Brynlee is Seven and a Half

These half birthdays just crept up on me this year. Brynlee is a fun loving seven year old that is such a blessing in our family. Brynlee loves to do crafts and listen to books on tape. She is creative, a great reader, and she is helpful. I got sick over Christmas break so Brynlee decided on her own to help me out and take care of all of the kids. I started to get up and she told me to go back to bed because she had everything under control. She fed and got all of her sisters dressed, fixed their hair, and kept everyone entertained so that I could take a nap until I felt better. It really touched my heart and lifted a huge burden from my shoulders. Brynlee likes to color, cook, and play outside. She had fun playing in the snow and made her own snow monster and Anna helped her to build a snow girl. She used carrots and raisins for the face and put a cookie in the monster's mouth.

Brynlee has lost five teeth so far. Four on the bottom and one on the top. She has another loose one on the top that I imagine will fall out soon. She grew her hair out long for a while and would request me to braid her hair in two braids with ponies at the bottom every morning. It was good motivation for her to get up and get ready for school on time. She wouldn't always keep the braids in all day but she almost always had them in the morning. She just had her hair cut pretty short and now just wants it brushed straight down. She gets ready a lot faster in the mornings. At the beginning of the school year Brynlee requested a later bedtime so we made a deal. She had to go to bed on time and get up with a good attitude and she could stay up until 8pm while her little sisters still had to be in bed by 7:30. She likes getting to stay up later than everyone else. 

Brynlee has done really well in school. It seems to come easily for her. The problem is that she doesn't like to do hard things. She is perfectly capable of reading chapter books and doing harder math but she would rather read picture books and stick with the easy stuff. I keep trying to get her to push herself but she doesn't like doing it. She does well on her spelling tests each week. She usually gets all the word right with only the minimal amount of studying. In some ways she is a real perfectionist and wants things to be perfect but in other ways she just wants to get it over with and doesn't care how it looks.

Brynlee usually knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it. She likes to be the one that is in charge. Brynlee and Annalyn fight for power a lot. Usually Brynlee gets along with those around her and she is fun. She can usually think of something fun to do. She likes to make lists and she is a planner. She is good at thinking through things and she likes to have things be organized. Brynlee is one great girl and we love her a lot. Here is a short video all about her.

Kyla is Three and a Half

Kyla Mae is officially three and a half. She gets to start going to Sunbeam class in January. She is the best little peacemaker and she plays well with other kids. She is a lot of fun. Lately she has been a little needy and wants help with things she knows how to do on her own but for the most part she is kind, helpful, and fun to be around. She is kind of shy, especially in new situations but she has done a lot of brave things lately and done them really well. Kyla was the flower girl in her Aunt Alesha's wedding, and she went with her cousin Remi to dance class and had a great time. She has been talking about that dance class and showing me things she learned ever since.

Kyla has been trying not to suck on her thumb all the time but she still does it a lot. Lately I have heard some attitude from her and she has tried to be sneaky and get on the ipad without me knowing. She hates cleaning up her toys but will happily help me wash the windows or wipe down the table. She can make her own bed and is really proud of herself when she does it all on her own without any prompting. Kyla loves the colors pink and purple and she likes to wear dresses. She still loves to get her hair fixed and she loves to play outside.  

Kyla loves going to the park and would go everyday if I would let her. We will do this thing sometimes around the dinner table where we talk about the best and worst part of our day. Every time Kyla gets to go her worst part of the day is always that we didn't go to the park that day. She loves to play with baby dolls and barbie the most. She plays well on her own but on the days when Annalyn is at school she will often follow me around the house and talk my ear off. She talks a lot and tells me everything she is thinking. I kind of love it. She makes up scenarios in her head about what she thinks people will say and tells me about them all the time. Kyla loves to have friends to play with.  There are a few friends that we have over and they usually play together for hours. No matter how long they have played together the play date is never long enough and Kyla is sad when they leave. She is good at telling how people are feeling and cheering them up. She is a pretty sweet little girl and we love her to pieces. Here is a little video of her telling you a little bit about her. She was the one who wanted to do the video but she didn't talk for very long.

November 2017

The month of November started off with Summer having a bad croupy cough.  Luckily it didn't last long and she was better in time to go to church on Sunday. The kids ate lots of Halloween candy that first week. Brynlee and Annalyn both got invited to birthday parties for different friends and had fun going to those. On Saturday of that month we went and watched two of Brynlee's friends, Jesse and Jake, get baptized. We left Summer with dad but the rest of the kids wanted to go. We went to their house and ate ice cream right after the baptism.

