Fall is officially here!

It has been a busy busy week and weekend. I talked to my advisor recently about my last classes for next semester (oh and I teach her daughter, Avery, so it's neat to get to know her and her family more), but anyways, apparently I didn't know that one class I have to take is a pre-requisite for another class that I need. Basically, she was saying I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like you're not going to be able to graduate in May. haha gotta love those reminders that God is in control and NOT us...but it's just a minor bump in the road in the scheme of things I suppose. Anyways, I have to go talk to the department about my options and hopefully find a way to work everything out.

So that added a little stress to my week, BUT at least having this "cooler" weather seems to make life so much more enjoyable, and puts me in a better mood. Especially for times like this weekend; we had an awesome football-filled Saturday with Texas States' homecoming and the Texas v Mizzou game! Weekends like that are always good stress-relieving weekends.

Oh how I love love love this time of the year! :)

And of course I finally took some pictures of my dance classes. It's funny how much the pictures reflect most of their personalities, some of them have tons of personality (and it shows), and then there are still a few girls who are a little difficult in class.--but that's alright.

This is my Wednesday Combo A class (meaning 6 & 7 year olds). This is the class I talked about last time--one of my favorite classes I teach! From left to right there is:

Devyn--the girl who fractured her collarbone, but is back!! ;

Laisha--the girl who runs up to me everytime yelling "Hi Miss Tatie"and gives me a huge hug ;

Avery--the very mature for her age advisors' daughter ;

and Katie--one of the prettiest and quietest girls out of the entire studio! (Oh and the girls still get a big kick out of the fact that Katie and I have the same name.)

These are two of the girls in my Saturday Preschool B class (4 year olds). From left to right:

Krystal--the girl that (at age 4) already loves a challenge. She needs a little competition to keep her listening and participating.

and Sofia--perhaps the CUTEST and most contagious laugh ever, and she starts every sentence off with "Miss Katie did you know..."

Ah my oh so crazy Kindergarten class on Saturdays. This is one of my most difficult classes because they're all "best friends" so they feed off of each other. There is a LOT of talking in this class, so I have to be really creative in coming up with new ways to help them pay attention. Don't get me wrong, I still love 'em and they're still cute little kiddos.

and finally, 3 of my oldest girls that I teach, my Saturday Combo A class (6 & 7 yr olds):

La'Maisha, Estella, and Anouk--these are 3 girls just bursting with personality; especially Anouk (at the bottom). She is fluent in French and English so whenever I am teaching a new "term" in ballet, she understands a little better than most girls because she can understand that "plie" means "to bend" and tendu means "to stretch," etc.

Lamers and Grasshoppers

So I have a feeling most of these posts are going to be about work and the funny things kids say...because it's not like I'm traveling Europe (like Kim) or buying new houses (sister and brother)....but anyways kids should provide enough entertainment to keep this going. We've been talking about Halloween lately in classes and I've been asking the girls what they're going to be for Halloween. My favorites so far were 2 girls from one of my classes: one is going to be a grasshopper, and the other, Cecily, is going to be a "LAMER." When I asked what a "Lamer" was, I could hear here mom cracking up in the hallway and she said, "It's an animal like a monkey." I soon realized that Cecily was meaning to say "Lemur" haha. I guess the days are over where little girls want to be princesses and disney characters, now it's insects and lemurs. W're having a Halloween Haunted House at the studio, and needless to say I am very excited to get to see all the girls dressed up in their costumes!

Oh and I did talk to a physical therapist and it's going to be like $100 just for them to help me work out my knee and give me a few excercises to do...so it's not really worth it. Good ol heat, ice, and compression is going to have to be good enough.

Oh and one more quick thing.....HOOK 'EM. :)

The Busiest semester yet.

Alright sister...since you insist on this, I will try to keep you updated on things as my last year of college speeds by.

This week seemed to take forever, but it could have been because I got about 2-4 hours of sleep every night, since I was studying for midterms, tests, and writing papers (I thought this semester was supposed to be EASIER than others since I'm only taking 12 hours, but I guess I was mislead).

So, I'm in Austin today and tomorrow for a little break. I just got back from the doctor--who told me nothing that I didn't already know--that I need to go to physical therapy. So, I told her I'd make an appointment in San Marcos; I don't know how often I would actually go, but I might as well go talk to them and see if they can help me out a little so my knees stop aching.

One last thing to make a comment on: the kiddos at work. Lately, the girls have been in the habit of talking a lot, so we've had to practice a lot of "good listening" and with only 45 minutes to do stretching, ballet, AND tap....I'm constantly trying to figure out new ways to help keep their attention! I do have one class, however, that is the exception to the rule. It's my smallest and yet oldest class, made up of 3 incredibly behaving beautiful little girls (and I guess it also happens to be my favorite class, though I'm trying to not play favorites). Last Wednesday I told them that we couldn't start unless they each told me what they did that day. haha In every other class I'm constantly asking the girls to stop talking and listen more, but in this class I find myself doing everything I can just to get the girls to talk!

I'm finding myself to love this job more and more. It's tough to be prepared every time I go to class because it means I can't really have an off day--but on the other hand, every time I have a bad day, their goofy little selves just make me smile!