Hello Summer! We Have a Third Grader!

Mali ~

Wow. May was pretty full of some big events. Mother's Day, your last days of 2nd grade, the Asian Festival, a visit from our uncles from Texas, and lots of time with friends, among other things. Let's just dive on in, shall we?



I love that you have been sharing random things about yourself more and more as you get older. One of the more recent conversations we have had was about marriage. Up until now, you have been adamant about not wanting to get married because you don't want to have to kiss anyone. Now, you are entertaining the idea of marriage, but still not sure. You say that you might get married as long as your spouse is ok with your desire to get a bike and a backpack and travel around like this, just helping other people all over the country and world. (Hmmm...not sure where you came up with this idea but I like your desire to help others...you are such a unique little person!) I wonder if you'llama take your wallet with you...see below.

here is a picture of what I found in your wallet, it's a picture
of me at age 7 and another picture you drew based on a photo of
Lao Lao's dad as a soldier when he was young. you wrote
"Happy Soldier"...interesting choices

here is what you wrote in the card you made for your
teacher, Mrs. Young, to thank her for this year.

A few days before Mother's Day, you showed up with this special package for me. I think you were just as stoked to give it to me as I was stoked to open it up. You made me close my eyes and placed it in our mail box so that I could get the full effect of receiving a special surprise. I love, love, love it more than you can imagine. It truly touched my heart.

I love that you put a lot of thought into this...it's so heartfelt and personal.
"My mom is awesome.
Outstanding that's you.
Thoughtful every day.
Heart full of love.
Excellent tickler.
Really beautiful mom."

this letter absolutely made me cry happy tears and got big hugs from me to you.
"Dear Mom,
I want to thank you for adopted. I relly appreciate for letting me telling you my story
about awesome school day. I love you so much. Thank you for being my mom. Thank
you for teaching me to make eggs and pancakes. You make me laugh a lot.
Love,
Maliana S. Wilkinson"

you with Elyse and Jos at a birthday party

always unique with your style

helping Papaw work on our deck...you LOVE to help Papaw

Daddy surprised you at lunch with your friends!

you and Daddy just happened upon a workshop at Lowe's where
you made me a special birdfeeder for Mother's Day ~ awesome!

this one cracks me up ~ I found a note in your backpack on
how to make "space pants jelly" ~ ha ha ha!

The following pictures are from Mother's Day weekend...we started it with a nice long walk on the trail with Lao Lao. Then we all got together for a cookout for our actual Mother's Day. Daddy did an amazing job and not only did all of the moms come over, but also our neighbors and Audrey as well. It was a phenomenal weekend spent with the people I love the most.

exploring the creek as Lao Lao watches you from above

for some reason you wanted to put these flowers in your pants like tails

then you put this one in mine

silly kid getting a piggyback ride

you never pass up a chance to play "let's balance" on any edges you see

Lao Lao was our first guest to arrive for the cookout and
you had to help her get into our hammock...there's
definitely a trick to it

here's our silly Suzy, super excited to see Memaw and Papaw arrive but
unsure how to get to them on the top deck so she just walked around like this,
wagging and whining like crazy until they came down to her

here's Papaw showing you how to whittle

Abby is the ultimate beggar

yum! corn on the cob!

Audrey Ayi got a huge hug when she arrived!

Natalia and Mr. Ball Head

Mr. Ball Head is so silly!

obligatory group photo

card that you specially made me with Lao Lao's help

Darion has really become a staple at our house this month...
he was in your class this year and we discovered he lives
super close so he has been coming down to play a lot!

As an aside, I got another reminder that you are growing up. As I got you and Darion snacks one day, you insisted on not wanting "baby plates" (the plastic plates you have had since you were a toddler) because "we're big kids now, Mom!" (sniff, sniff...do you really have to grow up this soon?!)

if you look closely, you can see both Double G and (of course)
Suzy surrounding you while you sleep...they love their Mali

You and I also got new glasses too. It was definitely time for both of us. We chose Costco and had a great experience. You did so well during the exam and as usual, kept me on my toes by shouting, "Aggghh! My nipple!" at one point. I can't even remember what was happening at that exact moment, but I'm sure it was a first for the eye doctor as well. Ha ha!

