City Flats~~A Green Hotel

I'm in Holland, Michigan at the Schools Exceeding Expectations Conference with roughly 20 other teachers, administrators, and central office personnel from my corporation. While it has been two incredibly long days with several sessions and evening meetings, we've managed to have a little fun too. First of all, the hotel where some of us are staying is amazing! It is called City Flats and it is brand new. In fact, two of my friends are the very first guests ever to stay in the room they are in. The hotel is a "green" hotel and all 65 rooms are different from one another. The idea is that guests can have a different experience every time they visit the hotel. Let me describe the room I'm in...there are two queen size beds on the opposite walls from one another. The footboards are up against the wall and there is a four foot walkway between the headboards of the beds. Mounted on the wall above each bed is a flat screen tv. There is a nice desk and work area on one wall which wraps around to the sink/vanity which is a porcelein box on top of the counter. The bathroom is actually two separate rooms. One room is just a tiny room with a toilet which has two flush options. The other room is really more of a large shower stall without a door or a curtain, but it's set back far enough so that when you're in the shower nobody can see you. The shower head is low flow and interesting. It is round and part of it spins around. My friend Beth compared taking a shower to being out in the rain. She is right. It was somewhat difficult to find the best spot to stand under the water. However, a very high point was the soap, shampoo, & lotion...Coconut Lime Verbena from Bath and Body Works. My favorite! Also, the towels were incredibly soft, as are the beds and bedding. Speaking of beds, I'm beat and need to get some sleep. Until next time, sweet dreams...

Reality Shows on MTV...yeah, I know

Remember when MTV used to show music videos? It seems like now the only thing on MTV are reality shows. Why am I writing about MTV and reality shows you might be wondering...well, because I am hooked on one! A few years ago I stumbled upon Laguna Beach, but didn't really get too interested in it. Then one day I watched a marathon of LB because I was bored or too lazy to move from in front of the tv or some other lame reason...I can't really remember. The show wasn't really that good, it was about a bunch of privileged teenagers living the good life in Orange County, California. A few years later there is a spinoff of LB called The Hills. Basically the producers took one of the main characters from LB and followed her to LA where she attends the Fashion Institute of Merchandising and Design and interns at Teen Vogue. They play some really good music on the show too. Why I ever turned this on, I don't know, but I was hooked from the first episode. Maybe it's just fun to watch someone else's drama, kind of makes your own life seem "normal". But is it normal for a 30 year old mother of two to be watching a reality show on MTV? Am I alone? I don't even watch MTV otherwise! It is one of those shows though that I get so into, you know where you really like one character and really can't stand another one. It's one of those shows where you talk to the characters on the TV while you're watching as if they might be able to hear you! I haven't done that regularly since I got hooked on Guiding Light with Michelle freshman year. Am I the only one who watches this show who isn't a teenager? Maybe I just spend too much time around teenagers, I don't know.

A Birthday Party???

So we decided to let Allison invite some of her friends over for a little birthday party. She invited the kids that go to the same sitter and the girl who lives next door to us. Two kids are on vacation (it is Spring Break week for us), two kids never responded so we weren't sure if they were coming or not, one boy from the sitter was coming, and the girl next door was coming. This morning Allison had swim lessons at the YMCA at 9:00. We got home around 10:00 and the kids are supposed to come over at11:30. When we walk in the door, the answering maching is beeping, we have a message...it's Will's mom and he's sick, so he won't be coming to the party. Bummer. The long story short, the "party" consisted of Allison and Kalie, the girl who lives next door. Neither one of them minded though and had a blast playing together. They played a few hundred rounds of Hullabaloo...this is really a great game for toddlers and pre-schoolers...even lower elementary school kids...heck, Darren and I even played a few rounds! We even busted out Twister...a little difficult for the 4-6 year old range. They knew their colors, their hands and feet, and even right and left, but their little bodies don't quite stretch far enough for some of the maneuvers required for Twister. They also colored pictures, decorated goodie bags with stickers, and made up some game with balloons. It was a lot of good, clean fun! Seeing that there were only two kids in attendance, we now have an excessive amount of cupcakes in our house which is bad for me! I have an unquenchable sweet tooth! ;)

Happy Birthday, Allison! 4 Years Old!

It's no April Fools joke, Allison turned 4 on Tuesday, April 1. It's hard to believe she can be four already. While I was watching her play with Peyton the other day I realized she is NOT a baby anymore, she is definitely a little person. My how she has grown in just four short years. I only have pictures on this computer from her second birthday on, so that's what I'll post for now. I'll try to post some earlier pictures later. We started the day with a trip to Krispy Kreme for doughnuts and oj. Ally picked one with icing filling and one with sprinkles on top, of course she only ate part of each. She enjoys watching how they make the doughnuts. (I do too!) The weather was less than desirable, so we headed home for a day indoors. My mom came to visit and spend the day with the birthday girl. We let Allison decide what we were having for dinner and much to my surprise, she did NOT pick chicken nuggets (maybe because that's what she had for lunch). She chose hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, so that's what we ate for dinner. We also made fruit smoothies topped with Cool Whip for dessert. It's cute, Allison calls Cool Whip "whooped cream". :)

What a cutie patootie...2 years old.

"The Girlfriends"

Bundled up with her big cousins, McKenna and Grace.

Look at me...I'm 3!!!

Allison helped decorate the cupcakes we baked for her 3rd birthday. They had an overabundance of green sprinkles...that doesn't seem to bother Ally though!

Tank tops and flip flops~two of Ally's favorite things!

It we would let her, Ally would wear a tank top and flip flops every day of the year. She always complains of being hot...she is NOT like her mom in that regard!

Best Friends~~Ally Friend and Daddy Friend

Ally is certainly Daddy's Girl. They love to play together and be silly together.

And now she's 4. Allison shows off her new bathing suit and goggles. Happy Birthday, Allison! We love you!