Snow much fun!

As we continue to dig out, Paige enjoys the snow.

Making her way up the snow hill.

Clawing her way to the top.

I made it!

This was fun!

Snow angels.

SNOW DAY!!!

We got over 10 inches of the white stuff today so no school or work for us. We went out and played in our winter wonderland.

New York Christmas

This past weekend we spent visiting my parents and my grandfather in New York. We arrived on a snowy night and woke up the next morning to 4 inches of snow. We spent the day cooking, eating, playing in the snow, and opening presents. My parents finally got to see the joy of grand kids opening presents first hand. Paige ripped through the paper this time, quite a change from last Christmas where she would tear off a little bit and hand it to mom or dad, tear off a bit more, hand it to mom and dad and 2 minutes later she might have finished opening the present. It was also nice to share Paige's joyous spirit in their home. We spend so little time with them it's nice to be able to make it joyous and fun while we are there.

On Saturday we drove to Cooperstown to visit my Grandfather. My mom had brought along a present for him to give Paige to break the ice and it worked like a charm. She opened the gift, a Littlest Pet Shop set of games, and she played tic tac toe with her Great-Grandpa. Both were smiling the whole time. While we were there we also helped him put some cards and photos in an album and Paige decorated his room as well. It was only a short visit, but it was so nice to see Paige, my mom, and Grandpa interacting together. I have great memories of my great grandparents and I hope Paige will have a few of her last living Great Grandparent.

This week we party at school and at playgroup. Let the eating of goodies begin. Of course I already started since I made peanut brittle (the easy way in the microwave) tonight. I still have cookies and fudge to make in preparation for next week. Paige says we have to leave milk, cookies, and a crescent roll for Santa. We had a very serious discussion about where the plate and milk would be left. After talking through the pros and cons of three locations she finally decided it would be under the tree. Santa won't miss them there.

I hope you and yours are enjoying a wonderful holiday season.

Amy

Opening presents with Grandma and Grandpa.

Showing Grandma and Grandpa the calendar we made them.

Playing tic tac toe with Great Grandpa.

Helping put pictures and cards in the album.

I love this picture of Grandpa and Paige.

WOW! I cannot believe it's been a whole month since I last posted. It seems we have spent the last month passing around illness. We are all on the mend at the moment, but with Paige is school it seems we get more stuffy noses than usual.

We spent a peaceful Thanksgiving with Scott's family enjoying good food and a rousing game of spoons (It's a card game for those who have never played). We of course ate too much and are already starting to talk about the weight loss resolution for next year.

On a funny note Paige's class made gingerbread cookies today. She got very upset when the cookies disappeared from the kitchen. Last year she was in tears and inconsolable and it took me a while later to figure out she was scared there was a fox roaming around her school. This year she was upset again about the fox. The school director pulled Paige aside and asked her if she could keep a secret. Paige agreed so when the other kids left, the director showed Paige the unharmed cookies in the pantry. She was apparently fine after that.

The Christmas cards are in the mail, but I'll post it here as well in case we don't have your address, or you've moved since last year. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Amy

SNOW!

We woke up to a bit of snow on the ground. Paige was so excited she rushed through breakfast and getting dressed so she would have time to play before school.

Catching snowflakes with her tongue

Falling in the snow.

Making a snow angel.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has come and gone for another year, but we may be eating candy for months to come! Paige Trick or Treated at Scott's office Friday afternoon and went out Friday night in our neighborhood. We ended up with a huge heaping bowl of candy! We gave some away to Paige's older cousins who were here for the weekend, but we still have tons left. Below are pictures of our little Fairy.

Amy

Pumpkin Carving

To top off an already busy weekend we carved pumpkins today. Unfortunately my pumpkin was already soft so I did not get to carve one this year. I attempted to draw on a face, but it looked dorky. If I get a chance this week perhaps I'll go get another pumpkin and Paige and I can carve it. Below are Scott's and Paige's pumpkins.

Carving pumpkins is messy. Note the pumpkin seed in Paige's hair.

Scott's pumpkin during the day.
Scott's pumpkin at night.
Paige's pumpkin during the day.

Paige's pumpkin at night.

Birthday Party #2

Well we survived 10 little girls and one little boy for Paige's birthday party with her friends. Paige wanted them to all come dressed up in their Halloween costumes. We had several princesses, Mulan, a pirate, Tinkerbell, and the Statue of Liberty. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The craft was arranging silk leaves, pumpkins, and acorns in a basket. It made a cute fall table centerpiece. Next we set up a couple of games around the room for the kids to play, then we cleared that out and played musical chairs. After some cupcakes and Dibs the kids played freely about the house. We decided to follow the latest trend and wait to open presents until after the party. She has opened everything and played with each toy/craft already. Her real birthday (Tuesday) will seem like a let down. She still has a few presents to open then and we are going to go see High School Musical 3 with a friend. I think we've had enough goodies though so we'll probably just have a few left over dibs instead of another cake.

Below are the pictures from the festivities.

