A little late.

Well it's a couple days after Christmas and we had a wonderful day! As usual it we were up bright and early! Allyson had us up at 4:30 in the morning to open up presents! This year she has been full of questions about Santa and when we turned on the lights the first thing she noticed was that Santa used the same wrapping paper that I used to wrap the presents! Oops....next year Santa will have some special paper to wrap his presents in. As we opened presents all we heard was "that was what I wanted", " I love this", or "Awe Cool!". I think her two favorite presents was her real guitar, and her PS2. I got Steve Rock Band 2 for his X-Box and we have all truly enjoyed that gift, even me and I'm not a game type of person, but that game is a lot of fun! We have spent every night since Christmas playing that game for a couple of hours. Steve plays the guitar, I play the drums, and Allyson sings...we are quite the sight to see and hear! Steve got me a food processor that I have been wanting for quite some time, so I think my new years resolution is to try to be a better cook!

My mom got me a DVD camcorder, and I have had a blast using that thing! She gave it to me Christmas Eve so that I could tape Christmas morning which was a lot of fun! The only bad thing was that I forgot to take regular pictures Christmas morning, I'm kind of bummed about that, but oh well I have it on DVD now, so I can just watch it on the TV!

Well that's it for now, oh and I'm also going to try to blog more often this year too! Even if it's just a little something every couple of days.

Whew....

Boy oh boy did we have a busy weekend!!! Friday night I was
suppose to go to a cookie exchange, and I was so excited to go, but Allyson came home from school Friday with her stomach hurting and just kind of laid on me all day, so I ended up staying home from the cookie exchange. These are the cookies that I made for the exchange. They are very tasty, and I like that they aren't that sweet of a cookie. That night she was very sweet and we had this conversation:
Allyson: I'm sorry you had to miss your cookie party.
Me: It's alright.
Allyson: Thank you for staying home with me, it makes me feel better.
That was enough reason for me to stay home right there.

Saturday we had my Mom's side of the family over for a Christmas party, so I started the day by cleaning the house and getting ready for that. We had a good time and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Sunday I got to take Allyson to go see The Nutcracker and she really enjoyed herself!! It was so pretty. It had been years since I have seen it, and I think I liked it more as an adult that I did as a child. It was so nice to walk around the auditorium and see all the little girls dressed in their Christmas dresses.

This coming weekend is booking up pretty fast too! Friday night is my Grandmother's birthday party, Saturday night we are having Steve's parents over for dinner and doing Christmas with them, and then on Sunday night we are going to a friends house for dinner! I love all the get together's over the holidays!

Pictures with Santa

We went to the Mall at Millenia on Monday and got some pictures taken with Santa. This Santa was the best looking one around that I've seen so far, so I guess that's why we waited 90 minutes to see him!! Allyson's starting to ask questions about Santa. She got to have her picture taken with a different Santa this weekend and she informed me that he had a fake beard so I've had to explain that Santa can't be everywhere at the same time and the Santa's we see at the malls are his helpers. Well she informed me that this one was the real deal because his beard is real! I love these candid shots of her with Santa! Now I just have to decide which one I'm using for our Christmas cards this year!

This one is my favorite!!

Finally

After some major determination, and patience on mine and her part she is finally a bike rider that no longer needs training wheels!!!!! We are all so excited! And don't worry after I took these pictures we ran up to Wal-Mart and got her a helmet so she is all safe now!

And she's off by herself!
A little extra coaching from Dad always does some good!!Look at that smile! She is so proud of herself!

Look at the look of determination on that face!!
On her Christmas wish list now....a new bike that is bigger!!!

Halloween Part 1

**Sorry for funny layout of post!!!***

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

I hope everyone is having a good Halloween so far! At Allyson's school they had a character book parade, and her class did the book There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly a couple of variations from that book. When it came time to pick out characters she ended up picking the cow! My friend that I go to school with is super talented and she helped me make her costume. I think it turned out so cute!!!

Tonight she is going as a High School Musical cheerleader! So more pictures to follow!!

Update

Oh, my gravy! I can't believe it's been over a month since I have posted on here!! There has been so much going on that I haven't had the time to sit and post an entry!

