Costuming for Fun

 On our way home from the Bloomsburg Children Museum's Fun and Fandom Day, Thomas asked me, "Why do we do this to ourselves?" We laughed, because we had a lot of fun, but he makes a good point. I stayed up way to late, neglected every other chore and responsibility, took it with me to a ladies' event and a dr. appointment, and generally stressed about the details for the last week. He didn't work on his sermon until after it was all over. And what was it for? 

 Let me show you.

Eamon has been wanting to go as Max Rebo for years. I couldn't figure out how to make it happen, so he just started building the head on a old colander. Once I understood what he was going for, I was able to help him use paper mache instead of the colander for less weight and more versatility. He really designed the costume and brainstormed how to make it. I just provided the sewing and experience to make it go a little easier. However, I must say, for all my experience, he proved me wrong on multiple occasions and made things that I thought were impossible, work well. He also had a speaker and his MP3 player to provide music as he walked around.

Malcolm went back and forth between wanting to be Boba Fett and Cobb Vanth. He finally settled on Cobb Vanth, or the Marshall from the Mandalorian, season two. He cut out the armor and helped with the painting. I built the helmet and the under armor. He learned that he can build and create things with foam and cardboard. I had fun building his dreams.

 

Their younger cousin wore the armor we made for Malcolm when he was that size, but his mother made him a new helmet. It was so much fun to see them together - how happy they were and how cool they felt. It was also fun to see the improvements we have made through the years. Someday, maybe I'll want to go back and build the Mandalorian armor again, just to practice the techniques I have learned, but I would like a few years off from making helmets, I think.

One of the highlights of the day happened near the end. They were giving out prizes and gifts, but the boys had gone out to the car to take off their costumes. One of the costumed guests/judges brought me an action figure of Cobb Vanth and said, "Cobb Vanth needed to have Cobb Vanth." He was so impressed with the costume, and with the fact that a kid liked a minor character enough to dress as him. 

 

When Eamon walked in, with his music playing, people all around started smiling. One kid followed him around, dancing. One mother said, "The people they bring in every year just keep getting better and better." People wanted to get pictures with him and of him. Even the man dressed as Kylo Ren wanted to get a picture with him. 

One of the highlights for me with Eamon, was when another little girl, who always dresses up with adorable home-made costumes, wanted a picture with Eamon. I saw it from a distance and wasn't able to talk with her mother, but maybe someday, we'll meet up and compare costuming notes.

Thomas and I went in costume as well, but from a different universe. Thomas went as Jayne Cobb and I went as Kaylee from the Firefly universe. I spent all of 15 minutes figuring out my costume and actually asked Thomas to do some of the research for me. Thomas looked amazing, but I didn't get a good solo picture. My sister and her family also went in costume and looked amazing or adorable.  It was fun to share this event - and all the crazy preparation work with them.

 So why do we do this? Because with a specific time and place to show off our costumes, we actually build the costumes we think are cool. Because it stretches our creativity and design skills. But mostly, simply because it is fun. 

 

P. S. Another highlight of Eamon's costume is that filling out his stuffing is Lamby Woolis, their large stuffed sheep. 

T-Rex as Grogu and Lamby Woolis as Mando

The Boys, They are A-growing

Today, the boys and I looked back through some old pictures. I realized that I don't take as many pictures of them as I used to. Some of that is because they don't like their picture taken as much; some of it is because they don't like their pictures and personalities shared. But just like when they were little, I want to capture this moment and remember it when they are older. 

I have enjoyed being a mom to middle-school boys, usually. Sure they drive me crazy; they are sometimes rude; they want more independence; they argue with everything; and they need constant reminders about things they already know. But they are also taking responsibility, helping around the house without complaining, developing fantastic stories, music, and pictures, and are most often very sweet and kind.

Eamon is 14, and just finished 8th grade. He is still expert dragonologist and loves dinosaurs as well as other other large reptilians both real and fictional. When he is waiting for anything, he delves into a fictional world, which sometimes seem to be more real to him than the one we are in. I am fairly certain he has a soundtrack running in his head most of the time. It his hard for him because when it comes out, like at the dinner table, or in the middle of a conversation, we often ask him to use words, not music to communicate. He plays the piano in between times, the organ after church every Sunday, and his cello every day during practice time. He is learning Bach Suite 1 aka the Cello Song, and is loving the challenge and success that comes with that.

