Where the Wild Things Are

They are Trick or Treating, of course!

Max, King of all Wild Things

Despite the rain, these wild things had a wild Halloween rumpus!

and Mario and Luigi, too!

Happy Halloween!

Harvest Tales

Sometimes Mommy's ideas don't work out quite as planned. This was one of those times. My intentions were good. My execution was poor.

I desperately wanted to take Max and his cousins to Sky Top, an apple orchard in the mountains, to pick apples, enjoy the leaves, and revel in Fall-ness. Our plans were rained out too many times to count. Finally, a Sunday dawned with bright sunshine instead of clouds. After Max's nap, I dressed him up in his cute "Harvest" outfit and we headed for the mountains. Did I notice the chill in the air? Of course! I threw a light jacket in the car and even his hat from last year, just in case. We planned to meet Max's cousins, Aunt Deanna, and Grammy at the orchard and some of our friends were also taking their 1 1/2 year old daughter the same day. About halfway to Hendersonville, we get a text from our friends, "Turn back." No way, we were already almost there! "It's freezing and packed. We are leaving after 10 minutes". What an exaggeration...Greenville was perfectly pleasant.

As we wound our way up the mountain, I did notice that the temperature gauge was dropping at an alarming rate. As we sat in a long line of cars waiting to turn onto the road for the orchard, I did notice that it seemed excessively crowded. As the wind shook our car and bent the trees almost to the ground, I did notice that it seemed a bit gusty. But we were almost there! Bravely, we forged on.

It was approximately 10 minutes after we left the warmth of the car, hiked to the entrance, noted the insane number of people who had the exact same idea about visiting the orchard on a sunny weekend day, and realized most of the apples had already been picked that we decided we had made a mistake. Additionally, Max's adorable outfit was not keeping him warm, the lines to pay for apples and cider stretched to the entrance, and my dreams of Harvest pictures of the boys in front of the "How Tall this Fall" sign were not going to materialize.

We gave up and left after purchasing a bag of apples that we did not pick. I was desolate. On our way home, we stopped by the local pumpkin patch to grab some pumpkins. 15 degrees warmer, 1/10 as crowded, and a 100 times more fun! Maybe next year we'll stick with the pumpkin sale that is minutes away from our house....

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

It has been flood or drought around here the past few years. Either we don't get any rain or the rain will not stop. Lately, we have been on the wet side with rain gushing down endlessly. One night on the local news, it was reported that Lake Jocassee had received 11 inches of rain in 3 hours. And someone's dock was floating in the middle of the lake. Since there are less than 5o houses at the lake, Jason joked that there was a good chance that it was our dock! Luckily, it was not.

Instead of letting the rain get us down, we put our rainy day to good use with our first visit to the new Children's Museum! It was love at first sight for Max. They had:

Diggers and Rocks

Tree Slides

Kitchen Toys

Grocery Carts

Water Feature

Musical Instruments

In short, the perfect indoor adventure!

23 Months of Smiles

Dear Max,

You're living out your last few months as a 1 year old in style! When I think of Max at 23 months, I think "Smiles". Generally, you are a very happy kid! Even when feeling a little shy in a new situation, it isn't long before you flash your customary smile and giggle loudly. The Max may be quiet as far as using words, but you communicate volumes with your smile. What makes you smile this month?

1. Your favorite song The Wheels on the Bus. Max, you are hysterical because you pump your arms up and down screaming 'Roun, 'Roun in an attempt to get us to start singing. After Aunt Deanna demonstrated the horn beeping by poking your tummy, it has become your favorite motion. The only thing better than Mommy and Daddy singing The Wheels on the Bus is ELMO singing it! We watch Sesame Street together on the weekends and have discovered an episode featuring your favorite song and, fortunately, we were also able to record it! You get hysterically happy when you see it! Personally, I am happy with this obsession because singing is the only proven method for getting you dressed at night and in the morning.

2. Your stuffed animals. The best game every invented is to pile your stuffed animals in some location (the crib, the dump truck) and then throw (unload) them into another location. Back and forth, back and forth, over and over. These stuffed animals should qualify for frequent flier miles. You laugh and beg (Peasss!) to do it repeatedly.

