Loved looking over the goals that the kids had set for themselves for the year. I lost Anna's gosh darn it. But the boys' goals sure were cute. And then Evelyn set her goals on her own and sent me a text with each goal. It made me so happy! Everything I could have wanted her to work on, she decided to work on with out my prodding or nagging. Haha! Now, will she actually get to work and make it a reality, I'm not sure. But I'm happy she's self aware and wanting to do her best and grow in these areas she's identified as problems.
This month each weekend saw the boys and girls splitting up! I was ok with that! I think I'm a little soccer'd out. And it was so much fun to plan girl outings. We went shopping, we got our nails done, went out to lunch, saw a few plays, baked and relaxed at home. I absolutely adore spending time with all of my kids but I must say it is more fun in smaller groups- ha! We loved seeing our friends- the Masons- in Beauty and the Beast! We loved seeing our friend Laura (Ev's piano teacher) direct the play School House Rocks. We enjoy so much going to her plays and choir concerts. Marston Orthodontics sponsors all of these events so we feel like celebrities when she recognizes us in the audience!
So many things went so well for the kids this month. Anna has enjoyed soccer practice immensely. She is enjoying Girl Scouts where she's discovered that kiwi is her new favorite food. We bought a big bunch at costco and she's essentially living off of it at this point- ha! Mostly Anna is happy to just do whatever it is that we are all doing! She rarely complains. We loved going to the movies with Grandma and seeing "The Greatest Showman!" Anna hasn't stopped singing those songs all month. She was also asked to be the VIP (very important person) in her class this month which just about made her entire lifetime. She got to be in charge of Duffy the stuffed bear for the weekend and took him everywhere possible. She was able to bring in a special guest for a presentation! She chose Evelyn, who discussed acting and singing and gave everyone a voice lesson and a candy rose to celebrate her upcoming play "Beauty and the Beast". Of course Anna could barely control her little girl body. She was dancing around and making faces. She was so very crazy and also so funny-- Grandma and I could hardly control our laughter in the back of the room. I received the funniest picture from Anna. It looked innocent enough upon first glance-- just a white sheet with about a million stickers displayed in random order. But if you look close enough, you'll notice there are a few Ann Taintor stickers-- Grandma and I are BIG fans and they happened to be in the sticker bin. One of the stickers says: My garden kicks ass. Ha! Got a good laugh out of that.
Evelyn had basically the best month ever! Finding out that she was cast as Belle a few weeks ago has made her the happiest kid on earth. She was cast without a call back! It was so wonderful ! We were so grateful to Ms. Peggy for all of her last minute voice lessons and warm ups. She put aside everything she had to do that weekend to prepare Evelyn, who decided last minute that she wanted to try out for Belle instead of Babette the feather duster. She only decided to do so because the director suggested she try out for her dream role instead of a secondary lead. And boy- was she ever glad she did. These days, you can hear Evelyn singing all throughout the house "home" "belle" "something there" "be our guest". It's so fun. She is very good friends with the Belle from the other cast- Hannah- and so they are having the time of their lives.
A few weeks ago, you'd have thought the world was going to end when we endured a torturous, week long soccer try out at a new club- San Diego Soccer Club!!! Deciding to take the kids out of Surf Soccer Club was a big deal, but a decision I was ready to back as I was SO drained from all of the driving out to Del Mar. But despite the drive and my desperate desire to have them play locally, I wanted to make sure with the move that the boys would have a great opportunity to play good soccer with great coaches and skilled players. So I did the research and tried to get the boys to as many open practices as humanly possibly before the actual try out. And it paid off for Grant- who was asked to be on the first team immediately after the first try out. YAY! So proud of him and so happy it worked. But when we arrived at Dane's try outs-- boy oh boy-- did both of our hearts sink. Mine and Dane's, that is. There were about 170 boys there trying out. It was an academy year so boys were coming from everywhere to be on this academy team. Both Dane and I imagined he should also be on this team!!!! He's so good! But we quickly realized it might not happen. No one had expected so many talented kids to be there vying for a spot. After much prayer, talking, reframing our paradigms and listening to the coaches... we realized that the best hope for Dane and actually, the best placement in general would be the 1st or 2nd team (NOT academy). These teams would also consist of highly skilled coaches and talented kids but would not require 4 days a week of practice all year round. I was so happy that Dane felt good about this. Now we needed him to actually MAKE one of those teams! So, it was about the biggest thrill of life to get a call from Coach McFadden that Dane had in fact made the 1st team!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOO happy and grateful! See what I mean about a good month?? We are feeling on top of the world.
