Kickin off the Holiday Spree with Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite times - not only is it one of those fun random holiday days that I've posted about before - it comes with COSTUMES! Seriously one of my top five favorite things in the entire world. We celebrate Halloween as a silly day with pumpkins, costumes, and candy - nothing spooky here. Here's the story of the Madden Pumpkins:

First, some love taking gooey guts out of a pumpkin...

Did you know that it's not a great idea to cut the hole for the top too small? If you do, and you try to make it bigger so you can get your big man hand in there, the top won't fit later... Yep. learned that one this year....

It was a family event for sure... 

My job is to carve the faces. Brad does guts and tops... Its a great system!

I guess it's appropriate that JB's pumpkin is missing a tooth.. So is she!

These two love to light them up! Now if only I could remember to throw them away before I need an entire HAZMAT suit to pick them up... Maybe next year!

The Big Easy

I wish Madison had a cool name like "The Big Easy." 

We recently headed down with my parents and the kids, no, not to see a Saints game, not to see Madonna live in concert, no way bigger. The Fresh Beat Band. If you haven't seen them, just turn on Nickelodeon one afternoon. You probably can't take more than a few minutes of it... Brad has declared the show the absolutely most annoying acting on television. But, naturally, the kids think they are rock stars. So for JB's 6th birthday, we gave JB tickets as her main gift. The problem was, that they had to wait 3 months to see the concert, and by then, JB really didn't care about it half as much as they did when she first heard about it. But Beckham faithfully asked every morning, afternoon, evening before bed, if today was the day. 

Finally it came. A Big Easy thanks to my parents for coming along to be some extra hands... that job was definitely NOT always easy... Here's the story:

Headed to breakfast - Beignets!

Before we ate, while the boys stood in line for a table, the kids walked across to the square and got their faces painted.... 

After breakfast we headed to the NO zoo for the afternoon. None of us had ever been, and it's a pretty great place!

B hitched a ride for some of the walk...

Grandaddy took a time out...

Brooke joined him...

Some of our great friends met us for the concert! We had a blast! 

Fall Funnies...

A little laugh from the October photos... 

JB plans her halloween costumes around what Beckham is planning to be. Last year he was going to be an Indian because I needed a costume that didn't require a mask. So she changed her choice to an Indian princess so they could match. This year was no different... B decided to be superman, so JB decided to be Wonder Woman. 

Here's one of Beckham making a call on his banana-phone...

We did a little experimenting too... Look who likes to scoot around the kitchen!

Brooke lounges in her nap-nanny while she waits for me to get dressed in the morning. Sometimes the hairdryer just hums her straight to sleep...

Jane Bradley takes a trip to the pumpkin patch with her Kindergarten class... The teacher let them know that they could wear "farm" clothes instead of uniforms. Of course, I remembered having several things in her closet that would work, but unfortunately, I did not remember until 8pm the night before that I had given all of those pieces away last year in the closet-clean-out. 

If you know JB, then you know that accessorizing is high-priority. When I told her I didn't have anything that fit her for farm-day, I was not prepared for the puppy eyes and alligator tears that would follow. It was one of those moments where you look at your daughter and you know exactly what she's feeling. I would have felt the same way. So. I went to Target at 9pm and bought every denim thing they had in her size (I planned to take back everything that I didn't end up using). Call me crazy. I probably deserve it, but I went to bed happy that night, and she woke up happy the next morning. Win, Win... 

Just another day in the country...

We love A Day in the Country, the Chapel of the Cross festival every fall. Brad will even forego Saturday morning football for it! So you know it must be good.. Here's our story this year:

Jane Bradley found a mini-horse... Yes, that is Woody from Toy Story riding in the saddle... 

They spent some time in the petting zoo...

I love moments when JB & B show how totally different their personalities are. They had one of those big trampoline things where you strap into the harness and bounce on 1 of 4 big trampolines. JB has done them before, but in the past, B has been too small. Well, I stood in line for them because usually this has been the attraction that must be enjoyed before we can peacefully leave an event.  I stood there for 30 minutes at least, and JB walks up, looks at it and says she's too nervous to jump. B, on the other hand, sizes it up, and enthusiastically BEGS to jump on it. He lets us know that he plans to jump to the top. 

We encouraged JB to give it a try since she has loved it other times before, so she did. VERY reluctantly... She bounced a little.

While Beckham was convinced he was jumping up to the sky... I love how different they are! JB is so cautious and careful, while B throws caution to the wind and jumps in without a care in the world...

Faces were painted. It always amazes me that he will sit still that long...

This is no surprise... 

Also.. not a surprise.

Brooke was getting ready to go home, but she was a trooper the whole morning... We had a great time! Can't wait till next year!

By the way, if you ever wondered what a Madden baby looks like... 

And finally the stars align.

Number one, I have to have 2 hands to type. 2 hands free is a rarity for me. Usually, I have one arm hooked around a baby and the other one either filling a juice cup, making someone's food request, or loading a washing machine or dishwasher. And lately only one child is sleeping at a time during the day, which keeps me moving and multitasking even more.  Thankfully, most of the time all 3 are asleep at night, but that hasn't been the case over the last few weeks. Number two, by the time I have a minute to myself at night, sleep looks way more appealing than using precious brainpower to record all of this stuff online. 

I may be behind with the blog, but hey, at least I have used that other arm most of the time to grab my phone and snap a priceless photographic treasure that will reward myself and others for years to come. (Please hold while I take a moment to fluff my supermom cape...)

October is Grandaddy's birthday. And Grandaddy likes spinach. And Jane Bradley and Beckham think that's hilarious because, as everyone knows, spinach is the universal icon of all disgusting foods. So naturally, it was the funniest joke of all time when they put spinach on Grandaddy's birthday cake.

Jane Bradley also made him a birthday cake out of playdough. I thought she did a pretty good job!

Of course, Brooke is growing at warp speed. Here she is just about to turn 4 months old... I love these little moments after work with dad!

We spent a lot of time like this in October too... 

Last but certainly not least... We have a new favorite superhero around here :)

Hope your day is as super as this guy :)