appleton christmas parade...

last night we headed to the appleton christmas parade.
i don't know who was more excited...me or max! :)

max and his dada (and an angry looking lady in the background!)

me and my boy...waiting for the parade to start!

quick family shot!
a very nice group of people let us put our blankets in front of them on the sidewalk. we had great seats and max was able to see everything!

we enjoyed funnel cake sticks and some yummy apple cider before the parade started!

once the floats and bands started marching down the street...our little man was in awe. he was cheering and laughing and oohing and ahhhing and dancing and having a great time.

looks like we have a new family tradition!

big boy bed...

sunday was the big day...we asked max if he was ready for his big boy bed and he said "yes!"

drew would bring each piece to the top of the stairs and then would need max's help to carry it to his room.

dada was hard at work!
max was dancing and jumping around the room cheering, "my big boy bed, my big boy bed!" it was hilarious!

almost done!

all that was left to bring in was the mattress.

a blurry picture...but he was just so excited he couldn't sit still!

cheesin for the camera!

i had to sneak in to check on him and get a shot of him sleeping. too cute.
it took him awhile to fall asleep but he stayed in his bed the whole time!
the last two nights have gone even better. way to go max. you sure are a big boy!

just max...

so, max i went shopping after daycare and i picked him up this cheap microphone.

our little rockstar.

who knew $2.99 could bring so much entertainment!

then we practiced making faces...

happy.

mad.

silly. (and blurry!)

i got this cool racetrack off of a mom's trading post on facebook.
i paid about 1/3 of the regular price! bargain!

he loves it. score one for the momma!

costume day...

max's school had "costume day" scheduled for the week after halloween.

i guess they aren't allowed to celebrate halloween so they call it costume day instead.

we let max pick between his lion costume and his packer costume.

he sure is a handsome little football player!

first snow...

max was much more excited than i was to see this first snow fall.

he wanted to go out and play in it and i wanted it to go away.

it was a very wet snow and didn't stick around.

i'm sure our backyard will be covered in no time.

although i'd rather winter stay away all together...i am looking forward to building our first snowman!

proud parents...

report from max's daycare parent-teacher conference - "max is a happy, easy going, cooperative child. he is creative and has a sense of humor. we enjoy talking to him and like having him in our room."

post haunted house vacation...

i was lucky enough to be able to schedule a long weekend in florida after youth go's haunted house season ended. things just worked out and fell into place. a great deal on a ticket, my brother willing to drop me off and pick me up at the airport, and chantay being willing to let me come visit and meet her new bundle of joy! it was an awesome visit. we had time to catch up, i got to snuggle with a 5 week old beautiful baby girl, we spent time out side, visited the beach, and just relaxed. i didn't take many pictures but here are the few i do have.

the view from our seats on the beach.

amaya's first trip to the beach.

i definitely enjoyed wearing my sandals and putting my toes in the sand.

i am very thankful to have been friends with this amazing person for the past 15 years. sometimes more time passes between us talking or seeing each other than i would like...but we are able to pick right back up where we left off.

taking it all in... i have a feeling these two have many adventures ahead of them.

i sure did miss my boys when i was gone but it was nice to get away. i enjoyed sleeping in, only having to feed myself, watching the news, reading a book and going to restaurants because they looked good and not because of what was on their children's menu! i was doing pretty good until we did a little "face time" on saturday afternoon. once i "saw" drew and max...i was ready to be home to hug them! thanks to everyone who helped make this trip possible for me! i needed it!

halloween fun...

we went over to denny and diane's house for trick-or-treating and lots of fun!

they had a cute little gift for max. a little ghost. he loved it!

he was pretty excited about the candy corn too! the smile on his face in this picture is pretty great!

our handsome little lion!

i love my family!

good looking trick-or-treaters!
teddy was a zombie and hannah was alice in wonderland.

max and i arrived early so that i could help teddy and do his make-up. he told me he wanted to look "severe." i think i did a pretty good job!

love it!

ryan and leslie arrived and i had to get a shot of the boys! :)

drew was posing with max for this picture but i think it was really a way for max to sneak a peak at max's candy stash! :)

he was done at this point and started digging into his loot.

we went back for dinner! thanks for the pizza.

i also enjoyed this creatively labelled beer! diane loves halloween and goes all out! :)

hannah was nice enough to eat her pizza with the little guys!

we had a great night!

children's day at the haunted house...

drew brought max to youth go's "children's day at the haunted house event!" it was great to see both of them. my co-workers and i were all dressed up like the characters from the wizard of oz. max and i made a pretty cute couple!
dorothy and the lion!

max was a little nervous at first when entering the house. it was a little dark in there. but after about 1/2 through, he relaxed a bit and really seemed to have fun. after trick-or-treating through the house, we headed to play carnival games.

playing the "bean bag toss." he got all three in!!

a little try at "pick a duck."

he did a great job at the pumpkin ring toss.

and at quack attack...he only wanted to play with the ducks, not knock them over with bean bags!

he had a high five for the a&w bear!

then we "took a sit" and enjoyed some shaved ice.

what a cute lion!

the afternoon must have worn him out. on the way back to the car, he decided he needed to take a little rest. he just stopped, sighed, and then layed down on the ground. it was hilarious!

what a great day filled with some halloween fun! :)

haircut time...

our little buddy needed a haircut.
although i love his hair when it gets long like this, it grows pretty crazy in the back. i'll have to remember to get a picture next time. it looks like he has a tail. not the best look! :)
before

after (and with blue lips from his lollipop!)
handsome little man!