FHE Update

We have been having so much fun with our Family Home Evening Activities lately.  A few weeks ago we made a mural of Nephi's journey.  We each took a story and drew part of it on a big piece of butcher paper.  It was pretty awesome.  We assigned each of the kids a topic and a night to be in charge.  We let Derek go first.  He was supposed to teach us about the stripling warriors.  He made some visual aids a week in advance.  I kept asking him if he needed help, or wanted me to review the scriptures with him.  Nope.  He had it taken care of.  He asked every day for a week if it was time for his lesson.  This is how it went:
   He welcomed us and we sang a song of his choosing and then had a prayer.  Derek handed each of us a piece of paper and a pencil and told us to write:  STRIPLING WARRIOR on it.  He then gathered all our papers and looked them over and gave us a check mark if we had done well.  Then he showed us his pictures he had drawn of the stripling warriors and asked us to draw our own, just like his.  Then he told us that they were young guys who had to fight the bad guys.  They had to fight because their dads had no weapons.  :)  Then we played Don't Eat Pete.
He loved being in charge (and getting all the attention).  It was fun.

Austin taught us this week.  He was supposed to teach Jonah and the Whale.  He basically told and sang all the parts to the Jonah Liken the Scriptures movie.  It was pretty funny.  It included dancing and when we couldn't remember the words to the song, we finally pulled out the soundtrack so we could listen and dance.  It was fun.  Fun to have a specific time set aside for family, with no interruptions (okay, minimal interruptions.)  Next week Zack will be teaching us about Apostles and then it is Matt's turn to teach us about testimony.  Fun, fun!!  

FHE

Do any of you remember Elder Bednar's conference talk from a few years ago when he said that their family FHE nights were fully of crazy wrestling boys?  Yeah.....that is how ours have been.  These last few months I have done a lot more planning for FHE.  Instead of throwing something together at the last minute, I have been planning, at least a few hours in advance :) our FHE lesson and activity.  We have always had a lesson, but the fun, activity or game part has always been an afterthought for me. 
I decided I wanted my kids to love family home evening and so I have 1.  Relaxed my expectations of what Family Home Evening should be like and
2.   Planned much more interactive things to do along with our lesson. 
It has been so fun to do some different things and to look around online and see what others are doing as well.  One of my favorite things we have done recently is, after reading about Noah and the Ark, we let the kids take tuns sitting in a laundry basket and then we had animals of all shapes and sizes laying on the tile from the front door, around the corner and into the kitchen.  We pulled the kids through the maze of animals and they had to gather as many as they could.  They loved it!!!  I can't remember whose blog I stole that off of.  I have a friend with a bunch of boys and they frequently have a Missionary moment where they practice things that they will have to do as missionaries....sew a button, shine shoes, etc.  Awesome, huh?  Most of you probably already do all this cool stuff...but I am just figuring it out! 
Another fun one we did recently was watch the old Disney movie, "Follow Me Boys."  I love that movie, and my kids loved it too.  After it was over, Matt asked each of the boys to tell us something that Scouts do.  Austin piped up with:  Obey your parents!  Derek followed up with:  Do something nice every day!  My boys all love Scouts and the younger ones can't wait until they are a part of it.  As a result of this activity, we started a new dinnertime tradition.  For the last year or two, while we eat, we always ask everyone to share the best and worst parts of their day.  Now we also share one thing we have done for someone else.  It has been so fun to see what the boys say.   Sydney babbles and pretends she is part of the conversation too!
One of our best FHE lessons has been one that Zack gave about Joseph Smith.  It was so neat to see how seriously he took the responsibility and how much thought he put in to it.  Here is a short list of some of my favorite lessons/activities we have done recently or plan to do in the next few weeks: 

*Noah's ark lesson and animal gathering activity
*Family History, showed pictures of ancestors, told stories and taught the kids how to fill out a pedigree chart...the spelling was HILARIOUS.
 *Family talent show (no explanation needed)
*Family Testimony Night (give everyone the opportunity to practice bearing their testimony)
*Missionary Call and game about the importance of obedience
*Nephi's Journey:  make a mural following the highlights of Nephi's journey
*Have each kid choose a favorite scripture story and they get to direct a re-enactment. 

As I put more thought and preparation into our Family Night, I can see that my excitement is contagious and my kids enjoy it much more than when I am doing it as something to be checked off my list.  We are having fun!!  And learning!!  And growing as a family!!  It has been pretty awesome, if I do say so myself!!
I would love to hear your tips on making Family Home Evening Fun!!

Scritpure Study

Do any of you use the online study notebook at lds.org?  I just started using it and I love it!!  It is nice to have all my scripture notes, ideas, etc. in one place.  Go check it out if you haven't already!

