Fingerpainting
I made presents for Ally's grandparents for mother's day that involved fingerpaints. Some grandparents probably haven't gotten them yet, because I can never mail them on time, so that's all I will say about that. I found out how much she liked it though, so after her nap I let her have fun. I taped a big paper to her picnic table, stripped her down to her diaper, and gave her a couple little bowls with paint in them. She had a blast. She was so serious about it, but when she'd look up, she smiled real big. When she ran out, and was scraping the bottom of the bowls, I asked her if she was all done. She looked up at me and signed "more". So I gave hersome more. Crayola washable fingerpaints is what we used, and it cleaned up really easily. It also dries pretty quickly, so I just let her dry a couple seconds, then picked her up and carried her to the tub. She also liked playing in the water. I didn't stop the drain, so she just to play in the spout while I rinsed her off. All in all I think she had a good day.

Zoo
Today, I decided that it was a gorgeous day outside, and it would be a good day to introduce Ally to the zoo. I got there and was confused. The road was blocked off, and people were parking in a grass field nearby. There were concession stands set up outside and people everywhere. I just happened to go on Dr. Doolittle Day. This didn't really mean a lot for Ally, since she's so young. It did mean that I didn't have to pay to get it though. They had face painting and turtle races and fun stuff like that for older kids.

Ally had a really good time. She stared and pointed at the emu and all the birds that were flying around in the trees. Then we walked around and saw the monkeys. She tried to chase after a couple geese with 5-6 goslings. She got a little too close and they started hissing at her, so we had to step back and leave them alone for a while. She didn't really care about most of the animals like the bears and foxes and alligators. Mostly she liked the noes she recognized. She giggled at the chickens and ducks. Loved the horses. She waled right up to one and yelled at him. I got her to pet them and she squealed and neighed. We pet the goats, and fed them a little. I put a piece of the food on Ally's hand and she held it out for them to eat. We even got int the goat fence and ran around for a little while. Then she spent the next couple minutes throwing a fit because we couldn't play in the water washing our hands forever. Volunteers were walking around with snakes to show off. Ally pet every one of them once. The only thing that scared her were the peacocks. When they yelled, she got wide-eyed. the second time, she screamed and burrowed into my shoulder. We had to steer clear of them. Otherwise, she had a great time.

Darron
For those of you who know Darron and Dea, I thought I'd let you know how he's doing. The rest of you (everyone, for that matter), say a prayer or something for him.

Darron was in Iraq, and got injured by a roadside bomb. He took most of the force on one side and face. He lost one eye, but still has the eyelid, so they will probably be able to do something cosmetically for him. They will have to put plates in his face to reconstruct his cheekbones. He has burns over a lot of his body, but they have started skin grafts, and have high hopes for him. They say he is healing pretty well, but will still be in ICU a couple months most likely. Right now, he and Dea are in San Antonio, while their boys are staying with family in Robinson. June 5th, at the bowling alley, there will be a benefit to raise money for any expenses the Army won't cover.

dandelions
Last night it warmed up a little, so we played in the back yard. Ally ran around smacking all the dandelions so the fluff would fall off. Like we didn't have enough dandelions already! Oh well. it was cute.

Rob and I
I give updates on Ally all the time (mostly because Rob and I are boring). Here's what's new with us.

My job is still going great. I'm on an internet project that is teaching me a lot. We are almost done with it, and the team leader is great to work with and says nice things about me. She's also my age, which is nice. I haven't worked with someone my age since I was a waitress.

School is over after one last assignment I need to finish by tomorrow. I like online classes. I talked to the college people last night about my future courses, and found out that my job can count as an internship. I have to pay for the class, come to work, get paid, fill out some paperwork, and when I'm done, Dept of Revenue will reimburse me. How much better can it get?

Rob's school is over. He took his last test last night. He's signed up for online stuff this summer and fall. He's on track to get a Bachelor's Spring 2006. Thank God this semester is over though. Chemistry makes him cranky.

He has a job interview today. Keep your fingers crossed for him. He's really sick of his current job. They don't respect their employees at all, and have been giving him and others a hard time lately. he thinks it's about time to move on.

Job, school...job, school. That's about all we do. It's been so crappy out (see my other rants about the weather) that we still haven't gotten the deck stained. We're almost finished though. We also haven't mowed the yard in a while. That's about it. Like I said, we're boring.

food
Last night, Ally ate!! First of all, she didn't fall asleep at lunch like she's been doing lately. She ate lots of fish sticks and fruit. Then, she still ate when we got home. She had 4 1/2 freezer chicken strips, a cup of oranges, 2 bowls of applesauce, a fruit/cereal bar, and then some ice cream. She migh tbe growing again. She's sleeping a lot better, and I'm sure that has something to do with it too.

