Max's Mickey Mouse Second Birthday Party--Part 2

Paw and Randy put together another awesome hayride for Max's birthday party.

Paul was the master of ceremonies, leading us through the various clues and adventures to get to Max's presents.

Ready to roll!

Note the sign for the "seniors adults only" trailer ... Steamboat Willy's Hayride, complete with old-timey Mickey cartoon.  

First up, Toodles (played by Gavin, Randy's grandson) with the Mousekatool sign (full of "tools" or clues to help us along our way, most importantly a puzzle that we had to put together piece by piece as we travelled along the hayride).

Max holds onto the Mickey puzzle as we head out to search for pieces.

Oh no -- it's Prospector Pete!  (note the puzzle piece attached to his hat band)

Shrek had a puzzle piece, too.

Same for Iron Man.

Making s'mores at the campfire at the bottom of the property.

Deeeelicious!

Scarlett, Max, and Jordan spotted a tiny butterfly on a log (ok, so maybe it was a moth, but butterfly sounds more charming so let's go with that).

Busting out some sweet dance moves at the bonfire.

When we finally gathered up all the puzzle pieces we found along the way and put them all together, there was a surprise on the back -- a map with coordinates!  Luckily, Max and Scarlett's cousins are quite the outdoorsmen and were able to lead the way using the map (full disclosure:  they found an app on someone's phone (thank goodness, or we would have been out there wandering around in circles for days)).

Auntie Erin and three of the McGinnis cousins plot our next move.

Still searching with the whole gang in tow.

Paw explains the final Mousekatool, which led us to ...

... PRESENTS!

Once the hayride was finished, it was cupcake time!  Max was so ready to eat his Mickey cupcake that he blew out the candle before we even finished the first line of "Happy Birthday"!

Birthday cupcake photobomb.

Piñata time!  Max did a great job swinging.

Scarlett, too.

Cousin Jordan, however, decided that hitting Mickey Mouse with a stick just didn't feel right.  I get it, Jordan, I really do.

Lots of Seitzes.

Silly girls.

Do not be alarmed by the disproportionate number of Aggies in this photo.  (Thanks for the lone hook 'em horns, Cousin Jake.)

Cuddles with Grandma.

Presents!

A Texas-style face plant after a long, fun day.  Happy Birthday, Maxwell!!  Two is going to be an awesome year!

Max's Mickey Mouse Second Birthday Bash--Part 1

Max's favorite show is the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so that seemed like the perfect theme for his second birthday party.  We held the party down in New Braunfels at Max's Grandma and Paw's house (just like we did for Scarlett's Elmo-themed second birthday party).

The invitation:

It was a beautiful day after a morning of rain showers.  Here's Scarlett Minnie Mouse in her pajamas getting ready for the big day.

Helping Daddy stuff and hanging the piñata.

The house was decked out in Mickey decor.

Mickey cupcakes.

Hunting for acorns before the party.

Uncle Greg on balloon duty.

Mickey and Minnie shirts before ...

... and Mickey shirt after (thanks to, among other things, making "acorn soup" in the muddy birdbath and overzealous s'mores and cupcake eating).  I figure if the mark of a good two-year-old birthday party is the condition of the birthday boy's clothes after it's over, then Max's party was a rousing success.

Ready to party in his shirt and ears.  I mean, really ... could he be any cuter?

Sweet hugs.

And, as usual, the hugs take an overaggressive turn.  Hang in there, Max.

Family shot.

Cherry (my godmother) and Jim, who drove in from Kerrville for the festivities, and BB rocking the ears.

Kaysie and her family came in from Austin, aka my "sister in God's way."  Translation: my Godfather's daughter.  Since neither of us had sisters, we decided when we were little that this was a good title.

Group hug with Ashlyn (Kaysie's daughter).

Cuddles with Aunt Brenda (who came in with Uncle Frank from San Angelo) and Cousin Jordan (who came in with her Mommy Jeni and Daddy John from Ft. Worth).  What a lucky boy to have so many people travel from near and far to celebrate!

Max and the shirt after about 20 minutes of partying.

Next up ... the hayride!

Star Student

Scarlett was the "Star Student" a few weeks ago.  We made a poster all about Scarlett and her favorite things that she presented to her class.  We also made brownies to share with her classmates, and I went up to school one afternoon to read her book of choice to the kids -- "Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?"*

[*Answer:  Yes. They do all kinds of things like do chores, climb trees, play in the rain, etc.,  becuase (toddler life lesson alert) being a princess is about who you are on the inside (despite the fact that one of the little girls kept emphatically answering "NoOoOoO!" to the various questions about what princesses do).]

