I never get tired of watching my children sleep. Look at this little cherub! He loves to come into our bed early in the wee hours and fall back asleep...and wake up next to me. So sweet!
Last night we went to the Dar Williams concert, often an annual outing for us. Dar is one of my favorite singer-songwriters, and it's hard for me to pass up her concerts when she comes to Portland. Over the years, her audiences have changed and grown older, as she has mellowed a bit as a musician. Years ago, she had college student groupies who would dance in the aisles. Now the audience is much more sedate. We arrived at the Aladdin, expecting lines all the way around the block...yet we were toward the front of the line and snagged seats in the fifth row! We went to the concert with our concert-going buddies Dave and Christie...who are about 10 years younger than we are, but have very similar musical tastes and life philosophies!
Right before the encore, Dar mentioned that she and her husband had just adopted a baby from Ethiopia...and she had just arrived in a colossal move of bad planning. When one is a musician, and concerts have been planned for months in advance, one can't just cancel them when the baby one plans to adopt is ready much sooner than expected. She said she'd been taken advantage of Skype! But I couldn't help but feel great pity for her, missing the first few weeks of critical bonding with her new daughter.
She closed with this song, which she wrote before she was a mom--as a tribute to parents and others who love children everywhere. How can it fail to induce the tears? It's gut-wrenching and made me want to go home and kiss my boys.
Tonight was the school carnival at Kieran's school. We will be at this beloved elementary school for SIXTEEN YEARS!!! (That's how well we've planned our family!) ;) Carnivals are blasts for the kids and somewhat stressful for the parents. Actually, it wasn't too bad. Chris worked as a volunteer staffing one of the booths while we wandered around following the younger kids. It's fun to see other parents we like, but we never have time to really chat much with them. Both Kieran and Nick won stuffed animals, so they were happy!
Last night we went to the Dar Williams concert, often an annual outing for us. Dar is one of my favorite singer-songwriters, and it's hard for me to pass up her concerts when she comes to Portland. Over the years, her audiences have changed and grown older, as she has mellowed a bit as a musician. Years ago, she had college student groupies who would dance in the aisles. Now the audience is much more sedate. We arrived at the Aladdin, expecting lines all the way around the block...yet we were toward the front of the line and snagged seats in the fifth row! We went to the concert with our concert-going buddies Dave and Christie...who are about 10 years younger than we are, but have very similar musical tastes and life philosophies!
Right before the encore, Dar mentioned that she and her husband had just adopted a baby from Ethiopia...and she had just arrived in a colossal move of bad planning. When one is a musician, and concerts have been planned for months in advance, one can't just cancel them when the baby one plans to adopt is ready much sooner than expected. She said she'd been taken advantage of Skype! But I couldn't help but feel great pity for her, missing the first few weeks of critical bonding with her new daughter.
She closed with this song, which she wrote before she was a mom--as a tribute to parents and others who love children everywhere. How can it fail to induce the tears? It's gut-wrenching and made me want to go home and kiss my boys.Tonight was the school carnival at Kieran's school. We will be at this beloved elementary school for SIXTEEN YEARS!!! (That's how well we've planned our family!) ;) Carnivals are blasts for the kids and somewhat stressful for the parents. Actually, it wasn't too bad. Chris worked as a volunteer staffing one of the booths while we wandered around following the younger kids. It's fun to see other parents we like, but we never have time to really chat much with them. Both Kieran and Nick won stuffed animals, so they were happy!
Nick at the dime toss:
Kieran with his new tattoo:
Nick getting his new tattoo--the tattoo artist wasn't very skilled, though, and it rubbed off nearly right away...oh well...
Me and Kieran:
Chris working the putt-putt booth:
Kieran, Mike, and Nick on the cake walk:
No cakes, but I wasn't too despondent. One year we won two cakes, and they were awful! A supermarket bakery donates them, and they're one-layer cakes with sugary frosting. I'm a very picky eater; why waste the calories on something that's not good?
Kieran in "jail"--for some reason, this is one of the most popular features of the carnival!
Snacks at the end--popcorn, pizza, and cotton candy!
So let's see--eight carnivals down, and eight to go?
Kieran with his new tattoo:
Nick getting his new tattoo--the tattoo artist wasn't very skilled, though, and it rubbed off nearly right away...oh well...
Me and Kieran:
Chris working the putt-putt booth:
Kieran, Mike, and Nick on the cake walk:
No cakes, but I wasn't too despondent. One year we won two cakes, and they were awful! A supermarket bakery donates them, and they're one-layer cakes with sugary frosting. I'm a very picky eater; why waste the calories on something that's not good?
Kieran in "jail"--for some reason, this is one of the most popular features of the carnival!
Snacks at the end--popcorn, pizza, and cotton candy!
So let's see--eight carnivals down, and eight to go?
Comments
Post a Comment