Christmas card outtakes: Part 3

Another picture that never quite made it.

Lennon just wouldn't wake up. Note to self: photograph Lennon within a half hour after being fed. He might spit up, but at least he will be awake and smiling as he does so.

A nocturnal pose

Iria, Lennon and Marmalade snoozing at 1 AM.

Happy Birthday, Lukas!

Lukas turned two today. We had both visiting Grandma's in the house, so we celebrated just amongst ourselves.

First off we took a spin around the dinosaur trail again. It wasn't as much of a roller coaster ride for him the second time around, and he had a lot of fun. Katharine dressed herself for the trip and came up with a pretty spectacular outfit.

Then we went home, had some cake, blew out some candles, opened some presents,,, and oh, do I see that American Girl doll sneaking into another picture?

An American Doll

Aunt Sue bought Katharine an American Doll for Christmas; she has been waiting five years to do so,,, so I better get these pictures up quick.

The doll's name is Elizabeth. I call her "Blinky", because one of her eyes will sometimes stay open when you lay her down. Apparently Katharine used to occasionally sleep with one eye open when she was younger, so it looks like a good match.

Note the matching nightgown that Katharine got for herself. Many more accessories and photo cameos to come,,,,

A Texas tea party

I didn't go to this one, but I heard that everybody had a great time. It was Linda and Erica's first formal tea, and Katharine had been looking forward to this for weeks.

A Night at the Nutcracker

Iria and I took Katharine to the Nutcracker tonight (Texas Ballet Theatre at Bass Hall, Fort Worth), which is becoming an annual tradition. It was on a smaller scale than the Boston Ballet version from last year, but no less memorable and enjoyable.

Katharine was very excited all evening; skipping around on the sidewalk and playing copy-cat games with us during dinner.

Once inside the theatre we took some family pictures and did some shopping before the show. We got talked into having a 5 dollar polaroid snapped of Katharine hanging with the Nutcracker and the mice, but the money goes to the ballet company which is a good cause.

At the end of the night Katharine was exhausted, and she quickly slid into dreams of sugarplum fairies (or maybe dinosaur princesses,, you never know with her).

"Dinosaurs Alive" (at least Lukas thinks so)

The Heard Museum has a really cool exhibition up through February called "Dinosaurs Alive" (http://www.heardmuseum.org/). Jeramy, Maya, Katharine, Lukas and myself took the dinosaur nature walk on Saturday. The girls loved it, and were soon swept up in some kind of dinosaur princess scenario. Lukas walked the trail in a wildly fluctuating state of awe, apprehension, joy and disbelief. The pictures somewhat capture it,,,

Christmas card outtakes: Part 2

The boys wouldn't cooperate, so nothing came of our night time Christmas lights session except for this one nice outtake.

Well off to Photoshop for the card. Maybe I will go the montage route like Iria originally suggested,,,

Zoo trip

Iria, Erica, Linda and the kids went to the Fort Worth Zoo today. The animals were very active, maybe being tricked into thinking it was springtime. Lennon was the only one hybernating.

Inside on a blustery day,,

I'm getting closer to capturing one of those big Lennon smiles on film. He still likes smiling more for a face than he does a camera lens,,, probably a good thing.

A blustery day,,

It was a warm and blustery day in Texas- especially fun if you have long hair. Linda and Erika loved the weather, and didn't end up getting attacked by a swarm of mosquitos (maybe the wind kept them away).

Some new Katharine art

Katharine has been creating some pretty trippy art as of late. Here is a picture of Iria, Katharine, Lukas and Lennon posing outside under a rainbow.

This is a picture of the family splashing around in a pool.

This is a picture of her visiting Great Aunt and Oma being swarmed by a bunch of mosquitos,,, huh?

And finally Katharine drew this picture commemorating her participation in this years "Angel Tree" gift giving charity at out church (poor children fill out wish lists on cards and then hang them on the tree, and then people pick the cards and buy the gifts for them). Up top is an angel holding a bag of gifts (I'm not sure what is circled around her,, maybe more gifts) and below that she wrote out the words to "Jesus Loves Me" until Iria had to take over at the very end.

Katharine's ice skating debut

Katharine had her first ice skating class today with her friends Trinity and Liam. Everyone had a lot of fun and did really well.

Unhappy Lukas

And here is a trip down memory lane. Nobody could scream like Lukas did at that age,,,

Unhappy Lennon

Sometimes I get tired of posting cute pictures. Here is Lennon in all his screaming glory: we've got snot, eye gook, caked milk on his tongue. Let out a big throaty scream at home for the full effect.

More Katharine art

Here is some more Katharine art from today.

On the left is a drawing of her beloved teddy bear key chain.

On the right is the song list from her upcoming "Spring Tea Party" that she has been planning (and obsessing about) as of late. Strawberrys and blueberrys will be served,,,

Katharine and Lukas art

About a week or so ago both of the kids grabbed some construction paper at the table and began to draw (this pretty much happens every day- but I happened to save these). These two pictures are very representative of their work nowadays.

Katharine's subject matter is her family. She gave each of us heart heads and then she embarked on some flowing linework (lined with more heart heads) that represents our house.

Lukas's subject matter was "bo-bo", and even though I have no idea what that means he is always quick to point out where the babies are in the picture if you ask him. He likes to put his head down and draw in small and concentrated bursts. Every cluster on the page represents one of these bo-bo's, and you get the sense that when he is finished it is finished and should be obvious to the world (or to a bo-bo,,,).