On Tuesday, Charlton had preschool where they reviewed letter Q among other things. They played games and read stories about Queens and Kings. Charlton is loving preschool, and every time he comes back from it he wants to either watch an ABC movie, read books about letters and numbers, or trace letters on his own. His motor skills leave a lot to be desired, but I'm just happy he is so interested in learning.
On Wednesdays, Charlton and I have been attending story hour at the library. He gets story hour at our house at all times of the day by his father, siblings and me, but he loves going to the library and associating with kids his age. He loves the songs they sing and the flannel board stories told by the librarians. This Wednesday, he insisted in wearing his king/knight costume at all my errands including story hour. I didn't think to take a picture of him sitting down amongst his peers and admired by them all, but I did take a picture when we got home.
On Thursday, all the preschool moms and friends visited Fairyland, a perfect little theme park catered toward Charlton's age. All the kids had so much fun going through fun rides, slides, and storybook sets that they didn't want to leave. When we got home and asked Charlton what was his favorite part of the field trip, he couldn't decide between being with friends or the watching the puppet show.
The kids couldn't get enough of the dragon slide:
They loved rolling down the hill:
They enjoyed waving from the train:
They hopped on the carousel choosing animals with similar colors to their shirts or pants:
They conquered their fears as they climbed the Ferris Wheel, but then they didn't want to get out when they realized how fun it was:
They pretended to be cowboys and entered the Old West town's jail:
They were very attentive to the story of Sleeping Beauty that the Puppet Company was putting on for them:
Before we left, we said 'goodbye' to the Happy Dragon that greeted us in the beginning, and then headed home. This had been a very successful field trip with relatively little stress and a lot of fun.
Friday was a busy day for me. It was my turn to volunteer at the Mom Day's Out Preschool. The kids got along very well with each other and we had very little crying from most of them. There are twelve kids with two moms supervising each week, and the fact that half of the kids are from our ward helps them to have fun with each other. We read a few books, played outside, ate snack and then lunch, told some flannel board story, and colored pictures that told the story of the Little Red Hen.
After preschool, Charlton and Mckinley visited their best friend, Teya, and wished her Happy Birthday by playing, eating a yellow lunch (Teya's favorite color), and decorating their own cupcake with yellow frosting and sprinkles. What fun! I can't believe Charlton is old enough to get to go to his own friends' birthday parties.
We got back right before my older kids needed to be picked up. Since I had been gone all day, I hadn't prepare any snacks for the kids or dinner for later. Seeing that I was tired a bit, Gillian offered to cook dinner if I took care of the snacks. That was much needed help. I was very proud of my sweet girl as she cooked us spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, and garlic bread. The dinner was delicious and I appreciated Gillian's help.
Saturday and Sunday were wonderful days since we got to hear our Prophet and the Lord's servants teach us in General Conference. I was happy to notice that most of the talks were focused on loving and serving one another as Jesus did. There were several great talks that taught me how to be a better servant of the Lord. One that comes to mind at this moment was the General Relief Society President's talk. In it she said that to better serve others we must first observe then serve, just as Gillian, my sweet girl, did when she first observe me being tired, and then proceeded to serve. Such simple words, but so amazingly true.
The other thing that I remember from Conference was the exciting news that our young men and women can start serving a mission as soon as they turn 18 for boys and 19 for girls (instead of 19 as it used to be previously for boys and 21 for girls). This will help the youth of the church to start preparing spiritually earlier. It will also help them to go to their missions straight from high school without interrupting their college studies. My three older kids will get to go one after another with Gillian starting off first. I will miss them so terribly when they go to their missions, but knowing that they will be serving the Lord will give me comfort. Charlton better stay cute and adorable and help me overcome my longings for them.
We loved watching conference, two sessions on Saturday and two on Sunday. I can't wait to read them in print. The kids listened with us and they were very attentive, Charlton included. We tried to let them in between sessions to play outside. That helped. When I once went to check on them, I found Charlton, still in his pajamas, playing with leaves and entertaining his siblings. I love it that my children are so happy all the time. Charlton's smile brings a smile to my face.