In the visual arts, his drawings are getting more detailed and realistic. He illustrates the stories in his head, and the ones Malcolm and he develop. He is also getting better at photography. When the 8th grade class when to NYC, he took the camera. He seemed to enjoy being able to both hide behind it, as well as capture moments. He took more photos of things than people, and some of his shots were stunning. 

Because he has to write for school, he doesn't write much for fun, but the stories that the boys both come up with are hilariously fun. They are usually played with Legos, Playmobiles, or swords/capes, but sometimes they draw comic books. Malcolm often comes up with the premises for these stories. He is not confident in his story development, but he brings clever twists and turns for Eamon to resolve.

 

Malcolm is 12, two months away from being a teenager, and just finished 6th grade. One of his gifts to the world is laughter. I don't know how he does it, but he is so good at seeing how to make people smile. Whether by being kind or by saying something funny or by being a gentle pest. Although he doubts his gifts and abilities, he is smart and creative and funny. Besides coming up with stories, his drawings captures emotion and action rather than being realistic. A good story has fighting and no romance, but also inspiring characters who do what is right no matter what. A good person is also one who overcomes the struggles and does what is right. That means his harshest critic is himself. 

He plays the violin, but doesn't usually enjoy it. His Celtic Fiddle tunes are his favorite things to practice, but he suffers through technique and classical music. His teacher thinks there is a violist just waiting to come out, so he has offered to let Malcolm borrow a student viola for the summer. When he picked it up, he played a few lines of his violin music with it. The pitches were clearer, the timing and bowing smoother. It felt right. We'll see where this leads us, but we might be buying more instruments this year.

I got to teach both of them this past school year. They told me that I didn't treat them specially, unless it was to hold them to a higher standard, but they felt that I was fair. Most of their fellow students did as well. They all knew that I was going to reward them for good work and help them when they would let me and love them no matter what, just like I did for my boys. And as a teacher, Eamon and Malcolm were very fun to teach. They liked to learn about things, they made connections, understood my jokes, and turned in their work on time. Both of them also think that the a perfect score is the lowest expectation. If they can go above and beyond, they will, even if it won't give them a higher score. They just enjoy knowing that they have done it. 

Being a mom of these two boys is one of the best things about my life. I love getting to know these amazing individuals as they are growing and developing.

Esther 2026

Hopefully at some other point soon, I will have time to share reflections on the play, but for now, here are the photos.



Haman honoring Mordecai


First wine feast


Esther and Mordecai visiting through the wall


Gate keepers bemoaning their lot in life


Mordecai asking God for deliverance


Full Cast and Crew

StarWars Costuming

 StarWars day at the Bloomsburg Children's Museum is one of the highlights of the year, because we all like dressing up. Each year we get better and better at developing our costumes and characters. 

Malcolm went as a Bounty Hunter, modeled off of Bobba Fett, but with his own twists and surprises. He added to last year's Mandalorian helmet and made his own shield. He added lots of bags and provisions to his belt so he could carry everything he needed. I helped by building a jet pack.

 

Eamon went as Darth Bottom, inspired by "William Shakespeare's Star Wars" by Ian Doescher, and his portral of Pyramus in our "Midsummer Night's Dream," when on the final night, instead of pulling out a dagger, he stabbed himself with a light saber. He now fits in Thomas's medieval vest, pants, and laced boots, but he added a black cape from his previous StarWars costumes. He also built a hilt for his light saber.

Thomas had the idea of going as Darth Ray, an evil, male version of Rey. Although what I made for him was not what we originally envisioned, we ended up liking it pretty well. It was a new pattern, and I learned how I will need to alter it for future projects. However, for the first sew, I really enjoyed the project and how it all came together. And I think he looked really good!

Building of Thomas's idea, I decided to go as Kayla Ren, a good, female version of Kylo Ren. It helped that I had the perfect fabric for the tunic. Because I was feeling rushed, I just grabbed a pattern and started cutting, forgetting to take measurements. So when I put it together and it fit, I was hugely relieved. The hood and cowl were incredibly hot but I enjoyed figure it out. And the mask went through multiple changes, but I was rather pleased with it by the end.

