ASL Concert

I feel like there's nothing that helps one understand the English language better than studying another language... and that's especially true with American sign language. I'm so grateful our elementary school has an ASL club and I was excited for Ireland to join Liesel, who now has a couple of years under her belt.

Unfortunately, Ireland had a tiny cough that quickly escalated into a full-blown asthma attack (changes of season are always hard on her) and even though I had her on medication, she was still not feeling quite up to par the night of the concert. See those ruddy cheeks? That's a side effect of her corticosteroid. They both did a fantastic job though and this year a local news network gave the school some coverage (see here) so the girls have now been on TV!

As you can see from the link, the kids learned to sign to Go Cubs, Go! so we were asked to dress them in Cubs gear. Even though we will forever be Red Sox fans, we kind of need to give a nod to the Cubbies or we will get chased out of town with torches and pitchforks.

I begged the girls to teach me how to sign to Roar so here's just a snippet (I love, love, love their little dancing there at the end).

If you want to see the whole song, here's my video of Ireland.

ASL concerts are always short, but so very sweet!

Ireland's Dollhouse

Ireland began asking for a dollhouse around Christmas 2014. I can't remember what she received that year, but I remember the ship had sailed on a big-ticket item. Her pleas for a dollhouse continued all through 2015 and with the holidays approaching again, I began a cursory search. Turns out they can be rather expensive. I mentioned Ireland's ardent desire to my parents and my sisters, who also joined the hunt. 

At our local Hobby Lobby, I noticed one of the dollhouses on display was damaged and so I asked a worker if there was any way I could purchase it at a discount. It doesn't hurt to ask, right? She radioed the manager and it turns out they had a fully-assembled but unpainted one, that was NOT broken, that they were willing to sell me at a discount. When I got to the checkout, I asked if I could use that week's 40% off coupon. It doesn't hurt to ask, right? The clerk radioed the manager and she gave the ok. I burst into tears right then and there.

While I wiped away my tears, I blubbered to the clerk that my little girl had been asking for a dollhouse for years and they were so expensive but I really wanted to get her one before she was too big to care about something as sweet and innocent as a dollhouse anymore and well, she radioed the manager once again and said, "You just made this customer very happy!"

In case you don't remember Ireland's reaction to getting her dollhouse, let's review:

It was her DREAM!!!

Somehow I thought painting that sucker and putting it together would be easy peasy. Somehow I forgot, as I always do, that I have a knack for making projects much more complicated than they should be. Days grew into weeks and weeks into months and when Christmas rolled around again, I felt awful that the dollhouse still wasn't finished. I put it on the table, right in front of the TV so I'd have to look at it every day and decided come hell or high water, I would have it done by her birthday.

As we don't have the big bucks required to tackle some of our own home renovations, I found working on the dollhouse rather therapeutic. Ireland narrowed down her choice of color to a pretty green, which I love. I honestly try not to inundate her with shamrocks and green and everything Irish, for fear she will end up hating her name. Even so, she really embraces it so a green dollhouse it was. I was SO excited to add the tulips to the window boxes! They're so cheerful.

I love the rocker and welcome mat!

Living room. I sent a picture of the music on the grand piano to a dear friend who teaches piano and she blew it up and played it for Ireland. It's a sweet little tune.

I tried to put touches all throughout the house to quietly indicate this is IRELAND'S dollhouse and I was thrilled to find these little maps... one of which has the British Isles (including Ireland) on it. Hammering in those teeny, tiny nails was surprisingly difficult.

Kitchen. The table, chairs, broom and spilled pail of milk were donated by my mother. As a kid I remember playing with the pail, it just looked so cool to me and I'm so happy now it's living in Ireland's dollhouse. I just about flipped out when I found the little cuckoo clock, it just seemed so perfect for a farm kitchen!

Again, I wanted to put in little touches here and there that were unique to Ireland, so a shamrock layered cake seemed perfect.

Master bedroom. I'm a sucker for the tiny parcels of mail.

There's a little pot of shamrocks at the top of the stairs. So sweet!

Bathroom. This is one of the colors Ireland considered for the exterior of the dollhouse. Even though it wasn't the big color, I wanted to incorporate it somewhere and this seemed the best place. Eventually I'd like to figure out how to hang up some towels racks and towels in the bathroom, but until then this works well. The tiny scale just kills me!

