Odds and Ends Before Heading to the Big Apple

Maliana ~

So, this will be a super quick entry. Or, well, knowing me, it will just be a normal entry that I am trying to pare down but am just too wordy anyway. Ha ha. Anyway, I'm trying to wrap this all up before we head off on a super fun trip to...*drumroll please*...New York City!!! You, Lao Lao and I will head out this coming Thursday, but before then I will fill you in on the recent shenanigans at the old homestead.

Last Monday, we started the week off with a fun trip to Lowes to pick up some flowers for spring and of course, race around on the garden center carts! So. Much. Fun.

And click below for a video of you racing on the garden center carts...listen to those giggles!!

Racing Garden Carts!

We planted the flowers the next day and you donned a very interesting choice of outfits for gardening. Here...see for yourself!

cowboy boots and your bathrobe!

 Ha ha! I couldn't resist. You vs Cousin Eddy (from
Christmas Vacation) ~ who wore it better?

Later on in the week, we went to one of your final Skate Zone parties of the school year. After going to several of these throughout the year, you finally decided to branch off and hang out with your friends! A mini milestone for sure. It is so fun to watch you growing up and stepping out into the world. Albeit, baby steps. But still! So awesome.

you and your friend, Lily from Miss Stenger's class

you, Lily and Blake

Last weekend we went to your second soccer practice/game of the season. Daddy signed up to help coach and you were surprised at your first water break. You asked, "Why is Daddy out there?" to which I replied, "Because he's helping coach. Is that ok?"...then, as you ran away excitedly, you yelled back over your shoulder, "Yeah! I'm happy!" Daddy is a great fit and it's going to be so fun to watch the two of you with your team. Memaw Wilkinson even came to watch you too so I'm sure she felt like it was old times, watching Daddy on the soccer field like she used to so many years ago.

#8, playing close attention to her new coach

coach and his kiddo

And of course, how did you repay Daddy for helping coach your soccer team? Why, stealing his spot in bed with your best bud, Suzy. Ha ha.

Suzy loves to snuggle

Ahhh, I'm just joking. You actually repaid Daddy by helping him with the retaining wall. So cute marching around in your shorts and little work boots.

hard at work together

And finally, before we head off to the Big Apple...I have to share your 7 year pictures that I just picked up from Target. I think they turned out great! You love these new dinosaur shoes that you specially picked out for these pictures and couldn't wait to show them off. It reminds me of how much I used to fret and worry about what outfit you would wear and/or how I would do your hair for pictures...but since I've learned to just let you be yourself, your smile is so much bigger and brighter. And isn't that what it's all about, anyway? Your happiness and your big, beautiful smile! Two of the most priceless things in the world to me.

you were so excited to do one where you popped your collar
(lookin' pretty fly, dude!)

Whew...I cannot believe you are 7 already. Where has the time gone??

Love,
Mama

Soccer Starts, Sleepovers, and a Surprise Party

Maliana ~

The name of the game was soccer and more sleepovers over the last couple weeks. We picked up some new soccer gear in preparation for you beginning your spring season. The last time you played soccer was about 4 years ago and you refused to go on the field by yourself, so we were wondering how you would do. The same day we picked up a new ball and shin guards, you couldn't wait to gear up and try them out. The neighbor kids came down and David helped you practice for a bit before all of you went on a little adventure into the woods behind our house. When I came home from walking with Lao Lao, you were all muddy and very proud of your adventure. Feeling pretty good about being included with the big kids, I could tell.

look at that form!

Then, the next day were your 7 year old portraits. You were feeling pretty spiffy with your new dinosaur shoes on and gave me a little pose before heading off in the car to get them done. You did a fantastic job and they turned out great ~ I can't wait to pick them up!

matchy, matchy ~ cool as a cucumber, you are!

As soon as we got home, Memaw, Papaw, and your cousins came by to whisk you away on a sleepover with the grandparents. You were stoked, to say the least.

woo hoo! cousins are the best!

Bravely, Papaw decided to take you and Sammy to church for mass that afternoon. Evidently he let you take your tablet in to the church (with the sound off, of course), but when the priest came walking down the aisle, he made you hide it so Papaw wouldn't get in trouble. When I asked you about it later, you told me you had to hide it and when I asked from who (curious to hear your understanding of priests, etc), you replied with, "God!" Ha ha. Papaw also told me that when the congregation had to stand up together to pray, you stood up as tall as you could and then held your hand over your heart. I'm sure you were fully expecting to hear the Pledge of Allegiance. He he. 

We met Memaw, Papaw, your cousins and you at the tried and true Cracker Barrel (a grandparent staple in our family) and had breakfast the next morning then headed home for some relaxation before your first ever soccer practice. You were so excited about it, asking every hour how much longer until we could leave for soccer. 

