the way kids talk

This evening we were watching a bit of the Bear's game (Chicago football team) and Mariah started asking lots of questions and making observations. Sometimes her choices of words amuses me. She was talking about how hard it was to get the ball to different places and sounding very grown-up and matter-of-fact....it went something like this "It is hard to do that with all of those people dashing around..." Indeed. They do kind of dash around the football field. :)

Probably over a year ago she had another funny that still amuses me. A couple of times her feet had fallen asleep and she would describe them as feeling fizzy. Makes sense. But then one time we were driving and her feet must have REALLY been asleep because from the backseat I hear "Mommy.....I think that my feet are speaking a different language.....I can't understand them."

a nifty picture

In his spare time, Mike does a ton of stuff with speakers -- building the boxes for them, designing the crossovers (internal parts) and putting it all together. This is a nifty picture that he took of his most recent project. If you want the whole scoop on this project (and a small glimpse into what he knows) check out this site which is a description of the speakers he is working on now....I hear bits and pieces about his various speaker projects, but it was cool for me to read about all that he knows.

winter pictures

Allison and Rachels favorite large muscle indoor winter activity....on the bench, over the back of the couch, onto the floor, onto the bench, over the back of the couch, .....

Rachel climbing.

Rachel pretending the Wii remote is a telephone.

Allison and Rachel playing in the first snow of the season.

Allison and Rachel playing the piano.

During resting time one day (which is also when I work on my thesis), Mariah spent about a half hour arranging animals and then proceeded to take 21 pictures of them at various angles. This is merely one of them.....

An Allison funny. Today we read a book on the couch and then both got up to get the camera and sat back down to upload the pictures. Allison said "my spot on the couch is warm....That's because I have a hot butt.....Mommy, do you have a hot butt, too?" :-D

Thanksgiving and birthday

It's a good thing that I get pictures from other people, because otherwise there would seldom be pictures posted here:) Enjoy....
Mariah and Allison have been into playing doggie lately complete with leashes and everything. Here they are playing with their cousin Meili.

Playing with Mariah's birthday present, Mexican Train!

Our obsession over vacation....we did 2 one thousand piece puzzles in 2 days at Mike's parents' house. It's amazing how easy the kids' 100 or even 300 piece puzzles seem now!

Celebrating Mariah and Meili's birthdays :)

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....