Good Egg Hunting

Gearbox held its annual Easter Egg hunt last Friday.

Kassidy slept in her Easter dress, so that she would be ready to go 7 hours later when it started..

Like the socks!

The boys attended as well. 

They are a little bit past their Easter egg hunting prime, but were willing to snatch some up for Keira who was attending dance class.

Thursday Weather Report

There is still another hour left in the day for those who haven't checked the weather yet.

Courtesy of Kassidy.

Reclining Poses

Last Sunday Gearbox held another "friends and family" figure drawing session, where we bring in a clothed model and invite kids to draw.

The girls had fun, but the boys ended up laying down more than the model..

5 points

There were 3 soccer games going on last Saturday.

Lukas's team (Blitz United) won the first game, with Lukas scoring the first goal.

Lennon's team ended their 4 game losing streak with a 0-0 tie.

And FC Dallas tied their game as well, as the temperature hit 88 degrees in mid afternoon.

Sticks and Stones

Keira (and Sherman) attended Lukas's soccer game last weekend. 

Keira was more interested in collecting rocks and sticks and building a homestead for herself. She even used a stick as a tool to burrow into the tree bark and wedge rocks into the tree.

Sherman just wanted to get back home and sleep on the couch..

R.A.D Exams 2018

Another R.A.D. ( Royal Academy of Dance) exam is in the books for the girls. A lot of hard work, patience and sweat was required, but they did it! Of course we won't get the results for  another two or three months. 

Keira took the level 3 graded exam this year. Above she is with Sophia, Miranda and Maggie. Three of her  other friends were in a different group. Only up to four exam candidates get examined at a time.

Keira loved learning the character dance. Character dances usually are based in fold dances from Europe. In the U.S. this is a dance form that is not taught anymore in the majority of ballet schools. The Candadians and Europeans still make character dance part of the dance training. Katharine would still love to take character dance if there was a class! 

This picture is from Katharine's first R.A.D. exam three years ago. That was level 7. This year, she took the advanced foundations exam which is a vocational exam, meaning that it is graded at the professional level. This was her third time being graded on that level. 

Just like in  the past years, Katharine has been partnered up with her friend Danielle.

I will have to ask Erik to post videos from dress rehearsal this past Sunday.

Kassidy's Bed

Here is the view while I am reading to her from the latest Oz book.

Post Playdate

Keira had her friend Kaylee over today. 

I came home from work after they had already left, but they left some interesting setups behind.

Oklahoma Trails

The boys spent the past weekend in Oklahoma with Fox and Family. It was their last trip up to the cabin before Fox moves next month.

They will miss it, although Portland will be a lot cooler place to visit :)

Click on the link for some video:

Big Sticks

And here are some pics that Dereik took:

On Your Feet!

Keira, Katharine and I went to see "On Your Feet!" today, the musical inspired by Gloria and Emilio Estefan's life story.  This was Keira's first time seeing a musical. Next up, "Waitress."

Meanwhile at home, Kassidy and Erik watched "The Wizard of Oz." Erik just finished reading the book to Kassidy and now she got to watch it. The boys are in Oklahoma with their friend Fox. 

Masquerade

We finished the girls' plaster wolf inspired masks. Both are happy with their results. Working  with plaster was a new experience for  the girls.

The mask on the  left is Kassidy's, the one on the right is Keira's. They painted the masks with acrylics and then glued  on some fake fur ( I don't like it much, the stuff is worse than any pet hair!).  

Water Colors and Cave Paintings

The girls painted a water color picture to go along with the story of "The Hungry Fox", an animal legend from Israel. The more they use water colors, the better they get. Keira's is on top, Kassidy's is on bottom.

The boys' lesson in ancient civilizations this week is about the Stone Age. One of the assignments was to recreate a cave painting. We used crumpled up news print, put a wash of acrylic paint on it, and then they used oil pastels for the drawings. They girls got to participate, too.

Little Backyard on the Prairie

With the sun and warm weather rolling in, Keira started to set up her homestead in the backyard.

1v1 Plus Fun

Fox and Lennon's games were cancelled this weekend, but they still managed to get a little soccer in. I always love to watch how much fun they can have when there aren't referees around :)

Suddenly Soccer

It has been a while since the kids have played a game, but the sun is out again and seasons are now resuming.

Lukas has had so many reschedules that he will play four games this week, which is half of his season.

After a handful of near misses Lukas got his first goal in at the end of the game, which his team won 4-0. Hopefully that will help build his confidence, as tomorrow they face off against the team that eliminated them from the playoffs last season.

Go United!