My Three Cleopatras

Earlier in the month we went to the public museum for their trick or treat night...


Learning sign language during an animal presentation.


In the Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit there are a lot of old buildings and homes decorated for the time period and culture that they represent. The girls love running through there and playing make believe games as they speak in many foreign accents. Many of the windows have at least somewhat realistic looking figures inside {the woman peeking back out the window at them}...Rebekah only gets so close, I think they scare her a little.

In Japan.

Fancy posing Cleopatras.


This room with all the pretty shells is one of the girls favorite places in the museum. The lighting is kind of strange in there and I haven't figured out what setting to put my camera on to get good photos. I had to add a lot of fill light here, and Rebekah's still wouldn't come out quite right.

Emma in Cleopatra's Dance of the Butterfly.


Happy Halloween

Home Sky Feather

Backing up a bit here to June, I wanted to share photos from Rebekah's end of the year first grade field trip to Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary. I never knew there was a place like this so close to where we live. The animals were amazing, it was a really neat day.

The guide gave the kids a short introduction to some of the things we were going to see, then sent them outside for a little playtime.

It was fun to see the imaginative play that went on when the kids were dropped into the forest with just a few basic toys and told to "go play."

Then it was time to see all the animal habitats at the sanctuary.

This baby deer was the most precious thing! It could not have been more than a couple days old, it's legs were all wobbly as it walked around.

Beautiful horses.

This poor guy was rescued by the sanctuary. He was found by some people when he was just a kitten and they decided to make him a pet. They de-clawed him which essentially assured his inability to survive out in his natural habitat. As he got bigger the people realized that he could not be easily domesticated despite their efforts, and they turned him loose. Fortunately he was found and brought to Shalom before any harm could come to him, he will however, never live outside the sanctuary.

Buffalo in their pasture.

This is their oldest and the leader of the buffalo herd. I think our guide called him Bob. Each of the animals had a very large enclosure for their habitat. It is very much like being in the wilderness there, as close to their natural home as possible. You'll notice in many of the photos the animals are approaching the fence and this is because they know when they hear the tour wagon coming through that they are going to be fed.

What does the baby fox say? I learned on this field trip that foxes are known for their loyalty.

Yep, that's Rebekah willingly holding a skunk tail to the back of her head.

At the end of the day, our guide passed around a basket, explaining that each of the kids was going to be given an Indian name at the conclusion of their adventure at Shalom. He asked the kids to feel around in the basket where they would find bags of rocks that each had a name and meaning included within. He said one of the rocks would feel right in their hand and that is the one the kids should take as their new name.

Rebekah chose the name "Home Sky Feather" which is a pigeon. Now I have to admit, I have never thought of birds in a very affectionate way, and my initial response was along the lines of, Pigeon? That's kinda yucky. But then I read the meaning of the name and I warmed up to it...and right away I thought of my mother in law, knowing she would love the meaning behind the name. The meaning on the card said: Pigeon- It knows how to find it's way back home, no matter how far it has gone. They help us to remember and find the love of home that we have moved away from or lost. They are the only bird that can drink by sucking water up into their beaks. This indicates their ability to draw on the love of home no matter how distant. - "Home Sky Feather"

Scenes from a Lively Weekend

Two weekends ago we had a really busy weekend planned, when it suddenly got a lot busier as Emma invited four of her friends and teammates to sleepover the night before Rebekah's birthday party. I almost thought I was losing my mind when I agreed to it, but the girls had important things planned that I didn't want to stand in the way of. Emma's sleepover turned out to be a great time of team bonding. They made and decorated super girl capes out of an old bed sheet that Alyssa had already cut apart for a classroom project, and they woke up bright and early to run a 5K race hosted by our church that would benefit Speed The Light. Speed the Light is an awesome youth driven organization that helps support the needs of missionaries worldwide. One of their goals for this race was to raise funds towards the purchase of a vehicle for a missionary in Laos. So like I said, all very important, very fun stuff!

This was taken before the race as they filled out their registration forms. I enjoy watching these girls work together. On a daily basis I see them working hard together, encouraging one another, helping each other out and definitely making each other better.

A funny note about the race, and when I say funny, I am realistic that you may have needed to be there to find this as funny as I did...Just before the half way point of the race a group of 4 men who I knew to be running together just ahead of me came running back in my direction. Apparently we had missed a turn a block or so back. One of the guys, who has played Jesus multiple times in our church's musicals was running back to make the course correction enthusiastically shouting, "God allows U-Turns!!" The next morning during Sunday service our pastor {who did not see or hear this happen} said something very similar as he gave the message and Alyssa and I looked over to the man who said this the previous day and saw him smiling ear to ear with a hand raised heavenward in victory. It was great.

Alyssa and her singing teacher, Miss Alissa after the race. Alyssa planned to walk the race, but her competitive drive kicked in a bit when she saw others running. She did great, finishing at a way faster pace than I think even she expected. Emma was the first female finisher of the race, one of her teammates was the third and I was spurred on to a fourth place finish by the thought that Emma may have gotten lost back at our U-Turn. I saw Emma's teammate after that point and knew Anastasia was still on track, but all I knew was Emma was ahead of me and I never saw her during the second half of the race. She was following a teenage boy who had a map, resourceful girl :-)

After the race we headed to the gym for a three hour practice. The girls couldn't believe they had already run three miles before it was time for their practice to begin.

And then came Rebekah's long awaited for birthday party...

It was a little wild and crazy at moments, and we almost forgot to play "Pin the Trunk on the Elephant," but I am pretty sure she loved every minute of running around and playing with her friends.

Rebekah was very particular about the details of the party. None of her plans were anything super fancy or over the top difficult to pull off, but I loved how she knew exactly what she wanted from the piñata to making homemade ice cream and the games she wanted to play. We are always out of town on her actual birthday in August, so getting friends together for a party is often challenging. I hope {and I think it was} everything she wanted.

The kids loved the silly string, which I probably could have guessed beforehand that they would. Just a note to double our silly string purchase next time.

The paint that was meant for painting pumpkins was used to make a trail of handprints on the driveway. Two weeks and some rain later, they are as bright and colorful as ever. They did in fact get around to painting the pumpkins too, but I think these handprints will likely last longer.

Rebekah with many of her sweet friends.

By the time everyone went home, it had been well over 36 hours of non-stop activities and friends. It was fun, an exhausting kind of fun, but wonderful fun nonetheless.