Ev has had a busy month of lots and lots of rehearsals and babysitting and open gym and baking and learning calligraphy and school assignments and so on and so forth! She is making wonderful friends on set of Lion King and I'm so grateful! She is blossoming and gaining more and more esteem and confidence. I'm so proud of the hard work she puts forth in her math, writing, and dancing/acting/singing. She is maturing and becoming a wonderful young lady and I'm so proud of her and so grateful for all the babysitting and helpfulness she is showing! My favorite thing is watching her work to earn various things she wants. This month she worked to earn calligraphy markers, make up, and a new swimsuit. She single-handedly wrote a Craigslist ad selling Barry the hedgehog and then wrote me a 5 page research article on how she'd now like to own a dwarf bunny as her new pet. Barry was beginning to get mean and she found little joy in being his caretaker! Even after Grammy went to all the trouble of sewing up darling snuggle sacks! Love the flag that Ev created for our family for a history project. Love when Ev is kind to her little brothers and actually plays with them! So cute at the mall the other day when we were buying her make up- she put some on the boys and it was just nice to see her interacting and treating them lovingly instead of being bugged by them! The other day she put on a concert for the boys in our front yard while they were playing soccer! Not sure they were very interested but she sure had one devoted fan in Anna! Ev certainly enjoys pictures of herself- ha! She is always up for a photo session if she sees flowers or a beautiful background. Of course, that's a dream come true for this photographer mama! One thing I love about Ev is that she and I share the exact same "meme" sense of humor. We are always sending each other funny memes and it's pretty awesome.
Dane started surf practice this month and is doing remarkably well. So proud of him for doing something new, something hard and unfamiliar. Seriously, my pride is bursting at the seams! It means my life is much more chaotic then I'd like, as SURF is way out in Del Mar and quite a pill to get to on top of Grant's practices and Evelyn's rehearsals. But I'm certainly willing to do that when it's a request from such a cute and kind little boy! I've been teaching 7 Habits in Dane's classroom and enjoying it so much. Love getting to see Dane interacting with his classmates. He is such a great student and so well behaved. I love the principles I get to teach-- last week we discussed finding the Silver Lining in any situation. I think kids gravitate towards optimistic and healthy ways to deal with trials they are faced with. It's wonderful to discuss those ideas with them and hopefully teach them new tools and strategies. Dane himself has benefited so much from understanding the difference between positive self talk (green talk) and negative talk (red talk). He is doing so much better in all aspects of life and I couldn't be more happy about it.
Love watching Dane and Grant play flag football!! My favorite season of the year. This year the boys are on the same team and poor little Grant is a first grader on a team of fourth graders. Yet last week he scored a touchdown and ran the ball the entire length of the field! It was so cute-- he just kept dodging and popping through kids. I was laughing hysterically. Dane also scored a TD -- I think he probably did NOT want to be outdone by his little bro. So sweet. SO funny, when I glanced out on the field I realized that Grant's shorts were HUGE and then I looked over and noticed Dane's were way too small. They had accidentally put on the wrong shorts!!!!!! Made my night.
Dane was excited to have his first sleep over this weekend with his best buddy Brax. Brax spent the night and the boys played endless hours of soccer and basketball and hot wheels. They get along so well and everyone is happy when Braxton is over. Anna has a crush, Grant is in heaven. Even Evelyn enjoys his sense of humor and optimistic attitude. It was a successful weekend. Included is a paper Dane wrote this month. I just love reading my children's writing samples. They are so darn interesting. Dane is a great student and always tries his best...that's for sure.
It's been a fun month full of various cub scouting activities. I think our favorites were: the iron chef merit badge that took place at our house in our backyard. The boys made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and chips with guac; s'mores for dessert. Also loved having our good friend Tony come in to talk with the boys about health and medicine and help them earn their first responder badge. Tony is almost a doctor- he's completing his residency now and it was so fun to learn about food and the digestive system. Boys loved it. I adore having Dane in my den.
It's finally come! Grant has turned the page and is no longer struggles with the various challenges he's faced all year! SOOOOOO HAPPY. Grant gets 100 percent on his spelling tests. He can read so much better! He is happy and willing to go to school! He will stay home with Ev or a babysitter if I have to go somewhere. He is a loving and king big brother to Anna. He enjoys Surf practice and THANKFULLY will ride with my friend, Sara to the practices twice a week. Every obstacle we've been battling on a daily basis has fizzled out and become manageable. I just love our little Grant and the fun, sweet kid that he is. Full of energy and craziness, but also just about as sweet as they come. I love watching Grant find fun things to do wherever we go. If it's waiting for Dane at practice, Grant will search for roli-pollies with Anna. If we are driving home from hours of looking at open houses, Grant will suggest we open the sky roof window on our street so he and Anna can stand and feel the breeze. He is so fun and just darling in so many ways. Love that Grant will write a card to his long lost pal, Austin Bradley on a weekly basis. He puts money in it and sends it off religiously. Grant writes notes to me and Dane and Anna as well. Always with a gift card or money to go with. The other day Grant spent all his money on a $15 gift card to Chick Fil A for Braxton's family because they are good friends. It was seriously the cutest. There was no way I could talk the kid out of it. Grant loves playing with his buddies- he loves playing soccer and meeting new people. He loves geocaching and going on adventures whenever possible. He is not a homebody and always on the go. This month his school put on a fun run and the kids needed to collect donations. Boy, did Grant stop at nothing to earn the donations necessary. He called Grandma, he begged me and Blake. He begged Evelyn. He did 20 jobs to earn $20 more dollars of donations. He ran his little heart out and was amazing on the day of. He never does anything half-heartedly, that's for certain! Love the picture of Dane watching a show with grant sitting on the ledge behind him. Dane doesn't want anyone , especially Grant to infringe upon his alone time. So Grant found a way around it by sitting back a bit so as not to disturb his brother. Love this kid.
Anna's main joy in life lies in attending school, spending time with her siblings, and having her buddies over to play. This month she's been thrilled to have Nora and Millie over frequently because of a carpool swap for Grant. I watch the girls while Sara drives to practice. It's been heavenly for all parties and Anna is just loving the time she gets to be with her buddies. They think of all sorts of fun things to do. Camping, dolls, videos, scooters, coloring, dressing up. It's been fun. Anna's biggest obsession continues to be lipstick. Most days you will find her with some dark red shade, or pale pink tone to her lips. She adores lipstick and would choose to pick this out over any toy or shoe or dress any day of the week. This month Anna's been helping me to teach social skills to a little friend who is having trouble controlling his anger. She is such a good peer model and so fun to have in my group. Anna is my pal and we go to endless home viewings, errands, lunch dates, etc. She is always well behaved and fun to be with. I don't think I could feasibly send the child to kindergarten next year! My life would be way too lonely without her.
