Harry Potter: Magic at Play

When I saw this was coming to Chicago, it was a no-brainer to take Ireland for her birthday. Her cute friend tagged along and since we had virtually no traffic coming into town, we parked and stopped at Starbucks before heading over. It was fun to chat with the girls about school, parents, etc over a hot chocolate. There was a bit of a line to get in but it was fun to see what everyone was wearing. Ireland would wear her Ravenclaw robes on the daily if it weren't a bit socially odd. 

Get ready for a lot of pics! There were so many great photo ops while we waited.

Great quote!

First we began at the Dursley's house at number 5 Privet Drive.

A hurricane of letters from Hogwarts coming out of the fireplace. Almost all the pictures on that fireplace were of Dudley. 

You could peek in at the room under the stairs.

Next on to Platform 9 3/4! We spent some time here getting the perfect shot.

Finally on to the Hogwarts Express!

From there across the lack where you could see Hogwarts in the distance.

These Marauder's Map footprints guided us where to go.

The Great Hall had a table and banners for all the houses.

On to get sorted...

...and straightaway to class!

I understand Hermione's exasperation, "wingardium leviosa" doesn't seem that difficult to master.

I absolutely loved the wall at Divination! All those tea cups!

Take a closer look at that.

This was one of my favorite parts!

This one tested your knowledge a bit.

The dusty jars were so cool. Made me want to whip up a potion!

Double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble!

The cornish pixies wreaked havok!

I'm just now realizing Hogwarts didn't have much by way of extracurriculars aside from Quidditch.

To enter the Forbidden Forest, you had to use a lantern with a black light- so genius!

With the light you could see images like your patronus! This section even felt a little cool and damp!

On to Hagrid's and his giant pumpkins!

Next was a maze.

With the Whomping Willow at the center!

We made it out of the maze...

...and on to the Knight Bus and having seen everything, were ready to head home.

But where is home, really?

Had to grab some butterbeer for the road!

I had a lot of fun doing a little HP geeking out with Ireland and her friend! Ireland's fervent love of HP is one of her most endearing traits, for sure. We stopped by the nearby Cheesecake Factory for lunch before heading home, our imaginations filled with the world of Harry Potter.

Ireland is a TEENAGER!!!

 For the big 13, Ireland asked for a big, farm breakfast to celebrate.  

She also had her traditional pie instead of cake. I love how much she has embraced being a Pi baby! We did need to have an alternate pie for those on the Chocolate Challenge but everyone was pretty happy. 

Ireland is gracefully entering her teen years, for sure. She has an incredible sense of self that I sure did not posses at her young age. Ireland isn't afraid to stand out- she knows what's important to her and she sticks to it. More than one mom has contacted me asking that their struggling daughter spend a little more time with Ireland. Ireland is proud to be a geek and her education is a high priority in her life. Her work ethic is fantastic and there's no one I'd rather have by my side when tackling a project. She has incredible insight and I love our talks. She's also got a great sense of humor and she makes me laugh.

Over the years she has learned to manage her asthma well. She's working on making choices with her emotions- getting along with her sisters is a daily struggle. Ireland isn't without fault but my gosh we sure feel lucky to have her! I see a bright future ahead of her and she is well-loved by family, friends, teachers and church leaders. I can't wait to see what her teen years bring!

The Addams Family Musical

Liesel expressed interest in participating in the high school musical and mentioned there was a required parent information session. Brent and I didn't think much of it at the time- it could be like a little date night! Liesel (friendly reminder, who is ADD) reminded us more than once. Which is more than a little unusual. She was really excited about this prospect. There were not just singing but dancing parts and well, that was right in her wheelhouse. 

At that meeting Brent and I realized Liesel wasn't taking part in the musical so much as joining a cult. We were blown away with the rigorous rehearsal schedule, costume ($$$) and makeup requirements, calls for parental support on building, painting and striking set. Not to mention donations for food and supplies, ushering, ticket sales, poster distribution around the community- I mean, wow.  

