Is there anybody out there?

(I'm thinking Pink Floyd when I write that)

But seriously...just wondering if there is anyone left reading this after my string of long hiatuses (sp??).

Today's Paige-ism: "My name is Ian...I'm always copying"

(A few hours after reading her new Olivia book)

She also perfectly repeated the word "coatimundi" after me. (some animal that likes bananas, thank you Wild Animal Baby) I found that pretty funny.

Lindsay is starting to read and loves butt jokes. (thank you Chris)

Pictures to come!

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to Tylor Arboretum for their Pumpkin Celebration. We met Sheri and Sophie there. When we got there we discovered we could paint pumpkins! (for a small fee, of course). This was great because Lindsay has specifically mentioned wanting to do this. We also got to ride a school bus over to the Arboretum from the Penn State parking lot, since it was going to be a big event and parking is limited. The girls were very excited by that as well. Here are some moments we captured!

On the bus:





Painting pumpkins:

Conversations

Conversation with Lindsay tonight before bed:

Lindsay: Where did we get that picture? (talking about a picture on her bedroom wall)
Me: It came with the house
Lindsay: Who made this house?
Me: a Construction company
Lindsay: Maybe it was God, maybe he gave it to us
Me: Well, God made the trees that made the wood that built the house
Lindsay: Maybe God gave us our bikes
Me: I think people made our bikes. God gave us big things like the sun, the sky and the trees, our family
Me: You can talk to God when you are by yourself
Lindsay: I can't talk to him, he doesn't know me
Me: Yes, he does, he knows everyone because he is special
Lindsay: How can I go see him?
Me: We can't, he's too far away
Lindsay: But what street do we drive on to get there?
Me: We can't drive there
Lindsay: Oh, he's up in the sky, right?
Me: That's right
Lindsay: I bet an airplane would know the way

More

Pictures

Sorry these took so long!

Broad Street

Wow, this was one of my first posts from last year! Here we are again at Broad Street. Chris had an amazing run again , although he didn't beat his time from last year. He ran somewhere between 58 and 59 minutes. This year I had both girls down there and it was really fun. Poor Paige did not like being excluded from all the action though. Lindsay got to go on all the moonbounces and she wanted to go too! Sorry lovebug - 2 more years for you! I was so proud of Lindsay for being able to climb up all the moonbounce ladders. She is such a climber lately - I am starting to think about trying gymnastics again instead of dance.

At the last minute we put Hope and Lindsay into the kiddie race for 3 year olds. They were so cute. They ran together the whole way, not really sure what was going on. My baby is getting old enough to run races!! She was SO proud to have a t-shirt with a number pinned on it and a medal like Daddy. I totally could see her having another brain overload moment from all the excitement. I took a few pictures - I'll post back once they are downloaded.

Ear Infection

Had a minor mommy scare today. Whew! Yesterday Lindsay all of the sudden was complaining of bad ear pain, to the point that she was whimpering in pain. I gave her some Motrin and that did the trick.

Today, I noticed that she wasn't responding as much when I spoke to her. I started testing it out by talking low behind her back and when I wasn't looking at her, and often she wouldn't hear me. I was REALLY concerned, considering the ear pain from yesterday! I finally called the dr. and they took her in today. Turns out she has a very definite ear infection, which causes the hearing to be off. WHEW!!!!!!! Never thought I'd be so happy about an ear infection. Some scary moments there.

Reading

Both my girls love to read! I hope it is something that stays with them. It's the best way to learn!

Haircut

Lindsay got a haircut today.


She did it herself. I kid you not. I still can't believe this happened, and I'm not quite ready to laugh about it yet. I was cutting out coupons and left the room for a minute to check an online coupon. Lindsay was playing Candyland and I told her to come with me when she was done her game. If you know her, you know she isn't a big fan of being alone in a room, so I figured she'd be right along. She wasn't - but I thought she was still happily engrossed in Candyland.

A few minutes later, she comes walking in to me in the computer room, and says, "Mommy, I cut my hair". I didn't quite get it yet, I just said, "What?" Then she says, "I was really careful and I didn't cut myself", and then is finally sank in. I got up and went into the kitchen and realized she had gotten the scissors I was using to cut coupons. There was GOBS of hair on the table. GOBS. I started to cry, I couldn't help it. My beautiful girl, feeling so grown up, had cut her hair and was so proud that she hadn't cut herself. I tried very hard not to make her feel too bad, but explained that she just shouldn't use scissors when mommy and daddy were not in the room.

