HRH Rapunzel & Aurora

In spite of my feelings about Disney princesses, the girls were royalty this Halloween. Ireland was the perfect size for Liesel's Aurora dress and they're at the age where if one has something, the other does too. Rather than come up with brand new costumes for both of them, Liesel was Rapunzel. I bought Liesel's costume ridiculously early but it sold out and so did the hairpiece. While I was at the checkout, another Disney store called to ask if they had one in a certain size. I was happy to have it taken care of.

Even seeing them hung up made me happy!

The first time Liesel put on her costume she complained it was "too fluffy." She's the rare girl who was none too thrilled to be a princess. The hairpiece looked absolutely adorable and set her apart from all the other Rapunzels. I modified her dress a bit by cutting off some lace trim on the bodice and the brooch with Rapunzel on it. She left glitter everywhere she went... Disney didn't skimp on that! Ireland took to being a princess like a fish to water. As soon as her dress was on she asked for her "hat." Once she was all dressed she smiled and danced around... SO cute!

Rather than doing a trunk or treat, our ward had adults man a door of each classroom in the church. That way the kids didn't have to go out into the cold and parents didn't have to decorate their trunk on top of making chili, dessert and getting kids dressed in costume. Brilliant idea! Ireland quickly caught on to the concept of trick or treating. She also noticed she could pilfer Liesel's basket when she wasn't looking and somehow managed to get twice as much candy. Brent tells me she wasn't shy about asking for more either. We don't have a definitive policy on Halloween candy so right now I'm using it as a bribe for good behavior.

The real picture here would have been what an idiot I was making
of myself to get the girls to look at me. Obviously I was not successful.

Another addition this year was the trick or treat basket. Sorry to say I'm not talented enough to make something like these; I found them on etsy. Liesel immediately claimed the one with bats and Ireland was perfectly happy with the black one.

This was my favorite Halloween-esque video. I hope you all had a very happy Halloween!

Cupcake Wars: Fall

The minute I saw these I knew I wanted to make them for a cupcake challenge. A simple concept yes, but they look so, so, SO adorable! They're pumpkin spice flavored so it's not just appearances though. Brent was busy making some chili for the ward cook-off (he won for Most Comforting). Had he not been so busy, I'm sure he would have created some elaborate pumpkin patch just to upstage Allen's barrel for Reagan's apple cupcakes. No one seemed to mind they were on a simple serving tray because they were totally gone by the end of the night! The mini ones seemed to be the most popular.

I got a peek at Katrina's creation and I can't wait to see what everyone else does!

A Lady of the Left

It's no surprise to those who know me that I follow The Container Store's blog. I have to limit my visits to the local shrine to just one a month or I'll bankrupt us. Somehow I started receiving Real Simple articles in my email as well. When I'm able to find a few moments of quiet, I like perusing them for recipes and organization ideas. You could say I've been a fan of Real Simple. Were I more into Facebook I would "like" them. However, I came across one article that made me feel absolutely exposed.

It's this one on Organizing for Your Personality and specifically, the quiz which determines if you're a left-brain person or a right-brain person. It's like someone has been secretly watching me because I fit the left-brain profile perfectly. So I wear the same jewelry every day... should I be swapping out my wedding ring for a cocktail ring? My morning routine is what helps me keep my sanity in those crazy afternoon hours, so what? And who in the world regularly drives around with the Empty light flashing? I can't be the only one who thinks that is reckless and irresponsible! The more I read, the more I felt eerily defined. My current project is a mission scrapbook for Brent... which matches MY mission scrapbook. And yes, my digital photos are organized by date.

