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Laub is German for Foliage

Music

Below is my Pandora list of non distracting wuss rock that I listen to when working on the computer. Have any suggestion? 

• (Nothing But) Flowers by Talking Heads 
• (Nothing But) Flowers (Live) by Guster 
• 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins 
• All Apologies by Nirvana 
• All My Love by Led Zeppelin 
• American Pie by Don McLean 
• Angie by The Rolling Stones 
• Are The Good Times Really Over by Merle Haggard 
• Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve 
• Candle On The Water - From The Move "Pete's Dragon" by Helen Reddy 
• Cat's In The Cradle by Harry Chapin 
• Crossfire by Brandon Flowers 
• Daydream Believer by The Monkees 
• Do You Realize?? by The Flaming Lips 
• Dust In The Wind by Kansas 
• Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann 
• Everyday Is Like Sunday by Morrissey 
• Fade Into You by Mazzy Star 
• Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead 
• Forever Young by Alphaville 
• Girlfriend In A Coma by The Smiths 
• Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John 
• Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright 
• Harvest Moon by Neil Young 
• Heart Of Gold by Johnny Cash 
• I Honestly Love You by Olivia Newton-John 
• I Want The World To Stop by Belle & Sebastian 
• I've Never Been To Me by Charlene 
• Jane Says by Jane's Addiction 
• Just The Two Of Us by Will Smith 
• Kids by MGMT 
• Kiss An Angel Good Morning by Charley Pride 
• Landslide by Fleetwood Mac 
• Last Kiss by Pearl Jam 
• Let My Love Open The Door by Sondre Lerche 
• Life During Wartime (Live 1984) by Talking Heads 
• More Than A Feeling by Boston 
• New Slang by The Shins 
• No Woman no Cry by Bob Marley
• One by Creed 
• Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People 
• Return To Innocence by Enigma 
• Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd 
• Steady, As She Goes by The Raconteurs 
• Surrender by Cheap Trick 
• The Freshmen by Jay Brannan 
• The Freshmen by The Verve Pipe 
• The Man Who Sold The World by David Bowie 
• The Promise by When In Rome 
• The Scientist by Coldplay 
• The Suburbs by Arcade Fire 
• Theologians by Wilco 
• Unknown Legend by Neil Young 
• Wasted Hours by Arcade Fire 
• We Used To Wait by Arcade Fire 
• Welcome Home by Radical Face 
• What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong 
• Wild World by Cat Stevens 
• Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd 
• Young Folks by Peter Bjorn And John

4rth Birthday

James Helping Alison open presents

Alison getting lots of help

Career: Architecture

Eating

One of the many terrible terrible parts about children is feeding them. Every day! Often more than once!

Philip Speaks

2005, James (Birthday). Wall paper in process of being removed

2004 @ our first home

Jan 2008. I guess he likes it

Ali. Jan 2009

Playing with the camera options at Smash Burger. 

Laub Sports

This year James struggled, like a good portion of the kids, with paying attention to baseball. It is sort of a slow game, if you have problems concentrating.

We bought one of those things you throw baseballs against and it bounces the balls back at you, and a hitting tee. I practiced off and on, but I don't want to push it too much, and I'm sort of lazy.

So far James has done:

• 1 season of baseball.
• 2 intro to basketball
• and 1 rock climbing into type course. 
• 2 or 3 learn to swim courses

I have posted all the photos from my sports career, but I know I will update this page with many more photos as the kids do more sports...

James at bat. He bats both left and right handed. Weird. 

Crossing home plate

After the game the players give high-five to the kids, and let the kids run the bases. 

Getting James excited about baseball by taking him to a Chicago Kane County Cougars game. 

Cotton breathes, you see, it's much softer. Imagine playing games and your team is five degrees cooler than the other team. Don't you think that would be an advantage? They're cooler, they're more comfortable...they're happier - they're gonna play better.

Me with a questionable hitting stance. Coach pitch. 

I'm Right of Center. Front row. This was either Lincoln or Lakeview Park

As I remember I was a leading scorer on the freshman A-team, but did
not make the team my Sophemore year. Man that sucked. 

Wrastling. Both my brothers came 2nd in State,but won many other tournaments.
My brother Steve was cutting a lot of weight, and had nothing left when  he almost won the championship.
I was alright, but only wrestled in Elementry and Jr. High

The Chicago Art Institute

I spent a good portion of Friday and Saturday on the computer. And so around 3pm I was bored, it was cold outside, and I wanted to do something...

It had been a few years sense we went to the Art museum. Megan's neck was hurting and so she didn't want to go. The kids aren't as awful when they aren't together... We sort of take turns going someplace special, and so I took our budding little artist Ali with me.

