Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

 

Even though tonight is technically Halloween - our

trick or treat was actually Thursday. I guess they figure it's better

to do it during the week so there is less potential for trouble?

I have no idea...but at least we got the day right this year.

 

Max had a pretty fantastic Halloween - starting with his school

celebration.  He came home telling me all about how

"miss Jessi made a pumpkin snack, but it was really an orange

and then I ate it". And he also told us, "I made a creepy spider".

(which we promptly hung up!)

But perhaps the best line was as he came

busting through the door and proclaimed, "Mommy, I had a GREAT day

at school, I didn't hit any of my friends".

I wasn't sure if I should be thankful or embarrassed?

Probably just thankful - I guess it's a good day

when you're a toddler if you don't throw down at school.

Regardless - his teacher sent over these pics and I about died

of the cuteness.

 

(A ghost, tiger, minion, ballerina, elephant, and Minnie Mouse!)

(His good friends/enemies at school - Ronin and Macy)

 

He was super hyped up (probably from all the candy

already consumed) when he arrived home, so we chilled

out with some Halloween Paw Patrol - and waited

for Mims and Grandpa to come over!

Once they arrived, we all ate our pizza super quick

and hurried Max into his costume.

I painted his face with tiger stripes (and Mim's did mine too)!

He was not that interested in trick or treating

when we put the costume on - but rallied for some pictures!

 

 

He decided to go with the tiger costume this year.

We had both a tiger and a cow - but the cow was

kind of big on him...so I was happy when he ultimately

chose the tiger.  He still told everyone he was going to be a pirate...but..

didn't seem disappointed at all when there was no pirate costume. :)

 

Trick or treat started at 6:00 but we didn't see anyone

right away and began to get paranoid.  But about fifteen

minutes later, we had our first group come to the door - and

Max followed them down the side walk. 

 

 

He made it about four houses before wanting to be carried

and also refusing to say trick or treat and thank you (which he

can definitely do - because he said it all morning during Boo at the Zoo).

Mims ended up joining us and we decided to go back for the stroller.

 

 

We would basically stroll him to the bottom of the drive way,

he would hop out and we would walk together to the door.

Lots of party poopers our neighbors did not hand out candy

or just had it sitting on a table or step outside their door.

We did not let this deter us - Max marched right up to those

tables and grabbed some from the bowl.

 

 

Other people went all out with caution tape, lights, creepy music, and scarecrows...

which is perhaps why Max did not want to go up and talk to anyone? haha!

I let him have a piece of candy about half way through (it was a Kit Kat) and

then he seemed more convinced that trick or treating is pretty awesome!

 

 

We also trick or treated several times at our own house...you know...just to get the

hang of things :) And also, Grandpa might have snuck him some more candy!

 

 

We came back to our own house a little after seven.

Auntie Stacy was there helping Grandpa hand out candy.

Max was quick to undress from his costume and then picked

out a Smartie (yes, they still make those) to eat! Every time the

 door bell rang, he would run to the door to help pass out candy.

He really, really liked helping (probably more than trick or treating)!

He came around to sharing his candy with everyone...

and even though I was nervous

that all the sugar and hype would mean

a terrible bedtime - he went right to sleep!

I guess that little tiger was tired :) All roared out.

 

Another great Halloween in the books!

xxOO

Max, Mama, and Papa - October Edition 2015

October flew by with trips to the pumpkin patch, apple picking,

festivals, weekend play dates with friends, and of course, vacation.

Even still, I'm glad Ipaused to capture some of the tidbits of our

lives around the Haucks nest in the month of October.

 

Here is what Mama, Max (29 months), and Papa were into during October 2015.

(From left to right - Papa, Max, and Mama)

 

CARRYING:// pocket knife, pumpkin bucket for treats, and clutch

*Rob mainly uses this knife for work related things

**My clutch is from Stella and Dot, and I've used it every day since February. I

find it so helpful to keep all my stuff in one little bag that can easily fit

into our backpack or my work bag.

DRINKING:// Elevator Brewery IPA, Milk, Eppa Sangria

*The sangria is SO, SO good - though it lacks the tasty boozey fruit.

EATING:// bbq lays potato chips, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and mini Ice cream cones

*The first time we let Max have the cereal, he ate THREE bowls full.

**I love everything in miniature - but in particular these cones from

Trader Joes seriously hit the spot.  Just a tiny bit of chocolate and ice cream.

