Happy Halloween!

Do you still have a sugar high? We do!

This pumpkin pair was ready for a neighborhood parade & pizza party before the competitive candy-eating began!

Max trying to rip off the hat before we made it out the door.

Max did not really enjoy the wind, cold, riding-in-the-wagon aspect of the holiday-he just wanted candy.

Lots of giggles!

Max became a frozen pumpkin so we had to break the coat out.

Trick-or-treating last week at Brad's firm. Max screamed until he got chocolate so he had 3 or 5 candy bars - at some point we stopped counting.

Pumpkin carving!

The family activity that sounds so fun, but really is a big pain in the ---. (This comes from the spouse that did absolutely nothing & just watched.)

Max was disgusted with the whole pumpkin-carving experience. It was pretty funny.

Ainsley & her pumpkin (& one of her fabulous "look what I picked out" outfits).

The end result was great - 3 jack-o-lanterns & then we roasted the pumpkin seeds-how domestic is THAT??

"I'm NOT Wearing a Dress!" & Other Fashion Tips From a 3-Year-Old

Since August, Ainsley has refused to wear dresses & anything else I suggest.

Instead, she's been coming up with a few fashion tips of her own:

Getting ready for soccer practice.

Fashion Tip #1: Umbro soccer shorts go with everything, pink & red go with everything, stripes & polka dots go with everything. . .including each other.

Ainsley's "Papa Don't Preach"/Early Madonna Look

Fashion Tip #2: "Skirts are sometimes okay if you have to get all fancied up."

Going for Sunday donuts with Daddy (closet thing we have to organized religion)

Fashion Tip #3: It is definitely acceptable to have matching shoes with your dad as long as they are pink & you call them "Adidas Chuck Taylors," even though they are really "Converse."

This is what Ainsley would like to wear every day, regardless of the weather. She's also wearing the look I usually get when the camera comes out.

Fashion Tip #4: "The white matches, Mom. This outfit matches because there is white so I can wear it right?"

Fashion Tip #5: Socks with sandals are acceptable. "Socks don't care about matching, but shoes do, right mom?"

Hit the Republicans, Ainsley!

You know you live in Kansas when the first attraction at the pumpkin patch invites you to shoot small pumpkins out of an air gun toward a battered Democratic donkey sign.

To keep things fair & balanced there was a GOP elephant, but I think we would have been asked to leave if we hit it. Luckily, our bipartisan 3-year-old opted to aim for the Frankenstein.

There was a LOT to do at this pumpkin patch. . .

Digging in sand. . .

. . . we finally made it out to the actual pumpkin patch where everyone was tired, hot & pretty much over the whole pumpkin patch experience. Fun times.

Daddy & Ainsley searched high & low for 4 of the perfect pumpkins. . .

. . .while Max just tried his hardest to not touch the dirt while he stood up.

He was not getting his hands dirty that day AT ALL!

Max was also a reluctant pumpkin patch participant & instead rode in the wagon or stroller the whole time demanding food. I really can't blame him, I would have done the same thing.

Don't Give Your Son a Dog's Name

Remind me not to make small talk with checkers plagued with teen angst at the grocery store:

"Oh, my son's name is Max, too," friendly mom says while motioning to happy baby in cart.

"Do you know that Max has been one of the Top 10 Dog Names for the last ten years?" over-pierced teen wearing "Max" name tag replies.

"Nope, didn't know that."

Guess we're not going to talk about how much you looooove

your name & how happy my kid should be that I gave him the same one, huh?

I should should have guessed that my Max's name had some direct correlation to dogs.

Not only does he get excited almost to the point of hyperventilating whenever he sees a dog, he also has adopted some of their qualities. Brad & I are really proud.

Max likes to pour milk on the floor so he can lick it up, pick up balls

with his mouth, chew on shoes & eat off the floor.

Our new next door neighbors own a dog named Max & my kids will attend an elementary school with a mascot named "Max the Bulldog." Awesome.

[Side note: When I attended the same elementary school, we were the Mission Trail Trojans-not the Bulldogs. Guess someone finally got smart & realized that a bunch of 5th graders were running around snickering about the word Trojan. Genius.]

I cannot tell a lie-I did know Max was good dog's name because once upon a time I had a dog by the same name who was a very good friend of mine in the early 80's.

But then we moved to Arizona & my parents told us it was "too hot for a Golden Retriever there" & gave Max away to a "very nice family." [FYI to parents-not a good excuse, there are lots of retrievers in AZ.]

So, as much as the angry emo grocery kid would like to believe, Max isn't named after the many canine Maxs out there, but rather, the many Maxwell Yeretskys before him ($10 to whomever defines "emo" to my mom-Annie, this is probably falling under your job description right now).

As for the dog behavior, no, we are not getting a dog (Grandma has one & Max can pretend it's his) & I suppose when I see my son licking the floor, I'll just consider it extra clean. Gross.