In other news, Dane's Surf team won the Carlsbad Cup and had an article written up in the local newspaper. Dane played so well. He scored all of the goals throughout the tournament and really led his team to that success. He is certainly going to miss Coach Vella who has been pretty awesome. Dane and Grant have enjoyed all of their soccer tournament weekends away with Dad. They love being with Blake and doing these fun trips. Of course as soon as they head home, they are eager to invite Braxton over to play. We lucked out on Martin Luther King Jr day to have Braxton over all day! The boys enjoyed mini golf, bumper boats and go cart racing at Boomers. Fun day for sure! And such a sweet day last week to be with Grant at his school lunch. I wasn't going to be able to attend, but he was so heart sick over it as "every other mom on earth would be in attendance and he'd be the only solo kid!" , I decided to move heaven and earth to make it happen-ha! Love my little Grant. He's become our popcorn expert! The Rustands got us a fun new popcorn machine and Grant is the man in charge. He loves popcorn and loves being in charge, so it's basically a big win-win for him. Both boys are so helpful and fun to be with. They love to play outside, love to bake, love to play war, or sleeping queens and definitely love playing games on their phones, much to my chagrin! In fact, I loved this meme about phone limits- haha! That's me exactly. I SO wish I never had to deal with phone issues.
As for me, the month has been a blessed relief from all of the craziness of Christmas prepping!!!! I still struggle to hold it together all day and extending my patience level to the very end of the day is near impossible for me! I wish so much that I wasn't so type A and could just be relaxed when the boys are wrestling and yelling and when Anna is melting down and Evelyn hasn't done one single thing I've asked of her. Many days I've forgotten school work or forms to be filled out. In fact, we almost weekly forget to turn in Anna's letter homework.... haha! The teacher doesn't let me off the hook either-- notice the "late" remark;) I had the great opportunity to present my workshop again in a different stake out in Temecula for parents who are needing therapeutic ideas to help with children displaying behavioral and emotional deficits. Loved doing this class and hope to be able to do it more. I love connecting with parents who need an uplift or a few ideas. It was a highlight of the month!
Other highlights for the month included:
Ellen's Game of Games airing- the show that my friend Jessica Dahlquist was on and ALMOST won 100,000$ but just missed the winning question. I was in the audience. So fun to re-watch.
Amy's birthday celebration with a yummy dinner and her favorite banana cream pies.
A spa day that Nancy arranged and funded and gifted the Marston ladies as part of our wonderful Christmas! It was such a relaxing day that I loved more than words can say. We ate a delicious breakfast right on the beach and then sat in a Eucalyptus steam room and enjoyed an hour long deep muscle tissue massage. SO FUN.
LOVED LOVED having Jamie and Jason in town!!! It was short but so awesome. Loved the cute little gifts she brought-- golden girls pin and a funny dishtowel. We have basically the very same sense of humor and likes/dislikes in life so it works out just great. Haha. We really had the best time and I was so happy she could spend the day with us.
Cathy came out too for a day! Lucky me-- to have two of my favorite people in such a short period of time. Loved catching up and going out to eat and hearing all that's been happening in her life. Missed the old days in NY and how simple life was back then.
Dane's birthday present arrived and he's not the only one enjoying it!!!! Our entire family is loving the new arcade game that actually has 300 games inside! All of the old school ones that Blake and I used to play. You have to stand to use it so we are hoping it makes gaming less enticing- and yet super fun all at the same time.
Newest nephew Maverick Clark Stevens was born to Jessica and Mike three days ago! He is a true doll and we adore him already!!!! So happy for the Stevens and only wish we could cuddle him before our July trip:( BOOO!
We had the best best day at Disneyland with the Marstons, also as part of our Christmas present this year. We went hard from sun up to around 9pm. The kids were so well behaved and so grown up! We hadn't been in about a year and a half! So it truly was a treat to go and enjoy such a fun day with the Marstons. Anna's favorite ride was Radiator Springs Racer. We talked Dane into doing the new Guardians of the Galaxy- though his favorite ride is also Radiator Springs. Grant LOVED ThunderMountain railroad and unfortunately, both of Evelyn's favorite rides were closed this trip! Splash Mountain and California Screamer. We loved having a delicious lunch at Le Brea Bakery and riding on Autotopia which had been closed for a really long time! Loved Indiana Jones, Fantasy Land, Pirates and Haunted Mansion. Disneyland really is a very happy place and we had the best time.
One last note, this month our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, passed away. I have thought about him all month. I've thought about his example and his teachings. I've thought about the things he's said over the years and the life he lived. He was our prophet for almost the entirety of my children's years on earth. The only one they really know! And I'm so grateful for all that he did to better my life and my understanding of the person I want to be.
