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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Happy 3rd Birthday to Us!



Dear readers,

Today is our 3rd birthday, and we'd like to celebrate what we've accomplished in our "toddler" years. Three years ago, our blog was "born" on a cold Groundhog's Day at a Panera in Clintonville. As we sit in a Panera again (this time in Hilliard), 3 years later, we realize we've come much farther than just across town. Today, we'd like to celebrate some of our toddler milestones.

We learned to walk.
  • We had to learn the ins and outs of blogger and blogger dashboard, and were initially overwhelmed by the technological demands of blogging :) .
  • Bill conquered iMovie.
  • Karen has been living in the world of PLP this year.
We learned to talk.
  • We started with a simple introductory post. (Karen) (Bill)
  • Bill hosted a Grand Discussion with unintentional results.
  • Karen shared her Core Beliefs
  • We both have developed our own "voices" over the three years - we have friends that joke that they like to guess which one of us is writing by reading the first sentence or two of the post. :)
  • We mostly blog about books we love, but we have used our blog as a vehicle to share about other things as well (family, life events, items of interest in our classroom/library).
We learned to share and play with others.
  • We started by following 8 - 10 other blogs on our blogroll. Now, we have over 64 blogs listed on our roll and 14 websites we follow. And that doesn't even take into account what lives on our Google Readers!
  • We went to KidLitCon in 2009, and met some of our blogging friends and mentors face to face.
  • Being members of the Twitter community has changed our lives forever. It has linked us to more great thinking and great blogs. It continues to help us grow exponentially.
  • We are proud members of the Central Ohio blogging community.
  • We are also proud members of the Central Kidlitosphere.
  • We contribute on occasion to Poetry Friday and Nonfiction Monday (both of which we would like to do more often).
  • We try to do our small part in the Kidlitosphere with our Looking for Newbery posts each year.
  • Karen had an opportunity to present at NCTE 2009 about how blogging has made her a better reading and writing teacher.
  • We have both been panelists for the Cybils awards.
We learned to say “thank you”.
  • We’ll be forever grateful to MaryLee of A Year of Reading for taking the time on a cold February day to meet with us and help us get Literate Lives off the ground.
  • We are also thankful for all the other mentor blogs that we read voraciously before we began this endeavor. Thank you for paving the way for us, and welcoming us when we joined the kidlitosphere.
  • We are SO grateful to everyone who either stops by regularly, or visits on occasion. It is so nice to know that we have an audience with whom we connect.
  • We are also grateful to all the authors who visit and comment on our blog – without your books, our blog would not exist. It will always be a thrill to see an author’s name in our comments section.

Our toddler years have been a lot of fun here at Literate Lives, and we’ve learned so much along the way. Thanks for being part of our growing years.

Gratefully,
Bill and Karen

19 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday to both of you!!! What can I say? We just love you guys and your fantastic blog. We are all growing and learning just beside you. THanks for sharing your knowledge with all of us! Salud! and to many, many more!

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  2. Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! You both are an inspiration to me. My blog is still "a baby". I think I should be learning to walk soon. I still have to hold onto furniture as I move around the room. Looking forward to another great year of Literate Lives.

    Cathy

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  3. Stella, Cathy, and Karen - thanks so much for the birthday wishes. I love that all 3 of you are part of the Central Ohio group that is so near and dear to our hearts. We support one another in so many ways. Thanks!

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  4. Happy Birthday from Lincoln School! Your blogs have added so much to our students' reading community, and to my own education in the world of children's literature. Thanks for making me a better reading teacher.

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  5. Happy 3rd birthday! Yours is a blog I'm always anxious to read. Thank you!

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  6. Travis and Bill's sister :),
    Thanks for stopping by today and the birthday wishes. You have both played a huge part in our blogging as well.

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  7. Happy Birthday to you and Literate Lives! You unknownly "mentored" me as started my blog last February and your posts have grown my classroom library! Wishing you many more years of sharing your knowledge and passions for books and reading!

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  8. Barbara - you are most definitely one of the authors we mention in the post! It has been so fun to have our lives intersect in the ways they have after I reviewed Greetings From Nowhere. We love you right back!

    Susan - You're right. We had no idea we were being mentors, and how fun is it that now you and I have this other fun piece going on because of a great book like Out of My Mind?

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  9. Thanks to all who stopped by and wished us a Happy Birthday! It doesn't seem possible that we have been at this for 3 years, but it's true and like Pete the Cat says. "It's all good!"

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  10. Happy Birthday! Your posts have added much to my library (and helped our stock in Amazon!). Congratulations!! You also gave me the nudge I needed to start blogging. I'm looking forward to many, many, more years of reading Literate Lives.

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  11. Happy birthday to you,
    Happy birthday to you,
    Happy birthday Bill and Karen,
    Happy birthday to you!
    Think my favorite is your Newbery series every year!
    Carol

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  12. Happy Birthday friends!! I feel blessed to learn and grow with you as bloggers!

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  13. Well I have been out of it with no electricity for 3 days but happy birthday to wonderful friends who I am lucky enough to have and continue to teach with. Thanks for your encouragement for my blog too!!!

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  14. Happy Birthday dear friends and wonderful blog! I remember just like yesterday the day you were born (the blog, not the friends, although there is that hospital visit after first child's birth that I do have in common with the one of you...but I digress...)

    It's been fun watching you grow and learn and find your own unique place in the blogosphere/kidlitosphere!

    Keep writing! Keep reading! Keep learning and sharing!

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  15. So here is a belated Happy Birthday (or just early Happy Valentine)
    Thanks for doing this!

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  16. Happy Birthday! We're looking forward to many more years. :-) Keep up the great work!

    -Christina S.
    Kabongo.com Team Member

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