One of my favorite moments of the season was for certain an evening we spent at the local nursing home. Evelyn's Kids Sing was performing there and she was all geared up and ready to go in her cute little Christmas outfit. The kids were all geared up and ready to watch big sis perform!
We've visited the nursing home the past two Christmases watching Evelyn sing, so nothing new.... but this year was different. The kids have grown and matured and they just knew what to do. They knew that although the performance was important, even more significant were the people watching the performance. Pretty lonely and maybe in some pain. They knew that after the show, they might need a daring little boy or girl to come up and chat with them, shake their hand or offer a hug. In years past, my kids have been timid and shy and maybe not very interested in visiting with the elderly people in the home. But this year was different. Boy was I ever touched and completely overwhelmed by the true spirit of Christmas as the kids and I made sure to chat with every single person in that big room. We were in no hurry to leave. Even little Anna ran around hugging and laughing with everyone. Dane, bless his little heart can be for sure my most reserved, but he knew this was important and he put aside his own fears which was a big deal and very impressive to mom. Grant and Evelyn had no problem in the social department and they were darling to watch. An incredibly small act of service on our part- but such a hugely wonderful feeling inside started out the Christmas season on the right path.
Evelyn Has been gaining confidence and skill in the music department. Man, I'm super proud of that girl! She has a fantastic voice and is really doing well on the piano. We loved watching all of her Christmas performances. She sang "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" at her voice recital and played "Angels we have Heard on High". It was wonderful. For Christmas, Santa brough at karaoke machine-- and nailed it! She's been practicing up a storm!
Evelyn is our little social butterfly and just loves inviting various friends to spend the day with our family. She has made the most out of long soccer Saturdays by roping a friend or two into coming along with! This is a shot of her and her friends "watching" Grant's basketball game!
Most the time with friends, Evelyn is writing/directing a play, dressing up in all sorts of outfits, begging to go to the movies, or listening to music and learning the lyrics. Drama is a major hobby these days!
When she's not being social, Evelyn enjoys spending time with little sis.... teaching her, playing with her on the trampoline, baking brownies together, watching Sophia the First and cuddling. She's extremely patient and loving to Anna and Anna just absolutely adores her.
Evelyn is so lucky to belong to such a great, big, fun activity day group of girls. Loved attending the Christmas party last month and watching her interact with her little friends.
The boys have spent a majority of this month doing.... what else? You guessed it.....sports!!! They are in heaven doing both soccer and basketball this season. Sports camps are a highlight of any and all breaks. This year they attended both soccer and basketball camps and they really learned a lot. So proud of them and their determination to learn and get better. You'd never know Grant is only barely five! The kid is just all over the place and so focused on the field. He is aggressive and coordinated and just cute as can be. When he's not playing sports, he's climbing and swinging at the park. Still has more energy than any of us know what to with!
I adore the way Dane and Grant play together these days. They are inseparable. Playing soccer in the garage, basketball out back, pool in the playroom, legos upstairs. No matter what, they are together and it's just plain sweet. Dane is a very patient kind big brother. He will build Grant's legos when he becomes overwhelmed, he'll set up his hot wheel tracks when they break, cut him some slack in handball and explain the plays while watching football. And speaking of football.... the other morning I turned on Tom and Jerry (Dane and Grant's favorite show) and came back down later to find the channel had changed to football!! Crazy! My boys are more interested in watching sports then cartoons! Here's a picture of them very focused on the game.
Dane received many lego sets for Christmas and boy, did he ever quickly put those babies together! He is a fantastic builder!
Costco can be a fun errand if you have a brother to mess around with!
Can't forget to mention little Anna here in this update. At tithing settlement this month, our Bishop asked the children about their interests/hobbies. Evelyn reported singing and acting, Dane reported soccer, Grant reported basketball, and then lest he forget the baby of the family, the little thing piped up as quickly as she could "and I like watch Sophia the First". Fourth child has no hobbies.... she just watches Disney Jr., haha! Mom fail!
But come on, could it get any cuter than this Christmas outfit Grandma gave her?
Last month I came down wearing a headband (I never wear a headband) and a big chunky necklace (I rarely wear jewelry). Anna's eyes opened wide and she exclaimed, "mommy!!! I love your tiara and amulet!!!" These terms derived directly from watching Sophia the First. Haha! A princess in the making. She absolutely refuses to wear anything other than a princess nightgown for pjs and let me tell you, it's no easy feat to get those jammies off in the morning either!
All of the children in their Christmas outfits at church. Thank you Grammy!
So so grateful that our friends were able to welcome home their sweet little son whose been recovering at the hospital for months and months after falling and hitting his head. Such a blessing that he is doing so well and making progress every day!
We had some interesting friends join us for FHE. Have I mentioned Anna is into princesses?
Yay! The Dahlquists came back to town this month and it was sooooo good to see them! Anna and Austin picked up right where they left off:) We miss those guys!
I'm learning so much about balance as I attempt to fulfill my calling and be a good mom. I really enjoy so much working with the primary children and all of the leaders/teachers. I don't so much love all of the administrative stuff that takes a lot of time and is not my strong suit. For instance, I didn't feel like dedicating my time to putting together manuals and creating bulletin boards for the new year right smack dab in the middle of the kids' Christmas break. I had to just work on that new mantra of mine..... keep it simple! I pride myself on this bulletin board.....not because it is amazing by any means, but because it only took me 15 minutes start to finish to put together in the middle of a busy Saturday with Anna and Ev there to help:) I'm doing the best I can to fulfill duties, but keep it as simple as I can so not to take away from what matters most.
And messes stick around a little longer so that I can spend time playing with the kids. It's not easy for me to let stuff like that go, but I'm working on it!
