Pretty Duck

Tonight as we were walking out to the van to go to our ward Halloween party, I looked back at Rebekah walking behind me in her fluffy little duck costume and I said, "Rebekah, you are so pretty."

She replied, "I pretty duck."

Prayers

Alex's prayer tonight was a gem. It went like this:

"Dear Heavenly Father. Thank Thee for this wonderful day. Thank Thee that we can always give and be kind to others. Thank Thee that we can never give treats to others that need food. Thank Thee that we can only give them apples and oranges and even bread. Thank Thee that we never give them bad food. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

She's my Husband

Joseph, myself, Alex, and Rebekah were on our bed tonight getting ready to do our Book or Mormon story song and have family prayer and Rebekah came and snuggled up to me.

Joseph said to Alex, "Alex I need snuggles too. Can you come snuggle with me?"

To which Alex replied, "No. I want mommy. She's my husband."

**I guess we have some explaining to do. :)

Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

Today one of the boys in Alex's class tried to take his fireman helmet.

Alex came running and crying and said,

"Mommy, today is just a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day!!"

*if you haven't read it . . . "Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day" is very cute.

Is She a Man or a Woman?

We pulled up to the preschool and Alex was sitting there in his carseat thoughtfully. I told him to hurry and get out so he could go into school. He replied:

"Mommy is Mrs. Einhorn a boy or a girl?"

me: She's a girl silly. How come you think she's a boy?

"Well, she doesn't look like a girl. She looks like a boy"

me: Why do you think she looks like a boy?

"She has short hair and well, she just looks like a boy"

(Alex)

Did You Hear That Mommy?!

Today while getting dinner on the table, Joseph commented kindly on the dinner I made and everything I had done that day.

Alex overheard it and said in a shocked sort of voice,

"Did you HEAR that Mommy!? Daddy said something very nice to you!"

It was as if this was something Joseph didn't do often. Untrue. He says kind things to me multiple times daily.

Indifferent??

This morning I was impatient with the kids as we hurried out the door to take Alex to my friend so she could take him to the school field trip.

Once we got into the van and I took a breathe, I felt badly for being so pushy.

I said, "Alex, Rebekah, Kaitlyn . . . I am so sorry for being impatient with you this morning. I love you."

Alex replied, "It's okay Mommy. It's fun to be indifferent sometimes."

(Alex)

Thank Thee That . . . .

We have noticed that when Alex says his nightly personal prayer, he always repeats the same thing. It usually goes in long spurts . . . each one-liner lasting a couple of weeks or so. The one lately has been, "Dear Heavenly Father, Thank thee for this day. Thank thee that I can be like Jesus. Thank thee that we can drive home safely. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen." Keep in mind, he prays that we will drive home safely when we are already home and he is about to get into bed. :) He always follows this prayer with, "Are we going anywhere tomorrow?" Hmmmm?

Anyway, so we felt it was important for him to maybe understand a little better who he is praying to, why we pray, and the importance of praying for meaningful things . . . instead of a memorized prayer. All this to a three year old, without squashing his faith and confidence, is a difficult task.

So, Joseph prepared our Family Home Evening for this week on the subject of prayer. He played a game with phones to give the idea of speaking to someone we can't see, and then talked about where we came from and how we lived with our Heavenly Father before, and how talking to Heavenly Father about our day, just like Alex does to Daddy, is important because he misses us and wants to know how we are feeling. It went as well as possible with three small children. :)

So, tonight as I was putting Alex to bed, he knelt to say his prayer, and this was what he said, "Dear Heavenly Father, Thank thee that we could go to the pumpkin patch today. Thank thee that we got to ride the hay ride and play with my friends. Thank thee that Mercedes can drive home safely. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

He then said, "See Mommy, this time I prayed that Mercedes would drive home safely!"

Mercedes is my friend who took him to his school field trip today for me and brought him home. :) He is trying. What a dear.

(Alex)

You Sound Like a Girl

Joseph and I were in the kitchen together and Joseph was trying to get me to kiss him. I was, of course, teasing him and Joseph was going, "Please?" "Pleeeeeaaaaase?" Alex overheard us and said,

"Daddy, you sound like a girl."

To which Joseph attacked him with some very manly wrestling moves. :)

(Alex)

Stupid People

Last night Alex overheard my friend Amber talking to Rebekah about our tortoise Walker. She kept referring to him as a turtle (like most people do) and Alex muttered to me in an angry voice, "She keeps calling him a turtle!" I didn't say anything and he continued to look pretty upset, so I said, "Alex what's the matter?" He then replied angrily,

"All these stupid people think Walker is a turtle! He is not a turtle! He is a TORTOISE!"

(Alex)

Thank You Mommy

In our family, we do our scripture study in the morning. In the evening we sing "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus," and then follow that song by showing a picture and telling a story of the life of our Savior. Last night we talked about the story of The 10 Lepers. We talked about how sad it was that of 10 Lepers who were healed, only 1 of them said thank you to Jesus. Alex sat thoughtfully for a minute. He then looked up and said, 

"Mommy. I wanted to tell you something."

What did you want to tell me Alex?

"I wanted to say thank you so much for hanging my clock up for me today. Thank you so much Mommy."

________________________________

Earlier that day during dinner . . . . Alex had been sick and had no appetite all day. Dinner rolled around and I made eggs and pancakes. He was starving. With a mouth full of eggs, he said, "Mommy, thank you so much for this beautiful dinner. Thank you so much Mommy."

I am grateful for my grateful boy.

(Alex)