Neighborly Support

One of Meron's favorite friends just so happens to be our next door neighbor. Today - when it was entirely too hot to be outside playing - she asked if Allison could come over to play inside.


Allison showed up on our front porch SO EXCITED to show us the picture she had drawn for Laura to take on her trip (she leaves Tuesday to go fight for our girl)...

She also had Play-Doh and some big girl panties for her soon-to-be-neighbor...


Allison - we love your heart and are so thankful for your support! Can't wait for you to meet Mebrate!

A Kitty and a Dog

Lucky Me

Looking forward to spending a fun weekend with Laura and this cutie...







Yeah - I know... I am one blessed dude...

We're On A Rock!

We were blessed to have some family roll in to town this past weekend and spend a few days with us. We always have a blast with these guys no matter what we do.

This time we decided to go spend a night and a couple days at a state park here called Stone Mountain.


We started out on a boat. Poor Meron had to wear the suffocating life vest.


Then we Sky Ride-ed our way to the top of the mountain where we snapped pictures like some photomaniacs!


Like this...


and this...


Everything just looks cooler with that background!


Here's a sure-fire way to know we're family with these fools - this pose just happened on it's own...


then it sorta morphed into this... look at Ansley - as if she's saying "Seriously - who ARE these people?"


But she couldn't hold out very long!


Then it was off to the pool for a MUCH needed dip. Seriously... it was HOT!!!


After that we headed to the mountain for what turned out to be a really cool laser show...


... that a certain somebody didn't quite make it through! That's okay - she had been a trooper for the whole day and lucky for us we were staying right across the street - a 5 minute walk away and Meron was snoozing in her bed...


The next day the big kids played on a Sky Hike...


... and Aunt Stacy took Meron to the Great Barn for some bouncy, slidey, ball throwing fun.


We hooked back up at the Great Barn so the big kids (who are really little kids) could have some more fun!


We watched a Yogi Bear 4-D adventure movie that put some smiles on the faces...


... and then we hopped aboard the train for a loop around the mountain.


I ain't gonna lie - I think we ALL dozed off a bit! I know these three did!


Next up - Putt Putt! Meron's first time behind a club. She had a blast!


While some of us could NOT get along with the ball.


After I dominated on the putt-putt greens - we hit an old timey plantation to see what life was like before facebook, blogs, smart phones and Justin Bieber.


The petting zoo area was a hit with Meron and Will!


And Meron insisted on a shot with this extra-creepy Scare-A-Daddy before we left...

Afterwards - we all piled in the van - exhuasted but happy! - and headed home.

Thanks Mathii for a seriously fun time right here in our own backyard!

Fit For A... Princess!

Meron and I were goofing around tonight - just playing while Laura was hooking up Meron's dinner. All of a sudden Meron comes waltzing in wearing this get-up and declares:

"I had to go put my dinner clothes on."

Nice! I absolutely love that she deemed tonight's meal of a ham and cheese "sammich" and cut up tomatoes "dress up worthy!"


A meal fit for a princess indeed!

You Know She's Jealous

While the rest of us screamed ourselves silly at Six Flags today - Meron and mommy and Aunt Stacy hung out and did swimming lessons, Yogli Mogli and some shopping...

And then - they ran into this guy... and Meron was loving it. Her cousin Ansley (who she absolutely LOVES) - has given her BieberFever. We're trying to innoculate her against this - so far not so good...

When she saw this one - she looked at her Aunt Stacy and said (in reference to Ansley):

"Oh... you KNOW she's jealous!"

We'll keep monitoring her health until this fever is out of her system!

It Was That Kind Of Day

This is the kind of day Meron had - from start to finish.

The smiles says it all...

Meron's Dope Ride...

Meron got a hook up today that set her heart afire and instilled fear in mine... her own set of wheels.


To say she was giddy would be a serious understatement.


Forward. Reverse.


2012 VW Body with Barbie stickers galore...


Thanks James, Stacy, Ansley and Will - your surprise made for one super happy little girl.

Never Say Never

Some of Meron's favorite people in the world rolled in to town tonight... her cousins!

Meron is totally taken with them both and gets giddy around them because Will reminds her of Justin Bieber. Here she is dressing him up in a hoodie to try and recreate the front of his album.

