Rocking, Hiking, and Resting

Maliana ~

Daddy (with a little help from friends) kicked off your week with a huge surprise for you ~ the Fresh Beat Band concert! You were so excited all day, not even having a clue as to what your surprise was that night. You both met Mia and her daddy downtown and even Mia played along with trying to trick you, suggesting that maybe you were going to a soccer game. When you found out what was actually in store for the evening, you were pumped! Tremendous double daddy/daughter date success! I am so glad you got to spend time with these guys and of course, your daddy too!

why do I get the feeling we could be seeing similar
pictures of you two at concerts, years from now?

even Daddy was stoked to see the FBB!!

Thursday is always a tough day for me, since it's almost the weekend (but not quite) and I am usually exhausted (to say the least). In spite of my dog-tiredness, it made me so happy to get a text from Daddy letting me know how great of a morning you had had. He was proud to report that you had sprang out of bed and got yourself dressed (head to toe) without any prompting at all. So awesome!

When I picked you up at school later, it gave me more much needed smiles to see the outfit you had chosen to wear...

trendsetter

Were you wearing a boldly striped shirt underneath an open button down plaid shirt with no corresponding colors whatsoever? Sure! But did you do it all by yourself? Yep! So proud of you!

This week I also signed our whole family up at the local YMCA in order to increase our health and make getting fit a family affair. I even took you with me and got to work out the very next day after signing up while you hung out in their 'child watch' program and did fabulously. Afterwards, you were excited to take a tour of the gym and began plotting when we could all go swimming together.

Along with feeling like we made a really good decision to join the Y, here's how I shared my gratitude on Facebook later:
~ reason #79 I am grateful for my kid today = picking her up from her first night at the on-site Child Watch while I worked out at the Y and the worker went on and on about how sweet she is and asked me to please bring her back.  #mademynight #kindwordsgoalongway

The weekend finally arrived and found us making banana pancakes before going hiking in the woods behind our house. All on your own, you suited up and begged one of us to take you to go looking for bugs, critters, and animal tracks. It made me remember how much I loved to go exploring with my uncles, Matt and Mark, when I was little too. I would hike all over their farm, tagging along with them and loving every minute of hanging out with 'the older boys'. There's nothing like nature as a child's best playground. Brought back fun memories taking you out like this in our own little woods and watching your excitement as you marched along with Abby, spotting this or that in the snow.

all geared up from head to toe

this was pretty much the only critter spotted...
our pup, Abby

you determined we were very far from home
(psst...not really)

using your bird callers to call for help from Daddy
(just like you'd seen them do in the movie, The Croods)

And upon digging out the bug box pictured above, here is a snippet of our conversation...
~ upon finding this locust shell from last summer in your bug box ~
Me: "Can we please throw this thing away now?"
Mali: "Noo! It reminds me of Buddy!"
Me: "You named the locust we watched climb out of this shell last summer? "
Mali: "Yeah!"

I love my bug lover

That evening I headed out to Aunt Lindsey's bachelorette party while you and Daddy went over to Uncle Joe and Aunt Tina's and then later you spent the night with E. You girls stayed up, read to each other at bedtime, hid and spied on whoever you could, and just generally had a giggly good time.

clearly you and Daddy had a hard time
letting me go out to the bachelorette
party...getting ready was like an
obstacle course!

snuggled up and reading in bed

spying on Sam

Since it was a long night for all of us on Saturday, we hit a major wall on Sunday. We had to stop and press pause, climb into bed and relax for the afternoon once getting you home from E's house. It was a good call too or else I have a sneaking suspicion someone would have ended up in a strait jacket by dinnertime.

mandatory quiet time on Sunday afternoon

Once we'd gotten a little rest, Daddy helped you make a craft you had seen on YouTube...I love when Daddy does stuff like that! He also discovered he has some fairly clever crafting abilities too...a bonding activity and self-esteem builder all the way around. Ha.

major good daddy points!

