Maya looks on as Mario plays Nintendo. 

Jeanine spent a good part of the day with Sophia while Mark, Marie and the boys went into Boston. The two ventured out to the middle school to see Kyle perform with his band at the annual talent show. Later they went out for ice cream which turned into something of a comical affair as Sophia attempted to get the ice cream into her mouth using a fountain glass length spoon. Sophia gave me, and apparently many others, the evil eye when I tried to lure her away from Jeanine. It took several rounds of peek-a-boo before she warmed up to me. The child shares her father’s appetite for food. You are well advised to keep valued digits away from her mouth when she turns her attention to eating. 

What do you think the chances are that these two pumpkins are related? 

 
After enduring a flight of six and a half hours (scheduled for two), Mark, Marie, and cousins Mario, Rory, and Sophia arrived at 3AM last night. Despite the late arrival, the boys were up at the crack of dawn.

Jeanine received a dozen red roses from her secret admirer. One of the stems did not survive the shipping (from South America) and Jeanine fashioned a very beautiful resting place for the lone bud in a crystal bowl. 

 
For family night Maya chose to make her own Photo Valentine. She selected and posed all the elements and even directed me to shoot from a high angle.

I am experimenting with adding video clips to my journal. If you click on the image below it will take you to a video I call the Italian Hot Dog. The video is about ten seconds long.

Meanwhile, Maya has a piano recital and performs wonderfully. I am beginning to think Nicolai had the right idea about sleeping in. Did I mention we are having both boys bedrooms painted today and as I type there are 5 teenagers in our basement rehearsing for the school talent show. Believe it or not this is a typical Saturday.

As if that was not enough activity for one day, Kyle has a 2 hour outdoor soccer practice to begin training for the spring season.

Jeanine takes Maya to swimming and Nicolai to diving while I take Kyle to basketball. His team earned another decisive victory.

Nicolai off to a very slow start this morning. As his body grows, it takes more energy for him to get around and I think he uses the weekends to recharge his battery.

Kyle’s team, Chaos, played three back to back games this evening to win their divisional championship. The team gave up only one goal through the tournament and won the final match with a 3-0 shutout. Kyle had two goals and several assists. I do have a nice photo of the team, but I am sure this is the one they will all want to see.

Nicolai’s indoor soccer team won the Division 1 title for his age group today. Nicolai and his friends formed this team and have coached themselves throughout the season. It has been interesting to watch as they argue over strategy and vie for playing time and favorite positions. At the end of the day they were able to work through these challenges and produce a championship team.

Maya appears to have acquired some of her grandmother’s artistic talents. She glazed this ceramic cat at a friends birthday party and then cooked it.