Happy 60th Mom!

This Saturday is OFFICIALLY my mom's birthday. We celebrated last weekend though with a surprise bash. I told my mom it was a house warming party and she actually helped me plan it. She selected the menu, provided me with a guest list and addresses and voila, party! The party's theme was Martinis and Motown. We had Motown music on (you could hardly hear it!) and drank Cosmos and Apple Tinis. Both Mom's favorite!! The best part was seeing her face when she walked in and the second best part was raising money for Trevor's Treasures. This is a non-profit--www.treavorstreasures.org that collects new toys and donations to deliver toys to children in oncology units. It's named after Trevor Blake a little guy who is in remission now after Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. Brent and I went to high school with his parents and my mom is really good friends with the Hart's, Trevor's grandparents. So it just seemed right. At the party we collected $650 and then later that was raised to $870, amazing. My mom was super happy that her birthday was taking on special meaning. It also made me feel good too! Thanks to everyone for their kind generosity!

Singing to the Animals

Here's a quick video of Allison's vocal abilities. I think I should call Simon, look out Susan Boyle! :)

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you, you, you?

On Sunday morning, I got the weather report for yet another wet awful Monday and then proudly announced at breakfast that we were off to the National Zoo. Saturday, Brent and I had a date and Allison decided not to nap with Gigi, so I knew it would be a long morning in the house. After we ate, we scurried around and were out the door by 8:15. We parked in parking lot A! Never done that, we always end up in the lower levels. Brent was so excited. Allison told us that she was going to sing to the animals. We didn't quite believe her, but she did! We didn't make it inside the elephant house, it was closed. Which meant no hippos. Oh darn, break my heart. Evil awful animals. We saw the pandas, lions, gorillas, tigers and turtles. That's Alli's list. There were more but that of course is what she talks about.

Easter 2009 and the WHITE HOUSE !

Easter 2009 far exceeded any expectation I had! I was ready with the usual pretty dresses, hats (I guess Easter bonnets is more appropriate!) baskets and goodies. We had all that, but then Brent landed us Easter Egg Roll tickets at the White House and the game changed! I was definitely more excited than Allison! We got up very early, as Alli would say, "we were up before Mr. Sun!" and drove to Brent's cousin's house. This is where we picked up the rest of our gang--Wendy, Alex and Stephanie. We headed to Brent's office to park the car and walk to the White House. I decided not to take Allison's stroller. I knew it would be a struggle to keep her in it and what a hassle pushing it around the lawn. And like every other good American, I couldn't do that to the President's yard, how rude! :) We got into line around 7:15--they weaved us around like Disney. You know where you go up and down aisles but really don't make any progress, but you think you are because you are moving?!? Then we went through security--they went through everything and rightfully so, even my wallet--like where the greenbacks are. I made a joke to the officer and asked if they were going to count my change--got a dismissive look and quickly realized not funny. Then we were off to a group waiting area--felt like cattle being herded!

Finally around 8:05 in the AM, we were in!! We had mapped out our visit--we had timed tickets and only had two hours. Had to make the most of it! First things first was the dance stage. The Imagination Movers really got Alli dancing. She had SOO much fun. This is also when I pressed some weird button on my camera and it highlighted the green. Weird. Good for St. Pat's but not this!

Then Mommy wanted to go to story time. Not because the whole reading thing but because of the reader! Yummy Josh Dumeil (?sp) from Vegas and previously All My Chilldren. I honestly don't remember what story he read, I just sat there and enjoyed the yummy eye candy. I know Allison tried numerous times to leave, to which I told her to "Listen to Josh, I mean the story......". After that we headed over to color our Easter Egg. That was a lot of fun--Allison managed to spill her dye all over her jacket, and me for that matter. Next I wanted to head to the Easter Egg Roll. After sizing up the line, there was no way my toddler could hang with it. So, I quickly told Allison to put her egg down and start rolling it as fast as she could. There. My child rolled an Easter Egg on the White House Lawn. Mission accomplished.
Next, we hit the craft area. We made a princess crown, jump rope and Allison created some-don't-really-know-what -to-call- it thing out of an egg crate. It was cool, they just put a bunch of art supplies down and let kids make whatever they wanted. And she did!
Allison asked to get her face painted. My heart sank as I looked at the line that stretched for at least 75 people deep. I told her we would have to stay in the line a long time but we could do it if she really wanted to. Such a trooper we were in line for about 40 minutes. ((Put a wrench into my other plans, but oh well, it's what she wanted!!)) She ended up getting a bunny on her cheek. She mentioned to me that Barack Obama will have her over again for more bunnies on her cheeks. Hope so.
While we were in line for face painting we got to boogie down to Fergie, also known as Josh's wife. Allison still talks about dancing to Fergie!
Once our time was up we left the lawn and got our wooden egg and then it was back to the office. We hung out with Daddy for a little bit, had a snack and then out to lunch with Wendy, Alex and Stephanie. We got home around 1 pm, Allison went straight to bed and slept until 5 pm. Yup, 5 pm.
It was an awesome morning and what an opportunity for her! And Mommy, I mean Josh Dumeil, come on! :)

Time for Catch up!