We are already dreaming about next years costumes, since each year feeds the ideas for the next year. It was also good to get back into sewing with successes. It reminded me that I can sew, I do enjoy it, and I don't have to be a expert to make things that work well.

Directors Notes for A Midsummer Night's Dream

Last year, after helping Dad (Kelly Knowlden) as he directed Korczak’s Children, I wondered, “What play can we do after that?” Since I couldn’t possibly match it in inspiration, I decided to go to the opposite end of the theatrical spectrum and look for something that would make people laugh.

Although humor can be used to mock others, the truest humor surprises us or points out our own silliness. Slapstick makes us laugh because we all experience it, and are a little embarrassed by it, so we turn that insecurity into a laugh - a nervous response to minor anxiety. Puns are funny because they make surprise connections between two things that aren’t related by topic, but are by vocabulary. The punchline of a good joke is an unexpected turn of events, or makes a connection that we haven’t seen before. But of course, the most important part of comedy is … timing.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of those stories that makes me laugh every time. From the ridiculous plans of Oberon and mistakes of Puck to the hilarious passion of Pyramus and Thisbe, from the lovers’ banter to Lysander waking up and falling in love with the wrong girl, the play provides every sort of humor. But even Puck knows that humor can be offensive, so he asks the audience to laugh, and if you can’t laugh, to wake from the offense as you would from a bad dream.

Humor, in that sense, is related to humility. Both humor and humility keep us from becoming over-important or taking ourselves too seriously. Instead, both humility and humor have the potential to unite us with the rest of humanity, understanding that we all are sometimes petty and often mistaken and broken.

In the middle of this brokenness, God calls to us. In humility, we respond. The more we understand and accept how much God loves us, the more we can laugh with the joy of not having to prove ourselves as something important. Jesus already said we were important enough to die for, but in the greatest turn of events (comedy), he defeated death and rose again. In the humility, provided by His love, we can see humanity’s inconsistencies, pettiness, and failings, but instead of feeling humiliation, we can laugh because we are loved.

36 Hours

 In thirty-six hours, we drove to Buffalo, ate at an Irish Pub, went to a Big Big Train Concert, visited Niagara Falls, and drove back home. It was a whirlwind of a trip but extremely enjoyable.

The drive from our house to Buffalo is very pretty. Even though it is still early spring and most of the trees were not even showing the red tinge of buds, there were some forsythia out and the sun was shining. I have seen the wind turbines before, but driving by fields of them made me curious about how they work. There were several cute towns with beautiful old houses and churches and some with dilapidated houses and junk-fill yards. We also saw the buildings left from a Shaker settlement that are now right next to a correctional facility. The juxtaposition of the link fences and the Shaker dormitories seemed to want a story.

We checked into the hotel and then walked a few blocks to the Banshee Irish Pub. Eamon ordered bangers and mash. Malcolm ordered corned beef and cabbage. Thomas ordered Guinness Stew. And I ordered a huge pretzel to share and ate little bits of everybody else's food. Then we had Bailey's Irish Cream cheesecake for dessert. Everything was delicious. Not only was the food good, the hospitality was excellent as well. Reserving a table was easy, and the hostess was welcoming. Our server was very friendly and took good care of everything. The speakers were so loud when we go there that the boys put in their earplugs. But when we asked if they could turn down the volume just a little bit, the man behind the bar took care of it, and then checked on us later. 

We had just a little bit of time to walk around the block before heading to the concert. We got there in time to hear the opening act, Nick DiVirgilio, who sang several songs with his daughter. She has a rich mezzo voice, and the connection between father and daughter was beautiful. He is BBT's drummer, but also a singer and songwriter. It was nice to hear some of his other music.

The concert was amazing. The show aspect of it was fun, but not distracting. The music was loud and fun and full of energy and spoke to a part of my heart that longs for good and beautiful things. When they started Miramare with an a capella choral section, I almost cried. Love is the Light seemed very vulnerable in an odd way, as if they were sharing a deeply personal moment with us. And The Last English King touches on the timelessness of a changing world. We got to sit right in the front, and it was easy to get swept away by the music.

 

The boys have never stayed in their own hotel room, but we were able to get two rooms this time. Thomas and I had a large suite with a kitchenette. The boys each got to sleep in their own queen sized bed across the hall. So after the concert, we had a snack, said goodnight to the boys, and left them in their room. They called me on the hotel phone when they were all ready for bed to say goodnight. I don't know that anyone slept well, but poor Thomas woke up with a migraine.

