February 28th (today) at 2:08 p.m. Christine turned ten.

Christine has had two parties and on Friday we are having a third. It's so hard to get everyone together at the same time so we have to have many parties. Lucky Christine. She had her party with her friends over the weekend. I'll post about that later on. It was a rough 24 hours. I was mentally drained by the time all the kids left. My very first post was about her 9th birthday and now I'm already posting about her 10th birthday. Where has the time gone? Everyone have a good day!

The Flying Machine

This post is about something that I absolutely love. I would love to get my pilots license. It has the first "flying machine" (I love the name) and the fastest rocket plane in the world. The red text is a very small portion of the patent. I'm fascinated by it all. Ashley did ask me who would be interested in a post about a flying machine and a rocket plane. I'm sorry if this is boring to you guys. Like I said earlier, a blog is great because everyone can choose what they want to look at. This is from my post in September. Talking about what Christine wants to do when she grows up reminds me of what I wanted to be when I was a young girl. I'm not sure why, but I wanted to become an astronaut. Maybe it had something to do with speed and the unknown. I do remember telling my mom that I wanted to go as far as I could into space in a lifetime. The universe never ends and that's mind boggling to me. Everyone have a good day :) Wilbur and Orville in 1909 The first picture is of Orville and his sister Katharine on her first flight. Oville and Wilbur's father, Milton, was a minister in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. As part of his work, he often traveled from place to place. When he returned home, he often brought gifts for his young children. Once, he presented a rubberband-powered flying toy to the boys. The toy fascinated them and sparked their lifelong interest in flight.

"Late in the autumn of 1878, our father came into the house one evening with some object partly concealed in his hands, and before we could see what it was, he tossed it into the air. Instead of falling to the floor, as we expected, it flew across the room till it struck the ceiling, where it fluttered awhile, and finally sank to the floor ... It was a light frame of cork and bamboo, covered with paper, which formed two screws, driven in opposite directions by rubber bands under torsion. A toy so delicate lasted only a short time in the hands of small boys, but its memory was abiding." Neither Wilbur nor Orville finished high school, although both liked to learn new things. By the time Wilbur was 22 years old, he and Orville (who was 18) opened their own printing office. They recycled broken parts and built the printing press they would use to start their business. A few years later, they became interested in bicycles and decided to switch businesses. In 1893, they opened the Wright Cycle Company, a bicycle sales and repair business in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. By 1896, Wilbur had his mind set on a new idea: flying.

"Our machine was designed to be flown as a kite, with a man on board, in winds of from fifteen to twenty miles an hour. But, upon trial, it was found that much stronger winds were required to lift it. Suitable winds not being plentiful, we found it necessary, in order to test the new balancing system, to fly the machine as a kite without a man on board, operating the levers through cords from the ground."

" Neither could have mastered the problem alone. As inseparable as twins, they are indespensable to each other."

Bishop Milton Wright,

Father of Wilbur and Orville. January 16, 1904.

The patent.

o. 821,393

O. & W. WRIGHT. FLYING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23, 1903 Patented May 22, 1906 To all whom it may concern: Be it known that we, ORVILLE WRIGHT and WILBUR WRIGHT, citizens of the United States, residing in the city of Dayton, county of Montgomery, and State of Ohio, have in- vented certain new and useful Improvements in Flying-Machines, of which the following is a specification. Our invention relates to that class of fly- ing machines in which the weight is sustained by the reactions resulting when one or more aeroplanes are moved through the air edge- wise at a small angle of incidence, either by the application of mechanical power or by the utilization of the force of gravity. The objects of our invention are to provide means for maintaining or restoring the equi- librium or lateral balance of the apparatus, to provide means for guiding the machine both vertically and horizontally, and to pro- vide a structure combining lightness, strength, convenience of construction, and certain other advantages which will hereinafter ap- pear. To fly the airplane, the pilot lay prone with his head forward, his left hand operating the elevator control. Lateral control was achieved by warping the wing tips in opposite directions via wires attached to a hip cradle mounted on the lower wing. The pilot shifted his hips from side to side to operate the mechanism, which also moved the rudder.

