Tuesday, October 5, 2010

First October Weekend

October is a favorite month around the McGaugh household. Life is cozier, the fall menus come out of the recipe folder, days are made magical with trips to the pumpkin patch, and the first of many holidays begin.

We celebrated "October Eve" this year with chicken pumpkin curry for dinner and cozy jammies:


Brother and sister pajamas!



Cuddling my babies.



Earlier that day, we had cozy time!




Eric all bundled in his sweater outfit (which used to be Katie's).


I took Eric with us to music class for the first time last Friday, as well. He didn't attend the first class with us because I wanted to see the class size and come up with a plan to make sure he could have space from the other children if need be. He also had just had his first set of vaccinations the day before, and I didn't think he needed to be out and about. It was so strange attending without him that I definitely wanted him to come along to our second class this session. We did well, and most of the parents and children were very vigilant about being careful with his personal space. I kept him in the carrier, and when we performed a song that required movement from our mats, I placed him outside the little fence that Kara sets up to make our circle. It worked out well.

Ready for music class! (Eric's first attendance out of the womb).


Watching his big sister play before class began. I love how he is looking at her. Is there any doubt who the big sib is in this relationship? ;-)


Also on Friday, we had a play date with my friend Lauren and her two children (one out of the womb and one still in the womb) at a park. The weather was perfect, and it was a much needed time of sharing motherhood and time together.

After the play date, I was much more relaxed and ready for my date on Friday night with Bill. My parents watched our children at their house, and Bill and I got dinner out and watched a movie at home snuggled on our couch. A simple date, but very renewing.



We also went to the Old Town quilt show on Saturday.

We also happened upon the city's annual Greek Festival, put on by the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church group to raise money for their new church. Why we have never happened upon it before, well, who can say? Being adventurous, my mom and I decided to take the kiddos for lunch. We ate spanakopita and moussaka with a table of people we just met and watched Greek dancing and generally made a time of it. I loved that we got to share time with a little pocket of people celebrating, as though we had a chance to glimpse into how a handful of our community members happened to be spending their Saturday. I also appreciated how much WORK went into the festival. It made me want to know all of the St. Nicholas group more. What a happy accident to have stumbled upon them.

Life is an adventure when you follow the unplanned roads that beckon...

On Saturday night we continued with our McGaugh Family Movie Night and saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Katie was quite enchanted, and Bill consequently had to play the role of Thomas the Faun for the remainder of the weekend.