LOVING:// leftover Halloween candy, safety scissors, and new I-phone 6

*Rob bought three bags of Halloween candy and basically refuse to give

out more than one piece at a time (I think this is so he can guarantee himself

some left overs).

*Max loves to cut anything and everything with his scissors - no paper is safe around here!

*Mama got a new iPhone with 64 gigs of storage!!  Hooray!

READING:// The Gate Thief/ Hooray for Hats and The Queen's Hat, Delancey

*We foolishly brought no books on vacation with us, but Max requests them

every night.  Thank goodness Stacy brought him the Queen's Hat book

from her trip to London.  We read that book probably 55 times. Max has every

page memorized and loves to shout "Big Ben!"

WATCHING:// Supernatural, Magic School Bus, and Bloodline

*Rob is still working his way through Supernatural

*Max loves Miss Frizzle (and so do I!)

*Bloodline was recommended by people at work - and it

did not disappoint - watched the first (and only) season super quick!

WEARING:// old belt, skeleton jammies, and my Stella and Dot necklace

*This belt has seen better days - Rob needs a new one pretty badly

*We affectionately call these jammies "bone jams" and they glow in the dark!

*This dainty necklace (also by Stella and Dot) is perfect for every day wear!

WORKING ON:// winterizing the yard and deck, coloring, and keeping away wrinkles

*Max has recently become curious about writing letters and people's names...as

well as drawing funny little faces on things.

*I bit the bullet and purchased the Rodan and Fields eye cream that

everyone was raving about - goodbye fine lines and wrinkles..hello youthful looking mama!

 

October, you were a seriously awesome month!

xoxo

Pumpkin Carving 2015

When I got home from work on Tuesday, Max

declared that he wanted to "carve pumpkins like Miss Jessi".

We had seen them on her porch that morning when I dropped him off.

So, we figured it was as good a night as any!

  Sidenote:  we almost didn't carve pumpkins as Max refused to

eat the majority of his dinner...but we reconciled at the last minute.

Anyway - it was a pretty anti climatic affair as we just threw down

some garbage bags and picked out two (of the ten pumpkins) currently

occupying our front yard.

 

 

Initially I thought Max would be super into carving

 the pumpkins or at least scooping out the goop from the inside.

However, once Papa Rob made the first cut and Max

could actually see the guts - he declared it "yucky"...

which left Mama to do most of the clear out.

 

When it became clear he had no interest in carving,

we set him up with his own pumpkin to paint.

And that, he was TOTALLY into.

He went right over to the cabinet where we keep the

art supplies and got two brushes.

Then, I produced some paint and he requested

the colors you see on the plate above and

he went to town. His fine motor skills have improved

quite a bit over last year.  He was able to hold the paintbrush

and make definitive strokes.  And, he didn't mix all the colors

right away like last year.  I mean, eventually this happened

in some spots...but overall it's not muddy brown. He was

very eager to have me turn the pumpkin too - so he could

paint all sides of it.  At the last minute, he decided to add

a "smiley face", which just melted me.

 

As for our family pumpkin, once it was gutted - I drew

on a simple design (reminiscent of my favorite heart eye emoji).

Papa Rob carved it quickly and easily

and then we set our finished products out on the porch!

Ta da! 

 

As you know, I just love family traditions.

It was awesome to see Max get totally into pumpkin

painting and then be so proud of his finished design.

Makes me super excited for all the upcoming holidays!

xoxo

Captiva 2015

Edited to add:  Blogger says this is my 250th post! Wow! Apparently I have

a lot to say?  Thanks for hanging around with the Haucks for the last three years ...

and don't worry, we've got more adventures to come! :)

 

It's been super quiet around the nest for a bit and that's mostly because

we flew down to Florida for a week!  If you've been reading this blog

for any length of time - you will know that we Haucks love Sanibel/Captiva Island. 

(In fact, if you check the archives, you will see that I've blogged about it three other times!)

This year we got smart and decided to plan our trip in the month of October.

(Last year we went in August and it was basically like walking on the 

face of the sun every time we went out the door). 

The flight down was pretty uneventful (though very, very early).

Max watched the i-Pad and Rob and I took turn snoozing. 

Upon landing we had to kill some time before being able to check

into our house, so you know we went straight to the outlets

and then ate lunch at our favorite island bar - the Lazy Flamingo. 

Max was obsessed with throwing rocks in their waterfall out front

and spending all our quarters in the mini vending machines. 

In fact he only agreed to the above picture because 

I let him throw "just one more rock" in the water. 

