Swimming Lessons

Allary had swimming lessons this month. She did great and she had so much fun. She went every day for a half hour for two weeks. It took her a few days to warm up to her teacher, who was great, and just when Allary was comfortable with the teacher and doing really wonderful, they switched teachers! I was pretty mad because then the new teacher just thought Allary was fearful of the water when she wouldn't do what he asked, but really, she was just fearful of him. She still had a great time though, and for the most part, mastered the skills being taught. I've never seen a kid who loves the water like she does. I'm thinking about signing her up for another session after we return from our family reunion next week. I think it is great for her to be in a class setting with other kids and a teacher and she of course, just likes the fact that she gets to be in the water.

I took these photos on the first day of classes. Look at how excited she is!



She doesn't look nearly as excited in this shot, but I thought she looked so cute lounging on the poolside chair waiting for her class to start.

A Day Out With Cousins

Trisha invited Allary and me to go to this fun place for kids with water, mazes, activities, crafts, etc. It was a really fun place and Allary especially enjoyed the Noah's Ark structure with the animals that squirted out water.


Here she is with her cousins Tanner and Jenna.


Here she is riding the bear in the cave with Paige.


On the bear with Tanner, Chase, and Jenna.

Playing in the fountain

We went and walked around the outdoor mall downtown one evening and stopped to let Allary play in the fountain thing in the plaza where water shoots up randomly out of holes in the ground. Allary was hesitant to go near it at first which is very unlike her. I was trying to coax her out to go play and she said, "But Mom, I need my swimsuit." I told her I brought some other dry clothes that she could change into afterward. She said, "I can get my pink shirt all wet???" I told her "Yes, of course." That was all she needed. She had a blast.




These are just some cute shots I got of her before she got drenched.

Jason's Birthday

Allary helped Jason open his presents when he got home from work. She got him some Hot Tamales and she was soooo excited for him to open them. :) He also got some movies from me and a nice shirt from my mom and dad.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

I've been so relieved and so glad to have Jason home the past few days. He has been out of town so much lately and it sure is nice to have him home again. I'm glad he could be here to celebrate his birthday with his family.

Happy Birthday Jason!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful hubby!
I love you!!!

Luscious Lips!

Allary borrowed some of my lip gloss the other day. I love this photo of her! :)

The Many Faces of Allary

She also wanted to show off her fancy pink nail polish.

Another Tag

I was tagged by Katie with this one a while ago. So here it is.

Four things I am looking forward to in the coming year:
1. Adopting! (hopefully)
2. Allary turning 3! I can't wait to put her in a ballet class.
3. I am really looking forward to seeing my family in a few weeks at our reunion.
4. I don't know, mostly I am hoping to add a baby to our family, soon.

Three joys in my life:
1. Allary
2. Jason
3. All my family and friends

Four movies I could watch more than once or twice:
1. First Knight
2. That Thing You Do
3. Pirates of the Caribbean (the first one)
4. While You Were Sleeping

Three fears:
1. Never being able to adopt
2. BEES!!!
3. Richard Simmons

Four Favorite Foods:
1. Mexican Food, especially chips and salsa
2. Chocolate!!!
3. Mashed potatoes and gravy
4. Diet Coke (does that count?)

Four goals I have set for myself:
1. Spend more time teaching Allary things, ABC's, colors, numbers, etc...
2. Get Allary completely potty trained. Ugh!!!
3. Catch up on scrap-booking.
4. Play the guitar and the piano more often.

Four TV shows I watch:
1. Dancing With the Stars
2. The Bachelor
3. Grey's Anatomy (I am currently watching Season 3 on DVD)
4. Veronica Mars (also watching on DVD)

Three current obsessions:
1. Blogging
2. The Twilight series ("Breaking Dawn" August 2nd, YEA!)
3. Cleaning

Four places I have visited:
1. Disneyland
2. Washington, DC
3. New York City
4. Cozumel, Mexico (on a cruise)

Three places I'd like to visit:
1. Paris, France
2. Hawaii
3. New York City again, I loved it.

Four random facts about me:
1. I have a backwards tooth.
2. I used to despise country music, now it's what I listen to 90% of the time.
3. I hate waking up in the morning, hate it. It takes me a long time to wake up and get moving and I won't talk to anyone until I've had significant time to do so.
4. I've only been on a boat once in my life (2 if you count the cruise ship). I'm afraid of open water. (Liz, this was a speed boat on the lake by your cabin a long long time ago, remember?).

There you have it. I think everyone I would tag has already been tagged.

Picture Blog Tag

I've actually been blog tagged a couple of times. So alright already, I'll do one or two. :)

Aspen tagged me with this one, a Picture Blog Tag. The rules are you have to take ten pictures of the following things. And you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning or wiping your child's nose. Then you tag five others.

1. The fridge.
2. The closet.
3. A Self-Portrait
(Yikes!)


4. Your Favorite Room
Okay, so this is Allary's play room, but I love it. She can make a huge mess and I only clean it up to vacuum once a week. It just so happens that we picked it up and vacuumed yesterday, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to see the floor. I also love it because it is pretty much the only room of the house that I fully decorated with my own things.


5. The kitchen sink


6. The laundry room

7. The toilet


8. What are your kids doing right now?
Allary is taking a nap. I took a huge risk by snapping this photo.


9. Your dream vacation
I would love to visit Paris some day, or anywhere in Europe. I've never been out of the country.
But, my favorite family vacations growing up were to Disneyland and so I hope to get to do that alot with my family too.

10. Your favorite pair of shoes.
I don't buy shoes near as often as I used to. Still, I love them and would have a hard time choosing just one pair as my favorite. So, these are the sandals I am wearing today.


I tag Dena, Liz, Diana, Angela, and Katie.

4th of July

We went to Jason's parents' house for the Fourth. Jason, of course is working crazy hours and so we drove down on Thursday night and drove back home late Friday night after the fireworks so that Jason could be back, only to get up early and leave town for work on Saturday. Ugh.
Here are some photos from the holiday festivities.

We went to the parade in the morning. Allary thought the whole idea of people throwing candy in the streets was pretty awesome.


We ate lots of yummy food at Jason's grandparents' house. We talked and played and ate for most of the day. After dinner, Grandpa broke out the pinata.
More candy up for grabs?! Awesome!





Waiting for the fireworks to start...