Amy

Paige wanted mommy to get dressed up too. My sister Kim made the dress.

Craft time.

Playing musical chairs.

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

Group shot of the kids.

Extended Birthday

In the Fravil Family it is a tradition to make the birthday celebrations last at least a week, two if at all possible. Paige began her birthday celebration on Saturday, a full week and a half before her actual birthday. Last Saturday we celebrated with Scott's family with pizza, cake, ice cream, and presents. We topped off the day watching my nephew play football and watching our eldest niece twirl her baton for her last halftime show. She is a senior and this was the last performance of the football season.

Paige asked for a baby doll for her birthday so on Tuesday Grandma and Grandpa Harris, Paige, and I went shopping to find just the right doll. We went to a wonderful place called the Doll Hospital and Toy Soldier Shop. They let the Paige touch, feel, and hold the dolls, they put each of the outfits Paige picked out on the doll she choose to be sure they fit, and let her walk out the door with the doll in her arms. I could not have asked for a better experience! I did not have enough hands to take pictures at the store, but below are a few from the fashion show we had once we got home. She decided to name her doll "Dolly".

The celebrations will continue this Saturday as we have 11 children over for games, crafts, cupcakes, and Dibs (chocolate covered ice cream bites). The finally next Tuesday is her actual birthday and we are going with a friend to see a matinee of High School Musical 3. Phew! I'll need a vacation after all this partying.

Below are some pictures of the first of the two celebrations.

Amy

Blowing out the candles on cake #1

Cool gifts from the family.

Dolly modeling her Christmas dress.

Dolly modeling Pajamas

Dolly all ready for bed

A Fun filled weekend

We've had an action packed weekend and the tired child (and parents) to prove it! Saturday we had our Families with Children from China Autumn Moon Festival. It was scheduled three weeks ago but got rained out by the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Before hand we killed some time at Michaels, a local craft store. I had some trouble with the kids as you'll see below. At the festival Paige painted a paper lantern, made a mask, played games with her friend Sophia, and after dark did a lantern parade with all the kids’ lanterns lit with glow sticks. She was asleep 15 minutes after being put in the car.

Today the park next door had their annual Harvest Happenings. We went on a hay ride, did crafts, and had cider and doughnuts. Paige went on some kid inflatable things, went through a gymnastics obstacle course set up by her gymnastics academy, and rode a cute pony named Mouse. The event gets bigger every year and is really a great community event. We saw many of our friends and neighbors while we were there.

Below are some pictures of our weekend.

Amy

Are those kids sword fighting in the store? Where are their parents?

Don't believe the smile, believe the horns.
Here are the lanterns drying. Paige's is the one on the lower left.
A group shot of the festivities. Paige is in the dark pink coat on the left.

Harvest Happenings Photos

Here are the pictures from Harvest Happenings.

Paige riding a pony named Mouse.

Sliding down the inflatable slide.
Fire girl Paige driving to the scene of the fire.
I love powdered doughnuts!
I can make it through the straw maze by myself.

Romance and Rest Areas

Okay, so I admit Scott and I are big fans of the TV show "The Office". Tonight Jim finally proposed to Pam, at a rest area. Now how did they know that a rest area is the most romantic place to propose? They must have talked to Scott who proposed to me at a rest area near Paw Paw, Michigan. Of course, there was no rain for us to add to the romance, only a bit of chill in the air (It was the day after Thanksgiving). So now there will be more people proposing at rest areas, the most romantic location to propose!

Now since most of you are here for pictures of Paige, I've included a few from our trip to the Zoo last week.

Amy

I thought this was a neat shot of Paige with my reflection and the turtle.

How to ride a Rhino.

Hitting our Stride

Well we are finally getting the school routine down and our mornings are running smoother now. Paige continues to enjoy school and gymnastics so we'll keep the routine up for now. When Paige is not at school we are enjoying the warm afternoons outside. Last Thursday was a beautiful day that we spent touring a local historical home and their gardens. There is a program here through the libraries that you can get free passes to many historical sites and museums in the Detroit area so we tour places at least once a month. Paige has been asking to go back to the Detroit Institute for the Arts (DIA) so we'll do that next month when it might be too cold to be outside for a long period.

Paige has been going through another growth spurt. The new sneakers I bought her for school are too tight already and she only wore them a few times. The past two days have been spent shopping for new sneakers. I kid you not, we tried on 23 pairs of shoes in 5 stores before finding the right shoe. They were of course, the expensive ones. Part of the problem is she has a long narrow foot. Many sneakers don't stay on her foot, a problem made worse by the fact she walks on her tip toes most of the time. You can see the winning sneakers below. The green hearts glow in the dark which Paige said would be perfect for Halloween. Smart kid.

Amy

Paige with her "Get to Know Me" poster for preschool.

She did the photos and stickers, I added the names of those in the photos.

The new sneakers match the sparkly gymnastics leotard
The winning sneakers! The green hearts glow in the dark.
Just a cute shot of a cute kid.