And let's not forget DANCE!

Claire is starting her fourth year at Children's Ballet Workshop.  She has graduated from the 1/2 and 1/2 classes (30 minutes tap/30 minutes ballet) to the individual classes.  This means she no longer wears pink (she now wears a black bodysuit and pink tights....she thinks this is so cool and grown up!) and that her instruction has ramped up to one hour of tap and one hour of ballet every Friday night.  This has taken some time for her to adjust to as it is a lot of work for a little dancer.  She's doing very well though and is also starting her second year on the competition team, Dance Elite.  Her team is now in an older age group (7-10) which means the competition and talent is a lot tougher.  Miss Sandi warned the moms and dancers that we probably won't be brining home a lot of trophies this year, but that they are still going to learn a lot.

Claire's first competition of the season was on her birthday weekend.  Out of the three performances in their age group, they came in third so Miss Sandi was right, but they still did a great job.  It amazes me that my little girl doesn't appear at all nervous when she is on that stage and I noticed that she tried really hard to smile while dancing.  We were all really proud of the girls.

Claire and Gabbie

Watching the other performers

Isabella, Claire, Gabbie, & Annabella

The girls and Miss Morgan

Spoon Full o' Sugar

Claire with their Third Place trophy and Ribbon

September is here and so is Soccer Season!

I was a bad mom.  I forgot to register the girls for soccer and by the time I remembered, Claire's soccer team was already full.  I felt terrible.  Talk about mom guilt!  Claire was upset at first, but fortunately our friend Colleen was Keira's coach, and she was nice enough to let Claire practice with the team each week.  Wasn't the same as being on her own team, but it worked.  Keira really enjoyed soccer this year.  By season's end, she was grasping the basic idea of the game.  Her once endless running soon turned into dribbling the ball and even scoring some goals!  It was great seeing her play with her peers!       

Notice Keira on the ground.  She said she was "taking a little rest".  LOL

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
How can it be that both of my babies are in school?
I was so happy that I was able to see my girls board that big school bus on the first day of school.  One of the downsides of teaching in an elementary school is that I often miss events like this because their special school days (like the first day or parties and trips) are often the same special days in my own classroom.  This year however, Claire and Keira started the day before I did, so Steve and I were both able to see the girls off to school.  It was a beautiful sunny morning and the girls were very excited.  I think I was the only nervous one at the bus stop!

I love this picture!  It is so them!

 Claire is in the first grade this year....

And Keira is in kindergarten!

Claire's backpack/lunch box choices for the year were Ariel and Sophia the First.  Keira's love for Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates is still strong and so he won as her backpack pick.  She balanced it out with a little girly-ness by choosing Doc McStuffins for her lunch box.

It was nearly 25 minutes late, but the big yellow school bus finally pulled up!  A few quick kisses and they were off!

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So turns out I'm really not good at blogging anymore.  My intentions are good, but my days are so busy!  Here's a mix of photos of some of the summer fun we've been having.  Beach days, pool days, and nice days with the family.......