Friday the 13th

"I'm not superstitious, but... I'm... I am a little-stitious." - Michael Scott, The Office

Actually, our Friday the 13th (in June) turned out pretty wonderful. It was Ali's big day. It started off with Preschool Graduation. Here is Ali signing Teacher Vicki's memory book. Here's Ali getting ready for the big moment with Morgan and Gabi.

Being Silly- what Ali does best. The Procession. (I have to admit that I got pretty choked up- what happened to my baby???) Class of 2008 Ali and Teacher Vicki After a celebratory ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins, we headed home to get ready for our second big event- Mini Olympics. I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the pictures- the lighting was really bad in the gym and the camera kept focusing on the people's heads in front of us instead of Ali. Here's Ali marching out with her class. Here's the beginning of the floor routine... and the end. All the participants got trophies. Ali was so proud! She just kept talking about her "First Trophy Ever!!". Here's Ali with her coach Jane. Ali just loves her- she has just the right temperament for Ali. Finally a few random pics after the show:

A Blast From The Past

We recently upgraded our computer and are in the process of wiping the old one clean. Anyway, we found some video clips from when Ali was a baby and thought we'd share them. A few of them were posted when we first started our blog but have since become inaccessible so I added them again. Enjoy!

Here is Ali's most famous video.



This is Ali singing her trick or treat song. She's about 2 1/2 here.



Here is Ali "reading" the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. This may just be my favorite of all the videos. She's at the part where Cindy Lou Who comes out and catches the Grinch. I love how Ali does the voice of Cindy.



We hope you had as much fun going down memory lane as we did.

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.