Ok, first thing first, we moved!! After a very loooong 2 month process we were finally approved and purchased a house! We absolutely love it! I unpacked the last of it yesterday so I can finally sit back and relax and enjoy our new house! We have been in the house for 1 week and 2 days, so I'm pretty excited to spend this weekend not unpacking boxes like I did last weekend, and instead just doing whatever I want to do! I have not taken pictures of the inside yet, so I will put that on my to do list for the weekend and share them! Allyson was able to stay in the same school so that was nice that she didn't have to switch schools in the middle of the school year, she only had to switch buses!

Next, my internship, this week was my last week with the kindergarten class. Can you believe it's been 6 weeks already! Time went by super fast for me! On Monday I start in a 3rd grade classroom and am very excited to move up in grades! I went and spoke to the 3rd grade teacher last week and he gave me a book that one of his reading groups are reading and is having me read the book so I can work with that group next week. So I will also be reading "Looser" by Jerry Spinelli this weekend. It's a pretty cute book so far! School itself is going ok too, I'm taking 3 classes along with my internship and really not enjoying them at all. I did get accepted for my second internship which will start in January and then in May I will graduate! Time has gone by so fast!!

Allyson has been doing wonderful in school as usual! I took her to the doctors yesterday for a check up and everything checked out just fine with her. She had to get a booster shot for the chicken pox vacine so she wasn't to happy with that at all! She really won't be happy with me next week when I have to take her to go get blood taken, cause the doctor wants to check everything. I see a new Littlest Pet Shop in her near future!

Alright that's it for now, I will be much better on posting on here! Look this weekend for pictures of the new house!

Days like this

I love days like today! We have no real plans, just hanging out around the house, no schedules to follow, no having to be anywhere at any particular time, just enjoying being at home, or if we want to go somewhere then we will get ready and leave without feeling rushed. We got to get up whenever we wanted to without feeling rushed, Steve and I got out of bed around 9, and Allyson rolled out of bed around 9:30! Right now Steve is outside washing his car, Allyson is watching her new Camp Rock movie still in her jammies and it's 11:30, and I'm doing laundry and some homework.

Disney

This year for Allyson's 7th birthday instead of a party she wanted to go to Disney for the day. In a way I was glad cause then there was no planning and it was just Steve, Allyson and myself going. We had a wonderful time and the best part was that the Magic Kingdom wasn't that busy! I think the longest we waited in line was like 30 minutes. We got to ride the rides she wanted too, and she even tried out a new one, Pirates of the Caribbean. We saw lots of characters so she was happy about that. All in all I think she had a pretty good birthday...now to just figure out what to get her.

1st day of 2nd grade!

Well today finally came, and Allyson started school this year! I can't believe my baby is in 2nd grade already! I can still remember crying my eyes out when she started Kindergarten. This year the school board passed a new rule that there is a county wide dress code, so when we went shopping this year it wasn't nearly as fun just buying the uniforms but I thinks he still looked pretty cute today! She even let me put her hair in pig-tails this morning!

Of course I had to get a picture of her really cool shoes this year! This was the only way she could show her personality at school!

My new Obsession!

My new obsession: Facebook! I never got into myspace, however Facebook is very fun! I was up way to late last night on it, I have found an old high school friend on there, and lots of other things to occupy my time! So if you have a Facebook account look me up so we can be "friends"! My email address is amyd079@yahoo.com

101 things...

Ok, so I saw this on a couple of other post and truly enjoyed reading others so I thought I would give it a try. However 101 things about me is a LOT so lets see how this goes!

1. I love reading message boards, even if I don't always participate in them.
2. I enjoying only having on child, even when some people look at me funny for not wanting more.
3. I will be graduating college in 10 months with my BS degree in elementary education.

