"I go to Ah-ma's house first to get my money"

NJ is sporting his newly patched jeans. He hasn't worn any in a while because every one of them had huge holes in them. It took me a while to patch all of them. I finally had to ask my mom to help me sew the rest because it was taking too long and he had no jeans to wear. I'm not sure how long these will last. We'll see.

Play do time... I've given up on asking him over and over not to mix the colors. The worst is the black and white. Ugh. Oh well. 

Some family time together. We went for a treat and got some dessert together. We didn't realize it would be so big, it's about the size of his face. The place was so loud we were shouting at each other. Still time well spent together. Baba had a meeting and I had a long, leisurely lunch with my cousin. It was really nice to eat, shop, and talk. 

NJ: "When I drive, Baba will drive and I will drive. And I will use my money to go get gas. I go to Ah-ma's house first to get my money, get my wallet there and go to the gas station to buy gas. And buy two drinks, one for you (Baba) and one for you (Mama) and a snack and that's it."

We were cracking up at him talking about going to grandma's to get his wallet to fill up the car. And sweet that he'd think of buying drinks for us. I'm thinking the snack is for himself, but who really knows. I love hearing his thought out plans for the most random things. 

"Are we staying here?"

NJ all ready to go with his lunch box full of cars. 

I missed you, Uncle Dan and Auntie Becca! 

I asked NJ to smile for a photo and he put his arm around Baba insisting the photo be with him. How sweet! 

How cute these two are snuggled up. NJ always asks if we're staying at their place since he's stayed there before. He kept saying, "Why when I stay here and I woke up and you're here too?" and "Why the other day I stay here?" and "Can we stay here again?" Not tonight. 

A little bike ride after school. 

NJ had blue ink or marker on his nose and we couldn't quite get an explanation from him. But I did see a couple other kids with similar marks on their nose when I picked him up, that's of some comfort I suppose. 

"Be Careful, Mama."

Waiting for Ah-gong to find his keys...

Helping to drive.

Engine went out and the loud beeping from it was too much. 

Waiting for us to tie up the boat. NJ was so concerned about my safety getting in and out of the boat and walking around on the dock. He kept saying, "Be careful, Mama." And "Don't fall, not too close." 

Concentrating on his handful of trail mix. 

All I could think about all day was wanting to sleep. I even fell asleep at Dad's while NJ watched tv. He convinced Ah-gong to find him PBS Kids channel to watch. We took a ride, I took a nap, we ate lunch, and we hung out for a while until heading home. Even though we spent quite a bit of the day there, I felt like it wasn't a proper visit since I was more like a zombie the while time. I hate feeling so tired!

Mmm, nuggets and chick-fil-a sauce! After a second nap, (I mean me, not NJ) we went out to grab dinner. We got to quickly see Auntie Susan who dropped by to support NJ's school fund raising night. (Thank you!) I like that they do these kinds of fund raisers instead of selling stuff. This is much more fun. 

NJ played in the play area for a bit and he kept coming out to get a drink. Each time he was sweatier and sweatier. He had to get a bath for his sweatiness and since there were a lot of kids in and out of there. 

Baba, the self proclaimed "best toe nail cutter".

International Day

I signed up to volunteer at NJ's school for International Day. I got the painting station. Ha, ha, they don't even know how much that fit me compared to all the other stations there. I just had to tape a new piece of paper for each child, write their name on it, and put it to dry when they were done. It was really funny that almost everyone of them spelled their name when I asked them, "What's your name?" Thank goodness most of them were totally normal like, Gabriel, Brandon, Maria, Tyler, Marcus, Emma, Gabby... I was so worried about getting them all wrong. It didn't help that every one of them seemed to say (or spell) their name under their breath. Usually the other kids would help me out by all shouting out that kid's name when they saw me asking again. 

Hmm, of coarse it's mine that doesn't stick to the paper!

Lots of great food from different cultures. I signed NJ up for onion pancakes and Taiwanese sausages from Taiwan. Baba suggested lumpia for Philippines, but that was taken. So Baba dropped NJ off at school while I cooked and brought the food in time for the event and to volunteer. It was nice to see who he plays with, the way he enjoys himself, follows directions, and talk to other parents and the teachers. I didn't realize that his teachers didn't even know he was adopted until today. I suppose there was no reason to mention it so far. It's not obvious so I forget. It was great to volunteer and be more involved. Just as I was thinking to myself, why haven't I volunteered for their events before? Then five minutes later a kid coughed in my face all snotty and I thought, oh that's why! So glad I did, but I was so wiped out for the rest of the day. 

NJ wanted to ride his bikes today when we got home. I'm glad he could get some more energy out. 

He was asking what was for dessert. I told him he needed to eat a really good dinner (eat nicely and finish his food) for me to even consider giving any dessert. So it worked. He helped with making some rice crispies. I put some of it in a square pan, but did something fun for the rest of it. I asked him if he wanted some rice crispy balls and I got an enthusiastic, "Yes!" Ha, ha, I thought he'd like the hands on part. His were a little more misshapen, but it's the tasty fun that counted.

"So the fireman can fight with it."

NJ was so sweet to pick some flowers for us, they were so pretty. 

I sat with NJ as he built his firetruck again. In the place of where the ax goes he put Yoda's lightsaber. I asked him why he put it there and he tells me, "So the fireman can fight with it." Hmm, interesting and creative.