Evelyn is growing so quickly that I truly can't keep up with the child. She amazes me in many ways, but also boggles my mind. I have spent nights on my knees in prayer asking for help that our relationship will strengthen! I think the biggest issue we have is that she abhors when I ask her to do anything. Haha. And that's really a big majority of our relationship. I need her to: do homework, do chores, get ready for school, for class, practice piano, make her bed, help with Anna, ect.,ect. Luckily, one thing we do have going for us is that she is an excellent communicator and so am I. So.... we talk it out frequently. She is able to pinpoint EXACTLY what is irking her and I am pretty good at coming up with solutions. Recently, I read a book that has been absolutely masterful at giving me better ways to interact with my children. Called : How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk. I have nothing but the highest praise for the ideas contained in this book; many of which have helped Evelyn and I immensely. When I need her cooperation, instead of commanding, or even asking nicely. I just write her a note. Plain and simple, it takes out that negative interaction and we can move forward without any issues. I usually include a loving sentiment or a funny joke as well. It might take a minute longer, but it's SO MUCH BETTER for us. I would never dream of going to these extents with Dane or Grant because they don't need me to. But Evelyn has a problem with this and so I'm willing to go the extra mile to help her out. Can't believe that she will be turning 12 this year. We enjoyed a wonderful evening with the YW at New Beginnings. She looked beautiful and so mature. She is helping more around the house and working on being more respectful and kind. She desperately wants me to start my own youtube channel along with her Evelyn Mae channel (won't ever happen)! She even wrote me a script for the channel opening. She is so good about hygiene and exercise. She runs a mile every day and we have been doing it together lately which is amazing considering I haven't exercised since she was born- haha~! She is hoping beyond hope that I decide to homeschool her next year for middle school. I am considering it- for sure. But I'm scared I won't be able to teach her everything she needs to know! It's an exciting, but scary prospect!
Dane has been busy trying to earn money. He has always wanted a job like Blake and I had at his age. We both had paper routes, which are hard to come by these days. Last weekend, the cute kid spent half a day trying to move rocks in an effort to earn 20$. We are hoping to build a little soccer field out front which requires we move a TON of rocks to the side yard. Wish us luck! He has also kept busy with Blake working on his pinewood derby car! And don't forget.... he also plays the role of "beast", or "prince phillip" every day upon arriving home from school. He is the apple of Anna's eye. She cannot wait for him to return so that she has her prince home. He is so good natured and always plays along. No wonder she adores him. So proud of Dane's growth during the basketball season. The kids played rough this season-- now that he is in 3/4th grade division, stealing and fouling all apply. This was a difficult thing for Dane and definitely worried him at first. But we have been so proud to see him learn and grow and become quite good and a great contributing member of his team. If I could help Dane with anything at all, it would be working towards a higher level of self-confidence. He doubts himself and often has negative or worrisome thinking. He has been working towards recognizing "red talk" which are bad thoughts that would lead to a person feeling down or worried and then replacing those thoughts with "green talk". Oh we have plenty of techniques we work on almost every night that are kicking in and helping him to feel better about himself and about life. One game we play is the: WWW game. What, Went Well today. He names three things. Another is the "Silver Lining" game where we discuss the silver lining in the midst of certain hard situations he's been faced with. I'm hoping these small things are helping. Boy, being a parent is not easy.
Grant has the opposite issue in regards to his self esteem. ha! He thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread! And isn't afraid to let everyone else know that too. But I love it. I love his passionate little nature and his awesome zest for life. Kid is never tired. Kid is never low on energy or positive vibes. He is a sports fanatic! And football is becoming a huge favorite for him. He started with his team this month and it was so darling to watch him go at it with all his heart. He is a great athlete and a great teammate. He picks up so naturally on all sorts of things that he's either seen on TV or maybe Blake has mentioned to him. Imagine a little kindergarten boy out there on the basketball court-- he's been playing basketball since he was 4 years old-- mostly with 2nd and 3rd graders, so he knows what he's doing! Once he's secured the lead, he is so good to pass to his best buddy, Dawson and then he actually sets up screens to protect against defense and allow Dawson a good shot. It's amazing! I know they haven't actually taught the kids to set screens, but he just naturally knows these things and follows through. I don't know why I bother to shower Grant... every day he comes inside filthy from top to bottom, holes, dirt, scrapes and bruises. But talk about Dane's biggest fan. He would do anything for his big brother and loves to watch Dane's games-- whatever it is, Grant is there watching every second and rooting for big bro. He's such a fun little kid.
Anna could ask for the moon and Blake and I would try to get it for her. She is the absolute joy of our lives. All of us adore her. And surprisingly she doesn't act spoiled....yet. I pray the day never comes because she is to die for right now. Her biggest requests are: "mommy... will you play princess with me?" It doesn't require more than 5 minutes so I always say yes. "mommy, will you cuddle me?" this is at nighttime . I never felt I could when the kids were younger-- I was moving a mile a minute. But now that she's my last, I always say yes. Who wouldn't want to cuddle a cute little girl and even fall asleep for a minute before putting the big kids to bed? "mommy will you paint my nails?" I love to do this! "Mommy, can we listen to "you spin me right round"? " It's a chipmunk song and this I don't always comply with. Yikes, I get a headache after listening to the chipmunks for too long! Anna always has her dolls in toe at each and every practice and game. She dumps them out and makes herself right at home. She always sings to every song on the radio. Love her little version of "Worth it" kids bop version of course. You'll hear her scream at the top of her lungs: "uh huh I wurf it, ya I wurf it." I just love this girl. She is the biggest social butterfly imaginable. She loves her best bud Nora and her other friends- Elle and Hayley and Lavender. She loves all her siblings friends. She is just a fun little person.
And what has kept me busy this month? Well.... family week at the school for one! Trying to get donuts for dad and muffins for mom all out and ready to go by 7:15am was quite the feat! And then to clean it all up?!? It was a fun week, but so glad it's behind us! Activity days continues to be my favorite calling on earth. This month I put on a "15 ways to Spice up Brownie Mix" activity and it was a huge hit. We also did a lesson on service and cleaned the nursery toys. They loved their emoji valentines-ha! I've decided to put up a new quote by our kitchen table every month. This month's quote is a favorite: Better Keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you see the whole world" Love it! I put together new chore charts for the kids... it's always a work in progress.... trying to find a system that works. I also organized our "we Love to be a Family" day and scheduled it for February 27th. Sadly, that didn't work out as we had so many other things on the calendar that we had to push it off. But we will find time, I just know it! I was able to help my dear friend Jessica Dahlquist with her amazing new podcast: "Extraordinary Moms" this month. We both read the book "5 Love Languages for Children" and then we discussed it together on the podcast. It was more fun than I imagined because I felt like I was doing what I love... talking about helping children and families to be their best! Not that I'm the expert... but I always love learning and talking about these things so it was a highlight of my month to be a part of this. Life is a blur! But it's also full of wonderful moments and I feel so grateful!
