October Tidbits

I received the following email from Ireland's health teacher:

Congratulations are in order for your student! I am pleased to tell you that your student earned the Health Student Award this term. In order to receive this award all work needs to be turned in on time, earbuds/headphones brought to class and Chromebook charged every day. Students need to come to class on time, be kind, respectful and polite.
Please congratulate your kiddo for being a great health student!

Recipients were given a certificate, a free individual pizza from Nick's Pizza and Pub, an all staff email to their teachers, and a shout out in our daily announcements.

So proud of you Ireland!

Traditional Conference bread! YUM!!!

Me: Sooo Gita says the reason you get along with Sydney is because you like her baby voice.

Liesel: Really? I hate it...

Sydney: *face falls*

Brigitta's doorway splits are getting pretty good....

...but every now and again she just breaks form for no reason at all!

Liesel and Ireland are definitely out of the bath phase of life (no worries, I'm sure they'll return at some point) but Gita and Sydney still love one, especially if it's filled with bubbles!

I applied for a position in the Fraud Prevention Department of Nordstrom and received this text right after submitting it:

Liesel and I were supposed to go to Shen Yun on her birthday in 2020 but it was cancelled due to Covid-19. Unfortunately, the performance was now the same weekend she was on her 8th grade DC trip. Ireland was happy to go with me and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here's the trailer. Some interesting tidbits: they believe that before this life we were all divine and we followed our creator here to earth. 

Water sleeves, plum blossoms and spinning napkins were favorites for both of us. There was also a number danced in a fog called Blue Heaven that was just stunning. We wondered if the players were annoyed with all the fog rolling down into the orchestra pit- haha! I didn't really know what to make of the dance about organ harvesting (still a problem in China today) but regardless we would definitely see it again! As the orchestra began warming up I leaned over to Ireland and said, "Pop quiz Ireland, which instrument is used to tune a symphony orchestra?" Then the music started so I whispered in her ear, "Oboe! It has the purest tones." The woman next to Ireland leaned over and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but now I'm dying to know the answer!"

Downtown was busy because of the Chicago Marathon and we joked this snowplow is either preparing very early for winter or it's used to scoop up all the people who can't finish the race.

Gita: You're the best mom in the whole world. I love you thiiis much! To the moon and back.
Me: Do you love me enough to go to bed?
Gita: No, I don't love you that much.

Gorgeous sky over the lake on a morning walk.

Brent: Why don't you go get breakfast?
Sydney: I know what I'm supposed to do, I know my process. I'm talking to Mom- she's my best friend!

I always schedule all my doctor and dental appointments around my birthday so I don't forget. It's times like this that I'm so grateful I'm a member of the church! It just simplifies taking care of your health so much.

Speaking of spiritual things, I loved this license plate I spotted in traffic because I believe there are signs if you just look for them.

On one of our dates I took my smoke show of a husband axe throwing. 

He got the 7-pointer too!

For a hot second I thought Gita had cut off all her hair. She's done that before! Turns out it was just tucked into her tank top but now we know she could rock a shorter haircut if she wanted.

Liesel told me I was going to scream when I opened my birthday present from her.

She was 100% right- I out and out squealed. For unknown reasons Brent doesn't like these so he never buys them. The girls and I looove them! Liesel was so pleased to have picked out such a thoughtful gift.

Liesel and I were at the church early for her YW activity. There was a solitary car in the parking lot and it was parked sideways rather than in a parking spot. Liesel mentioned how weird that was and I told her I was positive it was a missionary car and I knew exactly why it was parked that way. Even better, I told her anyone of my mission companions could tell her why it was parked that way. We got a hold of Gaylynn who laughed and said (correctly) that it was so one of the missionaries wouldn't have to back out the driver. Then she kindly reminded me that since she was the jr companion, she was always the one getting out of the car and backing me up. I connected with several people from my mission over that same question and had such a fun night catching up. All because one car was parked sideways in the church parking lot.

Wait for it...

While watching the Primary Program via Zoom the kids sang the song Faith.
Ireland: I feel like this song doesn't really explain what faith is. Like I'm more confused after singing the song than I was before. If someone asked you what faith is and you sang that to them, they'd have no idea what you're talking about.

I kind of agree with her! Because the three little ones still aren't going to church in-person we recorded their number for the program. I think they did a lovely job.

Happy Halloween!

I neglected to get a group photo of the girls in their Halloween costumes. It felt like everyone was going a different direction and well, it just didn't happen. I made sure to get plenty of individuals though! Here's Sydney as Little Red Riding Hood:

Brigitta went back and forth between Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood and settled on Hermione. Getting that frizzy hair was a snap- it's kind of her natural state of being honestly.

Ireland wanted to be a minion then changed her mind to a young Ellie from Up. Unfortunately, her overalls came late so she had to just settle for the yellow shirt and some Disney pins I had on hand.

Halloween is such a great time of year to use a mask to enhance an outfit. It might be hard to see but this one has all the balloons and the house is in the bottom right corner.

Liesel... aurgh LIESEL! She told me last minute she was going to use the Rosie the Riveter costume which was scattered in several pieces around the house. I frantically gathered them up while she showered and kind of threw them at her so she'd be on time to the ward Trunk or Treat. Even her socks have Rosie on them- those are my favorite!

It turned out OK I guess but it was a lot of hassle that could have been avoided. She made it more or less on time. However, until the little ones are vaccinated, they aren't going to indoor events at the church. It didn't even occur to me that would mean Liesel was completely alone for the chili cook-off portion of the evening. Apparently it didn't bother her though because she sat with a family and chatted them up. I've thrown her into so many situations where she has no one and made her figure out how to be sociable and friendly on her own. She has really stepped up. I guess I can handle throwing together a Halloween costume for her last minute. 

