Parker's 4th Birthday

The night before Parker's birthday, Parker confided to me that he was very concerned about turning four, because he really liked being three. He was really worried about such a big change. He really doesn't like change, at all. After he fell asleep, I hung streamers in his doorway, and put a happy birthday banner in the hall outside door, so he'd see it when he woke up, and we blew up balloons and put them all over.

After down the streamers and threw them away after evan ripped one. woke up, boys saw balloons": "it's a party!" "daddy said happy birthday to me when it was still night time!" preschool TONS of rain. good day. his class sang to him, making him feel so special. gave em all little sunglasses. wanted salami sandwich for breakfast, settled for cereal for breakfast, salami and ham for lunch while watching lion king and letting mom lie down for a bit. made chocolate cake... two layers with homemade fudge frosting and strawberries... same as last year, but better! great afternoon. boys played very well. applebees for dinner. "i'm the birthday boy" all day. made him feel special. he and evan shared a chicken tenders kids meal, and were very good. parker loved when they sang and gave him ice cream... although evan attacked and ate most of the ice cream. amazing.

last night, before birthday, parker had been concerned about turning four, because he really liked being three. now he's glad he's four, but he's going to stay four every day. he's not growing up. he's going to be a big boy forever. i told him he can be four for a whole year, then we'll talk about it.

mommy, i'm so glad i'm four today! I'm so glad i'm your four year old! And, before his birthday, he threw away the Nuk! All by himself YAY! And, he's super helpful...because he's four! Love it. But, if we tried to say he was four before his birthday, huge protest: no, i'm still three! mr. literal.

Busy!

You know why there haven't been any more blog posts all summer? Because we've been BUSY! So busy! The boys had swim lessons over the summer, and we were at the beach at least once a week. Playdates, parks, picnics... We had an amazing, busy, super-fun summer.

And now we're in school! Parker's LOVING kindergarten, and Evan adores his preschool teacher, and is already learning so much!

It's amazing to me how Primary in church and preschool both work so well together to help children. I think it's because we need that balance of both secular and spiritual learning. I noticed with Parker, he had a hard time sitting and focusing during circle time at preschool, until he started Sunbeams in Primary, and sat in a class at church too. Evan, after his first week of preschool, showed an improved capacity to sit still during Singing and Sharing Time during Primary at church on Sunday. I think that should tell us something! There's no point in learning anything without the Spirit, but to ignore all else but religious education isn't helpful either. When we can show discipline in all the aspects of our lives, it strengthens us in the others. Maybe. It's just a thought.