Photo of London at night (this one not dated)
The explanation of this picture, with credits and copyrights can be found at Nasa's list of dated pictures.
Behold, and Observe
The Things That God Has Done
I rejoice in His creativity,
whether it is displayed in a flower, the plumage of a bird,
the clouds in the sky, the unreachable marvels of the universe,
fields of blowing grasses, the infinite musical possibilities,
or the expressive creative abilities He has given us.
I also believe He has an awesome sense of humor,
one that doesn't hurt or destroy, but that reveals and uplifts.
Have you ever wondered what Navy Pier was in Chicago?
We did.
I think it was once the Navy's, but it's now dedicated to our entertainment.
There are various boat rides you can pay for that launch from this side. One is a tall ship with sails, there's one that features speed, and others that give a tour of the Chicago shore line, with or without dining experiences.
Let's not get in too much trouble.....we've just arrived!
(notice neither of them are actually touching it....ha)
These shoes were a gift from Grandparents,
have wheels in the heels
and are perfect for all this concrete in Chicago!
He can sure get around in these...
Yup...it's a long ways up there....
And yes, we did. Christine and I, that is.
Upper right hand corner are those swings on long chains that get spun around.
The blue water has remote control boats.
The merry go round and mini golf are somewhat evident.
But be prepared to pay for each one.
That's Bob in the bright green hat with Josiah in the white shirt.
They're not so great on heights.
We thought we would be fine,
but not even half way up my legs were still in that jelly-like state.
She decided to hold hands.
But neither of us felt like moving forward in our seats....
sheesh...what a couple of ninnies.
Yup...that's what we did.....
Too bad the writing on the sign didn't show up.
I'll show it to you anyhow. It struck us as funny.
A little white sign telling us there was a big red fire hydrant.
(Uh.... maybe you had to be there? sorry.....)
We didn't see a playground anywhere, but somehow managed to play.
The bricks stick out here....Spiderman!
They even provided trees to climb.
At least that what he figured.
This is a greenhouse you can walk through, up high next to the ferris wheel.
I didn't get pictures of it,, but there's a huge indoor exhibit out toward the end of the pier of stained glass window pictures. They're really beautiful. (There was one that was objectionable, so you might want to go ahead of the kids... ha.) There was also a timeline of Chicago related events. Interesting.
This is at the McDonalds.
There is also a Children's Museum, but we didn't go to it.
There's a "fun house" like you might find at a fair,
and these mirrors are outside it.
Parking on the pier in the ramp was $23 for the day. We found out later you can park in town and there's a free Navy Pier shuttle bus that runs a route. It'd be worth looking into ahead of time!
I suspect the place gets busier in the evening, as there was a ballroom and there were drinking establishments that hadn't even opened yet. It looked like there was a variety of movies and shows, too.
So many things in Chicago are near to each other, like the Pier, the aquarium, planetarium, the Hancock Center, (like the Sears tower, not quite as tall, but at the shoreline.)
(view of Navy pier from top of Hancock building)
(shoreline to the north from the Hancock)
Also nearby are the Museum of Natural History, the "Magnificent Mile" of Michigan Avenue (with the American Girl store), and a big new ball stadium. I didn't notice if it was football or baseball. Oh well...I'm sure those of you who care already know! The Museum of Science and Technology is a short drive away, as is the Sears Tower. I'm sure there's lots more that we missed on our 4 day visit.
Check it out ahead of time, as some things, like a museum, might be free on certain days. And we only sent the kids up the skycraper, to save expenses.
NORTH STONINGTON, Conn. (UPI) -- A pilot whose single-engine Cessna crashed in North Stonington, Conn., said investigators told him the crash was caused by mice aboard the plane.
Danny Hall said his 1968 Cessna suffered engine failure and plummeted into the Pawcatuck River Aug. 2. Federal Aviation Administration investigators told him a mouse nest was the cause of the engine trouble, WSFB-TV, Hartford, Conn., reported Wednesday.
Hall, 42, said the investigation found mice had built a nest in the plane that was sucked along with its occupants into the carburetor after he activated a device designed to prevent icing.
