Holiday Cheer

Two!

Notice Dexter's shiner? Try to ignore the soundtrack. This is how the little man spent his birthday.

Thankful

Choo Choo Dex

We set up Dex's trains on an old end table. Now he hangs out in the corner all day.

Halloween 2008

Well, I couldn't get Joel to dress up in costume,


but Dex looked pretty cute in his:

Visit to Gram's House...

While McCain vies for the acceptance of Joe Six Pack, Joe Plumber, and Average Joe, I thought it would be a good time to review some recent poll results.

After several weeks of deliberation, these formerly undecided voters have declared their support for Obama:

Joe Schmoe
Joe Blow
Cuppa Joe
Joe Cool
Bazooka Joe
GI Joe
Joe Boxer
Joltin' Joe
Joe Versus the Volcano
Ragtime Cowboy Joe

Leaves

Wow! I haven't posted in, like, a million years! I don't have much to say! Oh the pressure.
What have I been doing instead of blogging?
-Lesson plans
-Budgeting
-Learning about hand food and mouth disease, the hard way
-Perfecting my Sarah Palin impersonation...then growing really tired of Sarah Palin impersonations
-Not watching very many Cubs playoff games
-Correcting some horrendous grammar
-Avoiding familial political discussions like the coward I am...

Here at long last though is a little Dex footage. Enjoy!

Don't be a stranger!

My new medium...

popsicle photography!

Hanging out Labor Day morning

If you have a few minutes you can watch this big boy just hanging out on a weekend morning.

Dear John McCain,

One thing this Catholic girl loves about her country is the separation of Church and State. It was introduced by a wacky guy named Thomas Jefferson. Have you heard of him "Maverick"? Also, thanks for suggesting that you'll help bad teachers find a new line of work. I hope to do the same with bad politicians in November.

I can't even get into "drill baby drill".

Thanks,
Meander

Woo hoo! Another way to waste time on the computer...

Got a face shot of yourself? Then try Yearbook Yourself. This is me circa 1964 and 1966. Sometimes the face doesn't line up right, but sometimes the results are pretty hilarious.



Other times the results are just plain creepy. Dex circa 1956:


And Joel looking fabulous in 1984...

We just got back from a few days on the lake. Dex loved it. I had a lot of time to read, so I am going to do something crazy and spend a minute talking about books. (Well, kind of...they are books, but they're written for teens.)

Several of my teacher friends, a few of my students, and Joel's niece have recently been obsessed with a vampire series written for adolescent young women called Twilight. I started reading them though and am a little perplexed. I don't love them. The stories are really engaging, so I am hooked and will read all four. But it is, as LaSirena put it, "literary crack". (Yes, you read it, but it leaves you pretty unsatisfied.) I have real issues with the main character. I don't understand the things that she does and I think she is a horrible role model for young women. My co-workers argue that we all read VC Andrews and that was certainly pretty messed up. I'll concede that point. Joel says it just sounds like the author stuck to the conventions of gothic storytelling with a fainting heroine and a controlling man. That might be true, but still...I hate to think of dozens of teenage girls reading this and thinking that the relationship between the main characters, Bella and Edward, is the kind of relationship to aspire to. Anyway, that's what I have been reading, and if you haven't heard of the series yet, you will soon. The movie comes out in November.

Squeezing Every bit of fun out of the back yard...

Somewhere there are dancing penguins and fuzzy little kitties weeping little tiny tears because their cuteness crown has been usurped. Dexter and our neighbor, Lenny are just too funny in the yard. They were fighting over Lenny's bicycle helmet until we dug out Dexter's (which he normally won't touch without a battle). They ran around the yard giggling the rest of the evening playing two man Ring Around the Rosey and sharing "posicles". I am definitely one of those moms who thinks that everything my kid does is THE MOST ADORABLE THING EVER! (I promise I won't show off his dirty diapers if you come and visit though.)

Dexter at the Bean...