After I was calmer I asked her why she had decided to cut her hair. She simply said, "Because it was in my face".

How much simpler can it get?

Here are before and after pics.

New Camera!!

We got a new camera today and I am so excited!! Our new one was just not good at getting pictures of young children who move around constantly. I've been taking pictures today and so far am pleased with what I am getting! It also takes pics MUCH faster than our old one - I'll have a much better chance of getting good pictures. Here is a sample!

Random Thoughts

I know this is supposed to be a blog about the girls but I am going to digress into some personal thoughts. Maybe I should take the address of this blog off of my myspace.

I feel like I am going through such a change these days. My gut feeling that I should be leaving my job is getting stronger and stronger. (I really need to make this private now) Sometimes I am ready to take drastic measures to get there - get a cheaper car, cancel cable, etc. And then some days I feel the awful 'poor' feeling. Right now we don't need to scrimp and save to get by. I always swore that I would never go back to living that way. I DREAD it. I also don't want to deprive my girls of anything. So how much do we sacrifice to get there? Chris and I like to out to a nice dinner on occasion. I would hate it if that became a once a year thing permanently.

I wish I could see the future. If I knew that it would only last a year or so I would jump right in. Not that I have too much choice anyway - I can only hold out for so long when my gut makes a decision for me. :)

I might be better at the mom thing than the actuary thing anyway. As much as I get a lot of personal satisfaction from my job, it has always been a struggle for me. I don't think it is for everyone I work with. And for anyone who asks, I don't intend to just be a mom and do nothing else and have no options 20 years from now. Maybe I'll help Chris and join in with his business. I'm looking into tutoring Math. I'll find something, I do have confidence about that. Maybe I'll get involved with the girls' school somehow.

On another topic: I'm so excited that we've found a church that we like, finally. Lindsay likes her 'class' too. I shook the pastor's hand today when we came in, and I told Chris that I felt flustered, like I was meeting a celebrity or something! LOL! He's an amazing speaker though, and very charismatic in a fatherly sort of way. It seems like he is talking directly to you. And really funny. Does that make sense? We'll see if it continues. But it's really important to me that the girls grow up with church being a part of their lives. I feel that it will make a difference in how they turn out and who they associate with. Anyway - enough rambling. Night all!

Spring is coming!

And I couldn't be happier. I need the energy that the nice weather brings. A few days ago it was in the upper 60's. We were all outside for hours. Riding our bikes, running around our (newly cleared!) yard, etc. I think we will be outside a lot this year. Our last big purchase for a while is going to be a swingset. I can't wait!

I'd like to try and do at least one cool thing a day with the girls. Doesn't have to be anything major. Today was a good day, we did a lot of cool things. We went to the park for an hour. That was fun! Paige is coordinated enough now to climb stairs and go down slides, so she loved it. She kept saying 'slide!' over and over. It's amazing how much she talks.

We made Easter cookies today (better late than never). They were just sugar cookies but pink and shaped like bunnies. Lindsay really liked it. We also bought the ingredients to make her 'breakfast banana split' - it actually uses frozen yogurt, frozen fruit and granola. We'll have that tomorrow before church.

We're also thinking about joining a local pool this year. I'm so excited by this! I feel like the girls will love it. Such a wholesome family activity! LOL! Lindsay is still far away from being able to swim on her own, but having frequent pool access should move that along much more quickly than 30 minutes a week at the YMCA. Speaking of that, I should take a picture of her at her lessons.

Not sure if I have any really recent pictures, but let me check...

Monday Blues

The Monday blues...I have to go to work tomorrow! Blah!

Last night Lindsay had an accident and so she woke up crying at 2 am....I got up, changed her clothes, sort of changed her sheet (hey, I was tired!) and put her back to bed. Unfortunately, she must have really woken up all the way because a half hour later, down to our room she comes. I am NOT having her sleeping with us from 2:45 until the morning! No way! So I take her back to bed, against her wishes, of course. 15 minutes later....more crying. UGHHH. So I go and lay with her for 10 minutes or so, hoping she'll nod off. I leave again, trying to explain to her that I need sleep tooooooo!!! More crying and running down the hallway!!!!!! Now she has to go potty. Of course. How convenient! Now it's 3:30. I gave up. I woke Chris up to take over and went to bed.

We are tireeeeed today, needless to say.

And one more

Just Random Shots

Some Christmas Shots

I know we've been away for a while. I'd like to get back to updating this, but we'll see! The wrist still bothers me with too much typing. Without further ado, here are some pics!