We instantly had a lot more respect for her choir teacher who up until now just seemed like a cheerful lady who did this as almost a side gig. Oh no, the high school musical is something she has honed for years on top of everything else she does. At the end of the meeting we asked if she ever goes home at night and she laughed then deadly serious said, "Usually after April things calm down." 

Liesel got a part as a "Dancestor" which is one of the ghostly ancestors who also dances. The choreographer was from Chicago and could only be at the school on specific days. We were trying to balance Liesel's dance schedule and it was rough getting that to work for everyone. I finally had to have a call with the choir director to determine which days Liesel could miss part of recital, all of recital and when she'd have to miss dance because she really needed to be around. The idea of Liesel missing something we were paying for made me grind my teeth. Liesel spaced on the first day of rehearsal and had to miss some of the second day to go to dance. To make it worse, I had to find a way into the school to grab her since she lost track of time. The choreographer chastised her in front of everyone and that made me grind my teeth as well.

We were lucky to have a couple of friends with kids in the musical who helped out with rides and that made things bearable. It seemed like Liesel was always at rehearsal and having to run out in the cold to pick her up was never fun. Sometimes they would go over. Sometimes they would end early and she was desperate to go home.

Tech week was something else. She was gone all the time and really struggled to stay on top of everything else in her life. Liesel casually mentioned she needed character shoes- a tidy sum of $100 to plunk down for those! At this point, I was pretty bitter about the musical and ready to swear never to have a kid involved in one again. 

Liesel told me if it weren't for musical, she didn't think she'd have any friends at school. She was hanging out with kids from all grades and truly having a blast. I told her when I heard that the president of the United States had sat in the Situation Room and said, "I know how to resolve fighting in the middle east because I was in a high school production of Annie" I'd change my mind. Until then, I failed to see the value of being in the musical.

Opening night finally arrived and I have to say the set was pretty incredible.

I briefly wondered if I would be able to recognize Liesel in hair, makeup and costume but the second she danced onto the stage I could pick her out immediately. I've been watching her dance since she could stand! I had a moment- THE motherhood moment where she burst onto the stage dancing her heart out in character and moving like she knows something about life and as tall as everyone else... my baby's all grown up!

Even from the balcony I could tell she loved it. Everyone did!

The production was finely honed, rehearsed to perfection and so well done!

Liesel's little sisters not only loved the musical, but they all determined right then and there that high school musicals were a part of their future too. 

All those rehearsals with the choreographer made sense as I saw the dance numbers unfold. There were a lot of kids in this musical- it was surely a lot to coordinate!

Did I mention it was completely sold out? We ran into someone who mentioned they wanted to go and I had to tell them so sorry! That was not an option any more. This meant the excess funds would go back into the choir department which is really incredible.

As Liesel exited stage left with her adorable wave, I couldn't have been more proud of her and all her hard work.

Liesel showed real dedication and juggled so many things between school, seminary, dance, church activities and her own sanity to be a part of this production. They absolutely slayed. She found a family within that Addams Family, for sure.

Brava!

February Tid Bits

February was ROUGH I tell you! Brent had to go into the office a lot so I was on my own with the girls day and night. The weather was what you'd expect of the Midwest in February. Liesel was in the musical which we initially thought was a cute thing to do and soon realized it was akin to joining a cult. The practices lasted until 9PM and we were constantly balancing them with dance. It seemed like everyone in our sphere was just struggling. We made it through though and here are some highlights: 

Liesel decided to start the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge and we had some fun at Barnes and Noble picking out a handful of books to start her on that journey.

Me: When can you file our tax return?
Brent: I just have to pull everything together to do it. I think today is the first day to file anyway.
Me: So can it be done today?
Brent: Uhmmm I'm kind of busy!
Me: I'm taking sex off your plate so you have time now. You don't have to make love to me over your lunch hour today! Doesn't that help?