Last week I ate a piece of leftoer pizza, and she tried to take it from me. She ate a couple small handfulls of topping then was done. I haven't been able to replicate it, but it gives me hope.

Chicken Dance Elmo
I have never watched Seasame Street with Ally yet (it's not on when she gets to watch tv), so I don't know why, but she's fallen in love with Elmo. She plays with the hokey-pokey one at day care, tickles the one at home, and just got 2 new ones at garage sales this weekend. She was thrilled.

First I found a little stuffed one about 8 inches tall. It is just a plain stuffed animal. She grabbed it and hugged it while we were walking around the subdivision "sale"ing. Then, all of a sudden, she decided she didn't want to walk anymore. She sat down on the sidewalk and wouldn't go. Rob stayed with her while Darra and I went on. He said she just sat down to play with Elmo a little. She walked him around and tried to tickle his belly. When they caught up tp us, Darra had just bought the chicken Elmo. She was so happy. She hugged him and sat down in these people's driveway to play with him. Rob got annoyed by him very fast. He's loud. but Ally couldn't get enough. She even wanted to take him to bed with her that night. By Sunday, she learned how to "flap her arms like a chicken".

Visit from G'ma Darra
Darra had a meeting in Naperville Friday so she stopped by on her way home. Saturday morning, we went garage saleing. I'm sooo addicted. She bought Ally a Chicken-Dance Elmo. Ally now can say "Elmo" She's done it twice at least, although never when Rob can hear, so he doesn't believe me. I also found a bunch of books for Naomi and Marisa (Babysitters club) and Marley (Berenstein Bears).

Then, when we got home, we did some spring cleaning. Darra helped upstairs while she corralled the baby, and Rob and I hit the downstairs. It's so hard to get any cleaning done when Ally "helps". You certainly can't bleach or disinfect much. Anyway, our house is cleaner. Ally got tired of it after a while, and they went shopping.

When they got back, Rob and I played a little and then got to go out for dinner and a movie. The last movie at the theater I saw was Shrek 2 (about a year ago?? This was in Robinson, while Darra babysat again).

time to myself
I only took half-hour lunches last week so that I could leave early Friday. I went to the range and killed some targets. It was nice and relaxing. I got some time all by myself and I'm getting better.

Manipulated and outsmarted by a 17 month old
I hate to admit it, but she's smarter than Rob and I...

Ally hates being stuck inside. When she wants to go out, she grabs our fingers and tries to drag us towards the door. If we know she's going that way, we don't usually let ourselves be dragged. If she drags us toward the kitchen, we go - we assume she's hungry. Last night Ally grabbed Rob's finger and dragged him toward the kitchen. When they got about halfway there, she changed directions and headed toward the door with a big grin on her face. She fooled him!

Ally hates wearing a hat outside. Monday, she was throwing a fit on the landing by the door, wanting to go out in tha rain. She saw that I wasn't giving in, so she put her hat on and gave me sad puppy eyes. I gave in and let her go to the garage.

We've been having a contest of wills about sitting down to eat. She'd like to wander around the room with her food, and I'm trying to make her sit. She thinks it's a game. She laughs at me everytime I sit her back down. Last night I told her she could get up if she put her banana down first. She understood me perfectly, and set the banana down and got up. She walked around the side of the picnic table, looked around the room, and as fast as she could, grabbed the banana and her cup and took off running. Her expression was priceless. It said "She thinks she can stop me? Well, I'll show her!" Rob couldn't help laughing.

We'er in over our heads :)

Teenage Wasteland
Ally has definitly got her own taste in music. Some songs on the radio she completely ignores. Some she shakes her whole body and nods her head and really enjoys. Yesterday on the way home from work "Teenage Wasteland (The Who)" (Yes, I know that's not the real name of the song...It's "Bob O'Reilly" or something off the wall like that) came on the radio, and she loved it. She was just dancing away in her carseat.

Other hits: "Party Town (Glenn Frey)", "Shout (Tears for Fears)", "Cheeseburger in Paradise (Jimmy Buffet)"

Hokey-Pokey
I started to sing the Hokey-Pokey to Ally the other night and discovered that somewhere along the way, she learned the idea of the song. She can't put her arms/legs in, but stands there so that you can do it for her. Then when you get to the turning around part, she knows it's time to turn around which she can do all by herself. This is great because she's pretty hard to turn around without help. It makes you tired really fast. There is a Hokey-Pokey Elmo at daycare that is constantly losing batteries, because they play with it so much. Ally absolutely loves it. The while we were singing, she went and got her Tickle-Me Elmo and tried to make him clap his hands with us.

