Family Night

Equates to hair cuts....sometimes. ;)  Obviously it's been a while since cutting the boys' hair has been our 'activity' portion of our FHE.  

That is a lot of hair.  And it all belongs to Tanner.  Poor kid was starting to pull the Beiber look.

Kortlen saying "Cheese"...and looking a bit concerned.

All of their manes were cut with the 1" blade guard on, and just looking and Tanner and Taylor's, you can tell I need new blades.  This is the only snippit I was able to get of Kortlen's hair, and had to do the rest with scissors, then clean up the missed pieces in the bathroom sink....when it had dried.

I can't bring myself to take an 'after' picture, because they just look so different.  And because my baby's curls are gone.  *sigh*

Corn Maze+Scriptures=Family Home Evening

Such a nice cool evening to enjoy time with our sweet and eager little boys.  Ryan and I took advantage of Monday Evening's crispness and time off to go to the Corn Maze in Rigby at the Family Fun Zone.  The boys had a blast!  Mom and dad had a blast!  And we even got in a little spiritual message.  

As we traveled through the maze to hole-punch markers and such, there were times we got lost.  Luckily we had a map that showed us the way, showed us where markers were, and where to go.  Sometimes we felt like we had been down a path previously, so we thought we could do it on our own, or let the boys lead.  However, we were still lost!  So, back to the map.  

Like life, sometimes we feel like we can find our way on our own, especially when things are going well and we're doing 'good'. But I appreciated the gentle reminder Monday evening, that we need our scriptures, the words of the prophets, both past and present, and most important, the companionship of our Savior, to find our way and stay on the right path that will lead us to return to live with Him.  

What a sweet, sweet, evening.  

*sigh*

You've probably read a post or two on Family Home Evenings at our house.  They've been great.  We've been using lessons and activities from "A Year of Family Home Evenings" and have been quite successful at getting through to our kids, not to mention learning a few things about ourselves, too!

I'm excited to say I went nearly a week without spanking.  HUGE for me.  sadly.  Anyways, I've apologized and moved on, and our children (and I'm sure neighbors) are really enjoying the fact that we are learning self control, kindness, restraint, and patience.

Well, I wanted to share with you our successes from tonight.

The lesson:  "Noah's Ark"

The setting:  a messy living room.

The preparation:  I cut out the ark and animals from the .pdf suggested in the lesson, as well as purchased animal crackers as suggested in the lesson, and also had crayons, wax paper, and construction paper ready to go for the activity.  As suggested.  And to top it off, I had all of this done BEFORE lunch today!

Actual events:  I asked my husband if he might want to teach tonight, and he jokingly said he'd just show the Youtube version of Noah's Ark with Donald and Daisy in it.  I laughed and told him 'nevermind', that I'd just do the lesson.  He could have the following week.

Before I could get all of my prepared materials together, he and the boys were huddled under the card table that had been a fort all day, with his laptop, and a Youtub video (found HERE) on his side.  Fine.  No biggie.

As I stood wondering if I should feel defeated, I heard my sweet husband telling the boys about the commandment that God had given Noah to find two of every kind of animal, a mommy and a daddy, and to build an ark, or a boat, and how Noah followed the commandments he was given.  Noah the prophet was an obedient man, as we all should be.

As I crawled under the makeshift shelter, we pointed out all the animals Noah (Donald Duck) took on the ark, and how he sent a dove to find an olive branch on land.  We explained that Heavenly Father flooded the earth because of all the wicked people living on it, and He sent a rainbow across the sky to let Noah know that He would never again flood the earth.

Afterward we had animal crackers (of course the ones with white and pink frosting, with sprinkles, because those are the best kinds of animal crackers) and some of us cried when we couldn't find matches of animals.

All in all, it was fun...and I guess sometimes you just have to go with the flow.  And it's not the end of the world afterall.