tfw...

...almost all the schoolwork is done, the standardized tests have been taken, there are no more recitals/performances coming up, all summer plans and camps have been arranged, all doctor appts have been scheduled, and everyone has clothes to last the summer.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Also, I feel totally lost.  What the heck am I supposed to be doing with myself now???  It feels very unnatural to be able to sit on my deck and sip iced tea and read a novel in the middle of the morning! 

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So, what are we up to?  This week, blessedly not much.  This is the first week of our sort-of summer break, inasmuch as those who haven't finished all their schoolwork yet have a much lighter load, and there aren't any places that people need to be driven to (at least until the camps start).

Miriam on the piano

Here's a preview of what Miriam's going to play for her recital this Friday:

"Gardens in the Rain" by Claude Debussy (with toddler accompaniment)

Winter photodump

January

umm, don't think you fit there any more, Baby

arrr, fercious pirate kitteh wants all yer catnip

Nicky "helping" Miriam to practice

Bling!

Guess who got her ears pierced!!!

At 13, Katie finally decided she was ready to have holes drilled in her earlobes.  And look how pretty they are!

Are. You. Kidding. Me.

Happy first day of Spring, everyone!

that is actual snow. falling from the sky.

Yeesh.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Art Imitates Life

inspired by the weather this weekend

Stickz Comics, Issue #29! (by Katie)

The Family Speedcuber

Miriam got a Rubiks Speed Cube for Christmas, and she's been making good use of it:

51 seconds!!!

She spent most of Tech Week playing around with our older, stiffer Rubiks, memorizing algorithms, when all the actors were spending a lot of time sitting around waiting to rehearse.  (Because, of course, doing school work was out of the question, with all your friends around!)

It's for your own good, really.

These pictures are from a couple weeks ago -- right now I can hear the kids playing outside in the sunshine through my open window.  Virginia weather is so weird.

Sorry, kitty.  No outside today.

...Just trust me on this one.

it was SO COLD for so long that my giant rain barrel froze solid

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So kitty had a little adventure the other day.  We went out of town for a couple days, and even though we had a pet sitter come and play with Soot Sprite, he wasn't allowed outside for 48 whole hours which just about killed him.  We let him out the day after we got back, and he insisted on spending the whole rest of the day outside, even his afternoon naptime!  He would. not. come. in.  Katie and I, and then later Mr. Pickles, spent 7 hours on and off trying to catch him: chasing him, calling him, banging his dinner bowl, but he was in psycho kitty mode and would not be caught.  So guess what -- he got to sleep outside!  Thankfully it only got down to the upper 20s.  He's got a lovely fluffy coat so he wasn't in any danger, but it definitely was not comfortable weather for a kitty used to sleeping on a down comforter at night.

The next morning I woke up with visions of frost-bitten ears, or scars from tussles with the neighborhood fox, or someone kidnapping him (he had managed to lose his collar somewhere).  But when I opened the back door at 6:30 am wondering if we were going to have to hunt for his cold, lifeless body, he came trotting right in, ran straight to his bowl and ate and ate and ate and then spent the rest of the day sleeping on Miriam's bed.  Serves him right, the little rotter.

He is so grounded.

Christmas 2017

So, despite the bout of influenza that made its slow rounds through the fam, we were still able to have a good Christmas break. 

Opportunist Kitty makes good use of feverish people -- they are so comfy!