With the end of the school year fast approaching, the difference between elementary school and middle school is amplified. Kaylee has no homework whatsoever, while Matthew has final projects and exams to study for.
Enjoy it while you can, Kaylee!
Crushing soda cans for recycling is one of the kids’ regular chores. I just caught them on the tail end of it here. They usually only do it about once a week, so when Mark and I get into streaks of drinking more soda than we should, it can be a pretty big job!
After all of Kaylee’s baking projects last summer, she really hadn’t done any since then, and she asked if she could make something this weekend. So we whipped up a batch of Soft Chocolate Cookies. Yum!
We’ve had “Tangled” at the top of our Netflix queue for ages, and we finally got it this weekend. Kaylee’s Rapunzel doll joined us for the viewing. :) Definitely worth the wait; one of the best movies family we’ve seen in quite a while! :)
Camera ambush as the kids were getting ready for bed. They were supposed to be brushing their teeth, but (as is typical) there was waaaaaaaaay too much chatter coming from the bathroom for anyone to have actually had a toothbrush in their mouth. Kaylee managed to hide behind the door and avoid the incriminating photo. ;)
Kaylee decided to use a ribbon to play jump rope. Today was not actually “Field Day”, as her shirt might imply, but she did have a field trip to the Dallas Arboretum, thus the name tag sticker. Apparently, it was not a very strenuous day if she still had enough energy to jump around the family room. ;)
That’s an angry looking weather map if I ever saw one. The tornado sirens went off tonight (surprisingly rare for us), and we had to get the kids out of bed to take cover in the bathroom. Fortunately, the storm passed without an actual tornado in our immediate area.
[More observant readers may have noticed that there was no day 143. Since I am actually a couple of months behind on posting these, I’ve decided to try not to worry about filling any gaps with a relevant photo like I would normally do if I caught them within a day or two. In the interest of getting back on track, I’m going to fight my inner perfectionist, and just go with what I’ve got. I will probably find a few more gaps as I work through these; I’m just going to pretend I don’t notice them. ;) ]
Kaylee, showing off her own original dress design of scarves! Such a fashionista!
Today is my birthday! Kaylee gave me her undivided attention most of the day, which included showering me with homemade confetti, extra-chunky. ;)
The kids do a little bit of microwaving and toasting on their own, but tonight was Matthew’s first time cooking something on the stove. Mark walked him through his version of mac ‘n cheese. :)
A quick shot of my desk tonight. Funny all the odd things that end up on there that I don’t even notice anymore until they end up in a photo. LOL The guitar is from my latest collab with Kate Hadfield. After months of planning and rescheduling, and then more hours of work than I want to add up, “Audaciously Awesome” finally went live in our shops late tonight! :)
I have so much fun working with Kate, and I love the way our design styles complement each other. So cool to see it all come together! :)
Harry and Mark made a quick stop up the road at Southfork this afternoon (Harry’s wife is a big “Dallas” fan, and even though she wasn’t there with him, she told him he had to go), and then they dropped by the house for a bit before heading back out for the evening workshop.
Traditional shot in front of Mark’s magic library. :)
The annual magic club officers’ installation banquet. This year’s entertainment was Harry Anderson, aka ‘Harry the Hat’. (Also aka judge Harry T. Stone of “Night Court”, but that’s not part of the act – ‘Harry the Hat’ is a quite a bit more… um, crass. LOL) It was a great show, so much fun! :)
Oh, I suppose I should include a photo of the officers, since that was the point of the evening. ;) After serving as Sergeant at Arms last year, Mark was sworn in as Vice-President for this year. This is his second time running through the ranks as a club officer. :)
The family room was a sea of cables and speakers as Mark tested the sound equipment in preparation for tomorrow night’s magic banquet.
Matthew got his official Certificate of Membership from the Society of American Magicians at the Young Magician’s Club meeting this morning. (Kaylee was still a bit under the weather, so she skipped the meeting this month.)
Matthew after school, telling me in great detail about all the unusual things that happened that day. The short version … one person fell while getting off the bus but caught themselves and got up and acted like nothing happened, a fight broke out right behind him in English class (scary), he was pulled out of his next class to tell a teacher what he knew about the fight, one person tried to run up a wall (and failed), they played basketball using tennis rackets to dribble, and the kids got to watch a BMX bike show outside behind the school (promoting “Yes to No Drugs”). Sounds like quite a day!
Matthew's spring band concert was tonight. I really wanted to go, but Kaylee, after an early visit to the doctor this morning, who determined she now is “only” suffering from allergies and sent her off to school, was just not up to it. So I sent Mark with the camcorder and our little pocket camera. Unfortunately, the light in the huge cafeteria/theater is so wonky that this photo, taken while Matthew was waiting for his group to be dismissed at the end, is the only one where you can even tell he’s there. I’m told the concert went very well though. Hopefully, the video turned out better! :)
Kaylee’s symptoms keep morphing. She’s moved on from the stomach symptoms to ear pain, sore throat, and a low-grade fever, and then sniffles, stuffiness, and a wicked cough. Poor kid is just miserable. :(
We received a lovely thank you gift today of meat from Omaha Steaks. It came packed in dry ice, so Mark took a chunk of it and dropped it in a glass of water to show the kids what it would do. It went on bubbling and foaming and misting and for quite a long time!
Kaylee’s new Zoobles Happy Meal toys. The one on the left, Seamus, is obviously a fish, but I’m not sure what exactly Shellberry is. I think they’re all supposed to be animals, but this one looks kind of like a cross between an orange and a soccer ball. LOL Cute nonetheless. :)
Kaylee got hit last night with a stomach bug. Still sporting her Field Day tattoo, she spent a lot of the day today sprawled on the floor playing on the laptop… definitely not her usual perky, energetic self.
One of my least favorite recent additions to Mark’s magic collection, Roger stands in the corner of the guest room, sporting souvenir attire from previous guest magicians or other magical friends – a hat from Fielding West, John Calvert’s pajama top, a convention name badge from Roger Klause, a bent spoon bracelet from Alain Nu, and, because I insisted that he have pants, Mark’s own tuxedo pants.
It’s taken me weeks not to jump every time I pass by. I see him out of the corner of my eye and keep thinking someone is standing there! :b
Kaylee waiting for the bus, sporting her freshly tattooed cheek, and all revved up for Field Day – a favorite school event where the kids spend half the day outside playing games. And there are popsicles! ;)
One of our largest single charity loads to date, 95% of which came from Kaylee’s room. Four large bags of mostly toys, two boxes of books and other odds and ends, an air purifier, a sit ’n spin, and a play kitchen. This photo really does not do the volume of it justice. Amazingly enough, even after pulling all of that stuff out, Kaylee’s room is still overflowing. :b
Just loved the pattern of the sunlight was coming in through the blinds and hitting the fireplace surround this morning. :)
Matthew had a band field trip to an amusement park today. They played for judges (and took first!), and then were turned loose in the park. He had a great time and came home with these souvenir teeth from one of the carnival games.
Guest magic lecturer this weekend was Doc Eason (left). He stayed an extra night to conduct a workshop. I snuck a quick shot while waiting for the last lingering attendees to leave so that I could snap the traditional guest book photo before heading to bed. :)
Random “stuff around the house” shot. The bottom half of this rabbit-in-a-hat is a cookie jar that Mark has had forever. When we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago, I put the top half of the cookie jar up in a “safe” place (a high shelf in a cabinet), and I ended up accidentally breaking it later, bumping it when I went to get something down. The broken pieces are still in on Mark’s dresser waiting for an attempt at repair. In the mean time, this fluffy rabbit puppet gets to enjoy having big ceramic feet. :)