I love the frames you chose!

you and Darion have become good buds

Sophia came to hang out one night

bike riding with my babe

one night you were running around giving us all "tickets"
(found this by Abby...evidently barking is against the law)

you and Darion took the dogs for a walk...
or did the dogs take you for a walk?

you shared your stamp with me from Costco by pressing our
hands together and I immediately thought back to the days
when I would do the same thing to sneak into bars when I
was in college but still underage...not that you'll ever
do that someday, right?!

I love taking you and Darion to the park where you ride bikes
there and I can get a good run in by doing laps while you
play on the playground - win win!

we both liked this sunset

moustache and crazy sock day at school...
gotta love the last week of 2nd grade shenanigans!

field day! I helped at the bounce house and you had a blast
at all of the stations...great day for all!

wrapping up run club with a fun run and
fundraiser for a classmate that has brain
cancer (so sad)...I love your school community!

you with Jos and Elyse at the fun run

you may have brought up the rear at the fun run, but you are
definitely all heart. here's Mrs. Vanderbilt finishing up with you...

you, Jos and Elyse with your medals after the race

you and your buddy, Gabby

impromptu glow putt round with Jocelyn before
she slept over that night...

picking up junk food for the sleep over

making blanket forts the next morning

As the last couple days of school were upon us, you wrote some amazingly sweet notes to include with gifts for your teacher and school counselor who were integral people in helping to make your school year successful.

"I want to thank you for being my teacher this year.
You inspire me to keep pushing hard and just do it.
Love, Mali"

"I want to thank you for helping me work with my
problems. You make me want to start counseling myself."

You must have been on a thank you card kick because Daddy and I also got these notes when we came home. Both funny and sweet...

"Thank you for being my dad. I forgive you for getting in trouble."

"Thank you for being my mom. I have so many questions about
my life. Can you help me with them."

And along with all the sweetness...there was some sadness too. Poor froggy, never saw it coming.

this is what happens when Daddy runs over a frog with the
lawnmower and you kids find out = impromptu frog funeral

And...without further ado and with lots and lots of excitement...the last day of school finally arrived! Drumroll, please!

of course we can't go to school on your last day
without at least one silly face picture...right?!

hard to read your sign because of the glaring morning sunlight...
but here we all are! Daddy and I seeing you off on your last day
as a second grader!! how did this happen?!

after school pick up and one last hug from Lily for the school year!

DQ treats with Kyndall to celebrate the beginning of summer!

and of course Mom and Audrey had to get some yummy banana splits too!

We definitely tried to keep the fun going as we kicked off summer...

this little gem was during an impromptu walk (yes, walk)
all the way from our house to Easton because you just had to get
tattoo sleeves...the most random and fun request from my peanut!

lip sync concert on our deck

taking the show on the road

lunch date with Addi and her mom at
Easton included some photo booth fun

I just love kids who are still perfecting their reading skills...see below.

And some random moments I jotted down...

We also headed to the Asian Festival and thankfully it wasn't as hot as usual but we got our favorite bubble tea to cool off anyway!

we met Monica and Flint there

these 2 bubbles stuck together and looked like a butt

Lao Lao and Flint 

we got our first henna tattoos

you decided on these hearts that also say 'family'...
but almost chose ones that read 'never give up'

The very next day we went out to Bellefontaine to spend time with Uncles Matt and Mark who were in town visiting their parents. It was so nice too see both of them as well as Cindy, Jack, Allie and Delilah, and a few others from their family who were hanging out that day. A long overdue visit with our Austin TX family and a wonderfully relaxing time at the farm with everyone.

L to R - Matt, me, Daddy, and Mark

you and Zoe (a new friend that day) had fun digging up clay in the dirt piles
surrounding the big pond Jack is making

having a 'cold one' with your great uncles
hahaha!

you snapped this one of us with our uncles...
so glad you got the random bag in the shot too, haha.

it was so hot the next day after the farm, we went out and bought a
blow up pool for our yard...you also talked me
into this rad snorkel gear. too funny!

you're all ready for summer but I think you need a bigger pool, kid :)

So that about wraps up our May in a nutshell. Looking forward to a good great summer with you, Monkey.



Love you so much!
Mama