Posts Tagged ‘Kids’
Babies and Bug-Vacuums
We have a new niece!
In May, our sister and brother-in-law Betsy and Loren welcomed a new little girl into their family. We’re delighted to introduce Lydia:
(She’s pleased to meet you.)
In case you’re new to this blog, Lydia is baby sister to Brooke
(I swear we did not pose her. This is just what she does in front of a camera.)
…and Ethan.
Brooke and Ethan are loving this adorable new addition to their family. Specifically, when Wendy asked Ethan what he enjoyed most about his new sister he replied, “I like it when she’s awake and isn’t crying.” (I imagine that’s a sentiment a lot of new parents can identify with, too.)
As far as we can tell, so far Lydia’s favorite things are eating, her brother and sister (Teachers, feel free to use this sentence as an example of the importance of proper comma placement.), and the bass line to Chic’s 1979 hit “Good Times”.
You might also recognize that as the bass line from The Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”, but Wendy went with the closest approximation with which she was familiar: Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”. (On that alone I nominate her for coolest and, simultaneously, most kid-inappropriate aunt.)
Obviously, we had to get some photos of our precious new niece.
Wendy also just finished painting a series of canvases for Lydia’s room to, I guess, remind her parents which kid lives in there. Wendy constantly amazes me; despite not having painted in years, she picked up her acrylics and brought these little faeries to life. (I’m a big fan of the one with the ‘A’.)
While we were visiting, we also gave Brooke and Ethan one of the coolest toys I’ve seen: hand-held bug-vacuums. (Don’t worry, folks, no bugs were harmed in the making of this blog post (well, maybe a couple of mosquitoes), and all the fireflies were released.) Basically, they’re clear plastic tubes with a gentle vacuum attached that pulls bugs in and then lets you observe them up close through a magnifying glass. The kids loved them. They also caught a lot of fireflies.
    
Yes, Wendy actually captured an illuminated firefly sitting on Brooke’s fingers. Also, Brooke poses like a champ.
Keep and eye out for more photos of Lydia (and Brooke and Ethan, of course), as we predict years of escalating cuteness!
Babies and Bug-Vacuums
We have a new niece!
In May, our sister and brother-in-law Betsy and Loren welcomed a new little girl into their family. We’re delighted to introduce Lydia:
(She’s pleased to meet you.)
In case you’re new to this blog, Lydia is baby sister to Brooke
(I swear we did not pose her. This is just what she does in front of a camera.)
…and Ethan.
Brooke and Ethan are loving this adorable new addition to their family. Specifically, when Wendy asked Ethan what he enjoyed most about his new sister he replied, “I like it when she’s awake and isn’t crying.” (I imagine that’s a sentiment a lot of new parents can identify with, too.)
As far as we can tell, so far Lydia’s favorite things are eating, her brother and sister (Teachers, feel free to use this sentence as an example of the importance of proper comma placement.), and the bass line to Chic’s 1979 hit “Good Times”.
You might also recognize that as the bass line from The Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”, but Wendy went with the closest approximation with which she was familiar: Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”. (On that alone I nominate her for coolest and, simultaneously, most kid-inappropriate aunt.)
Obviously, we had to get some photos of our precious new niece.
Wendy also just finished painting a series of canvases for Lydia’s room to, I guess, remind her parents which kid lives in there. Wendy constantly amazes me; despite not having painted in years, she picked up her acrylics and brought these little faeries to life. (I’m a big fan of the one with the ‘A’.)
While we were visiting, we also gave Brooke and Ethan one of the coolest toys I’ve seen: hand-held bug-vacuums. (Don’t worry, folks, no bugs were harmed in the making of this blog post (well, maybe a couple of mosquitoes), and all the fireflies were released.) Basically, they’re clear plastic tubes with a gentle vacuum attached that pulls bugs in and then lets you observe them up close through a magnifying glass. The kids loved them. They also caught a lot of fireflies.
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Yes, Wendy actually captured an illuminated firefly sitting on Brooke’s fingers. Also, Brooke poses like a champ.
Keep and eye out for more photos of Lydia (and Brooke and Ethan, of course), as we predict years of escalating cuteness!
Brandon Reese – Illustrator
Brandon Reese is a Charlotte-based artist who puts the “ill” in “illustrator”. (No, no, really, hold your applause!)
I first became aware of Brandon’s work when he created the art for Lunch Money’s CD Dizzy.
Since then, he’s created gorgeous illustrations for Original Friend and Spicy Kid, as well as the Grammy-Award-winning Can You Canoe? by The Okee Dokiee Brothers. If you primarily get your music via download or streaming, Brandon’s illustrations for Original Friend should make you seriously rethink that.
Brandon’s art is filled with the kinds of characters who you want to take by the hand to go on an adventure, even if that adventure is just lying in the grass looking up at the clouds. I think the thing about his work that most resonates with me is his sense of playfulness. Without stripping the world of its complexity and difficulties, Brandon reminds his viewer to not take life too seriously.
