Tidbits

One evening I found myself alone with Brigitta so I took her out for a piece of pie. Love getting my Gita girl to myself!

Brent sent me a lovely bouquet of roses for Valentine's Day. They cheered up my desk for weeks!

Liesel was supposed to turn in her Spirit Squad uniform and I wanted to curl up her hair and get a good photo of her wearing it. She was being so sassy and rude about it I said fine, I won't do it. I see red when my girls complain about my doing their hair. It's a lot of work for me and not all moms put in the time and effort. Suddenly Liesel realized she really wanted that picture but I was too busy curling Gita's hair- who was very sweet and grateful.

Sydney had mismatch day at school which always stresses me out a bit. Not because I can't handle the mismatched outfit, but because I'm always worried I've gotten the date wrong and everyone will think I've taken up huffing in the morning.

CrossFit has taught me many skills but it has also taught me that I sweat- a lot. I had to laugh that after this particular WOD you could see an outline of my body except where my bra and underwear soaked up my buckets of sweat. 

Sometime Sydney gets tired and she just drops wherever she is. She doesn't need a chair, or a couch, or a bed. The floor is just fine.

Sydney wanted to send a birthday card to her Grandma Wuehler and she really wanted to address it herself. I was worried it wouldn't make it but the postman looked it over and said it would be delivered no problem. All the information was there!

After another year of hard work, Brent received news of a wonderful bonus and a promotion. We've had a rough couple of years so when he called me at work, I went down to the file room and cried like a baby. He happened to have the day off so I asked if we could meet for lunch to celebrate and this is how he spent it- resolving work issues on his day off! Ha ha!

Liesel softened a little bit about my doing her hair and opted to play with filters while I did rollers and curled the ends.

This is a project from Ireland's EC ELA class. Each student picked out a silhouette and then their classmates wrote one trait they saw in each other. The teacher filled the silhouette with those words to create a pretty cool piece of art. I'm kind of in love with this.

Sterne's Woods & Fen

Cabin fever hit a fever pitch and we all needed to get out of the house. I grabbed the girls for a brisk hike on this Sunday morning, inspired by Emily Dickinson:

Some keep the Sabbath going to Chuch --
I keep it, staying at Home --
With a Bobolink for a Chorister --
And an Orchard, for a Dome --

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice --
I, just wear my Wings --
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton -- sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman --
And the sermon is never long,

So instead of getting to Heaven, at last --
I'm going, all along.

The girls wanted to recreate the presentation of the cub from The Lion King when they saw these tree stumps on a little hill.

With nothing but time, we took a longer hike and even went off the beaten path a bit. We came upon this tree with a heart carved into it so of course we had to get some pictures by it. 

I'm trying to be better about getting pictures of the girls in pairs so it's not just individuals and then all of them at once. It might be nice for say, Ireland to have a picture with Brigitta and vice versa. 

Although looking back on this photo I'm realizing this is probably the last time I did this. Hmmm, need to work on that...

Back to all 4 girls, but they are all snuggling Sydney which is pretty darn cute too. 

I feel like this is a symbolic photo as Liesel forges her way through adolescence. So much before her to discover, and while I have been with her up to this point, she has the tools and tenacity to keep going on her own.

Perhaps it wasn't our typical sabbath filled with Sunday dressed and church meetings but I hope we got to heaven all along as we immersed ourselves in nature. 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

 To you, from our girl Ireland.

Also, aren't these LUCKY letters covered in pennies the cutest?

Brent's mother gave them to me for Christmas and I loved them so much I put them up a month early!

Ireland is TEN!!!

Even though Ireland already has an American Girl doll, she saw Brigitta's Create Your Own and wanted one that wasn't just similar to her, but pretty much an exact replica. I have to say that down to the freckles, her doll- which she dubbed Sophia- looks the most like her. 

Governer J.B. Pritzker issued Illinois' stay-at-home order on Friday, March 13th but it wasn't set to take effect until Saturday at 5PM. We had a reservation at the cafe for lunch and ear piercing. Activities for the girls were getting canceled left and right. The ear piercing was canceled but lunch at the cafe was still available. I decided to keep that reservation. I told her friend's moms that if they wanted to back out, I completely understood. However, in anticipation of weeks in lockdown, I wanted the girls to get out and have fun just one more time. We even added Liesel since the birthday party she was supposed to attend was canceled. 

