating their open trunks and dressing in costume in order to hand out treats.
13. From its vampy costumes and sweet treats to macabre household decorations, Halloween is big business. So big, in fact, that it’s the second-largest commercial holiday in America—only Christmas surpasses it in sales.
14. In 2010, Belleville, Illinois, became the latest city to ban trick-or-treating for kids over 12. Teens can face fines from $100 to $1,000 for going door-to-door (although according to officials, more often than not, over-age Halloween-goers are just given a warning).
15. Got leftover Halloween candy? Save it for later! Dark and milk chocolates can last up to two years if stored in a dry, odor-free spot. Hard candy can last up to a year, while unopened packages of candy corn can last nine months.

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?  ~Matthew 8:23-27

Watching tropical storm Sandy, turning into hurricane Sandy has been exciting, especially since Sandy shot up the coastline and made a direct hit for New York, Pennsylvania and the Washington D.C. areas.  Technically speaking it ultimately covered a third of the nation.  In fact, the news reported that they closed down the transit system in New York and the tunnels so no one was allowed in our out, including the stock market.   Now I am not a cynical person and I don’t like to see damage and destruction happen to anyone, but this has been exciting!  Just tracking the storm and watching it as it slowly crept upward and moved toward our area was something to experience.  I don’t ever remember being the red section on the weather channel map before, at least not for a hurricane.  I guess this is our first hurricane since the 1930’s and before that it happened a century earlier.  Over the years we’ve experienced the backlashes and the after effects of such destructive storms, but nothing like this.  Sandy moved up the through the water and made a left hand turn to enter the land over our area.  What an historical event!

Actually, I found out how historic the weather has turned out to be.  Besides being humorously coined Frankenstorm or Superstorm, Sandy is also being called the perfect storm.  What?  Yep!  So now my question is, ‘What makes it a perfect storm?’.  From my understanding the last perfect storm we had was in October of 1991 off of Massachusetts.  It’s the trifecta of bad maxed out storm conditions, basically the combination of the hurricane (high pressure and low pressure), along with the nor’easter coming form the west.  I guess it was puzzling meteorologists because no one has ever seen anything like this.  The winds and rain certainly qualified as a hurricane but no hurricane has ever produced a blizzard before, they are usually warm weather storms.

Speaking of a storm a brewing, Kyle wasn’t feeling very well last night.  He said his tummy was upset and hurting.  He didn’t even turn on the TV as we sat in my living-room, he just asked me to read to him before his piano lessons.  He didn’t even want anything to eat.  I felt so bad for my little man, Kyle really wasn’t himself.  He said he felt sick as soon as he got home from school.  Hopefully it will pass with minimal damage, just like Sandy.  I know Kyle was excited for the two hour delay this morning.  He even flashed me an ornery grin when the comment was made.  Although his class was suppose to have their field trip to the symphony today, maybe it will be rescheduled.

During, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Casey called and was checking in on the “deer slayer”.  Living in West Virginia near Snowshoe, Casey was getting hit with snow, hard!  I heard they received a couple of feet of fresh, white snow in some places.  After Kyle got off the phone with Casey he said, “When are we getting snow?”  I said, “Hopefully soon!”  Kyle really started thinking and said, “Why are they getting all the snow and we aren’t?”  That’s funny, Kyle wasn’t worried about the hurricane, he wanted to be hit with a blizzard.  Can’t say that I blame him after the lack of snow from last season.

While driving home after Kyle’s lessons the reality of the storm was evident.  Wow!  The wind and the rain were crazy scary!  I’ll admit I didn’t see any trees down but there were electrical lines hanging along the road.  As far as I know, we were only touched by the outermost parts of the hurricane if any at all.  Just seeing the indirect damage Sandy caused really hit home and made me truly appreciate the power of God.  I can’t imagine those poor souls feeling the direct effects of a hurricane.

Kyle doesn’t handle bad weather well.  As we were driving he mentioned a few times, “Ok Aunt Heather let’s go a lot slower since there’s so much rain.”  I know an eleven year old is telling me how to drive, but I don’t care.  He was just being concerned and safe.  All I could respond was, “You’re right buddy. We’ll take it easy, we don’t want to drive through a swimming pool sized puddle.”  Through our travels, Kyle started picking my brain for my limited knowledge about hurricanes.  He was asking me about Sandy and where it’s going to hit.  During the day as we were tracking the storm’s whereabouts, it hadn’t hit land yet. Even though the coastline along the Carolina’s showed major damage from the winds, rain and waves.

Kyle grabbed my phone and looked up Fox news for the Breaking News alerts.  He sat there and scrolled down through the stories and gave me little highlights.  At one point he turned to me and said, “It hit land!”  Just to keep Kyle from additional worry, I said in a very blasé tone, “O ya? Wonder how your Aunt Nikki is doing?”  Kyle turned to me and said “Umm she’s good, remember I talked to her earlier.  She sounded good.”  That almost make me take a second glance because in crisis situations Kyle’s the first one reaching out to family, ensuring all is well in his world.  As to not start a panic, I replied, “Ya your probably right.”  Well, I got him home safe and did the same for myself before retiring for the night.

This morning, the status of hurricane Sandy turned back into a tropical storm.  My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been effected by the hurricane.  God Speed.

The old believe everything; the middle aged suspect everything; the young know everything.  ~Oscar Wilde

Mom was born today 63 years ago, in 1949.  Grandpap Chester and Grandma Anna Mae had a flaming redheaded little girl.  Happy Birthday Mom!!

