If You Don't Live By The Beach...

Then you create one. Tonight Paige and her cousins created their own beach in our sandbox. It was fun to watch them haul the water, bucket by bucket from the small plastic pool to the sandbox. I guess they didn't think to just take the hose to the sandbox and turn it on. The joys of childhood.

The final beach/ocean was actually impressive.

That Time Again

Tonight was the end of the semester show for Paige's Little Gym class.  She has done awesome this semester.  We moved her up to the age level above her (she was in the 4-5  year old class, even though she was 3)  and it  was the perfect level for her.  She is getting so strong.  She learned how to do real cart wheels and is starting to do flips on the bars.  This summer she is trying out the dance (ballet/tap/gymnastics) class.  She keeps saying she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up.  So we'll see.  

Enjoy the show!

Dance Dance Revolution!

This weekend the cousins spent the night.  I let them play Mario Dance Dance Revolution.  And of course Paige would not be left out.  I could not stop laughing the whole time she was doing it.  She was so determined to get it right.  I fear she may stomp the mat to death if I let her do this to often.  It may be a "you-had-to-be-there" moment, but I was laughing so hard.

4 Years Old

I love this little girl.  I can't believe she is 4 already, and she is eating it up.   She thinks she is pretty hot stuff being 4.   She is so into playing with friends right now.  As soon as she is up in the morning she is asking who can come play with her.  I think 20 times a day, I hear, "Do you want to play polly-pockets with me?"  Now that the weather is nice she wants to be outside and playing in the water. 
Her favorite foods are watermelon, kiwi, broccoli, and anything with sprinkles on it (we even put sprinkles on scrambled eggs.)  Her favorite color is purple.  She loves being active.  Going to the playground, or making the house into a playground.  She loves her gym classes and still wants to be a ballerina when she grows up (she is starting dance class next month.)
She is a smart little girl.  She already knows all her letters (upper case and lower case) and the sounds they make.  She can count to 40.  She is really into asking me how to spell words and is trying to write letters (about half her letters are legible.)  She loves primary and learning primary songs.  She has a beautiful spirit.  The other day we were in the car listening to the radio and she heard the word "heaven" in one of the songs.  She just piped up, "They said heaven.  That's where Daddy is, and the Boyer's dog (our neighbor's dog).  I love daddy and he'll come back some day.  Right?"  And we had a chat about the resurrection.  And she believes it with her childlike faith. I love this girl.  

Birthday Time

Last week my little girl turned 4.  I can't believe she is growing up so fast.  Paige has been looking forward to her birthday for months.  In fact she threw a fit on my birthday (in April) because she wanted it to be her birthday.  Through a series of fortunate events, I won a birthday party at The Little Gym of Orem.  Paige does gymnastics there and we won a drawing for a free birthday party.  It was awesome.  I didn't have to do any work (except provide the cupcakes) and the kids had a blast.  Paige enjoyed being the special one for the day and sharing "her gym" with her friends.

The birthday girl.

11 of her closest friends

play time

the kids got to bounce on the air-track

and Paige's favorite part, opening gifts. Thank you for the fun birthday.

Waiting for the Lightening Strike

Paige-ism #425

Paige is convinced that Chuck E. Cheese's is really  Chuck E Jesus.  We have argued over the name of the restaurant several times and she refuses to budge.  Yesterday she even said, "Look at the words (we were driving be) it says Chuck E Jesus.  That's a lot of letters."

Mommy-Daughter Day

I had been planning this photo shoot for over a year.  I had it in my mind to have me and Paige in black and white dresses and to have Cosmo, our cat, in the pictures.  I had my dress.  I finally found one for Paige.  My neighbor, who is a wonderful photographer, came over to take the pictures.  Cosmo did not want to cooperate.  She went in to psycho cat mode.  She was growling and swiping at us. I loved how the pictures of me and Paige turned out.  You can see the rest here.

Talking Eyes

Tonight I decided to let Paige fall asleep watching a movie so I could get some stuff done upstairs.  Around 10 o'clock (2 hours after bedtime) I go down to check on her.  Her eyes were so heavy but she was still awake.  Here is our conversation.

M: Paige you need to sleep.

P: I want to, but my eyes said just a little longer.

M: Your eyes?

P: I'm tired but my eyes aren't ready yet.

M: I love you.

Happy Easter

Here is Paige with Bella (brown) and Princess Lulu (white.) Our neighbor breeds these kind of bunnies and I thought they would make the perfect addition to our Easter portraits.  I love Easter.  It has always been my favorite holiday. I love the spring flowers.  I love the pastel colors.  I love the newness of everything.   I love the Easter candy (it taste better than any other candy.)  And I love being able to focus on the Savior, the atonement, and the resurrection.   I love Easter.  

Plenty of time for Cheesecake

A couple of weeks ago we went to the zoo with some friends.  When we were heading home it was dinner time so we stopped and got some food.  We noticed that there was a Cheesecake Factory across the street from where we were eating.  So we started talking about going over there for dessert.  Well, after we were done with dinner Paige was ready to go home.  She kept saying she wanted to go home and we had no time to stop again.  And just really whining/complaining up wanting to go home.  Then she heard the word "cheesecake" and her whole continence changed.  She turned with a smile on her face and said "Ohhh, there is PLENTY of time for cheesecake."  (with the emphasis perfectly placed on "plenty.")  It was classic.  And the cheesecake was delicious.