Pride and Gratitude

Dear M ~

What a great first month of summer! Here are some of our silly, fun, and touching highlights ~ enjoy!

Snapchat fun - don't ask...haha!

One of your first adventures was with Lao Lao who took you to the zoo, just you and her, on a super hot day. It was some great one on one time together, you stayed cool by going from the reptile house to aquatic displays and then checked out the dinosaur boat ride exhibit that they brought back again this year. Yay!

dinosaurs~ rawwwr!

Next was a trip to Skyline with Daddy!

One morning we ate breakfast outside on the front deck and we were lucky enough to watch a bumble bee collecting pollen from our flowers. You told Daddy and I all about how bees collect pollen and take it back to their beehive to produce honey. It was adorable and you can hear it for yourself in the video link below. I just love your little voice!

Mali's lesson on bees

You decided to bust out your makeup one day and did makeovers on both Sophia and Anabelle. They were good sports and as you can see from the first picture, Daddy decided to photo bomb you too. Daddy!!

nice butt

You went to a birthday party for Addi at Glow Putt. It was nice to see some of your school friends again.

We hit Gallery Hop as well, running into and hanging out with Flint for most of the night. Of course, he had to scoop you up and give you a hard time because, well, it's Uncle Flint and that's what he does.

While at the Hop, we tried Greek coffee at The Happy Greek where we also ate flaming cheese (Saganaki Opa) and yummy desserts.

look how tiny the cup is!

And Lao Lao found a silly hat - it says "HOE"...nice. Haha.

We had your friend, Fatima, over for a couple play dates as well. She is an extremely sweet kid. I like her a lot.

My friend, Tanisha (from work), brought you back an M and M blanket from her trip to Atlanta as well. She is always asking about you and thinking about you when she goes on trips. So sweet of her.

One particular day while you were at camp, Daddy and I decided to take a day date and try out a new foot golf course. It was nice to get away with Daddy. Definitely nothing wrong with spending time with your significant other (sans kids). We love you so much and we also love each other so time for just us is very important. Trust me, you will understand when you start dating and/or get married. Just please promise you find someone who makes you laugh and treats you well. I lucked out on both. Your daddy is one of the good ones.

After a day of swimming in our little inflatable pool, popsicles, and playing throughout the neighborhood, you and your two best neighborhood pals (Anabelle and Darion) had a picnic dinner on our deck. These casual summer days, floating from house to house, playing wherever and whatever have been pretty typical this June. It's nice having good friends so close.

Erin (and Scott) ~ my friend from work ~ surprised us one night to hang out and have a fire on our patio. Of course, within 5 minutes they both were trying out your riding toys. I love that they are big kids themselves. So funny to watch them squeeze onto these little toys with you.

And June would never be complete without mentioning that it is PRIDE MONTH (yay!) which means that we got to celebrate with our annual Pride parade and festival. It was awesome (as usual)! I love our city of Columbus and its vibrant support of the LGBTQ community. We definitely have our fair share of problems around here, but this is one thing that our wonderful hometown does right.

walking to the parade

you helped Lao Lao make this sign

your balloon broke so Anabelle's mom was brave
enough to blow up a condom for you ~ haha!

I went to the festival while you headed home, but here I am with
my friends Emery, James, and Troy

The very next day after Pride was Father's Day! Here you are making special pancakes for your favorite Daddy in the world.

all on your own!

You cut this pancake into a tie-fighter because you know Daddy loves his Star Wars. So cute!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

You also had your very first outing with just Audrey, in her car, where she was solely responsible for you all afternoon. She was sooooo excited (and a little nervous) to pick you up from camp and take you on a special adventure. You went out to eat lunch, then for a hike in the woods, and wrapped up at Easton. You were together all afternoon and were both so happy when you got home. I am so incredibly thankful that you have a role model like Audrey in your life and I love that you can talk to her about anything in the world. In fact, you and I were going somewhere the other day and talking about the adults that have your back and support you and you said, "I know who would do anything for me." and when I asked, "Who?" you replied, "Audrey". I had to agree and said, "Yes, she loves you as if you were her own child. She would most definitely do anything for you!" You replied with a smirk and a "Yep!". I love that you recognize how her unconditional love knows no bounds. More kids need Auntie Audreys in their lives. We are a lucky, lucky family.

We also hit up ComFest this year. Our first time ever. It was perfect weather and a nice, laid back community festival of art, music, and food. 

splatter painting

playing on the jungle gym with Lao Lao

can you see the license plate on this crazy car?

even the statue was wearing a pussy hat ~ haha!
#resistance

I loved this...and I got my free hug

Popsicles are a summertime staple...these are even from our neighborhood ice cream truck. Yes, the sketchy as ever ice cream truck. Ayiyi.

Darion's parents took the three of you to the drive-in movies one night. I guess you were the only kiddo that stayed up through the entire movie. My little night owl.

Double G is almost camouflaged into our bedspread. Can you see him?

Shooting hoops with your new mini basketball.

And of course, the following are some random little tidbits of conversations with you or things I have shared that made me smile or giggle. It's always something.

You started an Instagram account recently too. I just had to photobomb you.

We decided to retire our old comforter on the bed and gussy things up with a new, brightly colored quilt. It not only got your approval, but Suzy and GG's as well. Pretty, huh?

Finally, I wrapped up June by taking both of our kitties to a new vet to get them all checked out and clean bills of health. Pipsqueak did fine but as you can see, GG freaked, chewed through the handle on his carrier, and climbed onto my shoulders while I was driving. What a little stinker. Oy.

So, honey, not a bad beginning to a fun summer. Looking forward to see what July and August hold for us as well.