Anyway, at the end of last year and the beginning of this Richland County Public Library put on an exhibition of Brandon’s works called “Laughter and Raindrops”. I decided to recruit a few kids and photograph them with the illustrations (which look great large, by the way). Yes, I probably should have posted these when you could still go see the exhibit–mea culpa. To see more of his work, though, you really ought to visit his website. If you’d like to dig a little deeper into his portfolio (and maybe even discover his subversive side), I suggest a tour through his blog. In the meantime, feel free to whet your appetite with these:
What’s that? You’re in love with Brandon’s work and want to exchange money for the opportunity to own some of it? I can’t say I blame you. Here are a few places you can do just that:
You could get a CD he’s illustrated like: Dizzy, Original Friend, Spicy Kid, or Can You Canoe?
You could buy a book he’s illustrated such as Print Writing: A Creepy-Crawly Alphabet, or one he’s written and illustrated, like Draw Me Healthy: A Sticky Book, which also lets you (or your kids) illustrate and re-illustrate the story through the magic of Post-It notes.
Finally, if you want to grace your walls with his art, you can visit his gallery at Thumbtack Press where you can purchase his prints. The should look great hanging next to your photos by Lumos Studio.
Southern Children
Summertime for the Lumos crew means hanging with family, and there is one perk of being in our household that we really love: you’re either an aunt or an uncle to an awesome couple of kids.
Enter Ethan.
Enter Brooke.
As Aunt Wendy, I find I have far more time to look into fun kid stuff than people who are actually trying to raise well-behaved, well-educated children. For that reason, I’m going to save some of my rockin’ parenting friends some time by letting you in on another one of Columbia’s best businesses to check out: Southern Children.
One afternoon in May, feeling the urge I sometimes get to shop for my favorite spicy kids (thank you to Molly Ledford of Lunch Money for that perfect description), I opened the door to this boutique, started looking, and could not stop. Lemony-colored sun dresses with matching yellow hats, beach blue play shorts, perfect for a day in the sun, cuddly pastel doudous that could heal a bump on the head with one squeeze – the cuteness was too much!
A little embarrassed to be so drawn in, not having any kids of my own, I explained my mission to the store manager, Amy Broom; I was looking for some versatile outfits for my niece and nephew… and I wanted them to kinda match but not obviously (just for an added challenge).
 Amy is the kind of person who sparkles – she loves the product she provides and has knowledge of all the many clothing lines in the store to boot.  She spun right over to the 4Ts, the hair bows, the little-girl purses, and helped me piece together something perfectly whimsical for Brooke.
I also explained to her that dressing boys was a bit foreign to me since I didn’t have any brothers growing up. In no time, she had helped me combine cute plaid shorts, a handsome polo shirt, and a mint green vest for Ethan.
According to my sister, these are apparently Ethan’s favorite shorts. When he picks out his clothes in the morning, he always pulls them out of the drawer, so it stands to reason that they are pretty comfortable in addition to being super snazzy.
Susan Broom, Amy’s mother, has been the owner and operator of Southern Children since 1989.  It was obvious when I spoke with her that she has a passion for providing beautiful and well-made children’s clothing to her customers. The array of lines in her store is impressive. I am amazed that in these pictures of Ethan and Brooke alone five different brands are represented: Cotton Kids (Brooke’s white dress), LeTop (her fairy purse), Lou Lou’s and Louie’s (her barrettes), Imp Originals (Ethan’s blue shirt), and E-land (his green vest and plaid shorts).
These kiddos are barefoot, but that’s not for lack of shoe options. I brought my mother in later to look for a baby shower gift, and she said that Southern Children had the most diverse selection of children’s shoes and sandals she had ever seen (this is from a woman who raised three girls)!
So there you have it. Go take a field trip to Southern Children! Not only do their kids’ clothes and accessories take the cake, but Amy and Susan Broom are helpful, warm, knowledgeable, and excited about what they have to offer. And if someone gets snacky during your outing, you can even purchase a pack of Jelly Belly jelly beans at the register for, you know, the well-behaved little folks who accompany you to the store. ;-)
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SuperMac!
Sometimes I get inspired by movie posters and my friends generously lend me their children.
Big thanks to SuperMac for embodying the superhero spirit so well, and for being willing to wear his underwear on the outside. Thanks, too, to SuperMac’s SuperParents for letting him help us out and his SuperSiblings for constructing such a great city for SuperMac to guard.
Lunch Money at RCPL
Last weekend, I joined the groupies of the coolest kids’ rock band around at one of the hippest locations in town. I’m talkin’ about Lunch Money, and I’m talkin’ about the Richland County Public Library. Seriously, how many single locations can you think of where your kid can (1) get story and sing-a-long time, (2) watch a play put on by local actors, and (3) hear an indie-rock concert all in one morning before you pick up your favorite brain candy on the way out? Oh yeah – and all of this is essentially for free, not to mention the bonus of a child ready for nap time once the excitement has come to an end. J.P. and I don’t have kids yet, but I’m taking notes.
Here’s Lunch Money. They will rock your socks off!
