Sorry for the horrifying image, but sometimes you wake up in the morning and you feel like Voldemort looks. Today marks the last two weeks of freedom I have before school begins and I am thrown into another stressful year of events. While I am aware of the relative luck I possess in having three months of freetime (not including grad school classes, continuing ed credits, and general curriculum upkeep...) like many students at this time of year, it is with a certain bittersweet taste in my mouth that I return to "work". My summer was wonderful, though, getting to know my baby boy, playing countless games of hide and seek with Ethan, visiting the Brainerd Lakes area for fun in the sun, and working on various house projects. The summer of 2007 may be coming to a close, but the feeling of accomplishment will continue into the autumn.
Looking again at the above picture, it occurred to me that as scary as it is, I never actually feel as ugly as Voldemort looks. Life is pretty wonderful, really. To all of you who toil with the increasingly difficult job of balancing family, marriage, and career good luck and if you need a reminder that life could be worse, simply remember the image above.---C.L
Emma, Ethan and Julia Lu
I think the blogosphere needs to see how adorable my niece Julia is.
While Chris likes to blog about Harry Potter and post terrifying pictures of Voldemort on our blog, I choose to post precious pictures of my non-horrifying children. Elliot was having a very smiley day and I captured some of his cuteness. He got this onesie from Auntie Sara and pooped all over it later in the day. I guess it was comfortable.
Ethan is a little ham. Here he is in his robe and cowboy hat. What a smile this kid has. Summer is almost over and he will soon start pre-school, swimming lessons, gymnastics and church choir. I will miss seeing this smile as often as I get to now. But I will not miss how stir crazy he is without activities to keep him busy!
I don't want to be one of those moms who talks non-stop about how perfect her child is. But, I really must say that Elliot is close to perfect. These are his two modes: smiling or asleep. He has had his moments of crabbiness, bouts of crying, but overall, he is a dream baby. I'm pretty sure he was switched in the hospital and our baby is actually in the home of some nice couple, driving them crazy. It's okay though, I love this guy and am so glad he came into the world. -RL
Here is Ethan with his friend Boston. Boston is my friend Tiffany's 4 year old. They are very alike and would be best friends like their moms if only Boston didn't live in Illinois. Hopefully, they can move closer one of these days and the playdates will never end!
Ethan blowing out the candles. In 30 seconds, this cupcake is devoured.
Chris and I had our 5 year wedding anniversary on July 26. Our wedding is known to most as Schlienfest, as it was a festival to join the Schmeck and the Lien. It was a hot, humid, mosquito- infested wedding and I would use the same words to describe our marriage. -RL
