A Young Woman

Brooklyn turned 12 on July 29th.

She is officially a Young Woman.

It is a tradition in our family to attend the temple on your 12th birthday to do Baptisms for the Dead.

This is the first time our WHOLE family could go.

Brooklyn finally got to join.

Linc asked her where she wanted to go?

OF course she said Salt Lake Temple.

On the morning of her birthday we all woke at 6:15 a.m.

and made our way downtown to the temple.

It was a beautiful morning.

Linc did the baptisms and a few extra.

I watched.

And shed a tear, I'm not ganna lie.

 Three beautiful kids...

If I do say so myself.

 We were so happy when a passerby offered to take one of us all...

The temple was followed by breakfast at McDonald's

High class I know.

Then a shopping trip to get Brooklyn's ears pierced.

Another tradition.

We don't allow our girls to get their ears pierced

until there 12th birthday.

This gives them something exciting to look forward to.

I did take pictures of the event

however, they were with my phone

which I don't know how to download.

Then it was off to Barnes and Noble.

Brooklyn wanted the "English Roses" a series.

Here she is showing off her ears

and her roses.

Grandpa and Grandma Pack always send flowers

to all the granddaughters when they turn 12.

She loved them.

We then went to dinner at the place of her choice

....also a tradition.

She chose "Sweet Tomatoes".

It was a great day!!

I can't believe my baby is 12.

It makes me a little bit sad to see them grow up.

She now gets to join us for Young Women's every week.

It will be so fun to do this with her.

Happy 12th Birthday Brooklyn.

WE LOVE YOU!

No Tubes

We had an eventful day at our house yesterday.
Brooklyn wasn't feeling well after school.
She felt nauseous.
After a few hours of feeling poorly she vomited.
Some got in her hair, so she jumped in the shower.
And passed out cold.
Scary?
Yes!!

I think feeling weak and sick the hot water
was just too much.
Passing out in the shower is NOT good.
It is a really hard surface to fall on.
It appeared as though she hit her arm on the faucet
and her ribs on the edge of the tub.

This required a trip to the ER
to make sure nothing was broken.
While in the ER they wanted to give her Zofran
for nausea.
Her first words....
"Do I have to have a tube?"
"NO tube!"
The doctor looked at her with mild shock.
Lincoln and I laughed.
Of course Brooklyn has witnessed
every time Ben went to the hospital it involved tubes.
Lots of them.
She wasn't having any of that.

Once we explained it was a pill
that not only did she not have to swallow
it would dissolve in her mouth.
No tubes involved.
She was accommodating.

After a few hours,
more bouts of dizziness and nausea,
the doctor contemplated and IV to help her perk up...
Nope..that involves tubes. She wasn't having it.
So after some apple juice,
a set of x-rays,
and no broken bones.
She was free to come home.

Sore!
I think she will be spending the rest of this week
home from school with very bruised ribs and arm.

Growing up is hard to do...

Milestones....

Something we can use to chronicle time passing

or growing up.

We just passed a milestone with Brooklyn.

If your super sensitive about certain female matters....

Do not continue....;)

Brooklyn is in the fifth grade

this of course means attending the dreaded Maturation Program.

We sat down and had a private chat days before.

A book was involved.

Let me tell you...

she is one smart cookie,

and very observant.

She Knew what maturation was about, in general terms.

I asked her..."What do you think it's about?"

She said, "Isn't it about periods?" (shock from me)

"Yea, do you know what that is?"

She proceeded to give me a basic description of her thoughts.

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"Did your friends talk about it?"

"No." she said she just knew.

She and I decided, it's because she is the youngest

and we talk freely at our house...in general terms.

Enough that she had a pretty darn good idea.

And she was right.

So no surprises at the program...

except the woman according to Brooklyn was a wacko!!

You know those little hand warmers you can buy

the ones for your gloves.

Well....

apparently they have them for your stomach

to help if you suffer from cramps.

Little things... you can wear all day. Heat for 8 hours.

And this woman holds up the package and says these are WONDERFUL!!

and gives them a kiss. Seriously.

Brooklyn turns to me and mouths "Wacko"

Ba ha ha ha!!

Man I love that girl!!

She came home with the typical spoils, flower and all.

Told her daddy the woman was a wacko...lol

And that was the end of it.

No big deal.

But....I'm still glad I don't have to do it again.

Southern Belle

Happy Halloween!!

After many days of discussion...
Brooklyn became a Southern Belle
for Halloween.

She is Beeeaauutiful!
If I do say so myself.

It is her last year for Trick or Treating
as we only allow our kids to Trick or Treat until they are 12.
So she needs to live it up.

Here are some photos to mark the occasion.
Plus a photo of her in the school parade.

It really has an old fashioned hoop skirt under it.

