Rainy Halloween with Friends 2015

So...remember last year's costume drama?

This year he was down with being a firefighter, but still wasn't really interested in putting the costume ON. Any time anyone asked what he was going to be for Halloween, he promptly replied "a firefighter." But the execution...wasn't quite there. 

In the end, the World's Most Literal Child just needed it to actually be Halloween. We packed it in a bag, took it to Georgia's house on Halloween night, and he sat down and put it on. 

Is he proud, or what?

Also, she was a fabulous mermaid.

He kept sticking his belly out like this when I said "show me your costume!"

So this is what you get.

These boots were a last-minute impulse buy on Amazon. I thought they might sweeten the deal a bit.

At present, he finds adult decrees that Halloween is over to be arbitrary. He has worn the boots all day every day since Halloween. I'm talking to school, out to eat, to nap, with jammies...you name it. 

This Tuesday also happened to be picture day at school, so they may be professionally captured for posterity. I drew the line at wearing the suspenders to school, but he is wearing a fire truck t-shirt in the picture for sure. Don't judge--that was the compromise arrived at after complex negotiations. Parenting!

Easter (Week) 2015

On Wednesday, we dyed eggs with Brooks

(no photos from the process as we were just trying to manage toddlers + dye + eggs...)

They preferred very vibrant hues. Or, more accurately, dropping the eggs in and going to play for a long time while "checking" them intermittently.

On Thursday, we visited the bunnies at Phillips.

He had a big Easter morning at home with his basket (lots of Cars cars), and then we had brunch.

(it's hard to see, but Waiter Mater has a tray of martinis he's bringing you...totally not child appropriate perhaps, and I don't understand why, but I thought it was too funny to pass up)

Sweet Momo had gotten up early and hidden some eggs in the yard...he picked up on the concept pretty quickly!

Happiest Easter to those celebrating, and a beautiful spring to all. 

xo

Second Birthday: Born to be Wild

We had a few friends (baby, toddler, and adult) over to my parents' house last Sunday to celebrate Mr. C with a special

SAFARI!

(basically I chose a theme several months ago and was trying to choose something that was not so fleeting that he'd be over it by the time his actual birthday rolled around...)

Everyone had a big ol' time, so I wanted to share a few shots. Thanks to Yaya for manning the camera so I could have my hands free to chase toddlers and eat kid food.

Please note that I cheated--Sara hosted a (fabulous) fundraiser for the CF Foundation the previous night, so I got to piggyback on all her resources. Setup, furniture, flowers, and anything good looking was all her.

(All sources are at the bottom of this email because this furniture is AMAZING for events that do not involve 2 year olds)

Driving around, hoping to see some wildlife

They don't even MAKE those Power Wheels safari jeeps anymore...what is this world coming to?!

If you're not familiar with a Lion's Tail, I recommend getting you some. 

It's sort of like a more wintry Moscow Mule: bourbon, spice, lime...

Lion's Tail recipe here

Sweet and special to be able to re-purpose this fun tassel banner (??) that Grace Ann had at the adorable baby shower in honor of Le Petit Prince two years ago!

Boardmaker for the win...I didn't know if kiddos would actually be engaged in the animal search, but they LOVED it.

And C kept calling the binoculars his "knockers," so that made it all worth it.

Much more in to the cake portion of the program this year

invitations + swag * nico and lala / safari gear * Amazon / balloons + napkins * Party City / cake + cookies * Dulce / furniture * Please Be Seated / child-size furniture * Amazon / 6" celebration candles * Everyday Occasions / birthdate pillow * Harpeth Gallery

Halloween 2014

If you've been following along, you know that the original costume option was a no-go.

We came up with a replacement costume, but I kept the offending wee ooo wee ooo. I was putting it our bag as a backup costume for Brooks, who decided this week that he wanted to be anything BUT a dragon.

On a whim, I decided to offer the coat to C. Lo and behold...

But it didn't last long.

We'd been invited over to play and eat dinner with Georgia and Brooks before heading out into the candy-fueled wilderness. There's this great little area by "Jo-ja howse" where they close off the streets to cars and everyone just runs amok.

We plunked jammed the kids in our Tailgate Wagon and headed out.

please note that it was impossible to get a photo in which all 3 were still and looking at the camera

the stick makes it a costume

They stayed in the wagon for a while, and we were able to stick to houses where we could basically pull them right up and do a drive-thru candy grab. But then they figured out that they could get out and walk, and our pace slowed waaaayyyy down. 

Mr. C sort of got the candy thing, but was a little weirded out by going up to people's doors (I get it, kid. This is a weird holiday). And some of the houses were a little scary for the wee ones. His main trick-or-treating approach consisted of going into people's yards and checking out their decorations ("Yights!")

He was also pretty wowed by the police cars blocking off the streets and the "police bikes" riding around, so all in all I think it hit most of his interests. 

While we saw many, many firefighters, there was only ONE hockey guy.

Except for that big kid dressed as Shea Weber, but that was a cool costume. 

Something to which he can aspire.

Happy Halloween from the whole team!

xo