Frousin'g Around

We hung out at the Martels house tonight for dinner, which included great food, lego building, slo-mo lego destruction movies, drawing, a little bit of Minecraft and Halo, soccer, football, and lots of horsing around.

Preseason

Me and the boys took in our first FC Dallas game of the year. 

It was only a preseason game, but they won 3-1. 

Hopefully a sign of great things to come!

And looming over the stadium is Gearbox's new building, still under construction.

You Are the Nisis'

Keira is avidly reading and writing right now, but still in the phase where she will drop in an alternative spelling on words that are new for her. 

One of the toughest things for me as a parent has been communicating "Thanks so much for your lovely thought or I'm so proud of you... but you misspelled this word, and that word, and that word..".

Here is one of her Valentine's Day cards. 

I think we just stuck with the hug and let the spelling lesson slip on this one :)

Winter Showers

It looks like we are going to avoid any ice or snow this year. 

Meanwhile, my parent's town is buried under around 7 feet of snow..

Edible Animal Cell Model

Katharine made an edible animal cell model.




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1:30 AM

Cat and Kassidy

Kassidy really loves Marmelade, and is always sitting next to her and snuggling.

I'm not sure that she is exclusively a cat person, because she has talked about wanting a poodle one day.

One day in the far, far future...

Breakfast of Champions

Spring soccer season starts up again tomorrow.

Maybe a plate of carrots for breakfast is Lennon's secret?

Performance Awards

Katharine and Keira participated in the TBT Performance Awards this afternoon, where they demonstrate their ballet technique in front of a judge.

It is not as formal as it sounds, and in the end it is really about getting the kids up there in front of a crowd and performing and building their confidence.

Anyways, Katharine received a Gold medal for her dancing, and Keira a Bronze with two distinctions.

They were both top performers for me, but you can "judge" for yourselves by watching the videos:

Desktop

My desk- always a mix of kids, toys and art.

Saturday Afternoon Gallery

The kids are big fans of StampyLongNose, a YouTube personality who plays minecraft and narrates as he goes along.

Welcome to the modern television era. Networks beware!

Anyways, here is some fan art that Keira and Lukas worked on together.

Broadway Cafe

Katharine officially became a 'Double Threat' this weekend with her first solo in a musical production.

Here she is performing "I Know Things Now" from 'Into the Woods', at our church choir's Broadway Cafe show.

And a few pics from the event:

proud parents, programs, Kassidy eating lots of sweets, and supporting friends :)

Modern Family

Kids are amusing.

I got out of the shower this morning and noticed this diorama set up on the edge of the bathtub.

It looks like Keira's work..

Little Red Riding Faye

Here are some pictures of Katharine rehearsing the song "I Know Things Now" from 'Into the Woods'. 

She is singing in the church's annual 'Broadway Cafe' show, and is the youngest kid to have a solo.

She has been getting a lot of great feedback, and we can't wait to see her performance. 

I'll try and post a video of it early next week.

Happy Birthday, Katharine!

Katharine turned 12 today.

She is turning into a beautiful young girl inside and out- and we are so proud of her :)

Katharine Facts

Katharine attends dance class on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday (whew)

Katharine also sings in the choir every week

Her favorite ballet is 'Swan Lake'

Katharine loves to read, and is currently reading 'The Enchantress' by James Maxwell

Katharine is curious and excited about growing up, but needs lots of reassurance that she is still just a kid :)

Katharine's favorite color is purple

Katharine's favorite school subjects are art and history

When she grows up she wants to a dancer, an actress, or an artist for Disney or Gearbox

The only thing that she asked for her birthday was a pair of 'Ever After High' dolls

Katharine's is a vegetarian, and her favorite vegetables are broccoli, brussel sprouts and carrots

She also loves to eat pizza from Palios, enchiladas and black bean dip from Glorias and peppermint ice cream

Katharine LOVES to play Minecraft on the phone, XboxOne, and skyping on the PC with Maya

Favorite non-technology activities include drawing, word finder puzzles, and playing with her dolls

If Katharine was on a deserted island, she would want the following 3 things - her family, a genie, and another genie (that's 6 wishes or more!)

Favorite TV shows include 'Project Runway', 'Amazing Race' and 'Ever After High' webisodes

Katharine has exceptional hand writing

Katharine likes to read late at night (lights out at 10 PM)

Katharine's daily chore is to change the cat food and water

Least favorite school subjects include music with the boys (they distract her) and division in math

Dance Friends: Angie (her birthday is the same day), Emily, Danielle, Claire, Emma, Katie, Barbara, Tori

Church Friends: Trinity, Charlotte, Kaylee, Samantha, Hannah, Angelie

Frousins: Liam and Maya

Future kid projection: 2-5

She is not interested in boys yet :)

Favorite song: any 'Into the Woods' song, Taylor Swift's 'Shake it Off', and 'Seize the Day'

Favorite thing to do with Mommy: snuggling and talking with her o the way home from dance

Favorite thing to do with Daddy: drawing, talking, getting picked up from dance

Favorite thing to do with Lukas: making up games

Favorite thing to do with Lennon: word searches

Favorite thing to do with Keira: playing dolls

Favorite thing to do with Kassidy: having weird conversations with her

Katharine phrases: "Sorry" "Good night. I love you. See you in the morning"

Saturday Evening Gallery

Keira attended a birthday party at the 'McKinney Art House' today, and created this wonderful painting.

Here is a link to their website- it looks like a great place!

McKinney Art House

Pizza Celebration

Here we are celebrating the wins with pizza and ice cream.

I promised Lennon a scoop for every game that his teams won, and I still owe him one more scoop :)

Indoor Champion

Lennon's team played Lennon's other team in the Indoor Championship game tonight, and Lennon's team won :)

I'll explain..

In the first semifinal game, Lennon's 08 team (in the white) played the Sharks and won 16-6. They were actually down 5-0 at the start, but then went on a 18-1 run to finish the game. I asked Lennon if he was nervous when the team was down 5-0 and his answer was "No, we still have the second half to play". The kid is as cool as ice during games, and just whistles the whole time while he is playing no matter how much pressure there is.

He's got a good foot as well.

In the second semifinal game, Lennon played with Andromeda 07 (they are a year older than him). They beat another academy team 6-5 in an overtime thriller. Lennon stayed back on defense the whole 40 minutes without resting, and had two goals that spanned 2/3 of the field in the air.

After that, 07 and 08 met in the finals- with Lennon going back to his 08 team. The 07 boys missed him, as they ended up losing around 20-2. All of those games were played back to back, but Lennon said he could have played one more.

Here is Lennon's winning 08 team (from left to right):

Coach Dee, Kenny, Lennon, Brayden, Colt, Solomon, Ty, Coach Jason

GG Guys!

Christmas Lego

The last few Christmas's (when I've been home) I have bought myself a big Lego set for a present.

This year it was the Sea Cow from the Lego movie.

I built it over the break with the kids and had a blast. It is a great looking set, and the only thing that was missing is a plank. How can you not put a plank on a pirate ship?

Luckily this is Lego, so we added our own plank :)