Trick-or-Treat 2006

To start our Halloween night of trick-or-treating out right Kristy made us a special themed dinner. She broke out our trusty Halloween recipes book and decided on making Halloween turkey meat tarts. The tarts were great!

The weather was a little chilly and rainy so we headed to the mall for their trick-or-treat event. Most of the stores were passing out candy and a lot of candy at that. The girls made out very well.



One interesting thing that the girls got was a free can of a new energy drink called Boo-Koo. The girl handing out the drinks told us that the drinks are not intended for children. I told the girl not to worry that I would be drinking them, Molly corrected me however. She loves those energy drinks as much as I do. It's a good thing we never buy them and only drink them when we get them for free.

One store had their employee dressed up like an authentic wicked witch from the East as in the Wizard of Oz.

After the mall the girls got together with their neighbor friends Kara and Adam and went door to door in our apartment complex.

Even though we are all students and these were the only young kids in the complex, many people were actually waiting for them. They made out pretty well here to.

Certainly another successful trick-or-treat season.

Missouri State University Homecoming "Halloween" Game

I have been itching to attend a MSU football game ever since the season started. That was one element of College I sure missed out on at Wright State since they have no football team. I was ecstatic when I learned that Kristy's school not only had a pretty decent team with a huge stadium, but most importantly she could get free tickets. So with Kristy's free ticket and the sweet offering of all costumed kids get free entrance, the Homecoming "Halloween" game was destined to be the one we attended this year.

The girls were almost as excited as I was to attend the MSU game, but especially so when they learned they were going to be a part of the half-time show.

The game started off with a bang as the marching band first took the field and then the team shot out of a huge inflatable football helmet.


The stadium was packed and full of kids in costumes.

The team put on a pretty good first half but Neleha only made it through the first quarter before she fell asleep.


When half-time finally arrived the girls were ready to be a part of the show. They were given kazoos to assist the band with making some noise.


The time arrived for the girls to make their MSU debut as they walked across center field in the kiddie Halloween costume parade.


As a reward the cheerleaders gave all the kids goodie bags and then they got the meet the official MSU mascot.

A great day for MSU football.

Student Council Representative Campaign

In contrast to the very heated mid-term elections America is currently undergoing, the elections for Student Council Representatives for first year students is next week. Crazy as it may seem, I decided to throw my name into the running. Four representatives will be selected and so far it looks as if there will be five candidates. That results in a need for campaigning. So the following is my campaign email I sent to all the students which is nothing close to the adds we have been seeing on TV:

(Originally sent by email to the Forest Institute student body)

Adam Batchelder: before my Alien Abduction

I had big plans for my hopeful position as a 1st Year Representative for the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology Student Council....of course that was before I saw THEM!

I wanted to:
1) Increase Student representation in administrative decisions effecting education costs and seek out ways to lower these costs (more library scanners to convert documents/book pages into pdf versus printing them).
2) Establish student discounts at local businesses (like the MSU student discount of $.03 per gallon at local gas stations).
3) Continue to maintain and improve student social functions.
4) Organize discounted student outdoor-trips (skiing, horseback riding, fishing, rafting, climbing, camping, hiking, etc).
5) Established organized fitness programs.
6) Establish student led self-help and stress-relief groups.
7) Increase amenities for on-campus student housing (to be comparable to other local apartment units).

Once the aliens took over my body I knew that I would never be able to share with the 1st year student body the reasons why all of my experiences would help me be a great 1st Year Representative.

My experiences include:
1) Served five-years with the U. S. Navy as a front-line surgical medic assigned to the U. S. Marine Corps.
2) As a Husband of 7-years and a Father of 2, I am well aware of the need for lowering any costs we can as Graduate Students.
3) While in the Navy I was assigned as the MWR (Moral Welfare & Recreation) representative which duties included seeking local business support to discount or fully fund unit functions.
4) During that time I was also designated as the Leading Petty Officer for improving fitness standards within our unit.

