Super Hula-Hooper

This video is kind of long but we wanted to show off Allary's awesome skills. She can go and go forever. (Plus, I've been wanting to play with my new FlipCam.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had our traditional all GREEN St. Patty's Day dinner. Every year it is fun to think what I can make that is green, or turn green with food coloring to make it a fun dinner. We had green shells n' cheese, green jello, green salad, and green grapes, with some special leprechaun juice to drink.



We made sugar cookies today and covered them with green frosting and rainbow sprinkles.




It was a fun day, and Allary was very into all things green.

My Birthday

We went to a fun pirate-themed restaurant with my siblings and their families to celebrate my birthday. It's a pirate-themed pizza and pasta place with an arcade. Here are some photos from the parrrrty. :)

My sister, Trisha, her husband Mark, and Tanner and Jenna.

Allary, Jenna, and Paige.

Chase.

Paige. Arrrgh!

Tanner beating Trisha at air hockey.

Megan and Cody.

Tanner.

Trisha and Paige.

Jason. Nice aim.

Megan and Allary.

Tanner.

Tyler and Freaky Pirate Guy.

Megan, Paige, Allary.

Thanks guys for coming and indulging me. The food was good, the games were fun, and the company was great!

Laundry

I was deep in thought today as I was going about cleaning and doing the laundry. I just thought I’d share some of the things going through my head. It's more for me than anything, and judging by the lack of comments, I'm not sure anyone even looks at my blog anymore.

This is going to sound weird, but I was honestly sad that I only had one load of laundry to do today. And even then, I was searching through other hampers to see if there was anything else I could throw in to further fill the machine. I don’t know anyone who loves laundry, myself included, but I wish I had loads and loads. I wish I had not just an entire load of pink, but also a load of beautiful boy-ish blue. I wish I had trouble keeping track of which socks belonged to who. I wish I had trouble finding ways to conquer nasty mud, grass, and who-knows-what stains. I wish I had to check pockets for not just jewelry and shiny things, but little rocks and toy trucks. I wish I had all different sizes to sort out and multiple bedrooms to take them to.

I’m sure most moms of young children wish for quieter homes. I ache for the sound of a baby cooing or crying. I wish I heard little voices chattering away together. I even wish I heard fighting and yelling, because this would mean Allary was growing up with a sibling. It would mean she is having to learn life lessons that are hard for me to teach her; how to get along, how to share, how to do something someone else wants to do, how to deal with other ages, how to live under the same roof as someone you may not like at certain moments, how to have a best friend and a worst enemy all wrapped up in one person, etc.

Maybe laundry and a quiet house are weird things to make me sad, but there you have it.

Fancy Nancy Party

The local library has a yearly Fancy Nancy tea party. Allary saw the posters up for it again this year and she was so excited to get to go again. The little girls come all dressed up in their fancy best, they get to hear Fancy Nancy stories, they get to accessorize, learn some fancy French words, and have a little tea party with pink lemonade and cupcakes. The whole thing is so darn cute and exactly the kind of thing that Allary just loves. We went with her cousin, Paige. Here are some pictures of the fancy girls. :)

Here she is, all dolled up and ready to go, which for her, getting ready is half the fun.

Dinosaur Museum

For Christmas, my parents got us a membership to the museum, as well as its other adjacent attractions. We are excited to get to have something fun to do whenever we want. We have already been to the museum twice. There are lots of interactive displays and activities, so I don't think Allary will ever get tired of it.

CHRISTMAS!

We spent Christmas with Jason's side of the family this year. We had a really fantastic holiday.
Here is what Santa brought for Allary...



She got a laptop from Jason and me.


She got a cute shirt from Grandma and Grandpa M..


..and also a FurReal baby tiger from Grandma and Grandpa M..



This shirt was from Allary. I thought it was funny. :)


She got a Strawberry Shortcake playhouse from Grandma and Grandpa S..

With all the fun and people and chaos, we forgot to take the traditional photos with all of our Christmas haul. So, I made Jason and Allary set it all up again and take these photos when we got back home.

Oh, and by the way, when did we become so old and boring that we get all excited about a Shop-Vac and a Steam Mop for Christmas? I really am happy about my Shark Steam Mop. :)
And, Jason surprised me with an iPod Touch and I love it.

We had a great Christmas and we felt very spoiled. :)