Mom’s school picture c. 1958

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.  The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.  ~1 Corinthians 15:42-44

Ryan showing his muscles

It has been eleven years since Ryan has left us on earth and moved toward eternity.  Is is easier that it’s been over a decade since his passing?  Nope, not at all, but through the grace of God we are still managing to get by every day.

There is no doubt that Ryan is looking down us, especially Kyle.  I’m sure Ryan is extremely proud of the young man his son has turned out to be, as we all are, friends and family alike.  How do I know?  Well, the presence of Ryan is a gut feeling, but those residing on earth, they mention it in passing or make it a point to call out Kyle’s kind heart and sincerity.

Kyle is the best reminder of Ryan, not that we need it.  With Kyle, it’s fun to share stories about his dad and make comparisons between the two.  Although, the biggest joke we have is that Kyle is my sister reincarnated.  While that’s true for many of Kyle’s characteristics, the truth is Kyle is so much his dad, his friendliness, candor, and sense of humor are all Ryan.  Even his creativeness and desire to build are stemmed  mostly from Ryan.  I guess Kyle’s a little bit of us all.

Ryan proudly holding his son, Kyle 7/30/01

Sometimes I can still see Ryan’s unique smirk.  It wasn’t quit a smile but certainly not a frown, and it was a bit crooked, almost a mischievous grin.  When he demonstrated that look, you couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking.  Although when he shot me that expression along with the rolling of the eyes, I knew exactly what he was saying inside.  Of course now-a-days while he’s hanging out in heaven with my pap, Ryan’s probably saying ‘What were you thinking Heather?’ or ‘My family is a rare breed.’  I hope we are entertaining him but I mostly hope all of our actions and decisions are Ryan approved, especially when it comes to Kyle.  I’ve always said, with all my decisions regarding Kyle I ask the question, “Does it help or hinder him mentally, spiritually or physically?”  I also try to take Ryan into consideration.  I know it’s silly, but I try to picture how Ryan would have raised Kyle and handle certain situations.

No matter what goes on in life, good or bad, no matter how busy or hectic things get, we still think of Ryan every day and I can’t help but wonder what the days would be like if he was still around.  Death is tough on the living.  I can’t wait till we are reunited again!  I miss my little brother!

Hey, I’m a Catholic deer hunter, I am happy to be clinging to my guns and my religion.  ~Paul Ryan

Kyle & Dad with Kyle’s first deer during mentor hunting 10/19/12

This past Thursday through Saturday was the season of the deer hunter, mentor hunting to be exact.  That means a child who is not old enough to hunt has the opportunity to go with a licensed hunter and shoot a doe.  Now the season also extends for fall turkey and such, but we took Kyle on a deer hunting experience.  Dad and I requested off of work on Friday, and Kyle took a vacation day from school, figuring this would double Kyle’s chances of getting a deer, giving him two full opportunities to take down a doe.  Surprisingly Kyle wrapped it up on Friday, a few hours before dark.  Kyle went with dad last mentor hunting Hunting – Survival or Sport?, except this year, Kyle finished the season with his mission accomplished!

This little hunting adventure has been planned since last year, although dad could never have drafted how the events would unfold.  To aid in the experience and help set the example, I too got my hunting license.  This was first time since I was in my early teens.  Yikes!  That was a while back but I’ll digress.  My job in dad’s ‘deer hunter experience’ turned out to be pushing deer.  Perfect!  I did volunteer for the job but one can never tell what dad has planned.  Since, I really truly enjoy walking through the woods and getting out in the fresh air this was a win win for everyone!

Boy did dad have it all outlined, and I mean down to the detail.  Of course, when it comes to deer hunting I should expect nothing less from him.  During the first half of the day, my only responsibility was to stick to dad’s directions of how I was to maneuver around the local terrain, and make sure I packed enough snacks with me to sustain my stomach.  Everyone knows I am miserable when I’m hungry.  When you hunt with dad, that means waking up very early, well before sunrise, going all day until a deer is shot or a until the sun is completely set.  So unlike the first time I went hunting, I was prepared for the day.

Kyle’s first deer, a button buck during mentor hunting 10/19/12

Dad’s game plan was to have him and Kyle perch themselves by the cabin above the house, while I traipsed through the side of the ridge walking in their direction pushing deer.  Simple enough!  I was instructed to walk slowly and every once-in-a-while hit a tree trunk with a stick.  Got it!  I was not suppose to spook the deer,  just get them moving in the northeast direction.  Simple enough?  Kinda.  First of all, it’s been a while since I was on that side of the ridge in the woods.  As kids we were no stranger, but not so much now-a-days and it only takes a years of absence for the woods to take on a different shape.  I started out pretty confident, which came to a screeching halt when I found myself stuck in some thick brush.  Please keep in mind this is my own personal mission and failure was not an option.  I redeemed myself when I came face-to-face with three doe, or so I thought.  Yep they were doe alright, but I don’t think I moved them in the right direction!  Curiously enough, I came between 25 feet and 50 feet from the targets!  That’s what makes the woods exciting, especially hunting.

Ok, so now I was full of enthusiasm and the objective of our mission was milling around in front of me.  I wanted to let dad and Kyle know to keep their eyes peeled, so I texted them.  No response.  So I called them. Nothing.  Then I thought, I’ll just call my sister, she was in Boston for work and I wasn’t able to talk to her all week and I wanted to share my excitement with her.  As I was whispering into the phone,  I had to laugh because Nicole was whispering back to me.  That was too funny!  After we hung up, I decided to call mom at work to see why dad wasn’t answering his phone.  Keep in mind, this is all happening while I was slowly moving the deer in what I thought was the right direction, only later to find out I was too far down the hill.  Let’s get real, deer can’t completely be predicted and I wasn’t a sheep dog.  Anyway, mom solved the riddle, I later on found out, that dad didn’t have his phone on him.  She did laugh at me and said in a common sense tone, “Dad doesn’t know how to text, he doesn’t know how to do anything on his phone except make a call and answer it.”  That comment was also confirmed by dad later on in the day, when he said, “Don’t text, I don’t do that texting s#@t.  Just call!”

