Jesus is Coming!!

Oh how I love Nursery.

Yesterday, little Steven decided it would be fun to throw all the crayons on the floor under the table. As his teachers, we decided that he would have to clean them up. Steven however, did not like this idea, and stubborn as he can be, just went off and played with toys. We stuck to our decision though, and told him they would have to be cleaned up before he left, because when you make a mess, you are responsible for cleaning it up (try teaching responsibility to a 2 year old). He still had no interest, and as time wound down, we tried different ways to get him to clean his mess.

First: asking politely. Failed miserably.
Second: "I bet I can pick up more crayons than you!" - "I don't want to." (This kid is too smart for our tricks!)
Finally: a discussion about Jesus.

I knelt down next to Steven and said, "When you make a mess at home, I bet you help clean it up to make your mom happy, don't you?" No response. "Well, this is Jesus' building, and it makes Him sad when it's messy. Don't you want to make Jesus happy by cleaning up your mess?"

Steven suddenly got super excited, and started running around yelling, "JESUS IS COMING, JESUS IS COMING!!"

Oh, great! What's gonna happen when Jesus doesn't show up?? I said nothing about Him coming! I just wanted the crayons picked up! The other teachers and I couldn't help laughing at cute little Steven, excited to see Jesus, who was, as far as we knew, not coming anytime soon.

But hey, at least he finally cleaned up the crayons.

"I'm Trying Hard to Grow..."

...So please don't walk on me.

Perhaps you too have seen these signs along the edges of the "DT grass" that is still brown and prickly. Perhaps you have also seen people committing the heinous act of walking across said grass, or have even done so yourself. Ok, it's not that bad, but it's still really annoying to me. I take the 30 seconds longer to walk all the way around the field, trying to accommodate the signs and let the stuff grow, but it seems like everyone else just goes right on through. It is really starting to irritate me. I mean, people are walking right past the signs, it's not like they don't see them! I was even out there one day while some workers were outside, and one man called out to someone asking them not to walk on the grass, but he was completely ignored. How lame is that? There is a clear difference between this field and the one a little farther north, by the Harmon building. That grass is dark green, lush, and pretty. The DT grass is again, brown and prickly. And these people are making it that way! So cut it out, and let the grass grow, dangit.

Then the Angels Paint them Green

Yesterday during Nursery, it was a warm enough day that we decided to take the kids on an adventure outside. They loved getting out of our little classroom to look at the trees, bushes, and seedpods. Nathan even suggested going to where we could see the temple. How sweet is that? As we walked along, we would ask the kids, "Do you know who made the bushes?" And they always got the answer right: Jesus.
At one point, Steven found a tree stump, and I told him a little bit about how trees keep going underground, and they have long "fingers" called roots that spread out really far and drink up all the rain when it comes down. Then they grow into big tall trees, "like this one," as I pointed to another tree. Then Steven wisely, and adorably added, "Then the angels paint them green."
Yes, yes they do. Jesus created the world for us because He loves us, and his angels help paint the trees green. :)