Back to school has been more than a little difficult here in these here parts. Sorry.... I'm using my cowboy lingo because cowboy everything has been on my mind as of late. After reading, "These is my Words" I just kind of went with the theme of "Cowboy Up" for our school motto 2018. The book journals all of the horrendous trials and tough terrain a young woman endures while attempting to settle land outside of Tucson in our early history. Indians, rattle snakes, evil men, storms, hardships... you name it. The heroine endures so much with such a positive attitude.... it really made an impact on me and so it seemed very natural, after listening to my own flesh and blood whine for the millionth time about how hard school was going to be that I should adopt this theme. And it actually has done some good here in these here parts. Haha... ok, I'll stop. Our scriptures for the year is Ether 12:27 and we had a nice long discussion about how wondrous it is that God can take the weaknesses we have and turn them into strengths if we ask and do our part. We've really enjoyed blasting each other after moans and groans with the ol' "cowboy up!" phrase. Is it annoying? Probably! But is it also kind of fun... absolutely. Anna started 1st, Grant 3rd and Dane middle school last week. Evelyn started 8th grade at TCA just yesterday. It's busy times, I tell you. Busy times. But we are making it work and all is well after putting together THREE carpools and checking the notes in my phone only 10 times a day to make sure I don't miss one of said THREE carpools! Haha! I love it though and there's nothing I'd rather be doing than sitting in hours of school traffic each and every day. Didn't the kids look cute in their first day back to school outfits? Of course Evelyn wouldn't pose, darn her. But the little ones sure are cute. They love their new teachers. Dane is loving middle school. Sweet note that his 5th grade teacher wrote to the kids on their first day of school. Dane is loving the responsibility and the various classes. He's loving being a big kid. I'm so proud of him. Biggest fear was changing for PE... but even that he has mastered. And he's so diligent with his homework.
Evelyn auditioned for Little Mermaid wearing below pictured dress and gathering up all the courage one 13 year old girl could possibly muster in order to sing the outrageously high singing solo. She did it though! And she was cast as Ariel! To celebrate, Anna, Ev and I all got our nails done-- Little Mermaid style. Its so exciting.
I guess I jumped the gun a little bit.... I'm reporting on school happenings... when I never really had a chance to detail the last leg of our summer, which was quite fun in its own right. Adam came to visit! And boy did we ever live it up! We went to Aquatica Water Slide Park, we visited Old Town, we went to the beach a few times to surf and boogie board. We swam in the pool daily, made candlesticks, played Jack TV, watched movies, Adam made his famous teriyaki noodles. It was fun fun times and my boys and all of us, really, were very sad to see it end.
In that last week before school, Dane attended a few birthday parties for his middle school friends- which was nice because it helped him ease back into the social scene. One party was at the beach and was probably the worst day of my summer.... but that's a story for another day. I got him there, and that's what counts. Evelyn hosted a big swimming slumber party here and boy.... did I NOT know what I was getting myself into! We've never had a slumber party over here and never allowed the kids to sleep elsewhere. Don't think we'll do that anytime soon. The girls stayed up ALL night. And I mean to say, ALL night. It was a doozy. We celebrated Jocelyn Jones birthday. Sure love that girl. We attended a tournament literally every weekend in August. The boys won most of these tournaments! They played awesome! Dane scored MVP in his last tournament and was able to keep the team trophy. You can't begin to imagine the joy and happiness this brought to my boy. So proud of him. Anna scored a new soccer ball and a soccer headband out of so much tournament attendance. She is a sport. Such a flexible kid.
It was fun to have Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Stacy to watch Dane's Orange County tournament! Dane was thrilled to play for them and he played better than ever! Now we know the secret to winning.... we just need Grandma Grandpa and Stacy to commit to attending each and every league game-- haha! But we were so grateful they could come and so pleased to spend the day together.
Blake's FINALLY closing the busiest season he's ever had. He and Grant hosted a fun night in the park for patient appreciation. It was written up in Instagram. Our buddies, the Reardons, got braces on and Jen posted about it-- super cute. All is well in the world of Marston Orthodontics. All is well in life. We are blessed! I sure hate to close the chapter on Summer 2018 ! It was amazing!
