Primary with Eli

This picture is an old one, but it depicts the following events so well.  Today, I got to help with Eli's primary class. I geared him up for it by telling him the day before. At first he didn't like the idea and told me that primary is his time. It was only rough at first and then after a few consequences, he was really good, other than pestering the secretary for another talk. We told him he has to wait for his birthday. He was a bit it restless at the rejection, but one he realized his friend Kyle was giving a talk, he sat and listened very intently. Kyle told of a story about a little pioneer boy who donated his wagon to use for the building of the temple. Eli started crying and would not calm down. I had to take him outside and explain to him the importance of temples. He still wouldn't calm down until I told him that the wagon was used to carry stuff for the temple and when they were done, the little boy could get it back. He was okay at this notion and went back to class.

Somebody Tooted.

John and his family was in town and we were all seated at the dinner table and we heard a loud toot. We all looked around awkwardly, waiting for someone to excuse themselves because we thought it was an adult, and all of the sudden, we heard this tiny voice say, " 'cues me." It was Riley. We laughed for awhile and now, after she toots or burps, she says " 'cues me" followed by laughter.

Eli's Talk

Yesterday, Eli asked if he could go to his friend's house because they were working on a trailer. He told me he wanted to go and help because he said " I am a bit of an Expert."

Today Riley was fussing outside of the bathroom. I went to take a look and see what she was upset about and saw her holding a pair of pants trying to get them on over her dress as a shirt and a small pair of shorts half-way up her legs.
Today at church, Eli gave a talk. Last week, I told him he was giving a talk and he responded "I can say funny stuff." ironically, the talk was on reverence. After persuading him to behave, he did a great job. He really tried to do well and be reverent but he kept arguing about the order of the slides and he wanted to see the pictures instead of the crowd.  Oh well, he was so pleased with himself and when it was all done, we wanted to do it again.

Swimming

Eli and Riley and a few ward friends were invited to a swimming pool in the neighborhood.  They had a great time.  Eli had a hard time getting used to the water and it wasn't until he borrowed the arm floaties that he felt comfortable to swim on his own.  He even had enough courage to jump off the diving board.  Riley was cute and wouldn't let Mommy go, that is why there are more pictures of Eli.  I had to lend her to a willing helper to get a picture of her.  All in all, they had a great time.

One Thing Led to Another

For a service project, the cub scouts painted the empty boxes used for the program Meals on Wheels.  Eli and Riley helped too.  Later, they needed to get cleaned up and so we sent them to the swimming pool.  At first, Riley was a little nervous, but then she soon became convinced that it was fun to splash.  After a while, as seen in the last picture below, her diaper became saggy and quite full.  Even though, diapers today are pretty absorbent, they just weren't meant to hold that much water.

Who's My Slave?

Eli asked grandma if he could take his toy, Optimus Prime to church. Grandma replied that he would have to ask Mommy because Mommy was the boss of him. He was shocked and replied, "Mommy's the boss of me?" Grandma said yes. He thought for a minute and said. "Then who's my slave?"

A Quick Bike Ride

Grandpa and I decided that we needed more exercise and that we would ride our bike a little more often.  We wanted to go on a quick ride to a park.  I went 7.5 miles and stopped with the kids to a park so that Dad could go to fetch the car after it got dark.  We were all tired after that ride.
On a more positive note, the kids had a great time and Eli liked to make me work harder by swinging his body back and forth so the bike would sway.  He thought it was funny, I thought it was exhausting.