Roller-Skates and Autumn Moons

Maliana ~

One of our first family fun night fundraisers for your school happened this week. We attended a skating party and it was the first time you ever roller-skated and the first time Daddy and I have skated in years! It was so much fun to watch you branching out, wanting to skate off with a friend or two briefly, like a little bird testing her wings and leaving the nest for a quick flight, then returning after a few minutes to the safety of her mom and dad. I got a glimpse of you growing up and moving on. It was bittersweet...but mostly sweet. I am so happy for you and all that lies ahead.

ready to roll!

these skate-mates are awesome!

I'm happy to say that I only wiped out once!

We also celebrated Mid Autumn Moon this week on a few different occasions. On the 19th, the actual beginning of the festival, it fell on a week night so we were a little pressed for time. We ended up having a small celebration, eating moon cakes and admiring the big, full, harvest moon as a family before bedtime.

On Saturday we attended a larger Autumn Moon celebration with some new friends that we met at a picnic we attended this summer through the Cleft Lip and Palate Support Group at Nationwide Children's. The Wallers had us over to their house where many of their other friends also gathered and we ate a lot of really good food, enjoyed all of their red and gold decorations (including lanterns strung from tree to tree and all around their patio), decorated lantern cookies, and even marched in a lantern parade where Daddy got to help out by being the "bootie" of the lion. It was so much fun and so nice to meet and get to know new people! They really did it up and we felt so fortunate to find ourselves in their company. While you were shy at first, you thankfully have a very silly Daddy who isn't afraid to do anything for a laugh. Once he pulled out his "magic marble" trick, it was 'game over' on your shyness. We just love our daddy!

the magic marble...ultimate ice breaker

the lion arrives!

you weren't so sure...wanting me to hold your
hand and march along with you

warming up a little bit to the lion

love your little face here

Daddy did great as the lion's bootie, ha! of course,
you were so concerned about his back hurting
from having to walk bent over for so long...
you are so sweet.

decorating lantern cookies

This week we also found ourselves at a bridal shop with our cousin Allie who just got engaged to Blake recently. (Yay!) You were so patient while we were there and as I sat there watching Allie try on dress after dress, I couldn't help but realize what a beautiful bride she is going to make and how much she looks just like her mother, Aunt Lori. When we got home, I was overwhelmed with a mixture of joy and grief. I just kept thinking that Lori should be here for this, for all of this. She would have loved it so. It is just not fair. I stood there in the kitchen and cried, unable to speak for a bit. I guess when you lose people in life that you love, the grief train will come and smack you down when you least expect it. It's all about riding the waves, I suppose.

this is the photo where Allie reminds me so much of
her mama...I'd like to think that Lori was right there with
us that day, even if we couldn't see her.

We had a couple family movie nights this week as well. Lao Lao came over for one of them where we watched Goonies and ate junk food! You were so excited to see Lao Lao, and Daddy and I are so excited that you are finally getting into a new genre of movies now. The Goonies is nearly 30 years old and still as funny as ever. A classic in our book.

The rest of our weekend we took it easy. We cleaned, we played, we cooked, and as I wrote this blog, I reminisced about our week together. Here are just a few more snippets of our life this week...

I adore this silly grin right here

your school sends me pictures of you each day and I just
love seeing what you're up to throughout the day.

evidently, your teachers had you order yourselves
by size...I wonder if you will always be on
the shorter end...my lil peanut!

"reading" me a story just like your
teacher does at school

helping me vacuum...you were so excited

still not as tall as the vacuum cleaner, ha!

I love having help in the kitchen!

And finally, you rounded out the weekend playing with your buddy, Juan from up the street. Here's a picture of the two of you after he helped you get buckled in the car before we went out for the evening.

It's nice that you have friends and I love to hear your laughter as you're playing and to watch you navigating relationships, really growing up. Like I said before, it's bittersweet...but mostly sweet.

Love,
Mama