Later you begged to go grocery shopping, yes, grocery shopping with Daddy (I know...weird, right?), but hey...it's a win since a) I didn't have to grocery shop and b) you got more time with your Daddy! Evidently, you were still extremely tired as I received this text from Daddy about halfway through your trip...

sleepy driver

Monday was an extra bonus for the weekend since we both got to stay home in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. day. We had some really nice extra time together...randomly deciding to trek out to Three Creeks Metro Park for a worm composting seminar where you got to build your very own tabletop worm composter. You are very excited to hopefully have lots of worm babies in about three weeks ~ let's hope this works!

you made me put the night crawlers in, but
you did the rest...we'll see what happens!

crossing our fingers for worm babies

Once home, we stayed in, relaxed and enjoyed the smell of Guinness stew from the crock-pot, snuggled, made each other laugh, and awaited the arrival of our visitors ~ Audrey Ayi and Lao Lao! Both stopped by for a bit that afternoon and evening. It was so nice to see them and spend time together. Lao Lao helped you for a long time with your latest Kiwi Crates full of crafts and science experiments. Audrey played your beloved LPS with you and gave you a bath before heading home.

mad scientists

playing LPS

It was a nice, warm, cozy, and perfect ending to a long and fun weekend.
Love,
Mama

A Polar Vortex, Winter Hike and Ice Skating

Maliana ~

With the super freezing temperatures of the polar vortex at the beginning of the week (think Minnesota kind of cold here), we were all a little stir crazy inside so by Wednesday, Brooklyn and Braycen came over to play. It was so nice to see these kids again, their antics and laughing crack me up. I will be sad when they eventually move, but so thankful that we have had them as neighbors at all.

painting with Brooklyn

3 musketeers

And as for stir crazy...or perhaps just plain crazy...this was my Facebook post from Thursday:

Third day in a row that I've taken Mali's boots off and turned them upside down and these melty bead critters have fallen out. No clue why they're in there. I think she has a future in smuggling.

My book club also happened to fall on this Thursday night and since it was a special book club (honoring a fellow Fu mama and friend who will be moving to Cleveland this month), our gathering was at Ms. Christina's house which meant that kids got to come too. You were super stoked and glad to hang out with some of your Fu friends. For myself, it is always so comforting to be around such strong, smart, open, and supportive women. This week, it was a bonus to also sporadically hear and see you silly kids sneaking down to spy on us as well. I love that you are growing up knowing these children and hope to continue all of us being in each others' lives as you grow older. It means a lot to me. The older I get, the more I appreciate how rare and precious truly good friends and solidly positive influences are in all of our lives. I am so thankful for the ladies of Fu (and their children and daddies)!

Friday began with a few tears, I'm sorry to say. I unfortunately had been hit hard and fast by a nasty bug and was up all Thursday night puking and doing other unpleasant things. You (and I) look so forward to our special Friday mornings together and so you were thus crushed when Daddy ended up taking you to school instead. I simply did not have enough strength to do our normal routine. I threw up a few more times throughout Friday and didn't even have enough strength to pick you up that afternoon. Thankfully, Aunt Tina and Uncle Joe came to the rescue, picked you up, and took you to their house until Daddy got off of work. Now, what was I just saying about how much I appreciate how rare and precious truly good friends and solidly positive influences are in all of our lives? Yeah. You can definitely count these two angels among them. When I called you at school that day to tell you that Aunt Tina was picking you up, you didn't even bat an eye and were just excited to see them. I love that these guys are almost like extensions of mom and dad. Makes me feel so much better.

When you and Daddy finally came home that night, Aunt Tina had already been here to drop off a bag of groceries to help me feel better, while you and Daddy had your own bag of groceries to help me feel better as well. You had even hand-written me a get well card. You were so concerned about your mama, acting like a little adult. It was endearing. Love that about you.

home-made anything makes me feel so much better!

When Daddy thanked Aunt Tina (once again) for all that she had done to help out, her reply was, "It takes a village, Shawn-Shawn. It takes a village." ...Well, I definitely feel like there was a whole village looking out for all of us that day. So, so grateful.

Daddy took you to Chinese class on Saturday morning so I could scrape together just a bit more sleep to get my body feeling better. I was thankfully able to rally enough strength for our big event of the day, ice skating with a friend of yours (and her family) from school! Jocelyn, her parents (Chase and Kristy), and her brother Dylan all met us at the Chiller where we attempted to ice skate for the first time for many of us. Fortunately, there were no broken bones and we all survived. It was fun to watch each of you little ones progress and get more confident on the ice. We decided to have dinner at Logan's afterward (since you were so sad to have the fun end) and ended up getting to know their family a little bit better. They are all very nice and down-to-earth people and we look forward to more outings and play-dates for you kids.

skates are on!

with your bud, Jocelyn

on the ice!

attempting to keep us both up...Jocelyn was
really getting the hang of it!

