Brianna and The Spirit of Revelation Lesson

Brianna is a strange mixture of fierce independence and an anxious need to be right by me. This morning as we walked Ben to the bus stop, she once again did as she nearly always does: when it came time to cross the street, she held her own hand. This behavior began months ago, as we tried to impress upon her the importance to "hold a hand" when it's time to cross the street. Apparently, we should have been more specific as to whose hand it is acceptable to hold. Unfortunately, she believes that she is fulfilling the requirement by holding her own hand. It is incredibly cute, but very unsafe as she has no concept of when it is safe to cross the street. I have given up, for the most part, trying to force her to hold my hand, because she always ends up in a crying, screaming heap in the middle of the road. Instead, I do my best to stay right next to her, often trying to get a hand on her coat or something. If she senses my touch, she gets very upset.


On the other hand, when I am getting ready in my bathroom, with the door locked, she is almost always right at the door, knocking, sticking her cute little fingers under the door, confirming my progress, and sometimes kicking the door and screaming to be let in (which was the case today.)

This afternoon, I was working on my lesson for this Sunday, and two scriptures jumped out at me, along with these clear images of Brianna.


The first: Doctrine and Covenants section 112, verse 10: Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayer.


The second: Doctrine and Covenants section 6, verse 5: Therefore, if you will ask of me you shall receive; if you will knock it shall be opened unto you.


As I pondered on these scriptures and on these interactions with Brianna today, I wondered how often am I like Brianna, with an "I do it MYSELF" attitude, when the Lord is right by my side, wanting to give me direction and to protect me.


Then, I thought of how I really was in no hurry to open my bathroom door to Brianna today. She was really adamant about coming in, and I really wanted to get ready without having to get after her to get out of my closet, and get out of the tub, and stop playing with this and with that. So, when I read that scripture, I thought, "Great, I'm not teaching her that if she knocks it will be opened unto her." But then, several other thoughts came tumbling out: The Lord opens doors on His timetable, not ours. Do I approach communication with my Heavenly Father and Savior with as much tenacity as Brianna approaches my bathroom door? Brianna is so persistent, I almost always let her into the bathroom before I am actually ready; I know there's some scripture story of a judge giving a lady what she wanted, simply to stop her asking. That could be good, or that could be bad (Martin Harris and the 116 pages of manuscript.)


I think I am a two and a half-year old, spiritually speaking. I am, at times, fiercely independent, "I do it MYSELF!" And, at other times, I feel that anxious need to be right by my Heavenly Father's side. I hope that I can learn to be humble and take the Lord's hand and allow Him to lead me, where and when He will. I hope also that I can be tenacious in my communication with my Father in Heaven, that when I knock, He will open, and hopefully I will be ready for what's on the other side.

Rerun: Why I Will Never Be Translated

Many moons ago, we purchased a small bucket of plastic frogs at the dollar store as part of a birthday gift to one of Ben's little friends. We did not realize until later the true treasure we had found. As I went to wrap it, I started to read the outside of the bucket to James. We took turns passing it back and forth, reading different parts, and laughing until our sides ached and tears were streaming down our faces.
It was made in China, and there is no doubt that it was also translated into English in China as well. Needless to say, the kid never received this part of the gift! We decided we couldn't part with something that provided that much entertainment. Now, maybe we were a bit tired, or overstressed, but even now I still find it funny. I'll let you decide for yourselves.

Here is how the bucket reads:

The best game for partents with children!

JUMPING FROG

Enjoy all your family!

Suitable for age of over 3

• Draw a line or mark far a distance from starting point. Jump frogs at starting point. The one makes frogs jumping over the line or mark is the winner.

THE OTHER PLAYING WAY:

• Jump frogs far away at the same position. The farest is the winner (to identify owned frogs by colors).

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Except the attached drum, you may use other vessel to play, such as cup, jar, box, ladle, pot, bowl, basket ... etc. The vessel should not be too large. The smaller vessel you use the more interest you get.
2. After playing a couple of times, you will be skilled to control the exactly jumping distance and position.

LET'S TRY!

Jump frogs into drum from a distance.

MADE IN CHINA

Let me just interject that if I ever had to translate anything into Chinese, it would either provide hours of entertainment to the Chinese, or it would start WWIII. I promise I am not trying to pick a fight with the Chinese, . . . afterall, I am a partent with children!

P.S. It is much more funnier to be read aloud. : )

Rerun: Have I Benchud How Buch I Hate Codes?

