Goal setting

Goal number ONE: Rededicate myself to learning from my children and recording the lessons learned!

Last night for FHE we had a lesson on goals as we talked about the Carter goals for the rest of the year (so we started a month a late...at least we started!) Brooke was in charge of the lesson, so I told her to ask if anyone knew what a goal was. Viana raised her hand and said, "A goal is something that you really want that you have to work hard to earn." I was blown away! I wrote it down right away because it was so succinct and perfect. With such a good understanding our family discussion went really well after that!

Prophet

Pretty much every evening, I put a movie on for the kids so that I can cook dinner. Today, I asked Ally what she wanted to watch. She immediately said, "Rapunzel!" I started flipping through our DVD binder than heard her say, "No, Mom. I want to listen to President Monson." So, I flipped past Tangled and found our Conference section. She sat down on the floor and intently listened to what our prophet had to say. After a few minutes I asked her if she wanted to watch something else to which she replied, "No. I want to watch Pres. Monson!" And she continued to sit and listen to him for the remainder of his talk. Afterwards, she told me, "Pres. Monson tells us things from Heavenly Father that he hears at the temple!" I'm not sure where she learned that because I don't recall having that conversation with her, but she's pretty correct.

Amos 3:7 reads, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Whether she knows the meaning of what she was saying or not, the prophet is the one with the authority to give us direction as a Church. And he will guide us according to Heavenly Father's will.

Learning to Pray

You can always count on Daniel to say a prayer for our family. Ally still doesn't like to pray with us so she will often volunteer Daniel for prayer. He's getting so good at repeating our different phrases of gratitude and requests. He's even learning how to end the prayer by himself. It makes me happy that at least one of our kids will pray willingly for us. He isn't quite good enough at talking to make his own sentences, but he's getting closer. And when he does, I'm sure he'll have some sweet things to pray about.

A True Story

One thing that Ally likes to do is write down stories. She will scribble letters and dictate what she's writing. Earlier this week, I overheard her write this story.

" I know my Heavenly Father loves me. I know that he is very nice. Jesus is nice too. Is this a good deal? This is a good story. The end."

It made me smile that she likes to write down what she "knows" or is learning.

Love

Last night while on our drive to pick up LaDon, Ally started singing this song:

"I love Jesus.

President Monson loves Daddy.

Heavenly Father loves me.

Happy New Year, happy new year!"

The end is pretty random. But, I thought it was telling to hear what she's learned about our Father in Heaven, our Savior, and our current prophet. Whether she knows it or is just repeating what we tell her, she is happy to know that there is a lot of love coming from those 3.

Prayer

We are to leave for Christmas break today, but of course there are winter snowstorms littering the highways between here and Colorado. This morning Viana was so excited that today was our planned departure date. When I told her that we might not be able to leave today because of the snow she said so perfectly faithfully, "But we prayed to have a safe drive." Kind of like, duh mom, don't you have faith? It was so sweet to see how confident she was in the Lord answering our prayers.

Following Jesus

For the past week and a half, Ally has become obsessed with the idea of being baby Jesus. She'll drag a monstrous blanket to where I am standing and ask to be swaddled like baby Jesus. When that's done, she'll lie on the floor/couch/bed and say, "Momma, I'm baby Jesus!" It's interesting to me that even at this young age she is trying to be like our Savior. Granted, she is trying to be like him as a baby, but what a great age to imitate. Our Savior put off his glory and power to come to the earth in a much more humble way: as a baby.

Kindness

One thing Ally is supposed to try and do everyday is a kind deed. On her "important things to do" list (similar to a chore chart) she has the task of "do[ing] a kind deed." Today, her preschool group went to a few elderly women's homes in our ward and sang Christmas songs. When we got home I told Ally that she did a very kind thing today at school and that she could put up a sticker for her kind deed. Ally, excitedly, hopped up on the chair and started following her finger under the line, "do a kind deed," and made her own caption: "Be like Jesus and do something nice like sing songs for the old grandmas." It made me chuckle to hear her say old grandmas. I guess they are much older than her own grandmothers (not her great-grandmas). But, regardless of that, she's starting to understand that when we do kind things we are being like Christ and that Christ is kind to everyone. Even old grandmas.

I Love Jesus Because...

In our preschool group we are getting ready for our Christmas activities. One such activity includes a visit to some elderly women in our ward. We made cards for them and I asked each child why they love Jesus. They aren't so spiritually based, but I think there are principles and 3-year understanding of Jesus in each answer. And, they are pretty darn cute and funny.

I love Jesus because.....

~ He is so bright!

~ He made outside for me to play.

~ I'm friends with him.

~ when I am bad it makes him sad.

~ No! I'm grumpy! (that one made me laugh)

Obviously, we have wonderful families in our ward who take the time to teach their children about Christ. And, it's plain to see that they understand who He is in their own 3-year old way.

Prayers

Eric and I were talking at night about how we need to spend one-on-one time with our children and how we feel if we did more of this they would be better behaved. We were yearning for that time to make its way into our crazy lives.
When we went to bed we were praying and I was praying that we could sleep good and hoping for a childless night so that Eric could gain rest and rejuvination for his busy life.
That night at 3something Viana came in and got Eric out of bed for something. I heard her wide awake just talking and talking to Eric as if it was the middle of the day. At the time I thought, "Why couldn't my prayer have been answered to have a great nights sleep??"
Then in the morning as I started to think about it, I realized how before that prayer Eric and I were yearning for more one-on-one time. I then realized how the Lord works in mysterious ways. Eric and Viana had charming 3am conversation and bonding. We asked for two conflicting things, I am glad the Lord still saw fit to give us the better of the two.

Jesus is our friend

Every morning at breakfast, I read an article to the kids from the Friend. It's a good way to make sure we get something in about the gospel before the day starts and they like the stories. A couple of weeks ago we read President Eyring's story about being a faithful friend, specifically to Jesus Christ. Ally seemed to kind of struggle with the concept that being a good example is one way we are Jesus' friend. Well, yesterday, as Ally was doing some of her "imaginative play" with toys, blankets, pillows, etc. I overheard this little conversation: "Jesus, you are my friend. Do you want to help me make a bed for Jessie? We like to be nice to our friends Jesus." It made me smile to see that Ally understands what a friend is at her level. For her, He is someone that will play with you and help others. Jesus did love children and I think Ally knows that.

Kindness, Children, Child of God

We have a favorite park that we like to go to. It's our favorite because no one is ever there. Yesterday, while at the park, a little girl and her mom came to the park the last 20 minutes we were there. Ally immediately started playing with this little girl (she was 2, so about a year younger than Ally). A few minutes into their play, Ally came running over to me saying, "That little girl is so nice, Mom!" She seemed so surprised that someone she didn't know could be nice! When it came time to leave the park, Ally waved good-bye to this little girl and then kept telling me for the first 5 minutes of our walk back home how "nice that little girl was." It was funny to me that Ally was so shocked that people are nice. But, then again, Ally has always been so shy and never interacted with other people. I think today she may have discovered that for the most part, people are very nice! When we are kind to people, they will be kind to us. Not only that, but we are all children of God so we should be nice to others!