4. I love my dark brown hair.

5. I don't like watching scary movies or tv shows.

6. Right now we have 1 dog, 1 cat and like 6 fish.

7. I'm so happy that Allyson ended up with my dark completion and not so fair like her daddy.

8. I miss spending my weekends out on the lake hanging out in a boat all day.

9. I try very hard to be creative but it doesn't always work out for me.

10. I love my coffee...even at 9:00 at night some days.

11. I constantly stress over money.

12. I'm scared to death that I won't make a good teacher when I get my own class.

13. My favorite color is purple.

14. My husband is my best friend, we tell each other everything.

15. As I'm getting older my hair is getting curly. Thanks Dad!

16. I really would like to loose some weight.

17. I hate to exercise.

18. I don't have too many friends, but the ones I have are close ones.

19. Can't stand to touch a mattress with no sheets on it.

20. Do not watch the news while Steve is working at night, refer to #5.

21. Least favorite chore to do is laundry! If I ever won the lottery I would hire someone to do my laundry!

22. Steve has picked up the slack so much since I've been going back to school!

23. I hate to spend money on myself!

24. Sometimes regret spelling Allyson's name with a "y", I can never find anything with her name spelled correctly on it.

25. I am not a pack rat!

26. I can only drink coffee or hot tea out of coffee cups, all other beverages needs to be in a glass cup.

27. I love to hear gossip.

28. I'm a tv addict...gotta have it.

29. I'm not coordinated at all when it comes to sports!

30. I hate conforntations...I avoid them at all cost.

31. 99% of the time I order water with lemon when we go to restaurants so that I can save the extra $2.00.

32. I put Sweet n Low in my water with lemon to have gheto-aid!

33. Love breakfast food!

34. Never have tried any kind of drugs and I'm very proud of that.

35. When I want Steve to do something for me I always tell him to "amuse me" and it usually works!

36. I still only live about 20 mins away from where I was born.

37. I'm very shy until you get to know me, then I will talk your ear off.

38. I danced for 12 years when I was a kid.

39. I love the fact that Allyson loves to play sports!

40. In 8 days I will be 29.

41. I've had to start to dye my hair to hide the grey's that are showing thru.

42. I have a bad habit of throwing things away.

43. I text a lot!

44. I check my email constantly throughout the day.

45. Love being a mom!

46. Try to be the best wife I can be all the time!

47. Favorite season is fall.

48. I take down my Christmas decorations the day after Christmas. I'm tired of looking at them!

49. I love the smell of a fresh clean house and it smelling like Pine-Sol.

50. Terrified that I won't be able to find a teaching job next year.

51. I'm pretty ditsy at times.

52. I don't get most jokes so I just laugh so everyone thinks I get them, but honestly they go over my head.

53. I'm not a very good cook, but I do like to try different recipes.

54. I have the hardest time telling people no.

55. I love to go shopping and yet not buy anything.

56. Love it when Steve cooks Kobe style at home...yum-yum!

57. I watch a ton of Food Network!

58. Favorite movies are the kind that make you stop and think.

59. Love to go to musicals and plays.

60. I will no longer be working in about 4 weeks to start my internships and finish up with school.

61. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

62. My favorite store to shop is Kohls.

63. I'm not a very good gift buyer.


64. I love to get massages.


65. Lakes and oceans at night with the moon hitting the water is very soothing and romantic.
66.I still remember the "white ghost" on vacations with my parents.
67. I use to have an imaginary friend and her name was Ruby.
68. I think I'm a pretty good mother.
69. I have very oily skin!
70. I don't where a whole lot of makeup.
71 New addiction is selling stuff on Ebay, it's so much fun.
72. Love to IM people on the computer.
73. I don't wear a lot of jewelry, my wedding ring, and a necklace and that's about it.
74. I hold a lot of my feelings back, so you really don't know how I feel.
75. Love getting pedicures.
76. I have wide feet, which makes it hard to find shoes.
77. My last 7 classes at school I've made all A's.
78. I worry about Allyson's future all the time.
79. When I go back for my Masters I think I want to get it in Reading.
80. If you look under my bed you will see cases of children's books for my future classroom.
81. Bad manner's annoys me..it's not too had to say please and thank you.
82. I record General Hospital everyday and watch it at night.
83. Biggest pet peeve is smacking your mouth when you eat! I can't stand that sound!
84. I can't go to sleep in bed with the tv on.
85. I love to take naps on the weekends.
86. Steve calls my feet Fred Flintstone feet, cause of my short stubby toes and the width of them.