The pilot, who suffered only minor injuries from the crash, said there would have been no way to detect the mice and their nest prior to takeoff without opening up the plane completely for an inspection of its innards.
We had a really huge mechanic's bill once because mice had gotten up into the engine area of my son's car and chewed their way through all kinds of stuff. This seemed to have happened practically overnight, as he was driving it regularly. That time of year is coming up again...when they start looking for shelter.
So, what do we do?????
Go see Mary on Fridays at Canada Girl for more Show N Tells.
Uh. Bob just left town with his flash drive in his pocket. It has most of our trip pictures on it. BUT DON'T DISMAY! I have the last day still on my camera...
(What were those old jokes about going to people's houses and getting stuck looking at family slide shows of their trips? Are any of you old enough to remember those?)
I think this is a much better system, don't you? You don't know who looked and who couldn't care less. And you don't get stuck having to look when you'd rather be doing something else.
Anyhow...I love this shot of Josiah at the Adler Planetarium, even though you can hardly see him.
I thought some of you might like to try this with your kids!
We're studying astronomy this year (Apologia) in a co op, so really saw a lot here, but it really didn't make for interesting photos. Lucky you, eh?
This was leading up to our 4D movie experience at Shedd Aquarium. It was on The Shallow Seas, which we had just seen at Six Flags in 2D, due to one of their many glitches. It was good, so we were wondering what the 4D was about, until we saw all the paraphernalia attached to our seats.
Sheesh.....we were splashed, spit on, squirted in the face, poked in the back, rumbled in our seats, made to feel we were being electrified, (but the tiny bubbles all over were fun.)
Actually, the only "problems" were the unappreciated full powered watergun in the face that I decided to put out of commission with my foot, and the air squirter under our seats that whiplashed the back of our legs if we were unlucky.
We had this "thing" going right from the beginning of our trip, where anytime there was the slightest irritation or setback, someone would say, "This is the best vacation ever!" We had a lot of opportunity for fun with that! It kept us laughing all through the trip....
Like with our 3 day stay at this hotel where Josiah couldn't wait to get into the pool. He didn't even want to eat at this fancy Rainforest Cafe or anything for wanting to swim.
We went down to see it, and the pool couldn't have been any bigger than our bedroom, with a whirlpool the size of a dining room table. I was so afraid for his disappointment.
As we silently scooted single file around the edge to all have a seat in the wider area at the end, I could see him trying to be really brave. That's when I noticed the sign on the wall saying we could put 41 people into that little pool. We got to laughing so hard at the image of all those people crammed into that little pool trying to have fun that somehow he got totally over his disappointment. That had to have been from the Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for that one.
Anyhow. Back at the aquarium, these little wormy fish were interesting.
When a fish came by they scooted back in real short.
I was hoping to see what they would do if food came by.
No such luck.
Of course this was really awesome to see.
How can one not believe in God when seeing all this stuff??
Personally, I thought the rainforest was a little creepy, especially after seeing this animal planet show at the hotel called Eaten Alive (I was the only one in the room, thank goodness....) It made me really glad Christine's trip to Honduras was already over with and she had done it with me being totally oblivious to all the little things that could take up residence in her body. Ick.
Can you see what he's wanting her to look at?
(This is a little "dress" she found on the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue. She's 18, and still loves to play dress up. She still has to find the right stuff to go under it, but this was what she had along with her on the trip.)
This is where they had a lot of fun.
They could scroll these pictures and see everything that was in this aquarium, and then look for it.
Of course, this being the best vacation ever, we "just missed" the last show with the ocean mammals. But we got to go underground and watch them swimming. There were also exhibits of penquins, otters, frogs, and lizards, including a Komodo dragon. Did you know they bring down water buffalo? They also hunt in groups, and can smell food miles away like a vulture. Scary creatures. So glad we don't have to think about those around here.
All done and headed home. Got home at midnight.....
My feet were killing me. Too much concrete in Chicago!
OK...this is a shot Josiah took of Tidbits out on the porch....
and she's creeping around scared.
Of what, you might ask? Look who came up close for a visit and a closer look at her!
But I'm afraid I'm going to have to draw the line at this.
I've only been letting them out of their pen during the day for a week now.
They're great at bug control!