We Made It! AKA the Ward Christmas Party is Over!

 Here is our stable and manger...the Webelos made the manger!

 Just before the pageant started, everyone was getting last-minute instructions.  Notice the chain on the wall?  It is our Primary's scripture chain we started back in January and it circled the whole cultural hall.

Our theme was "Picture a Christmas" from the Primary song.  We had trees set up around the room and each tree had one or two classes pictures with the ornaments they made.  They signs said things like "Picture the little baby Jesus."  Here are some of the amazing ornaments that one of my counselors found for all the primary kids to make. 

The decorations were so fun, the food was fabulous, we had an activity where we made darling Christmas FHE packets and then the Pageant was so much fun.  I need to get some photos of the actual pageant going on.  We had so many great people help us and I think it turned out so well.  Hurray it is done!  Hurray for great people who are so willing to try and make something special.  I have been almost hyper all day that it went so well and it is over!!  Now on to having some Christmas fun with my family!

Sunday

 Ready for church!

This little miss went to nursery all by herself!  Matt has been going with her for a few weeks to help her get used to it and yesterday she did great!!

Sunday Afternoon

 Sydney and her craaazy nap hair.

 After whining all morning, a very tired Austin finally crashed.

 Derek fishing off the back deck with a string and a hangar. 

Zack checking out the fall foliage in our yard. 
We had Stake Conference today, which means two hours of church and no meetings/Primary, and no where we needed to be once church was over.  We have had a nice relaxing afternoon and it is only 3:00!!!  Matt is reading a book, I just put a pumpkin pie in the oven (the boys all requested it), and the house is pretty quiet.  So quiet, in fact, that I hunted everyone down to see what they were doing and snapped the photos above.  Ahhhhhh....just what we needed around these parts:  a nice, calm Sunday to recharge our batteries! 

General Conference

 We headed down to Temple Square for the final session of General Conference this weekend.  We had three tickets and so Matt, Zack and Matt's sister Meagan went in to the Conference Center.  The other kids and I wandered Temple Square and had lots of fun. 

 Sydney loves to hug on Austin. 

 Whenever we would sit down to listen, craziness would ensue.  So, we mostly kept moving. 

Jace and Austin plan a day at Lagoon

I would have loved to hear this conversation.  They have become such good buddies over the summer.

Baptism Boy

February 5, 2011

Matt and I are the only ones looking at the camera. I think the kids saw Grandma walk in the door.

So handsome! What a fun day! We had fun lunch at our house after the baptism, it was so neat to have so many family members there. We love you Zack!

The night before the baptism, Derek woke up not feeling well. He ended up having a fever and a sore throat. As Matt and I were taking his temperature, pumping him full of motrin, and trying to help him get back to sleep, Zack came running into our room, crying pretty hard. When I got him calmed down enough to talk, I asked him what was wrong. He said his throat hurt and his head hurt and he was sick and couldn't get baptized! I told him he could still get baptized and he said, "Really? Can dad give me a blessing so I will be better?" Ah, the sweet, simple faith of little children! Matt gave him a blessing, we took his temperature (fever) and loaded him up with motrin as well. He woke up feeling great and had a wonderful day.

Great to Be Eight

Well, it is official, we are getting old! We have an eight-year old. Today is Zack's eighth birthday and it has been a weekend-long celebration. We began on Friday with taking treats to Zack's class. When it is your birthday, the whole class makes you cards. I got such a kick out of reading the cards the kids made. Some were funny, some were lame, some were incredibly creative and one hearth-shaped one said, "I have a crush on you." The girl even signed her name! Zack was so embarrassed. Not yet!!! I don't want to start this yet!

That night we had a friend birthday party. We had 15 boys over at our house for an "AllStar Birthday Bash." It was really fun, we played a lot of games, (favorite of the night was an "agility challenge" where they all stood in one corner of the room with there feet planted as they tried to dodge the stuffed animals Matt and I threw at them.) We had great music, like "Eye of the Tiger" playing and had an awards banquet when we finished our games. (hot dogs, chips and soda. Then we had our awards banquet (medals, etc.) and cake. It was really so much fun.

