Book Worm

This is how Clara goes to bed now...

It was actually dark in her room (the camera's flash is bright!) She's reading by the light of her mini Maglight. Every night she reads until she gets tired. She loves reading. Chris just came home from being on the boat for the last month, and she started this while she was gone. He took this picture because he couldn't believe what a big girl she's gotten to be!

Mowing the Lawn

Time for the little guy to start earning his keep around here!

Starting it up...

Off he goes!

This thing doesn't seem to be working!

Sassy

After our Girls' Night last night, I couldn't wait to get Clara home and wash away the glitter and makeup. After her bath, I offered to braid her hair in a bunch of little braids so that she could wear it wavy today. She loves to have 'crinkly hair'.

Sporting the more natural look

She doesn't need all that makeup to feel sassy (but it's still fun once in a while!)

Girls Are Cool and Boys Drool!

It's been a while since Clara and I got away for a Girls' Day, so we took the opportunity this afternoon. There's no school tomorrow since it's Labor Day, so we took advantage of having Daddy home to hang out with the boys! I took Clara to 'My Girl', a store in the mall where they'll do the girls' hair and makeup. Clara was in heaven since I never let her play with makeup!

She picked blue eyeshadow, which made her look like a rockstar! She sat so still through the whole makeup session, she almost looked miserable...not sure what happened to that excited look on her face when she realized where we were going!

Hair for a princess!

My Rockstar!

Checking out her 'do'

I even let her wear her fancy petticoat skirt.

We finished the night off with a little shopping and Chuck E Cheese for dinner. We had a blast. I can't wait for our next Girls' Night - We're going to see the Broadway Production of Beauty and the Beast in November!!!!

Biking to School

Clara's been asking to ride her bike to school since last year. The fact that kindergarten was half day and I would pick her up in the van so we could run errands after school, kept me from saying yes last year. This year, the only thing holding us back was the lack of a bike lock. I found a combination lock for her that uses a word instead of numbers to make it easier to remember, and she was set. Chris was off of work today, so I was sure one of us could meet her at school to help her unlock her bike if she needed it. She was so excited!

Ready to go to school!

Daddy helping her with her lock

Showing her how to loop it through the frame of the bike

Locking it up

I told her to loop her helmet onto her backpack and take it into school with her, seeing as how it cost almost as much as her bike!

Ready to go!

She's such a big girl! Most days I can't meet her after school since school lets out in the middle of nap time. There's always neighbors for her to walk/ride home with, but she knows the way on her own. She loves having this new form of independence!

Gospel According to Matthew...

Looks like I've got another talker!

Cheerleading

Clara's trying out something new this year - cheerleading! She is cheering on base for the flag football teams. It's very relaxed, and perhaps not a great indication for her as to what cheerleading is typically like, but I thought she might enjoy it. So far she really seems to like it, and Jonathan can do all the cheers right along with her thanks to her fine instruction :) Practice started a couple weeks ago when she was in socer camp (thus the outfit below) and we've had 2 games so far.

At Rest

'I said a D-O-W-N and that's the way you get down!'

Ready for the 1st game

Sassy

Sassy even on the field

Victory

'We're the girls from the USA'

'Goooo Bulldogs!'

Still Sassy

Flashing the cheerleader smile!

'Defense, Hold that line!'

Go Clara!

Game 2: At rest

'We're the girls from the USA'

'Bang, Bang Choo choo train, come on baby do your thing'

Goooo team!

It's actually almost comical to watch the games/cheerleading. The cheerleaders are 'Bulldogs', but they don't cheer for the same team every week. Instead they are given a time slot (5:30pm every Friday) and they cheer for one of the 2 teams playing at that time. The first week we watched the 'Colts' play the 'Chargers' and the whole time the cheerleaders were cheering for the Bulldogs. I don't think a single cheerleader understood the connection between them and the players on the field. Some girls (Clara) may not have even been aware there were boys playing flag football on the field. This week they actually cheered for one of the teams (the 'Eagles') on the field, but little other acknowledgement was made. To make it even more comical, the teams they're cheering for are an older age group, and those boys (and their coaches) are pretty serious about the game being played. The cheerleaders are simply there to 'do their thing!' But Clara seems to be enjoying herself. Another bit of irony, when Clara's cheering with the squad, she one of the least vocal, often looking down at her feet and not smiling unless prompted. However at home, she will get Jonathan to 'introduce her' to do her cheers for anyone on the street who will listen, screaming so loud you can hear her from inside the house, looking up and smiling like the most confident cheerleader you've ever seen. Somehow she just seems to get lost in the pack. Go Figure!