So pumped to be spending some time with family this weekend!

Your Pretty Girl...

Today was one of those days where I didn't see a ton of the Meronator. Laura took her to school and picked her up and when she got home I was busy downstairs working...

After about 10 minutes of them getting home I hear Meron holler from the steps:

"Daddy! Daddy!

[pause]

DADDY!"

I swung out towards the steps and yelled back up there "Yes Meron - what's up?"

Her response:

"Come up here and see your pretty girl!"

She had gone in and changed out of her school clothes and had put on a cool dress. And she was right - she was totally my pretty girl.

I absolutely love that she sees it that way - her as "my girl." Love it.

And - I am 97% sure Laura is asleep behind those glasses.

Come On Already...

Laura left me and Meron at home the other night while she went running - we clearly had too much time on our hands...

International Week

This week is International Week at Meron's school. Love it! We're all about spreading our love for Ethiopia whenever and wherever we can... so we were pumped when Meron got to pull out one of her dresses from Ethiopia to rock to school.

"There she goes again, the dopest Ethiopian..."



Unfortunately they are not allowed to wear sandals to school so our traditional Ethiopian was rocking some very non-traditional shoes with her gear. She still rocked it well though!

When I picked her up after school she was kinda glaring at me and she said:

"We were supposed to have African snacks too and you didn't send any with me."

Fail on my part I guess. I said "I'm sorry baby - are you mad at daddy?"

She smiled big and said:

"Nope. You can just give me African snacks tomorrow."

Whew. Thank God for that... now where do I find African snacks?


Meron - snacks or no snacks - you are one cute little Ethiopian!

And In This Corner...

If life was a boxing match - today was like round 12 of a slug-fest. Seriously.

We woke up to some craptastic news from our government and could do nothing more than hunker down for more wait. More bureaucracy. More hurt. More faith-growing silence.



But then Laura got a surprise delivery at work - these gorgeous flowers that Meron is tending to - along with a note that read:

"Praying Miss Mebrate home. Love You!

Team Alexander"

Can I tell you how insanely blessed we are to have these guys in our corner? Especially in this round - where its getting kinda tough to keep getting back up...

Thank you so much Team Alexander for the prayers, the advice, the inspiration and the encouragement. We love you guys!

Fall Ball

Meron is leaning towards playing some fall tee-ball. Yay!


At the park the other day she wanted to get the feel of the field. She took a few sprints around the outfield...


She learned the difference between right, left, center and the infield.


She ACTED like she was digging it. I hope she does.

Pink cleats, helmets and bats - here we come.

Two Gets A Bad Rap

Seriously... two gets a bad rap. All the way around. As new parents you hear about the "terrible twos" and you kind of panic. You brace yourselves for this season of toddler terror, this year of total defeat and then... it doesn't happen. But I am on to you two... oh I am on to you.

You weren't happy with the label you'd been given - so you outsourced it all to three. Which I now fully believe should be referred to as the:



Today was one of those days where we felt all of the above - probably multiple times each. It included stuff like this...

It was a rare cool (by cool I mean not 97+) day so we decided to hit the park. Meron is climbing, running, sliding, jumping. Not to mention falling, tripping, bumping, etc. So when she decided to cross an obstacle she clearly can't manage by herself I step in to offer some help and am hit with:

"NO! I don't need you! Go over there by mommy! I don't need you!"

I tried about 5 times to get in there to help and each time I was met by the same screams as if we were waterboarding her or pulling her nails out with rusty pliers (which we NEVER do in public...)

So I gave in (my first mistake) and turned to head towards Laura when I heard:

THUMP THUMP-SLAM-THUMPPITY-THUMP-SLAM

"WAHHHH!!!!"

Yep - she bit it. Fell from about 4 feet and bounced off a few playground obstacles.

As a parent - I had to fight the urge to say "See, I told ya! You DO need me!" and give her a little bit of the attitude she has been dishing out to us. Instead, I scooped her up, hugged her and made sure all arms and legs were working.

It was just that kind of day...


She surely didn't DESERVE a special treat tonight but we took her to one of her favorite spots anyways. And we had a nice little chat about GRACE.

4 - you can't come fast enough!