It's a wonderful life!

What busy two weeks these have been!  October brought us colors and sunshine at the same time, and we couldn't be kept indoors.  In fact, two weeks ago we all witnessed how summer relentlessly begged and begged autumn to give her one more week so we could all say goodbye properly, and autumn was gracious enough to allow it.  We took advantage of that fact and had the kids swim outdoors one last time.  What fun - swimming in October!

Swimming was something that we did a lot these past weeks.  Charlton started a few private lessons in an indoor swimming center.  His little friends, who took the same lessons, are fearless in the water and I thought maybe those lessons will help Charlton feel more comfortable in the water.  It's interesting to see the difference in how girls and boys approach life in general, and in this instance swimming.  His girl friends just jump in the water and don't think much about it.  Charlton will rationalize every move he makes, and most of the time he would say that he is too little to dive or swim on his own.  And when he says it, there isn't an ounce of mischief or fear in it; he really believes it.   It's so darn adorable!

Last week the children attended their last meet for the season in their cross-country running.  We didn't do so well this year in taking the kids regularly to the meets, but I tried very hard for balance between family time and activities, and I stuck to it even when it meant we had to skip a few extra-curricular activities.  Running is such a good sport that helps your body and mind, and at the same time it's easy to do anywhere and anytime throughout your life.  I'm glad the kids participated this year regardless of the crazy schedule it made for us at times.

 

 

 

Last week I attended a field trip with Jefferson and his class.  We went to the Chabot  Space and Science Center.  Jefferson's class is learning about space, and in specific about our own galaxy.  He is watching the phases of the moon each night, and learning what makes a star, where do meteors come from, etc.  It's so fun talking to my kids at this age.  Jefferson knows so much about how things work that I just love to hear him.  (Gillian mesmerizes me with her knowledge on various kings, queens, heroes, scientists, and world leaders; James touches my heart with his understanding of the gospel.)  Our dinner time is never boring!

 Parent volunteers

 

 Jefferson's favorite school friends

Jefferson's dream: to be a pilot

Learning about planets with a help of a planetarium show

Making their own show about planets.  Jefferson was Saturn.  He insisted in being one of the bigger planets, and he loved the fact that it had rings.

Gillian had a presentation at school last week writing an essay on three important things that make her who she is.  After writing it, she presented it to the class showing three items that represented those three characteristics.  Gillian chose to represent herself by these three things: her love for her family, her active life in sports, and her talent for music.  In the end, she shared her love for the Savior and how music connects her with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.  And then, she sang in front of her peers "A Window to His Love."  This last bit was very hard for Gillian to do; she doesn't like to show off and is careful in what she tells her school friends. 

When I asked her why she hesitated in sharing her testimony, she told me that those feelings are special to her and she didn't want anyone to ridicule them.  I knew that singing a religious song at school was a very hard thing to do since nowadays it's rare to find parents who teach faith and gospel principles to their children.  I was very proud of Gillian for being courageous in her testimony.

Another thing that took my time this past week was doctor appointments.  James's school needed a medical form to be filled by the doctor, and since I hadn't taken the kids to have their annual check-up this year yet, I thought why not let's do it all in the same week.  They are all healthy and growing well, with Gillian at 70lbs, Jefferson at 60lbs, James at 50lbs, and Charlton almost making 40lbs, although he has a three year difference with James, and not two as the others have with each other.  Actually, Charlton's numbers were very funny; the nurse had to check twice: he weighed 38 1/2 lbs and was 38 1/2 inches tall.  The doctor said he is doing great in all aspects;  he particularly liked Charlton's innocent arguments that carried a lot of logic. 
I couldn't stop laughing seeing him respond so seriously to all the funny things the doctor tried to pass by him.  I might have spent three days at the doctor's office, but I had fun. 

The doctor had to take care of a few little warts on Gillian's knee with liquid nitrogen, and oh boy, didn't that open Pandora's box with Jefferson.  He wanted to know all about it, what was it made of, and how do we transport it, and how come with call the air we breath oxygen and not nitrogen since it has more of that, and many more questions.  When Gillian felt the coldness of it, the doctor explained to her how this works as frostbites in getting rid of those unnecessary skin tissues.  Well, Gillian then told him about stories she had read about many explorations to Antarctica and the Arctic and how many early explorers lost limbs to frost bites. 

James wanted to know all about the ear pictures on the wall (they were gross and showed infections), and interesting enough he had great questions and the doctor loved answering him.  When the doctor asked Charlton what he wanted to become when he grew up, Charlton responded without hesitation that he was going to be a doctor.  When the doctor put the stethoscope around his neck and told him to go ahead and become one, Charlton was very serious and said, "I'm too little for that now."  So there, folks, is the saga of my children's visit to the doctor.  There is never a humdrum moment in my life.

 The children had spirit week at school this week, and I don't usually follow or care much about it, but my kids wanted me to take a picture of them on crazy hat day.  I love this picture because the choice of hats isn't what I would have thought each of my kids would have picked.  It goes to show I've yet to learn a lot more about my kids.

We closed the week by showing autumn that we love her more than summer, at least at this time.  The kids went outside and raked leaves and then jumped on them over and over again.  And we don't even have that many in our back yard.  Gorgeous weather, pretty colors, fun kids!  What more does one need from life!