Once the aliens turned me into one of them I knew that I would never be able to campaign my cool slogans to encourage 1st year students to elect me as one of the four new 1st Year Representatives.

My cool campaign slogans include:
1) If you vote for me, all of your dreams will come true!
2) Adam offers you his protection!
3) Vote for me and I'll catch you a delicious Bass!
4) Vote for Adam and tater tots are on the house!
5) GOSH......I'll do whatever I want to.....like Vote for Adam!
(special thanks to Napoleon Dynamite for the sweet slogans)

Now that I am one of them they are going to make me enforce their EVIL AGENDA!
Now you have no choice but to Vote For Adam for 1st Year Representative.

These are the two posters that I covered the school with.

Maybe if our politicians had a little humor in their lives they could have as much fun as I have been having. So I'll let you know how I fend through our very unheated elections at Forest Institute.

Apartment Party

Now that all the new Fall students have gotten settled in, a party was organized so we could all get to know each other. We all brought a dish to share and pumpkins to carve. Since us and the Sargents are the only one's with kids we took it upon ourselves to let our kids dress up. We had a great time socializing and eating, and the kids had fun running, playing, and carving pumpkins. What better way is there to turn your neighbors into friends?

Clinic Clean-Up

My schools Student Council decided to coordinate a clean-up project of our clinic building. So I ran the idea bye Kristy and she thought it would be fun to help out. When we got there we quickly realized how badly a clean-up project was needed. We were happy to see that many other students also showed up. Kristy and I helped out clearing away fallen leaves and accumulated dirt from the parking lot and the girls had fun picking up leaves from the grass. Although much work was involved we all had fun. To end on a good note the Student Council sprung for a free weenie roast with smores for desert.

Open House at Mark Twain Elementry

It is so hard to believe that molly has been a kindergartener long enough to already have her parent-teacher open house. Molly was very excited to bring us to her school so she could show off all of her work.

We had the wonderful pleasure of Molly leading Kristy, Neleha, and myself all around her classroom and school to show us all of her work that was up on display. Kristy also had the opportunity to talk with Molly's teacher who had nothing but wonderful reports about our little Molly. She told us that Molly has already memorized all of the sight words that they will be using this year. So she has Molly read to the other kids that are having some trouble with their sight words. She also said that she had to purchase a more advanced computer learning software because Molly has mastered all that she had in the classroom. Our Molly sure is a smart little girl.

Molly wanted to make sure to show her Mommy the self-depiction that she did at home with Kristy's help.

Molly's teacher had a few little projects for the kids to do so that their parents could see first-hand how well their kids were doing. I thought it was so cute to watch as Molly looked up to her Mommy after each little project to confirm her approval.


We had such a wonderful time being a part of Molly's life at school, even if it was just for one night. I think the experience only made Neleha want to go to school that much more, she had just as much fun as we did.

Molly: our happy little kindergartener!

A Day of Science: The Discovery Center

We visited the local children's science museum called Discovery Center. The girls had a day of real interactive learning. The museum was full of things for them to do including the first exhibit where they got to see what its like to discover dinosaurs fossils.


The Discovery Center also has a unique area that is specifically for kids under 6 years old. It is so enjoyable to watch the girls learn and explore.


From the airplane launch tower to the electricity globe, the girls found much to do.


The girls are at such a wonderful age where they are so open to enjoying the many blessings this world has to offer.



One of the highlights of the Center was the mock newsroom. The girls had so much fun pretending to be weather women. Kristy and I had so much fun watching them pretend.

Molly & Neleha, the newest weather team on KY3 News.


The girls got to learn about banking and how to use a fully functional ATM.


Kristy and I had so much fun watching the girls put on a puppet show for us.


We had the most fun in the Kapla room where we got to build stuff out of Kapla blocks.

Kristy built a tall tall tower and let the girls smash it too the ground.


I built a cactus and the girls did me the same favor. Boy did they ever love smashing these things to the ground.


From a walking wheel that actually powered a motor to learning how a wheel barrel works, we certainly had a great visit at the Center.