Chicago was so quiet! Even the drive was one of the fastest I've made because there were so few cars on the road. Normally there would have been St. Patrick's Day festivities with a parade, dying the river green and lots of people bar-hopping. However, we found the streets were almost completely empty as everyone hunkered down. 

Our server was so kind and attentive and joked about me being the big sister. He did really cute things with the dolls like putting their arms up and then placing the straw in their hand. It looked like those dolls were handing it to their girl. I brought my own doll and asked him if that was weird. He shrugged and said he had 3. After all our food had arrived, he told us the dishwasher had broken and they had to cancel all remaining reservation. We really got in under the wire!

The food is pretty good at the cafe (Ireland had an amazing crab cake sandwich), but it's really the drinks that are so fun! Ireland had the strawberry fruit smoothie.

Brigitta had a vanilla shake.

Liesel had the pink lemonade.

Every time we do lunch at the cafe, I inwardly cringe a bit at the expense. Without fail, there's always someone blowing a lot more money than I am and I end up feeling (somewhat) frugal. There was a huge birthday party happening just a couple of tables away. Our little soiree was just perfect and Ireland was ecstatic with her own celebration. The cake was not just adorable, it was truly delicious. Liesel and Brigitta are on the chocolate challenge so I ate the bottom half of theirs- yum!

At home the next day, the party continued with traditional breakfast in bed. Liesel had gifted her some earring which Ireland had to set aside for when she could finally get her ears pierced. 

We were supposed to go to Stake Conference but that was cancelled along with everything else so it was a quiet, relaxing day with just the family. For her cake, Ireland requested a turtle pie. Whenever I take the girls to Iowa City, I pick one up because I have such fond childhood memories of turtle pies. Brent insists they can't be found out here but he managed to locate one for Ireland's special day. 

Ireland is such a joy! She is absolutely dedicated to her education and is bummed if she doesn't get the highest grade in her class. Somehow she found a like-minded soul who also loves all things Harry Potter. Here they are at the Father-Daughter/Mother-Son Valentine's Day Dance. 

 Sometimes I worry a bit about Ireland's sensitive nature- she can still be reduced to tears over seemingly small things. I know asthma plays a role in all that and she continues to grow out of it. She's a wonderful friend to people others avoid and Ireland is always up for a hug. I love the rare moments I get alone with her as the conversation is always interesting. Happy Birthday Ireland!

Spirit Squad

The middle school only has 3 sports available for 6th graders: track, cross-country, basketball and wrestling. Liesel's petite frame would only be suited for wrestling but she had 0 interest in it. Cheerleading and Poms aren't an option until 7th grade so when Spirit Squad was offered as a club, Liesel was eager to sign up. 

Her enthusiasm was infectious and pretty soon all the girls were practicing stunts.

Even though they gave her the smallest uniform available, Liesel was swimming in hers. The arm holes were so big you could easily see her bra and of course she noticed all this about 15 minute before she was supposed to leave for the bus. By some miracle, my sewing machine was already set up. I grabbed the C from the LUCKY letters Brent's mother gave me at Christmas for St Patrick's Day and managed to sew a perfect fitted waist into that uniform.

That drama was only the beginning. The girls could be competitive and catty. Some girls had done club cheer before and already knew how to stunt. Some girls just didn't get along with other girls. More than once I picked Liesel up from cheer and she told me all about what when down with some girl crying in the locker room... again. 

Once when the girls were supposed to stagger- one in front and one in back- one of those girls with lots of cheer experience positioned herself just so Liesel would have to move back, even though she's shorter. Liesel tells me she glared at her and condescendingly said "We're supposed to be staggered" as she did so. When Liesel relayed this story to us, Brent and I were settled into bed while Liesel was perched on the end, hands flying wildly in the air and her voice anguished. I told her to stop right there and said if I were a gambling woman and I had a line on this in Vegas, I'd be 2:1 this girl's name started with an A, K or R. Liesel's angst took a pause and she said, "How did you know that?! Her name starts with an A!" We all laughed. As the French say, "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose." The more things change, the more they stay the same. Mean girls tend to have boutique names and boutique names often start with one of those letters. This became a discussion with my sisters and girlfriends and everyone chose the same 2 letters- A and K and then either R or T. Whitney commented, "A, especially Ashley- Ashley's can be mean." Ha ha!