     The first Sunday of the month of November was daylight savings. Brynlee had practice for her play all that week so she was up late and it was a hard adjustment for everyone. I sure wish we could get rid of that whole thing. Brynlee had a blast practicing and performing to the Purple People eater in the opening show. We were all sad that she got sick and had to miss her last performance. We celebrated my birthday one day that week. The girls had art night that we stopped at one day after play practice. We got to talk to the kids' teachers and see the art project the kids have been working on. On Saturday we did Brynlee's play and my sister Alesha's wedding. It was a busy week.

     Brynlee had a fever the night of the play so she missed church on Sunday and school on Monday. On Monday night Kyla woke up with a fever too. Brynlee complained of a sore throat but it didn't look bad and Kyla never complained. As soon as I looked at Kyla's throat on Monday night I decided to call the doctor and called first thing Tuesday morning. They got us in right away and it was confirmed that they both had strep throat. They both had to be on antibiotics but they took them like champs. I was supposed to go to Brynlee and Annalyn's parent teacher conference that night but right before we were supposed to leave one of my kids threw up and since they had strep I called and rescheduled them for when Joel was home. I did Annalyn's that night and Brynlee's Wednesday night. Both girls are doing well in school and are right on track with where they need to be.

 Brynlee had to miss school again on Wednesday and since conferences were going on Annalyn only had school on Thursday of that week. Brynlee and Anna both made it to school on Thursday so I took the other kids to the library. Then I dropped them off at Grandma's house while I went and helped with Annalyn's Thanksgiving feast celebration at school. I love getting to be in their classrooms.

     On Friday of that week Brynlee woke up not feeling well again. She slept for a few hours and then felt well enough to go to school but she was late. Then she got to have a whole extra week off of school the next week for Thanksgiving. After staying home with strep throat for so long the kids almost didn't need a week off of school.

     We spent our Thanksgiving break playing with friends, doing crafts, and playing with toys. Summer ended up giving me a black eye at the beginning of the break. Summer woke up super early one morning so I brought her in my bed to snuggle with me. I was happily sleeping when Summer whacked my in the face with one of the decorations I had sitting on my headboard. I jumped up and realized I was bleeding. It didn't look as bad as it felt. My face was tender all week.

 My mom invited us all over one day and we had fun painting and making Christmas ornaments. Then we spent a few days helping grandma to cook. We ate a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at grandma Verna's house. There was lots of great food and desserts that we all enjoyed. After the food Joel went and played around on his four wheeler. Our girls were all pretty hesitant but eventually Joel convinced them all to go on a little ride with him. Joel had to go super slow, especially for Kyla. I didn't think she would get on it. Summer was sleeping so she missed her chance for a ride. After dinner I went shopping with my mom for a few things. I mostly got pants and some other clothes for the girls at Old Navy but we also stopped at a few other stores. It was fun to spend some time with my mom.

The day after Thanksgiving My girls woke up extra early so that they could decorate for Christmas and put up the tree. I told them we couldn't do it until after Thanksgiving and they didn't want to wait a day longer. They had a great time decorating the house and singing Christmas songs all morning. 

 Brynlee got sick a few times during the break and spent the whole day in bed. She threw up two different days during the week. We had the Meridian Idaho Temple dedication that Joel and I got to attend together on Sunday. Joel's parents watched the kids for us.

     On Monday Brynlee woke up super sick again and she threw up before school. She wasn't constipated so I figured something else must be going on so I set her an appointment for the doctor and got her in that day. She missed another day of school. Her doctor thought maybe it was acid reflux so she put Brynlee on some medicine to see if it would help. I went and talked to her teacher before school the next day to let her know what was going on and while I was there I volunteered to come and help in Brynlee's class. My sister Heather watched Kyla and Summer while I went in. It was fun for me to work with the kids on a writing thing. I also went to book group and a RS dinner this month. It is always nice to get out of the house for a bit.

     The kids spent a lot of time playing hard and getting into trouble. We played with K'nexs and made lots of fun things and spent lots of fun time with our family. These are really my most favorite times. I love times with my little family. It got colder this month but we were still able to venture out a few times for walks to the park.

Alesha's Wedding

My sister Alesha got married on veteran’s day last month. She asked Kyla to be her flower girl; a job Kyla got to share with her favorite cousin Remi. She was over the moon excited about it. Annalyn was super upset and jealous because she really wanted that job but Alesha asked her to be an honary bridesmaid so eventually she got over it. Brynlee was pretty excited about getting to go to the wedding until she found out it was on the same day as the Missoula Children's Theater that she had been dreaming about being in. She was determined to just skip the wedding. I looked at the times and realized that we could probably make it work so that she could participate in both but she would have to miss part of the reception. We decided to go ahead and let Brynlee try out for the play. 