Finally at 4:00 (which seems like an eternity when you've 

actually been on the island since 11) - we arrived at our 

rental house mansion for the week! It was called the White Pelican. 

                                      

From the minute we set foot in the house and changed into 

our swim suits, we spent a great deal of our time at the beach. 

The beach was just feet from our back door. 

Max was loving the "stepping stones" which were in the shape

of sand dollars.  At the end of the sand dollar trail, he would 

usually request to be picked up and carried the rest of the way. 

And because he's pretty irresistible, we usually obliged. 

We would usually spend some time at the beach in the morning.  

This would look like one person carrying Max, and the other person 

struggling to carry all the beach toys, towels, chairs etc. in a laundry basket. 

The beach was pretty fantastic.  You could usually look

out and spot dolphins.  And you couldn't walk a foot without

running into shells. The shells were my favorite. The sand was Max's 

favorite. I couldn't believe it, but he let us bury him in the sand up to his neck!  

We also had obstacle courses in the sand...threw the frisbee...

tossed a ball into the waves and chased it down the beach...

and had numerous races (because Max loves to say, 

ready, set, go!) 

We were also conned into building many, many sand castles. 

However the sand castles never really made it to their 

full potential because Max loved to squash them with his

bootie.  He would just walk from pillar to pillar and sit right

on top. What a silly boy! 

As we drove over the bridge to get on the island, Max

immediately noticed people sailing kites.  So, we decided

to purchase a small kite in the shape of an airplane. 

I kind of forgot about it until one afternoon when we 

were trying to coax Max down to the beach after his nap. 

I mentioned the kite and he was all about it. 

The only problem was - it wasn't super windy this particular 

afternoon, so the kite didn't go too high. 

But, it was still fun to see Papa Rob work his flying muscles!

Sanibel is known for it's shells but the beaches are also 

home to some pretty neat birds too!  Nearly every

time we walked, we would see Great Blue Herons

and flocks of gulls and terns.  The White Ibis 

are a little more elusive, but we managed to spot them 

several times too. You can always see osprey and pelican

overhead ...and dolphins are commonly sighted too!

Every afternoon when Max went down for his nap, my mom, Stacy, 

and I would hit the beach. As much as I would have loved to stay back
and kick my feet up - I couldn't let those gals get ahead of me on the
fit bit competition. But more than that - I really do love to look for shells.
I started the week looking for coquinas (those pictured above).  The
shore birds open them with their beaks and leave them on the beach.
They come in all colors and I couldn't help but pick them all up!
Mid week when my eyes were sore from picking up the tiny shells,
I turned my focus to shells I could potentially string on a garland.
I'm also always looking for beach glass....though down there it's
hard to come by.
 

 

Max would wake up pretty reliable around 6:30 or

if we were lucky - 7:00 - so some mornings I would

put him in the Ergo and carry him on my back down the beach.

The first morning he ate a chocolate donut and then

wanted down to chase the waves with Auntie Stacy.

Other mornings he just wanted to go build sand castles...

And still yet a different morning - he was content

to swing and climb all over the Adirondack chairs on

the beach. Time at the beach with Max is always fun :)

Another great thing about the beach (that we'd never seen

until this year) was Joey's ice cream boat.  Joey

rides up and down the beach selling ice cream, pop, water,

and other treats from the back of his boat. It's kind all kinds of

awesome. The first day we didn't have any cash.

The second day, I ran all the way to the house to grab some

and by the time I got back, he had pulled away. Womp, womp.

But, he must have seen my completely deflated spirit

(or grandmim waving him over again) -so he pulled

up further down the beach and we finally got delicious ice cream!

It was melting quick - so we gobbled it up

and went back the next day for more!

 



When we tired of the beach (or it got to hot!) - we headed back

to the pool. You may remember last year, we purchased

a turtle floatie.  This year we decided to add a chameleon and

a lobster to the mix!  These animals provided numerous

amounts of silly entertainment for us. Nearly every time

we tried to get on them - someone would roll off causing

hysterical laughter from all watching on the sides.

We did lots of water races, jumps off the side,

hand sand contests, and inner tube floating.

 



 

The other really cool little feature of the pool was

the built in cocktail/lunch/party table!  Max first used

this little table to jump off of, then he drove his plastic

toys off the side, and on the last day he started to play

"bootie shop" (beauty shop) - complete with flinging two buckets

over his shoulder and declaring he was "going to work".

He loved dumping buckets of water on his grandparents

heads and mixing potions to use as shampoos and gel.

