I have to admit when we bought this house I really didn't like the trees that surrounded the fire pit, right outside our bedroom and bathroom windows. At the time I felt they just blocked the light but over the years I've come to love taking a leisurely soak under the ever changing view of those trees.
Autumn
Winter
Spring
Summer
A massive bunch of branches ripped off during a recent summer storm and I'm afraid these trees are showing their age. Eventually they may go but for now I'll enjoy them as much as possible.
Mr. Brady is one of those incredible teachers that has touched Sydney's life forever. He doesn't just teach music, he teaches positivity and kindness and my word- Sydney really needed that in her life! Ever one to run late, Sydney would often tell me sternly that she NEEDED to be out of the house on time. More often than not she was actually early and I'm indebted to anyone who can get my night owl girl moving so quickly in the early morning hours.
The location of the cafeteria/stage is not air conditioned and the poor kids were baking under those lights. Sydney felt like she was going to pass out so the principal pulled her. I told her to take off her Converse and poured what was left of my Stanley on her feet. Giving her my flats, we were able to go to the teacher's lounge for more ice which I put on her neck. She made it back in but missed one of her favorite songs. I'm told Mr Brady made a humorous plea for donations so the entire school can be air conditioned some day.
In the days following the concern, I wrote Mr Brady the following thank you:
In the movie Apollo 13 as the astronauts are about to re-enter earth’s atmosphere, the director of NASA expresses his concerns to the lead flight director Gene Kranz. The heat shield could be damaged, the parachutes might be 3 blocks of ice, essentially the astronauts might die with all the world watching and it could be the biggest disaster NASA had ever experienced. Gene says, “With all due respect, sir, I believe this is going to be our finest hour.”
For our family, last night was your finest hour. Yes it was hot. Yes Sydney missed A Million Dreams to cool off. Yes she now knows what it’s like to be under intense stage lights. But your influence on her life is immeasurable. She is not a morning person but whenever she had choir, she made sure she was ready to go. Sydney struggled a lot this year- even expressing suicidal thoughts. Chorus was balm of Gilead for her and we could not be more grateful for that safe space.
The concert was incredible. The kids sounded amazing and we are so thankful you have been a part of Sydney’s life at this crucial time for her. Undoubtedly there are many parents waiting to throw their two pennies at you on how the concert should have been managed better. I’d just like to say it was fantastic, and thank you.
I know Sydney is ready to move on from elementary school, but she (along with all of us) are definitely sad to leave Mr. Brady behind.
We are BUSY! This is by choice- I like to give the girls as many opportunities to learn and grow as possible and it does come at a cost. Every Sunday during family dinner we go over the calendar and there are times it take 40 minutes to figure out the logistics of rides, meals and what is needed for each activity. Admittedly I fume a bit when someone with fewer kids or who does not work full time complains to me they are busy. They don't know from busy! But I digress. Per usual, October was busy. The whole family is fond of Thursdays because they give us a chance to breathe a bit.
For years I have been on the hunt for some holiday bedding for Sydney. Her room is pink so it's a bit tough to find something that coordinates well but lo and behold, Pottery Barn had it! This snowflake comforter was perfect but even more so...
...this bedding! The pink bows between green garlands and the fa la la la script were just perfect. Did we need it? IRRELEVANT! Could I afford it? IRRELEVANT! Isn't Christmas in December? IRRELEVANT! I plunked down my credit card so fast and then we eagerly anticipated the delivery.
It was worth it! Almost as if this all had been designed just for her. Sydney is our FOMO girl and every year she's watched her sisters deck their rooms for the holidays while she had nothing. This year, her room was by far the most unique and special space and we both adored the new bedding!
Ireland bridged from Juniors to Seniors so they made it a whole senior citizen theme. This is their adorable rainbow bridge. Unfortunately she forgot her vest and they delayed starting while Brent ran home to get it. I felt so bad!
She's had so many amazing experiences in Girl Scouts!
They all got Senior Mo Mints- how creative is that?
With General Conference comes the traditional making of bread. I didn't quite divide the dough evenly so this one was a monster loaf! The girls didn't mind one bit.
Some arrangements I made from fresh flowers picked up at Trader Joe's:
In Relief Society I commented that I feel like I get asked to speak... a lot... and I get the feeling there are people who are asked and just turn down the opportunity. I mentioned I get anxious and nervous just like the next person but when people refuse to speak, it makes the rest of us have to pick up the slack. The next day I was asked to speak in Sacrament meeting. You can't make this stuff up.
I chose to speak about the priesthood since I'd recently gained so many insights from BYU Education Week. The story of the Women of Weinsburg was particularly inspiring. When the castle was under siege, the women negotiated that they would leave with whatever they could carry on their backs so they carried their husbands to safety. Just for fun, I decided to check out their website. The five-star review stating "I particularly enjoyed being carried around this castle on my wife's back" made me laugh out loud.
On my birthday, Liesel was asked to participate in a musical number - It Is Well With My Soul. It was pure luck that she and the other girl were dressed in white but they looked so lovely and the number was just beautiful.
