FHE Feb 21 Top Secret Service

After getting home from a wonderful vacation in CA, (pictures and details might show up on the blog eventually, but we got tons of footage and are turning it into a documentary for the Spinners film festival so I won't feel too bad if I don't post about it here.)  We are settled back in and had a great family night tonight.  First we did a little "ropes coarse" type game.  Mike and I played this game as part of a unity building activity in an Improv troop we are in..(pictures and details may show up on this blog as well.)  I folded a blanket to be the size of a 2X4, (in the other game we used a real board) and then the whole family stood on it.  The object was to get the first and the last person to trade places with out falling off the blanket.  If anyone touched the carpet we had to start all over.  It required everyone to help each other by catching them if they were about fall, or holding their hand as they passed by.  It took us a while, but we finally accomplished our goal.  Then (surprise surprise) we had a lesson on family unity.  We talked about helping each other out in different situations.  For example if someone in your family is searching for a lost item, it would be nice if everyone helped out.  Or if someone was acting grumpy, you could do things to cheer them up.  We talked about how a family is a team and we all need to work together to make our home happy.  I started trying to make a sports analogy, but ended up laughing because we are so not sports people so it wasn't really sinking in.  We then each looked up a scripture on service and read about how we can find happiness in serving one another and also how serving our family is like serving Heavenly Father. 

After our lesson, we began our top secret activity we had been planning.  This morning I gathered the girls and told them we were going to have a Daddy Appreciation night.  Mike had worked so hard planning our vacation.  He printed maps, shopped for food, cooked the food, drove the WHOLE time, and of course, worked so hard so that we could pay for our trip.  We told him to go take a shower, (because he was all sweaty from playing basket ball) and we set up a spa for him.  We lit candles, turned on relaxing music, filled up the foot bath and got some lotion to rub his feet with.  Then the girls pampered him.  One was brushing his hair, one was rubbing his feet, and one was massaging his back.  I went down and made some cookies with Jack.  We also made him a card that we all told him how much we loved and appreciate him.  The girls loved it, and I am pretty sure Mike did too! 

Two year old BOY

Oh boy.  Oh boy. Oh boy...am I having fun raising this little boy of mine.  One of my favorite things to do is note the personality difference between him and my girls.  For example.....

When my girls were two, I tenderly taught them to fold washcloths.  They would spend hours...(well, maybe more like minutes and minutes), carefully matching the corners together, then matching the corners together again, then softly adding them to their perfect little washcloth pile.  Often, once the pile was completed, they would unfold them all and start over.  Occasionally the washcloths would turn into a sleeping bag for their dolly.  Either way, it usually bought me the time I needed to complete the load of laundry I was folding.  Yesterday I tried to teach Jack to fold a washcloth.  After sloppily matching the corners together he picked it up, wadded it into a ball, and chucked it across the room.  Then he was off to his next adventure. 

Last night as I was tucking Jack in, I tried to start a game of "Favorite things."  I got him to answer that "Red" was his favorite color, and that "noodles" was his favorite food.  After that, I guess he got bored because suddenly he cut me off and said, "Mom, let's talk about poop."  

I am so glad I have both boys and girls.  Both genders provide me with much entertainment. :-)

FHE Feb 7, 2011

Wow...Maybe this blog is going to turn into a FHE blog. :-) 


Tonight we were invited to the home of a wonderful family in our ward for Family Night.  They were so sweet and planned a lesson geared towards our young children, even though their kids are teenagers.  We spoke about being kind, and following Christs example of kindness to those around us.  They hung up a big poster board and had everyone in the room write down something that shows kindness.  Then they showed some pictures and had the kids decided if the picture depicted kindness, or unkindness.  I had a picture of some teenage girl watching an older lady struggling to roll her wheelchair up a hill.  (that was an example of UN kindness) 
  Then we played a game called, "Don't eat Pete!"  I had never played it before, and the girls really enjoyed it.  Mostly because candy was involved.  There was a paper with 12 different faces in 12 different boxes on it.  We put a piece of candy on each of the faces and sent one person out of the room.  Then the rest of us decided which face would be "Pete".  Then the person who was sent out comes back in and starts choosing candy.  When they get to "Pete" we all scream,(and I mean SCREAM) "Don't eat Pete!!"  It got a little ridiculous how loudly we screamed, but it made it really fun.  Poor Annie chose Pete the very first try, on both of her turns.  It was funny.