"the wall is my friend"

these skate trams rock!

look at all three of you zipping around the rink now!

Sunday was a wet and chilly day but you, Lao Lao and I braved the metro parks and hit one of their annual winter hikes at Prairie Oaks. We met my friends Pam and Heidi there and while they went on and did the 3 miler, I was so proud of you for sticking it out to finish the 1 miler all on your own, cold, biting weather and all. These hikes are really good for us; the fresh air and exercise, nature and gorgeous scenery all around us, and time spent together. We get to see different metro parks each time and of course there is the warm and delicious soups and treats at the finish line. Chicken and noodles with cocoa and marshmallows after this hike was a big hit for you. Not much else tastes better than a steaming bowl of stew after a cold walk through the woods.

you were so into looking at all of the
footprints in the mud

now you've got a stick and are drawing us a map

getting muddy

walking the prairie

obligatory selfie of the day

our explorer

you were a little miffed here that I am making
you take a photo instead of eating the
yummy chicken and noodles

roasting marshmallows

mmmm ~ marshmallows

Along with the fun of the hike, we also had a chuckle from this as we pulled into the park before the hike:
~ driving Daddy's stick shift today and almost stalled...
Me: "Aggh! I'm so not used to stick shifts anymore!"
Mali: "I love dip shifts!"

Never a dull moment with you, child.
Love,
Mama

Out With the Old and In With the New ~ 2014!

Maliana ~

Lao Lao was a lifesaver on Monday and Tuesday of this week when she spent the day with you while your school and daycare were both closed and Daddy and I had to work. You went on adventures together both days...COSI on Monday and painting pottery on Tuesday. She said you were really busy all throughout COSI, wearing her out with all of your walking and trying out nearly every single exhibit. You had told me the other day that you didn't like science, but in probing a bit more, we discovered that what you actually don't like is having to sit in class and watch your teacher "do" science...so COSI was a great hands-on experience to get your heart pumping to love science again.

This week also reminded me of the joys of living near woods...we caught another mouse in the house ~ eek! He's lucky we are such animal lovers and only trap them alive and let them go off the back deck. Little buggers are probably just getting right back in the house somehow but this time we painted him with bright pink nail polish to see if it's the same one that keeps getting back in or not. Hopefully his friends won't make too much fun of him.

Later that same "scary" mouse night...we hit the hay and you were a bit slap happy. I love laying in bed with you, being silly, and joking back and forth. Your sense of humor is getting more hilarious by the day.

We rung in the new year this week as well...goodbye 2013 and hello 2014!! It was a quiet gathering of family and a few friends. Through the night, we saw Uncle Flint, Audrey Ayi, Uncle Joe, Aunt Tina, and then Lao Lao, Uncle Forge, and Gabrielle all spent the night with us. Just the perfect quiet celebration to balance out the craziness of the holidays. The next morning, we had cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast, but not before waking up Forge and Gabrielle with Nerf guns! Happy New Year, suckas!

my traditional holiday walk with Abby...she's getting old
but still loves to get out and explore

Daddy was very proud of his shrimp arrangement

Audrey Ayi and I have been friends for over 30 years...
I only hope you can find friends like this in your life

Daddy had you and Aunt Tina try out the new 3D glasses

perfect way to start off my new year!

new year selfie ~ boy, that flash was bright!

Lao Lao photo-bombing Forge and Gabrielle

family selfie outside while we made some noise
to celebrate the new year ~ and again, that
flash was SO bright!

wake up!

puzzle time with Daddy ~ you love this new
puzzle gift from Uncle Flint

almost 6 and still such a peanut!

New Year's dinner we spent at Memaw and Papaw's for our traditional sauerkraut and pork. You had a little bit of each, so your luck is a-okay for 2014. You also had crazy amounts of fun with your cousins. It's always a bit traumatic when we have to part ways though...you're just like your Daddy when he was a kid and had to say goodbye to his cousins ~ so heart-wrenchingly sad in your goodbyes. Like father, like daughter.

new year with Sammy

new year silliness

For a Happy New Year message from Sam and Mali ~ click here!!

