But!!!! We made it through!!!! It is now February 1st and our governor lifted some of the restrictions this past week. School started TODAY for the younger kids-- we all assumed that would not be the case- so we were thrilled; we still pray it may open for the middle/high schoolers mid-February- but are not holding our breath! Politically, life is more peaceful and vaccinations are in full progress. Life is looking up!
And life here in the Marston home is always an adventure no matter what is occurring in the world. This past month was no exception. Goals were made at the beginning of the month. A tocca machine was purchased by Blake to help the boys with their soccer goals. And it has seen a great amount of use in the backyard this past month. There have been plenty of playdates with Kate and Zach, Aidan, Jack, Emma, Cooper and Carson. Lots of rain and wind, lots of board games and puzzling, lots of coloring and hot tubbing. Lots of cake baking, and even red velvet waffle-making! Afternoon walks with friends (even if it's crazy windy outside : see Elizabeth Jorgenson and I posing in the wind!) Many afternoons spent cleaning out closets, garages, and backyard junk piles. Dane has been an expert at building whatever I order. It is so nice to have his help putting together storage cubes and closet organizers. We even enlist friends' help when possible. Ha! We loved opening our "Grammy bags" a few weeks after Christmas since we were unable to travel to visit everyone this year. It was a bright spot in our month. The cats still keep us entertained all day long. Tennis and soccer, singing lessons and dance are very much a part of daily life. Dane is really enjoying tennis- as am I! And even Grant has caught the bug. It's been so fun to have the coach at Poway High teaching all three of us! We are loving it!
Grant spends pretty much every afternoon at the skate park- sometimes scootering for 3-4 hours. Sometimes fitting 1-2 hours in before soccer practice. He is quite good and it has given him something fun to work on and get better at during the pandemic. Blake is still eager for the boys to funnel their energy into soccer (note all of the "good habit" quotes on their mirrors) but he has also been open to their new hobbies of scootering and tennis and our whole family has become very interested in skiing lately. Dane and Grant and Blake all snowboard, and the girls ski. Anna is not quite on board, I should add.... but we are working on that! On an exciting note.... Evelyn is my driving partner for anything and everything these days. On Tuesdays and Thursdays in particular, I appreciate her help more than I can say! To illustrate my point... I took a picture of this note- detailing all of the places kids needed to be dropped and picked up. She wrote an "E" next to the places she'd drive and I took the rest. SO HAPPY to have another driver in the family! Evelyn has been working hard to try to find a job- not easy in this crazy climate. She and I are certified volunteers at Words Alive- a program that helps bring reading curriculum to the local schools. She is keeping busy and we are looking forward to maybe one day getting a third car:)
A few more January highlights:
Sundays we've enjoyed exploring different parts of San Diego that are OPEN! The beaches, the city neighborhoods, etc. One Sunday we walked around Balboa Park and had a wonderful day exploring the Japanese Friendship Gardens and the big pond outside the Botanical Center. One Sunday we walked around Seaport Village and the San Diego Harbor- again, very fun to get out of the house and enjoy the beautiful city we live in. Love that Evelyn is in favor of joining us-- that's a huge win in my book!
One weekend, we went skiing at Mountain High and it began as an absolute nightmare! What should've been a 2 hour trip up the mountain- turned into 5 hours, 3 of which we were truly sitting in bumper to bumper- 1 mile AN HOUR traffic towards the parking lot with no wifi! All the while feeling great anxiety at the hours ticking away, inching closer to our expired lift tickets! But we finally made it to the top and enjoyed a couple hours of skiing. Evelyn and I split from the boys and loved our time together-- she was actually quite good for a beginner. And the boys are getting SO good at snowboarding. It ended up being a fun adventure that we all laughed at the next day.
MLKJ day was spent at the tennis court with friends. One of my girlfriends (Helen) is practically a pro and she put on a little tennis clinic for the kids while the adults and teens rotated play time. Super fun way to spend the day.