In spite of that, we had breakfast, checked out, and drove up to Niagara Falls. After a bit of confusion, we were able to find restrooms and a map. From there, we walked to the Falls and around the islands. We were glad that we got there in an off season and before there were crowds of people. By the time we left, the parking lot was full, but when we arrived, less than half of the spots were taken. 

 

Seeing the Falls was one of those experiences that was both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. They are huge and beautiful, but they are also so over-touristy that some of the majesty was taken away. The moments when I could stare and get lost in the roar of the water carried me back through ages, daydreaming about what it could have been like in different eras. So many people from around the world have shared the experience of seeing what I was looking at, but there are far more people who never have and never will have seen it. Of those millions of people who have stared at the raging water tumbling over the edge, how many have been filled with wonder? Were there others who wondered about me, just like I wondered about them?

The walk around the island was pleasant. The weather was warm and sunny. There were so many different types of water birds, mostly of the duck and goose variety, which are always fun to watch. Not many other people were walking on the path, so the boys were able to run ahead and hide behind rocks fighting off enemy ships. It was also crazy to watch the blocks of river ice go rushing along, get caught on hidden rocks, then get tumbled over and broken up by small cataracts. At one place, it was easy to see why Japanese River Gods look like snake dragons; the river looked alive and the rushing water formed the back of a huge watersnake sliding.

By the end of the walk, our feet were rather tired. We were glad to sit and eat our lunch in the car, although after about two hours of driving, we were ready to be home. The weather driving home was also lovely, but since Thomas still had a migraine it was not as enjoyable. We got home a little after 7pm, so we were even able to have normal bedtimes. Even though our bodies were tired, it was a refreshing trip and we were so thankful to have been able to take a small mini-holiday.

Mother

You know you have a good mother when she says, "You're doing everything fine, but I'll stop by if you want me to."

Yesterday, Malcolm broke his toe. He was trying to kick his brother, but he kicked the trunk filled with photo albums that we use for a "coffee table" in our living room. So considerable force meeting considerable weight... and the result is an urgent care visit, an x-ray, and the first broken bone in our little family.

My mother is a nurse. She has trained me well in general first aid, including laughing at my crying children, as stress release. In most situations, I know what to do: when to call the doctor, when they will just tell me to keep an eye on it, how to treat simple injuries and illnesses, etc.

But I am so thankful that even when I know what to do, I can call her, without the pressure of calling a tell-a-nurse, for affirmation, comfort, and common sense. 

When I called her yesterday, I asked, "Malcolm bashed his toe. It is really swollen and bruised and hurts him when I touch it. When do I worry?"

She replied with something like, "You begin to worry as soon as you know it happens because you are his mother." Then she gave me advice on the next steps.

At the end of the day, I wanted to make sure that I had bandaged his toe correctly, so she stopped by on her way home to check on it. It was just a quick stop, a quick check, and a quick hug, but it was everything I needed after the day that it was.

I love you, Mom!

Happy 13th Birthday!

How the time flies...

When I brought home a tiny baby with bright brown eyes, how could I have imagined the creative, bright young man he would become?

But there have been signs along the way. Music has always been important.

From falling asleep to The Piano Guys, to doing math while listening to soundtracks. From humming while playing to figuring out songs on the piano, guitar or most usually his cello. From singing in his sweet baby voice developing a lovely baritone, music still moves in and through his mind.

Books have also been a huge part of his life. I didn't know how strange it was that my 6 month old looked at books instead of eating them. His love of words, sounds, and pictures developed into a love of stories, illustrations, and good literature.

I didn't think that teaching him to say "To be or not to be," when he got on a stage at age 2 would lead to anything besides being adorable. But now he enjoys Shakespearean English and looks forward to performing it live.

Dinosaurs and dragons,

Star Wars and superheros,

Excavators and airplanes,

he is fascinated by so many things, and in his games and imagination, they blend into amazing new ideas.

Not only is he a pretty cool person,

he is also an amazing brother,

a good friend,

and a wonderful son.