First day back to work after the holiday and I was not feeling it...so when we got home, I gave a big middle finger to the chores around the house and you and I took Abby to the hill in our neighborhood and went sledding! It was just the fun I needed and a great way to celebrate the inches of snow that dumped on us throughout the day. The three of us headed home after zipping down the hill several times, tired, cold...exhilarated and happy.

ready to sled!

eskimo Mali

not quite understanding the concept of ear muffs yet

our first trip down the hill together in 2014!

Once home it was hot cocoa, dinner, Uno, and snuggling on the couch until you fell asleep on my chest.

please tell me you'll never get too big to do this...

Friday was freezing so we decided to stay inside after school. You brought up wanting to go through your room to look for toys to donate to other children who might not have toys. I jumped all over that offer. Then you ever so sweetly asked if we could go to Toys R Us to buy some new toys that you have wanted for awhile (and there was the catch...well-played, Mali...well-played). Ha. Anyway, you did end up filling two huge, plastic garbage bags full of your old toys to drop off at Goodwill. I was very proud of your decision! You then used your very own Christmas money to deliberately choose precisely what you wanted to spend it on (ultimately, it was Planes toys). I was pretty impressed. For a few minutes there, I thought you were going to walk right back out of that store without buying a single thing. Not a ton of impulsiveness in you, kid.

And before I forget, here is something else I found on Friday...I'm definitely saving this for you for when you're older so you can fully appreciate it...

as you can imagine, I was beyond relieved to find
out this is actually your drawing of the bottom
half of a lion costume...*whewwww*

Saturday morning started with triple berry dinosaur pancakes (which you actually discovered you do not like as much as banana dinosaur pancakes), then some playtime with Daddy before heading to the grocery store to get ready for the winter storm that is coming.

as I listened to you and Daddy in imaginative play, I wondered
if he realized how much all of his characters sounded
like the Californians skits on SNL.
Google it...you will laugh. 

I guess on your way home from the store, you asked Daddy if you could go to breakfast with Memaw and Papaw on Sunday morning. All your idea. I love that this has actually become somewhat of a tradition for you, enough to look forward to and ask to do again from time to time. It's gotten to be "your thing" with them. So sweet.

As you were pulling in from the store with Daddy, I was actually on my way out for a hike at a local metro park with Aunt Tina so we could get a little exercise and enjoy the snow. I didn't know this until after I was already home later, but unbeknownst to me, you made Daddy follow my car all the way to the top of our neighborhood to make sure I was safe and to be there in case I got stuck and needed help (since the slippery slope in our neighborhood can be kind of tricky at times). It was all your idea and you insisted quite strongly on keeping an eye on me just in case...it really touched me that you were so concerned. You are such a caring and thoughtful soul.

taken on the trail behind our house

we love to take Abby on adventures

this dog loves snow so much, she even scoops it
into her mouth as she runs

tree at the park (off our trail) where we come to play sometimes

That night we met our friends, Ziying and Zuchao. They treated us to dinner at a Chinese restaurant with very authentic (and delicious) cuisine. We talked about all sorts of things, the biggest item for them is that they are expecting a baby sometime in mid-May. It is very exciting for them and we are so thrilled to meet their little one when they arrive. On our way home from dinner, you had lots of questions about how babies get in peoples' bellies. It was the preliminary discussion of the birds and the bees. I was taken a little off guard and felt so unprepared, but I did my best. I was very honest, and (I hope) age appropriate, however it still freaked you out a bit. Oy. Why is it that these questions always come when I feel the least prepared or ready in the moment? *sigh*

Sunday you went to KDB with Daddy to meet Jay, Brooke, and Brooke's son Xander (who is 9). Daddy said he is a very polite and sweet kid who you enjoyed playing all sorts of games with all afternoon. You came home and relaxed while watching movies with Daddy while I took care of some more stuff around the house. As I finished making dinner, I heard this:

(from the other room)...
Mali: "Mom! Mom! There are sick puppies and kitties that need help!"
Me: "On TV?"
Shawn: "It was the ASPCA commercial"
Mali: "Yeah, it's the ASPCA! They need our help!"
Me: "What do you think we should do?"
Mali: "We need to call the phone number. We can help them. We get a credit card and a t-shirt!"
#wellplayedASPCA

Ahh...those commercials get me every time too, sweetie. I always end up wanting to race down to the nearest shelter to rescue every single furry critter in sight. It warms my heart that you are such an animal lover, just like your mom and dad. Life is a whole lot sweeter when we care for and have compassion for those around us...both people and animals. Trust me on that one.

Love,
Mama