FHE

My patriarchal blessing talks about how important Family Home Evening is as I raise my kids and how it can teach them many important and wonderful lessons.  While I can't say we've been great at having family home evening our whole marriage, we've been earnestly trying and putting effort since Kendal was old enough to last through a five minute lesson. I try to keep our family home evenings very basic. First of all our kids aren't going to sit through a lengthy gospel discussion and it's important to keep things on their level. Second I'm generally lazy about the whole thing so I keep it sweet and simple most weeks. Sometimes our topics stem from something we've learned in church recently (ex. follow the prophet), a upcoming holiday (ex. Christmas), something the kids bring up on their own (ex. Kendal pointing out a woman's missing arm = talking about differences we all have and loving all of God's children; or Mommy's sick of my kids fighting = having a lesson on sharing.)
We usually rotate what we do for family home evening every week.
Week one - scripture story / lesson
Week two - gospel priciple (ex. tithing, repentance, baptism, etc.)
Week three - Friend magazine stories / activity
Week four - general principle (kindness, service, love one another, etc.)
Week five - (When it comes around) it's our fun night to play games as a family.
What we do varies every month, we may do scripture stories week one one month and week three the next. It depends on the kids and more often than not if I've put some forethought into the evening.
Since the kids are curious about what Track and Field is, what Daddy does at practice, and they saw only a bit of the Kimberly track meet we had our own track and field FHE tonight. Casey taught the kids about the different events and we practiced them as a family. The kids loved jumping in the sand pit, throwing shot puts (aka baseball's), and jumping on the high jump mat. We gave a short and simple exercise is good for our bodies, minds, and spirits message and called it a successful family home evening.

Preschool and a Play kitchen

This past week was our turn to have preschool. On Monday we talked about birds. The kids started out with free time play with cars and puzzles. We then did a couple of worksheets with birds to learn colors and practice writing skills. For snack the kids helped me make rice krispe nests and eggs. After snack time we read books and had a small group discussion about birds, their features, how birds come from eggs, where they live, and how to make a birds nest. We ended with the kids making paper feathers.
On Wednesday I put the water beads out to play with first. The kids all loved squishing, sorting, and playing with them. We made bird feeders for the kids to take home. (It ended up being a pinterest fail, but they still can be eaten; Kendal and Peter have loved watching the birds come onto our deck this week and eat the bird seed.) Our focus of the day was the letter Z. So the kids made Zebra masks next. We had cuties for snack and then had story time. I read ABC books and we had a discussion about what else starts with Z. The kids had some work book time and then we went outside. I drew a chalk obstacle course that the kids could zig zag, zoom, and zap through.

Tuesday we had a big snow storm blow through so we spent a couple of days inside. Kendal finished her second reading chart and earned some ice cream. She is beyond excited to start Kindergarten! (We register for Kindergarten at the end of the month!) She wants August to be here faster and asks frequently how far away it is.
We rode bikes again to the park this week. Kendal can still be a bit timid when it comes to bike riding and she looses confidence easily and so it takes some positive encouragement to motivate her some days and other days she proudly goes in circles in front of our house for 10-15 min. without stopping. Peter is loving spring and having more outside time. He asks to ride his bike everyday and likes to dig in the dirt in the back yard.
Friday the kids and I joined Vanessa and her kids and headed out to Raft River to finish up a "kids kitchen" project they started over Easter weekend. Mom and Dad D had an old TV cabinet sitting down stairs that we decided to turn into a kids kitchen. Last time they got together they took it apart and cut wood and pieced together parts for the kitchen. This weekend we sanded, primed, painted, and assembled the kitchen. It was a lot of work and took Friday afternoon / evening and most of Saturday to finish and it looks awesome. The kids are going to love it!

The kids enjoyed getting spoiled with cartoons, treats, lots of outside time on Grandma and Grandpa's new play set / sand box, and unlimited cousin time while we visited. Grandma was our hero taking care of eight grandkids so Vanessa, Nicole, and I could bust out a sweet kitchen.

