Confidence Builder

For FHE last night we passed a piece of paper with our name on top around the circle and when we got it back everyone had written something nice about us. I put Ryan's on as an example because I already put the kids papers in the journal binders I have. The kids LOVED hearing all the great things that everyone had to say about them. We talked to the kids about how important it is that family comes first and that we need to treat each other with kindness. Success!!!

Thanksgiving

Today was Thanksgiving and while the food was cooking I gathered the kids around and had a little FHE discussion about the significance of the day. We read several scriptures together about being grateful. Alma 34:38 and D&C 59:7 are two I can remember off the top of my head. Tegan had brought home the pilgrim story complete with popsicle stick drawings and I laid aside the book I had borrowed from the library and we shared the story this way instead. We talked about how without the pilgrims coming to America, and Thanksgiving coming from that, we wouldn't have the 4th of July holiday as well. When we sat down to eat Gracie asked us all what we were grateful for and that was a great addition to what we had already talked about previously. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Temple Square

We went to Temple Square on Monday and watched Meet The Mormons at the Legacy Theater. We also dropped by the Lion House Pantry and ate rolls with honey butter. Mmmmm. I just loved being up there and feeling such a strong spirit with my family. We are blessed to live so close to Temple Square. I am always so impressed when I see an old pioneer temple that is just magnificent. They put their whole heart and soul into these buildings and it makes me realize that I need to put my heart and soul into going to the temple and teaching my children about the temple.

Good Pictures, Bad Pictures

Yes its been 2 years....Im too busy keeping up with other things and haven't really put a priority on this blog. Anyhow, I wanted to include one of the FHEs we had lately. I bought a book off Amazon called Good Pictures Bad Pictures. It is a book about teaching your children about pornography. I spent 2 weeks on this topic, as the book has several chapters. It is fantastic and was a good ice breaker for discussing this topic.

I talked to the kids about how the prophet (or others) seem to always speak about pornography in conference, and that is a testament to me that it is a BIG problem. I told them that there is actually pornography all around us....just go by Victoria's Secret in the mall.

I think it was a great start into lots of dicussions about pornography, the birds and the bees etc. etc.

Easter

I didn't have any fabulous lessons/activities to pull out of my hat this Easter Sunday. I decided instead we would sit down and briefly tell the kids the story of the resurrection. They had already went over it in church so I didn't want to go into too much depth and watch their eyes glaze over. I then asked them if they wanted to share any feelings about Jesus or any part of their testimony. Of course I didn't get any takers. Ryan and I shared our testimonies of the Savior with the kids and reiterated that just because we don't share our testimonies in church, or officially share them with the kids very often, that we do have testimonies and that we can all share our testimonies by the way we live.

I love the Savior and I enjoy being a mom and being able to help God raise these beautiful kids!

Foundation of Faith

I told the kids a story that I have heard about a family that had a baby die and agreed to meet the bishop at the church for the funeral on a certain day. The father carried the baby in a little wooden box all the way to the church. The church was locked when they got there. The bishop had forgotten. The family was not bitter. They had great faith in their God and were able to forgive the bishop for the mishap.

I asked Breck to get some of his styrofoam stacking blocks and asked what we could do to build a foundation of faith. The kids named things such as, be kind like Jesus, sing church songs, pray, prepare for Jesus when He returns, etc... I wrote them down and Breck placed each suggestion on one block and stacked them as we went. We sang The Wise Man and The Foolish Man.

I hope the kids got something out of the lesson. Little by little they are learning and hopefully feeling the Spirit.

Where have I been?

I've been MIA for way too long. I'll probably go MIA again so I won't apologize for being neglectful. Just busy raising the kids which is more important than blogging about FHE right? We've had a lot of great FHE lessons and have also missed FHE way too many times. One of the lessons we had not too long ago was a lesson on modesty. You can find the lesson idea here. I also printed out two pictures (similar to those seen below) and reiterated to the girls that modest dresses can also be beautiful dresses (or clothes in general). This topic is going to be worth repeating as they mature.

Respect

We talked with the kids about respect again. We had dominoes and asked them ways in which they could respect each other, themselves, and Heavenly Father. We let them set up a domino for each thing they could name and then mom knocked them all down when we were done. The kids got plenty of chances to knock them down, on accident, throughout the discussion. ;-)

Story Bag

I have been slacking on posting things on our FHE blog.

