Family Traditions: Halloween

This year got busy but I was determined to keep our Halloween traditions alive! We got our pumpkins carved and our sugar cookies baked and decorated! Sunday night before Halloween I helped the kids do their pumpkins but didn't have time to do mine. So I did something simple while I baked the cookies. I had to bake the cookies ahead of time while Eleanor was at school. She couldn't help cut them out but Iris helped and we got them done in no time. We had soup in bread bowls at the grandparents house and decorated the cookies with our cousins. Pompa (that what we call our Grandpa) took the kids to his neighbors to trick-or-treat and then we went to our neighborhood. Finished up just in time for baths and bed. It was the perfect Halloween! What are some of your traditions?

FHE: The Armor of God.

While I was reading in 2 Nephi chapter 1 and came across verse 23. It reminded me of the armor of God talked about in the Bible in Ephesians 6:11-18. Lehi was chastising Lamen and Lemuel and he said "Awake my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and rise from the dust." I just love this scripture! 

We had a very cool experience with this FHE. I forgot to look up and choose a song before we got started and just chose one of my favorites "Scripture Power" since we were learning from the scriptures. Little did I know the second verse of this song is about the armor of God.  

"I’ll find the sword of truth in each scripture that I learn. 

I’ll take the shield of faith from these pages that I turn.

I’ll wear each vital part of the armor of the Lord,

And fight my daily battles, and win a great reward."

I shared this with my girls before we dove into the lesson. Eleanor told me that "It was the spirit of God telling me what to do." She then got really excited and hugged me. It was so sweet and such a beautiful example of how these teaching moments are so important.

Eleanor put on the "Armor of God" while Trevor read the scriptures and we talked about each piece. I took the girls dress up clothes and attached word strips to them. In true fashion Iris refused to dress up because she didn't like that her dress up clothes had words stuck to them. 

In the end she was girt about with Truth, the breastplate of Righteousness, feet with the gospel of Peace, shield of Faith, helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Or as we do it at our house tutu, purse, heels, shield, tiara, and magic wand. Then of course the children had a "wand fight."

2016 October General Conference

It is that time again! I love General Conference and the peace it brings. We watch it on youtube in the comfort of our home which makes things a little tricky. I had my handy dandy notebook to take notes in (thanks to my awesome friend Lena for making it for me)! On a silly note I looked up and Trevor was watching Conference though a kaleidoscope. 

 

I found a fun activity book on Food Storage and Beyond  for the kiddos. They had a blast! It was a little bit more cutting and pasting them my 4 year old could do on her own so we did it together. Which made it a sweeter more memorable moment. It did also make it harder for me to take notes so but I look forward to getting my copy of the Ensign and re-reading the talks.

Another fun thing we did this year was we played bingo. We used these cute card found on My Happy Tribe and chocolate chips. They were excited to listen and mark their cards. They got to eat one and use one to mark and when they got bingo they could eat all of them and start over! I was worried that they would just eat all the chocolate chips and not play but they were so good. This is definitely one we will be doing every time!

FHE: Crossing the Sea

This week was a little bit of review. We learned about the Liahona last week and we learned about when they crossed the sea this week and earlier in the year we learned about when Nephi built the boat. When we reviewed I asked the girls what did the Lord give Lehi that was like a compass Eleanor replied with "Leonardo?" I think we watch too much Ninja Turtles. 

We read from the scripture stories and from the Book of Mormon in Nephi 18. My favorite passage was  18:6 which I made our family sign using the Rhonda Designs app on my phone. I love how it turned out!

We then took it out to "sea" aka bathtub. Trevor made us some boats that were seaworthy and we set sail. I filled up the tub just a bit and we launched out boats one a time. The water was calm just as it was when Nephi and his family first set sail. As they started to sin and "forget by what power they had been brought" the storms came and the Liahona stopped working and I turned on the bath water. Iris's boat was lost at sea all together. I didn't know this but it took them 4 days to remember and to repent but repent they did and turn off the storm of the bath I did. The Liahona began to work again and the Lord continued to bless them and direct their sails, and so the girls blew on their boats and led them to safety. This was the girls favorite part. Thanks to Blue Skies Ahead for the Idea!

FHE: The Liahona

Which way do we go? We started by talking about road signs and what they mean and how they keep us safe. I was surprised by how many of them my 6 and 3 year old actually knew. We then got a little side tracked when they started asking when they get to drive for real. Which is never! 

We read the story from the Book of Mormon Stories and talked about how Lehi prayed for a way to direct his family and when he woke up there was the Liahona outside his tent. Lehi, Nephi and their family didn't have street signs. How did they find his way? The Liahona. Its like a compass that directed Nephi and his family though the wilderness and the sea but only so long as they were faithful.

We have street signs to help us drive but what do we have to guide us in our life? Eleanor promptly raised her hand and told me we had the Holy Ghost. We then talked about how just as the Liahona only works when Nephi and his family are making good choices so the Holy Ghost can only be with us when we are choosing the right.

This was the kind of family home evening when we had a lot of discussion and I was so happy to have fun and learn with my munchkins and answer all of the silly and not so silly questions. We had plans to play red light green light outside but it was already dark and time for baths so we skipped it but look forward to playing it tomorrow!!

FHE: The Creation of the World

This week we learned about the creation of the world and all of the amazing creatures. I used the matching game from BibleStoryPrintables.com and the girls put out the right pictures at sort of the right time while I read the scriptures from the scripture stories books. Then we played the matching game a few times.

       

We wrapped things up with the best ginger bread people ever! Really its so good! I found the recipee on Cleverly Simple. I thought it would super fun if after we learned about how Heavenly Father and Jesus made our bodies we made our own little people. It made enough for us to share with our friends and share with them what we learned too!  

            

New Blog

I decided I needed to make a new blog and share our adventures in Family Home Evening and other exploits. Largely because I couldn't figure out how to link my old blog to my new email address that has all my google photos and because I wanted a new name and a new blog site. I am going to do my best and to go through my old photos and share our other activities because if you are like me you are in need of some great FHE ideas. While I cannot promise they will all be great they will certainly be real life.

-Made with Rhonda Designs app