87. I'm not computer savy at all!

88. I get very anal about the small things.

89. When I go rearrange things in my house I must move them to the spot to see if I will like it there. Not so good at picturing how things will look.

90. Very indicisies.

91. Do not like change!

92. Stressing over not having a job. I have worked ever since I turned 16.

93. I sometimes fear that I'm no being the best mother I can be.

94. I love getting free samples in mail.
95. We go out to eat WAY more than we should
96. I look forward to some weekend and having a PJ day! Allyson loves them more than I do I think.
97. Some days I wish it would rain, esp. on the weekends.
98. I'm a homebody.
99. I get to do part of my internship in a kindergarten classroom.
100. Love getting stuff in the mail.
101. Truly love being a wife and a mom!


All right if you made it this far go do this on your blog and link it back to here!

What's wrong with this?

You see our lovely cat and where he's laying..... it's the dog bed. Buddy is now just laying on the floor looking over at his dog bed thinking he wishes he was on it! I do believe the cat thinks that it is his!!

Yes he thinks this is his new bed!

He's a pretty good sport about it!

I think the next time we go to the store I need to buy Lucky his own bed so Buddy can have his back. What do you think?

New Camera

I got a new camera!! I had the Canon Rebel xti (my dream camera) and then I realized how I did not have time to really learn how that bad boy worked and ended up never really using it due to it's size, so I went out last night and bought a new one that is small and I can whip out any time I need it! I got the Canon Powershot and so far I love it! So be prepaired for picture overload from now on, cause this things fits in my purse and is ready to go with a hit of a button! Plus now I will be able to take this one with me in the classroom and easily take pictures of things I like or did!

Random

Ugh! I haven't posted in a while so I'll do a catch up on what's been going on around here!

Ok, I got my placement for my junior internship and for the 1st 7 weeks I will be in in a Kindergarten class!! I'm so excited about this September can't come fast enough! I have contacted the teacher that I will be working with and she seems really nice, so I can't wait to meet her. She also invited me to come and help out with Meet the Teacher Night before school starts so that is very neat too!

We got a new pet! I'm not quite sure what made us do it, but I was wanting something new and small again so I talked Steve into letting us get a kitten! We named him Lucky and him and our dog are finally getting along VERY good! It was kinda of funny because our big 60 pound dog did not seem to care it was the kitten that had to get use to the dog! Actually this little kitten had the dog running to the room cause he was scared. Now they play together just fine, and Lucky things it's the best thing to play with Buddy's tail!

Isn't he cute!!!

Oh, Allyson finally lost her 1st tooth! She lost it at camp and was completely thrilled that she now "fits" in with all of her friends with having a missing tooth! I would show you a picture, however I guess I don't have one on the computer, I know I took on of it with my phone but I guess not with the real camera!

Alright if you made it this far, WOW!!! I hope everyone is having a safe summer and fun with the family!

I know I'm getting OLD

It's official I'm getting old! I will be 29 at the end of July and the number wasn't bothering me too much, however I noticed this morning that the gray strands in my hair were starting to get more and more! So tonight I went to Wal-Mart and got some hair color! So as I'm sitting here typing this I have color sitting on my hair trying to hide the fact that I'm getting old! I decided to go a little lighter to my hair so if I like it I may have a new best friend, Loreal Natural Match 51/2 N Soft Medium Brown.

Finally!

We have a loose tooth!

This whole school year, Allyson has thought she has had a loose tooth, so every time she found a new one, I would check it, and nothing! Well tonight she proclaims "I have a loose tooth!" So I checked it and sure enough a tooth on the bottom is loose! She is so happy so hopefully in the next week or so I will have a picture of a one less tooth 6 year old!