I figured 3 years old is a little young to remember any of the artist names, but she could remember seeing herself in front of the art, and she could learn it that way. So instead of reading many of the plaques, and wandering aimlessly, we sought out good art for Alison to pose in front of.

I'm not sure if she had a great time, but for me, it was a lot better than going to the mall.

Parking was $28. It was free on WeekDAYs until the end of February, not WeekENDS. However we got there for the last hours, so that it was only $9 for me, and Alison was free. And then we spent $9 on 2 hot dogs, fries and a drink at the underground walkway that went all the way from Macy's to Michigan Avenue. Who knew?

Next time I should take the train...

Click on picture to enlarge.

Coffin and Mummy of Paankhenamun, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22 (c. 945–715 B.C.)
Cartonnage, gold leaf, pigment; human remains
Ancient Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife gave rise to the complex art and science of mummification. This vividly painted Mummy Case was the innermost of a series of shells that housed the body of a deceased person. The hieroglyphic inscriptions and painted scenes identify this mummy as Paankhenamun, a doorkeeper in the temple of the god Amun. The central scene shows the hawk-headed god Horus presenting Paankhenamun to Osiris, ruler of the afterlife.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/64339

Knob-Handled Dish
Greek, from Apulia, Italy
The Baltimore Painter ?
330/320 B.C.
Earthenware, red-figure technique
Scene: Persephone in a chariot led by Hemes followed by Artemis; above, Hera, Aphrodite, and Eros
For the ancient Greeks, the myth of Persephone accounted for the changing of the seasons. When Persephone was abducted by Hades, king of the underworld, her mother Demeter, the goddess of fertility, cursed the world with barren winter. This scene shows Persephone's triumphant return, bringing the season of spring.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/102081

Sarcophagus Panel Showing the Abduction of Persephone
Roman
C. A.D. 190-200
Marble

Vincent  Van Gogh Dutch, 1853-1890
Self-Portrait,
1887
Oil on artist's board, mounted on cradled panel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-portraits_by_Vincent_van_Gogh

Chicago Pointillism A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sunday_Afternoon_on_the_Island_of_La_Grande_Jatte

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
On the Terrace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Auguste_Renoir

Paris Street; Rainy Day is a large 1877 oil painting by the French artist Gustave Caillebotte. The piece depicts the Place de Dublin, an intersection near the Gare Saint-Lazare, a railroad station in north Paris. One of Caillebotte's best known works, it debuted at the Third Impressionist Exhibition of 1877. Art Institute curator Gloria Groom described the piece as "the great picture of urban life in the late 19th century." Caillebotte's interest in photography is evident in the painting. The figures in the foreground appear slightly "out of focus", those in the mid-distance (the carriage and the pedestrians in the middle of the intersection) have sharp edges, and then the background becomes progressively indistinct.

Millennium Park Skating Rink.

Millennium Park Skating Rink.
Its hard to hold the camera still and take a picture of yourself

Pedway--downtown pedestrian walkway system
http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/cdot/Pedwaymap_2008.pdf

James and Alison infront of the Art Institute. Aug 2010. 

We have also taken James a couple of times, but I can't find those photos right now.

The Chicago Morton arboretum

July 2009 with Megan's Mom 

The Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe, Illinois are a great place to get family photos. Just let the kids walk around, take photos, and save all the money of going to a studio. 

Its fun taking pictures in the same places, and seeing the kids get older.

Al

September 23rd 2009

When my parents drove out, after Philip was Born.

Phil's tough guy look

Mike and Megan trips to Chicago

April 2005

Tony and Tina's Wedding, November 2006

2007 Highland games. Very HOT that day. 

2008 at the Shedd Aquarium with the baby beluga

When KC came to visit, I invited myself along for the trip to the city.
We ended up walking, with 3 kids, all the way from the train station, to Millenium Park, and to
The Hancock Tower. We walked back to Navy Pear and caught a water taxi to the train station. 

2006 Nextfest

Tastes of Chicago

James on our death march from union station to the Hancock building

Year 2 with Aly

Alison turning 2

Trips to Yellowstone: 1978 and 2011

I've been to Yellowstone a couple times as a kid, once with Just Megan, and now once with our 3 kids.

I really like seeing the wild life. I remember the bison surrounding our car when I was little, seeing Bald Eagles, Elk with Megan.

Megan also went to Yellowstone as a kid, but she wouldn't get out of the car because of the smell!

Yellowstone, 1978ish. Me getting pushed around Yellowstone 
like Royalty

Summer 2011. Wild Bison! James getting carried around like royalty. 

Old Faithful, Summer 2011. Sunsets really are better in the west, when
surrounded by wild elements. 

A cool bike we saw in Yellowstone

Megan and I will cruse the country on bikes like this