In the car, you were such a chatty little thing the whole way there. Once there, we had this exchange:

You: "Mommy, I'm scared."
Me: "Are you scared or nervous? Like butterflies in your stomach?"
You: "No, I have moths. Moths and ladybugs."

During practice, you did ah-mazing! You joined right in, never once looking back or seriously contemplating not being out there with your new team. The kids seem nice and Daddy and I had so much fun watching you! You seemed like you were really enjoying yourself which in turn made Daddy and me over the moon. I was so filled with joy just getting to witness you out there trying something new. It's a feeling that I just can't describe in words. *sigh* You'll understand someday. 

Anyway, at the end of practice, your team picked a name and voted on it. You are now part of the Cheetahs! Cute, huh? Or should I say fierce? Ha ha. So awesome. Go Cheetahs!

got your game face on!

Number 8 in your program. Number 1 in your hearts!

doing a little extra goal work with Daddy!

one of the best parts of team sports ~
getting yummy snacks afterwards!

I am officially a soccer mom!!

A couple days later, I decided to paint my toenails. You decided to join in and do your own as well. I just let you do your 'thang' and it was so cute as you kept asking for more "coppin' swabs" (aka cotton swabs) to help clean up the excess polish from your toes. I love your Mali-isms. They're my favorite!

copious amounts of 'coppin swabs'
in use here...ha ha

The rest of that particular week was a mix of rain and sunshine. The sunnier days brought a smile to my face as I watched the trees begin to bud and bloom and also as you reminded me that we probably should have applied sunscream to you before going to school. Ha. I completely forgot that you call it that. I love it. 

One evening we headed to Whit's Frozen Custard to meet Aunt Tina and Erin for a treat before playing at the playground until dark. Good talks. Good playtime. Good friends. Impromptu hang time is the best. 

And last but certainly not least, Lao Lao was amaze-balls this most recent weekend as we headed out of town for Stacy's surprise 40th birthday party in Virginia. Since it was an adults only party, you hung with Lao Lao from Saturday until Sunday. I am so thankful to have her help and take comfort in knowing that you were perfectly safe and happy in her care. And you are definitely never lonely either...between Lao Lao, Max, Pipsqueak, Abby, and your good ol' buddy Suzy ~ you have lots of snuggle buddies.

The night before we left, you hung out with Lao Lao so that Daddy and I could prep for the trip. You even tried out riding your bike (all by yourself!) to the corner where Lao Lao was waiting. You wanted to try out this little taste of freedom and it was so cute to see you get ready to go, Pokemon cards in your backpack and of course Silkie along for the ride. You may be getting bigger and more responsible, but definitely never forget Silkie. Ha.

While we were gone, you stayed busy with Lao Lao, going to Mandarin class, planting in her garden, finding some worms for her garden, hanging out and playing together, tried to go to soccer (but got rained out), and even got to stay up and watch some of Saturday Night Live together (one of your favorites). We also had a good time surprising Stacy for her 40th...

the birthday girl and her loving hubby
who planned the whole surprise

Mommy and the birthday girl with
some of our photo booth props

if you remember anything about your childhood...please
let it be how much your parents embraced their weirdness
(and of course, how much we love you!)

...but we also missed you a bunch. Especially when you sent me this text before we went to bed on Saturday...of course, I had to call you after reading this. Your teeny little voice on the other end of the phone made me miss you even more. Such a sweetheart, you are!

We made it home on Sunday and had a nice relaxing few hours back together as a family before we had to go to bed. It was the first time that Daddy and I have (both at the same time) left you and went so far away. A big step for all of us. You did great. I didn't worry at all. I just missed your adorable face.

Just before bed, we were picking your outfit for school on Monday. You cracked me up with this:

"Well, I don't really want to wear my dinosaur shoes because I like
to admire them and then I run into people"

My silly little monkey. So glad to be home with you.

Love,
Mama

Spring Break, A Sleepover, and the Easter Bunny

Maliana ~

This past week was your spring break from school and although you started it with the tail end of a nasty fever again on Monday morning, by afternoon it was gone and you were feeling considerably better. We decided to take advantage of the gorgeous sunshine and take your scooter to the playground and then get some Coldstone on the way home.

"No questions, Mom. Just observe."

That evening we busted out some sidewalk chalk you got for your birthday and colored together until sunset.

While it is beautiful outside, it is also thunderstorm season in Ohio and that night we were expecting our first batch of storms. You asked, "Mom, if I don't wake up with all this thunder tonight...will you give me a shiny nickel?" #expectations #keepemlow

With Easter right around the corner, we also colored eggs this week. 

coloring Easter eggs...shirts optional

your eggs...smiley face included

Goddard was closed on Friday which gave me the perfect excuse to play hookey from work and take you and Sam to the zoo and then keep Sam for a munchkin sleepover. It was so much fun. Immediately after speech (on Friday), we picked up Sam and headed to Five Below (for toys, of course!), then Polaris, and finally made it to the zoo by mid-afternoon. It was a jam-packed day but lots and lots of fun to have Sammy along on our adventure!