Whed I ca't breed out of by dose, I go crazy. I would rather dot talk, because if I do, I ab boud to have to repeat, because dobody cad uderstad.

Cad you relate?

Translation: "Have I Mentioned How Much I Hate Colds?"

When I can't breathe out of my nose, I go crazy. I would rather not talk, because if I do, I am bound to have to repeat, because nobody can understand.

Can you relate?

A Morning of Fun with Blocks and a Camera

The Robin Who Lives in Our Tree

Breath Sounds

My heart skipped a beat last night when I checked on Brianna in her sleep.
I couldn't hear any breathing!!!
Then I realized that she was finally able to breathe with nothing obstructing the airflow! The gigantic boulders that once occupied her throat are gone, and in turn, she breathes SO quietly. I bent my head down until my ear was almost touching her little mouth, and then I held my breath until I could verify that indeed she was breathing. I realized that she has NEVER breathed quietly before. Even as a tiny infant, I could always hear her breathing when I entered the room. We've always been able to tell where she is in the house, just by listening for her breath. Now, I'm afraid, she'll be able to sneak around much more easily. Maybe we should have waited until after her teen years to remove the boulders, eh?

Her cute little voice is much higher pitched as well. It's so cute. She is starting to get back to her normal, cheery self. Boy, have we missed her.

A Photo to Tug at Your Heart Strings

As you may be aware, Brianna had her tonsils out one week ago. This is her, at the hospital, just before her surgery. Oh my goodness, isn't she cute. Don't those little hospital jammies make you want to scoop her up and sheild her from any pain?

She has been very brave. Her throat still hurts a lot. But she does seem to be improving. It's been a rough week. It will be nice when she's completely healed, and feeling like her cheery self again.

I'll miss this stage

Ben has a white board in his room. He and I have been writing notes back and forth to each other. This one was my favorite. (It was a little easier to read before Brianna decorated it.)

The one and only, Brianna

Today Brianna announced: "I love Pete."

Pete is a boy in Ben's class at school. He lives in our neighborhood, and we've had him over a couple of times. This announcement would have come as a total shock, except that for at least the last month, she's been easing us into the idea.

Several times a day, she talks about Pete. She asks where Pete is. She calls every blonde-haired 4 to 7 year old "my Pete". Often when we get into the car, she wants to "see Pete's house". And, at Ben's class Christmas party, she followed him around, continually patting him on the arm, and saying, "Hi, Pete."

I didn't even know that 2 1/2 year olds were capable of crushes! I'm not sure what she sees in him. I mean, he is a really cute kid. But he's also a six year old boy; which means that he's obsessed with poo, farts, burping, boogers, etc. I know, because I live with a 6 year old boy.

Ben keeps telling everyong that Brianna thinks Pete is "hot." I don't know where he heard that, but I don't think it's helping the situation.

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Speaking of farts . . . (By the way, my family wasn't allowed to say that word when I was growing up, but Ben has somehow persisted in it's usage since starting school.)

Brianna learned the word "fart" from her brother. At our family Christmas party at my parents house (you know, the one where we weren't allowed to utter that word), Brianna recieved a great deal of attention from her boy cousins, ages 6 to about 10, as she announced over and over, "I farted." Each time she said it, she would bust up laughing, and so would all of them.

For days and weeks afterward, she kept telling us, "I say, 'I farted' at the party." And she would just grin from ear to ear. Apparently she was the life of the party for those boys, and she enjoyed being so.

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On Friday, Brianna put her toothbrush and toothpaste in a baggie and came to me and said, "Go a trip." When I told her, "No, we're not going on any trips." She said, "Party?" I think the holidays have been to her liking. All of the trips, to see family, and all of the parties have been right up her alley. Or, maybe she just wanted to try out her popular "I farted" joke again.

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If Brianna is awake when James gets home, she always goes with him when he goes to change his clothes. She always picks out, and insists he wear a "Buckeye" shirt. If he takes too long to go change his clothes, she'll go to his closet and bring out a "Buckeye" shirt for him to wear, and tell him to go change.

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And, for a look at what happens when mommy is really into a book, and not really paying attention to what her kids are up to take a look:

Can you tell what's on their heads?

Yup. They're pull-up diapers. . . . At least they were clean ones.

Don't be fooled. She may look innocent, but that would be dry erase marker under her eyes.

It's really hard to get mad at that face.