Toddler time with Brighton

Brighton's enrolled in Mommy Preschool this year.  Good thing I'm the boss, or I'd fire myself.  I try to do something fun/educational once a day with him; we started with A with the intention of doing a letter of the week.  We've only made it through C.  Oh well.  We played with the Halloween jelly beans a few weeks ago.  We counted them, sorted them, and made patterns with them.  Brighton did great until we added the Cheerios.  That just got too hard!

Then I made a pumpkin counting paper and we sorted them by number. 

We had a big day that day, because I also made pumpkin pie play dough.  Mmm, it smelled good enough to eat!

To play, first ya gotta squish it good. 

Sometimes ya gotta get a running start at it. 

If that doesn't work, ya gotta bam it.  Like this. 

Earlier in the fall, we took a nature walk to collect fallen leaves and other fun things.  We never got to our art project before the leaves turned brittle, so we took the pine cones and made people out of them.  We ended up with Bob the Builder, Wendy, and Scoop, though Scoop is missing his attachments. 

I scream you scream...

This is what happens when Mom is doing laundry...

At least he shared...

Life with Irelynd

Life with Irelynd is often like a storm; sometimes violent, always unpredictable.  She will sweep in with her stormy moods and wipe out an entire village, or family, in mere seconds.  She leaves chaos and often unsettled emotions in her wake.  The power and intensity of the outburst can leave you breathless and filled with despair.  You may wonder if you will ever see daylight again.

But when the storm breaks, you finally see flashes of radiant, brilliant sunlight that makes the storm worth it.  You see the absolute, stunning beauty through the clouds, and realize that the storm clouds are not the reality, but just the visible part.    Behind them are blue skies and warm sunshine.  Your despair turns to wonder at the love you feel poured down from Heaven by being so close to one of its creations.  You appreciate the light so much the more after the darkness that preceeded it.  I don't know why Irelynd has the challenges she has with her ADHD, but I do know that we were blessed with such a choice spirit.  The love that she radiates when she is balanced is such a blessing.  Her Christlike manners inspire me to be a better person.  I'm grateful for every peaceful moment with her.  I know that is who she truly is, and the other is just a temporary, mortal challenge.  In following Elder Oakes' counsel in his talk on gratitude (found in the Mormon Messages on Thanksgiving), I will thank Heavenly Father for the trust He has in me to raise this daughter of His, and pray with all my heart for His help. 

Turkey lunch

Usually once or twice a week, Brighton requests a "fun lunch".  Sometimes he'll give me directions; once he wanted a "cone lunch."  Beats me what that was, but I usually try to accomodate him.  Last week he requested a fun lunch again; I'd already done a "C lunch", since we learned that letter last week, so I made him a hand turkey instead.  I traced his hand and cut it out with a small knife, then used peanut butter and four different colored jams and jellies to make the feathers; a raisin was the eye, and cheetos the feet.  I thought Old Tom was kinda cute.

Search the scriptures diligently and ye shall find treasures

Again, after reading My Insanity's blog, I was inspired to do a scripture chase hunt for Irelynd's baptism gifts.  Scott put it together, and we gave it to her on Sunday morning before church.  She and Savannah both were really excited to find the gifts.

We sent her around various places in the house.  

Since there is no mention of a TV in any set of scriptures I've ever read, the clue told her to use the "T" from someone's name, and the 28th letter from a second scripture. 

Found it under Waverly's crib! 

She was hoping it was Littlest Pet Shops, but she was happy to get her own set of large scriptures, since she had been sharing with Savannah prior to this. 

And a new piggy bank.  When Irelynd was little, we caught her burying her money outside in the garden.  We had to go retrieve it; some might still be there.  I always think of this when I see a piggy bank.  Maybe one day she'll learn to use one. 

Irelynd's Baptism

Irelynd got baptized last Saturday.  I can NOT believe this child turned 8!  (or survived to reach 8!)  It was such a wonderful day.  Scott baptized and confirmed her; there were 4 kids from our ward being baptized the same day. 

Before leaving for the church.

I found this cute hairstyle on a blog somewhere about braiding.  It held up to the water perfectly.  No primping neccessary afterwards.  I loved the way the hair fanned out from the ponytails.  I wish I would have tied some ribbon around the ponies to hide the holders.

Waiting for the service to start.

These jumpers really aren't great, are they? 

And after.  I had to give the talk on baptism; can I say I hate to talk?  We originally had planned on having Savannah give the talk, but decided we needed an adult; I wish we would have stuck with the original idea.  I promised her she could give the talk at Brighton's baptism in 4 years.  I just want to point out in this family picture, that everybody, including both twins, is looking at the camera.  And I didn't edit it at all.  That is SO rare. 

Irelynd and Grandma.  Her other grandparents, Scott's parents, are serving a mission in England right now and couldn't be here.  The bishopric in this ward give journals out to the newly baptized members.  I love the red bush behind them.  The weather this day was perfect.  We couldn't have asked for better weather for a baptism, especially considering it's November. 

Again, though it's too small to tell, in this bigger family picture with my sister Julie and her family, everybody is looking at the camera.  Wow! 

We had everybody back to our house afterwards for lunch.  This was the smallest family gathering for a baptism in memory.  Irelynd's cousin, Grace, was baptized the same day in CA, so some of their cousins and an aunt went to support her.  It's funny though, because Irelynd and Grace were blessed on the same day, too.  Their birthdays are 5 weeks apart.  And from my side, I only had my sister there.  But we were very glad to have the family that we did, and are SO grateful they came to support us, especially considering it was a BYU home game.  One of Scott's brothers that was there has only missed less than 5 home games in the past 15 years.  So the fact that they came meant so much to us.  Thanks, everybody, for your love and support!  We belong to such an awesome family!

For the luncheon, I had to theme it, or course.  I found this post oven on My Insanity that Kendra did for her daughter when she got baptized, and I had to copy it, of course, but not as fabulously as she did.  She is crazy, of course:)  I pulled out my rainbow pom poms again, and made rainbow cupcakes.  (Wasn't about to try the cake again after Brighton gave me an ulcer!)

I did a rainbow-colored salad bar. 

I took Irelynd to Fotogenix to have her pictures taken in September.  They did such a great job, and she's so photogenic; it was painful to decide on just one.  But I was pleased with it. 

Before we ate, Irelynd had to smell everything.  Her ADHD makes her do some odd things sometimes.  She's very interesting to observe. 

The cupcakes got more than one sniff. 

I guess she approves:) 

These are the gifts my mom gave her.  My mom said the card reminded her so much of Irelynd because the girl has huge eyes, just like Irelynd. 

rainbow jello.  More pretty than it is tasty, but not too bad.

More cupcakes.  I really have a food problem when I take more photos of the food than the people, don't I?  Food pictures don't get mad if you catch them with their eyes closed or mouths open.

Before eating, Savannah and cousin Chloe sang "I like to look for rainbows".  I love hearing the two of them sing; they have beautiful voices.  We had planned originally to have them sing at the service, but the music was already planned, so we opted for home.  It really brought the Spirit in and touched my heart.  They repeated the song for Grandma and Grandpa in England on Skype later. 

We were blessed to have such a spiritual experience this day.  My testimony was strengthened and renewed.  I'm so proud of our little Irelynd.  I know, although she tries us in ways I never knew motherhood would, that she is a very special spirit sent to us by Heavenly Father, and I know she has an important mission to accomplish.  I hope I can be there to see her reach it every step along the way.