Midget Carrots

This is our first year growing carrots so we have no idea what we're
doing. It looks good from the surface but when you pluck one from the
ground -- it's smaller than Malia's finger. At least that was the size
of our carrots about 3 weeks ago.

Today it was bigger. Maybe a little bigger than Truong's thumb. It's
all relative, right. If I had to guess the growing cycle of regular
sized carrots you see at the store, based on our current experience,
I'd have to say at least a year! So every few weeks I will pluck one
out to see if they are ready. Maybe I bought dwarf carrot seeds or
something.

Malia doesn't care how big it is. As long as it's from our garden,
she'll eat it. Too bad we can't grow a steak bush. Or a chicken vine.
That would be awesome.

- sent from iPhone

All about Taede

Taede loves Malia and Kael. Loves them. He tries to copy them in everything they do. It's kind of cute seeing him chase after Kael and the neighborhood boys as they run around playing whatever violent shoot 'em game boys that age are into. Given a choice, I of course would prefer that he play a different kind of game but what am I going to do? Isolate him from Kael and the boys during parties? Taede knows how to properly hold a lightsaber and shoot a blaster. If said blaster is too big (as most are) he turns it around on his shoulder and carries it like a bazooka.

During the school year while Kael's in school he spends all his time with Malia. 20% of the time they play together. 80% of the time they fight. Taede is the Master at the Snatch and Run method of playing. Malia will set up all her princess stuff set up in the doll house and you can see Taede lurking in the perimeter, waiting for the perfect moment to swoop in, snatch a Princess and then run to me with Malia hot on his trail, shrieking like a demon from hell. It's kind of funny, actually. I feel bad for Malia and will put him a time-out but honestly, it's really hard not to laugh out loud.

Malia loves to dress up and I'm noticing now that he's pretty good at playing dress up too.

The best part? He can put the shoes on himself and click clack his way around the house without slipping. He just has to make sure he doesn't wear Malia's favorite shoes. See how mad she is in the background?

He's also getting pretty good at putting on make-up. Usually, however, it's pretend make-up. Once in a while I'll put chapstick on him myself (he's never done it himself). Malia loves putting on my chapstick - she slathers on a pretty thick coat before I am able to wrestle the little tube away. And I forget how very observant his is. We had dinner at Malia's BFF Audrey's house last night and the girls were playing with a stamp set. Audrey told me that Taede was putting the stamp on his lips. I look over and noticed that he was using the stamper like lipstick, but the cap was on. Since I was washing dishes, I took note of his action and put in a mental sticky note to tell him "No Mouth" when I finished. A split second after that mental note, he took off the cap and...

I busted a gut laughing (more than a little impressed that he correctly swiped the right part of his face). Linda, true to form, freaked out and ran over to him with Baby Ethan on her hip and then ran back to get a wipe to wipe it off. I yelled NO WAIT!! She stopped and thought maybe I wanted to use water, soap, something stronger than a baby wipe.

But no. I just wanted to get a picture before she cleaned him up.

Ironman

First day of summer...

We were supposed to go to Splash (a water park with some friends) but it was overcast and pretty cold. So I cancelled that trip and went to Plan B: going to the park with another family who happened to be free that morning. By 10:15am the four Mai's were running around at the park. Sweating. Yes, sweating, because it got hot. In fact, it got so hot that I found myself trying to stand in the shadow of the playground equipment as I watched over Taede. I started feeling bad about canceling the Splash trip -- especially when Kael would say to me every once in a while, with very pointed looks: "Mom, I'm so hot" and "It's really hot here" and "I wish I could find a way to cool myself down." OK OK! I get it -- you're disappointed. As if my guilt-o-meter wasn't already in the red zone.

Then I get a text from Anne, Kael's friend Ella's mom. The family we were supposed to meet at Splash. Her text read something like: The water's warm, not crowded at all and Ella's really disappointed.

Sheesh.

Given the increasingly hostile environment I was in, I decided that since it was only 11am, and if I could hustle, we could make Splash by 12pm, stay until 1:30 or so and sleep the rest of the afternoon. Let me tell you, when I proposed the change of plans, I have never seen my kids haul ass so quickly to get ready or listen so well.

We get to Splash and play until 1:45pm. Taede fell asleep for about 20 minutes there and about 20 minutes home. Basically just enough to take the edge off and not nap the rest of the afternoon. Ugh.

I had to wake Malia up at 4:30pm otherwise her bedtime would be compromised. She didn't stagger out of bed until close to 5:00pm. Taede was running on fumes. Kael was pretty quiet. Not stupor quiet. Just...quiet.

And then I remembered it was Monday. Monday is Kael's swim squad day (his swim strokes class). Where for 35 minutes he swims back and forth across the pool, getting timed.

DOH!

So we started this morning with a 6:30am "Psst, Mom. Do I have school today?" to a park date to Splash to swim squad.

My little Ironman was asleep before the covers were pulled over his head.

Summer has begun!

Payback's a b!tch.

I took a day off today and left the kids under Truong's complete care. I was home... but I wasn't there. I had a hair appointment at 7:30am and didn't come home until 10:00am. The house was a mess. The kids were doing random things and Truong was (of course) watching golf. I made him turn it off and interact with his children and then went upstairs to clean up as I had to take Kael to a birthday party at 11:00am.

As Kael and I started to leave, I looked over and noticed Truong was watching the younger two kids -- with his eyes closed. I of course yelled him awake and gave him the evil stink eye before we left.

I swear...

A little later right before dinner, he gathered the kids together to pick up their toys. The balls, of course, were scattered to the far corners of the house and under the couch. I could hear Truong swearing away about "damn balls" as he used Kael's lightsaber to fish them out from under the couch.

I had to stifle a giggle or two. I will admit it warmed my heart to see him gather balls. I only wished the kids did a better job of scattering them. I figure a few more days of having him clean up those damn balls and the fate of the ball pit is pretty well sealed.

{rubbing my hands together in anticipation}

Please stop before my head gets too big.

Me: "So are you looking forward to the end of school?"

Kael: "No, not really. I like school."

Me (a little insulted): "But don't you want to spend time with me and your sister and baby brother??"

Kael (thinking about it, seeming to realize what he said): "Oh, yeah. I guess so Mom. I mean, yes, I want to spend time with you."

Pause.

"But if there's a science camp, I'd like to do that too."

So close

Two and a half weeks left of school and I finally get a phone call from school. Various friends have broken a variety of bones over the course of the school year and I would have bet the farm that Kael would have fallen in that group as well. But as we neared June 18, I thought he was in the clear.

OK, OK, I admit this isn't bad when compared to a broken bone. But it felt really weird. Usually Kael's head injuries are firm goose eggs. This felt... squishy. Like soft tofu. I actually called the doctor's office for this one, and was told to watch for dizziness and nausea.

So I got the phone call this morning and I had just finished making Taede's lunch. Darn it! Kael is not a graceful ceature so I'm used to head injuries with him (meaning: I'm not completely alarmed). I asked Mrs. Schaeffer:

"Is he bleeding?"
No.

"Is he conscious?"
Yes.

"Is he lucid?"
Yes.

"OK, he's fine. I'll swing by at 11:45 to check him out when I pick up Malia."

It was 10:00am when they called me. That was bad, right? To make him wait almost 2 hours before checking on him? Poor guy. But let it be known, that if there was a broken bone involved, I swear I would have left right away. Really. I swear it.

Btw, he and his friend AJ apparently ran full throttle into each other and both got knocked on the ass.

Ouch!

-- sent by iPhone