Here were some of the highlights (as shared on Facebook):

~ Driving M and my niece to the zoo and from the back seat I hear grunting, giggling, and then one of them say, "Uh oh. That might be poop."

At the mall = 1 hour
On the escalator = at least 12 times
(sure felt like it anyway!)

Me: "Ok, as long as we're stopped at the gas station filling up, you can unbuckle and be as weird as you want."
Munchkins: "So we can twerk you?"

not about to let a little rain stop us from enjoying the zoo...although
you were humiliated by having to wear a poncho #7goingon13

you got to see this but had no interest in joining Sam in
communing with the bear...you were SO tired

eventually you fell asleep in my arms.
on the way home you told me that you love to do
this because "it's the best snuggle"
(I love it when you do it too!)

however while you slept, you missed this craziness

back in the stroller but still zonked...

even sleeping through Sam communing with penguins now!

By the time we got home, you were wide awake and ready for round two of the playtime shenanigans!

Came out of the bedroom and told me you were going
on an adventure. There's a lot of "Hey Dude."
and "What Bro?" being said.

You both woke up to Easter Bunny pancakes on Saturday morning (nothing less for a sleepover at our house)...

And then we headed off on an over an hour and a half road trip (one way) to Springboro for a helicopter Easter egg drop. It was a long drive but you were both so entertaining and did great...plus the egg drop was pretty cool!

over 10,000 people at the egg drop ~ craziness!

57,000 eggs on the field and 3,000 more to be dropped.
You decided to just hang out and chill with me...it
was a little too overwhelming with all
of these people.

luckily I had some chocolate in my purse so
you didn't completely miss out on the treats!

there were 2 helicopters that took turns landing (pictured above)
and getting loaded up and then would circle the football
field to drop the eggs for the crowd

it's hard to see the eggs but they are all falling
out of the chopper in this picture

watching with Daddy
(the helicopters made at least
6 trips, maybe more!)

Sammy made a good haul and was
sweet enough to share some of
her loot with you

both of you were so zonked out
on the way home...

Then, we got to Uncle Kevin and Aunt Beth's and you were able to play with all of your cousins for a bit...it was nice to see them again!

adventurers!

When we arrived home, it was time to get ready for the Easter Bunny's arrival that night. You decided you wanted to leave him a note and some carrots and set about to write him a very special request.

"Hello Easter Bunny. How are you doing?
Can you get something for Mom and Dad for Easter?"
(the rest is a picture of our house and the moon at the
top and then you leaving carrots on the stairs
while saying, "Sh Sh") ~ so cute!

the special Easter Bunny carrots and your note,
right by the back door that leads out to
our woods...

You woke me up early on Easter morning and as I rolled over I was met with a big smile inches from my own face and you whispering, "It's Easter!"  

You really enjoyed finding all of your Easter eggs and the basket that the E.B. had left for you. In fact, he had even honored your request and left something for Mom and Dad too...

reading the note from the E.B. which was
right next to 2 six packs of beer ~ one for Mom
(Grapefruit Shandy) and one for Dad
(Yuengling) Hmmm...how does that E.B. know
just what we all like? must be magic!

the E.B.'s note

happy with your basket

checking out your loot

We took a walk/bike ride later as the sunshine was beautiful that morning! As we headed down the trail I noticed that my favorite bluebells were starting to sprout. You commented, "I have a favorite plant too." When I asked what it was, you replied, "Radishes!" Ha ha!

you brought Silkie along and I noticed that while you
are very proud of mastering this new trick of riding
one-handed...you use your free hand to soothe
yourself with Silkie. so sweet...you are the
perfect combination of big and little
kid all rolled into one!

After our walk/bike ride, we got ready and headed over to Aunt Connie and Uncle Pat's for our annual Easter gathering. It's always a nice tradition and Aunt Connie outdoes herself with the delicious food and Easter egg hunt for you kiddos. So nice.

with the cousins at Easter 2015

Daddy, Memaw and Uncle Kevin

Uncle Kevin tipping you off on one of the eggs

the best we could get on a family picture
(unfortunately we completely forgot to get
a picture of the entire family ~ Memaw
and I were devastated, the rest of the
family not so much, ha.)

cousins going through your Easter loot

cousins being silly together

And here is a very fun surprise that we had for Papaw...he is such a good sport!
Click HERE for CONFETTI EGG SURPRISE!!

aftermath of the confetti eggs

Once again, it was a lovely Easter and although we didn't go anyplace crazy for your spring break...the quality time that we managed to squeeze in when we could was a bundle of fun.

Love you, Munchkin!
Mama