Our First Family Meeting...

Well, the time has finally come. It was only a matter of time. The Earl family had its first family meeting last night at 6 PM. It is actually something that we should have done quite a while ago, but alas, we have done it. Now, it will be a regular part of our routine. The topic? R.E.S.P.E.C.T
Yes, it has come to our attention that the little people of our house were not displaying very much respect lately. Case in point:

Maya had been disobedient all morning, telling me no and just overall not listening. So it was time for some discipline. After we were done with our"discussion", she told me that she was sorry and hung her head down low. She walked back into the living room, where my mom was sitting, her back to me, and flashed Grandma a huge cheesy smile, hung her head back down again and continued on her way. Apparently our "discussion" did not take. Everything is funny to her.

Overall, the meeting went really well. After we were done talking, we asked the little people if they had anything they wanted to say. Maya did. She said that she really likes Christmas. Not sure that she gets the concept. Oh, well.

A few hours after they were in bed for the night, I got another "Mommy High", that will carry me through the next few months. I woke Christian out of his sleep to take him to the bathroom before I went to bed for the night. He stumbled to the bathroom, did the job, and stumbled back to bed. As he crawled back into bed, he opened his eyes and whispered, "Mom, guess what?" "What?" I asked. "I'll never stop loving you" he said. With that he closed his eyes and went back to sleep. This Mommy is still on cloud nine...

I can see the light!

Wow! School is almost over! I took my last practical yesterday and I have two tests on Tuesday and then I am DONE (until January that is)!!! Sorry bout all the exclamation points, I'm just very excited at the thought of not dreaming about bones, muscles, cranial nerves and such...

I LOVE THIS MAN...

And he loves this deep-fried cheesecake. Well any kind of cheesecake really...

Busy, busy, busy...

December 2ND already??? Can someone please tell me where all the time has gone? Since we are already full swing into the Christmas season and I still have not blogged about Halloween or Thanksgiving, I'd like to take a moment here to get caught up.

October was full of fun. We went to Disneyland for three days and had a great time. My Mom was able to come with us so that was really nice. My sister and niece also joined us for a day. The kids loved having their big cousin Bethany with us. Here's the part where I should be showing you pictures of our trip, but we lost our camera/camcorder:( I guess we'll just have to go back real soon to recapture those memories... For Halloween, David and I organized an event for our neighborhood and the kids had a great time. Grandma Sue stayed the night so that was the icing on the cake.

Our Thanksgiving was great. We spent most of the day at Grandma Sue's house, since she will not be here for Christmas:( It was very nice. Christian and Maya had a great time playing with their cousins. Grandma Sue did a grab bag for the kids. Each one got a Christmas ornament. Christian got a Rudolph ornament and Maya got a mini gingerbread house. Maya said that hers was the best because she gets to eat it once Christmas is over (please note that she has already eaten it).

Our house has been bombarded with all of the seasonal sicknesses and the next few weeks of school are going to be very intense with finals and all. Did I mention that we are having the carpet replaced in the whole house as well? That should be fun (thank goodness for home warranties). However, I am determined to not let my stress suck the joy out of this joyous season.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are truly blessed to have each of you in our lives (the two of you who read this, that is, lol)...

A Plan

The other day I had to go to the store. As always, before going in I had the "I'm not buying any toys today" speech. Christian and Maya both said they understood. Here's what unfolded:

Christian: Oh, look Mom! Will you please buy this for me?

Me: I already told you I'm buying any toys today.

Christian: Mom, pleeeeaaaaassssseeeee, it only cost $1.99?

Me: I said NO. I'm not spending my money on toys.

He is quiet for a few minutes and I can see the wheels turning.

Christian: Okay,Mom. I've come up with a plan so that I can get this and you don't have to spend your money on it.

Me: What's your plan?

Christian: Just give the money to me and I'll go up and pay for it.

He still insists that this is a great plan...

Happy Birthday Maya Grace!

Dear Maya,

I can't believe you are four now! It seems like not that long ago, Daddy, Christian and I were at the ultrasound appointment, where we found out we were going to have a baby girl. Daddy and I were overjoyed. Christian said it looked like an elephant was in my tummy (it can be hard to tell what you are looking at with those things). You see, your brother was going through the typical rambunctious- little- boy- terrible- twos, and the thought of having a calm sweet little girl sounded heavenly.