During all this time of making phone calls, I was also Twittering my adventures and responding to Facebook.  I couldn’t help myself, I am a child of the electronic age and this was exciting.  My friend Kelly responded back saying I was the first hunter with play by play tweets from the woods!  That was hilarious!

After the first push didn’t bring us a kill, dad sent me down to move up the opposite side of the ridge.  While that path was simpler in terms of less brush, it certainly worked my buttock muscles with the hills and valleys.  I actually like that side better, I was more familiar with it.  Once I met up with Kyle and dad, they didn’t have any luck seeing anything, neither did I.  Not even tracks.  Lucky for Kyle I had my satchel containing some fruit and snacks.  As he sat on his log, he mentioned he forgot his food back at the quad. Now that brought a smile to my face.  I did the same thing on my first hunting trip.  I’m glad I could save the day with Oreo cookies.  All three of us snacked on them until they were done before dad made the decision to move on.  After a while we went back to the house for lunch, very uncharacteristic for my dad, but I guess the man’s getting old.  After lunch we went out to a friends farm to try out luck there.  I also forgot to mention the dogs got out early in the morning and were on the run.  I do believe that messed up our game plan, they spooked the deer.

Sitting in a field on the edge of woods was pretty uneventful, and I mean completely uneventful.  Boring actually.  I didn’t have anything to do but sit there and watch the woods for deer.  Not fun in my book, but I wanted to help Kyle out with his first deer so I tried my hardest to focus and stay on task.  This experience was all Kyle and dad talked about for weeks.  Even when we went to the grocery store on Thursday night, Kyle picked up a few sweets which he referred to as his ‘victory’ desserts.  Yep he was determined to get a deer.

Before we started to walk down to our vantage point, Kyle grabbed his thermoses of water, hot chocolate and his sandwich.  Not his coat, orange vest or rifle.  He looked like a little old man packing for a camping trip for a month.  It wasn’t cold out, in fact it was a sunny blue day that may have reached the 60’s.  The best quote I’ve heard in a long time came from dad in response to Kyle’s actions.  He said, “Kyle are you gonna grab your rifle or are you planning on clubbing the deer with corn?”  I died laughing, it was too funny.  Kyle laughed to, but dad didn’t join in.  After all he still means business and he really wanted to see Kyle get a deer.

As we sat in the field, watching the tree line, I couldn’t help but notice all these birds flying over our heads from one tree to another across the distance of the field.  There were literally thousands of them making fun artsy shapes in the beautiful white cloud decorated sky.  Once I got past the graceful patterns displayed above our heads and the uniformed travel patterns, I leaned over to Kyle and said, “If a bird craps on me, I’m leaving.”  He started to laugh!  I almost wish I would have never said anything because then Kyle’s attention was taken off of playing with the grass and moved overhead.  We were both suppose to be watching for deer.  Ok maybe me and Kyle more alike than I realize.  At one point we started to get the giggles.  I couldn’t help myself and I’m sure dad was ready to loose his patience.

Dad kept reassuring us that any time now the deer should be out-and-about.  Just then the moment we’ve all been waiting for…a doe in the distance.  Actually it was on my right side, less than 100 yards from us.  As I poked Kyle he responded by saying, “What?  What Aunt Heather?”, as he looked around thinking I was referring to something else.  Now that caused me to roll my eyes.  Then I motioned for Kyle to poke my dad to get his attention.  As Kyle did so, dad’s hunting instincts were in high gear as looked over and saw the deer pretty much immediately.  He gave a reassuring nod as I slowly crawled out of the way.  I could have laid down and covered my ears while Kyle shot over me, but it would have made him nervous and there was no need, the deer was just grazing along.

At first Kyle was going to free hand the shot, but dad stood up and helped to move his tripod stand to make it easier on him.  Again the deer was didn’t really notice us at first and when it did we remained still until it looked away and continued feeding.  It took Kyle what seemed like an hour to make the shot, but when he did it was a hit.  I’ll give Kyle credit, he didn’t panic and wasn’t too quick to pull the trigger.

After the bullet launched itself into the ribs of the deer, it did the typical buck and jump before heading straight towards me.  What?  I’ve never had a deer charge me.  I didn’t know what to do!  All I thought  was, “I’m going to be run over by a deer!  I’m going to walk out of here with hoof prints on my face!”  Just before the deer reached me, I pulled my hands up over my face, which spooked the injured disoriented deer and caused him to run up the hill.  I say he because later we found out it was a button buck, less than three inches, perfectly legal.  Kyle said, “I thought it was mad at us for shooting at him and it decided to charge us!”  Now that was a funny thought!  I told Kyle, “There fora minute I thought you were going to sing ‘Aunt Heather got run over by a reindeer’!”  We laughed at our silliness.

Now began the hunt for the wounded.  We began tracking the blood trail up through the corn field and lost track of the blood in the open hay field.  Kyle was the first to spot the blood, even before dad.  Good eye buddy!  After we came out on the other side of the corn, dad went one way and I went the other.  Kyle was torn of what he was suppose to do, so he followed dad.  In no time at all, Kyle came running around the corn and was yelling for me.  He said, “Aunt Heather where are you?  Pappy found the deer and it’s dead!  Hurry come this way!”  He was all panting and excited.  I followed Kyle to his first deer kill.  Last year he shot at a deer, but we never did find it after tracking it through the woods.

