Brynn Rocks!

Brynn "rocks"...and so does everything else she thinks is cool, neat or fun. Lately she's pulled a line from some movie (I'm not even sure which one) and asks, "What am I, chopped liver?" when things don't go her way.

Brynn lost her first tooth last Monday. A few weeks ago she complained that her gums hurt when she clenched her teeth. When I looked in her mouth and told her her front bottom two teeth were loose Brynn was ecstatic. She started wiggling her teeth non-stop from that moment on. She also voiced her wish that she'd lose her tooth at school because you get to go to the nurses office and she gives you a cute little tooth box to take your tooth home in.

Last Sunday Brynn's tooth was barely hanging on. She didn't want to pull it, and she didn't want us to help her either. But, the next day at school during calendar time (the first thing they do each morning) Brynn made her wish come true by pulling her tooth out and going to the nurses office. Sure enough, she had a small plastic tooth-shaped box with a flip top lid when I picked her up that afternoon. Here's a picture of Brynn with her teeny-tiny tooth--it was so small in fact that when Brynn first saw it she thought she'd only pulled out half of it!

Brynn started Kindergarten this year...a dream come true for her. She has been ready to start school since Kaitlyn began two years ago. She started reading this summer and loves it. She loves to do arts and crafts and is a great artist. She has been writing stories and Halloween poems lately. With the amount of paper we go through in a day, I'm sure we're responsible for the demise of several rainforest's...sorry!

Brynn's teacher told me that she loves Brynn's sense of humor. Apparently, Brynn is the only one who laughs at the jokes her teacher makes and then Brynn usually has a funny retort to give back. Brynn truly is a funny girl. I marvel at her sharp mind, and I love it when I'm reading out loud to her and she starts laughing loudly when something funny happens in the book.

Brynn got her hair cut a month or two ago...isn't it cute. She loves it, especially because now she thinks she looks like Kit, from the American Girl series of books we've been reading. Of course, now she wants an American Girl doll!

Brynn loves soccer and is quite the player. She usually scores most of her teams goals--it helps that she tends to be one of the tallest players in the league and most of the little girls stay out of her way.

We love this cute girl and are so glad she's part of our family!

Why I Love Albuquerque

We've lived in Albuquerque for 2 1/2 years now. Wow--that's almost a record for us! The first time Scott mentioned a job opening for Honeywell in New Mexico I laughed. Are you serious? Do people really live in New Mexico? I was praying that moving to Albuquerque was not the right decision...I knew it couldn't be the right decision the first time we flew into the drab airport (it has since been remodeled and looks much more up-to-date). Despite my disdain for turquoise, southwest decorating, vigas, (round logs used as ceiling beams or support beams right in the middle of the house!) and flat roof homes (which we now own) I couldn't deny moving here was indeed the right thing for us. And we love it. We love the mountains. We love the weather. We love that Albuquerque is a little behind the times. Some may think that last one is a disadvantage...not me. I love that few are hip on the latest fashion styles like you find in some areas; it makes me feel right at home.

But the best thing about Albuquerque is the annual Balloon Fiesta. What an amazing ten days!

This year 625 balloons participated. There's nothing like seeing so many balloons in the sky...you can't help but smile and be happy!


We watched these two balloons inflate and take off from the playground at the girls school.

And then I drove home and saw this balloon fly right over our house. I love when they're close enough to wave to the pilots!

We went to a balloon glow at night where the balloons inflate, and then when it gets dark they all light up. It's impressive. The best part is that most of the balloonists have trading cards like baseball cards with the stats and pictures of their balloons. The girls and I ran from balloon to balloon trying to get as many cards as we could. Scott shakes his head in embarrassment at the sight of us, but I just can't help it!

The kids had Friday off from school so we spent the morning chasing the balloons around in the car. I think this is the most exciting part of Balloon Fiesta. We watched the above balloon from Orlando, FL land and got to help put it away!

Then we raced in our car to hurry and watch the "Silver Star" from Bountiful, UT land. I discovered roads I never knew existed as I followed the balloon to see where it would land.

We helped hold down the tarp here.

And ended the morning with a picture in the basket...how perfect!

Messy Memories

I have been touched by a story of a young mother with four kids, almost the ages of mine, who was in a plane crash and has been in critical condition for several months with over 80% of her body burned. She had been keeping a blog for several years and had quite a following of people she didn't even know because of her positive attitude on life and especially on motherhood.

Reading some of her posts has made me reflect on some things I want to do better with my own children. I have felt the need to try harder to help create fun memories with my kids. It is far too easy to get into the rut of our daily routine, and I've often felt too exhausted to even try an attempt at something more.

I geared myself up, and on Conference Sunday (twice a year the leaders from our church speak to its worldwide members http://www.lds.org/) we spent every non-Conference part of the day making the messiest but most fun treat...sugar cookies! My kids love the entire process...cutting out the cookies, frosting and decorating. Because of the mess and work of it all I rarely instigate this project.

Before the first session of Conference we had all the cookies cut (we had almost 70!) and baked. I was already tired and grateful for President Monson's talk encouraging us to enjoy our moments with our young children...it gave me an extra boost to move onto part 2--frosting and sprinkles!! Sprinkles drowned cookies as children tend to do and orange and green frosting clumps clung to chairs and walls...but the kids loved every minute of it.