Chasing Down Thoughts

Recently, someone asked me, "What have you been thinking about?" and I didn't know how to answer. It isn't that I haven't been thinking; it is more that I haven't figured out how to verbalize what I am thinking. There have been thoughts about our church, parenting styles, organizing next school year, StarWars costuming, how the errors of rationalism have effected every layer of our culture, the front yard, a series of Bible/theology lessons, the way people's brains change as they get older, and planning a photo book of our trip to Maine. Some of these thoughts have developed than others.

1. Parenting: According to wikipedia's description of parenting styles, we fit squarely in the authoritative parenting style: demanding and responsive. But that doesn't mean we don't second guess so many of our choices. Nor does it mean that I don't regularly feel like a terrible mom, tired of arguing, tired of being interrupted, too demanding, always nagging, etc, etc, etc. Since the boys have grown and changed so much in the past six months, so many of the things that I have considered foundational have been questioned, sometimes by them, sometimes by me. Why do we eat almost every meal together? Why don't we eat elsewhere in the house? Why do they get bored of playing? What is the difference between entertainment and amusement, and how does that affect our brains? How can we relax our brains when we need to, but use them when we should? Why is life such hard work? Sometimes we have great discussions. Sometimes we all start wailing. Sometimes we watch Batman. I'm pretty sure all of these things help in some way.

2. Our trip to Maine was amazing! I wrote a daily journal, and told a few stories to my friends, but I am still figuring out how to share why the trip to Maine was more than just a vacation. It was beauty and a story and lessons and love. Maybe that's why we call it an adventure.

3. Today, I figured out the final pieces of our homeschool year. Now we need to make it all happen. I think I am most excited to try out our new record keeping methods. The Bible/theology lessons are a lot of work, but the goal is to make a workbook that helps the boys understand where our beliefs come from. I feel pretty good about writing lesson plans, but this workbook is pushing my creativity. I'm also working on a scope and sequence on how to teach grammar, punctuation, and capitalization rules using whatever reading material available. The actual lessons I will create as I go along and see how much time each concept takes.

4. I am making a Mandalorian outfit out of cardboard for StarWars Day at a local children's museum. Cardboard is not my medium of choice, but I have learned a lot and am fairly please with the outcome. I have the arm braces let to make, then putting all the final touches on belts and badges, and stuff like that. I'm also working on pulling together a mechanic costume for me. My inspirations are Peli Motto from Mandalorian season 1, Rosie the Riveter, Kaylee from Firefly, and the mechanics in the X-wing hangar bay.

The rest of the stuff isn't really in words yet. Sometimes questions...mostly questions...but sometimes vague impressions of thoughts that when I try to say them come out upside down, or emphasizing something different than I intended. But maybe as I figure them out, I'll write them down.

Prince Caspian from the Logos Theater at Museum of the Bible

We went to the Museum of the Bible to watch Prince Caspian, performed by the Logos Theater company. It was a great way to celebrate finishing our play and inspire us for more plays in the future. It also provided a catalyst for thinking about theater, why I love it, what I think about it, what I wish it could become. So this is a personal processing, not so much a review, of the 1pm performance on April 6. 

The message of the play was that we need to follow Jesus no matter what opposition we may face - denial of his existence, doubting of companions, inability to see him, and unclear guidance - with the faith that He is working behind the scenes to bring us to victory. They presented the message mostly by telling the story, but there were several times when it was a bit didactic, though within didactic characters.  It helps that Aslan is so clearly a Christ figure that a character can say, "I will follow Aslan," without wading through salvation talk. In the characters of Trumpkin following the High King, and Edmund following Lucy, they also brought out the idea of following Aslan's shadow, so even when we can't see what God is doing, we follow those who can. All in all, they mostly managed to convey the message without stepping out of the story to preach it.

The story-telling was good. They kept many lines straight from the book, and I don't think adapters can beat the simplicity and humor of C. S. Lewis. Where they added and cut characters, it made technical sense, even though I would have loved to see a centaur or a giant. There aren't many female characters in Prince Caspian, so beefing up the ones that are there made some sense, and adding a few, like Mrs. Badger, and casting Repicheep as a female was understandable, especially considering that all the puppets almost had to be performed by men, even though I thought they were unnecessary. I also thought that by boosting those roles, they diminished the roles of Susan and Lucy. 

