April Tid Bits

 For her Living Museum project, Sydney wanted to be Marie Antoinette. We talked about some things she could include on her poster and she really wanted to recreate this from the Diamond Necklace Scandal.

Turns out the local Hobby Lobby had a lot of stuff to work with! Sydney meticulously cut everything to size and then I punched holes in the foam board, strung twisty ties through it to hold everything in place and voila (pun)! We had it! 

The dress was its own scandal- I ordered one that simply wouldn't work so I had to order another and while I was at it, threw in the wig. Luckily, everything came in the nick of time. 

Sydney did so well with her monologue!

Brent sent me this screenshot after General Conference and it made me laugh!

Some flower arrangements. I really love the tulips which are so simple but beautiful.

Jeanne though these were fake- haha!

Ireland was inducted into National Junior Honors Society. Brent and I made a bet on which word would be used the most during the ceremony. He went with "service" and I bet on "excellence." Brent beat me out so next time I'm going with leadership or character. Those were biggies.

So proud of this girl!

After the 5th grade performance, Evie rushed to give Sydney a hug. She's her reading buddy and Evie has a sister in Sydney's grade and another in Ireland's grade so lots of connections there. Her mother told me Sydney has made a significant impact on her and Evie just adores Sydney.

Sydney's friend Molly matriculates to Huntley Middle School next year so they are getting in the squeezes as much as possible!

The elementary school principal is retiring after this year so I had to get a photo of all the girls with her! Say "West is Best!"

Shopping at Tiffany's (see the Audrey Hepburn portrait in the background?) and I have to say Ireland looks pretty awesome in these sunglasses!

Happy Easter! I swear we did baskets and everything but I didn't get a picture somehow. Boo.

Trip to the MOSI with Sydney and Gita! 

I have no idea why Gita put her face on the side of the ice wall. I also don't know why everyone has to melt their fingertips into it but it's a thing, for sure. 

The U505 exhibit always makes an impression on us! Can you tell the girls didn't want a picture together?

Individuals! Much better! Look at those smiles!

Getting their names listed in the Blue Paradox exhibit.

Sydney got a little ahead of herself on the hamster wheel.

Yet another appointment at UIHC for Ireland.

We learned they have two therapy dogs who work specifically with children. One can get in bed with the ones going through infusions for cancer treatment. The other has a large head so when a child is getting a shot or blood draw can put his head in their lap to distract them. I'm such a fan of therapy dogs!

Ireland's juvenile arthritis is not enough for her to be hospitalized so that's always a win, but you can see the trepidation on her face as she jumps for joy- she was worried about landing on her sore knees!

We were able to stop by Krystal's coffee shop as we left town and Ireland picked up this hoodie in support of cancer research. It's now her favorite hoodie!

I froze at several cross country meets and marveled at my girl Gita who runs in the wind and cold... intentionally!

This sparked an interesting conversation with my friend Malcolm who graduated from Harvard in Astronomy. Apparently there are other names like The Extremely Large Telescope and the Giant Magellan Telescope. Apparently the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope was cancelled to focus resources on the Extremely Large Telescope.

Brent's parents came for a visit and treated us all to dinner at DC Cobbs in Woodstock. BJ was pretty happy with his order!

We were very grateful for a hot meal we did not have to prepare!

That's April!

Liesel's Prom

 Raising four daughters, I can attest to the extreme rarity of a teenage girl feeling beautiful and happy and comfortable in her skin all at once. Liesel hit the trifecta as she slipped on that stunning gown for Prom. 

But let's back up for a second. Waaaay back in February I asked Liesel if she wanted to go shopping for a Prom dress. I'm sure Prom was the furthest thing from her mind- she didn't even have a date yet, but I like to plan ahead and I wanted to lock down a dress before they were picked over. We went to the Woodfield Mall and perused the selection there. There were a couple of contenders, but nothing that knocked our socks off. 

Liesel was getting tired, most of Saturday was now gone when I begged her to go to one more place- Gipper Prom. I'd driven by lots of times but never gone in. Turns out they have the Prom scene locked down. Whenever a dress is purchased, they write down the name and which Prom the dress will be worn at so no one else buys the same one for the same dance. This is where my early planning came in handy- we still had our pick. This one was beautiful but the beige wasn't quite right.

This one was ok. The color was definitely better.

The beige beaded number did come in blue, but Liesel was told someone at Central had already purchased it. After double-checking, turns out it had been purchased for Prom at Prairie Ridge and they had just 1 dress left in a 0. Another girl was trying on the same dress in the same color and once it was off her body, I practically ran to the register at the front of the store!

If you buy the dress, the Promposal will come...

We had one more shopping trip to get the accessories and then the Saturday before Liesel had her nails done. On the day of Prom, and for the first time in years, she asked me to do her hair!

My gosh she looked statuesque and stunning!

Fortunately Grandma and Grandpa Wuehler were in town so they got to see her all dressed up.

Back in the day when we were looking for a house to buy, I saw this entryway and imagined my girls walking down these stairs in their prom dresses!

We were a little early for the group photos so I took some individuals while we waited.

I took Liesel into this alleyway where it just so happened the sun was shining on the brighter, white side which then bounced off the peachy-beige bricks on the other side which made Liesel absolutely GLOW! I was able to spread out the small train to show off the bead work which from this moment on began to unravel. Those beads were secured with long strands of thread on the underside so if anything caught, the strand broke and the beads went flying. 

At long last everyone arrived and we were finally able to get some photos with Liesel's date Daniel and the group they went with.

In case you can't tell, there's a bit of a height difference already, and Liesel was in very high heels.

By the time we made it back to the alley, the sun had moved so it was no longer awash in light. Still a fun place to take a "broken dolls" photo.

My friend Heather lives along the lake and she invited us back to her place for a few more photos by the water since we still had time. The high schools here do a promenade at the high school and then they all load onto school buses and go to the venue (this year was Stonegate in Hoffman Estates) for the dinner and dance. Then they all come home on school busses which I find so odd but I'm guessing they do it to keep kids from drinking and driving. 

They looked so great and had a fantastic time!

I feel like some disappointment is an intrinsic part of every Prom. The whole event gets built up so much and romanticized in films, there's just no way reality can live up to the hype. Liesel said the food was ok but the music could have been better. They cut off Mr. Brightside but then for some reason let Fe!n play for a really long time.  

I'm really glad she got to participate in this rite of passage!

Liesel is SEVENTEEN!!!

 Not gonna lie, I was having a hard time with Liesel no longer being sixteen going on seventeen. Now she is seventeen and for some reason an internal clock is ticking down to eighteen when she will be grown and ready to leave us. There's so much beauty in this girl and I don't just mean that peaches and cream complexion of hers. She's a thoughtful and kind person through and through. Liesel is deeply concerned about this world which makes her a more conscientious teen than most. 

Her birthday fell right in the middle of a jam-packed week but we found time to celebrate her. Traditional breakfast in bed:

Liesel is not materialistic. She'd rather thrift than buy into rampant materialism but when it was suggested we could upgrade her turntable for a really nice one, she was thrilled. She loves collecting records and has some really great ones she keeps in rotation (PUN!). 

This girl definitely deserves to be feted! She had her favorite cake and we sang until those long candles were small piles of melted wax.

Came across this old picture and I told her how I remember walking through the mall with her and a little girl said to her mother, "Mom, mom, look! It's a princess!" 

So she is. I love my Liesel girl and I love the person she's growing into!