Keeping busy

The older kids are in a few activities this fall to keep them busy, as well as me! Junior is playing soccer with the homeschool group we are in and they meet once a week and do a few drills the first half and then scrimmage the second half. He has wanted since the first day to be the goalie. I do not know why but he insists on playing that position. He really enjoys it because he cousins play in the group also.

Defending his goal

Gotta love that concentration and that tongue!

Gaga started a tap, ballet and twirl class with one of her friends from her preschool class. They have known each other since they were born! This is one of the things I just couldn't wait to do with Gaga until she was old enough. She still actually isn't old enough for this class. The age group is for 3-6 year olds and she won't be 3 until December. She is definitely the smallest in her class but she can keep up and the teacher says she is doing fine. And Gaga just LOVES it! Always asking if she can, "Go my dance class?"

My little ballerina before her first class

Showing off a skill they learned at the end of class (we have yet to buy any ballet slippers)

In other news with the kids, Junior was invited to one of his best friends birthday party. I just knew he would want to go so without asking him I replied to the mom and let her know that Junior would be there. I told him a couple days later that I had RSVP'ed him to the party and he replied with, "What?! You are going to have to cancel that!" I think he was just a little apprehensive because eventually he wanted to go and had a great time. The other day we were working on number recognition and I needed him to tell me the number 32. He said, "three...two, three...two, oh thirty-two like Josh Hamilton!" Daddy was so proud when I called to tell him that. I was also calling to make sure that was indeed Hamilton's baseball number! Sorry, I know players, you don't expect me to know their numbers also?!

Gaga has been doing so well at school and loving every minute of it. She is constantly asking if it's time to go to "my school" and was even waking in the middle of the night to come ask us if it was time to go to school. Thankfully the waking at night part was short lived. She still loves to ask when we are going though and will carry around her lunch box, nap mat or backpack at various times throughout the day. The teachers say that she is so independent, wants to do everything herself and acts like she's done this before. We moved her shirts in her room down to a lower bar in her closet so she could reach them. The good news is when she sees me getting ready in the morning to go somewhere she will go and get ready herself since she can reach everything. It sure is nice to have one less person to get ready in the morning. She will come back with clothes, socks and shoes on! The bad part about the clothes is that she will change her clothes multiple times a day whether they are dirty or not. It gets very frustrating when she puts clean clothes that she just took off in the dirty clothes hamper. I'm sure she is contributing to the more than usual amount of clothes to be washed! Gaga has been as stubborn and strong willed as ever recently. Just the other day we were driving down a highway (which reminds me, whenever something is high out of reach Gaga will say that it's "up highway" instead of up high) and she decides to unbuckle the top buckle of her 5-point harness. Junior tells me right away and I tell her to put it back on. She doesn't budge. After many attempts and threats to pull the car over, each time I told her to she would move the two pieces of the buckle closer together ever so slightly but still not completely together. ARGH! She finally got them close enough together that I was able to reach back and with one hand snap them closed. She then proceeded to yell, "NO, I do it!" Are you kidding me? And one last tidbit of info...Gaga put on a pair of Smiley's shorts the other day and they fit! 6 month shorts on a 2-1/2 year old!