Liesel's schedule suddenly became jam packed. Between Spirit Squad, dance, Young Women and Girl Scouts, Liesel was feeling pretty squeezed. Due to work, I was never able to make it to the beginning of the games but I made it for half-time. 

Here's one of the cheers:

One of the dance routines (Liesel's on the left):

Even though Liesel's group had learned to catch her in a cradle, the coach wouldn't let them do it which frustrated her because they'd put in so much time on it in practice. I'm sure the coach was thinking safety first, which I'm grateful for, because even seeing Liesel up there turns my stomach in knots. At 0:54 Liesel is at the tip of the triangle and she would always get the funniest smile because she felt so strange having all those poms on her shoulders.

 Another dance routine:

An 8th grader did the choreography for this one and as she taught it to the girls she warned them that it would get pretty fast. You can see it at 0:40 and Liesel, with years of dance experience, thought quietly to herself it wasn't terribly complicated. They begin the kick line at 0:48 and those always make me smile because they seem to fall apart even before they begin. 

Liesel had fun and made new friends in Spirit Squad. Today was the end of season party. They gave awards and the girls had juice boxes, cupcakes and cookies. However, she's definitely relieved it's over!

The BAM- Brigitta's Cooler

I truly think Brigitta is headed for a career in architecture or engineering or something. Her older sisters have shown me their cooler projects from STEM but Brigitta really put her heart and soul into this thing. As she explains in the video, it has several compartments- the large one is the main cooler and the smaller one is for ice cream sandwiches. She has a cupholder with a cup and handmade straws. She made a purse with money (the million dollar bill is of course, my favorite) and the whole thing has a handle and wheels. What kid thinks to put a cooler on wheels, I ask you!?! 

I'm truly blown away with the BAM!

Baptisms for the Dead

With the new policy allowing youth to begin doing baptisms for the dead in the year they turn 12, we were eager to get Liesel in for a session. We wanted her first time to be special, just with us. Between Chicago and Nauvoo, Liesel decided to go to the Nauvoo temple. We scheduled for the 3-day weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr Day but there was a really, really bad storm and they closed the temple down. We rescheduled for 3-day weekend of President's Day. Grandma and Grandpa watched the 3 little girls while Tim and Whitney came with us. Even though we were a small group, the temple president came down and spoke to Liesel. I don't remember what he said, but I remember he was so kind and loving. Even so, Liesel was really nervous and I'm glad we were all there to support her.

The stained glass in the baptistry is absolutely stunning!

Of course it was freezing so we just snapped a couple of photos. I can't get enough of Brent's delight in this photo:

Both Brent and Tim baptized her while Whitney and I served as witnesses. Much to Tim's delight, there were several French names.

Afterwards we stopped at a Taco Bell/KFC that was weirdly out of pretty much everything. They didn't have ranch sauce or fries and their coke dispenser wasn't working... we were like, "What DO you have?"

Anyway, we had a great time with Liesel and we all probably needed that trip to the temple much more than she did. Funny how that happens, eh?

Tidbits

Sometimes the girls can be so sweet to each other. This is Sydney kissing Ireland as she's sleeping.

From Sydney who wanted Brent to tie a blanket around her so she'd look like a princess-

Brent: Why don't you ask one of your sisters?
Sydney: *mournfully* Well Liesel's lazy and she won't do it and Ireland's lazy and she won't do it and Gita... Gita just HATES me so she won't do it!

After Christmas the girls were eager to use up the gift cards they received in their stockings so we headed downtown to the American Girl Store. 

Brent was a trooper.

Liesel is showing her maturity and wasn't quite as interested in the dolls as she was in getting to Sephora to check out the makeup. 

She's all filters and selfies these days! We had fun at Sephora.

Her Young Women leaders decorated her room while she was at school. It's hard to see but they put confetti on her desk and left a little goodie bag as well.

Sometimes when I make the girls hug it out after a fight, it's a much worse punishment for one of them than it is for the other.

Cookie season is upon us! We are so very grateful to anyone who buys as we have these 4 to support. I love Girl Scouts and the opportunities it provides for these girls to serve and get involved in our community.