I was eager for Brent to get home so I could give him the same quiz. Of course he would score the same as I did and then we could discuss how much the writer nailed our personalities. But that's not quite what happened. Turns out Brent is more of an even split between left and right brain. When I explained the scoring method to him, he threw back his head and chuckled, "You are SEVERELY left-brained!" I couldn't believe it! All this time I thought he was with me on my organization ideas and methods. We were two peas in a closet-full-of-clothes-hung-by-color pod! Not so much. All this time Brent has just been going with the flow... like a typical right-brainer. When I devastatingly reached this realization he insisted he loves the matching scrapbooks, but to no avail. I'm so very alone in this far corner of my brain.

Maybe I need to take a step back and uh, finger paint? I have no idea how to even tap into my right brain... could I make a list and meticulously follow it step by step until I've achieved it? If there are any strong right-brainers out there, please let me know!

Franken Plaza

It's been all of a couple of weeks since we've been downtown, so I decided to take the girls to check out a Chicagoween festivity. Every year Daley Plaza is transformed into "Franken Plaza." We were able to meet Brent for lunch and then stopped by his office so he could show off the girls (and so the girls could show off their costumes). After that, we strolled on over to check things out. Some highlights:

They dye the water in the fountain orange! A very impetuous dog ran right into it much to the chagrin of his owner.

There were regular performances by The Midnight Circus. By then Ireland was fast asleep but Liesel thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the acrobatics. I loved watching the Boys of Chicago who did some amazing stunts. 

Ireland (aka Sleeping Beauty's Aurora) was not too keen on the fake rat in the toddler maze.

Daley Plaza has a huge Pablo Picasso sculpture with a large tilted base. As we approached the plaza Liesel asked if she could go on the "slide" and I couldn't figure out what she was talking about. After I changed the girls into some warmer clothes, I let her have a go. Most of the kids were much older than she was and initially she would only walk up a few feet and then timidly slide down. After a while she dared going all the way to the top. She could have played there with the other kids all day! Ireland also wanted to try it so I took her with me a few times (hence no picture). She wailed when I buckled her back into her stroller.


I think the expression on her face says it all!

We were able to commute home with Dad. Ireland loved watching the world go by her window. When the conductor came by to punch our ticket, Liesel carefully examined it. I think she was expecting it to spell something ala Polar Express.

No Love Loss

Ireland and I are really settling into our new routine while Liesel's at preschool. We run errands, go visiting teaching, hit the playland, attend story hour at the library, or just spend some one on one time at home. Those 2 hours fly by and inevitably, it's time to get Liesel.

The Field Museum of Natural History

Yup, the University of Chicago called asking both girls to participate in separate studies. I was starting to worry they'd lost our number and was relieved to get the call. Another foray into downtown Chicago! I'd been missing the city. Looking at our very long list of places to see and things to do, I decided upon the Field Museum. That decision cemented when I found out about this exhibit: Chocolate Around the World? Yes please!

We drove right by The Museum of Science and Industry (currently my all-time favorite) and I felt a twinge of regret when I saw they had this exhibit:

Luckily it will be around through Jan. 8! Brent still hasn't been, so we'll have to make it a family trip. It's just we've done the Museum of Science and Industry and I wanted to try something different. So I stubbornly headed to Museum Campus. Some highlights:

The building is stunning. It's what every museum should look like. Just walking into the lobby made me want to paint or read or do something creative! Dinosaurs aren't really on Liesel's radar (mea culpa), but when she saw the skeleton of the famous "Sue" T. Rex, she was entranced. No matter which exhibit we saw, she wanted to circle back to this. She's still talking about the big "dragon." The skull was so big and heavy they had to use a fake. The real one is on display nearby.

I'd been forewarned there were a lot of aging dioramas on display. That actually worked to our advantage. By and large the girls weren't nearly as scared of the animals as they were at the Brookfield Zoo. We did pass an exhibit of Alaskan Bears... one of which was up on his hind legs and the size of an oak tree. Liesel loudly announced, "I'm scared, I wanna go, OKAY?!? The girl doesn't mince words!

Thank you Daniel Burnham!

I was able to get a pic of Liesel pointing out Chicago. Did you know the Field Museum was home turf for the fictional Indiana Jones? Yet another reason to love the Windy City.

