Nala has pretty much claimed the couch as her own. On the positive side she is no longer trying to eat it.

 
Today is half-and-half day at Maya’s school. She is dressed as a soccer player on top and as an equestrian on bottom. Her right side hair features a bun and the other a braid. In other respects, I see her as half way between a child and young girl.

Kyle and Nala in a face-off. Please take a look at the source of the controversy by looking over the contents of Kyle’s right hand. 

 
Jeanine’s amaryllis is in full bloom. I believe she grew this from a bulb sent to her by her father.

 
This is the reaction I get every time I try and photograph Chloe. Perhaps next time I will hand the camera to Kyle or Maya for a better result.

 
Kyle’s girlfriend Chole is like a big sister to Maya and took the time to give her French braids which I think look very nice on her.

 
I liked the available light in one particular room and coaxed Jeanine to pose for me. This is her come hither look. It works every time.

 
After their performance, the dancers invited guests to learn a few steps. I passed on the swing, but had to put my cameras down and find Jeanine when the Salsa music started.

 
It was an elegant evening featuring delectable appetizers (none of which I could sample because of the cleanse I am on), a ballroom dance performance, and a piano solo by one of the schools most talented pupils.

 
Jeanine and I attended a black tie fund raising gala for the Concord Music Conservatory held at a neighbors home this evening. Here Jeanine recognizes, Kate Yoder, the Director and Founder of the conservatory for her dream to create it and for the tireless work she has devoted to it. I was asked to photograph the event and the results can be viewed in my Web Album.

 
This morning I found Maya on the couch with her pig like this. What I first thought was a kiss was actually more like an extended period of resting with their lips touching. They both seemed to enjoy the intimacy. Later, when I picked Maya up and tossed her on the couch from a great distance as I am often prone to do, all the pig hair from her sweater transfered to my fleece and I spent the rest of the day removing it.

 
Nicolai was invited to speak to the elementary students at Mason Rice about his adventure to the top of Kilimanjaro as part of their Kids-in-Action series. The after school event, held in the aduitorium, was well attended by about 75 people and according to Jeanine, Nico was extremely poised in his presentation and really captured the imagination of the audience. Afterwards he posed for photos with some of the attendees. Photo credit to Jeanine for her first blog entry with her new camera.

 
Today I held an Engineering Management off site meeting with my team. We spent the day at the Stone Hedge Inn and broke up the day with a noon walk in the refreshing cold. I had hoped snow conditions would have allowed for a snowball fight but after a half dozen attempts it was clear that the snow was too dry. It was a productive session, enhanced by the involvement of my boss, who facilitated an afternoon brainstorming session. We finished the long day with an exquisite meal at the Left Bank restaurant which I can highly recommend. I left just in time to make my 9:45 indoor soccer game which ended in another loss, but I did manage a nice goal in the early minutes.

 
This evening everyone test fit their cold weather gear for our upcoming dog sledding adventure on the frozen boundary waters of Minnesota. Although the trip is not for a month, we needed to search the house and gather all of our existing gear before making a shopping list for the remaining items. Who knew we already had five balaclavas? Kyle does a quick mirror check to verify that he looks acceptably fashionable, warmth apparently is a secondary concern.