You may remember one of my resolutions last year was to do Family Home Evening EVERY WEEK! Well I am proud to say that we did it! Some weeks were harder then others, but some weeks were so rewarding. I love that even on the days I feel like they do not get anything out of it, later that week they bring up something that was said, even though I was sure they weren't listening. It was a rough start, I mean the kids were only 1 1/2 & 2 at the beginning. But now, well not they look forward to Monday night and they know exactly what is going to happen.
It has been a MAJOR blessing doing "Extended FHE." As much as it I wish Jeff could be there with us, this is really what works best for our family. And the few times Daddy does get to join us, the kids are beyond excited. We are so lucky to live so closely to our extended family. I am overwhelmed with the love and support they have given our family. I love that they are willing to come over every Monday and have a little lesson that is catered to a 2 & 3 year old. I love that they are there to share their experiences and testimonies with the kids. I love how excited my kids get when they come over. I honestly love everything about our little Extended FHE!
Well, I'm happy to say that the resolution has continued and we are on our 14th straight month without missing a week! Although there are TONS of resources available, I have mostly been using A Year of FHE. I just LOVES her format. She has a theme for the month and all the lessons fall under that theme. She has a song of the month, so each month the kids get to learn a new song, and they really do learn it! You should hear them sing Book of Mormon Stories, actions and all. She has great activities and are age appropriate for the kids. I have just loved it! Last year we did her 2010 lesson plans, and this year we are using the 2011 lesson plans.
So far this year is going even better than last. I don't take pictures very often, but last week I did because it was an especially fun lesson. The theme for the month was Book of Mormon Heroes. I felt like we had recently done some of the other stories to decided to come up with one of my own that she hadn't used yet. It was Samuel the Lamanite, one of the kid's favorite stories. I browsed the web for some ideas and combined a few of my favorites.
My favorite idea was to make these awesome little bow and arrows out of Popsicle sticks and Q-tips. I found this idea and picture here. I got some help from my dad and put them together.
I knew they would be tricky for the kids to learn how to use, but that they would love them. Boy was I right! P has played with them EVERYDAY for the past 2 weeks.
I also liked the idea of building the wall that Samuel was on. I found this idea here.
And I liked this idea, where they had someone pretend to be Samuel up on the wall and everyone else would throw marshmallows at them and of course would not get hurt. And in our case we even shot a few q-tip arrows. The kids LOVED it!
And when the kids are older, I want to use this lesson I found that I thought was AWESOME.
We started out with our song, and prayer. Then We watched a 2 minute video about Samuel (Just to switch things up from me telling the story which I normal do). Then we talked about it for a few minutes and then we did the activities. It was awesome! 2 weeks later the kids are still talking about it. They even pretend to be Samuel in their little made up games.
I would be lying if I said all weeks went as smoothly as this week did. Some weeks are down right hard. Sometimes I even end up crying because I feel like it is pointless, but then there are awesome nights like this one that just remind me why I need to keep at it. And since we have been so consistent, it really has gotten better. The kids know what to expect & even look forward to it. So far this year is going much smoother than last year. I am excited to see what else this year has in store for us.
I certainly have a testimony of having Family Home Evening.
It has blessed our lives is so many ways!
I love that it is quality time we have to spend with each other & our extended family.
I love that it provides an opportunity for me to share my testimony with my kids for sure once a week.
I love that it allows us to learn the stories together.
I love that our family is there to share about their lives and experiences.
I love that it helps us learn new songs together.
I love that it brings the spirit into our home.
I love that we get to read the scriptures together.
And I especially love to see my kids learning The Gospel.
I am more and more impressed with them each day at all that they learn and know. The other day, right before we were about to say prayers, P smiled and looked at me and said:
"Mom, did you know Heavenly Father has a body."
It honestly brought tears of joy to my eyes. I responded that I did know and I was so happy he reminded me. Then he went on to tell me how much Jesus loves us and how He made everything for us, even our food and toys.
Melted my heart.
And another time we were talking about Abinadi. I asked if they remembered the name of the wicked king. P was silent for a minute, I could tell he was thinking hard. Then from across the room Em shouts King Noah! I was shocked & so impressed!
These kids really are choice spirits. They want so badly to learn. They want so badly to make good choices. They want so badly to feel loved.
If you have room for improvement in your own personal FHE I encourage and challenge you to do better. You will receive nothing but blessings.
I even have a non-member friend who follows me on Pinterest. She was very intrigued about the idea of FHE and sent me a message about it. I told her a little about it like what we do and why I love it. Even though she doesn't have any kids yet, she saw how doing FHE could benefit her and her hubby. Quality time together studying your faith, how could it not be beneficial I was so happy that she was brave enough to ask me about it despite our differences in faith. It truly is an inspired program.
I'm so happy I made this a priority last year & pray that it will be for the rest of my life!
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