Here's Scarlett's poster.  In case it's too hard to read, it says: 

"I am 3 years old!  I live in Dallas.  This is me!  This is my family.  My friends are Merritt, Harper, Michael, Riley, and Bennitt [kids in her class].  I want to be a mommy when I grow up!  My favorite ... food -- mac & cheese, meat, and tomatoes; color -- yellow**; book -- princess books.  My pet is Winnie."

[**Really?  What happened to pink?  Scarlett explained, "Momma, I still like pink, it's just not my favorite color anymore."]

The Star Student posing with her poster on the way to school.

Some of the Star Student posters from previous weeks.  Future ambitions include "ninja" and "clown."    

Scarlett's class enjoying their brownies.  

Practicing Jingle Bells with Ms. Andrea for the upcoming Christmas performance, and enthusiastically ringing their bells.  (Note Scarlett's poster hanging proudly in the background.)

SMU Homecoming 2013

Here are some shots from the SMU Homecoming celebration on the Boulevard at the end of October.  We didn't make it to the game this year, but had fun walking around and enjoying the tailgating.

 Posing in front of Chris's dorm.

 Cool pony car.

(For the record, Scarlett says she wants to go to UT--"where Mommy went to college."  She volunteered Max to go to SMU, so it looks like we've got all of our bases covered.)

November 17, 2013 -- "I'm TWO!"

Max is TWO!  He weighs 30 pounds, and I can't remember how tall he was at his recent appointment, but based on his height, Dr. Curry predicts that he'll be 6 ft. 1 in. when he's full grown (just like his Daddy).  His hair is getting darker, especially after his last haircut that trimmed off all of his summer blond.  He says too many words to list, and speaks in (mostly) complete sentences.  Some recent examples:

"Mommy, don't go upstairs ANYMORE!" (when I kept going up and down the stairs instead of sitting with him to watch a show)
"Don't go yet Mommy, hold hands!"  (when I try to sneak out of his room at night)
"Cats make me sneeze."  (after sneezing, with no cat in sight; his Daddy is successfully brainwashing him, but meanwhile Scarlett is on a "let's get a cat" campaign)

He loves to close things -- doors (in particular the bathroom door on Scarlett, leaving her sitting in the dark), cabinets, drawers, the dishwasher, gates, car doors, you name it.  And he is none too pleased if you do it before he has a chance to: "No, MAXWELL DO IT!"  We spend a lot of time these days re-opening said doors, gates, etc. so he can do it himself.  He then proudly announces his accomplishment:  "I DID IT!"  He loves to help in the kitchen pouring drinks (messy), putting waffles in the toaster (fire hazard), and stirring his chocolate milk (super messy), but good luck telling him no.  Speaking of food, he can be a picky eater, and he's not much of a carnivore.  He'd eat nothing but peanut butter sandwiches and fruit if we'd let him.  And he has a sweet tooth like you wouldn't believe.  Give that kid some chocolate, a lollipop, or a cupcake and you've got a friend for life.  He also loves to feed Winnie, and occasionally dumps her food and/or water all over the floor for fun.  His favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but he also likes to watch Sofia the First (a Scarlett favorite as well) and I think we've watched the original Peter Pan animated movie five hundred times in the last few months.  He loves to go outside and hunt for rocks or make piles of leaves or seed pods from the big magnolia trees in the front yard.  Modes of transportation other than cars -- trains, planes, buses, bikes, "big trucks", tractors, construction equipment -- are fascinating to him and each and every one is pointed out with great excitement and must be acknowledged by everyone in his presence.  "Mommy, big truck!  BIG truck!  BIG TRUUUCK!!!"  

Max is super affectionate and gives lots of hugs (especially sneak-up-from-behind hugs when you are crouched down on the ground or sitting on the floor) and kisses (I recently fell and he was quick to come and check on me -- "Mama ok?" -- and kiss my boo-boo).  He wants me to carry him all the time ("Mama, pick me up!"), which is sweet, but he's such a chunk ("Too heavy, Mama?").  But the absolute sweetest of all is his regular proclamations of love ... "Luff you, Mama" or "I love you, too" (even when you haven't already said I love you).

He and Scarlett love each other and play well together for the most part, but they can also drive each other crazy.  She pushes and pulls and wrestles with him (which he does not like), and he retaliates by messing with her things (which she really does not like).  Regardless, he always wants her around, and is eager to wake her up in the morning and always gives her a big hug and kiss before bedtime.  Whenever you ask him if he wants to do something or go somewhere, he confirms that we are all going as well before he agrees.  "Max, do you want to go to the park today?" is almost always answered with, "Scarlett, too?  Mommy, too?  Daddy, too?"

Here are some photos of our sweet, handsome, smart big boy on his second birthday.

Hugs from big sister.

Posing with his umbrella from BB while his new dinosaurs consider attacking the pumpkins.

Happy birthday, Maxwell!