Family Home Evening -- Week 10

I wanted to try to do something a little bit better this week, since we've been such slackers the last month. Last week we got our Friend magazine and I flipped through it and found an article about teaching the kids to mark their scriptures.

Why you would want to mark them.
How to mark them.
What colors to use
How to do it neatly

I decided that would be the perfect lesson to go along with them reading the Book of Mormon in Primary this year. I had Ryan pick up two new Book of Mormons for the kids and I told them to listen closely and that I had a big surprise for them. First we talked about the scriptures and how they were important and how to take care of them and then I gave them each their own copy. They were thrilled. We read through chapter 1 of 1st Nephi and discussed it. Then we talked about which scripture stood out the most to them and helped them highlight it.

We are going to find and mark an important scripture each week at the beginning of family night. I'm hoping for them to gain a familiarity with the Book of Mormon, and an understanding of how important it is. We also sang the songs "Scripture Power" ( an all time favorite of course) and I taught them "The Books of the Book of Mormon", which they kind of already knew, but we learned the second verse.

All in all it was a great lesson. It was one of those times I could tell they were listening and understanding and they were very into the lesson.

New Pictures

I took a few pictures of the kids today. I'm hoping to blow some of them up and use them on the big blank wall in my front room. I love this first one of all 4. I tried several times to get a good picture of them looking at me, but I realized it is impossible, so I decided to try a back view. I like it.

Lila was a nightmare to photograph. She was not cooperative and super whiny. This is the best I could do of her and it is a little blurry. She was having a rough day.

Jackson wasn't too into it either, but he did let me take a few of him. This is the only one that doesn't have his "different smile".

And of course, my little miss photogenic. She is so happy to have her picture taken and her ability to pose is amazing. I could take millions of her.

She is such a sweetie. Look how long her hair is getting.

My favorite of her.

Griffin was happy, but it was his first time outside and so he was too busy investigating the grass to look at the camera.

The happiest day of the year!

Happy birthday Sarah! Your the best! We love you.

Smile

What makes Griffin smile this big?

Playing school with his big sister.

It's a win win situation. Griffin loves the attention and Sunny has a captive audience.

I love this one. He has such joy on his face. They usually play school together every day. Mostly it is Sunny reading books and Griffin "talking" really loudly back to her. She likes to pretend she is teaching him to read.

How cute is that smile? I can't get enough!

He is precious!

Family Home Evening -- Week 9

This is how adorable little Griffin looked during FHE last night. He has such kissy cheeks.

Ryan, I know you won't like yourself in this one, but I liked the look on Griffin's face. Look how chubby he is!

Lila and Griffin were snuggling on the couch. They are so sweet and love each other so much. The problem is that Griffin is only a few pounds smaller than Lila, and she really can't hold him anymore.

This week most of us are on the mend. Poor Jax would be the main exception though. He is feeling pretty yucky and has been having problems with coughing and with his ears. Sunny still has a yucky cough, Lila still has a runny nose, and Griffin is still coughing and has a runny nose. At this point I think my kids will never all be healthy again. But I'm hopeful that some warm weather might help the situation a little bit. Regardless, they are better than last week, and I'm grateful for that.

On to FHE. This week we talked about Reverence. This was very easy for them and they knew all about it. Sunny demonstrated how to NOT be reverent and then Jax showed us the correct way. Lila provided a first hand look at what NOT to do during the prayer (laughing and jumping) and the kids got a kick out of trying to correct her.

For our activity we sang some of the kids favorite primary songs while they took turn using stop and go signs. It was pretty funny and the kids loved it.

I'm glad we are actually having FHE, but I am feeling a little discouraged with the quality. I'm trying to cut myself some slack while we are not feeling well, but I really want to do better. Any ideas for some fun activities?

Update to the "Seecrit Work"

Jackson came home today with his trusty notebook. He said he had taken it out to recess to work on the mystery. This is what they came up with today.

Clue #1 Jacob said he saw a Bear fighting a Bobcat in the winter.
Clue #2 Brianna's sisters friend said she saw a Bobcat out there.

Here is the list of clue's or things they were looking for today:

leg bone

tress on the ground

smock (smoke)/fog
dear heart
stinky leg
bobcat sadow (shadow)/bobcat fighting bear

It takes all I have not to laugh or smile while we are talking about this. He is so serious, and I play along with it. This is so stinkin' cute! What a funny kid I have.

I'll let you know the answer to this mystery when they solve it.

Seecrit Work

I couldn't pass up this opportunity to share with you the world of Jackson. I'll try to explain quickly. Tuesday after school Jax came home and said he had some important business to work on in the basement and nobody was allowed down there. He worked for about an hour and then came up clutching these 4 papers. He wouldn't show them to anyone. I have begged and pleaded for 3 days and he finally gave in and showed them to me and told me the story that goes with them. I won't be able to tell it as good as he did,but I'll try.

It all starts with this: He and his two friends Caitlyn and Rochelle are in a little mystery solving club. They have solved lots of mysteries together, but this one will be the last because the mysteries are getting "too creepy". When asked what other mysteries they had investigated he thought for a minute and said, "The one with the footprints, and this one. So just two"

This mystery is that there are some deer bones at the edge of the playground at school and they are trying to figure out what killed it and how the bones got there. The first picture is all the clues they have.

1 foot
1 stick
1 bone
3 kids
seecrit work
(you get the picture)

At the bottom it says "How did the deere die?"

Picture #2 says "how did it's bone get their?"

#3 says "What cild (killed) it?" Then it is a picture of a tooth and says "sharp teeth"

This last picture says "Why was it by the scool?!!"


After he told me about the "mystery" we talked about it and I tried to plant some answers in his mind, but I could see that he had already thought about and dismissed most of those ideas as wrong. They are going to work on it today and he will let me know how it turns out!

Hilarious!
(This is all very top secret and serious, so don't tell him you know, and definitely don't laugh)

p.s. The answer to the first mystery about the footprints on the playground, according to Jackson and Caitlyn and Rochelle, is...A Coyote!