Life Expectancy of a Texas Snowman

About 24 hours, apparently.

 (snowman created by Lukas and me)

Pics from the Snowpokolipse (snowman edition)

 We only got a few inches, but the kids managed to build a cool snowman hood ornament for my car.

Pics from the Snowpokolipse (Lego edition)

 One of our favorite games to play is a Lego challenge, where each player gets a container full of 5 handfuls of random Legos and then has to build something based on a theme. 

Here are some pics of some of the builds:

Pics from the Snowpokolipse (pet edition)

 The animals were very happy this week, as there were a lot of blankets and people to sit on. We were a little worried about Sherman in the snow, but he went outside and did his business as usual. He also had the benefit of being a little better camouflaged in case any wandering bobcats came through..

Pics from the Snowpokolipse (family edition)

 Our power is back on and the hot water is flowing, so it looks like we have gotten through this in pretty good shape.

We spent most of the week in the living room- doing some schoolwork, playing cards, reading books, and watching stuff on our devices when we were able to charge them.

 

 

SNOW 2

 

SNOW!!!!!

 We are under a winter storm watch. We are supposed to get between three and six inches of snow. It has been really cold this past week, colder than I remember it being anytime in the last 19 (sadly) years in Texas. Everything has been cancelled for today, that is choir rehearsals will be on zoom. Let's see if there will be any in person dance classes tomorrow or if the girls will have to do zoom classes. Keira and her friend Jane already hatched a plan: I will take Keira to Jane's house tomorrow if they have to zoom in for class. That way they will still be able to dance together, more fun than dancing by themselves.

Happy Birthday, Katharine!

 Our beautiful daughter is now an adult but she will always be our wonder, and that will never change.

 

Least favorite color - some shades of brown
Katharine has given up hot dogs, and now eats no meat
Starbucks drink - tall ice vanilla late'
Fav non Starbucks drink - fruit punch
Favorite vegetable - brussell sprouts
Fav performing artists - Billy Eilish, Conan Gray
Fav non video game - Clue and BS
Colleges you applied to - Cal Arts, SVA, Ringling, MICA, Otis, LCAD
Fav comic book - Nausica
Fav animated film from last year - The Wind Rises
Fav tv show - Avatar the Last Airbender
Looking froward to in 2020 (TV and film) -New Wes Anderson movie (The French Dispatch) and the Percy Jackson series
Goal for this year - Get into college
Current online art friends - Iris and McKenna
Fav politician - AOC
Fav memory from the last year - going out shopping with Samantha
Fav zoo animal - cheetah
Future career - Animation artist or game artist
A state that you can never imagine living in as an adult - Alabama
Birthday presents - journal and a bracelet from Grandma, one dollar from Oma, and checks from Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Peter, a milkshake from Lennon, and finally/hopefully driving lessons and a permit and a license from Mom and Dad
Farm animal - horse, and never a chicken
Time travel - the 90's
Fav school Subject - English

Least fav school subject - Math (always)
Fav toy from your youth - a nearly bald Rapunzel doll
Fav thing to do with Mom - talk about politics
Fav thing to do with Dad - talk about art and TV and movies
Fav thing to do with Keira - talk about dance
Fav thing to do with Lukas - watch TV and play video games with him and talk about fandom stuff
Fav thing to do with Lennon - playfully argue/debate and play video games and watch TV
Fav thing to do with Kassidy - playing video games with her and showing her movies
Favorite TV character - Aang (from Avatar the Last Airbender)
Rate the seasons (best to worst) - Fall, Spring, Winter, Summer
If the house were burning, what 3 (non-living) things would you save -iPad, sketchbook,and her doc martens
What makes you nervous -crowds and gatherings of a lot of people

Favorite show from last year - Hades Town

Broadway Revue Rehearsal

 

Broadway Revue, formerly Broadway Cafe, is approaching quickly. This year it will look a little different thanks to the pandemic: no food and no beverages, barely any decorations, socially distanced, masked and the added benefit of an online lifestream option as we can not have as many people in the audience as we used to. The singers are hard at work.

First Pointe Class

 Keira had her first pointe class this week. She has been looking forward to this since the day she did her pointe assessment. Thursday the day was finally here. Jane's dad is the Thursday driver and took some pictures. The first pictures shows Keira (on the left) and Jane, the second picture shows Kaili, Keira and then Jane. At this pointe they only have a 30 minute pointe class each week and they are starting slowly with only doing rises (slowly rolling from the flat foot all the way onto the box of the shoes) and balancing on pointe at the barre. 

Katharine's Sketchbook

Here is a recording of the sketchbook that Katharine submitted for her Cal Arts application.

Cat TV

 Sophie sits way too close to the TV when she watches her screensavers.

Doll House

This week,  Katharine built the house for the doll that she created. 

This will be going into her college portfolio, and will also make for a nice garden ornament until the first rain comes..

 

Christmas Day Walk

The weather cooperated with our annual Christmas Day walk this year. 

We went to the Arbor Hills Nature Reserve, and while it looks like we were alone in the pictures it felt like most of the town was out there walking around.

Our newest family member, Sophie the cat, could not join us. Maybe we can get a leash for her one day.

 

 

Twas the Night Before Christmas

 Our gift pile is a bit thinner this year, but the tree and house are still full of decorations. 

With the (most likely) move coming up, we are currently packing and purging all of our possessions and saving whatever money that we can. So Iria and I skipped any gifts for ourselves this year, and the kids got just one gift each from us, one gift from Craig, and then gift cards from the Grandparents and Uncle Peter. 

Not that the kids would ever complain, if you ask them they just want money and gadgets nowadays. I'll personally miss the bigger gift piles, but not so much the extra wrapping and assembling..

 

Joy to the World

Here is a great page from Katharine's sketchbook that she is including in her art school portfolios.