Places I want to go

For the past week Good Morning America has been doing the 7 wonder of the United States, and it got me to thinking of where all I would like to go and see. Some of the places are very far away and some not so far, so here is my list:

• Las Vegas- I think it would be fun for Steve and I to go there on our 10 year annivarsary and renew our vowels their, just for the fun of it!
• New York- I would love to go and just walk around and see a show and do some shopping!
• Colorado- Pretty much cause it looks so darn pretty there!
• Ireland
• Go see the Grand Canyon
• On a cruise- this one it doesn't really matter where I go I just want the cruise experience!
• Washington DC -to see all the sites.
• Boston- I would love to go to Fenway park and watch the Red Sox's play.

I'm sure there are many more places I would love to go, but that's all I can think of right now. So where all do you want to go, you might give me some more ideas!

Wahoo GO ME!!!

Ok, I know that is really cheesy but I just don't care! I just got back from taking my Professional Education test for the state and I PASSED!!! I'm not a good test taker so I figured for sure that I would not pass this thing on the first try and guess what I did! When the lady handed me my unofficial test score it took everything I had not to jump up and down right now and scream! So now I only have one more state test to pass before I graduate. I will probably take that sometime in the fall.

I also got my grades for the classes I just finished and I got all A's!! To say the least I'm having a pretty good day! I do believe Steve will be taking me out to dinner tonight to celebrate!

Red Sox Game

Our little Red Sox girl before the game!

On Friday night we were able to take Allyson to her very first Red Sox game, and to say the least she had a blast! Steve and I have gone to many of them before, but she has been too young in the past, but this year we decided to take her. I'm so glad we took her she had a wonderful time. She got into chanting "Lets Go Red Sox" and "Yankee Sucks" throughout the game! She loves to watch the games on TV, so she had a blast getting to see the real players and yelling their names. As much as she loved the game, I think she was a little disappointed in not catching a ball, but hey there's always next time they come to town!

Here's a family shot of us at the game! We had a sweet old lady sitting behind us that took this picture for us!

Allyson and I at the game!

Dad and Allyson, doesn't she look like she is having so much fun! I think that smile was plastered on her face the whole night! Well that and the big thing of cotton candy she had helped with the smile too!

I made it!

Yup, I made it through tax season, and school! For those that do not know, you probably could have guessed by now, that I work for an accountant so as you can guess I'm extremly busy at work until April 15! But it is now all over with and I can breathe again! School will be over on Wednesday of this week so thats almost done too! I have my finals this week and then I have 2 whole weeks off!



I have to work this week and then I get to take a week off from work too! I'm so excited about having some time off it's not even funny! I think I will be catching up on some movies that have come out that I want to see. Other than that I have no plans for my week!!

My First trip....

Well yesterday was my first trip to Ikea, and I think I could easily get in a lot of trouble in that store! That store is huge, I don't think we saw even half of the store. We got a desk and a storage unit for Allyson's room, and now her room looks somewhat organized! That girl has enough toys and I'm constantly finding a new way to make her room look better. Next time I go to that store I will have more time set aside to look around and a detailed list of what all I'm looking for!

Must be doing something right!

I just have to say that Allyson went above and beyond Friday afternoon for someone she didn't even know! It may not sound like a whole lot but for a 6 year old I thought she did awesome!

We were at a red light and this man is on the side of the road going from car to car asking for money because he ran out of gas and of course neither Steve or myself had ANY cash on us I think all I had was a couple of pennies! Well Allyson sitting in the back seat heard us and she shouts out wait I have a dollar that Nana Jean gave me today he can have that to get home! So she's trying her hardest to get it out of her pocket and she proudly hands it up to us and watches the man take it. He was very grateful and it made her feel so good to do that for someone else. As we drove away she told me that that was the right thing to do because he needed help and she had that dollar that she didn't really need. I was so proud of her that she was able to help someone else out!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

I hope everyone who reads this has a wonderful Easter! We are heading over to Mom's in little while for an Easter lunch.

First soccer game!

Well the day finally came that was much anticipated, and I do believe it was everything Allyson was hoping for! Saturday was her first soccer game and she had a blast playing, I was so proud of her, she was on top of the ball the whole time she played! Here are some pictures of her game that I took.

I just love this picture I took of the team all sitting very patently waiting for the game to start. She is #12
I love how you can see in this one she watching the ball and trying her hardest to get it!





She had such a good time, all she's talking about is that she can't wait until Saturday to get here for her next game!