 

It's safe to say we all enjoyed the pool....and really

just the time to relax. Also, admittedly, it was nice

to have extra hands around to entertain our

energetic toddler. Mims, Gramps, and Titi were

quick to jump in with fun new games or ways

to distract him when a melt down was looming...

for which we are ever so grateful.

 

 

We look forward to this vacation every year.

It's been so cool to see Max's progression of confidence

at the beach and the pool over our last three visits.

He went from barely wanting to put his toes in the

sand to throwing his whole body down in it (repeatedly)

this year.  As I've mentioned in previous travel posts -

it's not always easy traveling with a toddler (who still sleeps

in a crib, loves his schedule, and can't sit for too long at dinner)

but in the end being with family trumps everything else.

We are grateful for my 93 year grandpa for continuing to

make this trip a priority and hope to come back again (and soon)!

Loving Where You Live

Like most everyone, I have a lot of insecurities. Rob would 

probably be the first to tell you that one of my biggest 

insecurities is our house (which he is also quick to point 

out is completely unfounded).  But, I am one of those people

who tends to over analyze every.little.thing. 

I also can't help but compare (which is also not productive). 

I'm quick to get down on myself about the size of our house. 

The number of bedrooms.  The number of bathrooms. 

The lack of seating when it's more than just us. And on and on. 

Please tell me I'm not alone in this? 

(our house just about a month after we moved in - 

the huge bush blocking the front door is 

no longer there - thank god). 

But, recently a scrapbooker I follow on Instagram

started teaching a class called "Loving Where you Live". 

While, I'm not enrolled in the class or participating 

in any of the challenges... I started to think about how if I could 

just change my attitude a little bit, things would be so much better. 

(I mean an attitude change in general is probably a good idea when

faced with any form of negativity - house or otherwise). 

So, I decided to stop whining and be really grateful for this

little house of ours and all it's memories.  

(a picture of me at our first family holiday gathering - 

Easter 2010 at our house) 

This house has hosted lots of parties (Rob's 30th surprise

party, baby showers, jewelry parties, and Max's birthdays to name a few), and 

countless holiday gatherings.  It has just enough room for our 

immediate family and overflow space in the kitchen should we 

choose to invite more. (side note: getting the kitchen island with some of our 

wedding money was a great life choice). 

We welcomed our first pet (as a couple) into this home. 

Miss Pecan Sandy (our cat) still lives with us - and even 

though she does not get nearly the same amount of love

and attention as pre Max - it was one of the bigger decisions 

Rob and I decided to make together. 

We got engaged in this house. Rob completely surprised

me the Friday before I was running the Columbus half marathon

and was waiting at the end of our front hallway with a ring

and all of my other favorite things (see above: skittles, cupcakes, and 

champagne). 

We've had the ability/time/money etc. to take on countless

home improvement projects.  The first major project

was completely demolishing our old deck and building

a new one.  It took Rob way longer than we thought it would

(don't all home projects end up this way??) - but 

it was completely worth it. I grew up with parents 

who hired that kind of stuff out....so it's been an interesting

process combining our two view points on home improvement. 

We've painted every.single.room.in.our.house.

We painted the master bedroom the summer

after we got married on one of the hottest days of the summer.

I wanted to kill Rob because painting is not even a little bit fun. 

But - thank goodness for sisters who bring frosties from Wendy's. 

Having a little house means the painting projects get done pretty quick too!

Since painting we've also completely ripped out the former

plastic brown trim and terrible doors and replaced every single one. 

We got new appliances.  Just this summer we replaced the horrible

sliding door with a brand new one.  We got a whole new 

HVAC system about three years ago.  And we decorated a nursery!

We've carved pumpkins here. Dyed eggs here.  Put up

Christmas trees and opened presents.  We've had fights here. 

We've said I love you's here. We've planned trips here. 

We've rearranged (and rearranged) here. But perhaps

one of the most important things we've done here - 

is bring our son home. 

This is the only house he knows.
He took one of his first baths in our family room.
He started crawling right across our family room floor.
He took his first steps in our master bedroom.
We've watched his art work slowly fill up the walls of our
kitchen. And his sippy cups and plates have their
own special spot under our island.
 

I know he doesn't think, "man I wish my parents

would replace all the windows and spring for the cement driveway". 

So, when I get down on myself for not having a bigger,

more glamorous house - I will remind myself that,

"Small homes grow tight families".

 

And I will be grateful for every minute we spend

together in this house....and all the memories we're making.

xoxo