Now begins the really funny part of the story.  As history dictates, I wanted to get a picture with Kyle and his deer.  Although he was a bit apprehensive of touching the deceased beast.  Once we got past that, it was time to gut the animal.  Dad pulled out a deer knife and began cleaning off the blade, he said, “I haven’t cleaned this blade since your daddy killed his last deer.”  Wow that had to be over 11 years ago.  I didn’t ask, but I thought that knife was Ryan’s.

Dad was elated with joy and complete pride for Kyle!  Well, that was quickly put aside when Kyle leaned over the dead animal and said, “OO it smells like death!”  I started laughing, not realizing how serious his comment was.  As soon as dad started to gut the deer, which I’ve seen more times than I can count, Kyle turned himself away from us in the field and started to dry heave.  Dad rolled his eyes in frustration while I fell over laughing.  I truly couldn’t help myself even though he was upset over his sensitive stomach.  Kyle kept reiterating, “Sorry I just can’t stand the smell.”  I really don’t think it was the sight of the blood, but more the smell.

At one point, I was poking the stomach and Kyle looked like he was so grossed out he couldn’t take it.  By now dad and I both had blood soaked hands and Kyle got a little on him.  You would have thought he was doused in it the way he freaked out.

After most of the prep work was completed, to transport the deer back home, dad turned to Kyle and said, “You’re not done yep, I’m going to show you how to cut out the heart.”  Kyle about turned green and backed away.  Then, he proceeded to sit himself in the truck and wait there while we loaded the deer.

Kyle was fine with the carcase after dad and I skinned it and rinsed it out.  He even helped to cut up the steaks for dinner on Saturday night.  The entire way through dinner dad kept saying, “This deer tastes like it has been eating corn!”  It was cute, dad and Kyle were proud of his kill.  Not to mention Kyle literally put food on the table for dinner that night.

You know what?  Dad’s right the fresh steak does taste better.  Nice lean meat.  Way to go Kyle!  Congratulations!

Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.  ~Abraham Lincoln

My blog was created as a way to record Kyle’s life, his learning experiences, interaction between family and friends, and funny things he’s said and done.  It’s a way for everyone to stay-up-to-date with all things Kyle and whatever else is going on in the land of Piper’s.  It’s weird, but this blog has also become a therapeutic outlet for me.  I’ve found that I enjoy writing and going through old photos and scanning them in the computer, cleaning them up and uploading the digital memories for all to share.  Not to mention, I do enjoy rehashing stories from the past and recording these tales so that they can be relived and discovered by others.

Since starting my blog, I’ve learned that other family members have faced similar situations that we have encountered with raising Kyle.  Some of my viewers have reached out to me offering their experience, advice, encouragement, support and guidance.  With all the feedback, privately or publicly, I sincerely appreciate it!  I get so engrossed in my digital world of all things Kyle, I forget this is public information and I am not alone with helping to raise a little one!  It is a great relief to have outside eyes encouraging me and reinforcing the efforts that me and my family have done throughout Kyle’s life.  I guess I look at it like it’s a confirmation that we are not screwing him up and we are raising him in the best way we know how.  It’s a very real and scary situation, but one worth it!

Now it is my turn to give advice and a heartfelt suggestion.  Before starting this blog I didn’t realize there is another way to maintain communication between me and my family and my nephew, besides starting up a blog.  The answer is  OMGmother!  I have been following them on (@OMGmother) but never really explored their efforts until they opened up the lines of communication.   Recently, the good people from OMGmother reached out to me to guest write a couple of blog posts.  Throughout our interactions, I’ve found I too share their passion for family.  They are sincerely wonderful and supportive people!

While telling the story of how I became such an integral part of Kyle’s life is difficult to put into words, I felt very honored to be included in their efforts of bringing godparents, aunts and uncles together with their godchildren, their family.  Everything I do for Kyle is for his benefit and that’s exactly the purpose of OMGmother.  Let’s face it, everyone benefits when a child knows how much they are loved.  It’s a blessing to watch that child succeed in life and be so happy.  To be apart of that process is priceless.

I want to give a big shout out to OMGmother for acknowledging those that make a difference in the lives of children and helping to maintain that bond and interaction between the little ones and their family members and influential figures, all for the benefit of the youngsters.  This group of people are great to deal with and are making wonderful strides with their efforts.  Great work and keep it up!

Please take the time to review the OMGmother Blog.  I admire their direction and their passionate efforts, all for the betterment of children!

Read my blog posts written specifically for OMGmother.
Becoming a True OMGmother in the Face of Tragedy. 
OMGmother Heather Piper Helps Children Play to Win

A day without laughter is a day wasted.  ~Charlie Chaplin

Me & Kyle exploring the caves with Casey in Lewisburg, West Virginia 2011

Kyle and I are back at it again, only because we have so much dashboard time and we make the most of it.  I know I’m the instigator, but I do love seeing Kyle use his imagination along with his strong personality to create these funny stories and scenarios!  I really can’t help myself, it’s way too much fun to pass up.  Not to mention, we continue quoting from our stories for days, weeks and months after the fact, laughing to own inside jokes.  If there is one bonding experience that we both equally enjoy, its laughing about nothing!

