in denial

I am rather in denial that i have to get up by 6:30 tomorrow morning....it's going to be harsh. But, here's a picture....This is a picture out the wall of 8 windows that face north toward downtown. I love the greenspace! and I like the trains, too (the black tanker cars are behind a bunch of trees). It is amazing how much sound the windows keep out and how much we just get used to the little bit of noise. I like trains regardless, so having 10 go by every day rarely bothers me. I love being able to see so much green of creation in the midst of the city (hey, it's not much, I know, but for the city it's nice unless you can afford the 30th floor and a view of lake Michigan!)

some pictures and a funny

Mariah is off on another learning excursion today. Her class is at the Brookfield Zoo for about 5 hours today. Last week they went to the Shedd Aquarium and also took in a play of Aesop's fables. A couple weeks ago they went to the Museum of Science and Industry to find and learn about simple machines. And somehow or other she got to see a pumpkin dropped from 3 stories up -- fun! Other things that she keeps busy with at school are pictured below.


All of the kids get to ride bicycles in an unfinished space at school. What an excellent way to learn about simple machines!

The class birds Lemon Lime and Bluebell. They also recently got a fish and are hopefully going to get 21 pets that eat their garbage (food scraps)....they have guessed goats, pigs, etc.... :)

One day when we were at school we heard some singing coming from Mariah's classroom...."we're making marmalade, we're making marmalade....."so we had to peak in and sure enough, that's exactly what they were doing. They had been reading about Padington Bear who loves marmalade so they tried it -- here Mariah is adding adding a bit of water to the pot.Finally it's done! I don't think they quite knew what to think about it, but they all tried it.

A few days ago at lunch, Allison and I got talking about mouths and she was wondering how come her and Mariah and Rachel all had tiny mouths. I just said it was because her head was tiny. So I asked her what she thought it would be like to have a big mought (the adult in me figured that maybe she would think it would look funny to have a big mouth in a tiny head) but her more pressing thought was "If I had a big mouth, I would be able to eat a whole chip!" Ahh....the way the brain works...

Grant Park photos....

Election night was interesting here in Chicago. We live about a mile from Grant Park, where the Obama party was, so I walked up there with Mike's dad and snapped a few pictures just to be there for the historic event. We couldn't even get close to the stage area and couldn't even see the crowds of people that were on TV (only the lines of people waiting to get in there), but were around when the electoral count went over the 270 mark (much honking, shouting, cheering, etc.)

It has been interesting to see people's reactions to the results. For some people it is the best thing in the world, for others, it is the worst. And these are all Christian folk. Interesting. In a way it's kind of like denominations, eh? We have to choose sides and we all like to think that we're right (or at least more right than the other person), but if we are right then who is wrong? The other people? Nope, just all of us:) Who are we to think that we know what is right....that is something only God can know (although I know that I like to think that I am right, too:).

I will have to admit that I did not vote in the election, but I think that I am glad that Obama won. For most of my growing up years, in my circles it was just a given that if you were a Christian, you voted republican because of the abortion issue. Growing up like that makes it feel weird to cross the party lines, but I agree with Obama about more things than I agree with McCain. Not that it matters now, but it will be an interesting four years -- I hope one that addresses the host of environmental issues that exist. Time will tell, but I'm sure that the world isn't going to come to an end just because Obama is in office:) me in Grant Park...I was sleepy!

Lines of people with tickets in Grant Park....I think that I even saw a Calvin alum in line!

Lights from the stage -- I couldn't get very close :( because I had no ticket....