Madd Max Carves

Pumpkins that is. I blame the length of this post on our friends being so cool.

Halloween began with the search for the perfect pumpkin.Although in reality, Sam did most of the searching, and Maddie's opinion of the entire thing was more like this.Once found, Sam headed over to Feldie's Annual Pumpkin Carving Party to get some hard core, power tooled, work in before Jess arrived in a few hours with the kids.By the time the rest of the fam arrived to greet a happy Feldie, Sam was complete.Then he filled his hands with one of our little pumpkins - yeah, I said that too.Liza, Arthur and Erin were all in the beginning stages of their design.Alex had flown in from Florida to begin stacking his pumpkins.Hunvey also had some serious carving to get done.And there were some who were in costume - Aarin is a tour widow (Drew is on-tour with Jay Z) - and some who were their fabulous selves - Scott and Kathleen. ELF dressed as the cutest garden gnome.Holly Rose was a dirty housewife. Remember this costume - it plays an important role later on.Elizabeth was a very tired pumpkin.Greg and Suzanne were lightening bugs - their booties even blinked when dusk fell.Our grumpy strawberry finally found solace in the her rightful place, in the dirt with a dump truck. Things took a sad turn when the dump truck's owner asked for it back, and Sam handed her a spoon to dig with, which she used appropriately, spooning the dirt right into her mouth.John and Erin had offered up their backyard as a venue for the party, and John played the happy host very well.
And now for the pumpkins - here's the majority of them. The following pictures give you some close-ups with explanations to wow you.

Alex's tragic scene. The pumpkin man in the middle has a hole that is oozing green goo. In the pineapple man's pasta fork hand is the pumpkin man's oozing heart (ie tea strainer covered in green goo). This won 2nd place.

Greg's pumpkin is smoking a pipe - that's a tea light at the end of it. This won 3rd place.

Elvin pumpkin.Arthur's is entitled - "Los Angeles Burning." Inside the pumpkin, there is an additional smaller pumpkin cut into a flames silhouette, which sits on a rotating disk. The entire thing is lit through LEDs.Crazy cute eyes.

Even the cupcakes were well designed, courtesy of Alison.

Upper right corner is a Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Boo-ya!

Upper left corner is a pumpkin snowman.

And now the winning pumpkin - remember Holly Rose's housewife costume. It went along with the easy bake oven pumpkin. There is actually a small pie inside the pumpkin (held up with bbq skewers, and the top has electric burners cut into it).We did not get to stay for the actual judging, as we headed back home for trick-or-treaters (Jess did return for the after party after the littles were asleep). Sam set up his pumpkin on the front porch, which drew many comments on the small pumpkins - one being, "When you carved the small ones - were there seeds?" As our street goes nuts on Halloween, not only was it packed, but some neighbors set out a chocolate fountain, and others brought out margaritas. We got a total of 256 trick-or-treaters, ranging from teeny witches and firemen to a Hooters girl.

Jess with her pea and her strawberry.

Slappy Constructs

Up until now, Maddie has been referred to daily as "The Destroyer." During clean-up, Jess found this in the corner bookshelf. A new era dawns.

Later, Steve's ladies and Steve stopped by for dinner and some light reading. Maddie, whose high chair had been pulled into the living room for dinner, also enjoyed "The Napping House" from her perch.

Meanwhile, Marissa supervised as Max tried to impress Elizabeth with his vocal stylings. Elizabeth responded with many a pleased smile and attempt to reach out and touch Max.

The Scrapper Finds His Voice

This week Max realized the best way to not be forgotten is to let everyone know you exist. He has refined these noises into the chatty version, the bored version, and the "OMG, do not just leave me here, AGAIN!!" version.

Madd Max Goes To Halloween School

Every Wednesday, Maddie has school in the morning, and Max tags along. This week was Halloween week. The under 3 set headed to the kindergarten classes to trick-or-treat. Maddie was less than impressed, did not get what was going on, and did not wish to walk on her own. Max smiled his way through each classroom, in the arms of one of Maddie's teachers, as Jess' were full of Maddie.

That's one busy strawberry.And one sweet pea.
Straight from the Kender-Page garden.

Slappy Dance Claps

Maddie, dancing to one of her favorite Sesame Street segments. Tap, Clap, Cap!
And that noise in the background - Max chatting.

Slappy Sticks

Taisie's final goodbye present to Maddie was some stickers. As you can see, they're serious business.

Particularly the placement on one's belly.

Madd Max Enjoys Good Eats

At Paty's with their cuz, where jelly was stacked.

And coffee (decaf) was drunk.Then a fine bottle after a nap.

Followed by dinner at the Woodwards, where Taisie and Grandpa Toby sliced and diced.

Taisie stepped up her game by soothing a grandchild in one hand and making a salad in the other.

That is, until Max was handed off to Julie for some cuddles.

Dinner was in the backyard so that we could enjoy one of the last warm, fall evenings.And just as all the babies began to melt down, a family photo was taken. At least we're all accounted for.

Madd Max Enjoys A Typical Day BUT

A walk around the block, BUT with a Taisie, an Aunt Rachel, and a cousin, Gwen.

An In-N-Out lunch, BUT with their Page family (and at the request of Uncle David who's been fiending for these burgers after spending a year in Germany).

A little sitting around the house, BUT with Grandpa Toby.

Some sand playing, BUT with an observant cousin.

And some jungle gym climbing, BUT with a grandpa.

Also, some swinging, BUT for the first time (please note, that Smooth Andre was also first initiated to the swinging world on these very swings as well).

A little park observation, BUT through Taisie's glasses.

College football watching, BUT with a true fan.

And finally a bath, BUT with an audience.