Brent's face... LOL!!!

Speaking of sex...
Brent & I: We thought we'd check in with you on the subject of sex. How are you feeling about it? Do you have any questions? You know you can talk to us, right?
Ireland: I'm just tryin; to eat my pretzels man.

We volunteered at Feed My Starving Children. Liesel, Ireland and Brigitta prepared packets:

Sydney had a little bit of a cold so we did labels:

Brent worked the warehouse:

It was nice to have a little 1:1 time with this one amidst all the bustle and hustle that is FMSC.

She really loves volunteering!

Told Liesel about how my mom called it a "seam un-ripper" and how she called it a "hair blow dryer"
Liesel: Did she call it a screw gun?
Me: Of course not. She had class.

For Valentine's Day we did homemade cards with Hot Wheels taped to a card with a curvy road printed on them and cute phrases like: Valentine, you're firing on all cylinders! I "wheely" like you! Beep! Beep! My Valentine and Don't "brake" my heart. They were a big hit and the girls loved deciding which classmates would get which car. As always, we gave the teachers some scratchers and those are also a big hit.

Liesel came with me to Office Depot to print out the cards and cut them. While we were waiting, she wandered around the store and found a familiar face saved on one of the tablets!

Brent sent me some lovely roses.

Ireland got some sweets from her sweet. Nicholas is a pretty great boyfriend, for sure.

This license plate made me laugh!

 Just when I was feeling like I have all the Disney pins I could want, these popped up on shopDisney and well, I had to have them! Dreaming of our Disney vacation was definitely a theme of February.

Whitney's pregnancy has been pretty rough and Gita wanted to feel some sympathy pains.

Our lovely friends invited us for dinner where she cooked food from her native Philippines. YUM!!! The best part? She let us take home the leftovers along with ice cream she invented!

Dallin H. Oaks had a fireside for the youth and Ireland got to shake his hand!

During Stand Up at work somehow the conversation turned to the weapons people keep near their desk and all the Chicago CSA's started showing off their aluminum baseball bat, replica key blade, mace... then I pulled out this lovely piece.

When Liesel is out with her friends and she doesn't answer her text messages, I send her photos of Brent and I kissing. The longer she takes to respond, the more graphic they get. 

Cutest little bedhead!

I've been wanting to finish this Christmas sampler for a while! I did absolutely nothing but send it to my quilter and then put the binding on. I mean it's a biased cut binding (that I happened to have in my sewing bag) but still, it was some work! I wanted to have it done for last Christmas but hey, it will be great for next Christmas too.

I finally put the binding on this one as well! I don't do panel quilts because I kinda think they are cheating but I'm happy with the way this one turned out! At the fabric store, I called Katrina to ask about yardage. Since she got me into this quilt I was giving her a hard time. After saying, "Yes I hate you and you're ruining my life! Ok love you bye" I looked around and realized the whole store had been listening in on our conversation.

Everything started closing as an ice storm ramped up and I left work to grab my girls.

Overnight the wind picked up so there were a lot of downed branches. They looked like shattered glass!

Brent and I have noticed Brigitta always seems to have a lot of money and we've always wondered from whence it came. They were at the store when Gita informed him she has a business. She's using the jewelry making kit Grandma Wuehler gave her for Christmas to make bracelets which she sells during recess. Apparently it's a pretty robust business- she has a two-tiered pricing method!
I asked Ireland about it and she said, "Yeah, and she refused to let me be her manager! Can you believe that?"

RAAAAWR!!!!!

Because I've never grown up, I love scaring my kids. It's actually been a parenting method I've employed over the years since I don't like to spank them but sometimes they absolutely drive me up the wall. My foolish hope is that someday when I am dead and gone and something scares my girls, after the initial shock they will be able to laugh it off and maybe I'll be in heaven laughing along with them.

I could tell Gita was in my room rooting around in the laundry and decided to surprise her: