On Pointe at the Arboretum

I finally took Katharine to the arboretum to take pictures of her. We missed her annual dance pictures due to a competition. It was a beautiful  day, Erik was at home and took the boys on a bike ride to Lake Lewisville to do school outdoors. Keira and Kassidy were at Robertson Elementary. My skills are not a s good as Erik's, but I got some decent shots.

I have more pictures on my phone, but this is already an epic post, so I will leave it at that.

Happy Birthday, Keira!

Keira turned 7 today!

This time last year she was starting school for the first time along with speech therapy. She excelled in school, aced the speech, and made big strides on the activity front this summer with dance and soccer. We are very proud of her :)

We opened most of her presents and cards on Sunday while the Grandparents were still here. This is her sitting wearing a birthday crown with Heart and Flash on her lap.

She loved the cards and presents (and being the center of attention).

For her presents she got a new gigantic cheetah (named Softy), a Barbie mermaid doll (to hold her over until she is old enough for the mermaid swimming tale that she desperately wants), a bunch of Shopkins toys, and then some dance outfits fro her American Girl dolls.

For her birthday meal she picked breakfast sausage- I had to take the photo fast before she gobbled all of them up.

And here she is with her cool cake and candle arrangement that Iria set up. Half the cake was dance themed, the other half was soccer.

Keira Facts:

Favorite colors - still purple, and introducing teal to the mix

Friends - Emma, Hannah, Annelisa (school) Kaylee, Kaitlin (dance) Peyton (church)

This year she is joining the Pace dance team at TBT

Keira played soccer over the summer on the 'Pop Rocks", and did a great job as goalie

Favorite books - Junie B Jones and Harry Potter

Favorite thing to do at school - Math

Least favorite thing to do at school - Lunch

She will be in the TBT Nutcracker this year, playing a party girl

Keira still eats gluten free food

Keira is pretty sensitive, and can overreact to criticism or teasing

Favorite foods: spicy chips, cupcakes, breakfast sausages, peaches, corn on the cob, pancakes, smoothies

Least favorite foods - peanut butter, apple sauce, almonds, eggs

Keira says a prayer in German every night

Favorite thing to do with Kassidy - Dancing and playing American Girl dolls

Favorite thing to do with Lukas - wrestle

Favorite thing to do with Katharine - draw and dance

Favorite thing to do with Mommy - cuddling and bedtime prayers/oils

Favorite thing to do with Daddy - eating spicy chips, playing ponys and putting on a show

If we got a new pet, Keira would want a cat

Keira wants to be a dancer or a soccer player when she grows up

If Keira were stranded on an island, she would bring these things with her - spicy chips, her cheetahs, her family, her birthday presents

Favorite season - Spring

Favorite thing to watch - Family videos, Teen Titans Go, McKenna (American Girl movie)

Favorite Music - Ingrid Michaelson

Keira is learning how to do cartwheels and headstands, and wants to try a gymnastics class one day

Keira loves to read

Kaiera is still very much a Daddy's Girl, but loves her bedtime routine with Mommy

Keira loves to put on dance shows at home for her family

Keira loves her cheetahs (Flash, Heart, and now Softy)

Sunday

Enjoying a beautiful morning outside church before the early service while Katharine is in choir warm up.

The third graders received their bibles today in the 11 o'clock service. Lennon got his as he is a third grader at church.

After the 11 o'clock service the girls and I drove to Fort Worth for the Nutcracker audition. 

Happy Birthday, Lennon!

Lennon turned 8 today.

While he will never loose his silly goofball side, it has been great watching him emerge as a serious and strong leader on the soccer field this past year.

His birthday gifts included an Andromeda soccer ball, Suarez jersey, Lego building sets, and a Lego clock.

Iria made a soccer field cake for him, and Lennon set up the Lego teams.

His grandparents are visiting this weekend, which made the day extra special.

Lennon Facts

Favorite foods: corn dogs, red and green peppers, lambsickles, corn on the cob, ice cream, cherry tomatoes, chicken tenders, nutella

Least favorite foods: peanut butter, jelly, nuts, macaroni and cheese, french fries

Favorite school subject: Math

Least favorite school subject: Spelling

If he was stranded on a deserted island he would take: his house, a soccer field, Lukas, Kassidy, a tub of fruit, and a water jug

Lennon and I play a math game in the car where I give him a string of numbers to add, multiply, subtract, and divide

Lennon has no filter and can be a bit of a smart aleck, which is sometimes funny and sometimes not so funny :)

Lennon loves to play the license plate game in his Mom's car

When he grows up he wants to: play on the Germany national team and Barcelona

When he grows up he will have "0" kids

If he could pick out our next pet, it would be a Golden Retriever

If Lennon were a superhero, he would be acrobatic and be able to fly

Friends: Church Tyler, Soccer Tyler, Preston, Ty, Nolan, Drew, Rylan, Jacob, Drake, Carson

Lennon is a big eater

Lennon phrases: "I'm hungry", "Dude", "Mama"

Lennon's gamer tag is Spaceman Lennon

What he likes to do with Kassidy: play cars and build with wooden planks

What he likes to do with Keira: play soccer

What he likes to do with Lukas: everything

What he likes to do with Katharine: Minecraft

What he likes to do with Mommy: cuddle and cook

What he likes to do with Daddy: play soccer and watch movies

Lennon plays on 4 soccer teams: Andromeda 08, 07 and 05 (Coach Mert) and Chaos (Coach Michael and Rob)

Lennon's favorite professional teams are FC Dallas and Barcelona

His favorite colors are orange and purple

Lennon has really stinky feet, especially after practice and games

What gets Lennon in trouble: back talking and whining

Lennon will sometimes start cleaning and straightening up all of the kids rooms for no reason

Lennon likes to stay up late

Favorite things to play: Soccer, Lego, Minecraft, Halo, ipads, Mario

Least favorite thing to do during the week: pick up his sisters from school and then drive to dance

Favorite thing to do during the week: play soccer

Lunch of Champions

We let the kids pick out whatever they want to eat for one meal on their birthday every year.

This year Lennon went "lambsickle".

Breakfast of Champions

We woke up really early this morning to get to Lukas's soccer game, so we gave the boys a treat for breakfast. Lukas had some leftover pizza, and Lennon ate a piece of chocolate cake.

Lukas would go on to score 3 goals in his game, and Lennon had two assists and a goal in his.

Fruit and grains in the morning? Bah!

Wednesday Night Soccer

I got to be soccer mom while Erik was listening to a guest speaker ( a chiropractor Katharine's been seeing, so I am familiar with what he does) at dance.











Before soccer we went grocery shopping for a freezer meal workshop I will be attending. The kids were excited, and even tried to talk me into buying crab and octopus. Chicken, pork, sausage and salmon was all I could take. Lukas was happy to carry the chicken!