Love my mad hair skills.....

What a cute face. :)

Last night she picked the pumpkin

from our own garden...

Cleaned the pumpkin.

Carved the pumpkin.

She did a good job.

The fruits of her labor.

The last Halloween I have to worry about Trick or Treating.

Hurray because we all no how much I love Halloween.

Sad...well because it means my kids are all grown up. :(

Happy Birthday Baby

Brooklyn is 11 years old today!

Happy Birthday to my baby.

Here she is at 8 and she looks so young.

I'm a little sad she is growing up so fast.

10 things about Brooklyn

1. She loves to do helpful chores around the house.

2. She is a really good student and loves reading.

3. She is always on my side. :)

4. She loves her bear and her kitty. (still)

5. She loves to be outside, riding 4 wheelers, biking, swimming etc.

6. She loves to hang out with friends and take pictures.

7. She loves to cuddle and hug.

8. She has an opinion and knows how to share it. ;)

9. She's a daddy's girl.

10. She loves babysitting and is good at it.

We love Brooklyn and are so glad she is a part of our family.

She is going to keep her dad and I young.

She is our little woobitt!!

Here is a picture taken a few weeks ago.

With a friend of course.

My how she has grown.

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!!
We love you!

Birthday Brooklyn

Since absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that

I took a hiatus from blogging for the end of summer.

In this absence a lot has happened.

So I will play catch up tomorrow.

Today it's all about Brooklyn

She celebrated her 10th birthday

July 29.

Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

and chocolate ice cream was the order.

Ten flaming candles.

Blow! Blow! Blow!
For her birthday we offered up all kinds of suggestions.
None were taken.
The only thing she wanted was a.....
Bedroom Makeover!!
Big Time!

(her room had been pink, pink and more pink since birth)
She informed us...
Pink is not her color of choice anymore.

So off to the store to pick some bedding.
Then she wanted to paint 3 walls, each a different color.
I came up with something less invasive
but colorful none the less.

And she loves it.
See for yourself.

View 2

The only thing left to do...

Sew the cushion for the window seat.

It is polka dotted and matches the sheets.

Actually the cover will be made from a spare set of sheets.

The wall not shown has her white dresser and a green mirror.

It turned out darling.

Here she is below giving us a smile of gratitude

to finally be done with the baby pink. ;)

Kitty on Drugs!!

How I ended up being the owner of Kitty is still a blur.

It went something like this:

Brooklyn: Please daddy please can I have a kitty?

(big eyes, smiles and hugs)

Daddy: I don't know. We already have a dog.

Brooklyn: But it's not MY dog. I really want a kitty. To love and that will always love me.

Brooklyn: I will pay for it with my own money and take care of it all by myself.

Sucker Daddy: Well okay lets go look at some.

One adoption later....

One kitty collar....

One Kitty bed....

One pink kitty dish....

Many kitty toys....

One litter box....

Walla.... Kitty owners!

Now this is not the end of the story.

Kitty's tend to sharpen their claws on a variety of objects...

Door casings

My precious reading chair

My couch

Brooklyn's comforter

More door casings

So off to the vet for a declaw.

Hence a kitty on DRUGS!!

It started with a post surgical fentanol patch,

which she proceeded to lick off and get extremely high.

This constituted an ace wrap around her stomach

to hid said patch, to prevent overdose.

This led to a kitty who wouldn't walk regularly.

Off to an appointment with the vet again.

Oral narcotics were in order.

1 tiny pill twice a day.

Drugged out psycho kitty.

She drags herself along the floor, rolling around, head lolling.

A look of pure joy and delusion on her kitty face.

Hmmm. Can humans take kitty narcotics. ;)

Joking.

This is the kitty during a semi aware state, prior to second little pill of the day.

Startled is what she is.

I hope her pain goes away soon. 14 day total recovery.

Worth it for normal door casings again.

Drug addicts in the house are not an option.

Plus I feel like a kitty sitter.

Whose pet is this..?!

It's ALL Gone!!

So, Friday marked a monumental occasion for Brooklyn.

She decided to chop it all off.

Yup the hair...it's all gone.

For weeks she has been whining and complaining

every time it's time to brush the snarls.

Her hair was down past the middle of her back.

So about two weeks ago she says, "Mom, I want my hair cut."

I always take the approach that it's her hair.

So to give her time to be sure, I tell her she has to wait till payday.

No Problem!! But on payday I want it cut.

Payday rolls around and off we go to GreatClips.

"Cut it to my shoulders", she says.

Chop, Chop and all the hair right to the floor.

Of course they always get a little scissor happy.

So we ended up with the chin.

It's darling one her and she feels happy.

NO MORE SNARLS!! ;)

She does look a little high here...

But not in the next one.