The day Ethan became a Man

I was browsing through my pictures from our trip to Ohio last month and found a ton that I had forgotten to add and blog about. I had so many funny stories to tell you guys and the pics jogged my sluggish memory. Here's one of my favorites :D

Isn't he a cutie?!

Chad's dad, Walt, decided it was time to get Ethan his first BB gun. For the past couple of years Chad has tried to persuade me that Ethan needed a BB gun for Christmas, but I would hem haw around (yes, that's a southern phrase right there!) and distract him with shiny race cars or Star Wars stuff so he'd forget the gun idea. I didn't grow up around guns, even BB guns , so the idea of my sweet, innocent, uncoordinated little boy holding a gun was just hard to handle.

Chad, on the other hand, grew up with guns...lots of guns. They hunted and fished for food and sport. I think he was about Ethan's age, 8, when he received his first gun. It was a huge source of pride and in fact, I think he still has the gun. So, this was one of those passing of traditions, I-did-it-so-my-son-will-too things. And he knows how I love those father/son traditions - gets me right in the center of my sentimental, bleeding heart :)

So I agreed he could have a BB gun as long as it stays in *our* possession at all times, except when his dad or granddad are helping him shoot at targets. Besides, my father in law is one of the most overly protective, safety-conscience people I know. It used to annoy me, until I had kids of my own.

(Water bottle in case we get lost, check. Flashlight in case it gets dark, check. Camo jackets to make sure the deer don't see us coming, check. Map? Uhhhh....)

Anyway...Chad & Walt came up with this brilliant idea the first day Ethan had his gun: Walt would take him deep into the woods behind his house (he owns 3 acres) to hunt a deer. Then Chad would sneak through the woods to where they were, then stomp around and use a deer call to make Ethan think he was close to a deer. Then, and I'm a little fuzzy on this next part as it never did make much sense to me, he would take a pair of real deer antlers and either hang them on a tree or hold them out from behind a tree, supposedly to make Ethan think he was seeing a deer and let him "shoot" a real deer.


Now, I'm just a girl, but does this sound like a good idea to anyone else?

I mean, call me crazy, but doesn't that sound like a sure fire way to get hit in the head/eye/body with a BB?!?

Well, don't worry, that's not what happened. Instead, my severely directionally challenged husband got a little "lost", never did find Walt or Ethan, got hit with a sever thunderstorm, and they all came trudging home without hearing or seeing a deer...or anything pretending to be a deer.

The good news is, Ethan was clueless to the original plan so he was just on cloud nine to have carried his own BB gun through the woods to look for deer. And squirrels. And birds.

The "Smith" Men

They are goofier than I don't know what!

So, end of story, I have a BB gun hid in my room, and my son thinks he's a man. So does my husband, until I remind him of how he got lost in his own backyard :D