Her favorite little charge is this 7 month old Teddy. She loves babies more than anything else ever- so it's pretty fun to have responsibility to tend to them here and there. Evelyn has begun to attend Young Women and she is loving it. Last month the girls went down to Feed America and helped package food for the homeless. Our ward has such an awesome group of young women. They all pull for one another and care for each other. The group is small but uniquely loving and I'm so grateful Evelyn gets to be a part to this inspired program. She needs a group of level headed teens to guide her in the direction of calm and happy as she tends to have a bit of a temper and has been known to be slightly impatient. See text image below.
This month Evelyn got a little bee in her bonnet. She wanted desperately to download SnapChat onto her phone-- an app that allows you to create fun filters and send temporary messages to friends. The problem I have with snapchat is just that-- it's all temporary and parental monitoring is not part of the process. Oh how she begged and pleaded. This was not a fleeting idea. She desperately wanted SnapChat and she was NOT going to let it go! It was a bit of my first taste into the scariness of teenage hood with my fiery red-headed daughter!!! Well I wasn't budging. She wasn't giving up; she was upset. I had a moment alone and took a deep breath, said a prayer and truly- God gave me a small bit of inspiration. I showed her an article I had read that had swayed me against allowing my children to have snapchat. It was well written and persuasive. She was unimpressed but seemed to understand a bit more where I was coming from. Then we compromised. I told her that she could now and again view and send snapchat on my phone if I downloaded the app-- would that be enough? She was thrilled. It worked for me because I could supervise the interactions and rest easy knowing she wouldn't be receiving anything crazy without my knowledge. Ah.... problem solved. But seriously, the problem made me aware of the kinds of stress and brain power involved with raising older children! In some ways it becomes so much easier when they grow up, but in the ways- it becomes terrifying! Ha! Keeping Evelyn busy this month has been a new obsession with jewelry making. She even created a little store to sell her earrings and necklaces. It was so darn sweet on Christmas morning to receive one of her home-made necklaces with a favorite quote of mine and a card for both Blake and I. Evelyn is not one to give props to her parents very often and so it was heartwarming to know she had thought about us and prepared a present ahead of time. Evelyn's dreams came true this month when she auditioned for Lion King and got the part of Young Nala! She will have lines and a song-- I just can't wait to be king- with Simba! Seriously, so exciting for her! The play starts this month. Evelyn has been taking steps to address the issues she has with her poor tummy. Because we still can't find an exact problem and therefore a cure, we are exploring routes that involve the mind body connection-- namely BioFeedback. Evelyn is hooked to machines and then works on slowing her body down and moving her responses from the sympathetic system to the parasympathetic system which hopefully will help her to not get the tummy aches and urges to run to the restroom. It may not help, but in all reality it's been pretty helpful to me and my other kids if nothing else! We are in the room during instruction and counseling and it's made me realize that a lot of anxiety and stress can be avoided through just slowing your body down and meditating a few times a day. I already knew it, but the teaching has been greatly reinforced. The other day on the way to school I was SO upset at Grant for making us late and throwing a fit. He kept saying his tummy was hurting he didn't want to go to school. I reminded him of what Kelly the bio-feedback specialist had taught us-- that you can calm your tummy down by breathing and he needed to work on this! I wasn't at my best and little Anna piped up: Mom, you need to do your breathing because you are being bad too! Ha! She was so right. Grant and I both did it and felt so much better.
Dane has had a little break from his usual hectic sports schedule this month. He opted not to do basketball, a pill very tough for Blake to swallow-- and me! But we are trying to give him more agency and responsibility and he just wasn't interested in playing basketball this season. And with soccer winding down, it's been nice for him to have a little bit of time to play at home and relax. Dane is such a helpful and good kid. You will find him always playing kindly with Anna or Grant.... although lately, the two boys have had quite the time getting along. Dane has been irritated with Grant's unthoughtful and sometimes unkind behavior to the point of obsession and it's been frustrating for the whole family. I need to read more on how to fix this little glitch-- unless it's just part of sibling life and growing up! There are some stages where siblings get along wonderfully and others where they fight. That's why it's so cute to see the wonderful relationship Dane has with Anna. He paints her nails, colors with her, helps her clean her very messy room... although the other day he told me he'd rather die then have to clean Anna's room! No one can quite blame him! It's always the biggest disaster! This month we had a great time watching Dane play in the Coronado Cup. We spent the weekend with our good friends the Jones and had fun walking around Coronado and grabbing lunch in between games. Dane's leg has been hurting him, and the referees were so terrible, allowing so many fouls--- that was a bummer, but I always love to watch Dane play and feel so blessed to have two healthy boys that enjoy sports the way they do. As we struggle to decide the best club for Dane next year, I pray that it is an experience that will help him to feel happy and confident. That is always my goal in the end. I want sports to enrich the kids' lives as it did for Blake and I growing up. Dane has been cooking more lately! He got a funnel cake maker for Christmas and has been making funnel cake for the whole family- it is delicious! He made s'mores dip the other night as well. Love that he loves to bake and cook. Love Dane's tender little heart. He loves babies and young children and is so kind and sweet with them. On Christmas Eve we hosted a little get together and Dane was in charge of one of the toddlers-- she adores him! So fun to watch my little angel grow up to be the fantastic kid that he is. For his birthday, his whole heart and soul would like only one thing: a hedgehog. He's willing to forgo a party, presents and everything else if only we find a hedgehog for him to have as a pet. That's on my to-do list! They are illegal to breed and sell in CA, so it' easier said then done!