Saturday morning, after Zack's basketball game, we headed up North to visit family. Matt's parents gave Zack his scout shirt and book. He was thrilled. He has been counting down to Cub Scouts for the last three years. (not even kidding. This morning he passed off his Bobcat and started on his Wolf. He is rarin' to go.)
On the Sorensen side of the family, we have three birthdays in three days. Zack, Carson and Derek. We had little party for them and it was so fun. Such cute boys.
After the party at Sorensen's we headed over to my parents for some gifts. Zack was thrilled to receive all the Book of Mormon scripture stickers (for the scriptures he is getting for his baptism).
Today is Zack's actual birthday. He had very specific requests for breakfast and dinner. He is such a funny kid. He opened one present before church, a suit, and the rest later on in the day. He didn't get too much, but a much needed new bike was the best gift ever. He had a great time playing Legos and playing with his dad today. We ended the day with Great to be Eight. What an awesome day. Zack is such a great example. He is a smarty pants and a hard worker. He is so good with Sydney and can always calm her down. He is so much fun and we love him to pieces. Next stop: Baptism in two weeks, he can't wait!

Church, Space, Nails and Chairs

Derek, just home from church. Sat in his chair all through Sharing Time, with the promise of a peanut butter bar when we got home. He did great, even in Sacrament meeting. Matt's new trick is to read to him out of the Book of Mormon during Sacrament Meeting. Derek loved it. At one point he brought his scriptures to me and said, "read to me! We were on the part about they have to leave their house."
Austin stayed in nursery the whole time with minimal crying and even had fun! Since we came home from Uruguay, he has hated nursery and many weeks of sickness has left him unfamiliar with the nursery routine. (Plus, he has new teachers, who are actually awesome. I think they were a big part of the reason he stuck it out yesterday. But, he was quite anxious at first. It was the first time Matt has been able to go to Priesthood, probably since I started Primary. He was either in nursery with Austin, or subbing for a Primary class last minute. What a good husband!)
Zack loves being a big kid in Primary. He loves his class, loves his teacher and loves having mom in Primary. (Notice they all have the post-church untucked shirt and messy hair.)
They are just cute together and have been playing together so well the last few weeks. Derek keeps saying to Austin, "Want to go on an adventure?" And then Derek thinks of an "adventure" for them to go on.
Zack's Grandpa Sorensen told him all about the first landing on the moon, which led to other discussions about Space and eventually the Apollo 13 mission. Zack had to make his own Apollo 13 out of paper and promised Grandpa he would put a picture on the blog. He loves to make things. Also, his disgusting thumbnail situation is greatly improved. His nail is really close to falling off, and thankfully, there is a brand-new nail already growing. We were worried the nail may not grow back after the infection. He is kind of excited for his nail to fall off. It has been hanging on, bothering him for a while.

Also, I received an email from my cousin-in-law with a link to ksl classifieds. Someone was selling chairs that matched the kitchen table I bought a few months ago on ksl. I had really wanted more chairs, but hadn't taken the time to look for them. We currently have seating for five, which will be fine for another year or so, but we need six! So we called on the chairs, they were available and a decent price and Matt is picking them up today! Hooray! Now we will have seating for eight, which is what we wanted in the first place. Thanks for looking out for us, Diana!!

Derek the Sunbeam!

Oh, my little Sunbeam. Derek was really excited about being out of the baby class (nursery). He really liked it and although he is the oldest kid in his class, he would not sit in a chair, only on the floor (?) and insisted on standing next to me while I taught Sharing Time. That is definitely better than screaming or tantrum throwing (which he isn't in to, but I really didn't know what to expect.) I just had a scary thought. What if Derek never sits with his class, always with me, and Austin, who refuses to go to nursery without Derek, is on my lap and my new baby is in one arm while I scan class lists in the other. (I was thinking specifically of when Matt goes backpacking this summer or something. Can you imagine? The image of myself with my entourage of three children while trying to maintain order in Primary made me laugh pretty hard. I think the weekend he goes backpacking, I will be going to stay with my mom or his mom.)

General Conference Idea

I have been trying to think of ways to make General Conference special for my kids. We were going to go up to Temple Square and listen on the grass tomorrow, but since there is snow on the ground and I am wimp about the cold, we scratched that idea. We made a yummy, special breakfast and then set up our tent.

Last night, my sister, Tara, told me about this cute idea she had seen on this website. The night before General Conference, the family spoke about King Benjamin and how he gathered his people together to hear him speak. They pitched their tents to face him and everyone had to be quiet enough so that his words would carry to everyone. Last night, I spoke with the boys about King Benjamin and talked to them about how neat it was that we were going to hear Prophets speak and so forth. Following the lead of the family I mentioned earlier, this morning we set up a tent, facing the TV, we filled it with treats and crayons and General Conference coloring packets (thanks, Christina!). (The family on the site built a fort.) We put a sign on top that says, "Shhh, Reverent Zone". The boys loved it and did pretty good. Zack and Derek were pretty quiet throughout the first session, but were definitely ready for the break. (Thankfully, Austin was asleep, or it would not have been quite so calm.) It was a fun idea and so I wanted to share. Everyone have a great weekend!!