Why is it....

Why is it when you get a child a new pair of shoes, the first thing they want you to see is how fast they make them run?



From that statement I bet you can tell Allyson got a new pair of shoes. And when we got home walking to the front door, she yells "watcht mom and dad at how fast my new shoes makes me run!" To say the least they sure do make her run faster than she has ever run before!

Just Because

I came home from school Tuesday night to find some beautiful white roses that Steve and Allyson got for me. I love getting flowers for no particular reason! Along with the roses Allyson made me a card that said:

Dear Mom
Me and daddy are giving you these flowers because we love you.
Love Allyson and Daddy
xoxoxox

Hot Car!

Well remember a few weeks ago and said that we got a new car, well we now have new rims to go with the car. Now I'm not normally all into this kind of thing, however with Steve putting these rims on his car it looks really good! Better than it just looking really good Steve is so happy with how it looks. I think since he got them put on a few days ago he has washed his car about 5 times! You ask how many times he has washed mine? NONE!!! But that's ok cause he's happy!

Early Valetine's Day

Valentines Day will be here tomorrow! This is one holiday that a completley step back and let Steve be in charge of! He takes care of Allyson's valentines stuff, and I'm not sure which one loves it more! At like the begeninning of Feb Allyson starts to get excited because she knows Daddy always comes thru with candy and flowers! I feel sorry for whoever she is dating when she gets older, her daddy has her spoiled already! Well she will be getting her present today when she gets home from school, Steve figured it would be hard to hide the flowers till the morning. So this is what is on her bed waiting for her when she gets home from school!

Junior Achievement

For one of my classes I have to teach a Junior Achievement class I got my assignment this week. I'm so happy that I got assigned to a kindergarten class! The lesson consist of 5 sessions and it was up to me and the teacher to do it in one week or one lesson a week for 5 weeks, the teacher wants me to do it in one week! So on Monday I will start my first lesson! I'm excited but kind of nervous at the same time, I have not had to teach a class on my own yet, so this will be my first! If you are not familar with Junior Achievement it is a non-profit organization that runs with mostly volunteers that goes into the classrooms and teaches students abuout economics. It starts out in kindergarten and they have lessons all the way to 12th grade. If you want more info on this organization here is the link: http://www.ja.org/

Well I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Drama in the Dodd House!

Well who would of thought that a DS game would put a 6 year old in tears, and I'm not talking just a little bit of tears, but the full blown, can't catch her breathe, hysterically crying! Allyson has been playing her new game Nintendog, which is where she has virtual dogs, its a pretty cool game, that she has to take care of the dogs. Well the first dog that she bought when she got the games was named Daisy, and she wanted to check Daisy into the dogie hotel, so that she can get some pampering, you know, because all dogs need to be pampered, and she went to the hotel to get her dog, and it kept telling her that they didn't have her dog. So she comes in the room telling me that the hotel is keeping her dog, and will not give it back! I played with it for a while and still no luck, and no Daisy. So now I tell her that I don't know where the dog is that she must of lost it, well I thought she was OK with that, she went back into the living room where about 5 mins later I hear her crying, she comes back in the room and is in full blown tears over losing her dog! Now Steve gets involved to see where Daisy might be. He goes to the hotel and it tells him the same thing, then he looks at the screen and it has 4 choices: Drop off dog, Swap dog, Pick up dog, and Donate dog, he asked Allyson what button she hit and she this one dad, DONATE dog, that's right she went and gave her dog away without even knowing it! So that lead to about another 15 mins of crying that she lost her dog forever! The way she cried you would have thought that she lost the real thing!
I felt bad for her, but at the same time I have to laugh about it because after all it is still just a game! Oh and after she went to bed Steve stayed up on it trying to her more money so that she can go and buy another dog. He's such a sweet daddy!

New Hair Do!

Last weekend I got so tired of Allyson's hair looking so rough, and she has been asking to get her hair cut short, so after church we went and had it chopped off! It came out a little shorter than what any of us was expecting but we love it now!

Here's a picture about a week before:
And here a few after shots:
I think the new hair cut makes her look older!