This is a fun activity that we did last week. I got 6 different items and put them in a paper bag. Each child took 2 turns picking something from the bag. We then corresponded the item with a story in the scriptures. More than one story corresponds with each thing I put in the bag. Examples below:

1. Apple (Creation, Adam and Eve, Word of Wisdom).
2. Picture of a whale (Jonah, creation).
3. Container of water (Jesus walking on water, Moses parting the water, etc.. etc..).
4. Chocolate coin (Widow's mite, tithing, lost coin).
5. Picture of a bow and arrow (Nephi's broken bow, Samuel the Lamanite).
6. Rock (Wiseman built house on rock, Moses strikes rock and water gushes out).

I then let the kids pick (with each item) what story they wanted to hear.
I gave them some chocolate coins for the treat!

Reverence

After dealing with my rowdy primary class I decided it was time to remind my own kids about the importance of respect and reverence at church. I printed off the reverence girl at the bottom and the kids took turns picking a body part and then we showed how that part would act reverently and how it would act irreverently (such as arms touching other kids or arms folded). I printed the mouse about 1 x 1 inch and gave one to them while I read them the poem below. You can always tell the kids that learn a lot about reverence at home and the kids that somehow miss that lesson when you teach primary. Of course there are exceptions to this. I just think respect and reverence should be reiterated more than it is.

If a mouse would ride to churchIn your pocket on this day,What might he tell his familyThat he heard you do or say?Would he tell them you were reverent,And you listened to your teacher?Or would he say he’d never seenSuch a noisy creature?Would he tell them how he loved the songsYou sang so sweet and clear?Or would he groan from all the talkingThat entered in his ear?Could he take a little snoozeAs you walked nice and tall?Or would he scream with panicAs you galloped down the hall?Would the little mouse get seasickFrom the tipping of your chair?Or would he feel safe and cozyAs you quietly sat there?Would the chapel be a reverent place?The sacrament the same?Now tell me, would the little mouseBe really glad he came?If a mouse would ride to churchIn your pocket on this day,What might he tell his familyThat he heard you do or say?

FHE March 26th

We had such a good time with the kids last night. We read a story from our kids Bible that I let Ava choose and then we sang some fun songs that the kids got a kick out of with the actions like "London Bridges, Farmer in the Dell, and Hokey Pokey". The kids love doing these simple things as a family. They had so much fun. They have been begging me this morning to play Farmer in the Dell again. Ryan hadn't even heard of that and thought it was cute.

Love At Home

Yes another LDS Splash lesson. They seem to have a lot geared to younger kids. If you haven't gone there you should. You can find the actual lesson here.

We layed the hearts on the floor and the kids took turns throwing a small rock onto a heart of their choice. If it was something that promoted love at home then the heart was placed on the paper. If it did not promote love at home then it was thrown into the trash pile. The picture is the end product. The hearts are supposed to make flower petals. I had everyone sign there name (including Breck i,e the scribbles) saying that they would try to have love at home this week.

Scripture treasure hunt.

This was fun and yet another great idea from LDS Splash. I only did about the first 7 or so scriptures because the kids are young. The "treasure" was Cadbury eggs. I talked with them about the blessing that the scriptures are because you can find answers to many questions, just like we found answers to our treasure hunt. Gracie had a melt down because she couldn't find the clue on the couch, but other than that it was great fun! Click HERE to go straight to the lesson idea.

Valentine's Lesson

The fifth heart down is D&C 59:6. It looks like 50:6. This is a great lesson I got off of ldssplash.com. All you do is print and cut the hearts out and then have each child in turn pick a heart and then follow the instructions on each heart. I also had the kids take turns taping their hearts to a piece of paper to display on the fridge. Of course if your kids are older they could actually read the scriptures cited as well. This is pretty much the whole lesson besides just bearing testimony to your children about the love that our Savior and Heavenly Father have for us and the love we should be showing towards them, others, and ourselves.

EBA Box

We have an EBA box. It stands for emotional bank account. You can read all about it in Stephen Covey's book '7 Habits of Highly Effective Families'. Anyway each week at F.H.E we pull out the notes that we have put in the EBA box all week. The notes are meant to boost the self esteem of each family member. So they are notes like "Gracie thank you for helping me with Breck -Mom" or Ava's notes to her Daddy that go on forever and include things like "Thank you for going to work and giving me good feelings..." Each January we redecorate our EBA box for a new year. I wrap it in tissue paper and the girls stick stickers on it. I wish I had a picture of it, but it is a great idea to help build family unity and help family members know they are important.