1903 - First sustained flight with a powered, controlled airplane

And what a day it was! On that blustery December day, the world was made a little smaller. Two young men had forever changed the boundaries of human life. No longer would humankind envy the birds for their wings.

Unfortunately, mankind would have to wait a little longer. After Wilbur landed safely, a sudden gust of wind took the plane and sent it tumbling. The men rushed to save it, but were unable. The wings were broken, the motor damaged, and the chain guides were bent. They knew right away that there would be no more flights in 1903. In 1905 they introduce the flyer, the worlds first practical airplane.

The x-15 The x-15 made it's first flight in 1958. That's only 55 years from the Wright brothers first flight. That's super cool :) The second picture is of an x-15 ( under the bomber) just after being launched from a B-52. Third picture is the x-15 under the wing of the B-52. To fly an x-15 would be the bomb and flying a B-52 bomber wouldn't be so bad either. After a pilot flew an x-15 he was no longer just a pilot he was an astronaut as well.

An accident

I was in a car accident earlier today and the big question is who is at fault. I was hit in the middle of an intersection. I was almost positive that I had a green light and the lady that hit me said that she had a green light. Thankfully there were no injuries. My teeth hurt for a few hours after the accident, so I must have grit hard when I saw what was coming. Neither of us had any passengers in our cars. The lady was able to drive her car home, but my car got a ride home from a tow truck. There were definitely a lot of witnesses. A women came up to me and gave me her phone number and said that she saw everything, and that I had the green light. The lady that hit me went around asking people what they saw. She had several people tell her that she had a green light. I suppose I should have asked more people, but I didn't. So the police said that after they talk to all the witnesses they will make a decision as to who was at fault. I can honestly say that after the accident I couldn't remember for sure whether my light was green. I definitely did not intentionally run a red light. What I know for sure, is that if I was at fault, I should have my license taken away. It really scares me to think that I could have run a red light. Now I wait for the officers to make their decision, and I think the odds are probably against me. I just hope that when the officer contacts the woman (the one that said I had the green light) she doesn't tell him that she's color blind. I'm kidding. No one was hurt so I tried to find a tiny bit of humor in today's events, otherwise I would probably cry. You guys have a good evening and a great weekend :)

My passions. Some of the things that I would love to do. Just once would be fine with me.

When I write a post I have all the text matched up with the pictures. Then when I click on publish, blogger does what it wants to. Sorry. 1. Volunteering at an orphanage in Africa or any third world country :) 2. Learning to fly. 3. Cave diving, dangerous yes, but you only live once. 4. Sky diving. 5. Supercross would be fun too. When I was 16 my boyfriend tried to teach me how to ride his dirt bike. He got very impatient with me so he only let me try a few times. He was so worried that I was going to trash his bike. Yeah, that boyfriend didn't last long. I didn't need a two year old in my life. I once told my mom that I wanted to go hang gliding and she came undone. "Josie, do you know how dangerous that is?" I decided scuba diving looked like more fun, and she thought it was safer? This reminds me of a list I found on the internet of the most dangerous sports. I say the people that enjoy base jumping and free diving are INSANE ! 1. BASE Jumping - BASE stands for Building, Antennnae, Span and Earth - these being the fixed objects that masters of this incredibly dangerous sport jump from. BASE jumpers will jump with a parachute off any tall structure including skyscrapers, electrical towers, bridges and cliffs. In the past, BASE jumpers have lept from the Golden Gate Bridge, the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building. People who try this sport almost always end up arrested (it's not exactly legal) and some don't even live long enough to get arrested. (We told you it was dangerous.) Stick to lawn bowling. 2. Free Diving - Divers will plunge up to 400 feet (120 meters) underwater in a single breath. At the 2001 Free Diving World Cup, 15 people had to be rescued because of blackouts caused by their brains not getting enough oxygen. This is what they say about cave diving. I wonder what kind of cave creature you might encounter? 3. Cave Diving - Imagine being more than 100 feet (30 meters) underwater in a deep, cold and dark cave. Divers are well trained but there are so many things that can go wrong which is why this is one of the world's most dangerous sports. You can lose your way, run out of air, your equipment can fail or you can be eaten alive by a cave creature. 4. Speed Skiing - This is the world's fastest non-motorized sport and one of the world's most dangerous sports. Skiers wear special skis and aerodynamic suits to fly down a hill at speeds up to 160 miles (250 kms) per hour! That's almost as fast as a racecar! One crash often means death. World Ski record attempt in space-age suit

