Typical Weekend

I have a whole series of Thanksgiving posts, but they are taking a while to put together, and when life slows down a bit I hope to post a big recap of Ally's birthday party. But I don;t want to get too behind on my blogging so here is a simple post.

After the Thanksgiving Holiday we flew home early Saturday morning and spent a very relaxing weekend at home. Playing, cleaning, organizing and shopping.

Ally is modeling a new tunic we bought her at a huge sale in PA. I just happened to have matching pants I bought last year on clearance! I love a bargain.

Ally and Becky played school for a really long time.

In the morning it was time to organize Ally's book shelf. It was a mess in there for a while, and eventually Ally lost steam and it was left to Becky to put them away. But Ally helped for a while, and as always is loathe to get rid of anything. I think she gets her pack rack mentality from me.

Ally spent some time with her babysitter on Sunday and Becky and I went shopping - we got this hat and matching coat for Ally to wear on the 26th. She loves it - and how could one not love it - I think I am more excited about Ally all dressed up than I am about the event.

A truly Ally story:

Ally's old preschool teacher Jill was working at a local toy store wrapping gifts for charity - a homeless shelter for women and children she works with. We thought it would be nice to go and say hello. Ally had been so very well behaved all through Thanksgiving and our travels that I told her she could pick out a new toy at the store when we went. She looked me in the eye and said "I don't want a new toy" at first I thought it was a way to get out of going to the store. But a few minutes later she stopped what she was doing and looked at me and said "mommy, I don't need any new toys - there are lots of toys here (in the living room) and my room is kind of messy with all of my toys" I told her OK - she did not have to pick out a toy, and instead we would make a donation to the charity. Donations are a hard concept for a 5 year old but I tried to explain it.
It's so Ally to refuse a new toy. At the store, she looked at a dinosaur puzzle and had Becky read her a book, but she didn't ask for anything or really look at anything else. And it was a TOY STORE. She was most happy to be with us and enjoy the nice weather.