The baby gets the top floor with the dormer window. The bassinet is for when she is particularly fussy and needs to be rocked to sleep. I'd like to create a mobile to go above that crib... eventually.

There's a sewing room for Mom!

And sister's room is complete with her own little dollhouse. That's actually my favorite part of the dollhouse!The bed could use an update... eventually. I could seriously spend weeks and weeks on the details of this house.

I've read that little girls love dollhouses because it gives them the power and imagination to play out daily life on a tiny, non-intimidating stage. Every now and again, I check in on the dollhouse inhabitants, which has been interesting to say the least. One morning when Brent had been rather crabby, I found the dollhouse father in the baby's crib. I found the dollhouse toilet in the master bedroom on a day the girls were fighting over bathroom time. I can't help but smile when Ireland grouses about how things have been moved while she was at school and I know Brigitta or Sydney has disrupted the delicate balance of harmony she'd created.

Did I mention we put it on a turntable? That really ended up being a smart move because I can just spin it around when it's not being played with and it's just a sweet little accessory to the room... the color even coordinated with the room!

More than anything, I'm so glad Ireland loves the dollhouse! It was way more work than I anticipated, but so worth it.

Ireland is SEVEN!!!

My sweet Ireland-girl has taken yet another trip around the sun. Her legs have lengthened, her mind has quickened, and she's even lost a tooth or two. No matter how much she grows, at her very core is the kind, sensitive, cuddly girl she's been since birth.

However life ends up thrashing her around, I hope she never loses the light in her eyes!

Traditional breakfast in bed, along with all of her birthday cards and the latest Highlights magazine.

No editing from Mom on this outfit, and he hair was done per her request.

Ireland is still (impressively) off of chocolate so we had a strawberry Coldstone ice cream cake for dessert.

She didn't seem to mind...

Ireland's big present was a mirror I had custom-made just for her. There are two shamrocks in the upper right corner because she is the second child. Brent and I had barely hung it up when she was right in front of it preening. I may take a photo of her in it every year... it might be fun to see how the reflection changes as time marches forward!

I cannot gush enough about this year's birthday photos. Ireland just adored the couple who taught her Primary class last year. To this day she will ask to go sit with them during Sacrament meeting and then cuddle up with them. They were so kind to her, and love her so very much. I have all kinds of photos of Ireland, this year I just wanted a handful of pictures taken by skilled photographers who love her and let their view of her (through their lens) speak for itself. 

Oh man, we got way more than we bargained for! I don't know if I can ever face them again because the photos we received would have come from a shoot 4X more expensive than what we paid. They gave us so many options and the editing is just beautiful. Here is a glut of my very favorites:

Fresh faced!

For a tender-hearted girl, Ireland is our household spider-killer. She has no qualms about stomping a six-legged intruder to death. In this photo I'm told she was watching a spider on the rocks below. No surprise she's as calm as the waters in the pond behind her- bugs don't often unnerve her! I love the curtain of long hair and how her lips are silhouetted against the sun shining on her hair.

I'd like to think this is how Ireland sat in Primary for the Miccolises- very reverently and calmly.

The only thing I requested for Ireland's photos was a really good shot of her eyes. BAM! Done.

Even in black and white they just hit me.

Ireland's sentimental side come across so much better in photos where she's not directly looking into the camera.

This was the last time she wore this dress as it was getting too small for her. Sniff, sniff!

Ireland has never been one to want to grow up too fast *knock on wood* and we are really enjoying this age with her. She's such a joy to be around, although she doesn't often demand a lot of attention. She can still burst into tears, especially if she feels misjudged or when she's been struggling with her asthma and life gets a little overwhelming. Ireland has so many friends! We joke all the time that Brent may have to get a second job to cover the gifts required for all the birthday parties she attends. Her teachers give nothing but glowing reports and she's at the tip top of her class. She's fully embraced her name and loves reading about the country of Ireland, knows the flag oh so well and really brightens up around St. Patrick's Day. She's not perfect of course- she has flatulence like her father and usually lets one fly when I'm right in the middle of a braid and can't exactly go anywhere for fresh air. She can tangle with her sisters and has a pterodactyl shriek that makes me want to throw myself off a balcony. But she can also be gentle and kind to those who need a friendly smile and remembers so many people in her prayers.

We love our little Ireland and are excited to see what this next year brings!