A Bryan funny

Tonight we were in the midst of an Aaron homework tantrum (that lasted an hour and a half) and Tim said, "I bet Bryan could figure out that math problem." He brought Bryan up to the kitchen and set out 9 pencils on the table, in sets of 3. ( the math problem was 3 x 3, which Aaron knows and can do, but he was in his stubborn tantrum mode and it was awful!)

ANYWAY, Tim asks Bryan something like, "If you have 3 groups with 3 pencils in each group, how many pencils are there all together?"

Bryan confidently answered, "FIVE."

Tim - "Five? Count the pencils and see how many there are." (now keep in mind here that Bryan can easily count to 13. after 13 he starts to jump around a bit...)

Bryan counting, "1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5!"

We all just started laughing!

gotta love it!

So tonight at dinner Aaron says,

"you know mom, how you've been making food that is healthier and costs less money?"

yes.....

"when can we go back to having food that tastes good?"

"and a little child child shall lead them..."

I just wanted to share something I thought was cute from our Family Home Evening tonight. I was teaching the lesson, and it was on the "Second Coming of Christ" and some of the general signs and how we need to be prepared. Yes, I'm still studying that topic... but i am not freaking out or anything too over the top) After I told (in short simple terms) about a few of the more formidable signs, I said (in a dramatic over-exaggerated way) that I thought it was going to be too scary and that I thought we should all just go hide under our beds. I asked if they thought that was what Heavenly Father wanted us to do.
I thought Katrina's response was perfect. She raised her hand, and when I called on her she said, "No, He wants us to have Faith."

I am thankful that my children, young as they are, have budding testimonies and know to whom they can look for peace, comfort, and truth.

funny kids...

a couple funny things from my day today...

At a nearby park this afternoon (complete with small pond, boardwalk, and wetlands area); Bryan kept saying, "be careful mom. be careful mom." I asked, "be careful of what?"
"Be careful mom, you might bump into a whale shark." Silly me. now why didn't I think of that??? For the next 5 minutes or so, he was completely obsessed about the whale sharks that he was certain were lurking under every bunch of moss, bridge, bush, and tree.
He just couldn't accept my reassurances that there were NO WHALE SHARKS!!!

I was just sitting here bemoaning the fact that I worked SO hard yesterday to clean up the kitchen. Believe me, I worked SO SO SO hard! Aaron wondered what was wrong and I told him, "I worked so hard yesterday to get the whole kitchen clean, and now it is such a mess again. I just don't know what to do." With all the wisdom, logic, and simplicity of a child, he looked at me and said, "well, that's easy. You go clean it up."
OF COURSE!!! that's the answer I have been trying to put my finger on all day long...

I know there were a couple more funny things that I wanted to share, but they have apparently buried themselves somewhere deep in the vast recesses of my mind, perhaps never to be heard of again - so you have all been spared!

I supposed that now I should get my little backside into the kitchen and CLEAN IT UP!. (while keeping an eye out for rouge whale sharks, of course.

gift of tongues anyone???

After she should have been sleeping, Katrina came in and brought a note for me and a note for Tim. We said thank you and sent her back to bed, then tried to decipher the notes. (usually we have her read them to us while they are fresh in her mind so that we know what they say - this morning when I asked her to rad them to us, she could only read parts of them - so she made up a whole bunch of other stuff) Unfortunately I seem to be lacking in the "gift of tongues." Here they are for your deciphering fun:

MINE - typed as written :

Mom
ILVITWNY
KS[scribbles out B] D
SGrADW (the r on this line looks just like a T)
YPAWTHME
ILVYY
LVME
THS/SDWEIS
DUN THKMOM

(translation as best as I can get - "Mom, I love it when you kiss? ? Grandpa went home. I love you. You love me. This story is done. Thanks mom."

Here is Tim's note -

DAD/I LVYO
I NOMISES
INS S BGSM
SMR FR Y T I N
OHTOKTADW
TSDWS AD
MI SAPSADNBS
ILVDID BIN

Translation: "Dad, I love you. I know my seasons. Spring, Summer, Fall. I know how to count and ??? (I think it might say write words) and my shapes and numbers. I love dad (misspelled maybe) ?


As I was typing them out, I figured out a few more bits and pieces. when I would say the right thing, Trina would light up and say "You did it mom, you remembered what I wrote!"
I think she is amazing. Ya - she missed most of her vowels and middle sounds, but I think it's great that she is writing independently and that she gets most of her beginning sounds and a lot of her ending ones... We need to work on putting spaces in between words (that's what the few backslashes are - she's trying to put in "spaces") - that would help a lot, but hey, she's only 4 and she's self taught, so I'm not complaining! Besides, it keeps me trying to develop my "spiritual gift - the gift of tongues"

"GOOD LUCK" - a conversation with Aaron

Last Saturday night I was sitting with Aaron while he said his bedtime prayer. Immediately after saying "Amen"(more like simultaneously), he collapsed onto his pillow with a big sigh. I decided this could be a good teaching moment about listening for answers to our prayers.

"That was a nice prayer Aaron, did Heavenly Father have anything to say to you?"

He looked at me with the confused look I expected. I continued by explaining how in General Conference, one of the speakers told us that after we finish talking to Heavenly Father, we should sit very quietly for at least 30 seconds and listen (with our hearts & minds) to see if He has anything He wants to say to us.

"Sometimes He will tell us things that we have done wrong that we need to repent of, or He might remind of things that we need to do, or He will often just let us feel really special inside so that we know how much He loves us."

Aaron's eyes got really wide, he popped back up on his knees, closed his eyes, and just knelt there quietly. (Can't you just see me at this point??? I was feeling like such a terrific mother, and was waiting anxiously for the spirit to rush in and confirm to us both that Aaron is child of God, that Heavenly Father loves him, that the Church is true, and everything else that he needs to know to be true and faithful for the rest of his mortal life....) After a little time, he slowly opened his eyes and calmly laid back down.

"Did Heavenly Father have anything to say to you?"

"Yes."

"Great! What did He say?"

He told me that tomorrow in church, someone I know is going to sit by us and talk to me so it will be hard to be reverent."

"Oh really??" (Not exactly what I was expecting...but OK)

"Ya. We will be be sitting there first. Then someone will come and sit by us and I will want to talk to them, so I won't be able to be reverent."

"Well, Ok then. Did He have anything else to say?" (At this point, I really wasn't exactly sure what to say... I guess I'm not so great with the whole teaching moments thing... )

"He just told me, "Good Luck.""

I was chuckling inside at this point, and decided that was enough teaching for one day.