Hannah's post

Hannah had some free time last night during our Honor Stars class. I was helping another girl do some catch up work that Hannah had already finished so she started writing a little essay about herself. I thought it was cute so I thought I'd share it with you. Here it is exactly as she wrote it:

My name is Hannah Elizabeth Schaffer. I am 11 years old. I am turning 12 years old in November. To be exact I am 12 years old on November 4 at 3:10 p.m. I have 2 sisters, Morgan and Cerah.
My mothers name is Brandi with an (i), some people spell her name with a (y). My fathers name is robbie mom calls him rob, I call him dad.
My cousins name is Anthony. He has no nickname. He's cool. My BFF's name is Gaby. Her full name is Gabrielle. My sister Morgan she is a peacemaker in our house, she is very nice, some people call her 'Mor', I would call her that but she says I can't because I am not older than her. My other sister is Cerah, she is nice. Some call her Cer but most people just call her cerah. We all go to church. I love church because it feels good to go. I have two other girls in my class. Caitlyn and Emily.
I have just one more sticker to get. If I can get my last sticker There is this huge celebration and you get to be crowned, and I want to be crowned very bad. I have learned a lot but I want to learn even more. That is why I am doing foundations of faith next year. I don't know what to expect next year but I bet it'll be fun and exciting. I have many memory verses learned but I have one very good memory verse I love - I am the vine and you are the branches he who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit apart from me you can do nothing - I love that verse I've never known why but something clicked when I first heard it and I sticked with it. It is awesome. That is me. I still have life to go so

NOT, The end

Our Titanic experience

The Henry Ford Museum is hosting the official Titanic exhibit over the next few months. Last weekend we decided to go see it. I've been wanting to go since I heard that it was coming last year but the exhibit didn't open until the very end of March and I was quite impatient even though I know it's here for a while. I will probably pay to go see it again. Our family has a fascination with the Titanic, or any ships that sank actually. We love to hear the stories that survivors tell, and we try to imagine the stories of the ones who didn't survive. This exhibit not only had artifacts on display that had been recovered from the bottom of the ocean but it also had pictures and stories of the people - some who made it and some who perished.
One of the most interesting parts for us was the paper we were given when we entered the exhibit room. Each of us received a slip that had a passengers name, what class they were, and a little history about them and their traveling companions. Some of them had artifacts on display and you could try to find the one that matched your name. At the end of the exhibit there was a big wall board that had a list of survivors and one that had a list of the people who perished so you could see whether the person you got had made it or not.
While we have read a lot of books and newspaper accounts of the tragedy nothing can really prepare you for the feeling you get when you actually get to see the pieces. There were hairbrushes, mirrors, suitcases, hats, jewelry, perfume bottles, and more that were personal effects people traveled with. Then there were the plates, cups, silverware, tea pots, sugar and milk containers, salt and pepper shakers, pieces of wood off the ship, parts of the boilers, and even coal that was recovered. It was so strange to see a whole set of china plates that had been in a cabinet when it sank and when the wood rotted away the plates were left on the ocean floor without a single one being broken. There were stained glass windows that didn't break from the pressure or any of the debris. How did they survive intact when the ship itself, made out of much stronger metal, was violently twisted and ripped into two pieces? I still can't wrap my mind around that.  In the exhibit itself they had a room set up to mimic what a passenger on Titanic would have seen had they been outside the night of the sinking. A clear, dark sky with lots of stars and an ocean that seems to go on forever. And, a piece of ice that had been cooled to 24 degrees fahrenheit, which still isn't as cold as the water was. We were allowed to touch it just to get an idea of how cold it would have been in the water that night. I had my hand on it for less than five seconds and it was already so cold that it burned. I am amazed that more passengers didn't die from exposure and I can certainly understand how so many of them only lasted a few minutes.
Unfortunately, cameras weren't allowed into the exhibit so we could only get some from outside but at least we have those for memories!

 These were two of the banners up to announce the exhibit

 And one whole wall in case you didn't see the banners

 Who can forget the shop? We have to have a souvenir

Cerah, waiting patiently for our turn

Morgan looks excited, doesn't she? I love how they made the outside of the exhibit look like the outside of the ship.

They were, of course, nice enough to offer us a couple of photo opps since we couldn't bring our own cameras in. Here's the girls on the "grand staircase" which they actually replicated for people to see.

This was our king of the world chance but I think it's already been played out

Anthony went through the exhibit much faster than us. I like to read everything while he just skims and moves on.

Cerah snapped us waiting to pick up our pictures. I don't know why she likes this picture but she does so I included it.



The End of the Easter Bunny

This was the first year since Easter of 1996 that we did not hide eggs or have easter baskets. Our kids have finally outgrown that phase. But, that didn't mean I was willing to let it go completely so this year I put together small bags with just a few things in it for each of the kids. So, yesterday was kind of bittersweet for me. I still enjoyed having my family together and watching them get their gifts but I was saddened at the fact that time keeps marching on and my kids keep growing up. We all knew that Easter was about Jesus' resurrection and promise of eternal life and that was what we celebrated, but for me it is also about childhood beliefs and dreams.
Anyway, there aren't that many pictures this year as I was more interested in watching them open their bags than remembering the camera but here are a few.