But this is NOT going to become their afternoon nap roost if I can help it.
(no names yet....but only because I can't tell the hens apart yet!)
Uh ohhhh. Scary birds again....
Maybe I can pounce up there and scare them this time!
Uhh... Hello?? Wake up and look at me~
This isn't working
I don't think they care how many of us there are....thanks anyhow.
(Did you notice our new little friend?)
This is Mitzie.
Her owner had to move to Arizona without her. It's taken her two months to decide to come out of Josiah's room and join the rest of the family. These are our first pictures of her. For those of you who remember Isabelle, we had to give her away to someone who could make her an outside cat in a safe environment. Finding that special someone was quite an answer to prayer, as a declawed kitty who makes mistakes in the house hasn't much hope in this world.
Anyhow, Mitzie loves the kids and they love her, so it made it easier to have had to say goodbye to Isabelle. And Mitzie doesn't hiss at Tidbits!
(any of you remember how awful that was??)
Old posts, in case you have nothing else to do... ha:
I'll have to visit everyone when we get back, as we're leaving this morning for a few days in Chicago...
P.S. Please pray for my son. A long term relationship that ended recently is suddenly taking a big toll on him. He had wanted to marry this gal, and he's realizing it's over. He's not doing well. Thanks
We're gearing up for our 15th year of homeschooling...
JT is living with friends in town...
We're getting ready to take Christine off to college at the end of the month...
Josiah will be the only one living at home in actuality, although the others still list our address as theirs...
and we spent the afternoon at emergency waiting to see if Bob was still deathly allergic to bee sting.
Good news: he isn't
Bad news: we had a big medical co-pay
Seems now that we could have figured that one out sitting in their parking lot, eh? Oh well. Even at my age you still live and learn the hard way at times.
I'm just now remembering that a bunch of us here at HSB did how-we-met wedding posts a while back. For those curoius ones of you who didn't know me back in March of '07, here's my old post from March 2007 on how we met and our wedding, back in 1985. Yes, I'm probably old enough to be mom to several of you, and maybe even grandmom?
Beware: Things you really don't want to find out the hard way...
1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2,000 sq. foot house
four inches deep.
2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with rollerblades, they can ignite.
3. A 3-year-old's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a superman cape. It is strong enough, however, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 foot room.
5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using the ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
(My own edit: see what happened when my son's replica civil war gun was thrown up and hit the ceiling fan: civil war injury post)
6. The glass in windows (even double pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a
ceiling fan.
7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "Uh-oh", it's already too late.
8. Brake fluid mixed with bleach makes smoke, and lots of it.
9. A six-year-old can start a fire with a flint rock, even though a 36-year-old man says they only do it in the movies. A magnifying glass can start a fire even on an overcast day.
10. Certain Lego's will pass right through the digestive tract of a four-year-old.
11. "Play-Doh" and "microwave" should never be used in the same sentence.
12. Super glue is forever.
13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15. VCR's do not eject PB&J sandwiches even though TV commercials show
they do.
16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18. You probably do not want to know what that odor is.
19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on. Plastic toys do not like ovens.
20. Some fire departments have a 5 minute response time.
21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earth worms dizzy. It will however make cats dizzy. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
I don't even want to know how all these were compiled.......
We now have three little hens and a little rooster. They're quite young, so we're not sure yet just what they're going to look like once they get their feathers all organized. I'm sure I'll keep you posted if they start to look any different! ha.
I can see now why it was recommended that I get the little rooster to go with them. These little hens, barely out of the fluff and into their feathers, simply adore him. It's obvious they trust him with their little lives.
He's the one who is all alert to everything, and he'll call to them if they get separated from him when I'm working in the pen. They frantically run around in a little hen clique, trying to get next to him.
I'm glad I figured that out, because when I went out after dark to see if they had figured out their routine for the night, there they were in a little huddle on the ground. Not the best situation. I quickly discovered that when I approached them with a flashlight, they would just sit there mesmerized. So I decided to pick up the little fella first and pop him into the straw-filled nesting box. Yup...he didn't jump back out looking for the others as I suspect a hen would have done, but instead extended his neck and called to them! One by one I popped them in and they were so happy to snuggle down with him into that straw!
