January is always a breath of fresh air after the busy busy month of December. This January was stressful, due to Anna's eye situation, but still.... a lovely month! A few fun little memories--
Dane's sweet note to the family.... came out of nowhere and for no purpose whatsoever. He presented this to us at family prayer one night.
Also, just completely adorably, he couldn't think of a singer he enjoyed when asked by his primary teacher for his list of favorites. For favorite singer, he thought of his sister. I heart Dane;)
Grant is such a corker. I kid you not, when I tell you that this funny little guy has drawn the EXACT same picture EVERY single day of TK this year. And I mean to say, every day. In fact, each day after school I pull out a big piece of folded up paper. I'm sure they have free draw time at the end of the day... and EVERY day we have the exact same banter.
Me: I bet I know what this is!
Grant: What, mom?
Me: Is it a plane with people in the windows?
Grant: How'd you know! YES!
I told Blake about it....and then for some reason started saving the pictures to pull out and show Blake in the evenings. It's a pretty funny piece of our evening routine. Both of us find it equally hysterical that Grant has not veered from his subject in the slightest. It's always fun to laugh at your kids, right?
oops... this is upside down, but you get the picture.
Also love to see how this kid spends his free time.... out back shooting hoops! I try to put aside a bit of time every day to play one on one with him. He appreciates it. He really does. Basketball fanatic, I tell you!
Anna is in a word, content. She is just SUCH a good kid. Always has been. We'll find her in her room playing with her barbies, princesses, play food. Sneaking into Evelyn's room to play with the big girl legos. So funny, she knows she's not supposed to play in there, so if we find her there, she says "shoo, mom!" She also loves playing in the boys room. She loves their imaginext castles and dragons and combines her princesses with the Hulk, and Batman. Absolutely darling. You may also find her out back communicating with Buddha. She loves that little statue. Love the relationship she has with each of her siblings. She just cannot wait to give them all big hugs and kisses. She is so full of happiness and brings joy to one and all in this home.
Evelyn continues to be our fantastic big sis. She is so good with little Anna. In fact, she's so responsible, we've let her take Anna outside of the gym to the park sitting adjacent on game days. Evelyn becomes easily bored, and this is a fun and independent pastime. They swing and play on the play structure. In fact, we've also let Evelyn stay home ALONE... just once! But we did it! She is 10 and a half. Probably completely illegal! But it was 7:30 am and we just hated to make her wake up and head to yet another basketball game. We gave her my phone for emergencies and locked up the house. Then headed 10 minutes away without her! It was so strange, yet I felt comfortable knowing that Evelyn is more like a 13 year old anyhow. She is intelligent and bright and very mature. We were back by 8:45... it was quick and it was magical for one 10 and a half year old red headed girl. I don't know that we will make it a habit, but she is definitely growing up.
Evelyn loves her primary teacher, Sister Orr. Last week she created darling little FHE outlines for each of the girls and Evelyn excitedly shared her presentation without a hitch. She is fully obsessed with "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"; the play that she is currently cast as the little red-headed girl in. This play was designed for teenagers, so it was great that she was cast at all. She absolutely adores spending time with the kids in the play... they are all really great and so nice to her. It's been a fun experience. This month I took Evelyn to see the play and she was mesmerized. Love to see Evelyn perform. This month she was asked to sing in Sacrament meeting.... her voice teacher picked out a perfect song "Faith" for her to sing. It was so touching. I was a proud mama for sure. Sweet little girl!
We celebrated Maren's birthday this month. Fun to get together-- it's been forever! I miss this group of gals, Everyone has moved except for Kuletos and us! But always a great evening when we see one another. The guys were making fun of us when we asked for a picture:)
We had such a great time with the Bachmans in town! It went by much too quickly as it always does! But I love seeing Cathy's kids... they always grow a mile in between visits. Can't believe Addie and Dane are turning 8 this month! I still remember celebrating their 1st and 2nd birthdays together in Brooklyn!! Usually, it's just the two of us meeting up, so it was fun to have the whole family over. They didn't mind the big Christmas mess in the background!
Family Home Evening one night focused on Martin Luther King. I love how interested the kids are in history. They love reading historical non-fiction (I think they get that from their Dad!) and they are so sweet and thoughtful in our discussions about the past and mistakes that have been made; what we can learn from the mistakes and how we can become better! I think teaching the kids about the gospel and about the world is my absolute favorite part of being a mom.
