Diary of a Spider

I got Paige a book from the library called 'Diary of a Spider'. When we sat down to read it, I asked her first if she knew what a diary was. She nodded yes, so I asked her to tell me. Her response: "Lots of poop"

Snow Day

We had our first snow of the year on January 7th. Two weeks later and I am already sick of snow and winter, but on this day we were all excited to go out in the snow. :)

Me and Lindsay sledding down the driveway

Chris and his girls

Paige making a snow angel

Lindsay

Natalie

Thumbsucker #3 is born

Conversations

Conversations with Paige are definitely more interesting when Lindsay is not around, I've noticed.  Today our conversation started out by discussing what would happen if a bad guy was trying to get her....

It started innocently enough.  She was holding a kid-sized plastic chair with the legs in the air and remarked that she could use the legs to hit a bad guy in the privates.  I said, yes!  Definitely do that if a bad guy is trying to get you!  You can do anything if a person is trying to hurt you!  Then she was talking about having a pencil and poking them with it.  (Should I be nervous about violent tendencies?)  That segued into Home Alone and all the things that Kevin did to protect himself from the bad guys.  Screaming, dialing 911, and all those tricks he pulled on them. (I think we will stay away from Home Alone for a while)  So then somehow she starts talking about shooting them with a gun.  Huh??  Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Me:  Well, little kids don't have guns, sweetie.
Paige:  Mommy, I'm worried about this, I need a gun.
Me:  Paige, little kids dont have guns.  You don't need a gun.
Paige:  Well, I will tell Santa and he will get me a gun next year.
Me:  Paige, you're not getting a gun.  Even some grownups don't have guns.  They are dangerous.  Sometimes nice people get hurt by guns.
Paige:  But I won't hurt any nice people.
Me:  If you want to stop bad guys, become a policeman when you grow up then.
Paige:  Ok, I will.  Now I want to be a veterinarian, a mailman in Paris, a mommy, a doctor, AND a policeman when  I grow up!

Happy New Year!

We spent NYE at the McKenney's up in Mechanicsburg.  A fun time was had by all, although by the end of the weekend the kids were a tired cranky mess.  (except for Natalie, who slept 10.5 hours straight on New Years Eve!)  While we were there, we went to Chocolate World in Hershey and went on the ride where they show you how the Hershey's chocolate is made.  They give you a piece of chocolate at the end of the ride.  The kids love it!

I explained to the girls how people make New Year's resolutions and asked what they would want to do in the new year.  Here are everyone's resolutions for 2011!

Lindsay - learn to ice skate, and learn about money
Paige - put things away after she is done with them, and be healthy (she added this after hearing mine)
Mommy - Live a healthier lifestyle.  I have a list of things I consider to be 'healthy' that I am going to try and implement throughout the year instead of all at once, since I know I would burn out in about two days.  For example, get enough sleep, exercise, eat fruits and vegetables, floss, etc!
Daddy - exercise every day.  Since he is about to blow this already on January 2nd, I told him he should make the goal only 6 days per week.  :)

I also want to work on decorating our house room by room, and I want to get a minivan.  :)  Overall, 2010 was decent, and much better than 2009, although I can hope that 2011 is a little more stable in terms of both of our jobs.

Outside Chocolate World

Natalie

Paige and the singing cows during the ride

Another successful Christmas!

As a fabulous Christmas weekend comes to a close,  I am finally making the time to blog!!  We finished our Christmas shopping at exactly 4:19 pm on Christmas Eve.  Disgraceful, I know!!  But it all worked out and a great Christmas was had by all the Earleys.  Top gifts received include:

 Lindsay:
Pillow pet
Baby Alive
Elephant & Piggie books


Paige:
Sticker maker
My Little Pony ferris wheel
TAG Reader (Leapfrog)

Natalie:
Diapers
Formula
Binkies!!

Mommy:
Coffee Maker!!
Scentsy warmer
Eagles stuff

Daddy
Eagles stuff
Basketball shorts

Christmas Traditions

I love all the fun Christmas traditions this time of year!  Here's what we have planned for the holiday season!

• Advent calendar with chocolate pieces - We've gotten this from Trader Joe's the past few years.  The girls love finding the box that has the day's number on it (they are not in order) and then seeing what Christmas picture is on the chocolate.  (and they love eating it, of course!)
• Elf on the Shelf - our elf has been back for a few days now.  So far he's hidden on the bookcase, on the ceiling fan, and in the Barbie car on top of the fridge, among other places.
• Reading Christmas stories every night - we have enough winter/Christmas books to read that we can do one every night in December!
• Drive around to see Christmas lights
• Hayride at Linvilla to cut down our own tree - we did this last year and it was a blast!  Thank you Mom-Mom for allowing us to do it again this year!  :)
• Pictures with Santa
• Christmas specials on TV - we have watched Rudolph and Frosty so far.  I still want to watch the Grinch and Charlie Brown.
• Christmas Eve at Aunt Theresa's - returning this year - yay!
• Making cookies/gingerbread houses?  - I'd like to do this but not promising anything!
• Paige really wants to make some ornaments so I'm doing some research on this one.  

And of course, put up the Christmas decorations!  We put up the big blow-up Santa in the yard last night.