I forgot how enjoyable FHE can be when you invite another family to join.  Their example has inspired Mike and I to try inviting other families to join us once in a while.:-)

FHE Jan 31

I have decided to record our Family Home Evenings on this blog.  Partly to share with others any good ideas about FHE, and mostly so I can look back when my kids are rotten teenagers and say, "Hey, at least I tried" :-)

Monday turned out to be a busy one for us.  Casie had a meeting for the new play she is in...(Joseph and the Amazing TCDC...she is Dan's wife...go Casie!)  So we had a late start for FHE.  I was determined to do it though.  I dropped Casie off at home (to start on her home work) and took Ellie and Jack to the store to buy a FHE treat.  I made the mistake of telling Ellie she could choose whatever treat she wanted.  How could I have been so foolish?  Did I not remember who I was talking to?  Needless to say, Ellie was thrilled beyond measure.  She took this job very seriously.   I think she would have fasted and prayed about her decision if there had been time...(and if by fasting I mean she could still eat whatever she wanted)...but she finally wandered over to the bakery.  Once her eyes rested upon the $16 Oreo cake in the glass case, it was love at first sight.  If I hadn't told her she could choose WHATEVER she wanted, I might have guided her toward a cheap pack of cookies...but I didn't want to go back on my word.  Plus, I knew she would remember that experience for a long time.  Sixteen dollars is worth a memory of a time when your Mom was nice right?  So into our cart the Oreo cake went.  And home we went with a VERY excited Ellie. 

FHE consisted of us sitting around the table eating cake and reading a chapter from the BOM.  Afterwards, Mike and I took a few minutes to tell the kids good things we had noticed about them, as well as giving them each an individual challenge to better themselves.

Casie: We told her how proud we were of her for being so responsible.  She always does her homework and does it well.  She gets herself up and out the door in the morning.  We also mentioned that we love how she rarely complains about doing her jobs.  We love how we can ask her for favors and she jumps to them.   Lastly we challenged her to read the New Era every month.  I asked that she spend a little less time on the computer and a little more time doing her Personal Progress.

Annie:  I shared with her that I noticed a nice thing she had done a couple days prior.  We had picked up one of her friends for a play date.  Her friend had brought some pictures she had drawn to show Annie.  Annie gushed and gushed over the drawings her friend had done.  She gave her sincere compliments and told her what a good artist she was.  I told Annie that I could tell her friend was pleased that Annie liked them so much.  I told her that it probably meant a lot to her because she (Annie) was such a good artist.  Mike told Annie she was very caring and thoughtful.  We challenged her to say her personal prayers at night.

Ellie:  I told her that she is a leader.  She has the ability to make friends very quickly.  She is always organizing clubs and planning parties.  We told her that good leaders do good things with their skills.  We told her we were proud of her for inviting one of her friends to church with her because that's what leaders do.  We also complimented her on her happiness.  We are impressed with her happy attitude towards life and told her she was a fun person to be around.  We challenged her to listen to Mom and Dad the first time they ask her to do something, and to be obedient even when no one was looking.  I think our talk had an effect on Ellie. Yesterday she came home and said that one of her friends told her not to be friends with one of the other little girls in the class.  Ellie told her friend that she wanted to be friends with everyone, because she wanted to be a leader.  She also informed me that she and her friend decided that being a leader meant that you were the boss....we'll talk.

Jack: Jack was running around playing with a Balloon at the time of FHE, but we called to him across the room and told him that we loved his sincerity. Whenever he says "sorry" or "thanks" or "I love you", he always does it very sincerely.  That's not something you can teach a child.  We told him that we also loved his silliness and his snuggles.

Max:  I couldn't end FHE without mentioning Max.  I told the girls that I was so proud of Max for the choices he made before he came to our family.  I told them that he was so righteous that Heavenly Father needed him to come home and be a worker on the other side.  I told the girls I was grateful that we all had an example of choosing the right and doing what Heavenly Father wants you to do.  I am grateful for the example Max has been to our family. 

I guess I didn't give Max a challenge.  But I will challenge myself and my family to try and live in a way that will help us feel close to Max.  When I feel the Holy Ghost in our home, I feel close to Max.  When I do the things that bring me closer to my Savior, I feel close to Max.  When I try to be patient and loving with my children, I feel close to Max.  When I read my scriptures and pray, I feel close to Max.  That boy will make a better person of me yet....