Hotel Bethlehem Musical.......Finally

After being postponed for a week because of the weather, the Bethany Children's Choir presented Hotel Bethlehem this past Sunday morning. I was so excited to see it. Marley is in the top row, far left. I don't think she had ever seen the big screens on either side of the platform before. They had all the words to the songs on them. Most of the time she was looking, not at the director, but at the screen next to her. Her family was probably the only one who knew that she knew every word of every song - it looked like she needed to read the words off the screen. Life is just not perfect.

This is the choir posing for pictures with the choir director (left) and his wife (right) at the end. They got a "standing ovation" from the congregation. All of their hard work paid off. They were wonderful!

Dress Rehearsal Hotel Bethlehem

Last Saturday was the dress rehearsal for the Children's Choir musical Hotel Bethlehem. It was supposed to be performed Sunday evening but was cancelled because of the weather. They actually sang this song in the Sunday morning services (minus the costumes) and did exceptionally well.

Warning - I taped this after a 3 1/2 hour rehearsal. It is a little hectic (parents talking in the background, people walking through and the kids tired) but I just love the song and the way the kids sing it.

P.S. Marley is in the top row near the right wearing blue (no head gear).

Merry Christmas from Marley and the Babas

Hope you enjoy this video - hit the play button.

Throwback Thursday - Our first "married" Christmas - 1970

This is one of Paul's favorite pictures of us. It was taken in our first apartment at Belden Court. We had been married for four months. To the left of me is my cousin Lynda and my grandmother. Good memories!

P.S. Check out those 70's striped pants on Paul. Yikes!

P.P.S. I just discovered that this was actually our second married Christmas, 1971. We had been married a year and four months and were still in the same apartment. Obviously, all of my pictures are not in order by date!! (updated 3/3/09)

The answer to printing problems

Izzy is a real problem when we use the printer. As soon as she hears the printer start she runs over to it, paws up on it waiting for something to come out. I've had paw prints on pictures, wrinkled paper, etc. Up until now the only solution was to lock her in the bathroom (which poses its own set of problems - ripped toilet paper and kleenix, wastebasket tipped over, etc). Enter Video Catnip, Entertainment for Cats. It's a video full of birds, squirrels and nature sounds. She loves it. She sits on a stool and watches the whole thing, trying to get at them with her paws. I can use the printer and she doesn't even care.

Christmas Photo Shoot

Today we had a photo shoot for Marley's Christmas card. I thought it would be fun to have a few takes with Marley and Izzy. We put a little Christmas doll sweater on her (not an easy task by the way) and she sat just long enough for me to get a few pictures of the two of them. I thought this one came out cute!

Children's Choir Practice Video

Marley is involved in the Children's Choir at our church that is working on the Christmas musical presentation of "Hotel Bethlehem". I videotaped part of a song last Sunday night at practice. During a break, I said to Marley, "Remember to watch Mr. Rick when you are singing." He had been telling the kids to watch him during the songs so that they would know when to come in and go out together. She looked at me and said, "I don't have to, I know the songs", to which I replied, you need to watch his hands so you know what to do. She said, "I don't even know what he means when he waves his hands around." I tried to explain what was going on, but I'm not sure I got through. Mr. Rick sure has a lot of patience with these kids.

P.S. Marley is in the second row, second to left with a pink shirt on.

A Typical Friday Night

Friday night is Grandma and Marley night. Actually it is really Grandma, Marley and the Babas' night as Paul's father usually comes over too. Kristen and Mark used to spend every Friday night at Paul's parents' house for years. Paul and I used to look forward to one night a week out by ourselves, and I always said that when I had grandchildren I would do the same. What I didn't realize was that I would end up enjoying it probably more than Marley's parents do.

No matter what the beginning of the night starts off with, we usually end up watching something on TV for the last hour or so. Some of her favorites are Animal Planet, Shirley Temple movies, and DVD's of the old Waltons show. Most nights end up with me and Marley coloring at the coffee table (I'm glad now that I never had it re-finished). Marley still likes to play "tent" and last night she asked if we could make a tent. I was less than enthusiastic and told her she could but she would have to do it herself (nice, huh?). This tent was a little abbreviated, but it worked nonetheless.


This was a little more elaborate tent that we used to set up at GG's. (2004)

When asked if she was going to want to share Friday nights with "Baby Radtke" her answer was a resounding "Yes".

A Bee Update By Paul

After vacuuming about a thousand bees (no kidding) as they came and left, I finally sealed up the natural hole in the siding. Then, for a few days, we had a few bees a day find their way through our bow window. They were not aggressive and Izzy would point them out to us. Oddly, she never attacked them or got stung. It's been a few weeks now with no sign of them. Either I licked them or there are several thousand bees silently drilling into our house and some morning we will be invaded. I never did find where the nest was. Most people just call an exterminator, but once the war started, I wasn't about to give up.

Izzy - The First Six Months