Halloween 2013

 Our Halloween festivities started with the Halloween Carnival at the school the week before.  Maleri helped out with doing a photo booth that ended up being so cute!  The kids had so much fun going around playing all the games.  One of Brandt's favorite things was the glow in the dark room that we had for the first time this year.  Both kids enjoyed the jump house, too.  On Halloween night we went to Trunk or Treat in the St. Charles church.  Maleri and her kids came over for it.  Jolie ended up having a sleepover at our house.  The 3 kids piled in the middle of the couch so Brandt could read to them, but they didn't last long before they all fell sound asleep.

Baby Girl Goes to School

Kylie has been begging to go to school ever since I took her for the preschool screening for Head Start a couple months ago.  Yesterday they called and said they have an opening for her and she can start now.  She was soooo excited!!!! I will drive her to school each day and then she will ride Carol's kindergarten bus home and my mom will pick her up from the Olson's since the bus already stops there to let Carson off. I can't believe she's old enough to go.  Of course, her teachers have a hard time believing that she is only three because she's taller than most of the kids in her class.  Just wait til they see that her level of spunk matches her height! 

Carving Pumpkins

We were able to grow one big pumpkin (the big one on the chair) that was big enough to do something with and all of our little gourds this year.  The Hillier's had better luck with their pumpkins and gave us a couple.  I had fun decorating the porch with them and the old chair that was out in the shed and then the kids and Bryce had fun painting them.  Brandt and Kylie also enjoyed giving away some of the gourds to cousins.

I always dread the snow and cold each year.  I love the time my kids and I spend out in the yard and going for walks and bike rides, so when we still had "jacket days" in October we took advantage of them every chance we got.  Today the kids wanted to go visit the Hillier's (as is usually their preferred destination) and we had a nice walk/ride.  Brandt of course was extra proud that he is now able to go without his training wheels.

The Letters We Live With

Our last few years with Brandt have involved a lot more than simply learning about the ABCs. We have also had the blessing/opportunity/trial of living with his ADHD and OCD and we're working hard every day to learn how to cope with it in the best way possible without letting it take over our family. Since the snowy day he was born on May 4, 2007, Brandt has been the most active, high maintenance, hyper, impulsive, exasperating, smart, funny, cute little boy I've ever known.  He has kept us on our toes every second.  We had to fence him in both in the house and in the yard and could never take our eyes off of him for even a moment when he was only a few months old, and since he was walking and very tall for his age at 9 months old, we had to put child locks on the doors by the time he turned 1 year old because he would escape otherwise.  He's always had his funny little quirks, like lining up his toy cars and animals since he was old enough to grasp them, but we started to notice problems when he would freak out if his lines were messed up or changed in any way.  He was unable to share toys well-to the extreme-and he couldn't stand it if someone altered what he was doing or tried playing with something in a different way than he was used to.  Although it seemed contradictory to his nature of needing that obsessive type of order in a lot of the things he did, he often would tear toys out of the toy box and throw them everywhere without ever playing with them. Most of the time he couldn't sit still to play with his toys, read a book, or watch cartoons for more than a minute or so-if that.   He would make the hugest messes and leave them everywhere throughout the house and in a matter of minutes it would look like a disaster area.  When he was 3 years old we finally decided we needed to do something more about it than work on our parenting skills because it was next to impossible to go anywhere as a family and it was causing a lot of safety (and sanity) issues, especially with his baby sister.  He was officially diagnosed at that time with ADHD and OCD and started on ritalin for the ADHD.  We also enrolled him in the Paris preschool which was a lifesaver for helping us learn to cope with his behaviors in a better way.  Now here we are in 2013 and he's one of the smartest and busiest little 6 year olds we know.  In some ways we have come so far, while in others it seems like we've gone backwards.  We now deal with a lot scarier impulsive behaviors than climbing on the cupboards-like running across the busy highway, playing with guns, trying to start the house on fire, wanting to "practice driving the car", etc.  Thankfully we have a wonderful support group including our counselor, Shaun Tobler, who connected with buddy very quickly and has helped us so much!  There are still other letters that are tossed around by our psychologist, family members, friends, counselor, MD, and often me, such as RAD, Asperger's, ODD, GAD, but the letters that really matter the most at this point are LOVE.  "Unseen illnesses" are so hard to live with at times, especially when others around us aren't tolerant or understanding of them, but love continues to get us through.  Love from God, love from family, love from friends, love from teachers and church members/leaders, love from co-workers, and the list goes on.  No matter where our journey with Brandt leads us and no matter what "letters" we end up with as far as "diagnosis" goes, I will continue to give all I have to love him with all my heart and help others to be able to do the same.

Usually what gets me through each day with a smile, or at least without having a giant melt down, is my faith in a loving Heavenly Father who teaches me and tempers me through experiences and trials.  The past couple of weeks have been tough ones for me and this week I was having a harder time feeling that love and hope.  My emotions and anxiety were both closer to the surface than I like them to be, which wasn't helping my patience level with my struggling little family, but especially with myself.  Thankfully I have a great support system including a counselor whom I believe follows the promptings of the spirit as much as he follows the therapy techniques he learned in school and in the years he's been practicing.  After a couple of long talks with him this week, I took his advice and asked someone I love and trust to give me a priesthood blessing.  It's something that had popped into my head a few times lately but I had quickly dismissed the thoughts for some reason.  When he asked me out loud if I had had a blessing recently, the tears started flowing and I knew that was my answer all along and I'd been ignoring it.  It was so nice to be able to come up with a name of who to ask very quickly and to know that not only would he be willing to say yes to my request but that he would also be worthy to fulfill it as a faithful priesthood holder.  I didn't have a chance to talk to him ahead of time and there's no way he could have known the fears of my mind and heart, but when he laid his hands on my head and pronounced a blessing of comfort upon me, he addressed every concern I've been dealing with.  He reminded me that my Heavenly Father is mindful of me and my family and loves us very much.  He told me that I am a good mom and shouldn't question my parenting skills and should continue to trust in the revelations I get concerning my family.  He told me that my husband loves me and that we can strengthen our family together.  He told me that I need to be patient with others but mostly with myself.  He told me to continue to look for the lessons I can learn from my trials and to rely on my faith.  He reminded me that I have a good support system and that I need to let those around me continue to help me with my family.  The feeling of peace and gratitude to a Heavenly Father who loves me and a Savior who understands me completely was almost overwhelming.  They know and care about even the smallest details of my life and of my family, and they want us to succeed as a family and return to them.  How blessed I am to be surrounded by so many who act as instruments in His hands in order to help us along the way.

My mom has been long overdue for getting new carpet upstairs and down as well as new paint downstairs.  My dad especially has continued to work hard to finish the basement and rip up old carpet to prepare for the new.  Today my kids decided to help paint.  It was going pretty well until Buddy decided it was more fun to paint his sister than the wall.  I guess if you can't have a little fun while you work, why work at all?