Picking up Brent and Ireland from O'Hare we saw this stunning sky with the moon in all its glory and the planes lined up in two neat rows for landing. Sadly, the picture doesn't do it justice, we could see dozens of planes and in the photo they just look like little dots. It was really incredible and I felt so deeply how much I love where I live. It was important to me to live near an international airport so we'd have greater opportunity for travel and well, we have it!
Yeah the moon was showing off near the end of the month. This was actually at sunrise and it made my jaw drop it was so stunning. Queue the song Harvest Moon by Neil Young!
I rushed Gita out of the house to snap photos before taking her to school.
The trees were also showing all their golden glory. I had to get a photo of Sydney with this one that kindly coordinated its fall colors with her dress that day.
Trees and bushes around our neighborhood were on fire!
My walks around the lake were dreamy.
I started making leaf bouquets. I had picked out four- one for each of my girls.
Made me laugh. Can we eliminate Daylight Saving now?
With the girls at school, I hinted Brent and I could have some time together and he begged me to fold the laundry I was avoiding. I guess he had a point since the pile was higher than our bed...
In honor of the late, great Maggie Smith, I rewatched Downton Abbey and this scene absolutely floored me! The same actress who plays Isobel Crawley also plays Mrs Gardiner in the 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice. She's actually IN the scene when Elizabeth Bennet goes to Mr Darcy's house as described here!
I realized a dream and made Platinum status on American Airlines!
One potato, two potato?
I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. ~Anne of Green Gables
In any family with many siblings, those kids develop a strong desire to have their own identity. For the girls, sometimes this is hard-won as they are constantly told how much they look like their sisters and there's a quiet expectation for them to behave similarly. Gita is extremely proud of her status as "the runner of the family." She was delighted to be given this label:
For the record, I'm no slouch.
For Brigitta, there's a lot riding on her running abilities which amounts to more than her split time. This is something no one else in the family has done and she not only wants to be her own person, she wants to be really good at it. Before one meet at Lippold Park, she told me she was really nervous because she was running varsity. Drawing inspiration from the book Strong is the New Pretty, I told her I wanted to take a picture of her looking like a total bad@$$.
Those piercing blue eyes look ready for battle!
It took us a while to get this shot. At first, she was whipping around too fast.
Then she'd erupt into fits of giggles.
I mean, I like a smiling picture too!
And yes, she commandeered my Apple Watch so she could accurately time her runs.
Honestly, I'm not sure if this helped diffuse her nervousness about the race, but at least it distracted her for a bit!
I'm her #1 fan regardless of her time and so very proud of her for branching out and trying something on her own.
What I find so interesting is Gita told me she doesn't necessarily love running in the moment. It's not like she's coasting through all of this without struggling for breath or aching muscles. She pushes herself past all that and man I admire her grit.
Runners are a really special group of people that way. On the one hand, they are super chill- I'm guessing because they blow off any steam when they run. On the other, they are fighters and deeply loyal. Brigitta has made fantastic friends through both Cross Country and Track.
For this final meet of the season, I brought our large, red cowbell. That thing is so loud! Beforehand she called and asked where I was because there were so many people, she couldn't find me. I rang the cowbell and she said, "OK, I know where you are." They didn't go to state this year, but Brigitta had a fantastic season nonetheless.
We really only had one weekend to squeeze in a family photo shoot if I wanted to get Christmas cards ordered and in the mail by Thanksgiving weekend. The next option was a couple of weekends away and the weather in October in the Midwest is never guaranteed so we made it work. I played around with outfits and really ended up loving the light blue, navy blue, burgundy and grape palette. It's not one you see very often! My favorite outfit was the combo Liesel wore and she just thought it was weird.
This is my favorite photo! Constantly re-arranging ourselves in a bunch gets old and I saw this concept on Pinterest and outright stole it. Have parents and kids a bit separated was a refreshing take.
This one turned out... okay I guess.
None of the bridge photos worked. Some of us were in shadow and we were so small you really can't see our faces. It was a nice idea in theory.
Every year we have a massive melt-down during family photos. Brent is always inordinately grumpy (which is odd since he didn't have to coordinate the outfits or do anyone's hair or find stolen mascara to get ready for it!). The girls are masters at bickering- especially in tense situations. I lose it after the millionth whiney comment or someone who won't smile and is ruining everything and it just devolves into misery from there. This year I had a brilliant idea: what if the melt-down photo WAS the one money shot?
We started with Ireland adjusting the camera and yes, she was legit crying. Brent was trying to place Sydney closer to the waterfall and she was fussing because she was afraid of falling in. He was telling her to calm down and I had lost it and told him never in the history of ever does it work to tell a girl to calm down. Liesel was looking adorable there on the top of the bridge but Gita wanted her turn and was screaming at her to get down. Yes I had planned to take a melt-down photo, but man alive this is a photo of a true Wuehler family melt-down.
I did also get a cute photo of Liesel at the top of the bridge.
Gita even got one too!
That quilt I ruined came in handy because I didn't care if it got dirty or wet and it kept Sydney warm there in the end!
This walking shot was actually a challenge to set up as everyone was sick of the photo session by this time. I think we got it though and it's another favorite! We aren't happy so much as relieved it was over.
I had to request Minted to recreate a card that had been done in portrait mode be recreated in landscape but it was so, So, SO worth it! This is my favorite Christmas card to date - I don't know if we will ever be able to top it.
