Goodbye Gorilla, Hello Cheetahs

The family visited the Dallas Zoo on Friday, hoping to catch a final glimpse of Patrick the Gorilla before he was shipped off to a new zoo.

Lukas, our biggest animal lover, was really upset that Patrick was leaving. 

The gorilla wasn't even supposed to come out that day (he had a busy final viewing weekend planned), but he happened to walk out just as the kids approached the viewing area. 

Nobody else was around, so they got some alone time with him and watched him eat celery.

The kids also got a treat and were able to meet the new baby cheetahs. 

Keira was especially thrilled (look back at the first picture and see what she is holding).

And oh yeah, they apparently met a penguin as well.

Art/ School projects

Katharine just finished a four week Geology block. Here is her illustration of Arthur's Seat near Edinburgh, Scotland, followed by a picture of the real thing. I think she did very well.





She also drew Fingal's Cave, and listened to parts of the music by Mendelsohn who was inspired to write music about the cave after visiting it. The coolest thing about the cave is that it is made of naturally formed hexagonal columns.



Here is an illustration of Lukas about "Rabia of Basra". The boys are enjoying learning about saints and heroes from around the world, and how faith can make a difference.



Lennon's random chalk board drawing: A poor man living in a small cottage in a forest, harvesting a giant turnip and wild strawberries.


Lukas drew a chalk picture of a gnome at night. I like the moon in the upper left hand corner a lot.


Below are clay models of Lord Shiva's Brahman bull Nandi. The boys learned about "Nandanar and Lord Shiva" this week, a legend from India. There is also an illustration of the story from Lukas' language arts lesson book.





"The Legend of Kun and Yu", a Chinese story of how dams and canals were first built in China. We made a paper mâché and bees wax model of the story.





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Keira and Kassidy

I took this picture of Keira and Kassidy during choir practice this afternoon in the courtyard at church.

Happy Birthday, Keira!

Keira turned 5 today!

Keira's present from the grandparents- a big white horse.

Keira's present from Aunt Sue and Uncle Peter - Equestria dolls.

Keira facts:

Favorite colors: pink and purple

Favorite animals: horses and cheetahs

Asked what she wants to do when she grows up, she said that she would prefer to stay home forever.

Keira loves working on arts and crafts with scissors, glue, tape, glitter or anything that she can get her hands on.

Keira's favorite thing to do in school is painting and writing her letters.

Friends: Katie, Rachel, Trinity, and Peyton

Favorite game: Minecraft

Favorite TV Show: Equestria Girls

Favorite Keira/Daddy activities: sleeping and playing

Favorite Keira/Mommy activities: watching movies and going outside

Favorite Keira/Katharine activities: playing dolls

Favorite Keira/Lukas activities: watching him play video games

Favorite Keira/Lennon activities: dancing

Favorite Keira/Kassidy activities: running around in circles

Favorite drinks: water, izzys, and soy milk

Keira loves to run really fast (like a cheetah).

Favorite food: mac and cheese, pancakes and syrup, corn on the cob

Keira takes a ballet class, but we could see her going into horse riding eventually.

Keira loves to say: "I have an idea!"

Keira loves to go to the zoo.

Favorite treats: Garden of Eaten' Red Hot Blues (spicy chips), gummy bears, and vitamins

Keira has a big temper and can get easily flustered, but she can also be very loving.

Favorite books: Dr. Seuss and Pinkalicious

Keira still has a bit of a lisp.

Keira is not much of a cat person (takes after her daddy).

Keira falls asleep the fastest of all the kids, but she can be a restless sleeper.

Keira loves to clean and sweep.

Keira is pretty shy and quiet when outside of the house.

Keira likes to ride her bike outside and water the plants.

Keira is still very much a Daddy's girl, and is well on track to being one of those teenage girls that drive their mother crazy :)

Keira likes to draw pictures of her family.

That wet stuff

I think it's called rain. 

Iria saw some of it last Thursday. 

I didn't believe her at first, but she took pictures...

Happy Birthday, Lennon!

Lennon turned 6 years old today.

Lennon's birthday gift from the grandparents.

Lennon's birthday gift from Aunt Sue and Uncle Peter.  

Lennon facts:

Favorite color: orange

Favorite animal: monkeys

Favorite school subject: math

Favorite foods: nutella, waffles, corn dogs, corn

Nervous habit: twitching fingers

Favorite thing to watch on TV: sports (usually soccer)

Favorite teams: FC Dallas, USA national soccer team, LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, Boston Red Sox, FC Barcelona, Argentina national soccer team

Random silly Lennon question: "Why do people have brains?"

Loves to play: soccer and baseball (and is really really good at both)

Favorite author: Shel Silverstein

Favorite video games: FIFA 13 (iPad), FIFA 14 and any Lego game (XBox360), Nino Kuni (PS3), Minecraft (iPhone)

Lennon still loves to sleep with his lovies (1 donkey, 3 bears, and 1 mouse)

Favorite superheroes: Robin, Green Lantern, Iron Man

Lennon and his brother Lukas get along like best friends.

More friends: Nolan, Graham, Mark, Santiago, Will, Jack, Jeramy (from Gearbox), Jerry, Joanna, Jesse (my parent's cats)

Favorite kind of pet: cats

When Lennon grows up he wants to be a soccer player for the USA national team.

When Lennon grows up he will have this many kids: 0

Favorite soccer players: Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane (from the LA Galaxy), Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey (from the Seattle Sounders), Messi and Neymar (from FC Barcelona), Cooper, Jackson, Perez (from FC Dallas)

Favorite Lennon/Mommy activities: helping her fold laundry and cuddling with her

Favorite Lennon/Daddy activities: drawing, playing soccer, and wrestling

Favorite Lennon/Katharine activities: play beanie boos and lego

Favorite Lennon/Lukas activities: legos and video games and soccer

Favorite Lennon/Kassidy activities: everything

Favorite Lennon/Keira activities: playing the animal games "crab", "gorilla" and "orangutan"

Lennon can be very silly, but also very shy.

Lennon is a really good listener and always behaves in church and on his sports teams.

Lennon is a very bright little boy, and asks a lot of questions and is very inquisitive.

Favorite TV show: Bugs Bunny

Lennon likes to travel with the family on trips.

Lennon falls asleep in the car.

Lennon wakes up the earliest of all the kids.

Favorite dance style: hip hop

Lennon gets lots of chigger bites.

Patient for Passports

Here are the kids waiting to take their passport photos.

All of their old passports had expired, and our Germany trip is coming up in 3 months.

Woot!

Today's Snapshots

Pumpkins at Whole Foods


Gluten free chocolate chip cookies, the boys helped


Cookies


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Opening Day

The boys played their first soccer games of the new season today, although the 102 degree temperatures made it feel more like Summer than Fall.

Lennon was pretty much unstoppable on Chaos, dribbling through multiple defenders and scoring all of the four goals for his team. He has gotten a lot better at controlling the ball and keeping it close.

I was making him drink water constantly whenever he was sitting out, but the heat still clearly got to him- his hands were shaking as he walked off the field.

Lukas also showed a lot of hustle, and I was really proud of him that he didn't back off against a clearly superior and dominating team. 

He can still hold his own versus Lennon at home, so he is going to do OK for himself :)