April (Snow?) Showers Bring May.....???

Maliana ~

April (snow?) showers, (hopefully) bring May flowers. Yes, you heard that right. It actually snowed this past month. Among a lot of other things, here is a hodge podge of your activities (in no particular order) from April...

even Abby said, "snow?! what the $#@%"

you, Elyse, and Jos at your friend Alex's Nerf war party

you and Elyse in the spider web

several of the kids from Alex's party

you gave a presentation on the state of
Mississippi and had to dress up like something from
that state so after a lot of brain-storming...
you were The Mighty Mississippi!

you did AWESOME!

my little cleaning helper

enjoying a walk with Lao Lao even with
this unusually cold April weather

Double G is settling in nicely

here you are, bringing back the
mis-matched shoe style you made
famous 4 years ago...

Double G and Pip,
getting to know each other a
little better

painting with Sophia in her garage studio

and this right here, you blow me away.
there is a kid (Emmanuel) in your class who has had so many behavior issues since he arrived at your school that he is having to transfer to a school that is more equipped to handle his behavior. (mind you, this is the same kid that at one point had punched both you and Alex in the face!) anyway, he was very sad and in seeing that, you took it upon yourself to buy him a card and gift before he left, wishing him well at his new school. 
your kindness never ceases to amaze me.

I think you like each other 

mwah!

it was Friday and you greeted the weekend
like a super excited dog going bye-bye

some fun cousin time!

oh my!

I don't know why I ever try to clean our mirrors
#handprintseverywhere

Suzy and Double G = buddies

here you had left your silkie upstairs and were too tired to retrieve it, so I became a human silkie.
and I definitely wouldn't trade it for the world...love you so much.

Double G loves to cuddle with Suzy,
even if it's just her butt

a little fun Creekside playtime with Erin
(and Tina)

after wading in the creek, we raced over to El Vacquero
for dinner with Daddy, Joe, and Sam ~ a nice visit with the Yersaviches

checking out Audrey's brand new (!) car with Maddie

helping Daddy with the deck

that's not how you ride a scooter!?
hahaha

I love the stuff you come up with...

texts between you and Lao Lao
two peas in a pod

our budding social justice activist ~ you were pondering
the discriminatory bills against the LGBTQ
community, particularly in NC (this time)

silly texts that Daddy and I sent back and forth
while I was out grocery shopping with you

play date with our neighbor/your friend, Kyndall

we had to say "see ya later!" to Courtney this month as she is
going back to San Diego for the summer...she has been really
fun to have around lately and we look forward to seeing 
her again in fall semester ~ Go Bucks!

Suzy loves to sleep with you 

so does Double G

and we also had our annual memorial for Dustin,
it was rainy and cold this year, but good to see everyone
(here are Lindsey, Jeff, and Caleb)

listening to Debbie and waiting to send off your balloon
with a special note for Dustin

and there they go!

you definitely have your own style...
and I wouldn't have it any other way!
#coolkid

hard at work with Papaw to finish up our deck in
preparation for our new patio this summer

such a good helper...anything to use grown up tools!

So that about wraps it up. Hopefully May will bring more consistently warmer temperatures.

Happy April, babe.
Love you so much,
Mama

DC and Spring Break, Baby!!

Maliana ~

As I mentioned before, you, me, and Lao Lao headed to Washington DC for a quick trip to kick off your spring break week. It was fun to jump on a plane and get away for a while. So, without further ado, here is your spring break in pictures!

reading the safety cards on our flight...so responsible! 

found your old I pod just in time for the trip
and entertained yourself with a little Beastie Boys, etc

first stop, Washington Monument 

cool climbing tree near the Washington Monument 

rolling down the hill together on the National Mall
but the picture below looks a little off...haha!

I promise I wasn't farting on you

dipping our toes in the WWII Memorial
(don't worry, we were allowed)

bring you all the way to DC, surround you
with history, and you want to search
for lucky 4 leaf clovers...haha!

we found the Lincoln Memorial 

what Lincoln sees every day

Honest Abe

tiny peanut

the exact spot where MLK Jr stood to deliver his
famous, "I Have A Dream" speech

cherry blossoms! 