Staying to theme here’s a good one for the books.  Traffic was slower than usual when getting Kyle for his piano lessons a couple of Monday’s ago.  It looked like they were resurfacing the road.  Doesn’t matter, all I knew was that traffic heading to his music lesson was moving at a snail’s pace.  Did I mention I was running on fumes too?  Typical me, running my gas tank down to vapors and now there was another challenge creeping by in the next lane, roadway construction.  Thinking I was being clever, I plugged in my GPS and took a detour to the nearest Sheetz.  Yes, I am completely Directionally Challenged!  I knew my precious navigation system would take us in the opposite direction of the roadwork but since there was no way I would have been able to find my way out of the maze of side roads, at least not in enough time to get Kyle to his lessons or before I ran out of gas, I made that choice thinking it was best.

After we fueled up and grabbed grub, we headed back in the right direction, now running parallel to the construction work.   I don’t know about anyone else, but bumper-to-bumper traffic makes me antsy and almost claustrophobic.  Even though I was not among the chaos at that point, I was still feeling the effects of experiencing the traffic.  There is only one way to cure that, wide open roads and speed; neither of which were happening, plus I had precious cargo with me, Kyle.  So with the feeling of being trapped behind someone and moving at a snail’s pace, I became a little irritated with people in front of me.  Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t have road rage at all!  But this was my inside feeling especially now that we were cutting it close on time for Kyle’s lesson.  Just then, a slower moving vehicle made their way in front of us.  Perfect!  That’s exactly what I needed.  Now on my defense, as not to confuse me with a serious lunatic driver, they were moving slower than the established speed limit sign.  Really?  It was beautiful day, no weather conditions to content with, no additional traffic, it was daylight, yet the driver felt the need to omit the suggested range of speed at which one was legally allowed to travel.

Anyway, it was at that moment that a funny thought entered my mind and I begin to snicker to myself.  Kyle, being a curious little man asked, “What? What Aunt Heather?, What are you laughing at?”.  Oh, Kyle you asked, I shall answer, “Wouldn’t that be funny if my car had a horn like on a big truck and I blew?  Could you image?  What would that lady think when she looked at us in her rear view mirror expecting to see a big truck and it was us?”  Please keep in mind I have a Nissan Rogue.  Kyle instantly caught on to the humor and began to laugh before chiming in with his own version of this scenario.

As we laughed about the idea, I saw a bolt of lighting hitting Kyle right in the brain, just as he busted out laughing so hard he couldn’t actually laugh.  He bend over as much as the seat belt would allow, while his stomach muscles contracted with faint giggles erupting from his throat.  I knew there was something really good to laugh at, I just didn’t know what it was and so following suit, I started to laugh too.  Kyle has one of those contagious laughs when he really finds something truly funny and it makes it really hard not to join in.  My mom is the same way.  When she starts to really laugh at something, even before knowing what it is, you find yourself participating in the mysterious humor that for some reason is really really funny!

After Kyle got his composure somewhat under control, he blurted out, “Imagine driving a smart car that had a big truck horn?”  That was completely hysterical!  I busted out laughing and I couldn’t talk, besides gasping for air and wiping the tears from my eyes,  I was trying to drive safely.  Once the shock of the outrageous comment settled, we continued with the story.

Kyle was on fire!  He started our story off with saying, “Ya Aunt Heather we could pull up to pappy in his truck and honk the horn.”  This was completely silly and seriously comical.  Feeding off of his thoughts, I said, “Image if there was a fleet of smart cars with the big truck horns, all honking them.  Can you image being the car in front hearing all those horns and thinking there was a caravan of big trucks?  Then to look in your rear view mirror and see a bunch of smart cars?”  Ok, I get it, this was a really stupid conversation, but I can’t even explain how much fun we had with it.  I even told my sister about the big truck horn disguised under the exterior of a smart car.  Even she thought is was funny too and gave a good chuckle when we talked.

Kyle’s imagination is so interesting!  He is one cool cat!  Keep the stories flowing buddy, that makes life fun and interesting.  It also helps break up the norm and the repetition of the day.  Not to mention it makes for a great Twitter comment.

 Read more on our stupid humor

Laughing About Nothing
Laughing About Nothing … True Story
Laughing About Nothing … Cats!

The grocery store is the great equalizer where mankind comes to grips with the facts of life like toilet tissue.  ~Joseph Goldberg

Me & Nicole in Arizona 3/2002

Everyone once in a while I think of something that happened, and I can’t help but relive the tale, especially to my mom who is usually in on the story or knows the characters.

Let me set the stage.  Mom and I used to get my grandma’s groceries.  As the days turned over, adding up to a month, my grandma would collect her grocery list until there was big order.  Then, mom and I would go to the store and cross the items off of the list.  We would remove the groceries from one shelf and place them on another in my grandma’s apartment, only to repeat the same routine a month later.  It’s funny but years earlier we would do the same for my late Aunt Katherine – Memorial Day Tradition, although, she would join us in the grocery shopping experience.  I loved going with mom and Aunt Katherine.  Actually, Aunt Katherine made it an experience, being such a feisty old lady.  Aunt Katherine was the best!

It’s funny, I don’t remember mom taking gram for groceries after pap passed away, but I remember being a kid and going grocery shopping with my gram and pap.  Pap would wait in the car, since he had two prosthetic legs and walked with two canes, and me and gram would cruise the isles of the store filling up the cart.  She always yelled me every time I poked the ground meat in the packages and let’s not discuss the cheeses.  Rightfully so, but she was always kind of snippy with me.  Maybe my natural hyperactivity and the fact that I would dance around between the shelves of groceries because I Don’t Like to Push a Shopping Cart! made her more irritable than usual.  Either way it was never like shopping with mom or Aunt Katherine.