Wow have we been having a great summer! In my totally biased opinion, Little Man gets cuter every day. Of course, he becomes more independent every day, no longer humoring me with my frequent requests for kisses for Mama. The best reward though is that, once in a while, I surprise him with something he thinks is just so funny or awesome that he gives me a giant hug and a kiss, totally unbidden. Something tells me those will be harder to come by the older he gets.

He looks like an angel...

But he's the devil in disguise.

Mama's Hyundai is not how I roll. Let's see if I can find me a sweet new ride. Seriously I am not creative enough to have staged that. He just climbed up and started flipping through. Later we went to the Museum of Science and Industry.

Science is awesome.

So are his big-kid friends.

Later Dex flipped his hat backwards and started climbing everything that was stationary in the back yard. I had to bribe him with a popsicle to get him to sit still.


But all he did was taunt me.

Three years of Meandering

So on Sunday Meander turned three. I am proud of that although I think this has taken on a much different form than originally planned. Mainly because Dexter wasn't here three years ago. I love everything about that little man, but my creative energy gets pretty drained trying to invent new diversions to keep him from climbing the walls. So for now, this is a place where I post pictures of my son. Hopefully I'll say something witty once in a while. I have enjoyed blogging and getting my family involved too. But right now there is a sink full of dishes and a popsicle calling my name so later y'all.

Summer time and the livin' is easy...

Joey Roundup (minus 2)

And on the plane on our way to Boston.

Daddy's Little Rhythm Section

Dexter and I (and sometimes Joel) have been on a crazy midwest tour. Michigan, Chicago, Central Illinois, and Wisonsin in one week. Here are a few photos...

Doesn't this belong in a catalog?

Well, it's summer and I've been having fun so I haven't posted in a while. Summer gets kind of busy with weddings and trying to spend equal amounts of time with all of your divorced parents. (I love you all :) ). It is fun busy though. This past weekend I got to relive the past a little bit. When I was very little my family and some good friends of ours would go to Sister Lakes in Michigan. We usually rented these tiny cottages on Dewey Lake or we'd stay in a "resort" called Shady Shores. Shady Shores has not changed a bit. The playground equipment, the furniture, the cabins have not been updated since the sixties. Everything was very clean, but very rustic. It was great though. I don't know if my photos will do justice, but it was a beautiful weekend and Little Man had a blast.


Little Man, big trees...




Donovan was a good sport for most of the weekend too.

Make way for goslings

This morning as I was driving down 95th street to take D to daycare, what should I see but a family of geese meandering down the middle of a busy street. (The picture above is a representation, and I think the picture is of ducks. I saw geese.) It kind of made my morning although the pessimist in me worried that it is a sign of some horrible environmental crises and that the family was probably doomed if they didn't find a safer thoroughfare.

Also, since I have declared myself the arbiter or acceptable vernacular, I think people shouldn't say cougar anymore. It has become pretty overused, and I think a bigger problem to the social scene of twentysomethings would be the male equivalent of cougars with their paunches, receding hairlines, and braided belts. Though, I guess, how would I know because I am thirtysomething and rarely ever go out to bars. I'm just sayin'.

And I watched twenty minutes of The Bachelorette on ABC last night... toxic.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Dexter likes to whistle while he works. Or I guess hum. Make sure you have some volume with this one.(PS- this one is a bit longer than usual. 2 minutes!)

When will we have some warm weather? Dexter is ready to shed the Elmo jacket.
Dexter, Martha, and I had fun at the Beverly Memorial Day parade...
Well, at least Dexter did until he sacked out in the wagon.

Dex experiences a new emotion...

irritation.


So the "Lil' Angels" came to daycare last week to put the kids in costume and take their picture. While the picture is pretty cute (albeit extremely cheesy), I don't think Little Man was terribly happy about the whole thing...





What do you think?

The end of the school year has been crazy as usual so I have nothing inspired to say, but I promised my world travelin' mother that I'd post some pics of the kid.