Kids Update

 Evelyn had an incredibly exciting month!  On December 9th she got her driver's license!  YAY!  So excited that she can drive now and do all the little errands I don't have the energy for... haha.  Especially during covid times, she's pretty bored and actually has the time to do errands.  Maybe wouldn't be so eager if she were actually in school and seminary instead of doing it all from home.  One of her favorite pastimes this month has been going on Target, Baskin and Robbins and Chick fit a runs with Anna or Grant.  It's cute to see them take off together and enjoy some independence.  I'm thrilled for her. Ev spends at least one night a week with Cooper- making gingerbread houses, taking selfies, playing games/watching movies at his house or our house.  It's been fun to see their friendship develop.  They are quite close!  For Christmas, Evelyn asked for a few items to spice up her room- like a floor mirror, a new bedspread, LED lights and hooks for her purses and hats.  We cleaned up her room and hung up the lights- the transformation was awesome!  And then she created this photo gallery wall which was really fun. This month Evelyn had the time of her life celebrating her birthday a little late with her two besties- Caylie and Emma.  Grandma made the weekend very special-- since everything was pretty closed down, she came up with the idea to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's and shop at the spectrum.  The girls enjoyed a photo shoot at San Juan Capistrano and then arrived at their "suite" to find chocolate covered gummy bears on their pillows.  Grandma even had a costume planned out!  Haha.  Chocolate croissants and fruit for breakfast and hot tubbing all evening- the girls had the time of their lives.  And shopping at the spectrum was a blast too.  Really happy that it was a fun weekend despite all of the shut downs in our area. And so proud of Evelyn's hard work in school and elsewhere.  This month Ev created a resume and applied to a few fast food venues for work- she hopes to work at Pizza Studio.  Will update soon!

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Dane has been busy doing all sorts of stuff from becoming a master at the air fryer, to grilling and baking and fishing and tennis and electric biking!  Poor guy is certainly missing school and seeing his buddies on a more regular basis- it's no fun to be sitting home staring at a computer all day- that's for sure.  But I'm grateful he's had other hobbies to distract and keep him active.  This month Dane played in his first tennis tournament- not the greatest experience as he felt ill prepared and too much of a beginner.... but he did it anyway and now he can say he's played in a singles tennis match!  Dane received a fishing pole from Blake for Christmas and the two of them have gone fishing a few times this month and though they haven't caught a fish yet, they always seem to have a good time.  Baking and cooking is one of Dane's favorite pastimes lately.  This month he decided he wanted to make potato wedges, and parmesan chicken.  He did a great job with both dishes and our family has thoroughly enjoyed the aftermath! Dane has also spent a good percentage of time playing his new X-box with friends and with Grant.  He is loving it, though it drives me crazy.  Another Christmas hit was a BB gun that Blake found for Dane.  The two of them built targets and created a fun little space out back for shooting practice.  It's been a lot of fun. One of the highlights of Dane's week continues to be his dinner with friends after tennis on Wednesdays. He loves seeing his buddies and spending time with them since he can't see them at school.  This month his school buddies invited him to go walk the lights in a close by neighborhood.  The boys had so much fun and it really made me realize how hard this year has been on my extroverted guy!  Such a good kid, and so positive despite it all.

Grant and his scooter/skateboarding hobby have continued to take over every minute of his free time this month.  If he isn't actually AT the skate park, then he's in our backyard practicing on make shift ramps, his new quarter pipe or watching videos about famous skaters on YouTube. If you don't believe me.... check out his shoes!!!! They are in shreds thanks to all of his skating antics.  Grant loves his buddies tremendously. Lately, his buddy- Carson Klein- and he have been inseparable!  They are both very into soccer and very into skating and so it's a match made in heaven. This month Carson turned 11 and the boys had fun celebrating his birthday with swimming, skating and video-gaming.  Grant has been working hard on his trumpet!  Since there was no holiday band concert at school this year, he put on a darling little performance for our family and we loved it. So proud of him for keeping up with this instrument even though it's very hard to do -- learning over zoom.  Very proud of him!  One quick little story that made my day happened after Evelyn passed her driver's test.  Blake had told Evelyn she needed to do some research on what car might work best for our third car.  She was stressed with this idea, having no clue about cars and very little interest to boot!  Grant, overhearing the conversation, could sense the trouble so he pulled out his Chromebook and logged onto the website Blake had suggested for looking up car stats:  Car Max.  He did an hour's worth of research and then presented to Evelyn.  She then presented to Blake who was thoroughly impressed! Haha!  Such a cute kid. Love that my little buddy will always do puzzles, reading, or pick up sticks with me.  I got him these oversized pick up sticks for Christmas and he gave me a look like- I'm too old!  But then we played for about an hour and had the best time.  Love this kid and so grateful for his sweet little personality.

Last but not least.... little Anna, who is struggling a little as of late!  With her best buddy out of town for the holiday break and all of her other friends under quarantine, she has been bored to say the least! Anna loves to be on the go and with people so shut downs and weeks of limited plans make for a hard time.  But let's speak of happier times:  the first two weeks of the month when life was moving along, school in session even if just for two hours a day! Friends in town and BRACES to put on!  Anna looks so cute in her new braces and hasn't complained or caused a fuss even once .  She was excited about it and we all thought- goodness, girl! There's nothing to be excited about.... braces are painful!  But she held to that excitement and loves her braces with all of her heart.  Love to watch Anna and one of her best buddies: Kate- play together.  They have quite the imagination and are coming up with the greatest ideas at every moment in time.  A few of my favorites:  homeless.... a game that has gone on for months in which the girls (and little bro Zach) live under the treehouse and collect misfit items they've found from the yard to decorate their outdoor shelter.  Another game:  Dentist.... that came just right around the time that Anna came home with braces.  Art studio, cake bakery, spa, cookie factory-- you name the activity, they'll create a world around that activity and it's adorable.  Lately I've been seeing to-do lists of Anna's all over the house!  Poor little thing still struggles with her spelling but she does her best and it's so cute.  Anna had an amazing time at the beginning of the month in celebrating Evelyn's birthday.... she was allowed to come to Grandma's house whilst the girls shopped and hang with Grandma for the day and it was a dream come true.  She came up with the cutest list of fun things to do and basically had the best day ever.  Anna is not one to pack light.  Notice the amount of toiletries she strewn all over Grandma's bathroom for her ONE night stay! Ha~!!!  When I told Blake about Anna's day with Grandma- he could hear her in the background talking to Nancy and he noted that Grandma's probably the only human in her life that actually listens to every word out of her mouth.  The rest of us tend to get lost in her communications after about 10 min of non stop talking- haha. Last story for Anna:  after Christmas Anna decided to clean out her room and mentioned she had grown too mature for her dollhouse, dress ups and stuffed animals!  It was sad! But also.... the girl is a huge hoarder so it was a little bit of a relief to get rid of some of that junk!  She really is growing up and I'm proud of all that she is-- a little ray of sunshine in our home.