Spring / Track

Casey signed on to be a track coach for the middle school this spring. This past week the team had their first meet of the season at Kimberly. I took the kids so they could see Daddy and they could get a clearer picture of what track and field is. Casey was over the boys shot put when we got there so the kids and I watched for a bit. The clouds came in with a light drizzle so we huddled under the blanket eating goldfish. The rain let up for a bit so we talked with Daddy and went over to the track to see some other events. We were only there five minutes when it started pouring / hailing on us so we gave in and left. Casey had to stay another four hours though (almost everyone wanted to do the long jump). Luckily middle school track is only a month and a half so Casey only has three more weeks left.
I don't think Kendal was deeply impressed these kids were throwing the ball such short distances until i told her to pick one up herself and see how heavy it was. 

Kendal learned about bugs at Preschool this week. She made a mask at preschool and came home and made herself into a butterfly for the afternoon. We enjoy any sunny day we can get and spend it out on bikes, at the park, or in our backyard. The kids had their first bike ride over to the park in the next neighborhood. Kendal is doing great on her bike (except for starting herself which Casey and I still have to help with). Peter is loving his bike that was handed down from cousin Campbell and wants to ride it everyday. We've tried to go out and catch butterflies a couple of times in our yard, but the kids don't have much patience for waiting.

Date night.
Since our confinement year in Challis Casey and I have tried to keep up with our bi-weekly at home date nights. Yesterday we took the kids to Chick-fil-a for dinner while they played we got some kid free talk in. We also picked up some seed starters and seeds to begin our terrace garden. (When I say garden I mean half a dozen plants; with the hope that they do better than last years failure of a garden.) We ended the night with Cheese cake that I made and some Good Mythical morning (It's become something fun to watch and wind down our week with.)!

 Couple of candid pictures of my handsome boys. Kendal wanted to take pictures with my camera (since hers is in a time out till she earns batteries) She took the picture of Casey below.

Easter

We headed down to Logan for Easter weekend. Saturday morning the the boys took the kids to Home Depot for their kids workshop activity. They made flower pot holders and panted flowers in a pot. It was great bonding time for the kids to build with Grandpa and their dad's. We thought we'd hit up a couple of egg hunts after so we headed to a local park. Apparently the parks egg hunt had two different dates/ times posted on different web sites so we (along with many other confused peeps) missed that one. We headed to the mall and did their hunt. The kids had fun after playing on the bouncy slides the mall had set up. We ended by going to Lee's. We got to meet the Easter Bunny and walk around the store for some goodies (apple, chocolate milk, cheese, crackers, a cookie, and a prize). It was perfect to start the kids' lunch.

The whole family came together at lunch and spent the afternoon watching conference and enjoying family time.  That evening kids had fun dying eggs and playing outside till the boys came back from the priesthood session. We ended the evening celebrating my Mom's birthday with a yummy carrot cake (Grandma McAllister's recipe : ). {Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!!}

Sunday morning the kids hunted for their baskets and eggs. Campbell and Kendal were happy with their loot and Peter just wanted to get at his candy. So yes he ate a chocolate bunny, jelly beans, and who knows what else before we took away his basket so he would eat breakfast.

The kids were busy playing all morning. When the morning session of conference ended we fed the kids and scooted them outside to get some energy out by playing, bike riding, and going on a walk. I put Peter down for a nap during the afternoon session of conference and Kendal and Campbell played in a fort Casey built.
When conference finished we had a yummy dinner of Easter classics (ham, potatoes, rolls, fruit cup, green bean casserole). We spent some more time outside and enjoying family time and delicious pina-colada's before we headed home. We got some great snuggles in with baby Elliot, and the kids had a blast being spoiled and loved by family.

I definitely feel like I missed a lot of conference (Easter fun, family time, noisy kids). I'm grateful for the ability to go back and listen to the talks and love getting my ensign so I can go over them again and highlight what I want. I love the Gospel. I am honored to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. I sustain the Prophet and leaders of the church. They are amazing men with so much knowledge and wisdom. They share God's council and love with us all, and care for us all. I know I am a beloved child of God. He loves me and accepts me faults and all. I know Christ lives. He suffered, died and was resurrected so that we can all live again. He alone knows what I go through, he eases my burdens and lifts me up. I am grateful for Eternal Families and am so blessed by the families Casey and I come from and the one we've created together.