April smiles

April 1--Insight into Ryn's thought process, "I need Jesus to come down so He can teach me to be obedient cause sometimes I do mean things to Elle."

April 3--Mom and Dad had given the girls some books for Easter and as they were leaving, I reminded Ryn and Elle to "give them hugs and say 'thank you'." Elle said the words and hugged the books.

April 5--Elle: I'm a bad guy.
Ryn: No, you're one of Jesus' children.

April 7--After being taught by Elder Bednar's great talk in conference, I felt like I needed to read a chapter every day to the girls at lunch from the actual Book of Mormon in addition to the illustrated scripture readers that we read at night. It has been absolutely wonderful! On this day we were reading in 1 Nephi 7 when Laman and Lemuel had tied Nephi up with ropes, Nephi prayed for strength to break his bonds, and the Lord loosened the ropes so they fell to the ground. I asked the girls, "Isn't that amazing that the Lord did that for Nephi?!" Ryn asked, "Was that a miracle?" "Yes!" I answered. And then with a little knowing chuckle, she added, "I love that."

April 9--I warned Elle that she should stop climbing on the futon so she wouldn't fall..."I won't fall, Mom. I'm holding on to this iron rod." (the arm rest)

Ryn: "Zip your mouth!" (I can't remember who she said this to, but I was shocked to hear such forceful words from this gentle girl.) So I asked, "Who told you that?" Her reply shocked me even more. "Mama KK. All the time. She always tells me that." So Mom, I've got a few things we need to discuss..... ;)

April 11--On Sundays, we only watch church movies and one of the girls absolute favorites is The Testaments. They love it. When it showed Christ being baptized, they were jumping up and down, exclaiming, "Look! Jesus is getting baptized. He's 8!" Then, during another scene when a girl is crying as she listens to the gospel being taught and feels the Spirit, Ryn said, "Daddy, I know why she's crying--because she feels the Holy Ghost." Elle chimed in, "Yeah, that's just like Mommy at church when she's crying."

April 12--Matt, Nat, Sam, Ethan and Mia were staying with us for a wonderful week and Ethan and Elle were just chilling at the table when I heard Elle explain, "I'm a girl, Ethan." Ethan looked a little confused and asked, "You're a girl-Ethan?"

April 13--the day He-man was re-born for the next generation...When the opening song states that He-man "became the most powerful man in the universe!", Elle piped up excitedly, "Just like our Daddy!"

Ethan was concerned about the loin cloth modesty issue: "Does He-man have clothes on?"

April 17--I was painting the girls finger- and toenails per their request and Elle said, "My toe nails are saying, 'Why are you painting us?'" I asked if they liked it. "Yes, they're very happy."

April 20--Elle is always very quick to praise and thank me for every kind word and deed and it melts me every time. "Mommy? You're a good mom." I asked why this time. "Because you're happy."

Another killer when Ryn asked, leaning in really close, "Elle, do you know what I love more than chocolate?..... YOU!"

April 22--Since being exposed to He-man, it's one of the favorite games we play. I am always Skeletor, of course, so the girls can have a formidable foe :) and I love how serious they get when they threaten me. "We're going to take your power and kill your warriors!" Then I chase them and grab them and tickle them and show them that they'll never really beat me, but then they start me shaking in my boots with, "But wait! I have my capturing thing!"

April 24--Kevin took Elle with him to Sams, where they saw some cow tongues. Kev held one up to her and told her what it was and she flatly refused to believe him. "No, they're not cow tongues! Cows' tongues stay in their mouths! Except for when they go like this (and she did a big lick of her lips)."

April 25--Another Sunday viewing of The Testaments and they both were thrilled again when the Savior appeared to the Nephites. "That's our big brother!" Elle added, "And that's our Savior, too, because of the marks in his hands."

April 26--Ryn asked, "Elle, did you know that people in China like to eat with chapsticks?"

Elle asked, "Mom, who gave us this beautiful, wonderful house?"

April 28--During another He-man round (in an all-girl house), Elle asked me why Skeletor wanted to take He-man's sword. "I think he wanted to have He-man's power." "No, he wanted to be the fairest one of all."

April 29--Elle LOVES to help me clean. Lately I've been giving her clorox wipes and letting her clean any stray marks off the walls and doors. And she keeps me laughing constantly. "Look at this mark! It's so cute! It's a yittle tiny baby one!"