Austrian ski champion Harry Egger is hoping a space age suit will enable him to become the world's fastest man on skis.Egger hopes to reach speeds in excess of 155mph wearing the high-tech carbon suit to set a new world speed skiing record.

5. Rock Fishing - Unless you're a fish, how can fishing be one of the world's most dangerous sports? Rock fishing involves casting a line into the ocean from the shoreline. People often forget about the tides and are swept away or are dragged underwater by massive waves. In 2001, 15 people in Australia died while rock fishing. 6. Bull Riding - Jump on a raging bull who hates your guts and try to hang on. That's the name of the game in bull riding. Some of the bulls weigh over 2000 pounds (900 kilos) and can throw a rider off in a split second - and may even stomp on the rider afterwards. Riders suffer broken bones, punctured lungs and even death. My dad was in rodeos just about every weekend up until we moved to Soap Lake. He was in the calf roping and I have seen a lot of bull riding. There was one thing about the rodeo that scared me to tears and that was when clown shot his gun. My mom would hold her hands over my ears tight and I would still cry :( A little story my mom told me years ago. I was around 6 months old and my mom had put me in my walker at the bottom of the bleachers on the ground. She was talking away to someone and when she looked back at me I had stuff (horse crap) smeared all over my face and I was eating it. I'm so glad I don't remember that.

7. Supercross - Athletes fly in the air on a motorcycle while doing backflips, taking their hands off the handlebars and other death-defying stunts..

8. Solo Yacht Racing - In a race around the world, sailors encounter waves, sharks, hurricanes and even pirates. The nearest help can be hundreds of miles away and racers have no control over the conditions they run into. With no one nearby to help them out, racers can lose the race and their lives.

9. Street Luging - Highly modified skateboards are used to race down a hill at speeds up to 80 miles (128 kms) per hour. The pioneers of this sport originally raced down hills in the middle of traffic which made it even more risky. There are now special luges and equipment for the sport which make it much safer. But hey, you're still hitting pavement when you crash.

10. Riding a Bike - We've all heard the phrase "it's as easy as riding a bike." Well, riding a bike can still be dangerous. In 2001, more kids broke bones or dislocated joints riding bicycles than any other sport.

The witch from The Wizard of Oz. Her bike was sweet :)

Before and after base jumping of off the Jesus Christ the Redeemer statue.

From the bible:

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me; you will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand will save me" Psalms 138:7

I thought this one was pretty good. HERE IS A FISHING LURE, I CALL IT JONAH!

Ok, I've spent a little bit of time on this post. Everyone have a good day :)

The Good Wife's guide from the 50's. High school home economics books in the 50's had this same list on how to be a good house wife.

Click on each page to read the list. This is how teen girls were taught to be good housewives. My mom has told me about how daddy was treated when he arrived home from work. My mom's job was to take off his boots and soak his feet. One of her sisters would get him a cold beer while their mother was cooking dinner. My mom said that they waited on their dad and treated him like a king. He was the sole bread winner and worked very hard so when he arrived home he was not expected to do anything. My mom did the same for my dad. She would take off his boots and soak his feet at the end of the day. When my mom and her new husband were first married he thought it was the bomb that my mom waited on him hand and foot, and of course he still likes it. He wasn't expecting all the pampering that my mom was going to give him when they first married. He's a lucky guy :)

My Sweet Valentine. My mom made these cards for the girls nine years ago. Christine was 10 months old and Ashley was nine years old.

She wanted to make sure that she covered Christine's bum with part of the flower. These cards have been hanging on our wall since the day we received them in the mail. My next post will have a picture of what my mom made us this year for Valentine's day. I have some pretty cool stuff that she has made for us over the years. Everyone have a good day :)