The many faces of Brighton

 Brighton is in Ms Mellor's kindergarten class and loves school.  I interviewed him to find out his favorites.

Food: mashed potatoes and gravy

Movie:  Cars 2

TV show:  Phineas and Ferb

Book: Big truck book

Toy:  Remote control car

Game:  UNO

Color:  Blue

animal:  Elephant (?)

Smell:  his dark blue blanket when it comes out of the washer

Place to visit:  Lowe's Airsports in Provo

What job do you want to have when you grow up?  a "normal" job like Dad, or a firefighter

What makes you happy?  My dark blue blankie.

What makes you sad?  When I don't have it.

Favorite class in school?  Centers

Best Friend:  Jared Suiter

What are you good at?  basketball

 What do you like to do the most?  basketball and dig in the dirt

What is the best gift you've ever been given?  My dark blue blankie

What makes you special?  my kindness

What makes our family special?  Our loveness

What's something you can't live without?  (you guessed it!)  my dark blue blankie

What is the hardest thing about being a kid?  Being nice

 If you were in charge of the world, what rule would you make everyone follow?  Pay your tithing!

 Despite Brighton's hyper and impulsive nature, he is a really sweet kid with a big heart.  He is a thinker, and is very inquisitive.  I imagine he must be a lot like my dad as a kid.  He asks questions constantly about how things work.  I remember once as a teenager my sister brought home a new car.  My dad, in his typical way, was inspecting everything, and when he got to the trunk was very impressed with how large it was.  He went so far as climbing in and having someone shut the lid to test its space capacity.  That was my dad, and I think Brighton is a lot like him.  His uncle drilled him one day about how things work, and Brighton did an impressive job of thinking through it, and explaining it.

 Brighton can be really funny at times.  He's not shy at ALL and will talk to anyone.  He makes friends easily, and is very loyal. 

 He's all boy, and is usually found outside, covered in dirt.  Ironically, he's also the only one of my kids that makes his bed every day without fail. 

I hope for a big, fat reward one day for raising this kid and keeping him alive:)  We love you Brighton!

Irelynd

 Irelynd is harder to describe.  She's my iceberg; so much of her is hidden beneath the surface and you sometimes have to dig deeper to get to who she really is inside.  She is my sensitive one.  She notices when my feet are swollen or I look tired.  She likes to talk to the baby in my tummy, in hopes he'll recognize her voice when he's born.  She likes to ask thoughtful questions and draw parallels.  Just don't expect her attention to hold for more than 10 minutes on any one topic. 

 Irelynd is in 5th grade and generally likes school. I interviewed her recently.  These are her answers.
Favorite foods:  Mac&Cheese with hot dogs, and pizza.
Favorite movie:  Brave
Favorite Song:  "When can I see you again?"
TV show:  Dog with a Blog
Book:  Harry Potter series
Game:  Uno Machete
Color:  Lime green
Toy: roller blades

When she grows up she wants to be a zoo keeper.

What makes her happiest is when her cousin Grace comes out to visit from CA.

Favorite memory from school this year was the Halloween parade.

Favorite subject at school is art and science

Best friend:  Molly (at school)

She's best at spelling

Favorite pastimes are rollerblading and reading

What she worries about most is losing Brighton on the way home from school.

If she could be invisible for a day, she'd sneak stuff and rollerblade all day

The hardest part about being a kid is not being in control.

The best thing is "you can't get arrested and you get away with more stuff."

5 words that best describe Irelynd are: "creative, weird, curious, awesome, and freaky"

If I was in charge of the world, the rule I'd make everyone follow would be...Be Nice!

Irelynd, we love you!

The end of an era

 I can't believe this pregnancy is almost over.  We found out we were pregnant back in March, and it came as a huge surprise.  We have never gotten pregnant without trying before, and we were not expecting another one.  We always felt like our family was not complete, but I stubbornly refused to do anything about it, as I felt at the limit with the 5 I already have.  Honestly, when I found out we were expecting, I had mixed feelings about it.  I felt blessed that we were being entrusted with another little one, but also not looking forward to doing the baby thing again.  I felt I had paid my dues with the twins, and I deserved to have the "me time" this year, with everyone in school.  I know, selfish of me.

 This pregnancy was really tough; the first trimester I felt sick every moment of every day until I was 16 weeks.  I was cranky, anti-social, and mean to my kids too.  At 13 weeks I thought I was having a miscarriage, and went in for an ultrasound to check the baby's viability.  That was really traumatic for me, as Scott was sick that day and didn't come with me.  I cried the whole way to the hospital.  Luckily, it was nothing, and the baby was healthy.  That's when we found out we were having a boy.  I was so sure that we were having a girl, too, that it came as a shock to be told otherwise.  I never felt comfortable giving away girl stuff, wondering if the 2 ultrasounds we had confirming the gender were correct.  It's taken me this long to get excited about having another baby.  But I am excited about meeting this little guy.  I'm excited to introduce him to his brothers and sisters, the youngest of which ask daily when the baby will be coming out.  They are so excited to be a big brother and big sister for a change.

 This will definitely be my last pregnancy.  I'm approaching 40, and already feel like Grandma Moses, or like Abraham's Sarah, giving birth at my old age:)  I always thought I'd kick up my heels at never having to be pregnant again, and part of me feels that, but it's also a hard reality to think that this is the last time I will feel what it feels like to have a baby get the hiccups, or explore his surroundings with some sound kicks to my abdomen, or know that I am growing another totally unique, one-of-a-kind human being inside me, or know that I am partners with Heavenly Father in creating a mortal body for another of his precious spirit children.  This chapter of my life will be over when this baby is born.  I will miss the kids wanting to put their hands on my tummy to feel their brother moving inside me, and having them put their mouths to my belly to tell the baby goodnight at bedtime, or introduce themselves, so the baby will know their voices too when he's born.  So while pregnancy is not my preferred state to be in, and it comes with many inconveniences and aches and pains, I am extremely grateful to be able to carry a baby and bring another spirit into this world.