Brynlee ended up not getting a part in the actual play this year. That means she got to be part of the opening show. I was worried she would be upset. Several kids were crying when they found out they didn't get a part but Brynlee was simply thrilled. She walked over to me after the tryouts and said "Mom, I get to be in the opening play. This is so great because now I can go to more of Alesha's wedding." There was less time involved in the opening show so I was really glad and kind of hoping that is was she would get to do. They performed to the "Purple People Eater" song. Brynlee had to practice every day that week and sang and danced around the house super excited about it the whole week. I am glad we made it work so she could do it.  

We spent a lot of time helping Alesha and her now husband Chase get ready for their wedding. Joel built them a few things and I made a wedding slideshow. We went early the day of and helped my mom get the last minute things set up. They got married in a cute little church building that was in Boise. It wasn't super close to our house but the decorations and everything were beautiful and turned out amazingly. After helping out we grabbed lunch at McDonald's. My sister Heather took Kyla to the church to practice walking down the isle while the rest of us went to wait for Brynlee to perform in the opening show of the play. Joel and Annalyn went in and watched her and Joel took a video of her and she did amazing. I stayed out in the hall with Summer because I was coming back later and I didn't want to have to pay twice. I could hear them sing and they sounded great. As soon as we got Brynlee we had her change and we rushed to a park by the church for some pictures. Brynlee was kind of acting tired and not like her usual self but she smiled for the picture and everyone cooperated. Once we got to the church for the wedding Brynlee sat in a chair and didn't move. I asked her what was wrong and she said her throat was hurting. Her head felt a little warm but I didn't think she had a fever so I just left her to sit while I watched Kyla perform her duties as the flower girl. 

Kyla looked so cute coming down that isle. Remi quickly threw a whole bunch of handfuls of flowers while Kyla just tossed two or three petals out at a time. Kyla is kind of shy but she did great. I figured she would since Remi was with her. Remi ended up running out of flowers half way up the isle and she stopped so Kyla stopped too. Remi called out, "Mommy, I'm all out of flowers!" My sister Heather recruited a friend and she rushed up and pushed the girls along while everyone got in a good chuckle. As she was doing that Kyla reached into her basket, grabbed a huge handful of petals, and then put them in Remi's basket. It really touched my heart. She is such a sweet girl that is always trying to help others. 

Alesha looked beautiful in her dress and the ceremony was beautiful. We were glad to welcome Chase to the family. As soon as they were officially married the party started and we all got to get food. There was some yummy stuff and we all got plenty to eat; except for Brynlee, she still wasn't feeling well. I had planned on taking her to do her second performance and she said she still wanted to go so I took her in the van. Halfway home she told me she needed some medicine first but there was no time to run home. I called a friend and she brought some Tylenol to us at the performance but Brynlee was too sick to even get out of the van. My friend Charlie brought the medicine out to us and I ended up driving Brynlee back home. She felt pretty warm at that point and when I checked her she did have a fever. She was super bummed later that she had to miss it but in the moment she was too sick to care. I took her home and put her and Summer in bed. I was super bummed that I was missing the wedding and that I didn't get to watch the performance that I had paid to see. The video Joel reluctantly took was upside down but I was able to switch it around. I am so glad I could at least watch a video of her.

 Joel was the one who ended up staying so that he could help take everything down. It sounds like him and the girls had a fun night. They ate cake and then danced the rest of the night away. Everyone  lit sparklers to send Alesha and Chase off and I heard both Annalyn and Kyla were scared of those. They came home pretty exhausted and went right to bed. 

Even though the day didn't go at all the way I planned, it was still a pretty magical and exciting day. We found out a few days later that Brynlee had strep throat so hopefully she didn't infect everyone else she was around. I am super glad that she still got to do one of her performances. It would have been devastating if she had to miss it and stay home the whole day. I got to see Alesha get married and we are super excited for her to start this new phase of her life. She bought a new house about 30 minutes from us so we are glad we can still go and visit her every once in a while. I am grateful for my family.  My brother Josh is still at basic training so he didn't get to be here in person but my dad was able to sneak him in the group picture by video chatting with him on his phone. I did get to see some of my aunts and cousins on my dad's side of the family and it was fun to catch up with them for a bit. It is great to be surrounded by family as we watch the people we love make big decisions in their lives.