February Tid Bits

 February was filled with basketball games at the middle school. This year they've combined the dance team and cheer teams so Sydney got to do a little bit of stunting as a flyer. Ironically, she chastized me for not watching her enough and being distracted by my phone- which is pot? Kettle? Black? For the record, I was absolutely watching if and when she did anything but it is a lot of waiting around. 

She had a lot of fun!

I arrive at work around sunrise and being on the 17th floor I've been able to witness some really incredible skylines. Tough to see due to the low hanging clouds but that's Chicago on the right hand side way in the background. 

Brent helped a family in the ward with their well water pump. He was gone for half the day and came back absolutely filthy. Love that service-minded husband of mine!

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to do more games with the girls on Sundays. Somehow that morphed into the girls doing JackBox games with the extended family and you know what? I don't mind a bit- especially when it gets them gathered together in the office having fun! See Gita smooshed there in the corner?

Gita saw the irises (Jeanne's favorite flower) and insisted I buy them for that week's arrangement. So this bouquet is dedicated to her!

I have successfully kept a rosemary plant alive for several months! Usually they are shriveled up and dead because I over-watered or under-watered. A coworker told me she heard the secret is to just water the roots and since they are a Mediterrenean plant I used the warm-ish water from my hot water bottle. I also jostled the plant a bit since they thrive in windy conditions as well and so far, so good! This may not seem like a big deal but for me, it's a BIG DEAL!

We made it to the temple as a family! Not without Gita kicking Ireland in the back as we walked in and Sydney squealing like a stuck pig when I tried to brush her hair and braid it and Liesel complaining she was going to be late for musical rehearsal (which was all of 10 minutes). But we made it!

Prom Dress Shopping

This wasn't our first time at the rodeo when it comes to shopping for a Prom dress. This time we headed straight to Gipper Prom on a night when Liesel actually had a little time. We sifted through the aisles of massively immodest and overly embellished gowns and found a few that might fit the bill. At first she was rather quiet and I told her we could leave if she just wasn't feeling it. She said it was fine, she wanted to "get it overwith." Finally it was her turn to try on her selections. 

I did love this first one with the scalloped edging. It was Prom, for sure but it didn't look.... I dunno... special? I was kind of just a basic gown, pretty as it was. You can read my thoughts all over my face there in the background.

Next was the green dress and oh my.

Suddenly Liesel came alive. Her skin glowed as the green was a fabulous shade for her (green is her favorite!). Even though she said she wasn't fond of the corset tops this one had the pleated fabric to add a little more interest. I am really not a fan of sleeveless dresses because girls end up just tugging it up all night. The salesperson mentioned it had straps that could be hooked on and this might sound crazy (since they are just thin spaghetti straps) but it totally changed the look of the whole dress!

Last year we saw a different version of this dress which is a fun play on a tuxedo look. This year we both jumped at the chance for her to try it on and while it looked good, it was a true strapless dress with a slit that went sky high. Such a cute idea, and it was a contender, for sure. 

They didn't have this beaded dress in Liesel's siza available to try on, it was somewhere in the store but they couldn't locate it so they cinched the waist. We both agreed it was really pretty- but she did the beaded thing last year and she wanted something different this year. 

The final dress was another black dress that just had beading on the top. Like many dresses, there was a sky-high slit and I suggested she try sitting down in it. The sky high slit went even higher and she was visibly uncomfortable. By now we were both leaning toward either the green dress or the tuxedo dress.  

Liesel decided to try the green dress on again while I sent pictures to the family and my sisters. Pretty much everyone loved the green dress but it was when I called my sister Whitney that it was decided- the green dress was the winner. I can't tell you what unadulerated joy it gave me to hand the phone to Liesel and watch her smile, laugh and pose while chatting with her auntie who loves her so very much! Then I got a look at the price which was on sale and about 25% the cost of last year's dress. Brent told me to run to the register- haha! We snagged it and she's going to look just beautiful!

Liesel's Powder Photos

I'm not sure senior photos are a thing anymore. Back in my day I remember my friends getting fancy pictures taken with outfit changes and makeup artists and everyone had little wallet-sized copies to hand out. I went to Sears. All of my older siblings had gone to Sears starting with Joey who happened to work there and didn't care much about his senior photos. So unless I was going to pay for it, I had to get my picture taken at Sears. Oh how I hated that photo! I had to borrow/steal a vest from Katrina, I look pale and my smile is werid and it hung on our walls for what felt like ages until my wedding photo replaced it. So, even though senior photos aren't a thing anymore, I wanted to get photos of Liesel in all her 17 year glory so we enlisted Ron McKinney and signed up for a powder shoot. 

At first Liesel didn't seem terribly into it- more like she was just going along with it to make me happy. But as she settled into the shoot and Ron flashed those amazing pictures on the screen she lit up.

I wanted just one photo of her on tiptoe showing off those long legs of hers. Liesel is "puro pierna"!!!

I thought that last photo would be the money shot but when I saw this one- oh this immediately became my favorite! She's up on tiptoe which gives her leg muscles definition and then there's the arch of the back and the way that hand is reaching up to the sky. I also love the contrast of the green leotard and the pink powder she threw. This is definitely my favorite!

I think the video shows how incredible Ron is at getting that perfect moment as the powder is thrown. If the pose is really complicated he will have the subject throw the powder afterward and then stitch it together but the pink one came out perfectly.

I think it's safe to say this one is Liesel's favorite. She had to carefully balance so she didn't completely fall down and her powder throw makes it look like she has wings. This was the final shot and by now she was relaxed and confident and it shows in her face.

