A Funny

Ally thought it would be funny to take pictures of her different body parts. So first we took a picture of her eyes and her mouth and I showed her how they pieced together. We took more, and we printed them out and let her put her body together like a puzzle. It was pretty funny.

And speaking of funny... she's really into her Ovaltine. Or as she calls it- chocolate milk. I told her it was time for 'quiet time" as we can no longer call it nap time without her engaging in a screaming match of "I don't wanna take a nap" and she ran to get ready. I found the chocolate milk in her bed. Whatever gets you through quiet time girl.

S'winter

"It's s'winter. A mix of summer and winter. Some people call it wummer."

The morning of May 19th arrives. I wake to a dark house.... hmmm where is the sun? Did it finally rain here? I look out the window and see..... a winter wonderland???? What the heck? In May? In Arizona?

Yes... for one day (before it melted off and temperatures returned to the normal sunny 70's) we experienced the magic of s'winter. or wummer. or swumminter or just plain weird.

Ally was thrilled! Jonathan wanted to skip work and I thought a road trip to the Valley to swim with Christie and her family sounded good. But it didn't last long, so we played and enjoyed the summer snow.

Happy Mom Party Day

"Happy Mom Party Day"

That's what Ally called Mother's Day. It's so funny that she calls me mom. Never mommy, mother, or mama. Just Mom. Jonathan is always Daddy. So it's Mom and Daddy. Anyways, back to me and my Happy Mom Party day.

Jonathan did great this year. FINALLY. This is my third mother's day and let's just say the last two where nothing to call home about. I dropped obvious hints that he needed to make it a big deal and I'm not even ashamed- I deserve it. I earned a day of gratitude and once I explained that it doesn't matter that I'm not HIS mother- I was the mother of HIS child and I almost died to get her here, so he OWES me this. So from now on all future Mother's Days must rock. Which shouldn't be hard all it takes it words to make me happy. And this year he delivered.

He took Ally for a walk and they picked these flowers for me. They were pretty much dead, but once I put them in water, they perked right up (a few hours later) and I got this great picture.

And yes... that is a clean ( guy clean anyway) kitchen these flowers are sitting in. Nice job. Oh and breakfast and dinner were cooked in this kitchen by Ally and her Daddy. Very nice indeed....

This is Ally telling me "happy mom party day" and singing an original Ally made it up song. No clue what she said. But there were a lot of mom and party so I'm assuming it was about me.

Daddy even got her dressed that morning for church. He did!- Tights and all- go Daddy. I did have to do the hair. He said her curls weren't going in the right direction, so I helped out.

Ally even bought me this balloon- with her own money. She was very proud of herself and I let her play with it. See- awesome mom.

Jonathan also taught my (our) primary class and I went to Relief Society. They also both took naps after church so I got my very own quiet time. A great day indeed.

The One Where He Turns 30

"Why, God, Why? We had a deal! Let the others grow old, not me!"

- Joey's character on Friends

Jonathan turned 30! Thirty! Wow- that means he's really a grown up now. To celebrate his life changing birthday, because you know... he wishes he was dead so any birthday is life changing.... Ally and I came up with 30 presents to celebrate his 30 years. We gave them through out the month so we could celebrate ALL MONTH LONG!

Woot Woot! (everything's more fun with the woot woots. )

Jonathan was presented with the following 30 gifts for his 30 years of life:

3 Bottles of Tabasco sauce- because the moving truck swallowed up his collection

1 Box of Popcorn- so that "at home" movie nights were more exciting

1 half gallon Blue bell Ice Cream- because Texas wants you back

1 Testament Movie- so you can feel spiritual

4 Truck floor mats- because his truck needs to look good

1 present from his mom- because it was something he really really wanted- IPOD

1 new face trimmer- because he will not be hairy on my watch

1 Bag of his favorite grapes- to bring back his health

4 sodas of choice- for fun and because he's trying to slowly quit

1 date night without the kid- because it had been too long

1 Wing Night- because we actually found wings in Eagar!

1 Homemade present from Ally- A card

1 Picnic in the Mountains- because we're mountain people now

1 J. Golden Kimball book- because he's Jonathan's Doppelganger

1 jar of Ovaltine- Because Ally picked it out for him.