Now-a-days gram doesn’t drive, in fact she really doesn’t leave her apartment. Hence, why she needs assistance.  Our routine consisted of me unloading the groceries, while mom sat with gram to balance her checkbook and pay bills etc.  This was the part I always dreaded, not because of carrying the groceries, or cleaning out her refrigerator, not even close.  I didn’t mind that at all!  I’ll do anyone a favor and help out anyway I can, however I absolutely HATE gram’s smoking habit!  I detest cigarettes with such a passion!  It actually evokes real anger in me when I’m standing in a cloud of toxic smoke, especially when I’m trying to help her out.  Disrespect!  Maybe that’s a blog post for another day or a subject for a therapy session.

Sometimes to give mom a break, or to help her out with gram, Nicole and I would take it upon ourselves to tackle the monthly grocery list.  Same goes for me and Kyle, taking on the responsibility of the gathering the outlined items and putting the groceries away.  Sometimes, it was as simple as stopping and picking gram up a few items.  I do want to point out that gram hated it when Nicole and I would go, especially if it was just me and Kyle in place of mom.  Perhaps she just didn’t like the change or she felt mom’s grocery shopping was guided by pixy dust and it was more magical.  Maybe the spiritual guidance that lead mom through the store helping her make her purchasing decisions didn’t reside in me?  Putting all sarcasm aside, gram was never happy to hear Nicole and I or, the dynamic duel of me and Kyle were going to the grocery store.  In fact, when this happened, gram would purposely call mom during the week to drag her back to the market for something trivial.  Personally, I never cared what gram thought, it saved mom a trip and the effort of hauling the groceries up to her apartment.  Anyway, within the past couple of years or so, gram gets someone else to follow in our footsteps and retrieve her groceries.  I guess I was fired. C’est la vie.

Me & Nicole in Ireland 6/2005

Now back to the head cheese.  The question, “What is head cheese?” might be running across your mind.  Until these grocery store adventures started for gram, I’ve never heard of head cheese either.  From that moment on, whenever head cheese appeared on the grocery list, I never took a second glance.  According to Wikipedia,

Head cheese, or brawn, is a cold cut that originated in Europe. A version pickled with vinegar is known as souse. Head cheese is not a cheese but a terrine or meat jelly made with flesh from the head of a calf or pig(sometimes a sheep or cow), and often set in aspic. Which parts of the head are used can vary, but the brain, eyes, and ears are usually removed. The tongue, and sometimes even the feet and heart, may be included.

Head cheese may be flavored with onion, black pepper, allspice, bay leaf, salt, and vinegar.  It is usually eaten cold or at room temperature as a luncheon meat.  It can also be made from quality trimmings from pork and veal, adding gelatin to the stock as a binder.

Head cheese!  It’s definitely unusual to hear, especially for my sister.  This is where the story begins.  One trip to the grocery store consisted of me, Nicole and the grocery list, courtesy of gram.  Since I was familiar with the layout of the store and the items listed, I always remained in control of the outlined groceries.  We would walk through the isles and I shouted to Nicole each item we needed, while picking up the goods closest to me, all along crossing off the list.  It was a great system, we divided and conquered.  Toward the end of this adventure we needed to pick up the frozen food and the deli items.  I was at the far end of the isle looking for a specific item gram wanted and Nicole was free to continue.  Thinking ahead, I was sent Nicole to the deli so I could finish getting all the frozen food items.  I yelled up at Nicole and said, “Go to the deli and get a pound of sliced head cheese.”  Nicole started to take a step in the right direction and abruptly stopped, turned back to me, and gave me this look of ‘What did you say?’ before actually saying it.  Not thinking how strange it sounded, I repeated myself, followed by Nicole repeating me for clarification, “Did you say head cheese?”.  Still not really picking up on the oddity of the request, I said, “Ya sliced.”  Nicole, still in disbelieve over this conversation, said, “What is head cheese?” Now she had my attention, and I started to laugh at her dumbfounded look.  Also please keep in mind we were at opposite ends of the grocery store yelling back and forth.

Since I was always in a hurry to get gram’s groceries and put them away, I shooed Nicole off for her next mission, while I hurried up and completed the list.  As I moved to the adjacent isle, which also housed the deli where Nicole was standing in line, I finished retrieving all the items before meeting up with the ‘head cheese’ wrangler.  At that moment she got the goods and looked at me with bewilderment and said, “It doesn’t really look like cheese!”  I started laughing because this was so funny and especially because what was ready to come out of my mouth.  I clarified her comment by saying, “Well it’s not cheese, it’s meat parts.” Nicole’s face was priceless!  She said, “What? Meat parts?”  At this point, I was ready to start rolling around on the floor from laughter.  To help her in her understanding of what she was holding I said, “It’s like parts of animals all ground up and made into a lunch meat.”  Nicole with a grossed out look said, “That’s disgusting!”  Certainly I agree with her, but it was on the list.

Now why am I talking about head cheese?  Only because it came up the other day and Kyle thinks it’s the funniest story he’s ever heard.  For some reason he loves hearing me and mom laugh about that situation, which was really funny!  Kyle still brings up the tale of the head cheese and says, “Hey Aunt Heather, remember when Aunt Nikki got the head cheese for gram Alice?”  He giggles and laughs like he was there, although Kyle is always with us in spirit and on our minds.

It’s funny, Kyle loves to be a part of the family stores and I love sharing them with him, even if it’s just about head cheese.

*When talking to Kelly about head cheese, I asked her if she knew what it was and Kelly said, “Isn’t that dandruff?”  That was so funny and extremely gross.  Good one Kelly!