I found a Claw Machine for Blake's office- after 2-3 years of looking! And we got such an amazing deal on it! Sadly, a business owner in the area had to close down and so he was selling it at 1/8th the typical cost. Why would I include this little piece of information in our monthly highlights??? Well... it was a pretty crazy weekend to say the least. The owner really wanted us to take his other arcade game (Gravity Hill) as well since he was tired of storing both machines. Blake knew both wouldn't fit in his office so we decided to bring Gravity Hill to our house! So exciting- but a lot of work. Rented a uhaul to pick up these HUGE beasts and 5 hours, and one near death experience later- we had the machines safely located in their new homes. Ha! At one point whilst moving the Claw Machine into Blake's office, the boys and I watched in horror as Blake was almost crushed to death by the machine!!! The four of us were not strong enough to move the Claw machine properly and it was hilarious. Ah-- alls well that ends well, I suppose. We are excited.
We celebrated Dane's birthday with friends this past Friday. Because there was no school, Dane invited his three school/church buddies over for hot tubbing, jersey mikes and X-boxing during the day. It was a really fun time for the four boys. Afterwards, Dane invited his buddy Aidan over for more of the same! Talk about a dream day-- who needs Disneyland or SeaWorld when you can just invite various friends over for gaming?? Dane asked for new controllers, some clothes, a snack bar for his room and a dart board. Loved making the day special for our sweet almost 14 year old boy! He is wonderful in every way.
Dane and Grant were both ordained this month to new offices in the priesthood. Grant- a Deacon and given the Aaronic Priesthood and Dane to the office of a Teacher. Boys are growing up so quickly. It was a special day.
One weekend day in January, the weather was in the high 80's. It was strange. We invited a few families over for a BBQ very last minute. We used bread for some of the buns, we had left over mozzarella sticks and fries from the freezer as the sides. It was thrown together but it was one of the best nights we had enjoyed in a while. We loved watching all the kids play sports out back and being able to sit and relax with friends outdoors. We felt very grateful for amazing neighbors.
For a slow month, we've certainly fit a lot in. As far as my own personal endeavors go.... this month I enjoyed putting on a Teen Bedroom Makeover in 5 Easy Steps-zoom presentation for the young women of our ward and for the young women of my sister's ward. Loved working on something outside of home and family life - ha! Also enjoyed helping my neighbor- Elizabeth to redo her fireplace mantles and a few walls in her home. Spending all that time at home goods was not good for me! I ended up re-doing my own mantle in the process!!!! But loved the finished product. And of course I enjoyed decorating for the new year and for valentines day.... oh and MLKJ day too. I can never skip a holiday! Loved receiving an amazing package from my sister of a bunch of nostalgic items from our youth- a sweet valley high book, N 'SYNC t- shirt and Golden Girls pens. Love having someone in my life who knows me better than anyone else! And knows exactly what will make my day happy!
My biggest new year's resolution was to spend less time on my phone- looking at the news and social media, and more time engaged in meditation and mindfulness practices. That goal has paid off in every way. I've felt happier, lighter, and more at peace than ever before. I've certainly appreciated the extra dose of patience and peace I've felt as I've set aside the time to recharge my soul and my heart and connect with heaven. 2020 was a strange year and I'm only just now recognizing how important it is to take care of myself so that I can better take care of my family. Memes and humor in general usually get me through trying times, but that just wasn't going to cut it. I needed heaven's help in raising two teens- no easy feat. When I look back on all of the various informational texts I've saved on my phone, I can see that I have gravitated towards guidance in regards to balancing my own emotional state. My overwhelming emotions have been getting in the way of my parenting skills and that is something I've worked hard to overcome this month and will continue to work towards. Emotions have been right at the surface for all of my kids and for me during this pandemic. Though we have not faced any tremendous trial- life has changed greatly for our family and homeschool is not easy. I need to be the steady through all of this- and that's where meditation has helped so greatly.
It's been a slow and steady month! Grateful for all of these experiences, some good..... some more challenging-- but all that help us to grow in every way.
