For Christmas, Jason had surprised Jamie and Katie with a trip to Cali to visit us! We had such a great visit. It was quite short, but we certainly made the most of it. We loved chatting, sitting outside in the sun and talking about anything and everything possible. Loved taking the girls to Universal Studios (Katie had never been!) and Harry Potter World. Grant was the lucky kid who came with- as part of his Christmas present:) He was the perfect match for the day because he and Katie loved all the same rides and wanted to go again and again- a feat that not many in our family could accomplish. So fun to be together and enjoy the day. We loved hiking Annie's Canyon and eating Handels ice cream, watching the new Taylor Swift documentary and listening to comedy all the way home. I adore my sister and wish we lived closer. She is my very best friend and I don't know what I'd do without her. Love when we get to spend time together!!
The boys have spent a few evenings this month at pro Soccer Games~ one up in LA -- USA verses Spain and then one down in San Diego- the new San Diego Loyal team. Love that they have this fun activity that they like to do together while the girls and I attend musical theatre events-- haha! We saw our fair share of shows this month: Fun House, Suessical, and Camp Rock! I never tire of musical theatre.
Valentines Day was pretty low key. I still didn't have much of a kitchen at the time, so I couldn't bake any sugar cookies or make chocolate fondue, or anything really! Hah! But I did manage to get each child a cat card. We have all decidedly become kind of obsessed with cats and cat humor since becoming cat owners in September. Why are cats so funny? Not sure, but we are big fans around here. I also created in my opinion, darling valentines for Grant and Anna to pass out-- Grant's attached to a pack of playing cards and Anna's to "go fish". Was feeling pretty proud of myself until Grant absolutely insisted he NOT bring these valentines with his face to school! Oops-- guess he's way too old for such a thing! But it was the night before and I didn't have many options so I bribed him with cold hard cash to take said valentines to school. Haha!!!! Anna's the only child left in the family that can handle my valentining! Loved going out alone on Valentine's evening with Blake. Something we do not do enough of. But whenever we do, I always feel so grateful for such a great man to share life with. He is the best.
Winter break plans were not quite what we expected this year. We had planned to go skiing, but unfortunately, had to cancel due to Dane's national soccer cup games in Norco. Such a bummer, but we were happy to support Dane and so proud of his playing! He scored 3 goals in total-- over the two weekends- more than any other kid on his team. This is a huge accomplishment for him and we were so proud ! Instead of skiing, we lived it up at home! Inviting friends over, playing all day long- swimming even! Eating brie and cheese pizza, popcorn and candy. Watching movie marathons with friends and cleaning up the house--- down to the walls, door frames and garage! The kids were amazing workers and we enjoyed the spring cleaning-- our house needed it! Two of our days off were spent at Disneyland! And really, what more could you possibly want on a week off from school- then to go to Disneyland! Dane enjoyed his birthday visit with Grandma and Braxton. The rest of the family was on strict direction to NOT hang out at all with birthday boy-- as this was his special day! So, the kids and I had fun meeting up with the Douds. We loved the new Star Wars ride-- Rise of the Resistance. It was SOOOOOOO fun. We woke at the crack of dawn to make it happen, but it was well worth the effort. More winter break highlights included movies, shopping, Evelyn's room makeover, ice cream dates, and planning Dane's birthday late-over with the deacons from church.
This month we transitioned our cats from indoor- to garage cats. It has been positive for everyone- me, kids, cats.... except Blake. Ha! He has to share his work out space with two cats and he may not be enjoying the new situation as much as the rest of us. The cats still come inside plenty (see pic of Eddie in the shower), but their home base is now the garage. Evelyn is a big fan of letting the cats sleep on her bed. They seem to have a very special bond with her. She is in her happy place when she's with them!
As far as updates go... Evelyn and I spent a good long hour registering for Poway High next year. It was fun to discuss her future and to work together to make a comfortable yet challenging schedule. Proud of her for working so hard in school and going to seminary. Her groundworks theatre class will be ending tonight and she's decided to do a little dance for the next few months. Her weekends are spent hanging out with Emma and Caylie at various eating/shopping venues or here at our house. That and trying to get out of any and all extra curricular church activities. Ugh. You can only fight so many battles with a teen and I've let her off the hook with these extra church activities. She is a good kid but doesn't seem to enjoy group gatherings much. She's more interested in watching a movie at home with us-- and that's not so bad.
Dane started flag football-- he wrapped up his soccer season, said goodbye to Coach Conner with a heavy heart- his coach for the past two years. We've all loved Conner and the energy he's brought to Dane's soccer experience. We will miss him! Can't believe how tall Dane is growing! He's as tall as Evelyn and I -- almost! It's crazy!
Grant is doing well. He works hard at school- is on school council and is a leader amongst his friends. He practices his piano regularly. He loves lacrosse and is doing so well thus far. He scored three goals on Saturday at his first lacrosse game of the season. He loves practice and loves the games. Grant is a great example at Activity Days-- he obeys and listens. His teacher texted me last week to tell me that he was the only one who had not been crazy during her lesson. Phew! Grant struggles to keep his temper in check at home. He works hard to recognize when he is off and how to calm down. I worry about him but also feel very grateful that he is so self aware and eager to help himself become less intense. We've had many a talk, many an intervention on how to work through intense feelings. I may have gone to counseling schooling just for this alone! He needs my help and he wants my help which is a blessing.
Anna had a special day with Daddy last month. She knew ahead of time that she had the day to herself with him and so she wrote out a list of things she wanted to do and also stuff she wanted to buy from Target. Oh boy! The girl loves to shop-- it's scary! For Valentine's Day she remembered--- oh did she remember- that Blake had bought her a stuffed kitty the year before and she pondered on what he would get her this year. Haha.... thankfully Blake pulled through and remembered to get her a little teddy bear. He would've been in big trouble if not! So proud of Anna for earning Student of the month at school-- and also she was nominated as student of the month at dance class! She works hard and loves to learn her dance routines. But she doesn't want to add anything on top of the two days of hip hop and jazz she currently attends. Of course, you know me... I'm always trying to add more, but she knows herself and is perfectly happy to skip the ballet and stick with the two classes she is currently enrolled in and nothing more! Love this little girl of mine.
I didn't take enough pictures this month. I've been working probably a little too much and have felt a little stressed. I will probably cut back a little this next month in fact. In sad news, we had to cancel our cruise to Europe with my family because of the health crisis (coronavirus). I was so disturbed about this, but have chosen to handle it with humor (see cruise memes below). Hey.... that's ok-- we don't get everything we want in life. Who needs a cruise to Europe anyway? Though I took way too few pics this moth- I'm so happy I remembered to document the first day of a home cooked meal back in our kitchen! It reminds me of how much I love spending time with my family. They are pretty special people. And I don't need European vacation when I have this kind of love in my life!