Love,

Mama

First Days of Jobs, Last Days of School, and Everything in Between

Dear M ~

With the arrival of May also comes the arrival of flower planting and potting. I stink at gardening but I love getting more color in our yard and around our decks and patio. I also was so thankful for a little helper who was magic with the hose, even if it got away from her at one point and completely soaked her head. Oops! Ha ha.

flowers planted outside, but I don't remember buying these

new decorative pillows for the bed...oh, wait...

Since Daddy was going out of town this month (for 2 whole weeks!) to begin training for his new job, we spent the last weekend that he was home celebrating Mother's Day. We had a cookout and bonfire for the moms and enjoyed each other's company.

Daddy taking a picture of Papaw sleeping

I loved my gifts from you...a homemade painting and box of

gourmet, poop-shaped chocolates...perfection!

Audrey joined us too and of course,

silliness ensued

you also made me an absolutely beautiful

handmade note pad at school and it reads,

"Mom, I love you because you stick up for me,

you help me with my problems"

I. LOVE. IT. SO. MUCH.

then, before bed, you soaked up some final snuggle time

in the hammock before Daddy left for FL in the morning

With Daddy in Florida for a while, you and I had to find some fun stuff to occupy our time. Luckily, it's been nice enough to officially feel like ice cream weather again. Here you are enjoying your first cone of the season. Yum!

Also, we are extremely lucky to have a Lao Lao who was willing to step up and stay with us each night so that she could take you to school in the mornings for me. An added bonus to our sleepovers with her was bedtime stories on the porch together. We definitely don't take this woman for granted...so fortunate to call her ours.

As we made our way through the two weeks apart from Daddy, you got more in need of closeness and snuggles. Here I am attempting to do bills on the laptop, except it's a little hard when there's a 9 year old on my lap too.

here's the picture we sent to Daddy

You also started voice therapy this month as a way to help learn to use your voice in such a way as to be gentler on your vocal cords. We hope it will reduce or even remove the nodes you currently have on your vocal cords from years of having slammed them together to make up for your speech difficulties. You have come such a long way and worked so hard on your speech skills, this is just the next step for you. I am so proud of how hard you have worked. I know you can do this too! You even made a little educational booklet when you got home to help teach others about what you are dealing with as well as remind yourself how important it is to be kind to your voice. So smart!

With the final days of school upon us, we decided it would be fun to try out some new hair colors. Here you are showing off a new 'do. Too cool for school, kiddo!

Did I mention how much more you want to cuddle lately? So much so that I even caught you snuggling Suzy's butt one morning. Ha ha. (Actually, you are sleeping and have no idea how close you are to "the danger zone" of Suzy's poop chute, but still...very funny stuff!)

Finally, after an entire school year, the day had arrived...your last day of 3rd grade! While it was an exciting day, it was also an emotional day. You love school and your teacher(s) so much that you shared with me after school that you had to hold back tears by the end of the day. My sensitive little soul of a child. You may feel embarrassed sometimes but I adore that quality about you. Your tender heart is more of a strength than a weakness, in my opinion. Truly!

Anyway, back to the beginning of the day. I just can't believe I actually have a 4th grader now! Unfortunately, it was a really rainy and grey day (so I couldn't see you off to school outside like we normally do). Plus, you were not feeling the most cooperative in my taking of the usual "last day of school pictures" so here was the best I could get, (as you can see below).

My silly, ornery, newly minted 4th grader!

we missed having Daddy in these pictures with us...and I couldn't

get you to stand up with me and do the usual "timer shots", so here

was what I got. if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! right?!

you made me pose with your sign too, ha!

As if the last day of school wasn't exciting enough...the very next day was when Daddy came home to us! Pretty awesome, right?! He wasted no time in taking you out for a Daddy/Mali day that started out with breakfast at your favorite (Gena's) and wound up with putt-putt and creeking. It was much needed, one on one time with your dad. You missed him so much!

the old straw wrapper in the ear trick ~ nice shot, M!

I must say, I missed Daddy quite a bit too. Exhibit A, below.

On Memorial Day weekend, we also found ourselves at the Asian Festival which is always a nice time. Uncle Flint, Monica and their friends also met us down there for a brief time.

bubble tea!

want some chicken on a chopstick?

building a stick and grass structure while we watched

some amazing performances by acrobats and dancers

bracelet buddies

practicing your characters

I mentioned it was getting nicer and feeling like ice cream weather, right? It's also getting nice enough to really enjoy morning coffee on the deck in the sunshine. Well, I think I need to work with GG on his table manners. What do you think?

yikes, buddy! legs closed!

ahh...much better!

even Suzy was enjoying the morning sun

Later that day (after enjoying my morning coffee with my crotch-licking cat), we all took a bike ride together. Have I mentioned how absolutely fabulous it is to have Daddy home again?!

At some point, Daddy had brought you home a bike lock which you clearly adore. In fact, you insisted on locking your bike up right at the base of our front steps for the rest of the weekend. Watch your step, everyone!

Daddy and I also decided to take you and Anabelle to the pool together as well. With his new schedule, Daddy is home with us a heck of a lot more, even during the week, so fortunately we can do fun stuff like this now. Yay!

We got Happy Meals on the way home from the pool and I decided to join you kids too. After a nice time at the pool, I just didn't want to go back to adulting just yet. Ha.

if this smile doesn't express how much you love

having Daddy home, I don't know what does

we decided that this is the absolute best bathroom sign, ever!

And as usual, here are some random things I captured from the month and wanted to share with the world. You are such an interesting and funny little person.

And that, my dear, wraps up May. Onward and upward to our summer of fun next!

Love,
Mama