Ali's Infamous Left Hand

Ali has determined that her left hand is her naughty hand. Here are some examples of conversations that we've had recently.

Scene #1 setup: Ali moving her straw up and down quickly on her McDonald's cup in order to make that really annoying noise.
Me- (worrying that she'll spend the whole 18 hr drive to CA with my parents making that noise)"Ali, please stop doing that- it really isn't good manners"
Ali- "I know- it was my left hand."

Scene #2 setup: Ali throws a little bouncy ball behind the piano
Me- "Ali! What did you do that for?"
Ali- "What?"
Me- "Now you have to wait for Dad to get home before you can play with your ball. That wasn't your best idea."
Ali- "I know. My left hand just made my right hand throw it back there."

Scene #3 setup: Ali is supposed to be brushing her teeth
Me- "Ali, have you finished brushing?"
Ali- "Almost"
Me- "What's taking so long?" (It had been about 20 minutes.)
Ali- "Mom, can you punish my left hand? It's making fun of my right hand. It's saying, "Right has an owie!"
Me- "What?"
Ali- (in a sing song voice- imagine Na- Na- NaNa- Na)"Right has an owie...Right has an owie"
Me- "How am I supposed to punish Left? Put it in time out?"
Ali- "Yes."
Me- "If Left is in time out, how will you brush your teeth?"
Ali- "I don't know."
Me- "Why don't you just focus on brushing your teeth and when you're done you can put Left in timeout yourself."
Ali- "Perfect!"

Scene #4 setup: Ali is in the backseat arguing with person/persons unknown.
Me- (after turning off the radio to be sure that what I thought I heard was actually what I heard) "Ali, who are you arguing with?"
Ali- "My left hand."
Me- "Why?"
Ali- "I don't know."
Me- " "
And the argument continued.

I'm not really sure why/how this discovery was made. It sort of gives new meaning to the phrase Choose The Right.

Our beach get-away

Recently we were able to spend two great weekends at the coast. First, for Memorial Day, a friend let us use their beach house in Newport, OR for the weekend. It was so much fun! We went last year and decided to share the joy this year and invited Grandma and Grandpa King to come with. I have a theory that Mother Nature waits for us to plan a trip to the coast before deciding what the weather will be like. I've come to this conclusion because I've NEVER been to Newport when it wasn't rainy. However, this time Mother Nature smiled on us and we had three beautiful days. Monday it did rain but it wasn't a show stopper. Anyway, our Newport weekend started off with fun at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Ali had a great time. She was able to touch a sting ray, anemone, and star fish. She decided to pass on the sharks though. Here she is with the star fish. (No she's not flipping anyone off- she just has a lazy "pointer" finger so "tall man" does all of the work.) Here's Ali with her otter friend. It was amazing, actually. He was completely enthralled with her. He was watching her even after she left the window. She was sort of running back and forth and he was following her with his eyes and swimming around to get a good look at her. I don't know if he thought she looked like a yummy lunch or what.
My personal favorite was the water tunnels. Here are a few pics. Since the weather was bad on Monday, we decided to check out the shops. Ali tasted her first fish ever and didn't like it. (That's my girl!) Here's Ali in our favorite taffy shop with her class pet- Beverly the Beaver. After lunch and a good dose of sugar, we went to tour the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Ali barely passed the height requirement and was able to walk to the top of the lighthouse with the rest of us. Stairs, stairs, and more stairs. 150 stairs to be exact. We really had a great time!

Relay For Life

Yesterday we had the privalege of participating in the Relay For Life. Ali's friend Eli was diagnosed last fall with Leukemia so we were part of his team. The relay had a movie theme so we were the "Kung Fu Elias" team. Thanks to all of you who donated and supported Ali. She was able to raise $660! Ali had so much fun running around the track. I think she ran a whole mile, at least. Then there was the times she went around walking (backwards, of course). I don't know where she gets that energy! Anyway, here are some pictures of the event. Here's a picture of the team sign. Here is Ali with the Walker Boys. I think Ali and Eli have been friends longer than they haven't been friends. Eli was the Superhero for the whole event. Here is last year's Princess "choosing" this year's superhero and bringing him to the stage for his gear. They gave him a medal and a superhero cape. It was really cute! One of the Superhero's responsibilities was to lead the Survivor's Lap and Eli took this job seriously. The teams lined the track and blew bubbles at the survivors as the came around. Eli was so fast he left the other survivors (who were walking) in the dust! He got huge cheers all around the track but none were as loud as when he passed our team. Look at that smile! Here's a good picture of his cape. Here's Ali with her relay shirt. I swear she is wearing shorts under there. The whole team wore ninja bandannas. Ali walking with Gabi We were all thrilled to find our favorite friend, Ariel, also walking. Ali and Eli taking a lap together. After a few laps Ali was too hot to keep wearing her relay shirt. Here she is walking with her friend Sara (right behind Ali). Look at that pink face. Ali and Gabi