I decided to save the Playlab for last. Supposedly it's the most interactive and age appropriate for the girls. I figured after just looking at things they'd be eager to get down and do something. However, Liesel was telling me she wanted to go home and even Ireland looked rather tired. We'll have to hit that one another time... and at the beginning of our visit.

Liesel's favorite part of the museum:
the drinking fountain just her size!

On the way home both girls fell asleep. It was raining and (of course) there was traffic. Somehow it was really peaceful for me to think about the things I saw and learned. I always wish I could have Brent with me but other than that I really enjoy my outings with the girls!

Yeah, Liesel wouldn't recommend this exhibit for tiny tots either.

If I could sum up the chocolate exhibit in one word it would be: meh. For unknown reasons strollers weren't allowed which was bizarre because there were mostly plaques. In a way it was good for Ireland to get out and run around a bit. Pretty soon that was the problem... she and Liesel were running around everywhere. Really, I don't know why they didn't allow strollers.

They also didn't allow pictures. At the end of the exhibit there was this giant truffle display and they had padded seats that also looked like truffles. I was so annoyed with the no stroller policy that I whipped out my camera and snapped away to my heart's content. Go ahead, call me a rebel. I also rip the tags off of mattresses and swim right after eating.

With the girls going kamikaze, I didn't get to read everything but I did learn Brazil consumes almost all the cacao it produces and that the Swiss consume the most chocolate per person. I'm looking forward to the Dr. Seuss exhibit for sure!

Plus Ca Change, Plus C'est Le Meme Chose

Five years ago...

 ...and today.

The post title is something my mother often says. It's French for "the more things change, the more they stay the same." We have more wrinkles and more white hairs than half a decade ago, but we're still so very much in love with each other. We're still counting ourselves lucky. We're still feeling like we married over our heads.

For our anniversary Brent and I headed down to Nauvoo for a temple session. My parents took the girls and loaned us their sweet so sweet '56 Thunderbird that served as our getaway car on the big day. We spent the night at the same inn. Wanna know how you can tell you've been married for 5 years? When a large part of your discussion centers on how the kids would love the big spa tub.

A kindly temple worker let us visit the room where we were sealed and then discreetly stayed outside. We stood between the two mirrors and again looked at the reflection of us going into the distance indefinitely. The concept of eternal families has so much more meaning to me now that we have the girls! Before leaving town, we picked up a few things at the bookstore and (of course) grabbed some Nauvoo fudge! The fudge shop also had delectable caramel apples and I knew right away I had to have one.

I'm salivating looking at this photo which, let's be honest, isn't
really all that flattering! It was a good caramel apple!

Because a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

... I"ll just let this one describe how Liesel's first dental appointment went.

The braids were inspired by Anna Kournikova on the most recent episode of The Biggest Loser. I'll refrain from multiple snarky comments about how that's the only inspiring thing I've found about her so far. Back to Liesel. The dentist said she was amazing and that she introduced herself to everyone in the office (including other patients). I have no idea where these sunglasses came from! I appreciate that they thought to take a picture of her for her first visit. Awesomeness.

Give Us This Day...

Making bread has become a favorite General Conference tradition for me. This October's batch turned out nigh on perfectly... unlike some of the disasters of the past. Go ahead and call my corny, but I feel a very real connection with my Grandma Grace as I knead the dough. I absolutely love how the house smells as the loaves are baking. Fresh bread with honey butter on it tastes like angel tears and baby smiles. Seeing the girls devour slice after slice makes my heart melt. Grandma made it for my mom, who made it for me and I'm making it for them. I'm happy to have a heritage of homemade bread!

Brent took Liesel in the Radio Flyer wagon to make some local deliveries. He wasn't too keen on doing it but I pointed out I wasn't dressed and didn't have a bra on. Brent tried to argue he didn't have one on either. That went over like a pregnant woman on a pole vault.