Ally's Book

One day mama and Ally they went to get clothes

I had so many clothes that I had to try on the clothes

I showed my dress with mama and Ally

the "and Ally" part is in really light pink ink on the right page

I was going to get ice cream

I had ice cream

and then I goed home

The author and her book

Becky and I are so proud of her!!!!

Birthday Party #6

Birthday Party #6 of the year was Carly, a good friend from our adoptive families group.

Ally with the card and gift.

It was a gymnastics party at a much larger gym than Ally attends. Here is Ally with Carly (on right) and Rosa on her left. The girls were so thirsty after an hour of gymnastics fun!
Ally and Mommy.

Art & Drawings

A sample of Ally's writing and drawing from March 2012:

 

Super "old school" Fun

I'm a big fan of the clearance end caps at Target and I recently picked up a Shrinky Dink kit for 60% off - I have fond memories of shrinky dinks as a child, and since Ally loves art I thought this would be something she might enjoy too. It has been a huge hit!

Mama opening up the box.

Colored pencils and coloring fun.



watching them shrink up in the oven

Ally took this picture of them in process in the oven!

a sample of some finished ones

before they go in the oven

the same ones after shrinking up

Every day this week Ally and Becky have done some shrinky dinks - the kit came with 40 of them and a 3-D Fairy tree house to set them up in.

Guatemala Girls Late March

We hosted our monthly Guatemala Girls group this past weekend. Roxie was unable to attend, but Gabi's big sister Caty (who was also born in Guatemala) joined us - it was such a treat to have a "big girl" with us!

Ally decided in the morning before they arrived that she would make a card for each girl. We wrote their names down but she did the rest of the cards all herself.

Each card had the same picture inside (but of course did not say to Alice).

I think its such a nice friend thing to make a card for each of them with the same message of: "Welcome to Ally's house" in each card. The rainbow is a signature Ally art but to jazz it up she cut a piece of fabric scrap from a dress Becky is making her and glued it into each card.

Ally, Rosa, Gabi & Alice

Birthday Party #5

Thora turned 5 last week on the most amazingly beautiful day in March. 80 degrees here! We were unable at attend her "party" at a local theater due to other commitments but on her actual date of birth her mom hosted a "picnic at the park" get together for neighborhood pals. French fries, milkshakes (instead of cupcakes) burgers it was awesome!

Thora's mom Sarah put 5 candles in a hamburger for Thora to blow out!

Our family chillin' at the picnic!

Easter Bunny 2012

We went mall shopping Saturday after a birthday party took us in the right direction. We managed to meet up with Ally's friend at the mall, and we took them to...the American Girl store. Ally's first visit! It was so much fun for Ally to go with her friend. They had a blast playing with some of the dolls in a stroller.

We also pointed out the doll named for Mommy - "Julie", doll of the 70's.

After a fun time playing, we ended up in line to see the Easter Bunny!! The girls were so excited.

Can't you tell how excited they were?

We took lots of photos, but here is Ally with the Easter Bunny - she even touched him! Can you believe it!

We parted ways with Ally's friend, and did a little shopping, with Ally dancing her way out of the store.

Cooking Class - Ally's request

Ally asked that we host cooking class this month so we did. We made 2 kinds of chili - one with turkey and one without any meat. Corn bread in several forms, muffins, mini muffins and cake-type squares. The hit was dessert- Whoopie Pies!! We agreed they tasted more like oreos than whoopie pies but they were yummy. Watching the kids try and get as much powdered sugar and frosting into them as possible was pretty entertaining as well.

Preparing vegetables for the chili - mushrooms and carrots. They also used sharp knives to slice zucchini and peppers. This was the first time we let them actually handle sharp knives. They did great.

I learned it takes a 5 year old a really long time to use a can opener - and chili has a lot of cans - it took forever - to get the beans and tomatoes opened, rinsed and in the pots.


My favorite thing was the honey. They asked to taste the honey (in the cornbread). Each child - Ally (in blue) Zach, Thora, Mia and River - held out 2 fingers and I would squirt honey on their fingers, which they would promptly suck off. It was priceless to see. We actually did 4 rounds of honey tasting - 2 for each batch of cornbread.

Ally getting ready to assemble the whoopie pies.

The whole gang.

I served the chili with cheese and corn chips in a effort to entice them to try and eat it. Ally has decided she likes chili so she did pretty well, and every child did try it and eat enough to get dessert.

Birthday Party #4

Ally drew a picture of her and Sofia in the card.

We purchase a package of blank notecards and its Ally's responsibility to write Happy Birthday and her friend's name and a picture inside each card.

Sofia's party was at the indoor playground.

The Bouncy House was a big hit

Such a great little girl.

I was so proud of Ally. As can happen at social events her usual group of friends were being a bit exclusive and instead of letting it get her down and make her cry she rallied and explored on her own and played with some different girls than she usually does.

We had 3 birthday party invites on the same day at the same time and we attended this one since it was the invititation we received first.

Chore Chart

Ally is loving girl scouts. This session the girls are working on earning their Daisy Flower badge - and each petal of the flower represents a part of the Girl Scout Law:

Last week she made a chore chart and in order to earn the ornage petal "responsible for what I say and do" she was supposed to perform each task each day and then we put a sticker on the day to illustrate that it was done. Then we brought the completed chore chart back the girl scouts the following week.

Girl Scouts meets on Mondays so our week started on Tuesday.

Tuesday's chore was to wash dishes:

Wednesday to do laundry:

First we sorted the clothes from the hamper in Ally's room and here she is putting her dirty clothes in the washing machine.

Learning how to fold the clean dry clothes and put them in the laundry basket.

Thursday's chore was to "go to school" Ally said one of leaders at Girl Scouts suggested that as a chore, since it is something they as children are responsible for doing.

Ally was quite brave and adventuresome playing afterschool.

swinging from a very high rope

hanging


Friday's chore was set the table.

We had friends over for dinner so Ally set the little table for her and Stella and Violet.

Saturday was clean your room:

Becky helped Ally empty and sort some containers that Ally stores things in. Ally's room is usually very neat - but that is because she stores things in baskets or bags. So there is not much clutter or mess visible but there is mess. I think Ally was relieved to have some help putting away things.

Taking craft supplies to her craft storage area.

Sunday's chore was sweep the floors.

Ally was so excited every day to accomplish her task.

Monday was feed the cats.

The completed chore chart - with a sticker for each day that she accomplished the task. I think its fair to say that she conquered the task for the week - which was to "do what I say I will do".