These Moments Go Way Too Fast

Maliana ~

There were a lot of moments that gave me pause this week, reminders to stop and soak in each precious second because they are all so fleeting and seem to go faster and faster as you get older.

The first thing that comes to mind was, in our rush to get out the door on Friday morning, I hear you audibly gasp and say, "Oooh, look at the sunrise!"

After feeling so stressed in just trying to get us on our way to speech in one piece, this was exactly the reset I needed that morning. Then as we left speech you were so tired, insisting I carry you as we walked out to the car and laying your head on my shoulder. In spite of your long legs dangling nearly past my knees, I loved that at 6 years old, you still felt comforted by and wanted me to do that. I love you so much. Once again, a much needed reset.

In fact, that morning I was feeling so good that you and I decided to pay it forward to the car behind us at Tim Horton's and bought their order. Quickest way to giving yourself a boost is to do something nice for someone else. It totally works. For real.

It was a gorgeous day and after school we were both pretty pooped so we spent some quiet time on the back deck together. Me with a glass of wine and a magazine; you with your I-Pad and a snack. Before I knew it, you'd migrated over to my lap, however I didn't mind because it was getting chilly and you brought your big fuzzy blanket with your warm little body. And once again, it was another one of those moments that are fewer and farther between as you get older, which only makes them all that much sweeter when they happen.

We had our first parent-teacher conference with Miss Stenger this week too. She is very happy with you, says you're right on track academically, and while you were shy at first with the other kids, you have become very comfortable now. You love to help, try to work things out with classmates first before asking for help from the teacher (which evidently is a challenge at this age), and while you are described as having "a big personality in a tiny body", Miss Stenger also adds that you are very humble too. There are 17 boys in your class and only 7 girls this year (yikes!) so Miss Stenger said that you girls have become pretty close with each other, however you do a great job of being kind and talking to everyone. The conference couldn't have gone better. She is a great teacher!

Speaking of being kind, when we got home that night you challenged Daddy to some Wii. While I'm not typically a huge fan of video games myself, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to you say things like,
"Yessshh!", "Oh awe-shome!", "It's ok, Dad!" and "Nice job, Dad!" as you soundly whooped his butt. I love that big, supportive heart of yours.

And along with all of that sweetness, there's definitely some sass and humor in you too. Here are a couple recent Mali-isms:

~While discussing how old one of your teachers at daycare is, you said, "Mom! Miss Jessica is in the same lane of old as you!" ...(We're both in our thirties).

~In your frustration at a YouTube video that kept buffering and interrupting what you were watching, you said, "Mom! This thing keeps buffalo-ing!"

I don't dare correct any of these little sayings of yours because this stuff...this is the good stuff. The stuff I will miss one of these days when I'm old and gray(er).

This weekend we spent a lot of family time together, whether it was just our immediate family or you getting to spend time with your cousins and other extended family. It was great!

We had a family night on Friday where we invited Lao Lao over and enjoyed our first crock pot meal of the year (chicken fajitas ~ yum!) and then challenged each other to our first ever "big ass cookie" decorating contest. It was WAY too much sugar for any of us to ingest but it was a lot of fun and you get the biggest kick out of these little contests we have started. I'll have to see what other things I can make into contests for our Friday Family Fun Nights this winter.

you were a big help with crock pot prep

getting the fajita buffet ready

yours and Audrey's creation

Lao Lao's masterpiece

my floral designed cookie
(and a Mali photo bomb)

Saturday you attended your manadarin class with Daddy while I went to a 5K to raise money for pancreatic cancer research and support Christina (Lainey's mommy) whose own mother is battling this disease right now. It was a good morning for the race, the weather was cool, the trees were beautiful and there was a sea of purple shirts on thousands of people all there to support the cause. Christina had asked me to bring a pair of hair clippers and at the end, she had me shave all of her hair completely off. You see, her mom has just lost all of her hair due to the chemotherapy she needs to help her fight this disease. Christina is doing this in solidarity with her mama so that she doesn't feel so alone and as another reminder of Christina's love and support for her. While I took the clippers to her head, I held my emotions together pretty well...she even joked with me that I seemed to be enjoying it a little too much. But...as I'm typing this, I'm getting tears in my eyes. This kind of gesture, Mali...this is just one great example of courage and love. I'm so inspired by people like Christina. I feel very lucky to call her a friend. These kinds of people...these are the good ones.

the Purple Stride is about to start!

the Doelling(s)

shaving Christina's head

maybe I did have a *little* fun

Jenny, Christina, Lainey and yo mama

After the race, I met you and Daddy out at Dill's Greenhouse for their Fall Fun Fest where Joey, Alex, Sammy, Uncle Kevin, Memaw and Papaw were too. It was a bright and sunny autumn day and you girls had so much fun together.

barrel rides

Papaw trying to capture some of you
and Sammy's shenanigans

Joey and Alex on the hayride

you were irritated with my camera here...
but it's still a cool shot
(Uncle Pat was even driving the tractor!)

I snuck this one of you and Sammy chatting

After that, we headed out to Kevin and Beth's where we celebrated Sammy's 6th birthday. We all love going out there and playing together (both little and big kids, alike).

birthday cake for Sammy!

Memaw and Papaw

Uncle Kevin feeding the goats some graham crackers

And click HERE and HERE to see your new tricks and silliness on their trampoline!

They were kind enough to let you sleep over and then go to church with them the next morning. Daddy picked you up from the church and you headed over to get your hair cut. Since there was a wait, you went next door and grabbed a bite at Gena's where you ate 4 (yes, 4!) eggs! Someone's getting ready to grow some more!

this picture came with a caption that read,
"I ate 4 eggs!"

I also got this text from you (via Daddy):

The rest of the day on Sunday we carved pumpkins, hung out at home and acted completely silly and obnoxious (little and big kids, alike) until you went to your first private swim lesson since group lessons have ended. You requested Audrey come along and watch you too and being the awesome aunt that she is, she did.

you told me, "Less pictures, more work!"
(I guess you were on to my trick of taking pictures
so I didn't have to help with the pumpkin guts!)

Daddy worked hard on his Frankenstein pumpkin

vampire and Frankenstein

After swim lessons, we headed over to Lao Lao's for some of her world famous chili. Daddy had eaten two bowls before we told him it was vegetarian. Ha ha, Daddy. Tricked you! Anyway, it was our first family dinner over at Lao Lao's new place (Uncle Flint came too) and it felt really cozy. It's nice to have her so close. They came back with us briefly so you could show them your freshly carved jack-o-lanterns.

You even gave our new jack-o-lanterns their own spooky Halloween soundtrack. Here, see for yourself!

Click THIS LINK to see the video.

Next up ~ Halloween week! This should be fun!
Love,
Mama