To say the Booker household was sleep deprived is an understatement. It's been awful. We were in survival mode for awhile there, but Allison has pulled through yet again. I really didn't anticipate having such a difficult time transitioning her to her big girl bed. She really likes the freedom! We ended up putting an alarm clock in her room and telling her that she needs to stay in her room until her alarm clock goes off. Once it goes off, she may leave her room and find Mommy and Daddy. Works like a charm! This behavior is of course reinforced with stickers -- aka gold !! They are proudly displayed on her sticker chart!! AAH! I have my morning workouts back and a little me time before the busy day starts. I have quite a bit of catching up to do on the blog, so here we go.......oh forgot to mention, her alarm is set for 7:30 -- for now. :)

Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer!!

We rolled the dice and took Allison to Dora the Explorer at Warner Theatre. We were definitely anxious because Allison hasn't been to anything like that before, so we weren't sure how she would react and if we would waste our money or not! But typical Allison was a true trooper and had so much fun. We metro'ed down -- Allison loves the metro! And then walked to the theatre. It was a true production and had lots of opportunities for audience participation. Allison was right there waving her star, yelling "Swiper, no swipin'", and singing along with the songs. When the show first started, I looked at Allison and saw pure joy. She was so elated and animated. I cried! Brent looks over at me and told me that I was the only one crying at Dora! Once I explained to him why I was crying, he could totally relate. We are looking forward to our next show!

Our Garden

Brent and I are so excited to finally have a yard large enough to have a vegetable garden. We also thought it would be a good experience for Allison. So, last weekend we got to diggin'! Brent borrowed a tilling machine from Victor Vito (painter extraordinaire!) and began creating the space. We are only going to initially do a garden that's about 8'x16' size, we aren't sure about the soil's pH and we just want to see how our first year goes! After the area was created we put some lime and poo-poo down for fertilization. Our goal is to make it an organic garden, so we plan on getting a composting machine. We'll see how that goes! Some of our future vegetables needed to be started as seedlings, so we got that going too. Allison helped with counting out the seeds and filling up the cups. We will put our seeds in the ground around Mother's Day. My landscaping husband can't be bothered until the threat of freeze is over and with the way this winter has been, the later the better. I am really looking forward to walking outside my back porch and picking out vegetables for dinner! (Brent not so much! :) )

Home Improvements Take One!

Allison's Big Girl Room

We decided to do a different color scheme for Allison's big girl room. I was over the gingham lavender and wanted to mix things up, so I went with pink and brown. I love her in pink and brown and most of her clothes seem to show that! I went ahead with the double border chair rail that we had done in her nursery on Harris Street. That's where the polkie dots (to quote Victor VIto the painter!) would end up. Other wise, it was like walking into a bowl of neopolitan ice cream. As you see in the pictures, the previous owners were all about the lavender. It was even the color choice for carpet! We had to get that changed too. We went with a textured/two-toned plush. I am hoping it will hide dirt and other things! It turned out AWESOME! I got her name letters today and we plan on getting stuff on the walls this weekend. I'll try and take some pics of my kickin' new office. I love, love, love it too!

Road Trip

About two weeks ago (remember I'm behind, but slowly gaining!) Allison, mom and myself ventured to a girls' weekend in PA. We were off to celebrate Aunt Sue's nuptials in May. It was supposed to be a surprise, but it wasn't. Something with an email and reply all spoiled the surprise! Allison was very "helpful" with opening presents and wanted to be in the middle of everything. Guests were kind enough to endure Barney episodes and listen to her proclaim, "I went potty!". This was our first road trip that we took since the potty training started and automatic flushers are the death of me! I now carry a piece of card stock in my bag in case we come across one. If she can't see the flusher, she automatically freaks out. But she did great in the car and stayed dry. She didn't sleep though, of course the ride up, most of the evening and then she snuck in a nap for the last hour of our ride home. It was fun to see everyone and of course celebrate the special occasion. Allison will be the flower girl!

Nickels on my face!

So, the other morning I was feverishly trying to get Allison ready for school and she was more concerned with the nickels on my face. At least that is what she said, over and over. She would look at me and say, "Mommy you have nickels on your face, right there Mommy, right there!" She would get her little index finger just a pointing away at my face. When she first said it, I thought she was saying nipples, meaning I thought, pimples. I became very self conscious and checked out my face and to my relief no pimples. Then I picked her up and asked her to show me the nickels. And she pointed to my freckles and added, "Mommy, your nickels are right there!" As if I had never noticed the nickels on my face........


I am behind in blogging, will catch up hopefully this weekend. We are off to Dora Live Saturday night. Woo-hoo!