So now, we're about to discover if we're cut out to be chicken farmers. They won't start laying for quite some time, and when they do there'll be these little bitty eggs, as these are Bantam chickens. I remember my parents had these little Bantee eggs, and I only remember that the yolks were a richer color.
So if the kids can get used to that, we'll do alright. And if we can handle having to tend to them in the cold of winter. And if the critters don't get them. And if we can set them up well for when we want to go away for a few days. And if the chicken feed doesn't offset any savings we realize on eggs.
They're really too little to eat, for all the work involved in butchering them. So maybe we'll end up naming them after all. If we end up keeping them, right? They seem to have cuteness going for them...or is that just something about me and all my little pets? Oh...did I say "pets??" (Shhhhhhh)
This was a cool looking cloud we saw on a several hour car trip spent dodging storms as best we could. Some of the clouds that were all lit up with lightning inside them and that had storms pouring out the bottom of them were so cool to look at, but we thankfully didn't have to drive through any of them. Somehow our timing was such that they sort of wove their way around us as they all went from west to east and we were going south.
This is the same cloud a few minutes later. I don't think we quite captured the awesomeness of it all as it blew up and outwards.
It's like it was being brushed upwards with powerful handstrokes.
Anyhow.....I just wish you could have watched it with us.
My fella was fighting Urguls in the dining room the other day.
He had an old wooden shield made at Christian Service Brigade
and a sword fashioned from a broken barrel from a toy rifle.
His sword slipped out of his hand, and immediately disappeared.
The window shade looked disturbed,
so he went to see if it was stuck behind it.
take a closer look...
This is what he found on the deck.
The do it yourself price is over $60.
A week from now we have to install the glass ourselves,
hoping I measured well.
Please pray for my homeschooler friend Stephanie. She and her daughter Katie were in a car hit by a guy running a stop sign, and now she has blood clots in her lower leg. Her 18 yr old daughter is recovering well, with injury lingering in her right hand.
I don't understand why Stephanie's at home instead of in the hospital. She'll be talking to her practitioner today about it. Too many questions.
I'm concerned that:
Stephanie isn't supposed to move her leg.
She's supposed to move her legs once an hour.
She's supposed to stay off her leg.
She has to move to go to the bathroom.
She's on all these really serious medications to dissolve the clot.
She went from having one clot to having several (smaller?) clots.
She doesn't know what symptoms there might be to tell her they're moving....are there any?
I don't get it....this is life-threatening if one were to travel to her lung or heart.
She lives way out in the county far from any medical facilities.
Please pray for her condition and for her medical treatment.
I just figured out it costs probably $12-$15 of gasoline
each time I mow the lawn.
No wonder!!!! And this is just the back.
I mean, what little Corgi needs this huge running area!! (We're down to one dog.)
I think we're going to let some of it go back to pasture!~
Take a look at the front.....
everything on the other side of the drive is NOT lawn grass
(but made nice parking for the open house!)
If allowed to, it would grow up like this:
We've mowed these paths all through it just for fun.
The grasses really are beautiful...
(these come up to my eye level)
with these treasures throughout.
This shot across the grass to our homemade shed
almost looks like a prairie!
So. I'm re-thinking things here.
I'm going to find a way to mow less and less....!!$*~~$! (we're in the country, so we can get away with all this....no lawn police out here!!! We can even have dandelions...)
TEMECULA, Calif. (UPI) -- Employees of a Temecula, Calif., McDonald's said they have captured a chicken that had terrorized the restaurant's drive-through lane for nearly four months.
The employees said the brave fowl would anger customers by blocking the drive-through lanes and bother employees by shedding feathers around the premises, the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise reported.
Restaurant manager Chona Cauley said the chicken evaded numerous capture attempts, but was finally ensnared after it fell asleep atop a drive-through window.
"Normally, the chicken sleeps in the bushes," Cauley said.
Esmeralda Ruiz, an employee who helped capture the chicken, said she has adopted the animal as a pet.
"She's one of our family members now," Ruiz said.
I'm not sure why I posted this one. Do you ever just have something that catches your attention and strikes you as funny? I guess this is one of my moments....
