The Hoover Public Library strikes again, and brings in fabulous entertainment.

 

Ever since I took Ayla to see Roger Day last summer, I've been anxiously awaiting his performance again this summer. I even roped Ben in to come see it with us, because all year we've been listening to his music with Ayla. She routinely asks for the "Hippo" song which is actually the "Rhino" song called "It's a No-No to Kiss a Rhino". (He does have a hippo song too..."Hiccuppopotumus".)

 

Roger Day is silly, fun, talented, and entertaining for all ages. The kids LOVE him (as well as the moms & dads!):

 

Ayla clapped and danced and did arm movements to all the songs. Last year she couldn't even walk! My how things change.

 

You can hear samples of his music and see where it can be purchased at his web site: http://www.rogerday.com.

 

I highly recommend his CDs and DVDs for anyone with pre-school kids. It's catchy! Even my brother-in-law (I wont say which, but only one has pre-school age kids) was caught listening to Roger Day on his mp3 player at the beach....with no kids in sight....

Almost 5 years ago, my sister in law Janel asked me to make her new baby's first year scrapbook.  Normally, I'd say no way, but since she's as ultra-organized as I am, I knew it would work out just fine.  She kept a monthly calendar and jotted down little notes about Tucker as he grew and changed throughout the year.  Then we included the calendars in the scrapbook. 

 

I thought the idea was so fantasic, I used the same concept for Ayla's First Year album.  The calendar journaling has become a habit, and even now, I keep a daily calendar of stuff she says and things she does each day.  It's a great way to remember all those little things.  Thanks Janel for a great idea that's easy to keep up!

 

 

I just use a table-based calendar that I made in Microsoft Word and type my notes in each day.  Yes, sometimes I forget...but my blog helps me fill in the gaps!  This morning I realized I was two and a half weeks behind, so I spent about 30 minutes filling in.  But now I'm caught up again.  Feels good.  

I finally finished the cover of Ayla's zoo book tonight.  Well, let me restate that...I re-finished the cover of Ayla's zoo book.  My original attempt was an awful mess of mod podge and vellum.  I like this version much better.  It also is coated in mod podge (as are the inside pages) so that little hands can touch and turn the pages as much as they want!

 

Ayla absolutely loves this book (and shows it off when we have company) and now is able to recognize almost all of the animals and say their names without me saying the names first. 

 

 

 

 

and Ayla's favorite animal...the hippo (aka..huppo): 

 

 

Thank you to you ladies who have provided elusive animal letters for this book!  If anyone else has a photograph for animals starting with any of the following letters that they'd like to "donate" to the cause, let me know!  We're still looking for:  J, N, Q, U, V, and X

So, I'm reading my Parents magazine today and on the cover, they mention their cover-model search. When I get to the page with the rules, I see that all it takes to enter is a digital photograph of your gorgeous kid that you can upload to their web site. Well I have lots of those...and I do get stopped everywhere I go with people saying how adorable Ayla is.

 

But, I don't enter...not yet anyway. Mostly because Ben would kill me if he found out I did something like that without talking to him. But, he's a good check-point for me to really think about my reasons for wanting to do this.

 

They make it so easy...just upload a photo and forget about it. If you make it to the finals, they'll let you know. In the unlikely case that she is chosen, we get to go to New York and have a photo shoot and she has 15 mintues of fame. So why not, right?

There are two ways to look at it (okay, probably a lot more, but whatever):

 

First, the downside: My fear is that uploading a photograph of my daughter to the contest, I've taken the first tangible step towards exploiting my child by using her image and likeness to win something (that she likely wouldn't even remember...) Isn't that wrong? A matter of principle? I'm not sure....

 

Then the upside: Typing that out, I think it sounds ridiculous...after all it's just one photo, and if I'm not all about getting her into modeling or start some kid-career then it's really not that big of a deal and in the end would amount to nothing, right? Maybe it's just for fun, send in the photo and see what happens. If by chance she won, we'd get to go to New York and we'd all have a fun memory from her childhood. If she didn't even make it to the finals, then what harm was done, right?

 

So...anyhow, I'm torn...and curious.

 

What do you think about cute-kid contests like this?

(please note this is not the same question as "should we enter?")

 

I made one of these child-sized aprons for a little girl's birthday present a few weeks ago (whose name also happens to be Ayla), and had bought a few extra aprons at half-off (Hobby Lobby, $3.00 regular price).  So this afternoon, Ayla and I painted another super-cute daisy apron for her.  Then instead of painting letters (which I did last time, and was pretty hard to do), I used Heidi Swapp iron-on fuzzy script letters.  It worked perfectly! Now she has a great little personalized apron for when she's helping us "cook".

 

 

 

After nap today, Ayla was playing in her playhouse and she said something about pizza.  Which reminded me that I've been meaning to make her some pizzas for her playhouse.  So, Ayla helped me "cook" them up this afternoon.  She even blew on them because they were "hot" (aka...the glue was drying). 

 

 

Ayla's playhouse arrived last night....and so did Noni. We spent an hour or so fixing it up with curtains, house numbers (616--her birthday), flowers, a tree, an American flag and even a framed photo on the wall.

 

I made it home, which means I must have had a successful shopping trip....(this makes sense if you read my "Today I am..." ticker. Today's says: Today I am not coming home until I have purchased a new pair of tennis shoes. My current pair is 6 years old...I bought them in Searcy, AR! (3/4))

The most crucial purchase of the day, from Dicks Sporting Goods (on sale for $39.99):

 

And, while I was in shoe-shopping mode, I picked these up at DSW (also on sale for $24.26):

But before we went shoe shopping, Ayla and I walked the aisles of the Kids Market & Mom consignment sale. I was not in the mood to shop for kid clothes...they were way too overpriced for consignment, so we took a look at the toys and picked up these gems for only $2 each:

Then, I spotted this for only $25 (usually $80 new), which I've been eyeing for a long time at various consignment sales. It's a little big for her now, but Ayla just HAS to have her own scrapbooking and craft desk. And it fits just perfectly right by mine! Now we need to find a chair and stuff to fill it up with. Some little artist has sharpie-d the dry erase board, so I'm going to try and clean it, paint it (maybe with chalkboard paint), or replace it.

Nothing feels better than snagging good deals on things you "need".