Thomas also pointed out the use of "money-shots" and I think that explains a lot of my issues with the storytelling. There were moments when the action stopped after an important line to emphasize the lines "hidden" meaning, or a important character point. So after Trumpkin says, "I will follow the High King," there was a significant pause. Or before Susan flounces out after the others, she has a moment in the spotlight. This is common in TV and movie acting, but to me, it feels unnatural on the stage. I do wonder though if it gives audience members not accustomed to stage theater a visual cue, like TV and movies do, just like the soundtrack gives auditory cues. It is one of those areas I am not sure what I think of. Should we use a soundtrack and money shots in live theater? Or do we embrace the limitations of what live theater is, and develop within those limitations?

The set for the play was amazing. This, by far, was my favorite part. The moving set pieces, especially the astronomy tower, was technically amazing. The transition from the train station to Narnia, and then back again was a spectacle in all the best sense of the term. I leaned over to Malcolm and said, "It would be fun to be the one moving the sets in this scene, wouldn't it?" I also loved the use of the "flies." Some of the set got lowered and some characters got flown. Most of the time, I felt it was seamless and beautiful. The breaking up of Beruna's Bridge seemed a little bit more of a spectacle in the negative sense - an important plot point, but so much energy and unique props put into it that it lost its power. 

I loved the costumes! They were beautiful, appropriate to the characters, and creative, even if the Telmarines' were imitations of the Vikings TV show. My favorite part, as a costumer, was that costume changes were explained well. My only critique was Peter's tunic, because when he put on his sword belt, it made the tunic paunch unbecomingly, rather than looking regal. (Caspian and Edmund's tunics had a defined waist, so they worked better.) The solution was for the boys to take on and off their swords every scene, which gave them something to do with their hands, so it ended up working out.

Their puppetry is incredible. Logos Theater prides themselves in their puppetry, and rightly so. The animals move like real animals. There were walking trees (even though one looked like Groot), and Aslan is enough in-human to be a powerful character,  not a person in a mane. The problem is that the puppetry requires recorded lines, which sometimes break the flow of a scene when the other characters make a mistake. I, personally, would like to see the head puppeteer also provide the voice, giving the character even more unity, but I don't know the technical details of that.

In each of these areas, since I have written for theater, directed young actors, and done costuming, as well as able to recognize many soundtracks (though not nearly as many as my children or husband), sometimes I feel like I can't appreciate a play as it is meant to be received. Sometimes I feel that I notice things that if I hadn't done theater, I wouldn't have noticed. But the noticing also comes with an understanding.

So I felt that the scene between the nurse and young Caspian was too long, too didactic, and too emotional. King Miraz never would have tolerated so long a delay in his command, and brief farewells are more Narnian. However, because I have written, I know how easy it is to add an unnecessary scene to make a point. In my opinion the scene should have been significantly shortened, but I understand why it wasn't. 

Another example is that I wished I could have directed Lucy and Peter. Lucy always held a closed position and cried and fretted too much. That didn't really change after she met Aslan; in fact, we don't really get to see a change in her at all. I don't know if it was a directorial choice or a personal acting choice, but I would have loved to see her play a more carefree and trusting Lucy, rather than the closed, timid one. Also, to me, it seemed that Peter wasn't having the best performance. Again, I don't know if they were choices or mistakes, but there were several times when I wondered if a line was given in the wrong place, or if there was redundancy in the script. Also, I listened to a short video of him talking about his character, and it made me sad because he saw (and therefore acted) Peter's failings more than his strengths. Bowing to Aslan was interpreted as being humbled, not as a fulfillment of his character. Facing death bravely in the duel was interpreted as insecurity. Peter isn't a perfect character, but he has nobility and honor, not pride and self-confidence issues.

My boys have pointed out that the things I critique most are often the things I like the best. Unfortunately, I have a feeling they are right. I enjoyed the performance so much. I appreciate what the Logos Theater is doing. I admire the people who are acting, writing, and directing there. The part of me that critiques most heavily is the part that also wants to be a part of their creative process. Where I saw weaknesses, I want to turn them into strengths, not rip it apart because it isn't good enough. 

That is why this is a processing, not a review. I loved it because it told a favorite story, well. I loved it because it did with its set and costuming all the things that I wish I could do when I direct. I loved it because I love the same Jesus that they serve, and can see His light in them. Those things are really more important than my observations and critiques. And not only that, their creativity has inspired my creativity, and I can't wait until we can do another play, building on all the things I am learning along the way.