Elora is becoming quite the spiritual little girl. She loves to go to church, learn about the scriptures, sing primary songs, and especially pray. Her favorite things, next to watching Blues Clues or Mr Rogers is actually listening to Scripture Stories or having Family Home Evening. If you want to get both kids to put down whatever they’re doing and come running to you, just announce we’re having family home evening.
She insists she gets to pray before every meal, even if someone already did. This causes confrontations between her and Oliver who then start praying over each other, while we try to sort things out and tell them to each wait their turn. She also coaches Oliver on praying and tells him all the things he should be thankful for (Like choochoos and toys).
Ollie: I’m a princess.
Dad: Princesses are girls, are you a girl?
Ollie: No!
Dad: Are you a boy?
Ollie: No!
Dad: Princesses are mommies, are you a mommy?
Ollie: No!
Dad: Princes are daddies, are you a daddy?
Ollie: No!
Karen: Are you Oliver?
Ollie: No, I’m a Missionary!
Oliver went through a phase where even though it was the middle of winter, we would come in his room and find him asleep with just a diaper on. He’d unzip his footsie jammies and climb completely out of them and then tuck himself back in. In the morning, he’d insist on wearing them again.
Sweet sleeping baby…
Here the smiles are starting to begin. She’s nothing but smiles and giggles now (with some drool).
The kids love skiing so much that they wear their helmets around the house for fun!
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(while praying)
Elora: Please bless that the mosquitoes won’t bite mommy. … Please bless that we can have a popsicle after dinner. … Please bless that we’ll go to the museum (or park) tomorrow. … Please bless that I will not have to suffer like Jesus. … Please bless that everyone will be reverent and not naughty in primary. … Please bless that I can get my pencil out from under the table. …
Thank you for the bees and butterflies, and grass, and trees, and birds, and primary, the prophets, and my teacher, mommy and daddy, and the earth, and we really love you and we really love us too.
(after the prayer is done when she finishes her list, now we start to eat)
Elora: Wait! I forgot to bless the food!
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Elora: Please bless that tomorrow will be Sunday (said on Friday night, hoping she could go to church tomorrow. A kid who likes to go to church? What hath God wrought?)
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Elora praying: Please bless that my teachers will know that even when I am being naughty, I am still learning. Please bless that when I am good Oliver will follow me.
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(prayer before dinner) Elora: Thank you for McDonalds and chocolate.
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(later after being excited and asking all on her own to go kneel in one of the prayer rooms and pray at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London)
Elora: I prayed to suffer like Jesus.
Dad: Why would you do that? (me, totally perplexed)
Elora: Because Heaven is a safe place.
(what do you say to that?!?!)
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Elora: Jesus was on the earth teaching people and he always wore his sandals!
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Elora: Daddy, I miss great-Grandpa. I want to see great-Grandpa.
Dad: Well someday you will get to see him again.
Elora: But I want to see him now in heaven.
Dad: But you can’t do that yet because you still have to have lots of experiences, like grow up and have a family of your own.
Elora: Not if I die when I’m young.
(gulp…let’s just pray she’s not on to something, but where does this come from?)
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Elora: How did Great Grandpa die?
Grandma: He had lung cancer.
Elora: What’s that?
Grandma: It’s a disease.
Elora: Oh, did he lick the windows?
Note by us: A few months earlier, after we noticed Elora was licking the windows on public transportation (eeewwwwww!) we explained she can get germs and diseases, which could make her sick. Apparently it made a real impression.
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Elora: Mom, if I’m bad, will I be destroyed by God?
Mom: No, but we need to repent and try to be good.
Elora: But in the scriptures, people were destroyed by God. Why didn’t they repent?
Mom: Because we all get to choose, and they chose not to, which is sad.
Elora: It’s not sad for us, because they were bad.
Mom: It’s still sad, because we want people to try and repent and be better, like Alma the Younger, remember he was bad and then repented and became a missionary.
Elora: I’d like to live near him.
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Elora: I’m the star of primary (kids sunday class) because I’m quiet, and I say the prayer and I sing really loud.
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We were reading about the 10 commandments and Elora was having me explain them all to her. We got to “thou shalt not covet” and I tried to explain that coveting is like being greedy. So we were talking about all the nice things we have and why we don’t need to desire what other people have.
Mommy: We have a nice family and friends.
Elora: And we already have nice toys to play with.
Mommy: And we have a nice home to live in and food to eat.
Elora: And we have some money to buy things. And when I grow up I need to have a farm so I can have BACON! I will get pigs and they will make bacon and HAM!
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Elora: Why does the book not say, “Snakes have teeth that are poison if they bite you so don’t pet them?”
Mom: Because this book is about how animals move, so it just talks about snakes slithering. Plus most snakes aren’t poisonous.
Elora: What about anacondas, are they poisonous?
Mom: I don’t think so.
Elora: How about spiders, don’t pet them, they are all poison!
Mom: No, black widows are poison, but most spiders won’t hurt you. You just should be careful around snakes and spiders because some are poisonous.
Elora: But you should never ever pet a Cheetah! Except maybe the cheetahs you find in pet shops, that would be okay.
These prayers knocked me down. I'm sure I'll remember them long 🙂