Kid's quotes, part 2 (March - April 2013)

It is time for another post of kid's quotes.  Enjoy.


Matthias said confidently, "I think I can drive. I want to sit in mommy's chair." Mommy responded, "When you are 16 you can drive--wait until you are bigger." Matthias agreed, "Okay, I be bigger tomorrow. I drive tomorrow." Clear logic.

Mommy asks Matthias, "who loves Matthias?"  Matthias quickly rattles off all his family member's names and all of his grandparents names.... of course remembering to include "Grandpa Jesus."

Matthias came into the house very upset about seeing a bug the other day, so Daddy and he promptly went back outside and harassed some ants to prove to him that bugs aren't dangerous. A couple minutes later Matthias came back inside and proudly stated: "Daddy, I stomped on a bumble bee." Seems like we might need to give a lesson on which bugs we might not want to harass.

Lizzy (in a very serious voice): "Mommy, you a goat." Mommy (surprised): "Oh, what is daddy?" Lizzy responds (thoughtfully), "Daddy is a horse. I a horse. And Matthias a goat like mommy."

Cheryl: "Why do we have two ears?" Matthias confidently responds: "To listen very good to the birds and the bees."

Cheryl: "Lizzy, use your brain." Lizzy in protest: "No, I don't want to."

When trying on new sandals Lizzy said in an awestruck voice, "Oh my goodness, so beautiful!"

Cheryl (in a rough voice): "I'm so tired." Matthias: "Mommy, we don't growl."

Lizzy lifted her leg up to Matthias and said "Try it." So being the kind, compliant brother, he leaned down and pretended to eat her leg (with sound effects)

Cheryl: "Lizzy, how old is mommy?" Lizzy: "ninty-ten"

After showing him some of his baby pictures Matthias said "Tomorrow I'm going to be a baby."

Lizzy has become a little confused after listening in on Matthias' spelling lessons during learning time. Trying to copy her older brother spelling his name and other words she says,  "M-A-T-T-H, car!  D-A-D, car!" So close.

General Conference with kids

The October General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was difficult for me (Cheryl) with kids going crazy after just ten minutes of listening to the leaders of the church.  So, last week for the April session of General Conference, I tried to be more prepared to help my kids pay attention and so I could enjoy conference more.  Pinterest was a great tool and I was amazed with how much my kids were actually listening with a few tricks.

The morning sessions on Saturday and Sunday start at noon for us here out on the East Coast.  We started lunch (sandwiches) a little early so that we could be ready to pay attention while we finished eating.  I put out bowls of snacks connected with words ("Jesus," "Scriptures," and "Prayer") and the kids were only able to have one of these snacks when these words were said.  Although they were still climbing all over me, we were all able to listen better and enjoy conference.

Although the afternoon sessions were a little crazier, we did a lot of other activities: coloring, panting toes, and tickle fighting (during songs).  I wasn't able to take notes or pay attention as well as I did before we had kids, but really enjoyed the experience of listening and enjoying the spirit with my family (and I will enjoy listening to the talks again later).  I (Cheryl) particularly enjoyed the talks about sharing the gospel and feel a great desire to do this with my kids.  I hope that they enjoyed listening to the prophets and apostles as much as I enjoyed doing this with them.

This is how we started out

This is how we ended up.

Super cute listener

Another good listener

Easter 2013

The kids loved Easter.  I know Matthias remembered the traditions about Easter and Lizzy may have remembered a little bit because she picked up on it pretty quickly.  We were able to spend the Saturday before Easter with our good friends, the Goates family.  We had planned to just stop by briefly to pick up some sand for our kid's new sandbox, and we ended up totally crashing the Goates' community Easter egg hunt.  The kids had a great time outside spending time with friends and getting candy.  It was an absolutely beautiful day to spend time with friends.

"Mom, I get a Easter egg!!"

Showing off his haul.

All of the kids five and younger at the Easter egg hunt.
Left to right: neighbor kid, Lizzy, Matthias, Elaine, Joyce, and James

The Easter Bunny joined them which freaked Matthias out a little bit.  Elaine was so kind to put her arm around Matthias to help him feel happy.  

We enjoyed our own Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning after the Easter bunny stopped at our house.  The kids were so happy that their Easter baskets were full and had lots of eggs to gather up (thanks Grandmas for the help!).  Matthias was good at trying to hold a lot in his hands at once, but Lizzy was just excited to find one at a time.  Both kids wanted to eat them all right then, but we are still happily enjoying the treats.

Cute kids with their Easter baskets in their Easter clothes.

Lizzy trying to get Easter eggs.

Matthias trying to hold as many as he possibly can.

Easter afternoon we created the traditional Easter Bunny cake.  I do try to keep it a little bit normal, but allow the children to add some of their artistic flair to it.  Matthias was willing to add extra candy to the cake; Lizzy was more interested in eating the candy.

"Adding" candy to the cake

The finished product.

We also spent time in the days leading up to Easter and on Easter talking about the reason Easter is important.  The Sunday before Easter we read a few verses about Palm Sunday and throughout the week we talked about how much Jesus loves each of them.  Primary also helped Matthias understand the importance of Easter and he reported at dinner that he learned that Jesus died and then came back.  We then watched a movie on lds.org about Christ's death and resurrection.  Both kids loved it and gave me big hugs after the movie.  Matthias asked to watch is again and has asked to watch it a couple of times since Easter.  We are always so happy to think about our Savior and his life, death, and resurrection.  We hope you all had a very Happy Easter.

Spring break

The kids and I tried to have a lot of fun (while still getting a lot done) over spring break.  The week started out with Matthias being the reverence child before Sacrament meeting on Sunday.  Josh and I were both a little worried about this, but he did a great job.  My favorite part was when he smiled down at me and gave me a thumbs up.  I think he knew he was doing a good job.

Cute reverence child.

On Tuesday morning morning we went to the Atlanta History Museum.  The kids had a great time running through the exhibits and trying the different things that were kid friendly.  I think that Lizzy's favorite part was the big fountain by the Swan House and Matthias' favorite parts were the elephant statue and the two little play houses that they have around the grounds.  Mostly, it was just nice to get out and do something different.  Since the kids were so good at the museum (listening to mom and staying close), we went out for chicken nuggets afterwards.  It's one of their favorite rewards.

Splashing in the fountain.

"Mom, I riding the elephant!"

Lizzy was not a big fan.

Having fun in the little play house.

Strong Olympian!

Lovin' the after museum treat!

On Wednesday, I was able to go help out at Matthias' school.  It was so fun to see him at school.  He was singing the songs really loudly, raising his hand, and participating in their discussion about the weather and the week.  It was so fun to see.  Then they got ready to go and we went to "Magical Mornings," which is a little music performance at the recreation center across the street from the school.  Matthias was able to sit right up front, but kept looking back at me sitting in the back.  He is such a cute little preschooler.

Looking back at Magical Mornings

Cute little preschooler

We were also able to spend some time together as a family.  One of my favorite things is to watch Josh wrestling with the kids.

Wrestling with daddy.