Ski Lessons!

In January Paige started taking ski lessons up at Bogus Basin, the pictures are from her first lesson, the end of January. Thus far she is really enjoying it and doing well with turns.

Pre-school Christmas Program

Paige was sick this week on Wednesday and Thursday, so Friday morning we went to Challenger and she got to do her program with the class. It was so cute, they sang a lot of songs and did some dancing. She was a little nervous and picked at her fingers during most of it. She had her friend's Roman (on her left) and Riva (on her right) by her. I could tell they had practiced their program a lot (beside the fact that she had been singing these songs at home for a month!). I was glad she was able to do the program this year.

After the singing, Santa showed up and each child was able to talk with him. Then one of the girl's, Mercedes, played her violin for the class. Then the kid's sang their morning song "Wake up, Warm up". I was glad Paige was able to participate dispite a little cold.

Putting up the tree!

We put up the tree today and tried it in a new spot - in the family room (usually we put it in the office), but this year we decided to try it here. Paige helped put ornaments up and then put the star on (she really likes to do this part!) top, it turned out great! The tree is up and decorated! The lights work and Paige is a happy girl!

Drawing and a Visit to Santa

Paige drew this picture of 'frosty' for Justin, as we were getting a box ready to send him (he is in the Air force and stationed in England). She colored this snowman, wrote her name, the year and the snowman's name. On the back she drew a picture of koala's - a dad, a mom, and a baby.

We went to see Santa today...Paige has been looking forward to this and picked out her own fancy dress to wear. At the mall she marched right in and talked to him, then sat on his lap (although I could see her picking at her fingers, so I know she was a bit nervous), and told him what she wants...a real live kitty cat, named Gus.

Countdown to Christmas!

Paige made this countdown to Christmas chain at school, and each day we will take one link off until Christmas day arrives. Paige was so proud of her Christmas chain and each day we take one link off. We also have a calendar that she puts a sticker on every day...so each day we are counting down two things! She is very excited for Christmas this year and eager to get the house decorated - inside and out, but we have too much snow outside right now!

Santa....

Paige and I went to see Santa this morning. She picked out her own fancy dress and was set to go....she was ready to talk to him and see him...no hesitation in her step, not even when we got there, she just marched in and told him what she wanted...a cat (a real live one) named Gus (we used to have a cat named Gus, but he died when she was about 4 months old).....

I explained to her later how much work a cat is:
Me: A cat has to be fed, played with, petted, and have it's pee/poop box cleaned, it's a lot of work to take care of real animals.

Paige: Oh I know, I will play with it and take care of it, and feed it. You will have to pick up the poop, because that is messy. Just use a glove and it won't get all over you.

Yup...she's got it all figured out...except that Kurt was the main 'box' cleaner, not me! :)

So thankful.....

It's Thanksgiving and a few things I am thankful for are: a healthy family, a warm home, enough food to eat, and every day I get to see Paige growing up! Sometimes I go through a day or week or month then all the sudden I get a dose of how amazing it is to watch and witness someone learn and grow! I am so thankful for this and to be her mom!

Paige did this dot-to-dot, which I think was a bird, but since it was near thanksgiving time and she had been drawing a lot of turkeys, she insisted this was a turkey. She showed me her colors and how good she had done and I went back to working on my computer, which she colored more. She kept repeating 'Tom Turkey' (our name for basically all turkeys!) and I was like yes that is a great turkey. Latere after she was in bed and I was cleaning up, I found this....great drawing of Tom Turkey! And I realized that Paige had been repeating 'Tom Turkey' becuase she was sounding it out and spelling it! It made me smile and get teary eyed! Wow!