My Brother

In Relief Society (a block of time where the women meet together during church) we discussed a talk from Elder Holland that I love.  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/like-a-broken-vessel?lang=eng -this is the talk. In it Elder Holland talks about mental illness. It's a beautiful talk. I recommend the read. Anyway, so we were discussing mental illness in our class and one women shared her thoughts on the people she worked with who had mental illnesses. As she was saying that she loved them and sometimes tried to imagine what they would be like without their illness, my eyes filled with tears. All I could imagine in that moment was my brother.

My brother was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. When his birth mother was pregnant with him she drank alcohol. This wreaked havoc on his brain. The frontal lobe is the most affected when alcohol is consumed during pregnancy. The frontal lobe is where our impulse control is located and what affects our behavior. My brother has always had to deal with this. He is mentally coherent. He understands what he has. But his capacity for behavior control is very limited. As a result of that he has often made poor choices that have landed him in a struggle with drugs and in and out of detention centers and jail. I'll never forget the question he asked me when he was a child: "Why did God do this to me?" That question haunts me still to this day. I told him that it wasn't God who did this to him, but his birth mother. Regardless of how it has happened he still has to deal with this battle on a level I can't even fathom. My life is so easy compared to his. He has to work a hundred times harder for his life to be good and happy. I wish I could change it for him. I love him.

So when that woman said that, I just for a moment imagined my brother without his illness. I know him. He is so tender and loving. His real person is good and gentle. He is so dear with his nieces and nephews. That's really him. If only he didn't have FAS he could be like that all the time. I wish that for him.

Then the teacher closed with Elder Holland's testimony and it is beautiful:

"I testify of the holy Resurrection, that unspeakable cornerstone gift in the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ! With the Apostle Paul, I testify that that which was sown in corruption will one day be raised in incorruption and that which was sown in weakness will ultimately be raised in power. I bear witness of that day when loved ones whom we knew to have disabilities in mortality will stand before us glorified and grand, breathtakingly perfect in body and mind. What a thrilling moment that will be! I do not know whether we will be happier for ourselves that we have witnessed such a miracle or happier for them that they are fully perfect and finally 'free at last.' Until that hour when Christ’s consummate gift is evident to us all, may we live by faith, hold fast to hope, and show 'compassion one of another.'"

So this Easter will hold a special, newer meaning to me. The Resurrection represents a new life for my brother. One free from pain and sorrow. One where the true man will be "free at last".

*FYI - I let my brother read this before I posted it, and he was okay with me sharing it. 

Visit From the Little Green Man

In our home there is a naughty little green man. For most people he only visits on St. Patrick's Day, but in our home he does naughty things year round. He is the thief of the other sock. He is the one who eats the rest of the treats while the kids are sleeping (you see where I'm going with this?). When things turn up missing or broken inexplicably, the blame falls to this little guy. Will created the fall guy for all the misdeeds randomly when Belle was only two and he quickly became linked to the leprechaun.

So, I love holidays. When I say love I mean love holidays. We had a little fun with St. Patrick's Day this year.

The little green man dyes our milk green in the night and last year my niece, Brenna, got green dye on her fingers while doing it. In the morning when Belle asked why she had green fingers, she quickly played it off by saying she didn't wear green to bed that night, so the leprechaun colored her fingers. This is now a thing. If the kids don't wear green to bed, the little green man sneaks up and colors their fingers while they sleep. But on the plus side, he leaves them a box of Lucky Charms for breakfast.

For home school I asked Belle to come up with a plan to catch the leprechaun. She thought of various ideas, sketched them out, and put it into action. We have had seriously problems with mice at this house. It's old and has many entry points. Plus, it is across the road from a large open field. These mice are no ordinary mice. They are "acrobatic mice" as my neighbor puts it. They are so clever and we have had struggles trying to catch them. Will has plotted and created various traps. A lot of Belle's leprechaun catching traps resembled some of Will's mouse catching traps. She finally decided on one where we fill the sink with water and taped brown paper across to look like a strong bridge but breaks when the leprechaun steps on it. Then splash! he falls into the water. She lured him out with Fruit Loops. And thoughtfully enough she put bubbles in the water so he could have fun playing while he was trapped.

Well, we didn't catch him, but he left behind evidences of his visit.

 By the way, if you notice the yellowish color in and on the toilet, that is not pee. It is gold glitter. :) Belle came up with her own thought about the glitter everywhere. She thought it was fairy dust and started putting it on herself and made wishes. There is a reason she thought this was fairy dust. Last year when she lost her first two teeth she left a note for the Tooth Fairy. Here's a picture of it (it's folded from being in my journal):

"Tooth Fairy, please marry the leprechaun, then you could have a family and some babies."

She was hoping if the Tooth Fairy married the leprechaun it would calm him down and he would stop being so naughty. So she figured the "fairy dust" left behind was an indicator that the little green man must have married the Tooth Fairy. I absolutely love the imagination of children!

We were lucky this year. We had two St. Patrick's Day dinners of corned beef and cabbage. One at my sister's and one at some friends. Though St. Patrick's Day is kind of an obscure holiday, I love it. It is my second favorite holiday right behind Independence Day. Maybe if there were fireworks involved it would rise to the top. :)

Chastain Dinner

This is only a couple weeks behind....alas, that is my life while I am in school.

We had a lovely themed dinner at our church with friends a couple weeks ago. Each group picks their theme and creates food, costumes, and decorations to match it. We had totally rad table leaders who came up with the 80s themed idea and provided most of the decor for us. We had a tubular time.

 Our fearless, creative, and talented leaders

 Kristina having a rockem sockem face off with Sister Pascoe 

(a sister missionary who is the bees knees)

 

These ladies are just a few of my favorite people.

....and the men. Ow ow!

 

I love this shot my friend got of us. Poor Will hates the 80s, 

but in his defense he did pop his collar and peg his pants. ;)

 

Those wings on that hair took a ridiculous amount of hairspray. 

Eat your heart our Kelly Kapowski!

 

 Some rad decor. Seriously, my only contribution were the rubics cubes.

By the way, that boombox was drawn with on with a sharpie marker. 

Talent, right?

I love the "Big" piano. 

Another friend who couldn't make it made us a mixed CD of 80s 

songs to help set the mood.

 

Can you even believe these are cookies?

 

 Pizzas for dinner with these bodacious friends. 

And what are the 80s without a little thriller?

The side head bob

The guys working Thriller

These Vanna Whites displaying our trophy.