Hm... same with this one:
Eating Vegetables
A man walks into a doctor's office. He has a cucumber up his nose, a carrot in his left ear and a banana in his right ear.
I forgot to tell you about the lyrical dance always done to a Christian song at the end of the program. And how the director always presents the gospel message clearly in the storyline. And her solo dances went very well last night. If you ask her, she'd mention some technical detail, like how one of her steps only went into half-point instead of full-point, a detail only she and her instructor would notice. ha. I just know that it hurts my heart and takes my breath away to watch her dance... it's so beautiful. I don't know how she does it.
There were lots of relatives there.
This is big brother, J.T.
It's more of a challenge getting a good pic with little brother.
But hey, it's him!
In all fairness, I should mention that something was being said about posing like he was in love with his sister. He loves her tremendously, and shows it at home all the time, but isn't into public demonstrations!
(By the way, the neckline on that dress isn't as bad as it seems. She's wearing another tan leotard underneath it that makes it so she can "safely" do all the moves required. whew... We don't have any say in the costuming.)
Bob said that these ballet classes paid off the way we had hoped they would... she gained gracefulness, femininity, self-confidence, and physical fitness. She also picked up diligence, responsibility, lots of training in memorization, perseverance in spite of tears, and the ability to do painful hard work for a goal. She can also now teach ballet for some money on the side....not bad.
This week is Christine's ballet recital, and it will probably be her last, as she's a senior this year and her college doesn't have a dance program. It's fun, but bittersweet.....
I've been taking pictures at her rehearsals and at Thursday's performance. She has one more tonight, when it's her turn to perform the lead of Christine Daea(?) of Phantom of the Opera. She's waited a long time for a role like this one. It is so wonderful to be able to dance to beautiful, passionate music like those songs are.
For years I've been attending her classes just to watch, and it's been a pretty good replacement for all those symphony concerts I used to attend. It's so beautiful to watch the girls dance. I hope you'll indulge me as I share these photos. I don't know if I'll be able to get any video......
The black dress-like costume is the one used for that role, and the others are what she wore for her parts in Thursday's performance when the other girl played the lead role.
Ready to go, with stage lipstick!
She's in the lavender with the other lead dancer, looking at the Phantom, played by one of the dads.
This was her first year taking Acro class.
What cute costumes.....
done to "Make 'Em Laugh" from Singing in the Rain.
Hurts me to watch this...
Christine with some girlfriends who came.
Her instructors, a mother and daughter.
(The mom is in her 70's, had a hip replacement two years ago,
the daughter is 50,
and they still dance up a storm....)
My lovely kitty (see my kitty picture looking back at you whenever I post) is what I suspect is called a medium hair.It’s too long for me.She has this long hair and all this strange light colored undercoat stuff that ends up all over the house.You can tell from the residue where she likes to nap, and we’re always using the lint brush or even the vacuum on it.
Tidbits, in her glamour pose.
Yes.....we've even given her haircuts.With a pair of scissors.And a comb.And a leash.Outdoors. She's provided lots of nesting material for the birds. I don't have any pictures, but she'll be a much lighter color and fluffier, as her undercoat shows through.
She’s actually quite docile when being handled.We think she has some Ragdoll in her heritage, as she goes limp when picked up and never struggles to get away.
Even when bathed in the kitchen sink.
Hugged.
And carried around.
Except for all the fur, she’s been such a good kitty for us.
The kids just love her so.
Except for that stalking stage she went through.She would stalk Christine from behind and run up and nip her on the ankles.I would see her backing through the house, crouched down with her hands extended in front of her, saying, “No, no!” in a panicked voice.Sure enough, there would be this cat stalking her.She loved to wait downstairs for her and grab her halfway up the stairs. Couldn't figure out why she never did it to the rest of us. I used to tell her to just not run away. Didn't work, though. So glad when she got over that stage.
We keep reminding her how lucky she is to have us.We were out in the country looking at deer and heard this high pitched little noise in a hedgerow.Suddenly this tiny kitten came out of the brush and ran toward our van.The kids jumped out and she ran right up to them.
We looked around for the farm house she had wandered from and realized there wasn’t a house in sight in any direction.Oh dear.We had three dogs, and no desire for a cat.Needless to say, she came home with us and we discovered she didn’t even know how to drink out of a saucer.
