Finally Updating...

Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated this blog... Here is a quick rundown of what we have been up to lately.

Landis will be starting kindergarten next year. He has had a wonderful first experience with school at Space Coast Early Intervention Center, and is really looking forward to kindergarten. He has been having lots of fun doing gymnastics, and this summer we plan to do lots of swimming! He has gotten so tall recently, and really looks older all the sudden - maybe it's the two teeth he recently lost? He recently had a scary injury - he fell while jumping on his bed, and needed 6 staples in the back of his head. But the staples are out now and he is doing just fine. He still needs reminders to slow down and think before he does dangerous things.

Aaron Scott will also be making a big move in school next year - to middle school! He has had a great 6th grade year, and stays busy with Boy Scouts, cello, church activities and lots of reading when he is not hard at work with his classes. It's hard to believe he is getting so old. It seems like only a few years since I met him for the first time as a cute little preschooler. He's still pretty cute (don't tell him I said that!) He is an extremely active boy, full of energy. He has really enjoyed the outdoor adventuring aspect of Boy Scouts, and takes great joy in hiking, camping and exploring the outdoors. He is such a smart and fun boy, and I feel so lucky to be a part of his life.

Goat is still working at Avidyne, designing flight systems for small planes. He has been fortunate to have some really wonderful co-workers and an amazing boss. Recently, he joined a Crossfit gym, and we have embarked on the Paleo Diet. I'm still a bit ambivalent (I love bread!), but we are both seeing results - weight loss and feeling more energetic and healthier. Goat always has a project or 6 going, and some of his recent projects have been improvements to his boat. We are looking forward to spending time out on the water as the weather gets warmer and enjoying the new stereo system and new (working!) depth finder. He also recently purchased a Hayabusa, a very fast motorcycle. It's pretty snazzy, although it makes me nervous that he felt the need to bypass the limiter that reduced the top speed to 188 miles per hour. Yikes!

I will be graduating from UCF with a BA in History on May 3. I am so relieved to be completing that (long) chapter of my life. I'm not yet certain what I will do next, but I am excited to move forward. This semester, I have been driving to Orlando twice a week, about 1 hour 15 minutes each way. It is exhausting! I know some people have a daily commute that long or longer, but I don't know how they do it. I have also been volunteering with Rolling Readers, a local organization that works with public schools to promote literacy, and the Florida Historical Society. This February, I participated in the Month of Letters Challenge and wrote 44 letters to family and friends. If anyone would like to send or receive a letter, let me know! Once I make it through these last few crazy weeks of class, I am looking forward to catching up with the beloved family and friends I have been neglecting in the end of semester rush, and being able to spend more time with my husband and boys.

We have been incredibly blessed to have the support of many wonderful people, family and friends, as we learn and grow and move through new seasons of life. Thank you all. We love you so much!!

A Conversation With Landis

Landis started laughing across the living room from me, so I asked him, "Landis, what are you giggling about?"

"Monni, I just had the funniest thought in my mind. Do you want me to tell it to you?"

"Yes, please tell me."

"I just thought, what if I ate candy for breakfast? That is the funniest thought I ever had!"

Landis quote of the day: "Monni, you know what would be a really not fun pillow? If they made pillows out of working fans. Instead of going to sleep, you would die horribly!"

Chalk writing

Landis loves being outdoors, and lately, he has been very interested in writing. So we have been going outside most days to write and draw pictures with his sidewalk chalk! Today, Landis wanted to write the names of his two youngest uncles, Josh and Caleb. He still has a little bit of trouble with the orientation of his letters - he wrote his J and S backwards - but he is getting better and better at writing!

P.S. Caleb, now you have to update your blog!

I have really weird brothers.

Flip!

What am I going to do with my little wild thing?

Landis Bakes Banana Bread

Landis got to spend some time with his Uncle Paul this morning while I was volunteering. When I returned home, I asked him whether he had been good for Paul, and he claimed "Monni, I had the best behavior of all time!"

Peter and the Dragons

By Landis Ludwig

Peter lives with his Monni and his sister. And he finds the eggs.

His Monni tells him to go get some wood. He goes to the trees and cuts some wood down from lots of trees. When he’s coming home, he sees a big Monni Dragon and a Daddy dragon and says, “Dragons, can we please live together?” And the dragons say yes, so he brings them home with him and his Monni says “Whoa!” And he tells her these dragons want to live with us together.

Then, the dragons want to play something with Peter, and Peter says “What do you want to play with me?” and they say Whoopsie-Bumpsie, but really hide-and-seek. In story 3, the dragons want to play something with him.

Then, in Chapter 4, the dragon makes so many eggs and they all pop out and the eggs crack all at one time. Then, the little tiny baby dragons play with each other. Peter plays hide and seek with them. First he got to hide, then every dragon hides. The dragons like playing hide-and-seek. They had never played it ever.

A pterodactyl flies right over their house and everybody in the house says “look!” so everybody in the house gets on the dragons and holds on tight and Peter gets the pterodactyl and everything in the house that closes and shuts, like the windows, they close them and they let the pterodactyl fly around their house. I just told you story 5, the one where they bring the pterodactyl and get it and let it fly around their house. The pterodactyl is also big and strong. The pterodactyl could land down on the floor of their house and it could get one of the people. Then the pterodactyl they find could go down and scwoop with his right hand and pick up Peter with only one wing. He was that big!

The End

Landis just ran up and told me he wanted some Monni snuggles. I told him that I would snuggle him any time.

He thought about it for a minute and then said, "I want snuggles every all day and every all night!"