 We look forward to meeting you soon, Little One!

Savannah

Unfortunately, I did not get any great photos of Savannah; bad lighting, I guess.  So this is the only one that made the cut.  Savannah officially made us OLD when she became a teenager!  She is in 8th grade and loves it.  She is a free spirit that doesn't care what people think of her, and is not afraid to stand up to the bullies or popular kids in defense of someone being picked on.  I have been so proud of her to listen to how she jumps to the defense of someone she may not even like, if they become the butt of the joke around other kids her age.  She loves drama (in more ways than one), singing, and all animals.  She hopes to own a horse someday soon (dream big, girl!), and wants to be a rancher when she grows up, with a whole herd of horses.  She's still my animal lover, and can't stand to see her sister torture grasshoppers.  She is in love with Hunger Games, and is Peeta's #2 fan (behind a friend of hers that is convinced he's real!)  She loves her cell phone, and dreams of visiting her name city one day.  Savannah wears her emotions on her sleeve, and is just as prone to cry as she is to laugh.  She is a good big sister to Waverly (the others still bug her too much), and is excited to have another baby in the house.  She loves family time, and will make a good mother one day.  Happy birthday, Savannah Banana!

Fall Family photos

 I came to a realization recently that I have really been slacking on taking photos this year, and I neglected to take any individual photos of my kids for their birthdays.  The twins are WAY overdue, but the other 3 are right in season.  So we packed everyone up and headed to my favorite Fall destination in these parts:  Woodland Hills.  I would live there in a heartbeat if it weren't so far off the freeway, and we didn't have kids to shuttle places.  One day...  We missed the high point of it's Autumnal glory this year, but it was still beautiful in parts.  We saw about 15 groups of deer roaming freely, and enjoyed the vibrant colors...in places.  Here are some of my favorites from the family portion.

 This is the REAL us!

 I just love little piggy photos!

 I was in the middle of snapping pictures when this deer ran across the road not far from us.  The kids took off in hot pursuit.

 Can you tell who's at the bottom of the totem pole/pecking order in our house?

Mr Keaton was not too happy at being at the bottom, in case it wasn't obvious.

General Conference weekend 2012

 Something wonderful and amazing has happened at our house.  It was the initial goal of all the preparation and effort we put in to General Conference weekend, but I expected a LONG term investment payout, not to be seen for years.  My kids LOVE, no ADORE General Conference.  Since we started doing our Conference bags, store, breakfast, etc., they have enjoyed it, but this year I started fielding questions a month beforehand about when the big weekend was coming.  You'd think it was coming Christmas, with the excitement that was building for this 2 day event!  And most of it came from the little ones.  Brighton, especially.  Even Savannah told me her friends moaned about having to listen to one talk, and she said she "got" to listen to the whole thing.  It was a MAJOR mama paycheck to hear my children reminisce and tell me about their favorite parts of General Conference.  Brighton told me his favorite speaker is President Uchtdorf, and he listened intently for any reference to planes.  He also told me he knew listening to the Prophet was the right thing to do.  Just when I think my children are little hellions, I am reminded by just how special and strong and amazing this generation of kids really are.  At Brighton's age, I think I could tell you who the Prophet was, but not any GA's.  Sometimes they astound me.  I will forever be grateful to all the creative women who shared their ideas with me to make this event something to look forward to and enjoy together as a family.

 We especially enjoyed the play doh bag that was a part of Pres. Uchtdorf's talk.  It was fun to see what everyone came up with to represent a part of his talk.  The little ones mainly played with theirs,

 but Irelynd really put some thought into hers.  I wish I could remember exactly how she put it, but this was a representation of the not-so-good ways we spend our time.  See the frowny face below?  That's how we feel when we don't do good things.

 Savannah's was some kind of a clock, too.

 Aunt Michelle sent us a Halloween box with candy necklace kits in it.  Perfect for a Conference bag!

Team Peeta party

 Savannah has totally embraced the Hunger Games.  She adores Peeta, and is even being Katniss for Halloween.  So, this year, it followed that she would choose a Hunger Games theme for her birthday party, and thank heavens, I had a party already pre-planned!  Since we didn't get to the games the night of the movie premiere, I still had everything saved and ready to go.  Here's the line-up of Tributes, with Savannah being District 12.  That's Britt's awesome fire cape she's got on, thanks to Britt's generosity in loaning it.

 We played all the arena games; slingshot challenge, bow and arrow accuracy, Poisonous plant identification, and a test of wits, ending with the Cornucopia Challenge.  Prizes were awarded for the events; the Peeta necklace went first.  Savannah was dying to get that one, but she tanked and didn't get one.  Maybe Santa?

 After the Arena games, we stopped for the Feast of Tributes.  We had pizza, "peeta" bread with hummus, carrots and dip, root beer, and cupcakes.  I got the cute printables from Hostess with the Mostess, I believe.

 The Cornucopia Challenge; Savannah ended up with the ill-chosen blue tarp that also sank Sallie in March

 After the games, the girls headed downstairs for presents, and to watch the movie.  We had to include treats, of course!

 This was the only shot I was able to get of Savannah opening gifts, as she was surrounded by a gaggle of giggling girls.

We are now the proud owners of a full-fledged teenager!  May Heaven help us all!