Well, what God blessed us with was even better...You! You are not the little girl I imagined, you are even better. You have your Daddy's sense of humor and you love to make people laugh. You have also learned that when I am disciplining you, you can just do something silly and I cannot help but laugh. I am working on that though! However, I am pretty sure this is a skill you will be able to use all throughout life. You love to watch people dance on TV and mimic their every move. You work up quite a sweat and when you are too tired to go on, you tell us that your legs are too long and you can't dance anymore. You also remind us daily that we need to sign you up for dance class. I'm working on that too!

I love your little "Boston" accent (although we may need to look into speech therapy at some point). I love the fact that for the first six months of your life, the only place you would sleep at night was in the crook of my arm. I cherish those memories. I love that you love to pretend that you are a baby because it takes me back to those days. I love that you are such a girly girl and that you love shoes just as much as I do. You also don't have a problem telling me if you don't think my shoes are pretty enough. I love that you love all of your babies so much and you are such a good little "Mommy" to them. I love that you like to pretend to be a baby animal and cry "ayuda me, ayuda me", because that's what they do on Diego. You are obsessed with keeping your play cottage clean even if the rest of the house is in shambles all around you. I love that you call Christian, Kwissen.

I love that you are so attached to your Daddy, yet equally attached to me. I love that you always want me to put you to bed, even if it is because you know that Daddy is more strict at bedtime. I love how you emphatically promise that you will NEVER EVER do something again, even though we know it will happen again in 5 minutes. I love that you always want to go pick Christian up from school right after we drop him off. I love the special bond that you have formed with your cousin, Bethany. You two are two little kooky peas in a pod. I love the fact that you say that each one of your Grandma's are your favorite. I love the fact that you make people earn your trust and affection. Please remember this one when you hit the teenage years. Pretty Please. I love that you always have to sit on your Papa's lap when we have dessert.

I love everything about you Maya Grace and I am so blessed to be your Mommy. And as one of your favorite books says, you are pinkaliscious!

Love,

Mommy

Test

So, I took my first exam in the "Use your Imagination" class this week, and I got a B!  I know that it should be an A, but this class is so difficult, that I am very happy with my B.  I felt like hugging the professor, but that would just be weird.  I digress.  

The class is Anatomy and Physiology by the way.  Two of my friends were talking with Mr. Imagination after class the other day and were commenting on how amazing the human body is, the way everything works together in such detail.  He said he agreed and that he never believed in God until he started teaching this class.  Now he goes to church and he said there is no way he will ever believe in evolution again.  I like him a little more for that...

Complaint of the Day...

As most of you know, I recently started back to school.  In one of my classes my professor, who shall remain unnamed, is constantly telling us to use our imagination when he is lecturing.  Example:

"The cells in this slide are kind of hard to see, so just use your imagination"

"This model of the skull does not show this bone, so just use your imagination"

Use your imagination, use your imagination, use your imagination...

Um, I have no imagination.  Help!

Hello

Hello Everyone,

I am now entering the world of blogging and I am not quite sure how it all works.  Please be patient with me.  Pretty.  Please.  But if you are taking the time to read this, you probably already know me and love me no matter how boring my blog is, right?  Right?  Any-who, here are a few things happening in our family:

*Christian started first grade this year and he is loving it!  We are so proud of him.  Here's a little conversation we had the other day about spelling tests:

Me:  "Christian, you need to work really hard and study these words so that you can get 100% on your test."

Christian:  "Mom, I really don't think my teacher is going to give me any money if I get all the words right."

Well, he does have a point there, but he got 100% anyway:)

*Maya is doing great.  She will be four next month, and she is such a joy.  She has such a sense of humor and reminds us so much of her Daddy.  She is eagerly awaiting starting her dance classes...

*I started back to school this semester, and only have a couple of classes left before I can apply for the nursing program.  I am very excited/overwhelmed/nervous, but so far, so good!

*David works hard for us everyday and continues to love his job.  I am so proud of him.  

Well, I am off to make dinner.  Hope you enjoy these photos (we had them done for David for Father's Day)....