MLK  and his lil sidekick

cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin 

the selfie we sent to Daddy on our first night
(sporting your new Minecraft/DC hat)

Arlington Cemetery

We even got to visit our friends, EB and Patrick, while in DC.  I have known EB since middle school and she is one in a million, as is her kiddo. They're also locals so it was neat to chat with them about the ins and outs of our nation's capital. Interesting stuff! The above picture of Arlington Cemetery was one of our site seeing stops. EB's husband (Patrick's father) is buried there so we paid our respects and took in the enormity of this solemn place. It was surreal and sobering, to say the least.

chalk art in their cool Shirlington neighborhood

you and Patrick taking turns in the stroller

playground time!

The next day we were off again on more of our whirlwind DC touring...first stop was...

the White House! 

no one will know we're tourists, right?

back of the White House 

view of the Tidal Basin from the Jefferson Memorial
(next time we come back, we are so doing paddle boats!)

Chinatown!

not too impressed with the Peking ducks in the window 

on the steps of Capitol Hill

Lao Lao loved this car

text to Daddy about how amazing
(and funny) you are

Not even realizing it when we booked the trip, we ended up celebrating Easter while in DC too. Surprisingly, look what happened...

Easter morning and what? the Easter Bunny even
 found us in DC?!

Then EB and Patrick were gracious enough to include us in their church service and Easter egg hunt. So sweet!

church and Easter egg hunt with Patrick and EB

Easter love!

I realized (once home) that I hadn't gotten any pictures of EB on this trip. (I know, I know...what's wrong with you, Mom?) I tried to get one at the Easter service but Patrick refused to take one with his mom (just like another kiddo that I know fairly well). So, I'm stealing this cute one that EB snapped with Patrick at Arlington Cemetery (for our blog). Aren't they ornery adorable?

this captures Patrick's personality so well

We said our goodbyes to EB and Patrick on Sunday evening and are already excited to come back to spend many more fun trips like this in the future, hopefully bringing Daddy next time. So very glad to have reconnected with my long lost friend at a high school reunion just 3 years ago. Who knew we'd hit it off so well again? Good people like this don't come around too often. I am very grateful and hope you can make these connections as you go through life as well. You definitely have a good start so far.

But the surprises weren't over because on Monday, our other VA framily, the Williams crew (part of them anyway), came to see us for the day. It was an unexpected and impromptu treat to spend time together. Glad they made the drive!

KK, Laurel, and you all crammed into the hotel shuttle

after seeing the Air and Space Museum, we
had lunch on the National Mall 

chilling in the hotel room where we thought we were
going to go swimming, but the pool was closed
(cue sad trombone)

so we headed to Georgetown for cupcakes
(yep, that's the line!)

and an hour and a half later, we got in!

all that cupcake-y goodness!! mmmm...

yum!

The next morning we headed home again. Glad to be back at our house and see Daddy and our many fur-babies. Once there we found that the Easter Bunny had left you some surprises at our house as well. Wow! He was busy! He even brought you your own set of golf clubs! What?!

surprise!

excited kid (and Daddy too)!

we took it easy on our first afternoon home, where you
painted this masterpiece on our sunny porch

you were so excited to share your art with Audrey Ayi

I love your relationship 

As for the rest of your spring break, you had ice skating camp for a couple days...and loved it!

check you out! 

did a little hiking in our woods

and I totally got you with an April Fools prank

I had also signed you up for a children's theatre workshop, but you weren't having it. The theatre was really big, dimly lit, and intimidating so it didn't work this time. Maybe next time?

But once we left, you ran errands with me all day and were in a fantastic mood. We had fun together just doing regular old stuff. Like I am always reminded...it's the simple things in life.

over the weekend we also had dinner to celebrate Kenzie's birthday and this was the selfie we group texted Uncle Forge
(since he hates group texts so much...haha!)

here was one of our errands, Lowes...
you were rockin' out!

and groceries at Marc's, measuring the beer
with the tape measurer you had brought
everywhere that day

the next day you tested out your new
golf clubs with Daddy and Courtney 

And by far the craziest thing we did was bring home a new family member, Golden Graham the kitty. We actually had gone to Petsmart to find something to stop Pipsqueak from scratching up our new couch and ended up being chosen by this sweetie (below). He was rescued from a hoarding situation just a few days prior where he had been living with 42 other cats and his owner was being evicted. In spite of his challenging start, he is so loving and has immediately taken to you. It was an impulsive decision but so far so good. He is doing really well and hopefully he and Pip can become friends.

this is the look that sucked us in,
he loves belly rubs

see what I mean? he loves you already! 

So, now that spring has sprung and break is officially over, time to get back to the grind of school and work routines. Adjustments are tough but at least we have another furry friend to cuddle up with on those rough days ahead.

Love,
Mama