The best part? After our masterpieces were all decorated we piled up plates of cookies and brought them around to the neighbors. And then the excitement catapulted as we drove to some houses of friends in the ward and the kids sneakily crept to their front doors, rang the bell and ran with all their might back to the van as to not get caught. We were the "Cookie Phantoms" and I think the kids could have done that all night. It was fun for Scott and I to watch the three older kids race with such glee---Ellie almost gave us away screaming and whining because she wanted to be in the run as well. Jared was in heaven being included with the girls and was sure he could run just as fast as them since he has big muscles.

At the end of the day there was a lot of mess to clean up...but it was definitely worth it!

Sweetness

I love Mary Engelbreit's artwork. Her fun colors, sweet pictures and poignant thoughts always touch me. In fact, one year for Christmas I asked Scott to get me a day-to-day Mary Engelbreit calendar--the kind that you can pull off each day and has a different picture. I never pulled the pictures off, but would frequently take a few minutes to look through the pages. Scott thought this was funny, but it always made me happy!

Last Wednesday was mine and Scott's 9th anniversary. I've always felt this picture depicts our life perfectly with kids running around screaming, playing and making messes. Gratefully mom and dad still love each other amidst it all.

Scott's birthday song to me was very sweet. He is amazing. I didn't ever write about my other birthday surprises. The Friday before my birthday a group of my friends showed up at my door to take me to PF Chang's for dinner. I was very surprised! Apparently, my good friend Amber had been scheming with Scott for several weeks to pull it off. I guess I had been making things hard for Scott. Since I make dinner early for the kids he didn't know how to get me to not eat before my friends came. He mentioned on Thursday we should order pizza but I replied, "We had pizza yesterday." Then Friday morning he called and asked me what I'd planned for dinner and I replied "There's chicken in the crock pot." He called me around 5:00pm and I said I was just getting dinner ready for the kids. He asked if I'd wait to have dinner with him. I thought it was a strange request only because he's never asked before. So I served the kids and waited for him. When he came home we sat down together and he said, "You might not want to eat too much because I have a surprise for you." I was wondering when he was going to break out the surprise when my friends all showed up at my door.
After dinner we went to my friend's house for my absolute favorite Costco All-American Chocolate Cake--7 pounds of the most moist, delicious chocolaty chocolate cake.

I came home late and found two bouquets of wild flowers with notes beside each one from Kaitlyn and Brynn. They both wished me a happy birthday. One had a flower bouquet drawn on it with the words, "Happy Birthday Mom. It's early. But it's pretty." Coming home to such sweetness reminded me how great life is and how lucky I am.

A Child's Prayer

Jared's obsession with "good guy vs. bad guy" became more apparent tonight. As part of our bedtime routine I read to Jared from his choice "A Light in the Attic" by Shel Silverstein. He loves to hear these poems and can remember from the pictures what each one is about. After our reading Jared said his prayers as I listened. He remained quiet for a few seconds after his prayer and then we had a precious conversation.

Jared: Mom, Heavenly Father answers our prayers.

Mom: You're right Jared, I know Heavenly Father answers our prayers. He will answer your prayers if you pray because you're sad or scared, and He will comfort you. He will answer you if you pray and ask Him if the Book of Mormon is true.

Jared: Yeah, and like if bad guys have you then you can pray to Heavenly Father and then He'll send good guys to come with a sword and push down the bad guys and then you can run away.

Mom: That's right Jared. If you have faith and ask Heavenly Father He will answer all sorts of prayers.

It's true, Heavenly Father can do all things--even rescue you from bad guys.

Family Pictures

Poor Ellie is 16 months and has never had a professional picture taken. Even sadder than that is the family picture of us that Scott's mom has sitting on a table in her basement. It was taken when Jared was just brand-new. I never liked the picture and every time I visit Cheryl I remember how badly we need new family pictures taken. We've intended to do it for some time now, but just the idea of getting family pictures taken with our four young kids made me start sweating with stress. We made the first appointment for the day which was helpful and actually came out with a few good pictures. Ellie was tired by the time we got to her individual pictures so we only got a few shots of her with her "serious" face.

Sarah's 30th Birthday

Sarah turns 30 today!

Being that I'm an exessive romantic I wrote some new lyrics to a song from back when we were first dating and strummed it out on my guitar. (I should mention that this is about the only song I can play on the guitar).

I'm thinking these efforts--which are extraordinary in relation to my innate levels of sensitivity--should help cover for 9 years of being a slacker and maybe give me enough points to safeguard me for 30 years going forward.

See below for text to the song and click on the video to hear it and see some pictures of Sarah and the family.

--Scott

It's been 9 years ago since I met the best
I've known ever since my life would be blessed

A delightful sweet girl oh so gorgeous and fun
I was swept off my feet by this Molly Mormon

With 4 terror kids that keep her up on her toes
Then primary, moms' preschool, shop for enrichment at Lowes

Sar's better than football, a sports car, cake and ice cream
To me and the family, she is our queen

The truth of her age is a mystery to some
I think it's because she looks so young

In our Chapel Hill Ward, I still remember the time
A Priest hit on her thinking she was his rhyme

I made it real clear about her spouse and offspring
Held her hand in the air showing her diamond ring

From the beginning I knew that I had struck gold
With this amazing, now 30 year old.