So proud of this girl. She may be tiny but she really is strong in so many ways.

The girls felt strongly that Halloween wasn't a real Halloween last year because of the pandemic so they were really excited to celebrate this year. Then we looked at the calendar and realized Halloween fell on a Sunday. It's kind of hard to justify an essentially pagan tradition on the sabbath. The girls were crestfallen about it. I promised to take them back to the MOSI Boo Fest the Friday before to keep their spirits up. Ha- pun!

Honestly, it was kind of a bust. Traffic into Chicago on a Friday evening is always heavy but it was particularly bad. The girls were fussing and fighting and by the time we got there I had a splitting headache. I thought it ran until 9PM but it closed at 8PM so we had just over half an hour to see everything. That's just not possible at a mammoth museum like the MOSI. I took some individuals of the girls though, so there's that.

Gita really wanted to show off her splits.

They briefly saw a beetle. There were lots of creepy crawly creatures but they were rapidly packing them up so this is as good as it got.

We did come across this display which was pretty cool. The sign behind the uniform states, Actress Nichelle Nichols is famous for playing Lt. Uhura in the Star Trek series and movies. She also worked for NASA in the late 1970's and 1980's recruiting astronaut candidates. Many of her new recruits were women or members of racial and ethnic minorities. Although Nichelle Nichols didn't go into space herself, she flew aboard the C-141 Astronomy Observatory, which analyzed the atmospheres of Mars and Saturn on an eight hour, high altitude mission. Ms Nichols recruits include:

Guion Bluford: the first African-American astronaut
Sally Ride: the first female American astronaut
Judith Resnik*: the second female American astronaut
Ronald McNair*: the second African-American astronaut

*Astronauts Resnik and McNair perished during the launch of the Challenger on January 28, 1986

Right next to it was this- ET's makeshift communication device to get in touch with his spaceship.

Now I need to watch that movie again!

 

Liesel had to get a picture with this sun since it matched the one she created on her face. She did this in the car on the way to the museum- in the dark no less!

Let's get another look at the bones she inked on her hand- apparently while she was bored in school. 

On both sides!

Halloween wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. The girls actually had fun staying home and handing out candy. Reagan texted me this and it made me laugh. Glad we decided to become The Legend because really, go big or go home when it comes to Halloween candy!

I found this sugar skull bowl at World Market and thought it would make the perfect addition to our Halloween decor. I'm so glad I bought it- it makes me smile every time I see it. 

Our mantlepiece has a bit of a Dia de Los Muertos theme along with Halloween, so it works!

Liesel made everyone mummy wrapped hot dogs and jalapeno poppers. There was leftover cheese so she found a way to use that up as well.

The girls created this dance routine to Spooky, Scary Skeletons.

There were some ups and downs but all in all it was a great Halloween!

Birthday Observed: Van Gogh & Eataly

I foolishly scheduled an interview on the morning of my birthday, completely forgetting Brent was taking me to this exhibit. When I realized my mistake, he just smiled and quietly rescheduled for Friday, knowing how important this job possibility was to me. It was a looong interview too- a little over 2 hours with 3 sets of people. When they found out it was my birthday I joked it was OK if they didn't get me anything- they could just offer me the job. Well, minutes before we arrived at the exhibit I received a call with the job offer. My jaw literally dropped and Brent was grinning ear to ear. That made our little date just a little more special.

I saw Van Gogh's Starry Starry night at the MOMA in NYC when I was still single and living in Boston. It made a big impression on me because it's best appreciated in 3D. The ample amount of paint and the thick brush strokes felt so passionate, like he didn't just paint what he saw, he was experiencing it too. I think an immersive experience is the perfect way to celebrate Van Gogh. I loved all the puns they worked into it too.

WOWOWOW!!! It exceeded all my expectations! The event space was so perfect. Seeing Van Gogh's work projected larger than life was amazing. There were a lot of his well known works but they threw in some lesser known pieces as well. The way the plants would grow and bloom was just incredible. 

They even projected images onto the floor! So cool.

We watched it twice through and the second time took in the view from the balcony. This part was really fun to watch from above. From sunrise...

...to sunset.

I wanted to dance and I wanted to pray. It felt like for a moment I was able to step into Van Gogh's paintings. For someone who struggled with so much, he created so much beauty. 

We found an empty room and I sat in the corner so I could have those images projected on me.

Brent decided to try it too.

This is the one that got me- especially the stars. I whispered to Brent I hope this is the way God sees the universe because it is so incredibly beautiful.

Even the exit was pretty!

Pun!

Can someone paint this in my stairwell please?

I'm not usually one for overpriced gift shop items but I loved this one. If it's a dark and stormy night, this seems like the perfect umbrella to take with you!

It corresponded with these signs on the floor.

Afterwards, Brent and I headed over to Eataly. I enjoyed it so much with Vanessa and Elizabeth, I couldn't wait to introduce it to Brent. He was skeptical- Brent doesn't really like to eat out much- but it lived up to the hype. He enjoyed absolutely everything and when our waiter got wind we were celebrating my birthday (a couple of days later) he comped us a tiramisu with a candle in it. No embarrassing singing, just a quiet nod to our celebration. It was so lovely. Between the good news about the job and the exhibit and the delicious meal, we had such a wonderful time together! It was the best birthday.