Tiny Dancer

Leighton loves dance. Good-bye mommy's dreams of a future gymnast.

Our Y had a few dance class issues, but now it is up an running again and she asked to do dance again this month. At a consignment sale I found her a ballerina skirt (she was IN LOVE!), along with ballet and tap shoes. She is one happy, tiny dancer.

Meg also teaches her A LOT. She wants to be a dancer just like her!

Let's just hope she did NOT get my genetics for dance, because bless her she will have to work much harder then.

I love having a girly girl that wants to dance and attempt gracefulness (did you see the band-aide on her knee from her latest attempt!), but can also throw down with the boys! The perfect combination.

Imagination {Train Style}

So the other day I was telling you that my kids have no idea how to play anymore. Or so I thought....

After the gym I left the kids watching some show and headed to the shower. When I got out their show had ended and Lo had made them a train! Complete with her Engineer/Conductor dress up clothes and whistle! HA! She even got MW playing too! I was blown away by this.

 ALL ABOARD.

 Leighton informed me we were going to go through the forest, then stop at a park and play and then head to the zoo!

 Here we are at the "zoo."
This was a bear that we got to pet! He was pretty friendly!

 Next stop the giraffes. Apparently you can hug these guys.

 Then we found some cats to lick. {What is wrong with my kid that he has to LICK everything! No wonder we are sick all the time now! HA!}

I wish I would have gotten more pics of all the animals they found tossed about the house. I was just so impressed with them playing I got caught up in it too!

So I guess they still do know how to play even if they watch a little too much Deigo, Backyardigans, and Sesame Street...oh and who can forget JAKE!

Just Another Day

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner today with A Day in the Life. I actually had this post all ready to go for over a week, but never hit publish, so  when I saw this link up I figured today is as good as any. HA!

Last time I went through our schedule it was August! Now it seems like the end of the year is looming. Time is just picking up in speed with each passing day. I am still not over my baby girl turning 4.

Our days seem like they are always full and each day is different. Ever just feel so "busy" but really you aren't, you just poorly manage your time?! Yep, that is me. I constantly find myself "busying" myself with things that don't matter and then wondering why my house is a mess and how I forgot to throw chicken in the crock pot!

Well the biggest change from last time is I no longer frequent the gym at 530a! Micah dropped his AM nap, so we all needed a break and an "activity" to break up the morning. :)

7/715a-up and at 'em. Call me lazy, but I don't get out of bed until one of my kids, namely Leighton, wakes me up. Then we head to breakfast.

730-830a- Breakfast with a PBS show blarring in the background. And THIS is why I have no idea what my current events are.

What? Is this not how YOU eat breakfast?!

845a- I am frantically trying to get us in the car and to the gym. On Mondays and Thurs I train a friend, Tues Lo has gymnastics, so my only 'lax days are Wednesday and Fridays.

9a-1015a- Gym time for me, Kid Zone for the kids. I am so lucky that they both absolutely LOVE it in there and matter of fact they get mad at me if I tell them we aren't going...

1045a-1p-home and trying to get lunch around. My kids are too busy watching TV to eat breakfast and so they are "STARVING" by 11a. We usually watch another show or two and "play" until nap time at 1p. I use the term loosely because my kids seem to have forgotten how to play and only want to watch tv or play on the iPad, that or fight over the one and only toy we apparently have. :)

Don't let the "sweetness" of this picture fool you...they are full on, no rules, wrestling each other to the death. I wish I were kidding. At this point I have stopped refereeing them so long as there is no blood. They can love each other with a passion that supersedes all odds, but then they equally can go at it.

On Tues, we hang out with friends at someone's house until nap! LOVE.

1p-3ish- Nap time. We read a book and then they lay down. MW is so worn out he is out like a light within minutes. Lo, well she still thinks naps are for losers. Mommy doesn't. Lately I am making her lay still and quiet for 20 minutes and if she is STILL awake after that (never has been yet!) then she can play quietly.

This is my time that I do only what I WANT. I rest, I scrapbook, I blog, I stare at a wall, but I refuse to "work" during nap time. I enjoy my break and free time.

3ish- snack and more shows. We watch WAY too much TV around here...do you know how hard that week was without tv?!

4ish- daddy home. Mommy finishes off dinner prep. (ie checks the crock-pot) HA!

501p- we eat.
After dinner on Tues and Thurs mommy leaves for her worship team commitments for the rest of the night. Daddy is in charge. And it is usually bath night. How sad we actually have to have designated bath nights, because we forget to bathe our kids otherwise. Just yesterday we looked at each other and tried to remember when the last time they had baths were?!
Wed night mommy and daddy have small group; and Grandma Rachel babysits.
Monday and Friday are our only "family nights."

6-8p-more tv, some playing and then getting ready for bed.

8p- LIGHTS OUT! Daddy reads to the kids, I love this.

8p-watch a show and then I try and head to bed by 930p!

So that is an exhilarating look into our day to day. I am really working on cutting back the TV watching around here, not because I think it is "all bad," but because I think my kids just can't remember how to just be and play, and use their imaginations--that is their job. I just default to tv because it is easy...really challenging myself to do better.