The dogs couldn't bother her, as she just wouldn't react to them. You can't chase something that won't run!
We attached to her and she ended up being a nice pet for a three year old who liked to carry her around the house.All limp with no scratching.I’d never seen anything like it. And fortunately, our humane society payed for spaying of strayed or found kitties.Yes!!!We could do this…
What we think is funny is how anytime she notices anything different around the house, she has to lie down on or in it. Whether we've rearranged some furniture, or just left a paper on the floor. It's a little exasperating when working on a project, as she wants to sit in the middle of it.
Ooooooh, look. Birthday paper on the couch!
rearranged bookshelves
New table in living room of Christine's stuff for her open house.
This gives her a wonderful view of the birds out the front window.
This is about as far as she's allowed to get from the front porch.
What a fun exploration for her, while we watch and make sure she doesn't wander off toward the road.
To "think aloud" about whatever strikes me at the moment. Married to Bob, my philosophical, artsy scientist! We were church planters in France, are in our 14th year of homeschooling, have 11yr and 20yr old sons and an 18yr old daughter. We do homeschool sports, ballet, band and choir. My greatest joys in life have been from seeing God work. We have an awesome God, and I've seen Him do awesome things.
A Favorite Artist
Bouguereau
Some Favorite Scriptures
"A new command I give you:
Love one another.
As I have loved you,
so you must love one another.
By this all men will know
that you are my disciples,
if you love one another."
John 13:34,35 (NIV)
Then he stretched himself out
on the boy three times
and cried to the Lord,
"Oh Lord my God,
let this boy's life return to him!"
The Lord heard Elijah's cry,
and the boy's life returned to him,
and he lived.
I Kings 17 21,22 (NIV)
Be merciful to those who doubt;
snatch others from the fire
and save them;
to others show mercy, mixed with fear-
hating even the clothing
stained by corrupted flesh.
Jude 22,23 (NIV)
The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands, they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood - idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. Revelation 9:20,21 (NIV)
Let's not get in too much trouble.....we've just arrived!
These shoes were a gift from Grandparents,
He can sure get around in these...
Yup...it's a long ways up there....
And yes, we did. Christine and I, that is. 
We thought we would be fine,
Yup...that's what we did.....
Too bad the writing on the sign didn't show up. 
We didn't see a playground anywhere, but somehow managed to play.
They even provided trees to climb.
This is a greenhouse you can walk through, up high next to the ferris wheel.
This is at the McDonalds.
There's a "fun house" like you might find at a fair,
(view of Navy pier from top of Hancock building)
(shoreline to the north from the Hancock)
Anyhow...I love this shot of Josiah at the Adler Planetarium, even though you can hardly see him. 
I thought some of you might like to try this with your kids!
Anyhow. Back at the aquarium, these little wormy fish were interesting.
Of course this was really awesome to see. 
Can you see what he's wanting her to look at? 
This is where they had a lot of fun. 
Look who came up close for a visit and a closer look at her! 
But I'm afraid I'm going to have to draw the line at this. 
Uh ohhhh. Scary birds again....
Maybe I can pounce up there and scare them this time!
Uhh... Hello?? Wake up and look at me~
This isn't working
I don't think they care how many of us there are....thanks anyhow. 
(Did you notice our new little friend?)
This is Mitzie. 
take a closer look...
This is what he found on the deck.
No wonder!!!! And this is just the back.
I mean, what little Corgi needs this huge running area!! 
Take a look at the front.....
We've mowed these paths all through it just for fun.
The grasses really are beautiful...
(these come up to my eye level)
with these treasures throughout. 
This shot across the grass to our homemade shed 
There were lots of relatives there.
It's more of a challenge getting a good pic with little brother.
Ready to go, with stage lipstick! 
She's in the lavender with the other lead dancer, looking at the Phantom, played by one of the dads.
This was her first year taking Acro class. 
Hurts me to watch this...
Christine with some girlfriends who came.
Her instructors, a mother and daughter. 
Ooooooh, look. Birthday paper on the couch!
This is about as far as she's allowed to get from the front porch. 