John and I had a hard time keeping up with Ali and Gabi. Each time we started getting close, they would start running. I just didn't think that I should run after her 6 weeks before my due date. A little detour for Ali and Gabi. We really did have a great time. Thanks to the Walkers for being such great friends and inviting us to participate in this special event!

Ali's Spring Program

This year Ali's class had a spring program. It was really cute! It was centered around St. Patrick's day. They sang songs and recited little poems with actions. This was actually the first program where Ali actually sang all of the songs! In the past she would just do the actions but never move her lips. I got the whole thing on video but thought I'd better just post my favorite part. The Irish Jig:
Teacher Vicki has the kids say the steps out loud so that they can remember the steps. You may also note the red stickers on their right feet so they can remember which foot to start with. I'm proud to note that Ali needed neither of these aids... for the most part.
PS. Ali is the one in the front row on the left- in case you couldn't tell with her leprechaun disguise.

Ali's Quinquennial

We decided to start a new tradition in our family. We are now only going to have big "friend" birthday parties on the even number years. That way we catch the big ones- 8, 12, 16, 18. On the odd numbered years Ali can pick one special friend to spend a whole day doing whatever she wants. This year she chose to have lunch at McDonald's, go to OMSI, and then 7-11 for slurpees. Grandma and Grandpa King were able to join us for lunch and then we dropped Grandpa off at the airport on our way to OMSI. Here is Ali and her friend Morgan playing with some plastic dinosaurs. (Dinosaurs are the current attraction at OMSI.) Ali the Velociraptor Ali is a little over a month older than Morgan and a little under a foot shorter. Looks like she's going to be taking after her short Mama, poor thing. Ali and Gma Ali had a pretty impressive haul of gifts this year. It was really fun to watch her open them. She was so grateful for everything! Here she is loving on "Paddington". Ali wanted a Lightning McQueen birthday and I just didn't have it in me to make a big character cake like I usually do (what was the point with just four people eating it?). So, I found some icing decorations that we put on cupcakes instead. She didn't mind or notice a thing. I am so lucky to have such a happy daughter!
Ali and her cupcakes A week later it was our turn to have the playgroup girls at our house. Since I needed something to do with them for 2 1/2 hrs, I caved a little on the no friend birthday party during odd years rule. But just a little. Here they all are. From left to right we have: Taylor, Sami, Morgan, Sara, Macy, and Gabi. We're going to miss playgroup next year!

Ali's new 'do

Ali's hair was all the way down to her waist and getting hair done in the morning involved a lot of tears trying to get the tangles out. Plus, it was starting to not be as curly as it had been. So, I decided to cut it. I was hoping that by getting rid of some of the weight that we would get the curls back. It sort of worked but not the way I wanted it to. (I was hoping for the three year old curls again. Maybe they'll come back when she hits puberty.) Anyway, I think the cut turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. This is Ali before... and after. (This was taken on easter in the dress that our Easter Bunny who lives in Keizer made for her.) Here she is after we had some fun with my flat iron. She looks like a different kid with straight hair! The kids at school were all amazed and several of the Moms had no idea who she was. It took a long time though so I doubt this will become something we do on a regular basis.

The Ali Blues

Ali recently spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa King. When we went to their house for dinner and to pick her up on that Sunday she had made up a song on the harmonica. She calls it "The Harmonica Song". It was pretty fascinating to me to watch her because every time she played it, it was the same tune (if not the same notes). She was also really careful to start the song on the same note- the harmonica had numbers above the holes. She also would look at the hymn book on the piano and pretend that she was reading the music to "The Harmonica Song". We tried to get her to play it for all of us but she was too shy and would only play for one person at a time.

Unfortunately we didn't have our video camera there but luckily Bonnie stepped in and we have this video of Ali playing courtesy of her. The sound is a little low and the dance was a big surprise. Each time I had to announce her the same way and if I messed up or varied from the script she would correct me and make me start over. So, without further ado:

Presenting the Amazing Alicyn and her harmonica playing "The Harmonica Song":

It's a boy!!