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.  ~Albert Schwitzer

Nicole pocketing Draco

A few weeks ago, while taking Kyle to his piano lessons I realized there must be something about us together in a car, alone, with our imaginations that makes these stories.  Our minds go out of control.  I mean sometimes really silly out of control.  This time the topic was cats.  What got us on the subject of cats?  I have no idea, probably Kyle asking how Storm was doing.  Regardless, the stage was set and we were armed with humor, wit, and imagination.  At this point, no one can tell where the conversation was going to turn, especially us, but we always know it’s going somewhere.

We started talking about Storm and the next thing you know Storm was visiting my sister’s cat Toshi (I call him Lester) in the Washington DC Metro Area.  Keep in mind this is a completely fictitious story that we started to make up.  Why?  No clue, just to simply humor ourselves I guess.  As the story started to take shape,  I said imagine that conversation, “Storm would say meow, like a kitten and Lester would respond back with a loud ear piercing MEOW!”  We both started laughing.

You see, Lester has this really loud and annoying meow that doesn’t end.  I can understand the cat meowing when I’m visiting Nicole, being in his domain and all, but he does it while I’m on the phone with my sister.  Let’s not forget when I’m talking to Nicole on Skype and I swear I hear the cat when I email and text message my sister.  One time when I was staying at Nicole’s, the cat sat outside my closed door to the spare bedroom and meowed all night.  Lester just sat in the hallway and projected his really loud and drawn out meow towards me.  I’ve had cats all my life and I’ve never experienced anything like Lester before.  Finally, I told Nicole to take the cat in her bedroom, which she did only to find out it didn’t help.  The cat kept meowing just as loud, if not louder from Nicole’s room.  It sounded like Lester was meowing directly into an intercom, which hung over my head.  Again, I can understand this, because I was occupying his space, but he does it all the time!  Whether you’re in the living-room, bathroom or kitchen, there is no escaping Lester’s alarm system.  Due to this annoying and slightly entertaining behavior, he has been the subject of many conversations in our household, over the years.  Can’t imagine why? (sarcasm)

Lester sitting in the ceramic bowl I made Nicole for fruit… guess Lester didn’t get the memo

There’s such a difference between Lester and Storm.  Mine meows only when she wants something.  Lester, lives to meow.  I swear that cat has meow “CATivated” paws, he meows with every step.  Either that or he has meow turrets.   (No disrespect to those suffering with turrets.)

I know what you’re thinking, it’s me.  Nope, Lester acts like that for everyone, not just me.  Mom, dad and espeicaiily Kyle has lived through the Lester siren.  Nicole said, during this past “Aunt Nikki and Kyle’s week of fun” Lester walked on top of Kyle while he slept and kept meowing.  I told Kyle he was probably saying “What is this large lump in my bed?”  To this day we still laugh over that one.

When I first got Storm, Kyle said we should take her down to meet Lester.  My sister chimed in saying, “He would think his time was up, he was being replaced.”  Well, this current conversation started with those words in mind and created another, little darker scenario.

Back to me and Kyle in the car.  I said, “Ya Kyle, the conversation between Lester and Storm would go something like this…

Storm: meow, meow (Hi my name is Storm, I’m the traveling kitty)

Lester: MEOW, MEEEOOOWW, MEEEOOOOWWW (I’m done, I’m being replaced!)

Storm: meow, meow (Where’s your litterbox?)

Lester: MMMMEEEOOW, MMEEOOWW (My time is up, this is just the beginning they have a replacement!)

Storm: meow, meow, meow (Do you have any kitty treats?)

Lester: MMMMEEEEOOOOOWWW, MMMMMMEEEEOOOOWWWW, (I’m going to starve to death!)”

Needless to say, we were cracking up.  Sometime in the middle of this conversation, it took a downward spiral.  Kyle said, “Remember what Aunt Nikki said, if we brought Storm down to her house, Toshi would just die?”  I busted out laughing.  My sister did say that!  I took it one step further and said, “Ya then Storm would have to do CPR on Lester.  She would have to rub her paws together to create a spark, then say ‘Meow’ which means clear and shock the cat back to life.”  We were dying!  I said, “All Storm would need to do it lay her paws on Lester’s chest and bring out her claws.”  Kyle following the story said, “Ya then Toshi would scream back to life MMMEEEEOOOOWWW.”

Ok, pretty stupid story but just picturing Storm leaning over Lester and administering CPR was too much for us to pass up.

Then two weekends ago when Nicole was home, dad asked her how her cat was doing.  He said, “Nik how’s your cat, is it dead yet?”  Nicole said, “No, he’s good but the other day when I came home, he scared me.  He wasn’t there to greet me at the door, like he always does.  I thought I was going to have to look around for a dead cat.”  Kyle and I lost it!  We are still rehashing that conversation.

Sometimes it’s animals that make life fun and exciting, even if they are stemmed from our imaginations.  Thanks Lester for the laughs!

*In the making of this blog, no cat was harmed.
**Since Lester has been ill, Nicole told me to be sensitive to his feelings and not call him Lester.

 Read more on our stupid humor

Laughing About Nothing
Laughing About Nothing … True Story

You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps.  Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it.  But what chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it’s really a good idea and whether there are other, better ideas.  ~Stanley Kubrick

Aunt Heather & Kyle Piper playing a game of chess at Fort Ligonier Days. 2009

Kyle has been really back on a chess kick lately.  I’m the same way, sometimes I just want to play the game and sometimes I forget all about it.  When Kyle was three years old, I remember sitting down with him and teaching him to play chess.  I never had any reservations about this young man learning the game.  At that point in his life, he already mastered Candy Land, Chutes n’ Ladders, and Monopoly Junior.  Pushing for Excellence  He was also working on puzzles with at least a thousand pieces and he knew his addition flashcards.  Again, going back to my same theory, “What’s it going to hurt?” SpyRing is Born – Education Unlocked!

