Brynlie is just a pure delight. She is the peacemaker of the family, who observes everything around her, then tries to help anyone in need. Most of the pictures below were taken by my Mom while she was in town.
I love that Brynlie still enjoys playing with Barbies and American Girl dolls! Although she feels a lot of pressure to grow up quickly, I tell her often that she should focus on being a kid for as long as possible, since she will be an adult for the rest of her life. I really hate how society makes kids think they need to act so much older than they are.
Bryn got some new boots for an early birthday present, but I made her pick which brown ones she wanted to keep, so I could take the other pair back to the store. Decisions are EXTREMELY hard for Brynlie. Even simple decisions often send her over the edge. It was wonderful that her Grandpa Springer was in town, however, because he calmly asked her to write a list of all the things she loves about each pair of boots, then they discussed the list in detail before she made her final decision to keep the boots on the left.
Ryan and I just about fell off our seats when Brynlie asked one day if she could go over to a new friend's house after school (shocker #1, since Brynlie is shy and spends most of her time at school alone so she doesn't have to talk to anyone) because she wanted to make posters so she could run for Student Body President of her school (shocker #2 - really? The shy, sweet girl who could NOT care less about popularity wants to run for President?) We obviously agreed that she could hang out with her new friend and make posters. I also helped her make some additional posters that weekend.
For the additional posters, I took pictures of Brynlie looking gruff and upset (which was quite hard, since she kept laughing)!
Then we made copies of the pictures in a sepia tone to look like mugshots. Brynlie taped the pictures onto several posterboard and wrote "WANTED - FOR PRESIDENT" on them. I helped her hang them up in her school the following week.
I also spend a good amount of time making a few hundred handouts for Bryn to take to school. I will try to take a picture of the leftover handouts later. The good news is, after all that work, SHE WON!! Ryan and I were so excited for her! Both of us spent the day stressing about how we were going to ease her pain if she lost the race, because we didn't want this election to ruin her new-found confidence. WE ARE SO PROUD!
This picture shows how easily Brynlie is entertained, and how glad I am that she and Lindsey love to play together. They often have picnics outside, complete with hanging items in the trees and sometimes taking a good portion of the items inside our house (including my decorations) to the yard. At least they are being imaginative!
The girls also love to put on performances for the adults. Brenda and I laugh every time we get our kids together, because it's a guarantee that they will make up some sort of a dance, musical, play, or skit for the adults to watch. This day they showed my parents the synchronized ball moves they had been perfecting.
Bryn has such a tender heart, and had a difficult time saying goodbye to her Grandparents when they flew back home. She cried and hugged them before running onto the bus and crying all the way to school. I'm so glad she loves her Grandparents so much!
Tomorrow I'm headed to Nauvoo to stay in a real log cabin with Brynlie and her 2 best friends. The road trip will help her do some good research for the Pioneer Life project she is working on this year, plus give her fun memories of her 11th birthday, which is on Friday!
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