Christmas Pageant

In the pageant this year Finn played Solomon while Tess, much to her delight, was a horse.

Mommy is out for the evening. She went to the cinema to see a movie with a friend. She really, really deserved a night out. Daddy can take care of bedtime. Daddy is a pro. Totally.

After bath-time there was a dance party with Little Richard, Wilson Pickett, Pogues, Men Without Hats (we have diverse taste) and Soft Cell . Everyone has a complete blast. Daddy is a pro. Totally.

To calm everyone down before bedtime we start a few projects. Finn begins creating an innovative Lego leaf blower and Tess begins cutting out construction paper shapes for a princess mural. Everything is going perfect. Daddy is a total, total pro and he makes it all look so effortless. Mommy would be envious of his casual command of the situation.

"I cut my hair!"

Important Meeting

On what may well turn out to be the final day in 2014 that is warm enough to eat outdoors, Daddy decided to have a lunch meeting with one of his two biggest accounts.

Rock & Roll

Went to the costume store yesterday with kids to get some Halloween supplies. Finn found a top hat and requested it so that he could dress up like his favorite band when he practices guitar.

Update from Daddy: Sun

We went to the park the other day and Finn had his picture taken in front of a cool new mural. 

Later, while we were out on the playground, Finn took his hat off and handed it to me before he climbed a slide despite the intense sun. I adjusted it and put it on myself. Five minutes later he came running back and asked for his hat again. As I took it off he said, quite sweetly and sincerely, "sorry about your bald head."

Update from Daddy: Story Time

Uncle Jim mesmerizes a new generation of Halton descendants with his rich and resonant storytelling voice. If I had closed my eyes and only listened, it would have felt just like 1978.

Labor Day

What’s Daddy’s secret to landing the big ones?  He works with the best net man in the business.

Happy Birthday to Granddad!!

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated two of the four Barber family August birthdays last night: Finn & Papa's. The dinner menu was basically Daddy's perfect meal with excellently prepared steak, shrimp and Mangialardo's garlic pizza.

Smile

First baby tooth to fall out!

Afternoon at the Farm

We had a super great time visiting my cousin Simon and family at his farm today. Bonus that Aunt Judy was there too!! She took the good photos...

SIX!

We celebrated Finn's birthday in Nebraska with Granddad and Granny. It was a beautiful day capped off with pizza and a DQ ice cream cake. Happy Birthday, dear sweet Finn!! We love you!

Back in the day.

Delicious cake!

Riding the Gator, which Finn has almost outgrown...

Mecca

We made it to the CAT visitor center in Peoria. We have a very happy almost six year old.

Hotel

We stayed in South Bend last night. Our room faced a river on which there was a super loud party going on. The kids tried to sleep in the "luxurious" rollaway but Tess have up when the fireworks started and made the loud party totally worth suffering through.

Road trip '14

We made it to South Bend, Indiana. This is the park downtown, which is pretty fitting and perfect for two stir crazy kiddos!

Next stop, Peoria.

What is So Funny?

Cracking themselves up yesterday before stepping out to Clubfest 2014.

A Fun Saturday Morning

Finn, Tess and I went to stay at Papa and Mimi's house last night so that Nico could have a girl's night out with Aunt Sara who is visiting us (apparently their evening involved karaoke and a commandeered taxi ). The kids started the night off sleeping separately but somehow it turned into both of them sleeping with me. Mimi made breakfast and we did a little fishing followed by a trip up to the top of the hill with Papa to pick blueberries for a an hour or so. Uncle Jeff has a bumper crop on his hands this year! We managed to get quite a haul despite the fact that Tess ate more than she put into the buckets.

Fishing

We went fishing at Papa & Mimi's place yesterday with Uncle Jim. Daddy fondly remembers fishing with Uncle Jim when he was Finn'a age. Collectively we landed four respectable bass (of which Jim caught three) that we released. Tess tried her hand at fishing for the very first time. All in all it was a great afternoon.

Dr. Finn

Playing animal hospital. The puppy has pink eye. For some reason the doctor prescribes surgery involving a power drill.

Neck Tie

Finn insisted on wearing a tie to graduation. Unfortunately this demand came five minutes before we left the house and he did not own one at the time. One snip of the scissors later and Finn now owns his own, slightly comically over-sized, tie. Meanwhile Daddy now has one less tie in his closet.

Squid Head

Thank you Finn & Tess, because nothing says happy early Father's Day like a squid-head helmet with flashing LED tentacles.

Pigtails

Nana took Finn & Tess to the Colonial Days parade in Painted Post today. Tess insisted on wearing pigtails.  

Dad's Night

At school for the annual Dad's Night on Thursday. Tess decided that, as it was such a formal event, she would wear gloves.

Selfies

Tess & I decided to finally experiment with selfies while out on a walk today.

Soccer!

Finn at Soccer yesterday having a blast. One question: are they still supposed to be teaching kids to use their heads to hit the balls? I recall reading that was frowned on these days.

New Uniform

Tess is so proud of her perfectly-fitting soccer t-shirt. 

Last day of dance class for this session. Having a blast dancing with Caroline.

First day of the season. Finn shamelessly playing up to the cameras in an attempt to secure an endorsement.

She looks so very adorable riding towards Daddy in this photo that documents the moment before my shins were impacted by rubber and steel.

Lego Set

Finn is obsessed with Legos and is always wanting to get a new set to make some type of construction equipment. Today he presented me with a set of his own creation. While rooting around in my office he found a Lego inspired poster for a SMOB show in 1999 that was designed by Christian Patterson. In that deep old man voice of his when he channels Papa he said "I didn't know your band did Legos". He asked if he could have it and I said sure (I have a box full of them). Today he presented me with his freshly created "set" complete with a Lego logo on the side of the box (autographed by the artist), his sad robot logo which he puts on many of his creations and the set itself with assembly instructions included.

Last night we had dinner at the club to enjoy a children's book night. As you can see, our children had very different reactions to grown adults dressed in costumes.

Fun in the Sun(ish)

It's raining this morning so we are heading to the aquarium. Having lots of fun! (This was yesterday.)

Airlie Gardens

Having a great spring break in NC!

Breakfast

Finn was being awfully quiet this morning, and when I came down after showering he had made a full breakfast for himself and Tess--buttered toast and Cheerios with berries (and, I'm guessing, several tablespoons of agave syrup.) I feel like he's about ready for college as soon as he can separate whites from darks.

Arrrrrrrrr!

Finn and I attended a pirate themed party this afternoon.

Pigtails

Pigtails always make Daddy melt... 

Shamrock Moving Co.

Mimi appliquéd sweatshirts for Finn & Tess to wear to school on St. Patrick's Day. Ms. Tess' features a capital T with a shamrock (somewhat visible in the background of this breakfast shot) while Finn's, naturally, has a large truck moving a shamrock.

The calendar says March...

So it must be almost spring right??