Reading is Fun....damental!!

Recently, Ethan has become interested in reading chapter books. Hallelujah!! I've been awaiting the day that he would want to listen to books that I loved as a kid and new books that are fun for me to read too. I love a good dinosaur/Diego/Star Wars book, but bedtime is just so much more fun now! I'm starting this on-going entry, not so much for anyone else, but for me and him to keep track of the books we've read together and the dates we finish them.

1. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (10/09)
2. The Tale of Despereaux (12/27/09)
3. Because of Winn Dixie (1/09)
4. The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1/09)
5. The Tiger Rising (2/09)
6. The Underneath (3/26/09)
7. Choose Your Adventure: Star Wars (3/27/09)
8. Stuart Little (3/29/09)
9. Charlotte's Web (4/09)
10. Trumpet of the Swan (4/09)
11. I Spent My Summer Vacation Kidnapped by Aliens (5/09)
12. Little House in the Big Woods (5/09)
13. The Long Winter (6/09)
14. Little House on the Prairie (6/20/09)
15. The Borrowers (6/21/09)
16. On the Banks of Plum Creek (6/30/09)
17. By the Shores of Silver Lake (7/13/09)
18. Little Town on the Prairie (7/09)
19. These Happy Golden Years (8/09)
20. The First Four Years (9/7/09)
21. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (10/09)
22. Fantastic Mr. Fox (12/09)
23. My Side of the Mountain (2/10)
24. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (3/20/10)
25. Junie B. Jones and that Meanie Jim's Birthday (3/20/10)
26. Junie B. Jones and the Stinky Smelly Bus (3/20/10)
27. Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business (3/20/10)
28. Junie B., First Grader Boss of Lunch (3/27/10)
29. Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine (3/28/10)
30. Junie B. Jones has a Monster Under her Bed (4/2/10)
31. Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake (4/2/10)
32. The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear (did not finish as of 5/1/12!)
33. The Strange Case of Orgami Yoda (5/11)
34. Fake Mustache (5/18/12)
35. Where the Red Fern Grows (6/19/12, with a sobbing mother!)
36. Horton Halfpott (7/8/12)
37. Gregor the Overlander (current book)

2009: The year of the Schlien...and probably Obama.

Happy New Year one and all! I haven't got my blog on since way back in '08 so I thought I should represent. 2008 was an amazing year for me in many ways. I got plenty of family time going to Emma's basketball games and choir concerts, reading volumes of books with Ethan, and teaching Elliot the fine art of tickling. All in all, I was able to see a lot of the world with trips to North Carolina, Scotland, Florida and Northeastern Minnesota. Professionally, I started teaching ninth grade which is a treat because I learned that ninth graders still care about learning. Who knew? For 2009 I hope to spend more time travelling with (and without) my children and visiting family and friends around the country. Recently, I discovered Facebook. Apparently, one can be friends with thousands of people just by clicking a button. Nice, huh? Another goal, besides dominating Facebook, is to finish my Masters in Liberal Arts and spend more time biking. In the meantime, though I'll keep shoveling my driveway and pray that God realizes that he's overblessed us with snow. Seriously, enough is enough, Dude! I hope that all is well in your worlds and look forward to reading all of the comments you leave. -C.L.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I cannot remember a colder winter than this one. I cannot remember as much snow falling ever. Today was 16 below. I want to go back to Florida so much that I get almost teary eyed about it. Remind me, what about this place was so appealing to our ancestors?

At least we can build tunnels and sled and play outside--well, when it warms up to zero, we can. Plus, I'm going to teach this kid how to skate one of these fine days. I may need an Uncle Derek and a Boppa Dale to supervise, dust off your skates!! -RL

Magic Kingdom by Night

Isn't this beautiful? In the words of Liz Lemon, "I want to go to there." -RL

I'm Goin' to Disney World

So, our vacation was great! We left from Minneapolis very early. Ethan took his first flight in stride and Elliot was totally well behaved and didn't annoy any travelers! We stayed with my parents at the Villages, which is a place for retired folk that have rockin' times every night and golf cart around every day. My kind of people!

We went to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios with Ethan and Emma, while my mom watched Elliot. Then we brought Elliot with to Epcot to give Grammy a day off. My brother Derek, his wife Melissa and little Julia went to Hollywood Studios the same day so we got to meet up with them for a bit. Julia was very preoccupied trying to vie for the attention of Handy Manny. Every park day was busy and a lot of walking, but the Es are troopers and we all had so much fun at each park. Here are just a few pics of our vacation.
At each park, there are lines for meeting the characters. Very long lines that take hours of precious park time. Thankfully, meeting all the characters was not on any of our agendas. But, when we saw Sorcerer Mickey standing around with no line, we had to get a picture.

I couldn't resist buying both Es some Mickey ears. I still have mine from when I was 10. I hope they treasure them and the memories of their first Disney World adventure.

This was a big deal for Ethan. An actual speeder that he could sit on. He went on the Star Tours ride twice and it ended up being one of his favorites. He also got to witness Jedi Training and an appearance by Darth Vader. We tried to talk him into doing the Jedi Training, but he resisted in his stubborn Ethan way. Ethan and Emma each got to pick out one souvenir for the trip. Emma picked out a cute Minnie t-shirt and Ethan got a Mickey that is dressed as a Jedi--he named it Mickey Wan Kenobi.

Overall, it was an absolutely fantastic vacation. I got to do awesome things with my awesome family and see my awesome parents too. Now I just have to figure out how to retire at age 30 so I can golf cart around Florida without a care in the world. -RL

I'm Goin' to DisneyWorld: the Elliot Edition

I had to zoom in on his face, it's so priceless. He was in total bliss.

Here are Elliot's 2 favorite parts of Florida. Top picture is him playing in the fountains of Epcot. So cute. People flocked around to watch him because he was laughing so hard. It was one of my top 5 vacation moments. The next picture is something Elliot did daily and loved--riding around in the golf cart with Boppa Dale and Grammy. He did not like riding with me and Chris for some reason and tried to jettison himself. Very scary. But, with the GParent's, he absolutely loved it. -RL