Reason # 2,436,931...

...as to why I L.O.V.E. my neighbors...

because I can call each of them up on a Monday and put together a

'Pizza Eating/Caramel Apple Making/Pumpkin Carving' Party for Tuesday night.

Honestly one of the more fun nights that we have had in a while.

(we laugh so hard with this group of friends...and we are brutal {but in a fun way})

{But seriously, nothing is off limits.}

I'll get to the Caramel Apple Making in another blog post...cause it was an even all in itself...and I'll have a recipe to share as to making your very own caramel sauce.

Let's just say it's sinful and oh so DELICIOUS!

And I think that I'll go ahead and skip over the pizza eating part because let's face it...

once you've seen one starving adult devouring a slice of ooey gooey pizza...

you've seen 'em all.

{...you're welcome.}

OK...so on to the pumpkin carving.

Here is the before picture...

...no faces yet,

...no creativity yet,

...just a bunch of adults trying desperately to cut the tops of their pumpkins off.

The least fun part of the process...{in my opinion}.

In fact Had got so bored with this 'step' that she decided to take a phone break.

"Thanks Lacie for being such a trooper and letting her use yours."

Had hasn't gotten her own phone just yet...but I'm sure that in the blink of an eye, she'll have one soon enough.

A decided that she was not a fan of the smell of her pumpkin's insides.

I had not meant to look so evil in this picture...in fact in the first picture, I had hid my weapon, but Bri (the photog of this picture) thought it was much funnier with it.
Have I ever mentioned that this kid cracks me like no other!!
Here she is smiling like a...'pirate? Popeye?
Actually, I'm not really sure what she was doing...
...must've just been being Had.

Oh and yes, that is a knife in my 2 1/2 years olds hand.
And her she is eagerly showing it to you.
The joys of being 2nd born...less restrictions.
...you should see her with her shot-gun!?!
JUST KIDDING!!
that'll be her 3rd birthday present.
(I don't know why my friend won't let me babysit?!?)

A proudly displaying her collection of pumpkin seeds.

She is such a first born...

that most of her effort of the night went into collecting as many seeds as possible.
{OMGoodness...what happened to her hair?}

UH OH...LOOK OUT...

BRI HAS POWER TOOLS!!!

A drill...really?

What is she be doing?

Our beloved neighbors, Teheresa and her daughter, Z.

They were so smart that Teheresa cleaned out her pumpkin before she came over.

Back to Bri and her drill...

Isn't that cute?

Just a pumpkin full of polka-dots!

Sure to be adorable on their front porch greeting 'Trick-Or-Treaters' on Sunday.

A-Bert doing a meticulous job of cutting off the perfect top...

and in the background, Phil going back for another piece of pizza.

Hey man...knock yourself out!

The more you eat tonight...

...the less I'll eat tomorrow once everyone else is at work.

Had helping me to sh-coop out some of our pumpkin guts...

and with 'Had-itude!'

...see what I just did there?

{I just made that up...but it's so fitting for this child-o-mine!}

A anxiously waiting for Jas to finish socializing and 'gutting' hers so that she could draw the face on.

{Insert Overly-Caffeinated Mom}

OH...JUST LOOK AT OUR BEAUTIFUL NEIGHBORS!!

"Hey A-Bert...is that an official-approved UPS hat? And what color are your socks, Mister?"

Had feeling left out that she didn't make it in the prior picture.

My honey and his little lady!

Here she goes again...

...showing me some 'Had-itude.'

Silly little clown!
...well, I have always called her my 'little-pumpkin-head.'
Jas and Phil being overly ambitious and trying to create a masterpiece.

(They were feeling a little insecure with their previous pumpkin creations as soon as they saw

A-Bert and Lacie's 'Work-of-Arts.'

Presenting A's one-of-a-kind masterpiece's.

{...it's a little like those pictures at the mall that you stand back to look at in order to find the hidden picture-

I'm not a very nice mom, am I?}
But on a positive note,

I think it's beautiful and I can see it's face.

Sweet little girl even gave her dimples.

Yep, it's a girl...I just asked her.

These are Teheresa and Z's pumpkins.

They're good aren't they?

...and A-Bert's and Lacie's incredible creations.

They really made us step up our game.

{Left to Right} Bri's, A's and Phil and Jas' (although, I'm pretty sure Jas simply provided moral support for Phil, while Phil did all the work.

...and one last shot to round off the night of festivities.

<>

...There you have it...

...A night of wonderful friends, delicious food, more laughs than my abs could handle, and more memories for me to bank in my mind for later.

...and reason #2,436, as to why I love my neighborhood.

I'm already looking forward to next year's party.

P.S. I'll blog caramel apples soon...I promise!