Miscellaneous Life

Here are some things we've been doing lately.

Painting at the new easel. So fun. So many masterpieces.

Fixing our hair. Sweet sweet Aunt Lyndi took Mer out for ice cream the other day, and then to Walgreens where she allowed Mer to pick a treat. After talking Mer out of baby bottles and bibs for baby sister (very sweet, but might have been a disappointment eventually), Meredith picked out a giant, tacky (Lyndi said so too) heart shaped plastic purse full of thousands of hair ties of all varieties. She loves them. She moves them from bag to bag, sorts them, dumps them out, picks them up, and puts as many as possible in her hair and announces that she's ready to go. See below.

Dancing, and dressing up. We wear our princess dress or our ballerina clothes every day. On this day, she also wanted to wear her dad's hat (that we all agree makes ANY wearer look kind of nuts) and her backpack. Homeless ballerina? Oh - and she's holding the hat that she wanted me to wear.

Cooking. With authority. She helps me almost everytime I cook, and the below pic was the first time she was willing to stir something on the hot stove. When you're learning how to cook, the most important things to remember are these: ALWAYS wait for directions, and ALWAYS ask permission before you do anything. Progress on both fronts is slow. In her defense, she modified our healthy muffin recipe the other day while I answered the phone, and darned if they weren't the best ever...it was something to do with baking powder.

Inauguration Day, 2009

Meredith, never one to miss drama, was a big fan of the inauguration of President Obama. She ran from the other room when she heard his arrival announced, shouting "Robama is coming!" She then stood by the television and presented him, getting into the fanfare of the occasion.


She raised both arms in the air as Aretha Franklin sang and she danced (and made me dance with her) as Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill played so beautifully. She won't remember this. And as one of the TV announcers pointed out, the day won't have the same significance for her as it does for her elders. That's because, Lord willing, it will seem completely unsurprising to her that a black man was inaugurated when she was three.

I am almost completely a-political, having a mind that God shaped so that it sees 47 sides to every issue and a temperament that seeks agreement among all 47 sides. So on this occasion, I can easily stand completely outside of politics, and just be grateful that God's name was invoked at this inauguration, that our President spoke of humility and virtue, and that one of God's peacemakers, Dr. King, has been honored by the fulfillment of a noble dream.

Obligatory Rock Band Post

So if you read many family blogs, I'm betting you've seen some folks of all ages making fools of themselves while playing Rock Band. I see no reason to excuse my own family from this humiliation. And to be fair, I think I've got at least one ridiculous picture of myself. Also, I offer my sincere apologies for not getting a picture of Chris covering the Clash. Honestly, I figured he'd do that one about 100 times. I was wrong, and I'm bummed.

I find some solace in the fact that I captured Uncle Dan Dan taking his guitar skills REALLY seriously.


To be fair, all legitimate rock stars take themselves seriously. See below.

The drumming was fairly pathetic. Not so serious at all. Aunt Erin actually has mad skills on the drums, but it ain't in the Lareau genes.

But that's okay. When you rock, it's more about the attitude than the skills. And we got that.

Friendly

Mer: Mom, get outta here. I'm havin' a party.
Mom: That's not so nice.
Mer: Mom, help me spread out this tablecloth.
Mom: But you just told me to leave.
Mer: I know, but I'm friendly now, so come on.

Dizz Knee Land

Anybody else remember DaDa? I liked that band.

Now that I've dated myself, I'll show you the Disney Land pics. It was a great time. I'd only been to Disney World in the past, and enjoyed the smaller park. I mostly enjoyed the fact that Meredith could have left the park happy after the first thing we did, which was take our picture with Mickey. (I'd like to thank Chris for squatting down a bit, so that I look not only large in girth, but also like an Amazon woman. Fabulous.)

She would also have been content to leave, and perhaps die happy, after going on "It's a Small World."

The carousel had to be ridden twice.

The princess dress had to be worn as soon as it was purchased and on a daily basis thereafter (thanks Marme--no, seriously). I like this one: The Princess on the Garbage Can. Note glass slippers.


The Penn State marching band came through at one point. Pretty cool.

The holiday parade at the park was nothing short of amazing. I gotta say, $70 for a day at the park ain't cheap, but you do see incredible things. Like spinning munchkin elves.

Tired, happy Lareau family. We were there about 12 hours. Who needs naps? Gangster Mer Mer gives a shout out to all.

Getting There is Half the Fun? Whatever. We Prefer the Fun.

Our trip out to Cali was disastrous. What should have been about 5 hours of traveling turned into about 15, with a 6 hour layover in Dallas. Thank the dear Lord (and I mean that with all sincerity), we found a Samsung Travel Center (basically a Starbucks w/o the coffee) that had some random cots in the corner. Chris "Macgyver-ed" (his term) a sleeping tent for Mer and she slept for 3 hours. I'm not crazy about the fact that we still use the paci every now and again, but the fact is that it's a miracle sedative for my child and allowed her to get through the day with more grace than her parents. And as my aunt says, she won't take it to college.

Anyway, after arriving in SoCal, all was well.

It's always good to visit Poo, and Meredith truly loves her great grandmother. They shared lots of Christmas Eve secrets.

Auntie Beth coordinated the Santa welcoming committee. As you can see, Mer was pretty excited about writing a letter to Santa. Unfortunately she also used this opportunity to put in her first request EVER for a train and track. Santa didn't get the news in time.

Christmas morning, and Mer was thrilled to see that Santa had not only eaten his snacks, but had also pilfered some chocolate from the jar. Christmas could have ended right here, and she would have been fine with that.

But there was more. And though Santa wasn't aware of her heretofore unmentioned longing for a train, he did think she might like a kitchen. And boy was he right. In this picture, Mer displays her Sugg side (I'm so incredibly excited that I'll stand incredibly still and not let on that I'm about to explode from the excitement). It was also endearing that before really getting excited about the kitchen, she asked if it was for her. Considering she was the only one in the house that was under 14, we thought it was obvious. But we're not three.

And in this picture, Mer displays her Lareau side...while wearing someone's hairpiece.

Good times. And more to come.

Back from Cali

Talk to yall soon...