I remember the day, very distinctly when I introduced Kyle, to what will be his longtime love of Chess.  I asked Kyle if he wanted to play a game with me and naturally he was all for it.  He went through his list of standard games trying to figure out which one was on my mind.  Mentioning the game as I passed him to retrieve the box, he gave me a look of ‘What is chess?’ before asking me about the game.  I sat down without saying much only “You’ll see” and I gave him a smile and a wink.  I went straight to work, placing the pieces on the board.  His eyes were wide and curious while examining this intriguing game that he’s never seen before.  I will admit that my mysteriousness was making this new experience more dramatic and exciting.  Even I was falling prey to it, becoming more excited to play.

Kyle was squirming in his seat with anticipation when I started the role call, introducing him to each of the pieces.  First, I unveiled each figure by name and then I followed up with the maneuverability instructions for each piece.  Kyle sincerely got it!  I even remember letting him go first, which has become an unspoken rule with Kyle over the years.  As we moved around the board I would reiterate the moves of some of the pieces, but overall he seemed to understand how to play.  Now the strategy behind the game came a little later, but the love of chess was immediate.

Grandpap Chester made this table c. 1937  Refurbished by Mike Olczak (cousin)

In fact, my cousin Casey who is Kyle’s godfather, called and asked me what Kyle wanted for Christmas.  I usually try and give him different options and one was a chess game.  That Christmas, Kyle received his first chess set and he was excited!  I think I played more games of chess than I ever did in my entire life during that time. Casey certainly got his money’s worth.

Now the love of the game never disappeared, it was just stored away for a rainy day.  Every once in a while, we would pull out the game and play but Kyle’s video games started to take priority.  Then a month ago, while we waited to pick up our take-out dinner, Kyle took my iphone to play a game.  This is standard behavior when he thinks he’s “bored” for the whole five minutes of waiting.  I asked him, “What are you playing bud?” followed by his response of “Chess.”  I said, “Wow Kyle, we haven’t played a game of chess in a long time.”  As he remained focused on his game he lifted his head to give me a smile and a head nod.

After dinner, Kyle decided he didn’t want to play against the computer anymore, he wanted to play a game with me on my phone.  Now I was a little rusty, but graciously the game highlighted options for my potential moves.  That was helpful at first, but then slowly started to irritate me.  I will need to look into turning off that feature.  It was nice reengaging myself in the game and I really enjoy seeing Kyle using his cranium cavity for more than sending a stick person down a hill in a shopping cart.  (Shopping Cart Wars).

Side view of Grandpap Chester’s checker table. c. 1937 Refurbished by Mike Olczak (cousin)

Recently, chess has become Kyle’s game of choice.  That’s all he wants to play, no video games, no ipod, no Nitendo DS, it’s all about the game of chess.  Last weekend my sister was home for her class reunion, Go Wildcats!, and he made her play against him too.  Would you believe that more than not, Kyle won against us?  Friday night, I played him a game, and I will admit that I was only half paying attention, clearly not taking my opponent seriously.  Yep, that bit me in the butt when he crushed me!  He didn’t just win, instead of finishing the game when he had me in checkmate, he decided to continue the game to capture as many of my pieces as he could.  He displayed his killings proudly, even telling my dad, “Look pap pap, it’s my trophy room.”  What a stinker!

When we did a rematch, I reminded Kyle of the dangers of arrogance and cockiness.  I could feel it leak through his pores, and I don’t like that at all!  He needs to remain respectful and composed.  I’ve even explained to him that those traits destroy people and causes them to fail, in everything they do in life.  Sometimes I like to take opportunities presented, even a simple situation, and use it as a life lesson.  This one was the best example.  As we continued with our game, I played like a champ; no more under estimating Kyle, no more distractions and absolutely no mercy!  Finally I won!  He smiled like a good sport and understood that I knocked him down a peg or two.  You know what?  Kyle didn’t care.  He didn’t get mad, he didn’t make excuses, in fact he commented on how he could improve his game next time.  Very impressive!

Every game we played, Kyle was definitely getting better and better.  He would even sacrifice certain pieces and set me up for traps to devastate my army.  An example, which was flawlessly executed, involved me taking Kyle’s pawn with my queen.  It looked like a no brainer, but after his move, I learned it was a set up!  Again I under estimated that child, he was learning strategy before my eyes.  I wasn’t paying attention to his knight, that is until he rode the horse in to capture my queen. What?  Very clever!  Great move!

Grandpap Chester signed the inside drawer of the checker table. Made in 1937 Mikey found this when he was sanding.

On Monday night after school, while we were eating Kyle set up the chess game again.  We started to play before his piano lessons, until we ran out of time.  Unfortunately, when I got back to the house, I came to the conclusion that Storm wanted to play too.  All the pieces were scattered all over the table, which she is not allowed on, and some pieces were on the floor.  As I gathered up the crime scene, I noticed I was eight pieces shy.  After I cleaned the house on Wednesday, I found four of the eight missing pieces, which leaves four chess pieces MIA.  Where could they have gone?  Maybe they are with the mouse and sticky pad? Of Mice and Me…Part 3  Kyle is not going to be happy about this!  I’m actually upset for him and kind of nervous to break the news.  Maybe it’s time for a new set!

Check out Mikey’s other furniture creations on his .  He is a true artist with wood!  He doesn’t do refurbished wood projects, although he made an exception for me, since it was my grandpap Chester’s table, Mikey’s uncle.

Send Mikey a message…