Cinderella, as told by Brighton Henry

Once upon a time there was a princess named Cinderella.  She was so beautiful.  She didn't even wear diapers.  She wore big girl pants.  And she danced with the handsome prince.  And he wore big boy pants.  And there was Ariel.  She had a pet fish.  She didn't have a bowl for her fish.  She went in the boat with the handsome prince.  And Cinderella was there with a pet bunny and a skunk.  PU!  Cinderella was there with a pretty pink dress on.  So was her mom.  The end!  And Cinderella was there with her superhero!  And the superhero's name was Prince.  And Cinderella was there with a blue pretty dress on.  And her mom, and dad, and Uncle was there.  And her uncle was wearing girl shoes.  The end!

First ER visit

Last week the twins had another first: their first visit to the ER.  Luckily, it wasn't too serious.  I had left Irelynd's night time meds on the counter for her to take, but forgot to tell her about it.  When I went back for them, they were gone.  Waverly had taken off the counter and ingested at least part of one.  Because we couldn't find the remaining pills, and Keaton claimed he ate them, they both got to go.  They spent 3 hours monitoring both blood pressure and heart rate.  Waverly had to be fed some counter drug to bring her heart rate back up, but Keaton brought his own back up.  Lesson learned:  don't leave pills out on the counter when there are monkies in the house! 

Spring family pictures

I had intended on having these dresses done for Easter, but we had Stake Conference that Sunday.  So they became our Mother's Day dresses instead.  I was so happy with how everything turned out.  I found this adorable blog that inspired me for Waverly's dress.

Here are some of my favorite shots from our photo session at my Mom's.  Usually we try to take them outdoors, but it rained on Mother's Day.  Darnit!

My beautiful girls.  Every mother needs daughters. 

We had to take a break so they could both get their blanket fixes.  Keaton sucks his thumb, Brighton sucks his tongue. (and Waverly sucks her entire arm).

These two love each other.  Best friends; worst enemies.  When they are apart for any length of time, when we arrive home, they'll go looking for the other and hug.  Waverly will tell Keaton, "I missed you, Keaton!"

I love this one with Waverly and my mom.  It was unscripted. 

This was the last grouping.  By now the kids had had it.  All the bribes and threats and attempts at making them laugh and look had failed.

This is the best we got.  I love my 3 men! 

5 kids. 214 pictures. 30 minutes. Makes one crazy!

Mom's Day

For Mother's Day this year, Scott made a breakfast of French toast, homemade blackberry syrup, and scrambled eggs.  He set his very pretty setting for me, with cards from him and Savannah.  Thank you honey for a yummy breakfast and nice note!  I love you!  And thanks to my five children for making me a mother.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to be your mother and learn from you every day.  I love you guys!

Pet for a day

Last weekend while the girls were getting ready for bed, Savannah spotted a critter in Irelynd's window well.  Scott went outside to retrieve it, and it climbed right into his open gloved hand.  We put it in a Rubbermaid bin, and the girls made sure the little guy didn't go hungry.  We did some research to determine what our newest resident should be called: rat, mouse, hamster, guinnea pig...  We have no experience with rodents, obviously.  After searching Google, we thought we had found someone's lost hamster.  The girls gave it a name, and made plans for the future with their Molly replacement.  We kept it overnight until we could ask an expert.  Apparently we had caught ourselves a deer mouse.  Eeek!  The girls were sad to see our new pet go, but we relocated him to a very nice home in the fields just off the hill.  Good luck Skittle!

Popcorn popping

Since I've started working in the afternoon, there is little time for Mommy Preschool, or activities with the little ones.  I've deeply missed our time together learning, so, occasionally I will try to squeeze in an activity or two I had planned earlier in the year.  This day we made Japanese Cherry blossom trees with watered-down brown paint, straws, and crumpled pink tissue paper.  We used the straws to blow the paint across the paper, making branches and limbs.  The twins needed a little bit of help with this step.  After it was dry, they glued on the crumpled up "blossoms".  I thought they'd like this activity more than they did.  Perhaps they don't miss our craft time as much as I do.

And the finished product!  Ta da!