She's so beautiful I could cry, and like most teenage girls, she has no idea. Here's how she looked after the shoot- just completely covered in powder!

I think she looks pretty fantastic like this too!

January Tid Bits

 Now that church is at 11:00 am, when Brent has meetings afterwards and we all know we aren't eating until 5:00 pm we run through the McDonalds on the way home for nuggets. Something about it just feels so good! I know Brent knows, but it still feels like our dirty little secret- haha!

Gita has been choosing high school electives and extracurriculars this month! It's not quite so exciting when we insist she takes Spanish and Choir because that fills her schedule right up. She decided to take on AP Human Geography as well after a pretty impressive presentation by the teacher and her students.

Gita also tried her hand and cooking up the chocolate croissants from Trader Joes- YUM!

Me: I realized something about myself! I don't know if you've noticed but now and again I whine?

Gita: Yeah I've noticed. 

Me: Okayyyyy... anyway, the reason I do is because I wasn't allowed to as a child. My Dad would have smacked me upside the head and my Mom would threaten to have my Dad smack me upside the head. So every now and again it just feels good to whine.

Gita: I thought you whined because you were on your period.

I flew United to South Carolina to watch Madeleine while Tim & Whitney were at a wedding. Brent and I were re-thinking our Admiral's Club membership since it is a pretty penny. One trip to O'Hare without it and I told him it is definitely worth it! Count up the luggage fees ($40 each way), having to grab food, purchasing Wifi... you pay one way or another and the savings to do it on the cheap just isn't worth it! I didn't even get to walk down the Hall of Flags. I walked a short hall of blue orbs instead.

Totally worth it to hang out with this girl and her little girl! It was a lovely mental reset right in the middle of midwinter!

With Trumps threats to take over Greenland I pulled out my Danish krone earrings as a silent protest.

Amazing sunrise over the city on a cold, cold day!

Liesel was feeling some David Bowie and I think she did an amazing job recreating the look!

Brent and I snuck in a little lunch date with her between classes.

My mother bought this elephant in South Africa and she used it as a little stand for a plant. The legs were uneven and she tried putting felt protector pads on the shorter side but they were a bit big since the legs aren't perfectly round. It had also been knocked around quite a bit in moving and storage and I really wanted to spruce it up. What was supposed to be a 15 min project stretched into multiple days but in the end it is level, there are custom-cut felt pads on each of the legs and it's been restained back to a beautiful ebony. 

Gita gave me a stank look when I put on this hat Sydney and I picked up from an estate sale.

Me: What? I think I look aswesome and I look like a Russian oligarch's wife.

Gita: Those two things can't be the same thing.

I had Ireland drive to the mall. After painstakingly guiding her through the on ramps, freways (yes MULTIPLE) and parking on the upper level, I was feeling like a good Mom. She hopped out of the car and said, "You know who's great a teaching you how to drive? WHITNEY!"

The girls had cleaned out their closets and I was on a mission to fill in any wardrobe blanks with some shopping. We managed to grab lunch at Zupas which is a favorite spot whenever we're near the Woodfield Mall.

And that was January!

December Tid Bits

 One of my former coworkers is an incredible photographer. The moon was big and bright and looking like a warm orb in what was actually a freezing cold sky so I texted him. He sent me this photo he took and I loved bonding with him in that moment over the majesty of it all.  

Hardly anyone requires cash anymore and every year I have forgotten to bring money to get into the Cheer and Dance Team Showcase but this year I was prepared with my cash. And not just to get in! But for snacks as well! Turns out they have moved to digital wallet- wah waaaaah. In any case, I was able to snag a good seat even though I arrived after it started. 

Gita has already expressed interest in doing dance team at the high school level and I think she's really going to thrive. She's definitely had fun doing dance team at the middle school.

It's so interesting how a warm sunrise can make a bitterly cold day feel a bit less harsh.

On my lunch hour I walk the mall to do a bit of window shopping and get away from my desk. I made the mistake of stopping in to Box Lunch and discovered these mystery pin packs of Disney princess macarons. A few boxes in and I was obsessed with getting them all- to the point I bought every last box they had. Turns out those last 3 were exactly the pins I was missing and I ended up with the full set! Sounds silly but it was a bit of fun I really needed. 

The office is cold but with the holidays I had the perfect excuse to wear a festive scarf and hat!

The people at work can be raccoons with the free food. One morning there was a huge bowl of avocados and someone took all the avocados including the bowl! Eventually the bowl returned, but I decided to form an alliance with the woman who orders and lays out the food. Eventually I got my avocado and enjoyed it with cream cheese on toast with some salt and pepper. It was fabulous!

Brent and I had a great time at his work holiday party. We were only there for about an hour and half which is my sweet spot. We chatted with a few people, ate the delicious food and headed back to our hotel for a quiet night (what we really needed in the middle of the hectic holiday season). 

Love getting a night to ourselves to just slow down and connect.

The food really was SO good!

With school out for the year I encouraged the girls to clean out their closets and drawers and donate items they didn't feel had a place in the New Year. I found Liesel in her room, sitting inside a drawer she had pulled out of her dresser... ahhh I love my ADD girl!

High on her priority list was to get her haircut and Brent helped make that happen. I will always miss her long, blonde locks but this definitely looks better than her grown out 'do!

The older two girls were busy with a Madrigal's performance at another church so they missed the ward Christmas party but we had fun anyway. There was also a service project putting together meal kits which was a lovely addition.