What are the kids up to?

Little Dude has really been trying to control himself and his temper. He still has his moments, but he is doing SO much better. I have been VERY proud of him lately. We have started giving the kids 5 chores to do every day. Dude has been very good at trying to accomplish these things. The other day he did a handful of things that I told him that I wanted him to help me with ALL BY HIMSELF WITHOUT ME ASKING TWICE! Amazing! Really! He unloaded and then loaded the dishwasher. He washed the mirror in the bathroom, he cleaned his brother's room and his own room. Then yesterday I was doing laundry all day and he took it upon himself to change the laundry over. He unloaded the dryer then put the wet clothes in. He even put the two dryer sheets in and started it. I knew what he was up to but stood in the other room and just listened. He was so proud of himself that he knew what to do and was even showing his sister how to do it. When I walked in I noticed he even had another load of dirty clothes waiting to load into the washer. I was so touched that he did this and I hadn't even expected him to do it. More importantly I was shocked that he knew how to do it correctly. It is amazing what they really do pay attention to and learn from just watching me. Then to top off the day he helped his sister get scrubbed, out of the bath, dried off, dressed, and even combed out her hair while I was gone to Young Women's and Daddy was super sick on the couch. I can't express to him enough how proud I am of him!!!

Princess has been busy learning her routine for her gymnastics show in a few weeks. She absolutely LOVES gymnastics! She dances, hops, and rolls all over the house. Not to mention the handstands she does next to EVERYTHING. I think it is very funny to watch her! She is super flexible! She has always loved to sing, but after we went and saw a play at the High School, she has been performing. She tells me that when she gets big she wants to be on stage and she wants to sing and dance. No surprise to me, she loves to be loud and the center of attention. She makes up her own songs and will make sure that I sit and listen to all 5 minutes of it. She makes me laugh!

The baby is getting so big! He is 8 months old today! He has 1 tooth and 1 more almost in. He can roll over FINALLY and will probably learn to crawl once the other two learn to leave him alone when he is playing on the floor. He LOVES to eat his least favorite is peaches. He will eat anything else though. His favorite toy is the remote control. We had to give him his own because he will do everything he can to get one in his hand. We are working on him going to sleep in his bed instead of being rocked to sleep. Yesterday he cried in his crib for about 45 minutes while I rubbed his back and his face and tried to get him to sleep. I felt really bad for him. He is VERY MUCH a mamma's boy and I knew that he just wanted to cuddle. So I got the idea to take my t-shirt that I wore to bed the night before and put it next to him so he could maybe feel like I was next to him. Wouldn't you know that he put both arms around that old dang t-shirt and fell right to sleep! Mamma's Boy FOR SURE! It was cute though, and he took the longest nap he has had in over a week!

Well that is about it for what the kids are up to! Things have been much better around here and I am really proud of all of my kids! I love them dearly and I am so happy that I have the opportunity to learn and grow with them.