Late latte

Sabrina and I went to deliver several bags of donated clothing to St. Vincent DePaul and then we went to Velocity Bike and Bean for some coffee. Take note of Sabrina's coffee earrings that she made herself.

Flying by the seat of your pants

Clara woke up in Wisconsin, had lunch in Detroit and is now in DC taxiing to the runway as she prepares to head back home to CVG. She went to WI this weekend to make syrup with northern relatives. As they say, "Getting there is half the fun!"

Learning

As an incentive for Christopher to learn how to drive (and pass his drivers license test) we have twice visited a store that has Dungeons and Dragons items for sale. These stores have served as a destination when we're trying to learn how to get around town. Fortunately access to the stores doesn't include any parallel parking or three-point turns.

Sabrina Band Assessment

 Here's a snapshot from Sabrina's band from the assessment today at NKU.  They were evaluated by independent judges who were listening to bands from all over northern KY today.  The 7th (and 8th) grade bands from Gray Middle School both received the Distinguished distinction which is the highest honor awarded to the bands!  Nice job Sabrina!

Choir Concert at GMS

Sabrina and Molly performed as part of the Gray Middle School choir concert tonight.  They each sang a number of songs with their respective grade and they sounded wonderful!  Here are a few snapshots from the evening. 

The long lens I have isn't quite strong enough to snap close up photos from far away so I have this one from the hallway with Molly and Sabrina. 

There's another photo of Sabrina that I took while she was preparing to sing, but I won't post it because I suspect she wouldn't want me to.  

Pre-Assessment Concert

 Tonight was the pre-assessment concert at Gray Middle School for the 7th and 8th grade band and the Symphonic and Honors Wind Symphony for Ryle High School.  Both bands were performing to help them prepare for their assessment at Northern KY University before a panel of judges on Wednesday.   Its one of the rare times when we can go to one location and hear two kids perform from two different bands. 

 

Getting her pre-concert jitters out, or maybe its a secret brass instrument exercise that I caught her in the middle of. 

Sabrina played the trombone in her first band concert tonight.  Her band buddy from the high school came over to visit after her performance to congratulate her. 

Christopher and the baritones along with a tuba photo-bomber.  

Clara's First Karate Tournament

 On Saturday, March 5, Clara competed in the Indiana State Karate Championship.  This was her first karate competition and she was nervous.  She competed in two events: kata and weapons.  Kata consists of two competitors performing a series of learned karate moves in front of a panel of three judges.  Each competitor carries out their routine consisting of kicks and punches.  Then the judges vote based on their performance.  Whoever wins the majority of the votes then advances.  

The next round was weapons.  Clara had a bow staff and proceeded to execute her routine with great precision.  

When all was said and done, Clara earned 2nd place in her division for both kata and weapons.  

She did not participate in sparring (which you can see in the background of the top few photos) but she hopes to start kicking butt in her division at the Chicago tournament happening at the end of March.  

Next stage of birthday celebration

We've now entered the "YouTube" portion of the birthday celebration.

Clara turns 15!

We celebrated Clara's birthday today with vanilla ice cream and only 5 candles.

(Someday in the future Sabrina will probably regret her fashion decisions.)

Coyote Hunting

Lucy and I got out to hunt wild dogs today. Unfortunately there were no dogs to be found but we enjoyed our time outdoors all the same.

My chair

Gus wants to know why I'm sitting in his chair.

Baking with Molly

For Christmas 2021, I was able to spend a little bit of time with each of the kids doing something special.

Clara and I went coyote hunting on 12/31. Chris and I saw the new Spider-Man movie. Lucy and I went to buy her newest fish, "Moon."

Molly and I worked together on this creation in the kitchen. A dessert that I can safely eat.

All dressed up

Hopefully this is the first of many times Christopher will wear a tuxedo when he performs on stage. For this occasion he was going to perform at the Ryle Winter Band Concert.

As of this writing in January, he's the first euphonium chair in the high band for NKY Select Band. He started playing the trombone that he received for Christmas, though he shares it with his sister Sabrina.

Snuggles

Just some snuggles with Molly while recuperating from COVID.

COVID kicked our butt

As of the time of this post, 5 of 7 family members tested positive for COVID this week. It's been quite a wild ride of trying to get healthy. Hopefully we're on the upswing.

Patience

If you ever wondered what patience looks like in a photo, I submit this image for your consideration. Sabrina is very smart, but seems to require someone to sit with her whenever she's working on Math. On this particular night, Annette was the homework aide.

Rock Climbing

For her dad Christmas present, I went rock climbing with Sabrina. She went up and down the walls many times till it was time to go.

Return of the Jedi Concert

Christopher and I went to the Return of the Jedi Concert tonight.  The Cincinnati Pops played the music while the Star Wars movie played over head.  It was a great time and we ran into a handful of friends also at the concert.

Oct 30, 2021 in two parts

We went down to Lexington on Saturday October 30, 2021 for two very different experiences.

One part was spent with extended Howard Family celebrating the birthday of Aunt Chris.

Shopping for a fish

Lucy desperately wanted a fish. So, after saving up all her money (about $55), we went to the pet store where she picked out a small tank, two orange fish and some fish food. We went home and tried to follow the instructions to allow the fish to get to know their new environment but alas, they died. We took them back, got two new fish and I'm proud to say as of this morning they're still living. More photos to come.

Back to school

11 years ago I dropped Christopher off at kindergarten. This past week he went to his first class at Gateway where he is taking two dual credit classes as a high school junior.

The days are certainly long, but the years are short.

Clay Shooting on Father’s Day

It was terribly hot, but the kids and I went out to break some clays with my dad for Father's Day this year. We kept shooting till a spring on the thrower busted on us. Sabrina was able to hit several clay targets and so was Clara. We're still working to get Christopher where he can hit them consistently and Pops' gun jammed on the first shot. Annette was quite the crack shot and apparently this type of shooting is her favorite. Who knew?

Mothers Day morning

All the chicks in the nest gather for Mother's Day 2021.

More fish stories

Something fishy going on in these pictures.

These were snapped during 2021 Spring Break. The reds wanted to go fishing so we did up at the front pond.

Loveland Bike Trail

We had our longest bike ride to date during 2021 Spring Break.

Fishing with the Reds

Sabrina, Molly, Lucy and I went fishing on Saturday. Unfortunately the fish were so small they stole the bait right off the hook. We were using marshmallows which in hindsight maybe not have been the best idea. The fish liked it, but we didn't catch too many of them. Each girl caught one, but unfortunately I don't have a photo of Molly with her catch.

Reason #560

This is reason #560 why it's good to have a truck. We took the kids to Loveland for a bike ride yesterday on their first day of Spring Break 2021.

Everybody chips in

Even Lucy got in on the shutter painting action this weekend. First she held my paint from inside the bedroom and then later she painted the side of the shutter that I couldn't reach.