March Tidbits

While we were at a craft store, Sydney and I attempted to do the photo in the flower section thing. It didn't really work and we felt really weird doing it. I asked a guy working there if they saw that a lot and his expression said it all. He was pretty annoyed too.

 West Elementary had their annual Fun Fair and our cute neighbor was helping out with the face painting. Next year she will be at the middle school and we are all going to miss seeing her around the elementary school halls.

After dance, Sydney and I pop over to Starbucks for a little treat. We always sit at the counter overlooking the baristas so we can watch them make the drinks. I love our little mother-daughter time.

I can't get enough of her in her tutus!

We have very important discussion- like how to wink.

I saw this page about analyzing your poop in a health magazine and I thought it was informational as well as interesting so I framed it...

...and hung it right above the toilet. It makes me smile every time I see it.

This alert popped up on my phone about one of my old mission areas. So of course I had to contact my companeras and tell them it made the news! We saw so many crazy things go down serving in those rough areas.

My daughters informed me I'm supposed to bring a lunch of their choice and eat with them at the school for their birthdays. Brigitta's half birthday is in February and then Ireland and Liesel's are just a couple of weeks apart so I was at the school a lot with bags from Chick-fil-a. If I was there for one child, it only made sense to hang around and see the other two. When I visited Liesel's table, there was a father who was also visiting his son. During a lull in the conversation, I said, "So who's been in trouble today?!" Turns out it was the son of that father... and all the kids at the table totally tattled on him. I felt SO bad!

Chick-fil-a is fantastic, but I think the real treat was when the girls got to hug their little sister and show her off to their friends.

As we signed in, the office admin asked Sydney when she's going to start going to West. She's just bursting at the seams to join her sisters!

I decided to do the CrossFit Open and I'm so glad I did. It pushed me to lift heavier than I ever have and gave me some concrete goals for the year ahead. Workouts are announced on Thursday nights and participants have until Monday night to complete it. My weekends are so busy, I always did them during the Friday 5:20 AM class. For one whole day, I shot to the top of the leaderboard and I felt pretty awesome. Look at me! I'm in the top 7th percent!!!

Yeah, it didn't last. Especially since I still can't rx a workout.

We are trying to break Sydney of sneaking into bed with us, especially when there are so many other options if she's feeling lonely. Her sisters complain that she kicks and moves too much in her sleep- which is our main complaint as well. Every now an again it works though.

And it's pretty dang cute.

Liesel's 10th Birthday Party

Upon entering the age of double-digits, Liesel also entered the age of deciding if she wanted to have her ears pierced or not. It took her all of a New York minute to arrive at the decision that she definitely wanted to have her ears pierced. If she was going to have holes put in her body, I wanted it done right so my first stop was her pediatrician. He told me they used to do it, but they don't anymore. I started looking around at tattoo parlors, which I preferred to a kiosk at the mall, when I discovered ear piercing at the American Girl Store. They are certified and extremely careful and Liesel's doll could get her ears pierced right along with her. I'm not anxious for Liesel to grow up to quickly, so this was a perfect way to celebrate her youth.

I don't remember how Liesel talked me into making a party of it, but she absolutely did. Usually we make birthdays a strictly family affair, but somehow she convinced me to invite a couple of friends for lunch at the cafe to celebrate. Their moms were ecstatic and told me their girls pulled out their dolls in anticipation.

The cafe is incredibly cute- with little chairs for the dolls.

Not to mention those tiny cups and plates (which they got to keep)!

Even the menu items are adorable- sweet pink drinks.

Lovely cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles, of course.

We could have opted for the cake but we were still planning to have cake as a family. Not to mention we want to send her to college some day and the cafe is rather pricey! Liesel had a cute little sundae instead.

Both of Liesel's friends had already had their ears pierced and it was so funny to hear them give her advice on dealing with the pain. Some day they will commiserate over cramps, then pregnancy aches and then the creme de la creme- giving birth. It's such an innate part of womanhood- bonding over the pain. 

To say Liesel was apprehensive is an understatement. They were SO careful with the whole thing! The woman who did the piercing marked her earlobes first and asked me to check them, then asked Liesel. One was ever so slightly off and she immediately redid it until they looked perfect.

They gave her a stuffed animal to squeeze and amazingly, she made it through the whole ordeal just fine.

Having some sweet friends along never hurts.

Happy Birthday Liesel! Welcome to the age of double digits.

Spring Break Staycation

Perhaps it was the winter that was dragging on. Perhaps everyone else really was leaving town for greener pastures (literally). Perhaps it was a touch of Seasonal Affect Disorder. Whatever the case, I was absolutely not looking forward to Spring Break. After a couple days of staying home and trying to keep up with the messes, I piled the girls in the car and we headed downtown for a couple days to take advantage of our museum passes. We went to the Adler Planetarium:

We hit some of our favorite spots like this one.

And this one.

We were also able to catch one of the shows we've missed in the past. at the front of the auditorium there were all these giant, nylon beanbags. No one was using them so I told the girls to go try it.

When the girls are all together, I think they find a synergic courage among themselves. Any one of them on their own probably would have been too intimidated, but the 4 of them all at once was not as big a deal.

The rest of the kids in the auditorium came flooding down when they took notice so I'm glad the girls got a good spot front and center.

We always end up spending most of our time in the arts and crafts area. I have to tamp down my desire for them to become better educated on the heavens and just let them play around with some construction paper and glue. Perhaps I'm not as fond of that area because there's also no cell reception. They do always have entertaining jokes on the whiteboard!

To mix things up and help out a fellow mom, we invited our friends the Fitches to join us at the Museum of Science and Industry on another day. The girls loved showing off their favorite spots and then we left early to grab some cupcakes

We headed by Magnolia Bakery for some of their cupcakes.

Still the best buttercream frosting I've ever tasted!

The girls had worked up an appetite running around the museum.

We took a some pictures on the streets of Chicago.

We didn't go to Disney World or on a cruise or anything, but I think we managed to have some fun over Spring Break despite the cold! 

Art Institute with Aunt Julie

After Ireland's baptism, Julie stuck around for a few days to hang out with us. She's been to Chicago before so I wanted to do something different with her. Once the older 3 girls were back in school and Sydney had finished her dance class for the day, we headed downtown to the Chicago Art Institute.

Even though I know very little about art, there's something that feeds my soul when I spend time in a gallery. There are some pieces that catch my eye and I love just taking them in.

Sydney thought Van Gogh looked like Brent. I'm guessing it's the beard.

Chagall Windows. Sooo pretty!

Monet

Degas dancers. Sydney was kind of a tableau vivant in that part of the gallery! Except she never stops moving, ha ha!

I always come across pieced I don't recall having seen before.

Sydney busted out her pharaoh dance moves in the Greek, Roman and Byzantine gallery.

Julie had never been to a Shake Shack and there happens to be one right across from the Art Institute.

Those shakes really are top notch!

YUM!

Julie is such a fun lunch date! Sydney was happy to have her to herself.

Having recently discovered the Hancock Tower, we headed down Michigan Ave to take in those sights as well.

How cute is my sister in law?

This one is pretty cute too.