Keeping the Sabbath with Build-A-Bears

[Edited to fix many silly errors. I was TI-RED last night!]

A year or so ago, the children were invited to a birthday party at Build-A-Bear. They come home with Fuzzy (a bunny), Spot (a bear), and George (a monkey). (I have to admit they are darling.)

For Christmas, some friends wanted to give the children something, and they decided on Build-A-Bear gift certificates. Last night was the big night. We added two more creatures to our home: Fudge and Chocolate (both brown bears). (Fuzzy got a fuzzy bathrobe and other stuff. Including a Book of Mormon. Seriously.)

Now, I will say that a part of me cringes at this kind of thing that can, on one hand, be classified under the "frivolous spending" category. We don't really need more stuffed animals around our house, and I'm usually not much of a fan of name-brand, expensive, exclusive stuff.

But at the same time, watching our children plan and budget for how they would spend their Christmas money, and then light up as they walked out with their loot was pretty priceless. If you can get those kind of smiles for twenty bucks, isn't it worth it once in a while?

But the looks on their faces were nothing compared to what happened tonight.

Every night, I tuck the kidlets in, give them kisses and hugs, and ask them what their favorite part of the day was. Tonight, as I was leaving the girls' room, the following conversation occurred:

RS: "Mom, today we gave our Build-A-Bears a lesson." (What is the plural of Build-A-Bear, anyway? And what if they aren't bears?) :) )

Me (trying to hold back a shocked smile): "What was your lesson on?"

RS: "Confirmation."

(What do you say to that?) I decided to say this, trying to go along with the flow of the conversation:

"Is Fuzzy reading her Book of Mormon?"

RS: "Yeah. And she's sharing with the others."

And then she tacked this on as I left the room:

"We plan to do a lesson every Sunday."

All I could manage to say was:

"That sounds like a great idea, hon."

So, it looks like we have an in-home Primary program going on for Build-A-Bears.

I love my kids. And I think I love Build-A-Bear a little more after tonight.