Ready, Ready, Ready, Ready to Run...

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of running the Bridge to Bridge Bash with my husband, Christopher "Marathon Man" Lien, his sister who shall from here on be known as the Bionic Woman and Laura Dandaramo. Laura and I ran the 5 mile race. Chris and Bionic ran the 10 mile. It was very hot and hilly, but really fun. I did not think that I would finish this race and I made that known throughout by complaining about how tired I was. Chris stuck by my side and would not let me give up, which I am very grateful for. He ran much slower than he's used to, so I wouldn't be alone...and they say chivalry is dead! Bionic Woman was a super stud and I'm surprised she didn't just run back to Minneapolis. This rag tag team will meet up again for the Fargo Marathon.....Marathon Man, Dandaramo and Bionic...oh yeah and me, the Complaining Tortoise. -RL

What to do....

Lately Rikki and I have been deluged with adaptations to our schedule. It is nothing new that in September we drastically change our lifestyles from relaxed to crazily hectic. Well, a new kink was thrown in recently that I would like to share with anyone who reads and especially those who comment. Emma is being homeschooled by her mother, Natalie. It is impossibly difficult to describe the level of frustration, anger, and outright shame that we feel right now. For those of you have met Emma, she has many amazing qualities. She is outgoing, bright, creative, mature (probably moreso than a nine year old should be...), and overall pretty wonderful to be around. She also has qualities that are not so amazing, but like any parent I will gloss over them for the moment. Because Emma's parents are d-i-v-o-r-c-e-d all of us have had to share her. This apparently has become a problem for Natalie because rather than find ways to limit her own schedule so that Emma can fit in it (i.e. take fewer grad classes, teach fewer classes, manage her schedule at home...), she has decided that Emma needs to not go to public school anymore so that the mother/daughter pair can perfect their relationship. I have a thousand opinions on this and all of them have been shared openly with Natalie, but she doesn't care. Today, Emma said that she watched part of "Three Amigos" with Natalie before she was picked up by my Mom for a little quality time. Now, nowhere in the broad scope of education does this qualify as educational. Not in anyway. This post is an angry reaction to the systematic softening of my daughter's precious mind. I am angry. I am sad. I want change. I have no power to do anything. I offer my two cents and it is summarily rejected. For those of you in the blogosphere who read this and don't respond, I could really use some words of encouragement, advice, and even prayer for the little girl who lives here three days a week. Thanks. C.L.

Summer Breeze...Makes Me Feel Fine....

This picture does not do our new deck justice! Dennis & Chris built this over the summer. Dennis providing the deck expertise and Chris being his gofer. Dennis did an amazing job and it looks beautiful. It's great for grilling, eating, reading and drinking Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy.

Summer is over. It's official. Chris and I both went back to work on September 4 and haven't seen each other since. I know that our jobs are pretty sweet gigs. I work 8 months and Chris works 9. We have 3 months together in the summer to relax and be together. But that much time with my family makes me miss them even more. It's nice to have a family that you miss and can't wait to be around. These pictures remind me of summer. Ethan playing in our backyard and me kissing Elliot a lot.

Are You Ready for Some Football?!

Grammy brought the boys some official Packer gear. Very official....I'm pretty sure Bret Favre has this onesie on underneath his pads at each game. I think it's regulation. Chris, being the Vikings fan, is proud that Elliot has this look of sheer horror on his face.

This son is very pleased to be in his Packer shirt and has asked to wear it everyday since receiving it. Boppa Dale is the hard core Packer fan in the family. I am a fan of football--not so much the watching, or cheering or paying attention, but basically eating pizza, chips, wings and then reading a book.

Taking a bite out of education...

Tuesday I returned to the wonderful world of secondary educating with a bevy of "helpful" workshops designed to kickstart hundreds of teachers into didactic action! Most workshops are fairly boring as they leave very little time for teachers to work in their classrooms or do collaborative work with each other. Yesterday's workshop was different. Via webcam we were treated to a speech/demonstration of how and why to use Apple technology in our classrooms and schools. The presentation was equal parts "Let's show old teachers that being old is dangerous" and "If you don't adopt this technology, China will rule the world with a giant robot fist". Anyway, it was interesting in that it inspired me to take action with technology in my classroom, even if none of us have been properly trained. Blogging, iPods, facebook, and dozens of other things I had never heard of (folksomony? googlejockeying?) are not tools for education anymore. They are supposedly parts of the ubiquitous environment anyone born after 1982 is easily comfortable within. Regardless, I came away with some killer diller ideas I will try this year using blogs and podcasting. Maybe they'll bomb. Maybe they'll succeed. I have to try something new and lord knows these kids might be left behind otherwise. I wonder what Auntie Mary Lou would say about that.... -C.L.

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Well, for the most part Ethan has been a mama's boy. The tide may be turning after last night. He was snuggling with me on the big chair and then said, "I want to go snuggle with Dad." I said, "How come?" Ethan's priceless reply was, "Because he's the greatest man I've ever seen." I think Chris may get that printed on a t-shirt, coffee mug and ID bracelet and may tatoo it across his back. He is a great dad. -RL

J-Lu From the Block

Emma, Ethan and Julia Lu

I think the blogosphere needs to see how adorable my niece Julia is.
Look at her sweet face, she is the cutest little girl!