6 years old

***

We were on a long drive and my 6 yr old son was playing with his kiddie meal toy.. it was the Sandman, a villain in Spiderman. It had a button at the back that, when pressed, would shoot its big fist from its arm. My son was playing with it earnestly, complete with sound effects and shooting the big fist out and plugging it in again. He was playing with it for about 10 minutes and I was just watching. It came to a point when he miscalculated the direction of the fist and it shot out away from him and onto the floor. Since he was strapped in a car seat with his seatbelt, he was not able to reach it.

He didn't ask me to do anything, but I calmly told him that I'm strapped in my seatbelt, too, so I will not be able to get the toy from the floor. He had a disappointed look on his face and said, "I know." And then he repeated, "I know." And then he tried to give me a little smile to reassure me that it's ok.

It was the combination of disappointment and the little smile that struck me. My son is growing up. Just a few months ago he would have whined and pouted until I pick up his toy for him. But this time he didn't. Showing a little bit of maturity... at the ripe old age of 6 years.

***

A good day -- friday the 13th

Today was a very productive day.

First, I cooked pancit in preparation for tomorrow. Here's how it looks. Hopefully it will be enough for everyone, ha ha....

Then, I baked two batches of Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. A friend graciously shared her recipe with me... My daughter tried it and she loved it! Haven't tried it myself, but from the look on her face in this pic, I'm betting it will go fast :)

Then I baked a batch of Mint Chocolate Chip biscotti.. This is mine mwahahaha... :) From past experience, it is always I who would finish this. Need to remember to pace myself.

And then last but not least we were able to plant our 10 bare root trees from arborday.org. Not sure which trees were which -- they did not come with labels, so I had to guess what trees are the same because we planted two per hole. I think they were giving away crabtrees and dogwoods with each membership. But dang was that hard or what!!!! My husband did the digging, I did the planting.

We also planted roses -- two called pink peace (pink flowers from the label) and one called angel face (lavender flowers from the label). And then two bushes of crape myrtle, which had already bloomed last year with lavender flowers.. cross my fingers, hoping they did not die nyahaha...

I wanted to remember this day -- friday the 13th, as the day we planted those trees. I wonder how many years before those trees grow to be as tall as our house...