Call Me Grand-meow.

Seriously, I love Halloween. Not the gruesome elements of it like those haunted houses for touring with blood and guts and severed appendages...yuck. No, I like the excitement of children regarding it. The planning (and changing of minds) for costumes to be worn. What kinds of candy will be given out and received. The carved Jack 'o Lanterns on porches. The clever cards. And what gifts to give to my kids even now. (They have already recieved their once-a-year Count Chocula or Boo Berry cereal boxes with Target Target gift cards.)

So, how exciting is it that THIS YEAR I have Grandkitty Oliver to think about? What treats could I give to him? I want to be mindful of how his "parents" are in regards to diet, so cat candy is out of the question. Anne had said she was thinking of getting him a costume, so I had to avoid competition with what I brought in. Toys? He has favorite mice for tossing and fetching, so that was out, too. When I spotted a blinking lights witch headband, I KNEW this is what I had to give to my wild-but-adorable Grandkitty. It would fit around his belly, and the lights would add a festive touch as he ran around in the dark! In a snap, it could come on and off his body. (To the right: the costume Anne bought for Oliver.)

This is Oliver with the witch on his back. The costume was a success in that it stayed on while he zipped around the back yard. The costume was a failure in that it freaked the poor little guy out to have a witch on his back.

Here's the Frankenstein container his witch costume came in. This is a staged pose of him trying to retrieve a treat from it...pretty cute, huh? One thing Oliver really DID seem to enjoy was checking out the various wild drying seed pods from plants Anne and I plucked while on a neighborhood walk. It really looks quite Halloweenish

now at their place! But, I still think I am more excited about Halloween than any of them are.

(And a shout-out goes to Linda Y. for coming up with the name Grand-meow for me!)