There's nothing particularly special about this video- it's just Gita putting on her boots as she gets ready for school. All the girls love wearing high heels and I wanted to capture a moment where Gita could explain why she loves them so much and how she looks at this age, getting ready for school. I have a feeling that when I am old and funny, these everyday kind of videos will mean the most to me.

During FHE the girls reenacted Laban refusing to give the plates to Nephi and his brothers. I thought Ireland's beard was pretty inventive and they all made sure to wear sandals in keeping with people who would have lived in Jerusalem around 600 BC.

I'm pretty sure the file room at work is haunted. It's in a remote corner of the building so when I have to file something I leave a note on my friend Laura's desk so someone knows I'm down there. One day she left early and I jokingly left another note on her desk stating that I'd died down in the file room. She made me this and it cracked me up!

I took Liesel to a GEMS Conference (Girls in Engineering, Math & Science).

Aside from some pretty cool activities, there were break out sessions and a career fair. She was able to talk to women who work in all kinds of jobs she'd never even heard of.

Here she is trying her hand at some coding. I think the one that made the biggest impression on her was the girl who worked in construction. She had worked on Disneyland as well as the new Starbuck's Roastery here in Chicago. 

On Thursday nights the older 3 girls are at dance so I pop Sydney in the bath and then we read to each other. I love this little bit of time we have, just the two of us.

One thing I definitely have taken for granted is the pictures the girls have drawn me. Somehow it never dawned on me that there is an age limit to these drawings and now the Liesel and Ireland don't do them anymore, I just relish it when I get one from Brititta or Sydney. 

I love the way Sydney drew me with high heels!

I've had the girls practicing the KonMari method of folding clothes, but the girls took it to the next level:

Chocolate Challenge

While all of the girls began the chocolate challenge, Liesel was the only one to go the distance. Even though she could have chocolate as of January 1, she held off because she was determined to do the challenge for a second year in a row. Liesel wanted to make sure she wasn't in any way disqualified. Finally I grabbed a slice of the insanely good chocolate cake from Portillo's. 

Brent felt like that was enough, but if Liesel really was going to go a full 2 years without any chocolate, I wanted her to pick out a decadent chocolate dessert of her own. We snuck away to the Cheesecake Factory where she ordered the s'mores cheesecake.

An excellent choice!

We had our chocolate party the Sunday evening before Martin Luther King Jr Day so we wouldn't feel too guilty about sugaring up kids who have school the next day. Just like last year, I was so busy hosting, I couldn't snap photos. This is the only one I have! We borrowed this adorable peg board donut holder from a friend and you can see the chocolate fountain station getting set up in the background. 

The party was ok- I think everyone had a good time- but I was a little frustrated with it as well. We didn't have bowls for the ice cream so no one really ate that. Brent didn't pick up mini candy bars because last year we had so many leftovers. No one really ate the cupcakes and I was frantically making BYU mint brownies and forgot they are meant to be thin, so I cooked them in a pan rather than a cookie sheet. They were so thick, they were like a sugar bomb and well, those weren't super popular either. It seemed like we had 3 different kinds of chocolate cake. 

 Again, I think everyone had a good time- Liesel definitely did, which is the important thing. Once success is that months ago a dear friend gave me his punch bowl and tiny cups, which I was finally able to pull out and use. Some punch was a nice change from all the chocolate, for sure.

Ireland has already declared she is taking a break from the challenge for a year but Liesel is determined to make some more money and Brigitta really seems interested as well. We will see who goes the distance!

Marie Kondoing the Books

CLFOGE- or Crystal Lake Friends of Gifted Education has an annual book sale. The amount of books they collect and then resell is overwhelming but when I saw our old books could go to a good home and support a program our children use, I was all for it. Convincing Brent was another story. 

I had binged Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and reread her book so I knew my first move was to pull out all the books and put them in huge piles:

Marie Kondo is right- it's not until you see the pile that you can confront what you have amassed over the years.

I gave Brent a quick rundown of her advice- do the words of the title mean something to you? Will you read this book again or is it just something you've been holding on to because it once meant something or it cost money?

At the end of the day, we were able to fill that laundry basket you see in the back for donation. Brent actually shocked me with how much he was willing to part with- he's usually a very sentimental guy. We were left with a nice, tidy pile that we artfully rearranged in the newly dusted shelves of the office. 

And it felt SO good! I love clearing out stuff.