I hate this weather (cont.)
Last night was horrible. Ally is teething and not in a great mood anyway, but she was so much worse because she couldn't go outside. I opened the garage door for her once, so she could see the crappy weather for herself. We sat in the garage (Ally in her stroller) for about 15 minutes last night before she realized that the rain wouldn't quit. Then she climbed out of the stroller and ran into my arms to come inside with me. Later she threw a screaming fit trying to drag me out the door. Where is summer?

biscuits and gravy success
I've been trying to figure out how to make gravy for about 8 years now. When I was in college, Rob and I got a craving for it and tried for the first time to make some. I called my mom and asked her how. She gave me directions over the phone and we made some. it tasted like wet flour. We have tried many times over the years, with more phone calls to Mom ("too much flour", "not enough flour", "let the flour cook before you add milk", etc) and have always failed. Most of the time, it came out tasting like flour or milk. Last time I failed, I called my mother to cry once again, but she wasn't home. So I called a friend of mine who cooks. She told me I wasn't using enough grease. That was about a month ago.

Sunday I got enough courage to try again. I sent Rob to the store to buy biscuits, and he came back with both biscuits and cinnamon rolls - just in case. Terri was right though. I had to use more grease. I am now a culinary success! (at least at this one meal) Hooray for Terri!

weather
What is up with this weather???? Last week I was having fun dressing Ally in "new" clothes trying on the cute little shorts outfits. I pulled most of her longsleeves and pants out of the closet. Good thing I didn't throw them in the attic yet. I even had to get out her winter coat again ('cause she wanted to go outside so bad. I can't count the number of fits she threw this weekend becasue we wouldn't let her go outside to freeze) It's almost May, for God's sake!! I'm very peeved

garage sales
Ok, I admit it. I'm addicted. Ally has 3 slides outside, a sandbox, 2 battery-operated cars, 2 bookshelves full of books, a closet overflowing with clothes, and I still can't stay away from garage sales. The problem is... I almost always find something good. I may not need it, but I like buying Ally toys, and I like buying them cheap.

Like this weekend. It was crappy outside, but I thought three would be less people out, and more good stuff left. So Rob and I drove around forever, driving past real slow to see if there were any toys, but not even getting at most of them, cause it was cold. We found a couple of them that would have been great last year - they had a lot of the toys we already have. We even found a primary colors Little Tykes toddler bed, but we don't have anywhere to store it, and we're not ready to use it yet. After an hour and a half, of buying nothing, we found a Little Tykes art desk, exactly like the one Grandma has (that Rick found along side the road for free) It's in great condition, just needs some of the crayon scrubbed off and some stickers removed. only $15. Ally loved it. One problem - we don't have a truck anymore. We managed to get it into the backseat by sliding Ally's carseat to the side, but it barely fit. Now, we just have to wait til it gets warmer tobe able to clean it up. I know she'll love it. So that justifies the obsession... doesn't it?

chins and cheeks
I'm been teaching Ally the secondary parts of her body - like chin, knees and stuff that you work on after you've got the major stuff identified. For some reason, she thinks you have to pinch to show where stuff is. She pinches her legs which isn't so bad, but she pinches cheeks hard. She doesn't yet know th difference between chin and cheeks. You ask where her chin is and she pinches it, but you ask where Mom's chin is and she pinches my cheeks.

testing
I'm working on putting the photo albums on the pictures page. This is just a test to see how to do it.

still sleeping
Went right to bed again last night. Rob is so smart, he's annoying. Saturday night before her bedtime, I was tired, so I laid down on the floor next to her playing. She ignored me, but right about 9:00, she grabbed her refrigerator ABC thingy and attacked me. -- The ABC thingy, Ruth bought for her. It's a lot like the animal one Glinda and Bob got her. The letters fit in a spot on the base, and when you put it in and push it down, it sings a song. It also has a button you can push to hear the alphabet song. -- Her mobile plays "Twinkle, Twinkle" which, we all know is the same tune as ABC. So anyway, she came and laid down on me, got comfy, pushed the song, and laid her head down. So I asked her if it was night-night time, and we got up to go to bed. I turned her mobile on and she went to sleep. After the fights we've been having about bedtime, I'm left with a feeling of "Is that all???"

Sign Language
Well, I guess Ally knows more sign language than I had thought. If you tell her to say please, she wipes her hand across her belly and/or chest. If you ask her if she's hungry, she puts her fingers to her mouth for eat. I've seen "more" many times (mostly in regard to cheese) and last night, I said thank you and she started playing with her chin. I think that's close to the right sign for thank you???