There's not a whole lot more to say. John and I are thrilled to death (and 50% scared to death- I have no idea what to do with a boy). The Dr. couldn't get a good look at the baby's heart so we are going back in four weeks. The baby was also on the small side so the due date was pushed back to Aug 11th. We're hoping he has John's stature and not mine. We'd hate to have to name him Frodo or Gollum or something like that. Ali was really cute calling everyone to tell them her "news". Every message she left was slightly different but for the most part she was happy to tell everyone that she is "going to be the big sister of a baby brother". We're estimating the blessing will be the first weekend in October. We'd love to have anyone who can come.

Ali's big news

Well, if you couldn't already tell by the survey, Ali is going to be a big sister in August. We're not really sure how this happened. (Well, I guess that's not TOTALLY true- he hem...)Anyway, we went into the DR. in November to have our first appointment to start in-vitro. They told us to call them when my next cycle started and we would get started right away on the meds and shots and stuff. So, we waited. And waited and waited. I was actually starting to be really annoyed because I just wanted to get going now that we'd finally made the decision. But, as it turns out the whole sticking long needles into my own stomach wasn't necessary after all. Thank heavens! One morning while I was getting Ali's hair done for church she said," Momma, you have a bump on your tummy. Do you think there is a baby in their like Kaitlyn's mom?" I side stepped that question because we wanted to have our first Dr. appointment before we said anything to her about it- just in case. Nothing gets past that girl! Anyway, our appointment was the next day so we told her that night. The first thing she said was "I was right!". Ali is really excited for the new baby to come. I'm not sure how long after it actually comes that the excitement will continue. She is always asking if the baby is still in there and loves to give my tummy pokes and kisses for the baby. I've been pretty sick so far. Not as sick as I was with Ali (thankfully) but it still prevented me from doing Christmas cards this year. Hopefully you'll all understand.

Thirty, Flirty and... Thriving???

Or something like that. Here are some pics from my birthday. Ali was convinced that I wanted a Harry Potter birthday party. So that's what we did.

Christmast Highlights

Well, as it turns out we didn't take a whole lot of pictures this year but we have a lot of video. We went to Idaho Falls this year to join the Love family in a huge Christmas celebration. Almost everyone was there and Ali had a great time getting to know her cousins on that side. The snow was lots of fun too. We were also very lucky to get tickets to go through the Rexburg, ID temple open house. We were in the first group to go through on the first day. Since there was no backup of people yet, we were privileged to be able to also get a peek at the bride's room. Ali's favorite rooms were the sealing rooms and the Celestial room. It was absolutely beautiful! Even though it hadn't been dedicated yet, there was a very special spirit there and you could feel that you were standing in a holy place. It was so wonderful to be able to be there in the temple with Ali. I hope she will always remember how she felt there. Thanks again for the tickets, Dad. Now to the pictures: This is Ali hanging up the stockings next to our fireplace. Decorating our "Charlie Brown Tree" with Dad And Mom Adding the Angel Here is Ali and Aunt Adrie playing ukuleles together. Ali was so excited to see Aunt Adrienne and she is still talking about playing disney sorry with her. These next few pictures are from the Johnson Family Christmas party on Christmas eve. There were so many people we had to use the seminary building because no house could hold that many people. Every year they have the kids act out the nativity. This was Ali's first year participating and she was so thrilled to be Mary. She even got to hold a real baby- cousin Jacob. I'm not sure who was Joseph- if anyone was. It was mostly angels running around. It was also special because someone brought a video of Grandpa Johnson reading the story from years and years ago. That is why in most of the pictures people are looking at the TV. Hopefully you'll be able to see some of the adorable chaos that took place during this reenactment. It was really fun. Notice a much younger Aunt Adrienne being the angel on the TV. Here Ali's playing her new guitar in her new McQeen PJ's. She decorated it with the flowers all by herself. We were home from IF for about an hour or so before we headed down to Keizer to spend New Year's Eve with Grandma and Grandpa King. Ali was thrilled to see that Grandpa had gotten a Cars electric racing track. She wouldn't leave him alone until he got it out and played with her. She was all giggles and played for hours. Then we all went to the Merry-Go-Round on New Year's day. I think Ali went 8 or 9 times in a row. No one else could stomach it so we all took turns with her.