Monday, October 21, 2013

Tallulah's dedication day

Tallulah had her Mormon baby blessing in South Carolina two summers ago, but when we started attending the Unitarian Church here, we wanted to do their version of "totally not a Christening" which in Unitarian terms is called a "Child Dedication." You can read a little bit more about it here. We had something of a debate about whether Atticus should participate too, but we felt he was a little old and might have misbehaved. We should have realized that Lulah would be at a prime age for acting up at the wrong times, while Atticus can at least be bribed. So, Atticus ended up being fairly sweet in participating, and sad that he didn't get a nice blanket. And Lulah, grumpy from getting done being sick, just wanted to explore the stage behind us. We still enjoyed it though, and it was so nice to have so many of our friends there.

Photos:

Atticus gets ready by coming his hair:




Lulah prepares by putting a dirty rag on her face while riding her bike:





Let me back in!




Look at all those other well-behaved children. Sorry for disrupting guys.




Oh well, at least we've got each other





Saturday, October 12, 2013

Our day (or how I'm totally owning this parenting thing)

Today was one of those days where you say to yourself: "THIS is why I had kids. This totally rocks. I'm awesome." I try to cram sweet activities in all weekend, and usually they are fun and we have a good time together. I think Tim has been getting a little sick of doing kids' stuff, because when I offered to go solo today he did not even hesitate. So, I packed up our trusty Maclaren stroller (that I cannot believe is still functioning after this summer!), my backpack, the mei tai and headed for the bus stop. Though our initial ride was a little rough, Tallulah cried during most of it, not sure why exactly but the bus was super crowded and I didn't want to take her out of the stroller, after that our entire day was smooth sailing. We rushed from the bus stop down to the Overture Center for "Kids at the Rotunda," a weekly artsy kids' show that we went to a handful of times last year. When I saw the performance this week at Dancin' Drum, I knew we had to go since Atticus is obsessed with both of these things. It did not disappoint. Atticus was in heaven. He screamed his responses to the questions and patted his lap and clapped and danced. Tallulah was a little less enthusiastic (his enthusiasm was hard to beat) but she clapped and danced along too. Guy was a little upset after he didn't get picked to go up and play with the first round of kids on the drums, but played a wooden block with pizzazz and was picked for the second round to play the juju drum. He had the widest smile across his face the whole time. Tallulah wanted to go up with him, so we took a stint playing shakers (not maracas?) but I didn't get any pictures of that because I was too busy making sure she didn't hit a kid on the head (ironically, she got whacked and started crying so we left the stage).



She reallllllly wanted this juice box.



After the Rotunda, we walked over the new Central Library's kids' section, where they were doing themed crafts to go along with the Rotunda performances. We made tambourines with paper plates and macaroni and a straw whistle thing, read lots of books, went to the potty three times, and checked out four books (a miracle! Atticus has about 60 and we narrowed it to 4 with little hassle). The newly-renovated library was light, airy, and had some sweet toys and these amazing this straw hutches for reading inside. I didn't get very many pictures there because we were doing a lot of running about, and I figured we'd be back many, many times.




When everyone started getting hungry we walked a block down to the Farmer's Market which was wrapping up for the day and spent $7 on a baguette, an eggplant, a giant sugar cookie and a few apples. We grabbed falafel for lunch which the kids initially chowed down on but then Atticus noticed the inside was green and remembered how he doesn't eat green stuff except broccoli (looking back I should've just said it was broccoli!) He had a blast running up and down the Capitol's lawn chasing birds and screaming at the top of his lungs.

We finished eating and meandered our way through the market over the children's museum a few blocks away. The kids spent their time in Africa Land, playing outside with the chickens, and holding cockroaches and meal worms. The rooftop is amazing, lots of gardens and a small stream even. The weather was glorious, perfect fall weather. Not a cloud in the sky, crisp and sunny.






I have decided all children's clothes should have Peter Pan collars. The end.



We left the children's museum with no fight and went to board the bus to FUS, the bus ride back was much better. I thought Tallulah would fall asleep but she just wanted to read books and charm the undergrad girls sitting next to us. We arrived 45 minutes early to the service (I wasn't sure when the bus was coming, and we happened to catch one right after we got to the stop) but the time went by fast on the gorgeous backyard playground attached to the church. After a relaxing service (the kids both love their classes and Tim and I get to sit together and hold hands) we stayed for the second Saturday potluck and devoured delicious organic/vegan/local casseroles and quiches and salads (thank you, upper-middle-class liberals who attend church with us!) We contributed homemade cookies because we always make a meal and there are never enough desserts (it's true, there were only three things today) but plenty of main courses. The day is coming to a close perfectly, Tallulah passed out on the way home, Atticus is drifting off to the new library books we brought home, and Tim and I have a date with Amelie when he is in bed.








Happy Saturday, everyone!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

The Guy's Birthday Days

UPDATE: Cait actually blogged about everything but the actual birthday party. My bad. Go ahead and skip down past Lulah eating ice cream if you are such a loyal follower that you remember every picture we ever posted.

Oh man, I can't believe we've neglected to blog about Atticus's birthday days, but we have. The days were very full, so I guess we've just been putting off pulling it all together. Here we go with mostly pictures.

Grandma Betsey sends presents:




Birthday at School:


Tower collapses

You are my minions!


The first failed "Happy Birthday" singing. He hated when anyone pointed out it was his birthday.





I love the pivoting motion here



Birthday Ice Cream Cones:










Birthday Party:

We won a silent auction at FUS from a woman wanting to throw a children's birthday party. Karen did an awesome job and the kids had so much fun. She's not a professional party thrower yet, but she should be.

Playing before everyone came

Some initial story reading


Maxie is about to get his head kicked off by Chico

The story. Guess whose kid resisted paying attention.


Tallulah wakes from her nap










Don't sing to me!

Grumpy cake.


Playing with presents: