Family and Fun…a recurring theme for our weekends

Maliana ~

Yahoo! Soccer season is pretty much upon us! Not only are you registered for soccer on Sundays, but this week you “tried out” for a soccer program that comes to your school once a week. You were so excited for these “try outs”, shooting out of bed in the morning, and trying to run out the door without even getting ready first. You are going to have soccer coming out of your ears by the end of the year, and you are thrilled! Prior to the big try-out day, I surprised you with a soccer ball and shorts after school, and then took you to Soccer Plus to get fitted for cleats (they are so tiny!) and also let you pick out the color of your soccer socks (you chose bright royal blue). You were so sweet and appreciative of it all (saying ‘Thank you Mommy!’ repeatedly), and insisted on wearing your socks and shoes home from the store.

so stinkin' cute!

these shorts are more like pants!

Evidently, you are a natural so far. When you showed up with all of your soccer gear on, the people with Soccer Shots took one look at you and said, “Wow! You are ready to go, aren’t you?” They loved it. And at the “try outs”, Ms. Phyllis luckily snapped this shot of you with her cell phone…you are scoring a goal and if you look closely, both you and the coach have your arms up in a victory cheer. So cute!

Mali! Mali! Mali! GOAL!

I also took you to get a haircut since you will be starting pre-school next week! Wow ~ my own little pre-schooler! Officially, you will have two years of pre-school since your birthday is in March and they won’t allow you to start Kindergarten before age 5, but that’s ok. It’ll give you plenty of time to get your speech nice and polished (which is already getting better and better every day – many people make comments on how well you’re doing which is really encouraging). Anyway, so about the haircut. We were both excited about it, then you got the jitters just before. You did great though; however, I was a bit in shock once the woman started cutting. We decided to try to do some layering to make it look a little fuller in the back, with me saying I would like to keep as much length as possible. Well, with the first snip, my heart dropped. She took so much off! However, we were already committed by then, so I just let her do her thing. I think I was just having all of MY “bad haircut flashbacks”, so I got a little nervous. Let me tell you, there are PLENTY in my lifetime (I will have to show you some old photos sometime – yikes!). So, your ‘do is pretty short now, not what I expected, but over the past week, it’s definitely grown on me, and of course looks adorable on you (any haircut probably would because it’s on your beautiful little head). And you LOVE that it is now, “short like Daddy’s” in the back…ha ha ha. Jen next door said that ‘surprising’ haircuts are a rite of passage…we all get them for our kids at least once. That made me feel a bit better, whenever I would start missing how long it was. And she said it looks like an official pre-school haircut, so that also made me feel better since, well, you ARE a pre-schooler now. So, there you go.

a little pre-haircut anxiety

cute! and yes, you DO look more like a pre-schooler with that hair!

We had a nice mid-week break from the heat and the daily grind with an invitation to the pool from the Sheltons. It was SO much fun ~ I loved watching you laughing, splashing, swimming (yes, swimming…using your arms and legs to move around in the water – with a floatie of course), eating snacks on the lounge chairs during break, and just generally reveling in the fun of childhood in the summertime with good friends. You, Carter, and Cassidy are quite the trio, getting funnier and funnier to watch with each play date we have. At one point, Carter grabbed your head, shook it back and forth a little bit, and said, “I love you!” Then during a rest period, you and Cass were sharing a lounge chair and she got you laughing so hard, you couldn’t stop…literally, you really could not stop. I have no idea what was so funny, but it was hysterical to watch you guys. So, anyway…a big shout out to the Sheltons ~ thank you so much for treating us to an amazing time at the pool!

oh boy!

using arms and legs!

silly kids

It must have been a nice time, because when you got home from the pool we decided to have dinner out on the deck. After I had set you up in your little chair with your food, you stretched your arms out, took in your surroundings, sighed, and proclaimed, “What a nice day!” I turned off the air conditioner so it was quiet enough to hear the critters waking up to begin all of the nighttime sounds of summer and you really enjoyed it. You are one of the few kids I know that would rather sit outside and hang out with Mom than watch TV. I continue to be impressed with you more and more every day. You are such a neat kid.

checking out the backyard at dinner

getting ready to tell me off after realizing I was taking pictures of you through the window

We kicked off the weekend with an impromptu bonfire at home with some neighbors, Uncle Lu Lu, and Aunt Lindsey. You had so much fun playing with the kids, and it’s nice that you have some new friends right here in the neighborhood. You did really well playing together, disappearing into your room and playroom. It’s nice to see you all doing your “kid thang”, and to hear your laughter in the house. Plus, it gives all of us adults some time to socialize too…so I decided to give Mamarazzi the night off (it had been a tough week and I needed to relax for once). There is only one picture that I regret not snapping all night. You were snuggled next to your Aunt Lindsey, watching the Browns pre-season game with her and it was so adorable…you clearly love her and she clearly loves you, more than you know.

Saturday began with a birthday party at the World of Bounce for one of your classmates at school. This is your first schoolmate birthday party and you had a blast! Initially we showed up an hour early for the party, since the invitation had the wrong time on it. So, since you would be bouncing it off anyway, I decided to take you down the road to Giant Eagle to let you pick out a few pieces of bulk candy. When I said we were going to Giant Eagle to get candy, you asked, “Up in the sky?” I was puzzled but then realized that, yes, Giant Eagle is a strange name for a grocery store…I forget how literal 3 year olds are. Then I told you about the old Big Bear groceries that were around when I was a kid, which you thought were equally hilarious. "That's silly Mama!"

bulk candy aisle ~ can it get any better?

When we finally made it back to World of Bounce, the party was a huge hit! The kids (and parents) were all very nice and you kept tabs on the birthday boy all day, wanting to play with him, insisting on sitting next to him, and even grabbing and holding onto his hand at one point. It was adorable!

this place is awesome!

cheering for Amare as he races down the slide

run!

awww...holding hands

group shot ~ you all are so cute!

Since Daddy was working all day at home, you and I kept our own party moving and headed out to a town picnic for Harlem Township, where Lao Lao lives. We hung out with Uncle Forge and the Boy Scouts, where you loved checking out their geo-dome they built, helping them make dinner, then making your rounds and trying to ask them questions about what they were doing. They were all very sweet to you, and you were so cute as you would recognize some of them around the park, and walk over and yell, “Hi guys!” like you were old pals. We walked around and shopped the tents, got your face painted, watched a really good juggling act, and checked out the tractors and race cars on display. At some point, both you and I decided it would be a good idea to take off our shoes and go barefoot the rest of the day. Towards the end of the evening, we wound up under a tent lit up with lights around the perimeter, circle dancing and line dancing with a bunch of the locals. It was good old hometown Americana fun, almost surreal. The soft, cool green grass under our feet; the scent of a summer evening mixed with the lingering smell of carnival food and a bonfire in the air; the peppy innocent country square dance music and hokey pokey intermixed with a little cha cha slide and electric slide; a distant sound of crickets when you stepped away from the tent into the darkness; the light from the Scout’s fire across the field; and of course the smiles and laughter ~ yours, mine, Lao Lao’s, and all of these strangers that somehow felt like friends that night. Before leaving, we watched a flag retirement ceremony by the Scouts, and then washed our feet in the bathroom sink before climbing into the car. If the amount of grass and dirt on a child’s feet at the end of the day is any indication of how much fun he or she has had, then I would say you had an absolutely fantastic night! (If only I would have gotten a picture of those feet - wowee!!)

face paint

race car!

helping with dinner



eating your Scout burrito - yumm!

Uncle Forge's tent

ahhh...barefoot in the grass

some kind of game you made up...touch home plate, give high five, then get a bunch of points

your turn!

trying to keep up but...

we had completely lost the rhythm by now...however we were laughing hysterically

skipping along to the music

having an absolute blast!

On the way home, I made sure to tell you how lucky I am to be your mom ~ SO LUCKY.

Sunday brought more family fun with another picnic (gotta love summer) at the local campgrounds where your great grandparents, Bob and Marilyn (Memaw Lisa’s mom and dad) are staying while up from Florida. Their camper is parked nearly a stone’s throw away from Alum Creek lake, so we hung out by the water for quite a while, with you begging to take your shoes off and get in (you just love to get good and dirty, even picking up a tiny little dead fish at one point ~ yuck!) You really took well to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa McAfee too. It was awesome to watch! You have only met them maybe once in the past (probably over a year ago) since they live so far away, but you warmed up enough by the end of the night to begin teasing Great Gpa Bob and go for a walk with Great Gma Marilyn. We were excited to spend time with Ggma and Uncle Johnny, as well as Uncle Brent and Aunt Denise, too! We ate dinner and visited, staying until well after dark, so hard to say our goodbyes after having such a fun night with everyone.

with the Great Grandparents

Daddy and Uncle Johnny

Uncle Brent and Aunt Denise



with the McAfee/Harts



taking a walk to the lake

Ggma watching you and Wai Gong begin to explore the shore

Ggma and I having a chat

throwing rocks with Wai Gong and Uncle Blaize

watching you guys throw those rocks

Daddy getting a lollipop kiss

I love this girl!

writing your name in the sand

now your turn to practice

teasing Ggpa McAfee

talking to Ggma McAfee



Daddy and I



being teased by Wai Gong

paying him back with the help of Blaize

I have no idea...but you thought it was fun

snuggling with Memaw Lisa once it got dark

So, as summer is beginning to dwindle down, I have noticed that family has been quite the theme for our weekends. And let me just say, I LOVE this. I think it has special significance for me, touches me in a way that it may not affect someone else, because I did not have quite so much family as I was growing up. For whatever reasons, relationships between my extended family members were strained at various points of my childhood. I never had many of these regular or intimate types of interactions with family, at least not with the variety of family members that you have. While I never realized I was missing anything…now that I see how much you enjoy all of these loving relationships in your life, it does complete a part of me that I did not fully realize was empty. I wouldn’t say I necessarily regret any part of my own childhood (after all, it made me into the person I am today), but it does mean so much more to see you growing up with so much love, support, and encouragement surrounding you. It is truly spectacular in a way that I can’t quite describe yet. Perhaps I will have the words for it someday. For now, I’ll just enjoy the ride with you.

Love,
Mama