From Coast to Coast - June 2010

Summer is here and we’re loving it! All the kids’ activities ended so all we’re doing this summer is pool time. Okay, that’s a lie. Carlita is doing t-ball at the Y, and Karl is serving as her team’s coach. This is his first time coaching, which is exciting but exhausting trying to coach 4-5 years old kids. We have signed up for a Y membership and have been going to the pool almost everyday. With our membership we’re able to go to any Y in the state so we’re going to different pools. Carlita is getting really comfortable with the water and I hope she will be able to project herself through the water by the end of this summer. Luke just loves the water, and I’m calling it that he’ll learn to swim faster than Carlita.

As for school, Carlita is still going to Pre-K. She has lots of friends and have been going to lots of birthday parties. It’s a bit sad that most of her friends will move on up to kindergarten but she will stay in Pre-K due to the placement of her birthday being after the Aug. 31st cut-off. But we think it will be okay. She needs some more time to grow her confidence among her peers. She’s so different with her ‘college-age’ friends compared to her little friends. She has become an excellent tree climber, and loves rock walls. As for Luke, he is staying home with the parents. Karl has adjusted his work schedule so that he takes care of Luke in the morning and works in the afternoon/evening. He naps so well, usually 3-5 hours, in the afternoon so I’m able to get a lot of work done. Luke is learning so much. He still loves his balls but now he wants to take rides outside. He loves his hat and has a particular fondness for shoes. Just loves shoes!! His language is increasing. He can say “No”, “Shoes”, “Ball”, “Mama”, “Dada”, “Titi”. He loves his sister and follows everything she does. They are very playful with each other, which is good and bad. Knowing our kids we’ll end up at the ER sooner than later.

The big event for our family has been the traveling to the West coast. Karl flew out one weekend (plus some days) to see his brother graduate from high school. He returned, and then in three days I flew out to San Diego for the NACURH conference (a national student leadership conference). I took ten student leaders to attend this high-energy, cheerful, and themed-filled event. We went to the San Diego Zoo, the Torrey Pines State Park, and the La Jolla/Pacific Beaches. We walked all over the place, which resulted in over 26 miles charted. Wow!

For Karl and I, we experienced single parenthood and gained great appreciation to those single parents out there. We tried pool trips, blueberry picking, and playground visits but nothing replaces having that other parent, not just to help out but to be there for those memorable moments and to support you. Thank you to all those single parents who put their life on hold and somehow balance and manage a crazy life with kids. Now lets see what July brings the Luka family.

The Achievement of goals- May 2010

2010 has been a major year of events for the family. First, starting in January I started intensely writing my dissertation. I had spent the past year designing my research project, implementing it, collecting the data, and analyzing the information collected. January to March was seen as the writing period. I spent ENDLESS hours at the library, at my BBF Samanta’s house, and in my bedroom writing and writing and writing over 150 pages of material. Draft one was sent out; feedback collected; draft two was sent out, returned with more feedback; draft 3 finally yielded my advisor to call upon my committee to schedule a defense date. As April 21, 2010 came, I took more time off to prep for the presentation. And then the day came. I was up early, and out of the house prior to kids waking up. As I walked to my defense, the nervousness and anxiety that has been building up seemed to fade away. As I crossed a street, I seemed to cross into a peaceful entity. My head rose higher, and my heart was light. My defense was at 9am and by 10:30am I had effectively defended my EPP and became Dr. Lulu. I was excited but not as much as my BBF, Samanta. By lunchtime I was crying over some tapas and sangria. The Ed.D. experience had been cumulating up to this important day. Here I was, Dr. Lulu. And on May 28th I walked on stage to receive my doctorate hood from my advisor and the university president. My family and friends were there to see it all. My name was correctly pronounced for the first time at a graduation ceremony, and my smile never left my face for that day. The following week I packed away all my research into a box to be held on for three years (as prescribed by the Human Subjects Board). It’s been surreal to believe this journey is over. No more classes, no more writing (for now), no more questioning if I could get this done. It WAS done!!! Dr. Lulu is now in the house.

For the rest of the family we had some fun events. Carlita took dance lessons this year and her first dance recital was held in early May. Tiki room (the dance she performed) was so cute and adorable. I’m not sure if dance is for her yet but we’ll keep it going. She also did gymnastics, and swim lessons. Very busy little girl. For Luke he also had gymnastics. He was mostly interested in the pit and the trampoline. He did get stronger and eventually was able to hold on to a bar by himself. The kids really enjoy being active and getting to do things.

The big event for the kids was when on 5/18 after church choral (yes Carlita did that too), Carlita picked up Luke and dropped him on grass but there was a hidden tree stump. Next thing I knew there was blood all over and I was trying to clean it up in the bathroom. Carlita was crying and I was freaking out. We rushed to Urgent Care (Carlita was taken to Ray St. to attend a floor meeting with one of my RAs). Poor Luke! He was strapped down to get five stitches into his forehead. Poor Mom as she watched her son in pain but nothing she could do. Poor Dad who didn’t make it. After it was all done, Luke was a bit back to himself and passed out right when we got home. I was thankful for the help of Samanta, and the church moms who came to my rescue. A week later the stitches were out with no drama, and the scar can barely be seen under Luke’s curly curls. I swear that I will be in the ER once a week with these kids. Carlita last year with her arm, and so far this year Luke for his forehead. Hopefully not that much.

The next big event that occurred for our family was the running at the Delaware Running Festival. Karl ran the marathon and I ran the half-marathon. We’ve been training all semester, and the event came. It was an amazing experience that we both are still recovering from. Our feet reflect the scars of the training and the race. Karl finished in 4 hours, and I within two hours. It really is an amazing feat to run 26.2 miles but humans are not meant to run that far. Now we’ll focus back to small 5k races. Actually Karl placed second in his age group at the Blue Hen 5k in early June. I did pretty well too, with a 27 min. finishing time. The summer, though, will be focused on family moments. No races but family trips and events. It is summer and a wonderful time for our memory making.

Welcome to our blog

It’s been a long time since the Luka family blog has been updated. At the last place we left off, Luke just turned one. Since then there’s been a lot of happenings in the Luka family. As such a new blog has been created to chronicle our adventures. Enjoy our stories