3. Being outside. I'm really not sure how you are going to handle the winter because you loving going outside and playing with your neighborhood friends. Your face lights up as you jump in the leaves, collect acorns, push your car, and run like a maniac.

4. Everything makes you smile! Making trains with your toys, garbage trucks on Monday morning, the bath drain, brushing your teeth with Mommy and Daddy, balls, parks, hats, apple juice, anything and everything.

You are such a blessing to us Max because you remind us daily how many things in the world there are to smile about. We love our happy boy!

Love, Mommy

It's Just a Little Crush

I have developed a bit of a crush on our construction supervisor, Phil. Why is Phil so wonderful? Let me count the ways.

1. Phil always answers the phone when I call and he's never too busy to talk. He told me I could call on his days off or the weekend and he would always be happy to speak with me.

2. Whenever I ask Phil to do something, he does it. There is no nagging or reminding or prompting...it just gets done. And he usually goes far beyond what I asked him to do.

3. Phil seeks to make my life easier. He researches all options before presenting them to me and then tries to inform me about what is the best and the most cost effective.

4. Phil is handy and detailed. He has taken on several projects himself instead of hiring a subcontractor because he believes he might as well do things for us while he is at the house supervising. He added on to our fence, improved our fireplace mantel, built my nook, and countless other little things.

5. Phil never laughs at my ideas of my "visions". He just nods, says "uh huh" and tries to make it happen.

Is Phil this wonderful at home? Probably not, I should ask his wife and find out. Lately, Jason has become concerned about the amount of time Phil and I are spending together. I told him one incident sealed the deal in my mind. I made a decision and Phil attempted to talk me out of it due to the cost. Neither the crew nor the contractor could understand why we were going to the trouble to change something we would rarely see. At the end of the day, it was my husband who understood that this was the one little thing in our house that would bug me for the next forty years, and thus, was worth the expense of fixing it now instead of listening to me complain about it. That is why I married him!

Go for the Gold!

Max has begun his Olympic training in gymnastics. Thus far, he has conquered somersaults, head stands, arabesques, heel stretches, and many flexibility requirements that have not yet been named. In fact, he may be looking to trademark "The Maxanova with a Full Twist" in the near future. Athletes, please note: After sticking the landing, insane laughter is required to receive full marks for the move.

Lights, Camera, Hollywood!

Hollywood arrived at Furman in the form of two distinguished alums who are professional actresses - and one also happened to be my college roommate! Laura and Tiffany provided four days of workshops, training, advice, and even a pesudo-Cultural Life Event for students and the general public. Sally, Rebecca, Jason, my parents, Laura's family, and myself were all eager to be a part of the "general public" and cheer on our favorite star! After watching her shine on a regional and national level, it was really special to hear her describe her profession, her goals, and her work style. She is amazing! Now we are just waiting for the invitation to LA to become her professional entourage....

(Insert Pictures from Sally Here - she was the only one with a camera)

Another benefit to watching Laura shape the young minds of Furman was that we got another roomie reunion so soon after our time at the beach. Jason left the house in search of quieter spaces as much giggling and talking ensued. Many trips out to Furman helped us create our own mini-Homecoming.

Laura was also able to stay a few extra days to play after her engagement ended. Max and I had planned to take her to out to enjoy Fall since California does not have the same seasonal appeal as the South. However, our outside plans were rained out, so instead Max introduced Laura to music class at the library and hysterical bouncing at an indoor jump location. I think we can safely assume that Laura has been scared away from having a baby any time soon!

Congratulations, Super Star! We hope you continue "acting professionally" with a long career!

The Money Pit

Please recall the beginning of our renovation when we said we weren't going to do anything to the outside of the house...Wrong. Despite the fact that we have a brick house, we learned that there is wood rot around the boxing for the gutters. We could have waited to replace it, but we decided we might as well do it while we have a work crew at the house. Just one more drop in the bottomless bucket.

Please note the contraption they have rigged to stand on. It involves ladders laid horizontally. When we questioned this interesting technique, the worker told us that putting up rails would take too long. On the back of the house, I found another worker perched precariously on a folding ladder atop the sloped roof of the porch. Safety First is evidently not their motto.

A sneak peek at the kitchen cabinets!