Sweet little Grant has had quite the month! Probably the biggest highlight was Surf Tryouts. Grant played his little heart out and when offered a spot on the team, decided he'd prefer to play for Surf then Arsenal! I'm so bummed out as I love the families and coaches at Arsenal, but Blake and Grant are thrilled with this new direction. Hopefully I'll keep my sanity in tact with the 25 min drives out to Del Mar for practices! I'm trying to stay positive but a little worried about all the places I need to get the kids to in the afternoons this season. Yikes! Grant started playing basketball and has a really fun coach and team. He's thrilled to be out there on the court. He's seriously a natural when it comes to basketball and absolutely loves it. Lately, Grant has been more and more interested in cooking as well. He watched Grandpa cook eggs a few times last month and declared that he could do it all on his own. I allowed him to crack the eggs (no mess ups!) and pour the milk in, stir and even scramble. He did better than I could have! He was so proud. Love the little accomplishments that make my kids so happy. Grant has the biggest heart. This month he had money left over from his birthday. He saw that I had all the supplies gathered to make "blessing bags" for homeless people and he asked if he could put them together on his own. Couldn't believe how sweet Grant was-- he wrote a letter for each bag (not easy for him to do AT ALL) and then put in 4$ of his own money into each bag, along with the other items we had purchased. It was so sweet and I was so proud of him. Along with his tender heart, he's continued to have some anxiety about going to school and leaving me at home. The other day, Blake and I went on a date and Evelyn babysat. He was not happy about this and didn't want us to go. But when I returned home he said that he got through it alright because when he felt sad, he just looked up on the wall at the christmas card picture of me and it made him feel better. Then he asked if he could take a little picture of me to school in his pocket to make him feel better. I thought it was a wonderful plan. But the next day on the way to school, I had forgotten to give him a picture. He reminded me in front of Dane and oh boy-- Dane thought that was just about the most hilarious thing ever on earth. To pull out a picture of your mom? How creepy! He kind of joked and teased Grant. He said-"Mom! You should write.... "I'll be waiting for you!" on the card to make it even more creepy! It was pretty funny-- and so I did write that. But Grant didn't take it to school. I think Dane teased him out of the idea. Ha! Grant has lately been obsessed with Sprite. We've had it at a few holiday parties and so he's come to expect and want to drink it! Which of course, I'm not eager to allow. The other night we were out to dinner for Blake and I's anniversary and Grant had already drank one sprite and was on his way to drinking another one. I said to him in exasperation: What is it with you and Sprite???? To which he replied: Mom, we have a special relationship.
So cute.
Anna's month has consisted of playing with friends, making new friends everywhere we go, practicing for Aladin (she's Abu), making messes in her room, begging to open Christmas presents every day of the month, purchasing and applying lipsticks of the lighter color varieties, singing, reading, coloring, watching Sophia the First, and being my delightful little buddy. I absolutely adore this little girl and words cannot express the amount of joy she brings into my life. She is just so fun and cute and has me cracking up all the time. Whatever it is that I'm doing, she's up for it- be it cooking dinner, running errands, or watching TV shows with the kids that are far above her level. She just goes with the flow and is truly the most delightful child ever to walk the earth. Love that her favorite Christmas present was a little bean bag chair that she now drags around the house to every room so that she can sit and relax anywhere she may choose to be! Love that she asks me to paint her nails at least once a day and to color with her. She is kind and loving to her siblings and parents. She is funny and smart and catches on to everything going on around her. She is a blessing in every way!
