The small things make all the difference

Yesterday was kind of a hard day. I felt out of sync and kind of stressed/behind all day. I am not sure why that is - other than lack of sleep. I got home from work and I still just felt behind and anxious. But instead of letting it fester, we had FHE. I had Book Club Monday night so we decided to move FHE to Tuesday and I am so glad that we did!

I cut out pictures of Jonah, the whale, the people of Nineveh, the sailors and the boat. I pasted them to cardstock to make it sturdy and I told Christian all about Jonah. I told him about how Heavenly Father had asked him to tell the people of Nineveh that they were making bad choices and Jonah was afraid and so he didn't listen. He tried to run away from what Heavenly Father wanted him to do. He got on a ship and Heavenly Father sent a frightening storm and so Jonah had the sailors throw him off the ship and he was swallowed by a whale. For three days he had time to think about what he was supposed to do. After the three days, and a lot of praying, the whale spit Jonah back onto land and Jonah was able to make better choices and listen to what Heavenly Father wanted him to do. He went back to Nineveh and told the people they were making bad choices and they listened! And everyone was happier! And we can be happy too when we listen to Heavenly Father.

Simple, water-downed version of Jonah, right? I cannot tell you what joy it brought my heart to not only share this simple story with Christian, but how excited and fascinated he was with it.

Afterward, we carved our pumpkins. Christian did not have as much fun as I expected. In fact, he didn't even want to touch it! Once I took the top off and showed him the insides, he just kept saying, "Ewwwww! That's gross!!" over and over and over. I tried to tell him that it wasn't gross, it was cool and he said, "It's cool? Nooooo! It's GROSS!!!". hahahaha Love that kid. Needless to say, Jared and I carved the two pumpkins, but Christian got to pick what we carved. I did Lightning McQueen (no surprise there!) and Jared did a "scary face" aka Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I think they turned out pretty good :)

And yes...that is our baby sitting in the dark next to the pumpkins :)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Kids Say the Darndest Things Volume 1

I guess really this should be Volume 2 because there have been SOOOO many funny things Christian has done that I have already shared. If you haven't heard about Noah being Santa Claus, Baby Jesus and Noah being best friends, Baby Jesus not being able to swim or Daniel praying to be eaten by the lions, tell me and I will give you the scoop.

One of the absolute best parts of having a 2 year old (honestly, one of the only great things about having a 2 year old...thank you tantrums!) is the funny things they say. Here are some of my favorites of late.

In Sacrament meeting, Christian was again playing with his beloved Bible Quiet Book. This time, Elaine was playing with him. They got to the page with Daniel, the lions and the lion's den.

Me: Who is that?
Christian: Daniel!
Elaine: Uh. The Prince!
Me: That is Daniel. And who was Daniel?
Christian: A Prophet!
Elaine: A DOLPHIN!?

I couldn't stop laughing! Looks like Elaine is getting different lessons at home ;)

In FHE this week Jared was teaching about the scriptures. He started to talk about Moroni and drew a parallel to the Angel Moroni on top of the temples because we had learned about them/him before.

Jared: Do you remember Angel Moroni?
Christian: Yes!
Me: Remember, he is the one on top of our temples
Jared: Moroni wrote in the scriptures. He made a promise to us....
Christian: No, no, no, no, no. Uh Angel uh temples and Jesus and Fireworks!
Jared: Well, Angel Moroni is on the temples and the temples are Jesus's house...
Christian: Yeah! Jesus! He...He...He...He loves fireworks.
Jared: (talking over Christian at this point) Moroni wrote in the Book of Mormon and he made us a promise..
Christian: NO! No scriptures!

Don't you love when your carefully planned FHE lessons are hijacked by a toddler?

Last night when we pulled up in front of the house Christian started to roll down his window.

Christian: I no can touch the trees! Uuuuummmppphhh (reaching for the tree across the street).
Me: You can't reach it? You need to get out of the car. You can't reach it while you are in the car.
Christian: Maybe Jesus can help me?
Me: (laughing) Yes! Maybe! How do we ask Jesus for help?
Christian: Oooooohhhh JEEEESSSSUUUUSSSS (if any of you have seen Mickey Mouse Clubhouse it sounded a lot like calling for Toodles). Ooooohhhhh JEEEESSSSUUUUSSS. OOOOOHHHHH JEEEEESSSSUUUUUSSS.
Me: (laughing some more)
Christian: Oh no. Jesus no come. Uh...maybe He in the house?
Me: Yes! Maybe He is in the house!
Christian: LET'S GO!

I love my little man and I love that he is so excited about what he is learning. It is hard work trying to teach a person the basics, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!