It will pay for itself!

Working from home is great. On a conference call with a senior executive at a major company. Furious knocking at the door. I hit mute: "yes Finn"? He holds up a credit card entry screen at a website he has pulled up on an iPad, requesting that I complete his purchase. He has found a 1965 Aliss Chalmers front loader at an online dealership, for only $7,900, and was attempting to complete the purchase...as a birthday gift...for my father. "Finn, how are we supposed to pay for this?" [in his best 50 year old man voice] "uhhhh, well, when papa and I get this it will pay for itself in a month!"

Fishing!

Tess has inherited the Halton fishing gene it seems. Today she caught three bluegills and one bass (pictured with her proudly holding it up). Speaking of Haltons and fishing: Happy Birthday Uncle Chuck!

Stepping out...

...with attitude

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.