MOMA

According to the disgruntled artist in the foreground, MOMA has mis-attrbuted this piece to Jean-Michelle Basquiat, when the true artist is Zack-Cole Malootian. I'm sure a correction will be made immediately.

His father's child

Zack and I were walking last night. He pointed out plants in someone's yard and said "You have those leaves, Mama!" 

"Yes, those are hosta." 

"Pasta plants? That's awesome!"

Walking

This boy did an awesome job of walking Georgia last night (though I think she went easy on him). She can be a challenge (Rabbit! Dog for whom a grudge is held!) but he kept control. And he and I got a nice chat out of it, too.

Doodles at Dewey.

About a month ago, on that super hot weekend in April, Kelly and I took Zack, Arianna, and Jo Jo to Doodles at Dewey. It was a great weekend to go to the beach. Z and A are great together--they keep an eye on each other and don't get into trouble, so it was relaxing for me, too.

May the Fourth be With You

This was taken May 4th, Star Wars Day.

I'm so glad I made this blanket. It seems to make a really good cape.

Mother's Day

This boy and I went out for ice cream on Mother's Day. The shop has shelves fill of books and games. When we sat down, he asked if we could play Connect Four when we were finished with our ice cream. What a great time we had! He was a good winner and a good loser. We laughed when the gate let loose midway through a game and we had to start all over. We had a great afternoon.

Cicada time

These guys are all over, having come out four years early. Zack and I think it's pretty cool, though I've got to brush them off my tires every morning.

We have...

..A cyclist! Something clicked yesterday and he's riding away, and quite proud of it!

Oink

(Z was sitting on the toilet before his shower)

Z: Mama, did Kelly say she had a pig bladder?

Me: No, she has a pig valve in her heart.

Z: (thinking)

Z: Well, that explains why she snorts when she laughs!

Birthday party

We had Zack's birthday party today. Everyone had a great time. What a great group of kids! I think that's what makes me happiest---that Zack had found such great friends and had such a good time with them.

9

So this boy turned 9 today (!). He's creative, smart (and turning into a smart ass. Can't imagine where that could be coming from. 🤔), funny, comfortable in his own skin, a good friend, and an all-around cool kid. (OK, maybe I'm biased.). This year he's really doing well in school, reading at a 4th grade level and he just got moved up to a higher spelling level. He's enjoying reading on his own a lot more, too. He's got a lot of friends and gets along with almost everyone. I'm so glad he's in our life. May he have many more years of happiness.

Lemonade

I love our neighborhood--today we had an impromptu lemonade stand/sword fight.

1.21.17

We marched. It was amazing.

The cuteness

Proud parenting moment

Came home after Zack was in bed and found this on the counter. Totally made my day!

(Back story: I've been exposing him to/indoctrinating him with Looney Toons for the past year-ish, so it makes me happy AND proud).

Cleaned up

We're at Cessie's son's wedding. Zack cleans up pretty well, me thinks.

Halloween Club

Halloween Club at KAH. The boy is in the red sweatshirt. They're working on plans for their haunted house.

Interesting...

Zack was coloring in this coloring book at a restaurant last weekend. This page has the faces already drawn on. I was intrigued by how he colored in the one on the bottom. He said it was a devil. I think it resembles a certain presidential candidate.

This...

... Was my view when I woke up this morning.

Love

There is so much that I love about this picture.

I love that these three are such good friends.
That we live in a neighborhood with such good kids.
That they like to hang out at our house.
That they are old enough and responsible enough to flag down the ice cream truck by themselves, and that they used teamwork to do it.
That I just happened to look out the window to see them sitting on the curb like this.
That we live in a neighborhood where they can sit on a curb like this without needing to worry.

I love these moments that make my heart feel full, that let me think that maybe everything will be OK.