Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea?

I usually try to be pretty careful about what Owen eats. You know - I aim for a good variety of fresh veggies and fruits, organic produce and dairy, and no preservatives or artificial flavors/colors. Like my mother before me, I even have Owen eating wheat bread instead of that squishy white stuff.

But for some reason, show me a neon-bright, sugar-packed, slightly-strange confection of Sponge Bob Square Pants fame and well, all bets (and good nutrition) are off. I guess as the great philosopher Michael Stipe once sang "Perfect is a fault and fault lines change".*



And now, just because it's a Wednesday and I'm in a good (goofy?) mood, some "bonus" cute pics of Owen, Cearra, and Emma, Owen's girlfriend from across the street ...





*Extra points to whomever can name - by comment - the band and song. Who knows, perhaps one day we'll have a contest where those credits will come in handy. And perhaps not, but I'll still be impressed with the winner!

Update: Erin Connors, longtime friend of the blog (and of Jodi), has correctly identified the band as R.E.M and will receive extra credit! Congratulations Erin! However, there are still points up for grabs as she has actually named the album rather than the single ... who knows the name of the song???

Update 2: Erin wins it all! She has correctly identified the band, song title and album, and has been awarded 100,000 credits for ... um, er, ... future use. Congratulations Erin!

Mission: Mechem

We chose to accept it, so ...

- Cearra pulls in Friday after a grueling 7 hour car ride - check
- Saturday morning head to Rocky Gap State Park for the annual Mechem Reunion, arriving only 8 minutes past the official starting time (a new family best) - check
- Happily greet family, including the "Minnesota Maniacs" (hi Judi!!) - check
- Consume lots of yummy food, partake in fun and games, successfully unload puce-colored lizard shoes from last year (sorry Pam and Ralph!), and chill out during brief rainstorm - check
- Enjoy every minute with family - double check

Mission accomplished.

Catfish Love Hot Dogs

My Dad Went to the Philippines ...

and all he got me* was this HYSTERICAL pen toy thing whose head pops off!






*OK, he brought me some other things too - but this is my fav!

Puppy's Big Day

This is puppy.


Today, puppy went for a walk ...


climbed the jungle gym ...


rode in the big swing ...


and went down the slide.


Whew.

Puppy is tired.

Missing Cee-Cee (Part II)

Once Cee-Cee left, Owen and I knew we had to stay busy to fend off our sadness. So we ventured to our local Humane Society (and Beamer's former residence) to drop off a donation of old towels and food bowls, scouted out a new playground that we are going to try out tomorrow, then ducked into the supermarket for more chocolate soy milk.

After lunch at home we headed outside to enjoy this glorious weather - bubbles, car rides and laughter.




Then back inside to make a calendar so we can count down the days until C comes home again!



As you can see from Owen's arms, he's come a long way since the days when he came running to me in tears to wipe the stamp off his hand after Tumblekicks!

Not Goodbye, Just See You Later

We're a little (well, no, more like a lot) sad today ... Cearra left to drive to Virginia Beach to stay with her mom for the rest of the summer. Lucky for us, she'll be back for the Mechem family reunion in a few weeks, then her and Owen's birthday party, then my family vacation.

But boy, we are going to miss her until then.