Sisters and Stuffed Stuff

Here are the girls relaxing on the swing today with their stuffed animals. 

'Bambi' and 'Lady' are the newest additions.

Shirts and Smiles

Kassidy is looking forward to her trip to Boston at some point this year. 

She is always reminding everyone that she is next up after she turns 7.

Simms and Siblings

The big game on campus is currently The Simms 4.

Lennon and Katharine are the biggest players, but everybody loves to watch.

Battles and Bricks

The boys used Legos to recreate the Battle of Thermopylae this past week during school.

Rebel Bird

Katharine is on the ensemble at Texas Ballet Theater School, Dallas. This is the group of most advanced dancers of the school and by invitation only. They recently performed a piece especially choreographed for this group. It is called "Rebel Bird" and is danced to music from "Carmen", big band style. I am always touched by Katharine's performance quality, and how much the joy shines through her!

Valentines Smiles

Here are the two girls opening their Valentines Day cards from the grandparents this morning.  

Hopefully this post will provide fond memories after it becomes the soul crushing holiday of their young adult lives :)

Curious Comfort

Kassidy has the strangest collection of treasures.

The poky dotted pink gold accented unicorn is named "Fantasia", and is her favorite stuffed animal. 

She has had the blanket since she was a baby, and it has been rapidly disintegrating from use as it gets ripped and then knotted up again to stay pieced together.

That said, these both fit her personality and we love them because Kassidy does :)

The Art of Language

Kassidy and the boys made up a new language on Saturday,

It is currently non-verbal, but just give them some time..

Shortcake and Stripes

Because of her busy schedule, Katharine did most of her birthday celebrations on Sunday.

Iria made some great strawberry shortcake for her, and she opened up some small presents to go along with the birthday cash.

She got a Ravenclaw shirt, a Minnie Mouse mug, a Diablo 3 Treasure Goblin figurine, and some reflector panels for her photography.

Later on in the day we all went out to Glorias for her birthday meal.

Fun times!

Happy Birthday, Katharine!

Katharine turned F O U R T E E N today.

She remains everything that Iria and I could have ever wished for in a child. 

No pressure :)

Not so surprising, she is going to be out of the house doing dance stuff from 8 AM until 11 PM today, so we will do the presents and cake tomorrow. 

Until then, Katharine facts -

Favorite color - purple or teal
Favorite food - pizza and any desert
Least favorite food - squash
Favorite school subject - civics and English
Least favorite school subject - math
When you grow up you want to be a - ballet dancer / Broadway performer / artist
Has a little crush on - Eddie Redmayne (Fantastic Beasts actor)
Favorite book read last year - the Selection series
Favorite movie seen last year - Fantastic Beasts
Favorite TV shows - Supergirl / Great British Baking / Project Runway / Amazing Race / Survivor
Fav song - anything from Rent or Chicago
Hobbies - drawing, singing, dancing, photography, reading, crafting, video games, writing
Trump or Hillary - Hillary
Pick a problem in the world that you would want to solve - poverty
Favorite thing to do with Mom - talking in the car and going to dance practice/events
Favorite thing to do with Dad - talking , watching tv, and playing video games
Favorite thing to do with Lukas - play video games
Favorite thing to do with Lennon - having talks and discussions
Favorite thing to do with Keira - being her big sister
Favorite thing to do with Kassidy - sisterly duties
Three things you would bring with you to a deserted island - sketchbook / kindle / Sherman dog
Harry Potter house - Ravenclaw
Where you would want to go on vacation -Caribbean  cruise
Best friends at dance - Abby, Barbara, Bethany
Best friends outside of dance - Maya, Liam, Charlotte, Trinity, Kaylee
Fav dance teacher - ms lyndette and ms Jan
Fan fiction that Katharine writes - Diablo / Scorbus (Scorpius and Albus) / Harry Potter / Hinny (Harry and Ginny)
Dance rehearsal time per week - 12-15 hours
 What do you think you will be doing in 5 years - professional dance company or art in college
 What do you think you will be doing in 10 years - have a stable job in any of her jobs
 What do you think you will be doing in 25 years - family and steady job- just be happy
What she does on her phone late at night - reading / YouTube
What superhero power would she want to have - flight
Favorite ballets - Copellia and Swan Lake
What she is hoping for this year - becoming a full member on the ensemble / her left foot back to normal / do well at school
Favorite Katharine quote - "Goodnight Mommy and Daddy- you're the best!"

"A" Great Student

Keira's latest report card:

Who's Those Girls?

Keira performed in a Seuss'ical Musical at her school tonight. 

She dressed up as a Who girl. 

Her teacher, Mrs. Noll, and friend Kaylee came as themselves :)

Night Yoga

No Words

Have Humnongous Carriage, Will Travel

Somebody from church gave us this carriage yesterday, which is apparently good for 11 year old boys in addition to dolls.

Not seen in the pic is the Echo that Keira put in one of the compartments to use as the car stereo.

Snow, a Little While Ago..

I have been slow with the posts this year. 

This one is from last week, where we got a dusting of snow after a few days in the 20's.

I think we deserved more snow than that for dealing with all of that cold. 

Maybe later on this winter :)

Hugs and Z's

Kassidy has been missing Keira since she moved out of the room, so Lennon joined her last night to help her sleep. They were like this the whole night.

Cloud Prism

After all of these years staring at the sky, I noticed a new thing on my ride home last night- a prism or rainbow of colors showing up on the edge of a cloud.

Probably not that rare, but I thought it was cool :)

Lap Attack

Pepper has gotten more affectionate in his old age and is turning into quite a lap cat.

And Sherman is.. well.. Sherman.

Ensemble Christmas Party

Texas Ballet Theater School Dallas' Ensemble - which Katharine is a member of- had their Christmas party on December 17th. It was graciously hosted by Suzanne England, ensemble member Lydia's mother.
The girls enjoyed dinner, ugly leotard decorating, a gift exchange, dinner, dessert, ornament making and gingerbread decorating.

 From left to right,back to front: Barbara, Colby, Abbey, Katarina, Katharine, Jenna, Lauren, Lydia, Lindsey and Lydia's sister Caleigh

 Katharine and Barbara

 Katharine's close friend Abbey

They wore their ugly leotards to class the following Monday. From left to right: Katarina, Katharine, Lydia, Garrick, Barbara, Abbey, Lydia's little sister and not ensemble member Caleigh, Dena

Family Outing to Ft. Worth

We went on a family outing to Fort Worth today to see the special Monet exhibit at the Kimbell Museum of  Art. The museum didn't open until noon, so went to the botanical gardens and the Japanese Garden first. It was a lovely morning to visit. No pictures from the exhibit, but it was a fabulous exhibit! http://earlymonet.kimbellart.org/

All Clear

Keira got her glasses yesterday. 

These are her backup frames (we are waiting for the insurance to kick in for the main frames), but they look super cute. 

She is actually really liking them, and doing great. 

It helps that they really clear up her vision (which had been getting pretty bad).

Winding Down on Winding Trails

We had a great gift exchange Christmas morning, but still needed some fresh air once it was all done.