Tron Dance Party

Last night, we had a family dance party to the Tron soundtrack, complete with glow-stick bracelets from the dollar bin at target. Cal L-O-V-E-D it!

After we got through the album once, we moved the party upstairs and Cal got to take the coolest bubble bath that ever happened:
It never ceases to amaze me how the simplest of activities can produce such a good time--especially for a toddler. I just have to keep reminding myself: it doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be perfect. Cal will remember these fun memories, even if they aren't the most amazing things in the world. What matters is that I'm there, smiling and laughing with him -- that's what he'll remember.

Crazy Smile

As you'll recall, we've recently been having problems getting Cal to smile for the camera. But now the pendulum has swung a little too far in the opposite direction. This past week or so, every time we tell Cal to say "cheese", this is what we get:

Closed eyes, scrunched nose, over-exposed teeth. Just so you know I'm not exaggerating the problem, take a look at the other photographic evidence I have:

The funny thing is, I completely remember doing this as a child, just to be obnoxious (I was an AWESOME child). Every time he does it, I can tell he thinks this is comic gold!

What a silly little Buddy Boy! :)

St. Patrick's Day Activities

It's amazing how much entertainment Cal gets from such simple things. I'm learning to lower my standards for activities -- small things can make a difference! Things don't have to be perfect for toddlers to have fun.

St. Patrick's day found us shaping green play doh:

(Cal's chubby little hand)

Decorating Shamrock sugar cookies:

And doing a craft with our friends:
Those are Cal's little rainbow handprints. He was quite put out that he didn't get to eat his pot of gold (a.k.a. Reese's peanut butter cups) immediately.

Lesson of the week: small activities can equal big fun for toddlers.

Cal's Photos

Cal took our nice camera around the house recently and snapped a ton of pictures. He loves cameras, and even knows how to take pictures on my iPhone. Here are a few shots from his most recent adventure around our apartment:

Mommy's running shoes

Cal's clothes baskets

The space heater in his room

Cal's bed

His favorite puppet, Wolf

This next one is one of my favorites:

I love his chunky little foot:

There were a ton of my concert gown...I guess he liked it:

How scary do these stairs look:

It was really fun to go through all the photos, to see the world at his eye-level, and to find out which things were important or memorable to him. I love this little guy so much:
And yes, when we get him a facebook account, we'll have him use this photo as his profile pic.

Concert!

Another successful choir concert! This most recent concert was meaningful for many reasons. First, the location was not our usual one. Instead we were in the First Methodist Church in Palo Alto. Take a look at this awesome architecture:

A far cry from deseret brick, no?

Second, the music was glorious. It was all new to me. Well, I was certainly familiar with Frostiana, but I had never performed it in its entirety. The text comes from various Robert Frost poetry, and it is just superb.

Robert Frost

Such a lovely, singable suite.

My favorite of the suite (and one of my favorite Robert Frost poems ever) is "The Pasture".

"The Pasture"

I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;

I'll only stop to rake the leaves away

(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):

I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf

That's standing by the mother. It's so young,

It totters when she licks it with her tongue.

I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.

The Frostiana suite is just so melodic and natural, it was a wonderful, generous way to open the concert.

Next came the "Five Mystical Songs" by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. If you are unfamiliar with these song, as I was before this concert, just know that they are completely glorious. The choir has a minor part in the piece, as most of the text is sung by a baritone soloist. We had been rehearsing only our small part, and the baritone only joined us for the dress rehearsal and performance, so I hadn't really looked at large portions of the text. When I finally heard Song #3: "Love Bade Me Welcome" for the first time, it was all I could do not to weep!

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back.


Guilty of dust and sin.


But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack


From my first entrance in,


Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning


If I lacked anything.

A guest, I answer'd, worthy to be here:


Love said, You shall be he.


I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,


I cannot look on thee.


Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,


Who made the eyes but I?

Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame


Go where it doth deserve.


And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?


My dear, then I will serve.


You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:


So I did sit and eat.

The experience was nothing less than spiritual, and we were lucky to have a phenomenal soloist on the part.

I had a large solo with Vaughan Williams' "Dona Nobis Pacem". I was reeeeeeeally nervous about it, which is actually not like me. All week, I could not figure out why I had such bad stage fright about it. I think it's because it was the biggest, most technically difficult solo I've ever sung -- and VERY exposed! But it went very well, and afterward, I got a bouquet of flowers from the Symphony, and from my Aunt Heather.

Oh yes, and this is the gown I bought the week before:

I am very happy about this concert, and got to sing some amazing music. I'm very blessed to be a part of the group I joined. And thank you to the [many] friends and family who came to support me! It helped my nerves to have you in the audience!

Valentine Mail

I don't think anyone could be more excited than the little boy in this picture:

I snapped this just after he opened up our mailbox to find a package from Great-Grandma Linebarger waiting for him (it had his name on it and everything)! It turned out to be a book, but we didn't know that for several hours, because he wouldn't let me touch the package, let alone cut it open with scissors. He just held it and looked at it with a huge smile on his face. Next time, I'll be sure to let grandma know that she can just send an empty envelope.

We also had a fun sticker card from Grandma Kristin. He loved it! How fun is Valentine Mail?

Valentine's Day Dinner

It's always a toss up come Valentine's Day: do you brave the crowds and go out on Valentine's Night? Do you throw your hands up in defeat and give it up all together? We've opted for a different answer every year so far. A few days before V-day, I "surprised" Reed with a dinner at Alexander's Steakhouse (I'm placing quotation marks around "surprised" because Reed guessed what we were going to do, ushering in the annual Valentine's day quarrel).

So for Valentine's Day proper, we elected to stay home. Cal helped me set the table and light candles (one of his favorite things to do, unfortunately).

I found a delicious, simple and pretend-fancy dinner, pesto pancetta chicken:

Valentine's Day Dinners are even more sweet with a third place setting:

We made chocolate lava cakes for dessert (thank you for the recipe, Grandma Linebarger!):

One last shot of my little Valentine nugget:

Happy Valentine's Day!