1 love note- well I do love him!

1 Cheese cake- As his birthday "Cake" of choice- homemade too

4 days of dinner favorites

1 Birthday Dinner at Java Blues- so he wouldn't be BLUE about turning 30!

(Birthday money from my mom, my mamaw and my Aunt Shelia

paid for the dinner-thanks guys)

Java Blues- His new favorite place to eat. The food is amazing! Totally not good for us- but aMAZing nonetheless.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Easter

New Easter Dress from Grandma, Jonathan's Mom.

Waiting for church.

So pretty

Easter presents from Me-Maw and Da

Easter basket and eggs

She loves her new Little People camping set. It even had a bunny!

And so it begins....

And so it begins.... I have begun " rewarding her good behavior with positive reinforcement by using a visual aid to spark interest and show a tangible reward" you know, fancy talk for bribing my kid to do what I want so we can all live peacefully... some what normal... you know... so I don't go "mad mom" on her cute little tush.

And seeing how my house had become a non stop wonderland of this:

And yes, that is her telling me "No" for the 100th million time that day when I asked her to pick up a few toys.

So we needed to start reigning in that "terrible two I'm the boss" attitude before she ended up shipped back to Texas.

One of the biggest things was her total disrespect for prayers. She did great at folding her arms for a long time. But then she turned 2 and apparently you don't pray when you are 2. Oh think again sweet child of mine- you need all the prayers you can get! It had gotten bad..... my brother commented on it, my mom noticed, and her BFF yelled at her to fold her arms and she still didn't. Oh yeah.... time for a beat down... I mean a teaching opportunity.

Enter: THE CHART.

That's right, I typed up a Big Girl Chart. It consisted of 6 things- 3 she was good at and 3 things she needed to work on. One trip to the dollar store for 100 girly fun stickers later and we were in business. I wasn't sure it would work, but I under estimated the power of sparkly stickers. It was a hit!

She was so proud of herself. She got to pick the sticker and put it on the chart herself. What a big girl. There is a happy dance involved after each sticker placement. That's right... BY ME. The things I do to get my way....

She even started getting stickers in the ones that she needed to work on.

And best of all: The girl is back to folding her arms and saying prayers- now without any help from mom.

Her prayers go like this:

"Dear( mumbles something here- cause she is trying to say heavenly)Father, Bless daddy. Bless Mom. Bless me. Hooray. Go Party Amen"

I can't make this crap up. Everything is a party to her. :) And the back talk and yelling no are better- which is great because nothing makes me go crazy screaming I'm going to have a nervous break down mom like her talking back to me.... yeah yeah.... I know: it's not like I never back talked my mom.... but it's a button. and pay back I'm sure... whatever mom.

Zoo Trip and Best Friends

She was excited to see the "B-low" (buffalo)

She's quite the climber. If she can climb it- she does.

Ally: Come on Lucy lets shut the door and hide.

Lucy: *Smiling* Okay they'll never find us and you won't have to leave!

Lucy: Those are Mere Cats.

Ally: You're so smart Lu.

Mom... more juice.... about all I'm good for these days... fetching her drink.

Ally said "wow" a lot as she saw each animal.

Lucy taught Ally how to accessorize as well. Ally now thinks she can not leave her room until she has some sort of accessory on. Then and only then is she "done dress mom" (done getting dressed)

While we were down in Texas we of course made time to visit with our very best friends Christie and Lucy! Lucy and Ally were so excited to see each other. There was the typical shouts of mine and no and we had to make them have alone time a few times, but they loved being together and so did their moms! Lucy and Ally hugged so hard one time that they tumbled over. Ally laughed and said " Funny Lu!" Of course it was my giant kid crushing her, so Lucy didn't find it that funny until Ally was lifted off her! Lucy was kind enough to take Ally to the zoo, which was Ally very first time. We had so much fun visiting and I hope that the Lott Family will soon join us in Arizona so we can have many more play dates.